Calgary kids are back to class with nine new schools

The day Stacey Czerpuryk and her husband decided to put an offer on a home that would see them move away from Cranston, a new school announcement changed everything.
So important was it for them to have their eldest son attend a school near his home, they were prepared to uproot and move from their southeast neighbourhood.
Instead, six-year-old Ethan will today join 670 other children at Christ the King Catholic School in Cranston. It's the first day students will be welcomed to class at the facility, one that staff and parents believe will become a community centrepiece.
"It was a huge  . . .

Bill 44: Parental rights measure welcomed and feared

Calgary mother Maria Doll thinks schools should mainly stick to teaching the three Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic - and leave lessons on religion and sexuality for parents to lead.
With one child nearly finished high school and another about to start Grade 8, there have been times Doll felt educators didn't properly notify her before these sensitive topics were discussed in the classroom.
Doll hopes she won't be kept in the dark again about her children's education, now that parental rights will officially be entrenched in the province's human rights law this week. As of Sept. 1, parents  . . .

Flood victims say province is leaving them high and dry
Liberal MLA, Harry Chase, says he wants to know why the richest province in the country is so slow to hand out money.

Updated: Thu Jul. 29 2010 18:38:53

ctvcalgary.ca

It's been seven weeks since torrential rains caused mass flooding in parts of southeastern Alberta.

The rising water washed out roads, flooded homes and changed lives.

A family from Irvine, one of the hardest hit areas, is struggling with a ruined home and red tape.

For seven weeks, the Chatfields have been living out of a fifth wheel because their home is uninhabitable. The foundation is cracked and the brickwork is ruined. The house is now off balance and mould has moved in.

"The flood caused the damage, but the disaster  . . .

Child welfare report not ready for release
Liberal critic questions timing

The same week a judge ordered a trial for two teens accused of murdering a man and woman in Sherwood Park after escaping a group home, critics called on the government to release a report on the state of Alberta's child-intervention system.
"I don't understand why it's taken so long to put forward," Calgary MLA Harry Chase said, noting the review was launched last summer.
Then-children's services minister Janis Tarchuk appointed two out-of-province child welfare experts to lead a review on the heels of a number of events, including the slayings that took place after two boys ran away from Strathcona  . . .

Alberta minimum wage formula to stay the same?

An all-party committee of MLAs is currently reviewing the province's minimum wage policy, after Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk froze minimum wages in February.
Interestingly, months into the review -- and after hosting hearings in Edmonton and Calgary -- it looks like the committee will more or less stick with the status quo.
In an upcoming interim report -- fuzzily outlined at the end of this meeting transcript -- the committee is likely to recommend the province continue to tie minimum wage to weekly earnings, with $8.80 (the current minimum wage) as the starting point.
"We have to  . . .