Do it yourself..Or Don’t

By Craig Ryan

With the current recession slowing the pace of the economy, the Federal government is offering you money back to improve your home.  The home renovation tax credit is your chance to refinish and renew, and that can payoff in the future. Real estate agencies predict significant returns on these investments if you’re ever interested in selling.

• %100 – %110 return on bathroom and kitchen renovations
• %100 returns on paint
• %70 return on flooring and other renovations

NAIT’s Got Talent

by Colleen Nuc

“I surprised myself a lot tonight, and I’ll probably be spending my money on beer and groceries.”

 That’s what Cillian Cross, a first year Pre-Tech student said after winning the grand prize of $500 for being NAIT’s most talented student, well, at least until next year’s talent show. Cross showed off his talent on the drums, taking a unique approach by turning is back to the audience which he says gives the audience a chance to “see what I’m doing with both my hands and my feet. It adds to my performance.”

Fifth At The Break

BY TRAVIS ZIEGLER

The Ooks Men’s hockey team had the opportunity to take fourth spot in the standings going into the Christmas break. They had to get two straight wins over the Augustana Vikings in the final two games of the semester.  It started off great in Camrose last Wednesday where the Ooks controlled the whole game.  The power play was the difference as NAIT went four for six and Augustana did not capitalize on the man advantage. 

Saturday night was a different story as the Vikings strolled into the NAIT arena and crushed the Ooks 7-4.  Stephen Cavanagh and Torrie Dyck of the Vikings potted two goals a piece leading the way for the Vikings.  Topilko matched their efforts but there was not enough secondary scoring to bypass the potent offense of Augustana.

More Shoppers Means More Thieves

by Lindsay Harvey

Christmas is upon us once again which means there’s lots of shopping being done. This season more valuables are being left in vehicles, making them more readily available to thieves.  The Edmonton Police Service officers are reminding shoppers to remove all valuables from their vehicles this holiday season, before the thieves do it for them.

Kurt Rackel, a local resident has been a three-time victim of car break and entering in our city.

 Rackel said, “ The first time was on Whyte Ave. It was a soft top Tracker. They just ripped the top right off and got in there.”

Results are in!

By Clayton Brown

The Alberta Reasearch Council, ARC, was part of a pilot project that turned in great and exciting results. The pilot project, ran in Whitecourt, was a test to see how pulp mills across the province and Canada would be able to salvage pine beetle-infested or beetle-killed wood for newsprint. There are two main problems with the dead trees making them unusable for newsprint:

1. Trees sap to the affected areas much like the human body sends blood to clot a cut.  When getting continually attacked by the beetle the tree soon becomes dried out and the wood becomes too brittle to run through pulp mills.
2. The trees start to turn a blue colour which is too dark for newsprint paper.

The ARC has made some changes to the production. They’ve added sensors on the belt and changed the consistency of the infected wood by adding different chemicals to it. These chemicals made the wood stronger and not nearly as dark.  Making it possible to use, otherwise, worthless wood. This is a huge accomplishment as many pulp mills were looking at laying off workers or worse closing their doors.

Gary Smith of the Alberta Newspaper Council explained it will increase production significantly. “Right now we’re running between nine and 15 per cent blue stained wood in the plant. We expect it to go up to about 35 percent blue stain content.”

This wasn’t the only good news for the province in its battle against the infestation. Minister Morton made an announcement earlier this week. “The federal government will be giving 10 million dollars to Alberta to assist in the fight against the mountain pine beetle infestation.” The 10 million dollars will be added to the already 25 million the province has allocated.

Gearing Up For Gold

BY TRAVIS ZIEGLER

The Women’s National Hockey Team has travelled all over Alberta facing off against Midget AAA hockey teams in hopes of gaining an edge for the Olympic Games in February.  From Grande Prairie to Lethbridge the women have fared very well boasting a 9-5 record against the young men.  Just recently they dropped two straight to the likes of Red Deer, and the Calgary Buffaloes. 

On Saturday December fifth they will be in Calgary and will take on the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior A Hockey League.  This will be a real test as Junior A is a much higher level of hockey than Midget AAA. The game will also serve as the Canucks annual charity event in support of the Salvation Army.