Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 19

EDMONTON JOURNAL B3 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2003 A-Channel can limit pickets Either side can return to court if situation changes GORDON KENT Legal Affairs Writer EDMONTON A judge has turned down a request by A-Channel to restrict picketing by striking staff outside the company's office on Jasper Avenue. A-Channel lawyer Gerhard Seifner argued Monday that several rallies have attracted 80 to 150 people since workers left their jobs almost two weeks ago, breaching city bylaws and blocking the sidewalk. The protests made it hard for employees to get into the studio in the old Bay building, Seifner said. But Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil ruled he didn't need to act, especially after the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union agreed members wouldn't block A-Channel cameras shooting news events. "Given what I have seen and heard today, there's no need for an order," Belzil said.

"Should a difficulty arise, then either side would have leave to return before me." Adrian Pearce, vice-president of the union local, said some of the approximately 80 staff actively involved in the strike have followed A-Channel news crews with picket signs to publicize the dispute. He wouldn't say whether they've blocked cameras. "People have the right to stand where they want in a public place." The union also agreed to suspend its campaign to have advertisers stop dealing with A-Channel during the strike until a hearing on the issue set for today. The company is seeking an injunction to prevent such activity, claiming companies are being harassed and intimidated. Pearce said one "major advertiser" has pulled its ads, but he wouldn't identify it The union says job security and wages are the main issues in the walkout It wants to raise the average yearly salary of $28,000 by 12 per cent over the next three years.

The two sides are not at the bargaining table. Company general manager Jim Haskins has said more than one-quarter of the 106 unionized staff members are continuing to work and all programs are running. gfcenfS theiournal.canviest.com BRUCE DWARDS, IHt JOURNAL. FILF Shop steward Chris Peterson pickets in front of A-Channel. CITYPLUS Aw A CLOSED LOOK Edmonton's weather doesn't set many national records, but at least we're one of the sunniest cities in Canada -r A ft 4Wt i In a national weather competition, Edmonton gets blown away.

We're not first in anything. The worst defeat is a loss to Calgary in the sunniest city category. But then again, not all of these categories are the kind of competition Edmonton would want to win. The judges at Environment Canada delivered their rulings on the winners Monday, when they released the rankings in 72 categories for Canada's 100 Snm- toilers piled up bi high imk lohns 5 Dried dty: Whitehorse 'Edmonton 23rd Qwrross Desert near Whitehorse ar. Prince Rupert, 77th largest cities.

F-P'BT, Coldest winter: Yellowknife I afrit Edmonton 38th I B.C I B.C. EDMONTON Sunniest winter Calgary tdmonton 35th Fishing fleet at Prince Rupert Kamloops, Edmonton 74th Their decisions were based on 30 years of weather data from the national climate data archive, a new Web site launched recently. This site consists of a collection of over 200 million weather observations from more than 7,000 sites, some dating as far back as 1840. So where did Edmonton place in the top 10? Fewest fog days third Sunniest spring fourth Most sunny days in cold months seventh Most sunny days year-round ninth llanneke Broovmans Wannest year-round: Chilhwack, B. Edmonton 67th MinterGardens nearChilliwack i To find more rankings, go fo www.on.ec.gc.caveatherlwinners The climate data archive is at www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca INSTEAD OF SOUNDS Book and CD bring words alive for deaf CITY HALL DIGEST Festival should fociis, on cultures: mayor Edmonton An annual festival celebrating Alberta's multicul- rural heritage should focus on cultures, not countries, Mayor' BUI Smith said Monday.

Smith said it is wrong that Jo-, cal organizations, such as Sikh groups, have been barred from setting up their own booths at the Heritage Festival because they do not represent a country. The event's mission state-' ment says the point of the pop- ular August festival is to celebrate cultures, not nationali- ties, Smith said Monday during a community services commit- tee meeting. It is an issue Smith called on Heritage Festival organizers to" address with help from city officials as they work through a myriad of concerns raised by festival participants, including a controversial food ticket sy i tern and the appearance of -commercial vendors such as-1 Second Cup at the festival. City does its math on ambulance cash' Edmonton foimonton'srity'. manager launched a study Monday into the possibility pf severing the ambulance service, from the city's list of responsi- bilities.

City manager AlMaurer asked emergency response department officials to gather the information after Alberta's health minister gave his public: support Friday to a proposal that would see the province take over the responsibility foin ambulance service from munic-. ipalities. The plan must still be approved and financed by the provincial government Tm just asking, if we did spin it off, what would we end up 1 with and what are the real cost savings to the city, and what would have to be done to make the separation happen here?" Maurer said. The study will include a look at what would happen to the city's assets, such as the ambu-. lances.

The city will spend about $23 million to run its ambulance service this year. Drought over, but- -trees still stressed Edmonton Many trees are still stressed from three years of drought, the city's community services department warned a council committee The city earmarked $2.6 million over the next three years in its 2002 budget to replace trees lost to drought after the dry weather in 2001 killed 4,256 trees. That drought continued last year, and despite average' moisture levels this spring and summer, many trees continued to struggle. Edmonton has 114,000 trees planted on its boulevards alone. In a typical year, be- tween 600 and 900 trees under dry care die, said Doug Costi- gan, responsible for the dry's river valley, forestry and emi-ronmental services.

So far this year, 4,600 trees have died. Black ash and birch fared particularly badly, he said. As a result, the dry is re--. thinking its tree replacement strategy and plans to focus on 1-; replacing trees in high-profile locations, such as boulevards, rather than in parks populated by other trees. a 4 zi i i r.

a i i'v i Uses sisn language LARRY JOHNSRUDE journal Staff Writer EDMONTON Like many deaf people, Jaime Smith has trouble reading. Even the simplest newspaper articles are often indecipherable. Great works of fiction are completely beyond her reach. "I would do anything to be able to improve my reading skills," the bright, energetic 25-year-old says through a sign language interpreter. "I want to go to university.

But I can't keep up with the reading. They use huge words that mean nothing to me." For Smith and others like her, help is on the way. A new computer-assisted reading course being developed by Edmonton's NorQuest College will give deaf people a better grasp of what they're reading by combining the written word with recorded translations in American Sign Language. "There are many people who are deaf who struggle reading English," says Bill Persall, one of the course developers, who is also deaf. That's because English isn't their first language.

Their first language is ASL" Windiest dtv year round: St. John's, Nfldl tdmonton ird Snowieddty: Gander, Nfld Edmonton Sim Que. Ont. recognizing familiar words and patterns of words. Part of the enjoyment comes from the rhythm and poetry of the written language, which people "hear" in their heads from the memory of the spoken words.

People who have never heard the words spoken are less likely to recognize them on the page. "A sentence is a string of words that don't seem to have any relationship to each other," says Persall. "ASL is different from English because it deals with concepts rather than individual words. People who are deaf are capable of understanding complex concepts in their own language. It's when they try to associate English words with those concepts that they get lost." Smith, who began losing her hearing when she was 10, barely remembers the way the words sound.

"To relate the words to the sounds is very tough," she says. "I used to hate reading. I was too embarrassed to try." The book and CD will include 15 stories of 800 to 1,000 words combining text and an ASL illustration. They will be written for a deaf audience at skill levels ranging from grades 4 to 9. ljohnsrudee the journal.

canwest.com winds die a ride for his birthday, said she was surprised at the welcoming party on hand when the balloon landed. Someone had apparently called for fire and ambulance. "We were fine. It was a beautiful she said. There was no trouble at all." floyie thejournal.canwest.com press tourists who come to see its towering statue of the sausage.

"We've had a lot of compliments on what a pretty town we are," she said. "Next year we've really got to work hard to maintain this status." Mundare won the prize for towns up to 1,000 in population. Edmonton won for its community gardening. I I i Most snow days Val d'Or, I Edmonton 53td Most thunderstorm days: Windsor, Edmonton 59th Persall, who has been deaf since birth and learned ASL as a child, says deaf people learn to read and relate to print in a different way from people who can hear. When most people learn to read, they associate printed words with spoken sounds.

They are able to process information from long, complex sentences by ly wasn't good so he brought it back up and chose this spot. It was pretty amazing. The way he came through those trees was pretty incredible. The problem with these these things is you can't steer; you have to rely on the wind." Elaine Yakiwchuk, who treated her boyfriend, Kori Chilibeck, to we've put up hearts that light up at night on our lamp posts," she said. "Even the children from Mundare school are involved planting our flowers and drawing murals we have displayed on one of our businesses." There is no money involved in winning the prize, but Dziwenka said the colourful town will im Bridge at Windsor IOHN LUCAS.

1HI OURNV assistant Bill Persall show student Jaime Smith, left, their new at NorQuest College. SIGNS Instructor Flo Brokop and instructor computer program for deaf students Persall, instructional assistant at NorQuest, and Flo Brokop, a literacy instructor at the college, have been contracted by the National Literacy Secretariat and Human Resources Canada to develop a book and CD-ROM to help deaf people improve their reading skills. To be called the NorQuest Read The balloon, owned by Wind-ship Aviation, took off from near the Valley Zoo and was aloft for almost two hours before the wind died down, said passenger John Todd. He, along with his son Brian, wife Ann and Brian's father-in-law, Chuck Jones, were among eight passengers. "It was beautiful, really calm," have been judged by the Communities in Bloom program as the finest of more than 120 municipalities its size across the country.

"The town residents are so proud because they've all worked so hard," Mundare town Coun. Brenda Dzhvenka said Monday. The town joined the program in 1999 and Dziwenka said its re KT" V. er, the book and CD will be modeled on a prototype the two put together that includes text and photographs of NorQuest staff acting out simple stories, with images of Persall translating them into sign language. Deaf people can read the text and simply click on the ASL icon for an interpretation when they get stuck.

Hot air balloon makes surprise landing after John Todd said of his first-time ride. The pilot had no trouble landing the balloon in the middle of a courtyard near 128th Avenue and 83rd Street, said BrianTodd. "He had originally planned on the little lot by the Yellowhead there by the rairyard. "He came down, but it obvious- FLORENCE LOYIE Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON A hot air balloon that lost the prevailing wind as it travelled over the city made a forced but uneventful landing in the middle of a north-end housing complex Monday. Forget the sausage, Mundare has Canada's best blooms Other Alberta award winners in various categories include: We-taskiwin, Airdrie, Rocky Mountain House, Olds, Vermilion, Pincher Creek, Gibbons, Sundre, Big Valley, Grande Prairie, Leduc, High Prairie, Wesdock, Legal, Sherwood Park, Medicine Hat, Viking and Millet jholvbitsky! thejournal.

canwest.com sults have improved every year. Three judges from the program visited the town in Jury to see the efforts of residents in planting flowers and tidying up their yards, businesses and public properties. "We are full of flowers. We've planted flowers around the trees, and because our slogan is The Small Town With the Big JEFF HOLUBITSKY journal Staff Writer Ml'NDARE The 700 people of Mundare have something to smile about this week, other than being the home of the world's biggest garlic sausage. The gardens of the town, about 60 kilometres east of Edmonton,.