Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 23

1 111' EDMONTON JOURNAL CITYPLDS THURSDAY, 0Q0BER21, 2004 B3 Plans emerging for new bus lanes Just another birthday in great-gran scheme of things i ,1 -f ff' 104th Street favoured for high-speed link JODIE SINNEMA Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON ft A preliminary evaluation shows the route up 104th Street is best it has fewer traffic lights along the way and there wouid be less impact on traffic since 104th Street is far less busy than 109th Street. Menzies said the city will have to decide whether to build bus lanes, which traditionally run in the right lane of a major road and are open to taxis as well, or exclusive bus lanes, which could be built in the road median. The city will also look into what kind of technology to use. That could include receiver and transmitter signals that help buses get through congested traffic quicker by triggering green lights at intersections. Such technology could one day help bus controllers send real-time messages to people waiting in the terminals, letting them know how many minutes away their bus is.

After getting feedback from Wednesday's open house, Menzies said the transportation department plans to pick three or four main high-speed bus routes, then conduct a more detailed study on costs, the impact on traffic, how compatible the route would be with future LRT expansion and where the main transit centres would be located. The city will also have to discuss noise issues and which properties need to be purchased. There is another open house in December, then in January one or two main options will be brought to city council for discussion. jsinnemathejournal.canwest.com The City of Edmonton showed downtown residents four main options Wednesday for a high-speed bus route that could eventually link downtown with Grant MacEwan, NA1T and other centres along the way. "It's really important for us to keep moving and start to make decisions," said Coun.

Michael Phair after looking at the maps detailing the possible routes. "I'm interested in looking at all of them further." There are four main options that could take commuters from Qty Hall to NATT and 118th Avenue. Each has variations along the main routes. Up 109th Street, straight through the middle of Grant MacEwan, then up to Kingsway Mall and NATL I Up 106th Street, touching the east portion of Grant MacEwan and travelling west of the Glenrose and Royal Alexandra hospitals. Up 104th Street.

I Up 101st Street, far east of Grant MacEwan but linking Victoria School for the Performing and Visual Arts with the hospitals, Kingsway Mall and NATT. "We're trying to capture as many active centres as we can," said Gordon Menzies, director of transportation planning for the city. jt BRUCE EDWARDS, THE JOURNAL Edmonton woman Aaltje Smit, who turned 105 on Wednesday, gets a birthday hug from great-granddaughter Justine Anklanv Smith has six surviving children out of seven, 19 grandchildren and 50 great-grandchildren not to mention a great-great-grandchild due any day now. She immigrated to Canada from Rouveen, Netherlands, in 1954. Aid work keeps local man in Iraq ARCHIE MCLEAN Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON Stand-in executive director refuses full-time job at police commission ff Edmonton's human resources department, which will select candidates for a shortlist.

John Acheson says he never intended to stay if mrm lit luicu umojtvu win. 1 1 be made by the com- I- Jf miccinn'c onvprnanrp -J committee, Acheson A The new executive director will be expected to continue with the major initiatives the commission has challenged police Chief "These are people who have suffered for 20 or 30 years." Clearly, humanitarian work runs in the family. Here in Edmonton, Usama has been doing his own work to help the Iraqi people. Last year he spearheaded the "Adopt a Town in Iraq" movement to help rebuild towns destroyed by years of war and sanctions. To date it has raised more than $80,000, which has helped build 50 homes as well as soccer and volleyball pitches in Al-Mutayha, Edmonton's adopted rity.

Calgary also adopted its own town, Jurf Al-Sakhr, in central Iraq. Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa have inquired about adopting towns as well. "We've had some great responses from basically anyone who's heard of (the program)," Usama said. But there is much more work to be done. Life for Relief and Development and Adopt a Town in Iraq are holding a fundraiser this weekend to raise more money.

Those funds will be used to rebuild schools and medical facilities. Eventually Usama would like to start some sort of microeconomic aid program in the region. The fundraiser is on Saturday at The Fiddler's Roost, 8906 99th downstairs. Admission is 10, doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.

For more information call Aaron Wilson at 474-3869. amcleanthejournal.canwest.com Acheson An Edmonton man is staying in war-ravaged Baghdad despite the recent kidnapping of a western aid worker with CARE International. Yarub Al-Shiraida, a Canadian citizen who moved from Iraq to Edmonton in 1975, has been living in his home country on and off since February 2003. Funded by the humanitarian agency Life for Relief and Development, his work has helped rebuild broken infrastructure as well as supply food, water and medicine to Fallujah and other cities under siege. Kidnappings and beheadings of westerners have been on the rise lately, with seemingly weekly reports on the latest abductions.

Family members say they are worried about Al-Shiraida's safety, especially after hearing of the kidnapping of Margaret Hassan, the head of CARE International's operations in Iraq. "I immediately thought of my husband," said Al-Shiraida's wife, Nadia. 'You don'tknowwhat will happen. It's not safe there." While Nadia acknowledges that dangers to her husband might be increasing, she said threats have been a way of life in Iraq since the American-led invasion in March 2003. "There is no security," she said.

"You take a risk wherever you go." Al-Shiraida's son, Usama, is also Journal Staff EDMONTON The Edmonton Police Commission is looking for someone to fill the shoes of departing executive director John Acheson after he declined to accept the position permanently. The former Catholic school superintendent and consultant has been on contract for the last 18 months. Acheson said he never planned to make the job a permanent, full-time position. "I came on to do a special task and they have invited me to remain on. But I think there are other challenges and responsibilities that I have that I want to address," Acheson said.

He expects the commission's governance committee to select his replacement before Christmas and make an announcement before Jan. 1. The position has been advertised and all applicants have been directed to send their resume to the City of Fred Rayner to undertake in his first year. They include reducing the service's administration; putting more police officers on the street by having civilians take over some jobs now done by sworn members such as securing crime scenes; and beefing up community policing, he said. Before he accepted a contract with the police commission, Acheson worked for the Edmonton Catholic Archdiocese for several years coordinating a restructuring plan in response to population shifts and a shortage of priests.

floyiethejournal.canviest.com JIM FARRELL, THE JOURNAL FILE Yarub Al-Shiraida worried about his dad but says there are a few things that ought to help him stay safe. "For one, he looks and speaks the same," he said. Al-Shiraida was born and raised in Basra. Also "they've done so much work in the country that I think they're known and trusted," he said. As for why his father would remain in such a dangerous place, Usama said he still has a strong bond to his home country.

"Then there's the satisfaction of helping people," he said. HOI MIL DRIVING Luxury car sophistication with monster truck power mini VENTING I In the latest Shoppers Drug Mart flyer the condoms are advertised next to the pregnancy test kits. Is this subliminal advertising? Airports to approve disruptions to air traffic so that City Centre Airport can be converted into a racetrack for a few days. There is a perfectly unada.com DRIVING venting v.t. to give free play or expression to an emotion or passion fineplace to hold races at BudweiserMotorsports Park I In 1954 Edmonton had one more hospital and twice the beds it does now.

Isn't public health care wonderful? rj ODDS EWE DBS I Some stores itemize the recycling fees for milk and juice containers separately on their grocery receipts, then charge GST on it. The GST may not add up to much, but we shouldn't have to paytaxonatax I I just bought a new High Definition TV and you know what? Donald Trump's hair is still out of focus. i According to CNN, the U.S. is the world's largest producer of natural gas. So why, then, does California need to buy gas from Canada? BARGAINS BARGAINS BARGAINS All F10MI STEMS 50OFF SAUE PRICES BASKETS UPT0 330FF I 4MSCEUJIHE0US SHELVIH6 UNITS ilSUFT SALE PRICES 1 30OFF 1 PIECE DINETTE TABU 1 4 CHAIRS K0.S1331.

50 OFF SALE '648ft JPC CHAIR OTTOMANS TABLE '1 iimnuiniminnn SALE 798ft; SOFA CHAIR, COFFEE TABLE OTTOMAN 1 SALEl24SSftl mm aboutit. Iwishwecouldgeta bigger police force so they could patrol the city at night and watch out for this kind of thing. I It takes a real man, with a Rottweiler to back him up no less, to punch out a 74-year-old woman. IfFm walking my dog and we're approached by an off-leash Rottweiler, that dog would get more from me than a "shoo, go home." I would do whatever is necessary to protect my dog. I A cattle drive through downtown Edmonton? I have a better idea: a developers' stampede, with all the historical landmarks and green areas trampled and destroyed along the way.

I Could the city kindly run the next cattle drive on a weekend day so thatthe majority of us can see it? i The venter who complained about Edmonton's centennial celebrations being held on a Friday should know the city's actual birthdate was on that day. Moreover, many of the festivities carried on into the evening. nrCEl niPnnilllTP nti Sofas. Chain. Bedroom, living Room.

DEEP DISCOUNTS ON: rautu. wiener, outdoor romliuro and muck mora! 1 1 miss the days when nurses really looked like nurses, with those white caps, uniforms, stockings and shoes. I It's bad enough that the Liberals have allowed our ships to become rustbuckets, but why go out and buy four submarines that are rustbuckets from day one? I Paul Martin reappointed Adrienne Clarkson because, by comparison, her spending habits help makeAdscam funds bok like money well spent. I Would it have been so difficult or expensive to fly a returning officer to Wainwright to collect the 3,000 votes for the civic election from the Edmonton soldiers who are training there? It's ironic and unfair that these soldiers are disenfranchised for doing their jobs defending democracy. II, for one, welcome thesnow-storms.

They eliminate those ridiculously loud motorcycles. Compiled by Terry McConnell. Send your vent to venting thejournal.canwest.com or by writing us at the Journal Building, T5J 0SI. You can also call us at 498-5842 or fax us at The Vent of the Year award should go to Global TVs Lynda Steele for her Journal column on the tough life of the female newscaster. I What a wonderfully uplifting cartoon by The Journal's Malcolm Mayes on the death of Christopher Reeve.

IhopeMayes wins an award for it and that a copy of the cartoon is forwarded to the Reeve family. I I don't know what is more bizarre: Scott McKeen's recent column on the local goth culture, or that it wasn't published on Tiie Journals front page. IBS OK mms7mnrriQ mm HBGDIB WW LlIUUJ tit i iTrrivmrre icragi LIU 'xlli Stony Plain VtTT Jl 8a My daughter's car was recently stolen from an underground parking garage, and it hasn't turned up. She had a lot of personal stuff in the trunk, including medals she won in junior highandhigh school and we're Wicker World 2 ji WarahouM 1 Tsmst I ft defies logic for Edmonton really choked up Venting appears on Mondays and Th ursdays 498-5677. V.jtjibu-ati-iii, i i i if-if-i AiJi fir---1t Hi IT -1 lit i tKliI i.