Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 21

FIANCEE WANTS BRIDGE NAMED FOR FALLEN SOLDIER B3 MANY PROSPECTS FOR HOMES FOR N.W.T PUPPIES B12 Jl I'M CONSIGN KOWr ma 209-309 USTS i K2UduUala IKS 6330-75 ST. EDM8XTCN LL iL EDITOR: PETER MASER, 429-5399; citythejournal.canwest.com EDMONTON JOURNAL THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 WE policej night security slij: pixig 'Concerns' noted in letter to mall GM SARAH DONNELL Civic Affairs Writer EDMONTON The man in charge of policing the west side is questioning West Edmonton Mail's commitment to safety after learning its Labour "That's between us and the police department," Hanson said. Tm not responding to that letter because it's between both parties." Some city councillors and police commission chairman Martin Ig-nasiak said ongoing concerns about policing at the world's largest mall and its cost to the city, need to be addressed. The police will spend close to $200,000 on overtime to patrol 4 I i away from a commitment to assist with funding of policing overtime costs and now are failing to deploy a reasonable number of security officers during the same night they expect police to provide a full squad of police officers on overtime to patrol the lot," Currie wrote. Hanson declined to comment on the letter or the police department's security concerns.

increased survival rates," said Dr. John Van Aerde, regional director of newborn services for the Capital Health authority. "One small thing we've changed is that in the 70s, we would have babies under bright lights, probing and prodding them, with loud alarms going off everywhere. "We now know that wasn't good for their development" The efforts are paying off, said Van Aerde, who is hosting a con the parking lots near the mall's nightclubs this year. It is a delicate balance, Ignasiak said, since the mall pays taxes, but is a private business that profits from clubs.

Four of the biggest clubs Rum Jungle, The Joint, Red's and Nashville's Electric Roadhouse sit within 300 metres of each other on the mall's north-side upper level known as Entertainment Alley. Violence, including The tiniest of viable premature babies, those weighing less than two pounds, have a survival rate today of 75 per cent Some 30 years ago, most would have died. Neonatal care also includes full-term babies with life-threatening medical conditions. In the 1970s, fewer than 50 per cent of babies born with heart defects survived. The survival rate today is 87 per cent.

See PREEMIES I BU BRUCE EDWARDS, THE JOURNAL Shop steward Chris Peterson pickets in front of A-Channel on Wednesday. Hum Day security was "far from the norm." In a Sept. 4 letter obtained by The Journal, Supt Ulysses Currie told general manager Gary Hanson he was disappointed with the night-time security at the mall over the long weekend. "I have serious concerns that over the past several months, mall management has stepped A fancy in western Canada 30 years ago. Thanks to advances ranging from subtle changes in room lighting to cutting-edge ultrasound diagnostics, premature babies or those born with severe ailments are surviving at rates never thought possible when the University of Alberta Hospital opened its neonatal unit in 1973.

There are a number of things we're doing differently that has employees working and took to the streets at 2 p.m. on Wednesday after voting to turn down the station's final offer the night before. "We thought our final offer was fair and generous," said Jim Haskins, general manager of A-Channel Edmonton. "We were extremely disappointed that they didn't take it" Pearce said wages are the main issue. The average yearly salary at A-Channel is $28,000, he said.

The union would like to see that increased by 12 per cent over the next three years. The union also wants the station to promise it won't move certain jobs from the Edmonton station to A-Channel Calgary. Haskins said it will be business BRIAN GAVRILOFF, THE JOURNAL Stephanie Fisher caresses son Jacob, just 13 days old, on Wednesday in the Stollery Children's Hospital's neonatal unit after his intestinal problem was successfully corrected. Premature babies face a brighter future asm ference beginning today commemorating the neonatal unit's 30th anniversary. Over the past 30 years, he said, the survival rate among premature babies weighing two to three pounds has increased to 95 per cent from 25 per cent Premature babies are born before 37 weeks.

Babies born from 37 to 42 weeks are considered full-term. The average weight of a full-term baby is 7.7 pounds. The station is owned by Craig Media which owns many broadcasting oudets, including A-Channel stations in Edmonton and Calgary and MTV Canada. The strike was timed by the union to coincide with new fall shows currently showing on the station, fall ratings in October and the launch of Craig Media's new television station in Toronto this Friday. Chris Peterson, an A-Channel cameraman, told pedestrians to stop watching the station as they walked by the picket line.

"We just want a fair contract," he said. "I have a 17-month-old daughter that Tm doing this for." Tcormiere thejournal.canwest.com brawls, has sometimes erupted when thousands of people gdt the clubs at closing time. "The concern the commission has is, if police officers are constantly and routinefycalledupbn to Entertainment Alley to provide public safety, then those officers are being taken away from oih-er parts of the See SECURITY Bll 1CITYPLUS JAMIE HALL'S PEOPLE What is love, anyway? Thesa children, ages four to eight, have their own ideas. B2 CORPORATIONS CRITICIZED Some firms get a free ride on pollution while taxpayers getj the tab, says Robert Kennedyj B4 i FATE OF THOKHILV, TO BE DECIDED Thorhild residents vote on whether to remain a village. B5 j- STRAW VOTE How much would you pay for a pair of tickets to the Heritage Classic hockey game? 85.3 Face value 9.2 $500 0.7 $750 1.4 $1,000 3.5 Sky's the limit There were 1 ,1 67 votes.

To vote in our online polls, go to i www.edmontonjournal.com. Grandmother jailed for part in former lovers death i JIM FARRELL Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON An Edmonton judge scoldeij a grandmother on Wednesday before sententing her to three years in prison for being an accessory to murder in the beating deathof a former lover. In the fall of 1996, Iris Burjis stood by as three ofher associates in the drug trade crushed Keith Ferguson's skull with baseball bats and shovels. After he ws killed, she helped fabricate a greeting card to make Ferguson's family believe he was vacationing in Chile and would not back in Canada for two years. Burns, 49, was initially charged with first-degree murder in Ferguson's death, but pleaded guijty to being an accessory to murder after Crown prosecutor West Dijn-field concluded he could not get a conviction on the other charge.

"She was literally helping theni get away with murder," Courtjof Queen's Bench Justice Donna Read said ofBurns's efforts to mislead Ferguson's aged parents Jf- ter they failed to receive the ci)s- tomary Father Day and uinit- mas phone calls from their son See ACCESSORY I Bll 5234 Direct Hi 3 air their discontent Survival rates climbing with neonatal advances LARRY JOHNSRUDE Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON Babies born prematurely today are many times more likely to grow into healthy adults than when neonatal care was in its in A-Channel Strike follows year without a contract RYAN CORMIER Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON After a year of negotiations over their first contract, A-Channel employees decided to walk off the job Wednesday. "None of us thought it would ever come to this," said Adrian Pearce, vice-president of the union local and a worker in A-Channel's commercial department "A-Channel has had a free ride forsixyears. But they are not a just-beginning company anymore. Ifs time to pay." A-Channel employees stopped 1 1 as usual at the station, with only minor changes to regular programming. News broadcasts will continue, he said.

That's possible because "a significant number" have chosen not to walk the picket line, he said. Of the 108 members of the union, Pearce estimates that between 10 to 15 have crossed the picket line. On Wednesday evening, the station ran a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast with unionized anchors instead of the usual one-hour broadcast A-Channel employees joined the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada in July 2002. A r4 Home Insurance You owe it to yourself to call for a free quote on some of the most comprehensive coverage available.

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