You know you have a loyal customer when he comes back to trade in his vehicle, five decades later. That’s just what happened at Westergard Ford. Recently they took receipt of a 1968 Ford Torino, the first model year of the car. It was sold to Harlan Avramenko by R McKinley in April of 1968. This was a two-door GT model in Gulfstream Aqua. The base price of the car was $3,391. But his was not the base model. Rather than opting for the standard 302, he went for 390 V8, for a whopping $196 extra. This is meshed to a four-speed gearbox, for $208, and bucket seats for $124. The total came to $4,602. The car was written up on mystarcollectorcar.com, a classic car website in 2019. In it, Harlan recounts that when he bought the car, he moved from Drumheller to Calgary. He avoided the ‘Demolition Derby’ of Calgary traffic and winter conditions and stored it during the winter. The car has about 75,000 original miles.
Alberta’s government is declaring a state of public health emergency and putting aggressive measures in place to protect the health system and reduce the rising spread of COVID-19 cases.
New restrictions and increased enforcement will reduce the spread of COVID-19 in communities, protect hospitals, keep schools and businesses open as much as possible, and better protect vulnerable Albertans.
There are now 13,349 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. With rising hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, new restrictions are needed.
“We are taking strong, targeted new measures to protect both lives and livelihoods and bend the COVID-19 curve back down. Today we have declared a state of public health emergency, taking firm action to protect Albertans’ health and our health-care system. Without these measures, we will soon have to cancel thousands of surgeries and other health services. Albertans must act together to protect the vulnerable.”
“Most Albertans have done their best to follow the targeted health measures introduced 10 days ago, however, these efforts have not slowed the growth of COVID-19 sufficiently. Cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions continue to rise. We are in a critical time. By taking further action now, we can slow this virus, ensure our health-care system has the capacity to respond and prevent the shuttering of more businesses.”
“The growth rate of COVID-19 cases is alarming. Even with the new measures, because of the lag time between announcing and impact, additional health system measures such as cancelling urgent surgeries may be needed temporarily to ensure hospitals can cope with COVID-related illness. All Albertans must take these additional measures very seriously; this virus is highly contagious. Only by working together can we protect each other, reduce the spread and protect our health system.”
New public health measures
Not following mandatory restrictions could result in fines of $1,000 per ticketed offence and up to $100,000 through the courts.
Provincewide measures
Public and private gatherings
Effective immediately, mandatory restrictions on social gatherings are in effect provincewide. These measures will be in place until further notice and include:
No indoor social gatherings are permitted in any setting, including workplaces.
Outdoor social gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people.
Funeral services and wedding ceremonies must follow all public health guidance and are limited to a maximum of 10 in-person attendees. Receptions are not permitted.
Schools
In all schools, Grades 7-12 will move to at-home learning on Nov. 30, ending in-person classes early.
Students in early childhood services and Grades K-6 will remain learning in-person until Dec. 18.
All students will return to at-home learning after the winter break and resume in-person learning on Jan. 11, 2021.
These measures are mandatory.
Diploma exams are optional for the rest of the school year. Students and their families can choose whether to write the exam or receive an exemption for the April, June, and August 2021 exam sessions.
Measures for regions under enhanced status
Effective immediately, mandatory restrictions on places of worship, businesses and services are in effect in areas under enhanced status. These measures will be in place until further notice.
Places of worship
Places of worship are limited to a maximum of one-third normal attendance per service.
Physical distancing between households and masking are required.
Faith-based leaders are encouraged to move services online.
In-person faith group meetings can continue, but must maintain physical distancing and public health measures must be followed.
Businesses and services
Starting Nov. 27, business and service restrictions fall under three categories: closed for in-person business, open with restrictions, and open by appointment only. Impacts by category are available here: alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures.aspx.
These measures will remain in place for three weeks, but will be extended if needed.
Albertans are encouraged to limit in-person visits to retail locations, shop local and use curbside pickup, delivery and online services, where possible.
Specific measures for Calgary, Edmonton and surrounding communities
Mandatory mask requirements
Effective immediately, a new mandatory mask requirement for indoor workplaces is in place for Edmonton, Calgary and surrounding areas. This includes any location where employees are present, and applies to visitors, including delivery personnel, and employees or contractors.
This measure will be in place until further notice.
All existing guidance and legal orders remain in place in all areas. Alberta Health, AHS and local municipalities continue to closely monitor the spread across the province.
Tonight, at the Regular Council Meeting, Mayor and Council passed a bylaw making face coverings mandatory in indoor public places effective immediately. “This bylaw is temporary and will only be activated when the Province has Drumheller or our neighbouring communities as listed as Enhanced Status.” Explains Deputy Mayor Jay Garbutt. “We recognize that this is a controversial topic in our community, however, the health and safety of our residents is the most important issue.” According to Bylaw 20.20, an indoor public place means all or part of a building, structure, or other enclosed areas to which the public has access as of right or by invitation, express, or implied, regardless of whether a fee is charged for entry, and for clarification includes but is not limited to: i. eating and drinking establishments; ii. Public Vehicles; iii. entertainment establishments, amusement arcades, bingo establishments, adult entertainment establishments, and theatres; iv. markets, retail stores, garden centres, shopping centres, and other places where goods or services are made available to the public; v. places of worship, community facilities, recreational facilities, and places where people gather for cultural purposes; vi. gyms, studios, and other exercise facilities; vii. indoor or enclosed parking facilities; viii. premises used as an open house, presentation centre, or other facility for real estate purposes; ix. common areas of hotels, motels, and other short term rentals; x. medical clinics; and xi. offices to which the public has access;
The Government of Alberta indicated that for Drumheller to be removed from enhanced status, the cases would have to be less than 10, or less than 50 per 100,000 for thirty consecutive days. As of today, Drumheller has 63 active cases, or 699.5 per 100,000 along with two deaths, ranking us in the top 10 for cases per 100,000 in the province. A list of exemptions to Bylaw 20.20 can be found on Drumheller.ca
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