ATHABASCA — The New Year is officially here, and as people all across the globe replace their outdated calendars, finally renew that lapsed gym membership, and incorrectly date correspondence, the Athabasca Advocate took a look at the most newsworthy events of 2024.
Rochester School closure
Aspen View Public School trustees started the year with a difficult decision on their plates; a late 2023 motion to review the viability of Rochester School resulted in community division and high emotions around the board meeting table at Edwin Parr Composite school Jan. 25.
More than 20 members of the public attended the meeting online and in person to watch what trustee and former Rochester principal Dennis MacNeil called “the most difficult decision I’ve ever made as a trustee.”
MacNeil and trustee April Bauer voted against the recommended motion to close the school after the 2024-25 school year, while the remaining five board representatives voted in favour.
“The ghosts that walk those halls, being a part of that for years was amazing,” said a teary-eyed MacNeil. “But I also know the importance of the decision that we’re making here.”
Trustees re-opened the question on Rochester School’s future in October 2023 after hearing it was one of four division schools at risk of falling below the critical minimum enrolment necessary for provincial funding.
And it wasn’t the first time the hamlet school’s future was in question. In 2022, the division contracted Focus 10 Educational Consulting Group to conduct a viability study school which looked at educational, financial, community and facility impacts of keeping the school open.
“Given the financial realities of current education funding, the division's mandate to ensure excellent delivery of programming for all students, and the outcome of this review, it is recommended that Rochester School be considered for closure,” read the 2022 report.
This year, trustees reviewed the same viability report, a 37-page analysis of the schools roof, a 45-page asset overview from the provincial government, and Supt. Constantine Kastrinos notes from community engagement.
According to Oko’s October 2023 enrolment update, the division was at risk of losing out on $455,000 in provincial funding for small rural schools if the full time equivalent (FTE) for the weighted moving average (WMA) dropped below 35.
At the time of her presentation, Rochester’s FTE was 36.
Good-bye 49th Street Grill
Days after Rochester School’s fate was decided, another long-time institution and Athabasca staple announced the end of its 25-year run in the community.
On Jan. 31, patrons had their last chance to order their favourite dishes and bites from Shauna Milner’s 49th Street Grill. Word spread quickly on social media, and restaurant staff were busy filling final orders until supplies ran out.
Milner cited the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as the main driving force behind her decision to sell the restaurant, which long-time locals may remember as Georgios before late 1998.
“I was a people person always, always had lots of people around me, and now it’s just basically me, and it’s hard,” said Milner through tears. “I’m just very sad for having to close, you know it was my life, and my staff was my family, and I just miss everybody.”
“It’s just very sad that you have to say goodbye to something that you put 25 years of work into, and you enjoyed it,” she said. “I know a lot of seniors that are in the same boat and you don’t even think your life would be like this at the end.”
Ongoing health issues had forced Milner to gradually step away from the day-to-day operation of the grill, and despite processing an emotional goodbye to her restaurant and the community she served, Milner expressed optimism for the future.
With intentions to move to Edmonton to be closer with family, Milner also hinted she was considering creating a recipe book for all the locals who will miss 49th Street Grill dishes.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘Make a recipe book,’ they want to buy the recipe book,” she said. “Who knows? I might get in my little apartment and start writing.”
County concerns
One of 2024’s ongoing stories was a code of conduct complaint that slowly soured Athabasca County’s council chambers, and has still not been resolved almost a year later.
In January, former reeve Brian Hall called his school board trustee, Brenda Fulmore, to ask two questions about a Rochester School council meeting where closure was being discussed.
The trustee, who later said she felt the call was an attempt to intimidate her, discussed the issue with her fellow trustees, who ended up sending a letter to Athabasca County, where they didn’t name Brian Hall.
What followed was an ongoing saga that saw the room split into two halves — Hall, Ashtin Anderson, Natasha Kapitaniuk, and Camille Wallach all consistently opposed the code complaint, which they said was flawed, and now-Reeve Tracy Holland and councillors Gary Cromwell, Joe Gerlach, Kelly Chamzuk and Rob Minns pushed for sanctions against Hall, which included a motion that requested he apologize.
At the crux of the issue has been a report compiled by a third party investigator; Hall maintains the report cleared him of any wrong-doing according to the code of conduct bylaw, while Holland has said the decision committee has acted in good faith throughout.
Going forward into the new year, what comes next is murky. In a year-end interview, Holland declined to comment on the report because it had been discussed in closed session — although the motion has also been discussed in the public eye multiple times — and the report has been referred to the county’s legal counsel before it is released to the public.
The search for Lorraine Popowich
A late-night search for cattle turned into a months-long search for a missing 76-year-old woman after she vanished during a rain storm.
Lorraine Popowich was last seen on May 7, when she was out looking for some lost cows in a rainstorm. By the time a family member made their way back to where she had been, she was gone.
Search and rescue teams travelled in from nine separate communities came to help look, including Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, and Parkland County, and the RCMP brought in additional resources from Edmonton, including a helicopter equipped with an infrared camera. Despite the tech, and an outpouring of support from local volunteers who aided the search, Popowich wasn’t found.
“We appreciate the outpouring of support from the community and surrounding communities, everyone out there was working really hard. We really appreciate the good thoughts,” said RCMP Staff Sgt. Mark Hall at the time.
Later in the year, additional information led the RCMP to start the search back up, bringing in search and rescue teams and other resources, but they were unable to find Popowich. During a recent municipal update, Hall said the RCMP are still investigating, and the search may resume in the spring.
EV Irritation
An announcement that the Town of Athabasca thought would be cause for celebration turned into a barrage of online negativity and province-wide attention with local decrying the need for a new electric truck.
On June 14, an innocuous Facebook post from the town showed off its new Ford Lightning, the electric equivalent of an F-150. The town had heard from its most vocal residents that it needed to do more to embrace green initiatives, and CAO Rachel Ramey said the ensuing digital derision caught everyone off guard.
“I’m not on board with that purchase, what a waste of taxpayer dollars,” wrote one resident on Facebook.
“Can’t wait for winter to see how that battery and heater perform! Don’t stretch the cord across the sidewalk when you charge that bad boy,” wrote another resident.
In total, the post generated 32 comments and over 850 reactions, three-quarters of them negative.
“I did not expect the negative feedback that we got, that’s for sure,” said Ramey.
The truck cost the town $67,058 — the base model Lightning costs $62,000 — and a base model F-150 costs about $52,000.
“With the municipal rebates that we get, plus a federal rebate, it really wasn’t a whole lot more than the traditional gas vehicle,” said Ramey. “From our understanding, we will have significant cost savings from the maintenance that is required on a traditional gas vehicle.”
New conviction for Nature Duperron's killer
Nearly a year after receiving his sentence for his role in the brutal kidnapping, torture, and murder of Nature Duperron, Buddy Ray Underwood had his second-degree murder conviction upgraded to first-degree.
A verdict filed by a panel of Court of Appeal of Alberta judges in August highlighted the leading role Underwood played in the 2019 attack that saw a young mother of three robbed, beaten, forcibly injected with drugs and left to die in a wooded area.
The Court of Appeal ruling overturned Court of Kings Bench Justice Robert Graesser’s August 2023 verdict, who stated pre-meditation had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
“We have no difficulty concluding that, had the trial judge applied correct law to his findings of fact, he would have found Mr. Underwood’s act were a substantial and integral cause of Ms. Duperron’s death,” read the decision.
Sentencing for second and first degree murders both include life in prison, and as a result of the upgrade, Underwood won’t be eligible for parole until 2049. Underwood was among three others who were convicted for Duperron's death.
Duperron grew up on Bigstone Cree Nation, and is remembered by family in the area as a kind woman fond of fishing, arts, and sports.
At Underwood’s initial sentencing hearing in 2023, Duperron’s mother, stepfather, and sister gave emotional impact statements describing the heart-wrenching task of healing from her brutal death.
“Her youngest son still cries for her, and there’s nothing I can do or say to take his pain away,” said Summer Uchytil, Duperron’s sister. “How do you explain to a child that he will never see his mommy again for the rest of his life?”
October Manhunt
A late fall, early winter traffic stop conducted on the rural roads of Athabasca County caught the attention of locals and nearby communities when police initiated a manhunt for two men who injured an officer during their escape.
Police, who were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area, said the driver of the truck appeared intoxicated and refused to provide identification when requested. The responding officer said he spotted a hunting rifle on the seat between the driver and passenger.
The driver fled when an attempt at an arrest was made, resulting in minor injuries sustained by the officer, who was otherwise ok.
RCMP issued a release two days later on Oct. 27, complete with sketches of the two suspects. Only hours after the release was made public, reports that the truck had been spotted fuelling up near Westlock were received.
RCMP released an update on Oct. 29 stating an arrest had been made and charges filed in relation to the Oct. 25 events following the execution of a search warrant on a rural property with the Boyle detachment.
62-year-old Athabasca County resident Glen Morin was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm, flight from a police officer, failure to provide a breath sample, failure to stop after an accident causing bodily harm, and aggravated assault of an officer.
Morin was remanded overnight before an Oct. 30 court appearance in Westlock that saw him granted $2,000 cash bail on strict conditions.
Morin is scheduled to appear next in Athabasca Court of Justice Jan. 7. The charges against Morin haven’t been tested in court.
