Popping in to say: I am going on maternity leave in the new year, so you can currently apply to cover my beat at CBC Edmonton for a year. Deadline is Dec. 1 so get it together this weekend! Happy to chat with interested journos.

The Alberta government plans to close the Red Deer overdose prevention site in 2025 and replace it with a mobile addictions medicine clinic and other recovery supports. The first time an Alberta community with an existing SCS will totally remove it.

James Eastham with Parks Canada just stopped by. Told us there are structural losses in Jasper but did not say how many. Only trace amounts of rain now expected. Firefighters have observed 400-foot flames in the park. The north fire has also moved closer.

Only here to share: The link for live breaking radio coverage of the wildfire situation in Jasper. https://t.co/U7D5yPwFV9 Also CBC Listen or CBC News app (use the local feed) #jasper #JasperWildfire #JasperNationalPark I'm posting elsewhere at links in bio Be well

My colleagues at CBC Edmonton will be going live shortly (time tbd) on CBC Radio One with the latest on the #Jasper wildfires.

Update: all fraud charges have been stayed against Curtis Quigley as well as his co-accused, his former common-law spouse. The whole criminal case won't be going ahead.

The charges in this case were widely reported when Edmonton police announced them last year. Here are more details about what's being alleged, which I dug up from civil bankruptcy filings:

A strange and tragic twist to a story I've been following since last year — a B.C. man due to go to trial in Edmonton next year for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme is dead, which means the charges against him will be stayed:

To address a few comments: Madu's call/data/text logs were submitted as evidence in this hearing, and didn't show activity during time he was driving. But this isn't traffic court. Issue isn't whether he was distracted driving, but whether call to McFee is unprofessional conduct.

And here are details from McFee's testimony on the first day of proceedings:

I listened to all three days of former justice minister Kaycee Madu's law society hearing. Here's a rundown of some of what Madu had to say about his 2021 phone call to EPS Chief Dale McFee just minutes after getting a traffic ticket:

Important update on this story from @wallissnow today. I asked RCMP in 2022 if ASIRT would investigate this case. They said no. Now, ASIRT investigation concludes charges against officers should be considered, but Crown will not pursue a criminal case.

RCMP officers who arrested an autistic 16-year-old at a St. Albert playground will not face criminal charges even though Alberta's police watchdog says the teenager was mistakenly identified as a drug user and unlawfully detained:

Full credit to Julia here — make sure you don't miss her latest report on The National. I am just the vessel for the internet words in this case.

I have been riding my colleague @JuliaWongCBC's coattails for a couple days, banging out web stories made entirely of her incredible reporting to get to the bottom of how vulnerable people, some discharged from hospital, ended up in hotel rooms:

A 2nd #yeg family speaks out after their loved one is moved to not 1, but 2 hotels by a social services agency after being discharged from hospital. Now, #AB health officials are promising changes. Our story for @CBCTheNational:

Last year in Edmonton, 302 homeless people died. That's up eight times what it was pre-pandemic (37 in 2019). It's part of an overall alarming increase in homeless deaths across Alberta (124 in 2019 to 787 in 2023). https://t.co/KQ7eVnwXDV

"Why is Edmonton's condo market so weird?" is a headline for the ages

I found out why Boyle Street Community Services suddenly vacated its longtime downtown home last year.

A good fact check on how gender-affirming health care for kids works in Canada (including Alberta): https://t.co/4KMmqj0Lju