Opinion
Opinion: The New Environmental Master Plan means City must move some major developments away from 30th Avenue
This opinion piece was submitted by Red Deer Opinion Writer Garfield Marks
July 8 2019 Red Deer city council unanimously accepted an updated Environmental Master Plan which if followed would reverse a serious environmental misstep in their east end plans.
The city’s current plans and discussions could see maximum traffic noise, commuting and emissions, unintended consequences committing too much in one small area.
The potential trouble spot is a 4km. stretch or 40 blocks along 30th Avenue, at the east end of the city. Currently the discussion and plans suggest the locating of 4 shopping centres, 4 gas stations, 4 grocery stores, numerous restaurants, bars, liquor stores, 5 high schools, 2 fire halls, pickle ball courts, Collicutt Centre and possibly the new multi-use aquatic centre.
Forget the downtown, forget Gaetz Avenue, the new “Strip” will be 30 Avenue between 28 Street and 68 Street.
The traffic on 30 Avenue will be heavy, the noise loud and the emissions extreme for the residents along that stretch but then comes the commuting from the other 2/3 of the city.
A city of over 100,000 residents to plan 5 out of 6 high schools in such a small east-end space with the 6th high school only 10 blocks away on 40th Ave. is contradictory to the new updated Environmental Master Plan they unanimously accepted, so there is hope. The plan suggests building facilities like high schools throughout the city.
Collicutt Ctr. is the most popular recreation centre in Red Deer, used by 60% of the recreational sector of society and it is as I previously mentioned on the south-east corner of the city. This is unfortunate for those who do not live in that quarter of the city.
If the city continues down the road of focusing on the 4km. stretch of 30 Ave, then everyone could suffer. The long commutes, the increased traffic, the congestion, the emissions and the noise will affect everyone especially those living near 30 Ave.
There is hope. Perhaps the next high school will be built on the other side of town, perhaps the new aquatic centre will be built on the north-west corner of the city to book-end the highly popular Collicutt Ctr.
There is hope, the city spent $150,000 updating the Environmental Master Plan that the council unanimously accepted, so there is hope.
Or it could just sit on a shelf but I hope not.
Garfield Marks
Censorship Industrial Complex
US Under Secretary of State Slams UK and EU Over Online Speech Regulation, Announces Release of Files on Past Censorship Efforts
By Cindy Harper
Sarah Rogers’ comments draw a new line in the sand between America’s First Amendment and Europe’s tightening grip on online speech.
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Federal prosecutors say Minnesota’s exploding social-services fraud scandal may now rival nearly the entire economy of Somalia, with as much as $9 billion allegedly stolen from taxpayer-funded programs in what authorities describe as industrial-scale abuse that unfolded largely under the watch of Democrat Gov. Tim Walz. The staggering new estimate is almost nine times higher than the roughly $1 billion figure previously suspected and amounts to about half of the $18 billion in federal funds routed through Minnesota-run social-services programs since 2018, according to prosecutors. “The magnitude cannot be overstated,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said Thursday, stressing that investigators are still uncovering massive schemes. “This is not a handful of bad actors. It’s staggering, industrial-scale fraud. Every day we look under a rock and find another $50 million fraud operation.”
Authorities say the alleged theft went far beyond routine overbilling. Dozens of defendants — the vast majority tied to Minnesota’s Somali community — are accused of creating sham businesses and nonprofits that claimed to provide housing assistance, food aid, or health-care services that never existed, then billing state programs backed by federal dollars. Thompson said the opportunity became so lucrative it attracted what he called “fraud tourism,” with out-of-state operators traveling to Minnesota to cash in. Charges announced Thursday against six more people bring the total number of defendants to 92.
BREAKING: First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed that 14 state Medicaid programs have cost Minnesota $18 billion since 2018, including more than $3.5 billion in 2024 alone.
Thompson stated, "Now, I'm sure everyone is wondering how much of this $18 billion was… pic.twitter.com/hCNDBuCTYH
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) December 18, 2025
Among the newly charged are Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, who prosecutors say traveled from Philadelphia to Minnesota after spotting what they believed was easy money in the state’s housing assistance system. The pair allegedly embedded themselves in shelters and affordable-housing networks to pose as legitimate providers, then recruited relatives and associates to fabricate client notes. Prosecutors say they submitted about $3.5 million in false claims to the state’s Housing Stability Services Program for roughly 230 supposed clients.
Other cases show how deeply the alleged fraud penetrated Minnesota’s health-care programs. Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf, 27, is accused of setting up a bogus autism therapy nonprofit that paid parents to enroll children regardless of diagnosis, then billed the state for services never delivered, netting roughly $6 million. Another defendant, Asha Farhan Hassan, 28, allegedly participated in a separate autism scheme that generated $14 million in fraudulent reimbursements, while also pocketing nearly $500,000 through the notorious Feeding Our Future food-aid scandal. “Roughly two dozen Feeding Our Future defendants were getting money from autism clinics,” Thompson said. “That’s how we learned about the autism fraud.”
The broader scandal began to unravel in 2022 when Feeding Our Future collapsed under federal investigation, but prosecutors say only in recent months has the true scope of the alleged theft come into focus. Investigators allege large sums were wired overseas or spent on luxury vehicles and other high-end purchases. The revelations have fueled political fallout in Minnesota and prompted renewed federal scrutiny of immigration-linked fraud as well as criticism of state oversight failures. Walz, who is seeking re-election in 2026 after serving as Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, defended his administration Thursday, saying, “We will not tolerate fraud, and we will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.” Prosecutors, however, made clear the investigation is far from finished — and warned the final tally could climb even higher.
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