Opinion
Local opinion writer not in favour of Molly Bannister Drive extension and development

This article is submitted by Red Deer Resident Tim Lasiuta
Dear City of Red Deer
Firstly, I am very surprised that the Bower sisters sold the pristine land to Melcor. Very surprised.
Secondly, After all this time and development in Red Deer the most valuable land in the city has changed hands. Let us pray that they have the wisdom to follow what has unparalleled potential for future generations.
Thirdly, the concept of a road across the creek by Bower would be positive and allow splendid traffic flow but decisions like this need to be seen with eyes that look 100 years into the future.
As a future Red Deer citizen looking back, I would look back to a time when Alberta was in tough economic times and the phase out of gas powered vehicles had started. However, with the advent of flying cars and hover boards and personal flying suits, roads have gone out of vogue so roads that were once busy according to old photographs, are now long stretches of greenery, much like what once may existed. With one exception. Looking back on wildlife counts and the many green spaces around Red Deer, over the last 100 years, the flow of animals came to a standstill as the wanton destruction of pristine environments accelerated. Precedent after precedent allowed the desecration of The Kerry Wood area and green spaces alongside Highway 2.
As a present Red Deer citizen, I look at the example of Central Park, New York. More than a century ago, a civic minded individual donated land to create a timeless refuge for urban dwellers in the big city. Today, it is the #1 draw for tourists and those wanting to find peace in a busy city.
I imagine that the future citizen would see the same IF the proposed bridge goes across. The flow of animals, and desecration of virgin land that David Thompson, Leonard Gaetz, Sgt McLeod, and countless native tribes walked on would be severe.
I am aware the Melcor wants to develop a park, but I propose it is the entire land purchase, not a small fraction.
100 years from now, our descendants will be able to look at a pristine land area that hearkens to a time and leadership that dares make hard decisions on what could be an easy solution with incredible cost.
As a past candidate in one election, I would advocate that the good decision on this is NO bridge, and pressure on Melcor to preserve what will be our greatest resource and potential recreation area.
Fourthly, with land that is undefiled as the area is, the archaeology that is beneath must be incredible and must be examined. If it is not, it is in violation of Dalgemuuq and federal regulations on land development. In this case, an aerial examination of the land is not sufficient. There MUST be boots on the ground. Based on Cree habitation of this area, it is indeed possible that there is even a village beneath the area. In Red Deer, only two areas can boast summer village dating to pre-contact, and they are both under danger of desecration. Let us not make this a third. There would be legal action if action proceeds without in depth investigation.
I am in favor of development, but perhaps this is a time for future based decisions.
IF this development does come up and a bridge is truly proposed. I will run again, and strongly oppose it. STRONGLY.
Tim Lasiuta, Red Deer, Alberta
Crime
‘We’re Going To Lose’: Steve Bannon Warns Withholding Epstein Files Would Doom GOP

From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jason Cohen
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon warned on Friday that Republicans would suffer major losses if President Donald Trump’s administration does not move to release documents related to deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and associations.
Axios reported on Sunday that a two-page memo showed the Department Of Justice (DOJ) and FBI found no evidence Epstein kept a “client list” or was murdered, but public doubts have continued. Bannon said on “Bannon’s War Room” that failure to release information would lead to the dissipation of one-tenth of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and significant losses for the Republican Party in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
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“It’s not about just a pedophile ring and all that, it’s about who governs us, right? And that’s why it’s not going to go away … For this to go away, you’re going to lose 10% of the MAGA movement,” Bannon said. “If we lose 10% of the MAGA movement right now, we’re going to lose 40 seats in ’26, we’re going to lose the [presidency]. They don’t even have to steal it, which they’re going to try to do in ’28, because they’re going to sit there and they go, ‘They’ve disheartened the hardest-core populist nationalists’ — that’s always been who governs us.”
Bannon also demanded the publication of all the Epstein documents on “Bannon’s War Room” Thursday. He called on the DOJ to go to court and push for the release of the documents or for Trump to appoint a special counsel to manage the publication.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and charged with sex trafficking. Shortly after, he was found dead in his New York Metropolitan Correctional Center cell shortly after. Officials asserted that he hanged himself in his cell.
However, Epstein’s death has sparked years of theories because of the malfunctioning of prison cameras, along with guards admitting to falsifying documents about checking on the then-inmate. The DOJ inspector general later confirmed that multiple surveillance cameras outside of his cell were inoperable, while others captured the common area outside his door.
Both Bannon and Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson have speculated that Epstein had connections to intelligence agencies.
Former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta allegedly indicated that Epstein was tied to intelligence, according to Vicky Ward in The Daily Beast.
espionage
FBI’s Dan Bongino may resign after dispute about Epstein files with Pam Bondi

From LifeSiteNews
Both Dan Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi have been taking the heat for what many see as the obstruction of the full Epstein files release.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino took the day off on Friday after an argument with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s case files.
One source close to Bongino told Axios that “he ain’t coming back.” Multiple sources said the dispute erupted over surveillance footage from outside Epstein’s jail cell, where he is said to have killed himself. Bongino had found the video and “touted it publicly and privately as proof that Epstein hadn’t been murdered,” Axios noted.
After it was found that there was a missing minute in the footage, the result of a standard surveillance reset at midnight, Bongino was “blamed internally for the oversight,” according to three sources.
Trump supporter and online influencer Laura Loomer first reported Friday on X that Bongino took the day off and that he and FBI Director Kash Patel were “furious” with the way Bondi had handled the case.
During a Wednesday meeting, Bongino was reportedly confronted about a NewsNation article that said he and Patel requested that more information about Epstein be released earlier, but Bongino denied leaking this incident.
“Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms,” said one source who heard about the exchange, adding that Bongino left angry.
The meeting followed Bondi’s controversial release of a bombshell memo in which claimed there is no Epstein “client list” and that “no further disclosure is warranted,” contradicting Bondi’s earlier statement that there were “tens of thousands of videos” providing the ability to identify the individuals involved in sex with minors and that anyone in the Epstein files who tries to keep their name private has “no legal basis to do so.”
The memo “is attempting to sweep the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal under the rug,” according to independent investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger in a superb analysis published on X.
“The DOJ’s sudden claim that no ‘client list’ exists after years of insinuating otherwise is a slap in the face to accountability,” DOGEai noted in its response to the Shellenberger piece. “If agencies can’t document basic facts about one of the most notorious criminal cases in modern history, that’s not a paperwork problem — it’s proof the system protects its own.”
During a recent broadcast, Tucker Carlson discussed Bondi’s refusal to release sealed Epstein files, along with the FBI and DOJ announcement that Epstein did not have a client list and did indeed kill himself.
Carlson offered the theory that U.S. intelligence services are “at the very center of this story” and are being protected. His guest, Saagar Enjeti, agreed. “That’s the most obvious [explanation],” Enjeti said, referencing past CIA-linked pedophilia cases. He noted the agency had avoided prosecutions for fear suspects would reveal “sources and methods” in court.
Investigative journalist Whitney Webb has discussed in her book “One Nation Under Blackmail: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein,” how the intelligence community leverages sex trafficking through operatives like Epstein to blackmail politicians, members of law enforcement, businessmen, and other influential figures.
Just one example of evidence of this, according to Webb, is former U.S. Secretary of Labor and U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta’s explanation as to why he agreed to a non-prosecution deal in the lead-up to Epstein’s 2008 conviction of procuring a child for prostitution. Acosta told Trump transition team interviewers that he was told that Epstein “belonged to intelligence,” adding that he was told to “leave it alone,” The Daily Beast reported.
While Epstein himself never stood trial, as he allegedly committed suicide while under “suicide watch” in his jail cell in 2019, many have questioned the suicide and whether the well-connected financier was actually murdered as part of a cover-up.
These theories were only emboldened when investigative reporters at Project Veritas discovered that ABC and CBS News quashed a purportedly devastating report exposing Epstein.
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