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“Everybody wants a story,” said Elizabeth MacInnis, professional matchmaker with Real Connections. “They want to be 90 years old and tell their grandchildren.... People like to tell stories.”

A walk through the river valley is always romantic, says MacInnis.

Dating Divas specialist Linda Roth suggests the zoo, a beginner dance lesson or one of many attractions at West Edmonton Mall.

MacInnis likes to send clients to WEM to become kids for a day.

“Get on the roller-coaster and be silly again,” she said.

When it comes to dining out, the revolving La Ronde is top notch, as are both Characters and The Lingnan, says Roth.

And some spots cater more than food — just ask.

“They set up the romance and serve it,” said MacInnis.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096029--get-lucky-in-love-this-year Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:06:57 -0400 Heather McIntyre, Metro Edmonton http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096029--get-lucky-in-love-this-year
From a Facebook page and Twitter profile to a dance soiree on the LRT, campaigns geared at youth are working, said Nathan Walters, strategic marketing supervisor with ETS.

“Our text-messaging service is also a very good indicator,” Walters said. “The Edmonton market is eating it up.”

The test pilot launched last January lets riders receive bus schedules on their phones.

So far, 72,000 unique users have accessed 3.1 million schedules, Walters said.

This year, a record 93 to 95 per cent of post-secondary students picked up their UPasses, said Gordon Dykstra, ETS supervisor of fare programs.

Environmental-science student Teri Hill, 20, waiting for the LRT on Sunday, said she’s found the pass worth what she pays via student fees.

Though she hasn’t accessed schedules by text, her friends frequently do, Hill said.

November saw the city’s first LRT dance party. And last fall, musician Colleen Brown shot her Happy Love Song video on a city bus. It can be viewed on YouTube.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096027--more-young-riders-are-getting-on-board-ets Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:46 -0400 Shelley Williamson, Metro Edmonton http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096027--more-young-riders-are-getting-on-board-ets
In his sternest direction to date since the provincial budget was released Thursday, Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said the 3.4 per cent boost to school operating budgets and one per cent hike to basic instruction grants is enough to meet the needs of all students.

He also refuted concerns from groups like the Alberta School Boards Association and Alberta Teachers’ Association that educators will be first to go this year when boards are staring at a bottom line that doesn’t add up.

“There better not be deficits,” Lukaszuk said Sunday. “The fact is the budget is growing significantly ... This budget is an educator’s dream budget.”

Trustees with both the Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District have kept tight-lipped about what this year’s education budget means for local schools, but Edmonton public board chair Dave Colburn admits he has concerns.

“What hasn’t been given a lot of consideration is we are in negotiations for teachers’ contracts ... contracts often bring to the table an added cost,” he said.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096022--education-budget-comes-with-high-expectations Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:48:25 -0400 Jeremy Nolais/with files from Shelley Williamson, Metro Calgary http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096022--education-budget-comes-with-high-expectations
RCMP said a pick-up left a gravel road five kilometres northwest of Stettler, striking a stand of trees around 1:30 a.m.

The 17-year-old female passenger died at the scene.

Trevor James Dahl has been charged with operation of a motor vehicle causing death and failing to comply to supply a blood sample.

Police said alcohol and speed were factors, and neither occupant were wearing seatbelts.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096018--charges-laid-in-fatal-collision-near-stettler Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:37:18 -0400 Metro Calgary http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1096018--charges-laid-in-fatal-collision-near-stettler
RCMP say three plain-clothes officers were trying to stop the vehicle at an intersection in Fort McMurray on Saturday afternoon.

They say there were three youths in the vehicle at the time, and that the shots were fired when the vehicle was trying to escape.

RCMP say one shot struck the 16-year-old, who they say was the driver.

Police say the boy suffered serious injuries and has been flown to hospital in Edmonton.

The two remaining youths in the vehicle weren’t hurt, but police say two of the officers suffered minor injuries.

The two youths were arrested but have since been released.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, a provincial body that investigates police incidents, is taking over the shooting investigation.

Police say they’re looking for a red minivan that was in the area at the time, as well as anyone else who may have witnessed the incident.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1095907--asirt-investigate-after-cops-shoot-teen-in-northern-alberta Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:56:53 -0400 The Canadian Press http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1095907--asirt-investigate-after-cops-shoot-teen-in-northern-alberta
Detective Joel Rumancik of the Internet Child Exploitation Unit has confirmed Daniel Mackie is facing 77 child-pornography-related charges in connection with 16 alleged victims across Alberta.

Included in the charges are accessing, possessing, making, and distributing child porn, as well as child luring, invitation to sexual touching, extortion and impersonation.

Rumancik said all the alleged victims are under 16 years old.

"Social networking sites are what (the accused) was using to exploit them," claimed Rumancik.

Metro learned of the case in August 2011 and discovered at the time of his arrest that Mackie was employed as a supervisor with Securitas, a contracted security company.  He was stationed at the Calgary Courts Centre.

Rumancik said they are once again warning parents of online dangers, as many of the parents didn't know their child had been victimized until they were contacted by the police.

"Some of the ways that kids access the Internet aren't necessarily on home computers or laptops," he said.

"Any thing that connects to the Internet, kids can access and be victimized online that way."

He said anyone who may have been victimized in relation to this case should contact him directly at joel.rumancik@calgaryICE.ca

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1094336--dozens-of-child-porn-charges-laid-against-former-calgary-courts-security-guard Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:33:37 -0400 Katie Turner, Metro Calgary http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1094336--dozens-of-child-porn-charges-laid-against-former-calgary-courts-security-guard
The outlandish Lingerie Football League (LFL) has announced Abbotsford as its second Canadian franchise in the league’s pursuit of ratings and legitimacy outside the U.S.

“We’re very excited about it,” said LFL Canada chairman Mitchell Mortaza. “We expect B.C. to be very big for us.”

Mortaza must put together a six-team Canadian spinoff of the league, which features women in skimpy two-piece outfits battling it out for football supremacy.

Toronto was the first adopter. Its team — the Toronto Triumph — played in the U.S. league in 2011.

Mortaza admits the premise seems gimmicky, but stands firmly behind the product on the field. “We actually play football. These are real athletes. If this was primarily sold on sex, it would have died out a long time ago.”

The women in LFL still wear helmets, leg protection and shoulder pads during games.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093985--abbotsford-gears-up-for-lingerie-football Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:02:38 -0400 Matt Kieltyka, Metro Vancouver http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093985--abbotsford-gears-up-for-lingerie-football
“Everybody always wants more money but I think we’re very lucky … to do the kind of improvements we’ve done in the last number of years,” Mandel said Thursday of the $846 million worth of infrastructure funding to be divided between cities and towns in 2012.

With a current focus mainly on the southeast LRT line, $540 million available through GreenTrip funding could help, added Mandel.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093981--provincial-budget-good-for-edmonton-mandel-says Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:44:59 -0400 Heather McIntyre, Metro Edmonton http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093981--provincial-budget-good-for-edmonton-mandel-says
Among the highlights are operational budgets seeing a boost of 3.4 per cent, while per-student grants will increase by a percent this year and two per cent each over two more.

Dave Colburn, Edmonton Public School Board chair, said he gives the budget a B-minus.

“We are concerned there is no reference in the budget to the government’s position supporting full-day kindergarten and we have infrastructure needs not only in Edmonton Public, but it’s fair to say across the province … we see no solution to our infrastructure needs in this current budget,” he said.

Lauding spending in special needs, he said the EPSB will be “crunching numbers” to see how it will affect public schools.

Edmonton Catholic Schools board chair Debbie Engel was “pleased with the predictable budget.”

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” she said, adding ECS will also be running its numbers in the coming days.

While new money for class size and base instruction is welcome news, Engel said she was also disappointed in a lack of financial commitment to maintaining schools.

Alberta Teachers’ Association President Carol Henderson questioned if the slight increase in education spending is enough. “They’ve put schools in the same position – cutting staff or cutting programs,” Henderson said, adding it’s too early to tell numbers of positions that could be affected.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093979--learning-gets-boost-but-not-top-marks Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:40:08 -0400 Shelley Williamson, Metro Edmonton http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093979--learning-gets-boost-but-not-top-marks
“We were very, very happy to receive it,” his mother Mavis Briand said Thursday. “I think it would have been a lot different story had the politicians not taken an interest and made a few calls. It went swiftly.”

She and her husband, Alain, received a call at their Leduc home Jan. 24 that Nathan had been found dead near a waterfall outside the town of Pai.

Mavis had spoken to Nathan a couple of days prior, and said he described the area as mountainous, beautiful and isolated — perfect for meditation and contemplation.

“He went frequently to that waterfall,” said Mavis. “He just climbed up there, he had his earbuds in, he was listening to his music and (the police) don’t know what happened.

“He climbed up as close as he could get to heaven.”

Mavis was told there was no harm to his body, but autopsy results could take months.

For now, she’s glad his remains are home so they can celebrate his life.

]]> http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093976--mourning-family-left-wondering-about-son-s-death Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:33:49 -0400 Heather McIntyre, Metro Edmonton http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1093976--mourning-family-left-wondering-about-son-s-death