Human skull found in Hinton garage
Did you party in Hinton in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s?
If yes, did a skull happen to appear at any of those shindigs?
It may be a strange line of questioning, but it’s what the Hinton RCMP is asking after the Groeneveldt family discovered a human skull while cleaning out their garage. It is believed to have been the property of the former homeowner, Leo Groeneveldt, who passed away many years ago.
According to an RCMP press release, family members believe Groeneveldt came into possession of the skull during a party he attended in Hinton in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s.
In hopes of determining the origin and identity of the skull, the RCMP is asking anyone who recalls attending a party during that time where a human skull was passed around, to contact the police directly (780-865-2455) or call Crimestoppers (1-800-222-8477).
Quick response quashes hotel fire
A fire broke out in the Lobstick Lodge July 29, prompting staff to evacuate the building.
Fire Chief Greg Van Tighem said the Jasper Fire Brigade received an alarm around 8 p.m. that evening, and responded to the lodge with three trucks and 17 firefighters.
“There was lots of smoke damage, and lots of heat,” Van Tighem said, explaining that the fire originated in one of the hotel’s industrial dryers. The heat it produced shattered the dryer’s glass front, allowing the fire to spread to a laundry bin before firefighters arrived and extinguished it.
Van Tighem said that because of the quick response by Lobstick staff, and Jasper firefighters, what could have been a devastating fire was quickly contained, and guests were allowed back to their rooms within a few hours.
“It could have been a completely different story,” said Bernhard Schneider, the general manager of Mountain Park Lodges, but “everybody’s safe and nobody got hurt.”
Museum giving bats a boost
The Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives will put up a bat box this week, as a small step to help protect bat populations in Jasper.
In July, the museum received one of 1,400 bat boxes the Canadian Wildlife Federation is giving away across the country.
Bat populations in Canada have been hit incredibly hard over the last few years as a deadly disease called white nose syndrome sweeps across the country, wiping out entire colonies of little brown bats.
While the disease hasn’t quite reached Jasper yet, Parks Canada has closed Procrastination Pot—a known bat cave and recreational caving destination—to help protect the park’s bat populations.
For more information on white nose syndrome and bat boxes, visit the www.cwf-fcf.org
