Roop pleads not guilty
Jasperite Donald Roop has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a December drug bust.
Roop was one of six people arrested on charges related to drug trafficking in December, after the Jasper RCMP, in partnership with other law enforcement agencies in the region, conducted a two-week operation targeting street-level drug dealing in Hinton and Jasper.
Roop pleaded not guilty to all charges, and elected to have his case heard by a provincial court judge July 9.
Theodore Vena, who was also charged in the drug bust, will appear in court again on Feb. 26 for election and plea.
Derailment in CN yard
Several train cars went off the track in the Canadian National Railway yard in Jasper Feb. 14.
CN did not return multiple calls from the Fitzhugh seeking information about the accident, its cause, what the cars were transporting or any possible injuries that resulted from it.
Immediately after the Saturday incident, a train was moved in front of the derailed cars, obstructing view of the accident from the Jasper townsite.
That same night, a crane was seen in the yard helping put the cars back on the tracks.
CN employees were observed doing work on the section of track where the derailment happened as late as three days after the incident.
Packed PJ Day and world record attempt
Friday, Feb. 27 is PJ Day, an event to raise awareness for the nearly 150 autoimmune diseases that plague one in every five people.
The day was created by Marta Rode, who was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening autoimmune disease—Wegener’s granulomatosis—five years ago.
To mark the day, she asks everyone to head to work, school or out on the town in their pyjamas and to bring those flannel pants out to some of the events taking place throughout the day.
PJ Day will begin at 8 a.m. with a gluten-free pancake breakfast at the emergency services building and will carry on at 9 a.m. with a PJ workout with the Fitness Network in the basement of the Jasper Activity Centre.
Then at 12:30 p.m., everyone is invited to gather at the Two Brothers Totem Pole on Connaught Drive in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most PJ-clad people in one place at one time.
That evening, the fun will continue with a gluten-free dinner and a PJ Superhero Fashion Show and Family Dance at the activity centre, as well as PJ parties at the Whistle Stop Pub and 4Peaks.
To find out more about any of the events, visit the Facebook event “Jasper PJ Day for Autoimmune Diseases” or the “Find the Common Thread” Facebook page.
