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Competing models of Late Wisconsinan glacial advance, coalescence and retreat entail different opportunities for early human occupation of the developing ecophysical landscape of interior western Canada. Of the current models, one postulates prolonged ice coalescence while the second suggests brief coalescence followed by a prolonged interval of deglaciation. Before we can model human occupation of the recently deglaciated landscape then, it is necessary to understand the changing physical landforms and ecological landscapes as these influence not only the opportunities for settlement but also the chances of site preservation. This paper reviews recent evidence on the developing ecophysical landscape of southern Alberta during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Our review of this evidence appears to support a model of rapid deglaciation sometime around 12,000 years ago with an equally rapid colonization of the recently deglaciated landscapes by plants, animals, and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The City of Edmonton's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department proposed to move to a 'single start station system' (SS system) in which all ambulances would begin and end their shifts at the same location. We developed a discrete event simulation model to estimate the impact of this change and subsequently used this model to explore other changes to Edmonton EMS operations, including the addition of stations, the addition of ambulances, different shifts, and a different redeployment system. We found that a SS system increased average unit availability and the fraction of calls reached within the department's response time standard, particularly during the current shift changeover periods. The paper describes the development and validation of the simulation model and summarizes the results of its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a detailed palynological study of the Milk River Formation in southern Alberta, Canada, a diverse and well-preserved assemblage of fungi including dispersed fungal spores and isolated fragments of microthyriaceous fruiting bodies were encountered and these are described. Based on ammonites, magnetostratigraphy, and palynomorphs, these strata are dated as latest Santonian to ?earliest Campanian (Late Cretaceous). This palynomorph assemblage represents one of the few documented occurrences of fungi of this age. Eighteen genera of fungal spores and three of microthyriaceous thyriothecia, comprising 45 species are recorded. The fungal assemblage is characterized by species of toruloid spores in chains, and cylindrical spores belonging to Dicellaesporites, Diporicellaesporites, Pluricellaesporites, Reduviasporonites, and Scolecosporites that mainly occur as saprophytes today. Helicoid spores belonging to Involutisporonites and Paragranatisporites are also represented and these generally occur in marshy and swamp-like conditions in an open environment mainly characterized by taxodiaceous forest. Microthyriaceous thyriothecia are represented by several specimens of Asterothyrites menonii, Phragmothyrites eocaenicus, and Trichothyrites sp. Although the assemblage consists of diverse fungal taxa, the dispersed spores and fruiting structures are not abundant, and only a few scattered specimens for many species were recorded. One reason for the low frequency may have been the unfavorable paleoenvironmental conditions which prevailed in these marine to nearshore terrestrial depositional settings. In spite of the low abundances, it is thought that documentation of the fungal occurrences in these strata will be of importance in future biostratigraphic and evolutionary studies of fungi. Many of the fungal species encountered are distinctive and probably restricted stratigraphically, being different from those recorded from the better documented Paleogene/Neogene assemblages, and may prove to be biostratigraphically useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Since the early 1980s some 40,000 acres of forested land have been cleared and placed under cultivation by Mennonite farmers near the small town of La Crete in northern Alberta's Peace River district. This incipient agriculture has been accompanied by dramatic increases in road building and home construction and by the establishment of churches and schools. The principal force behind the acquisition of land has been a desire of families to have homes in rural areas where they can enjoy lifestyles based on traditional Mennonite values. Because most new farmers cannot earn a living in the district from agriculture alone, they must rely on the wood industries to supplement their incomes. Demand is building for the province to open still more land, but disagreements between the government and the Mennonite community about the most appropriate location for developing new farms has put further expansion on hold until the conflict can be resolved. Keywords: agricultural expansion, Alberta, Canada, Mennonites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of charter schools in revitalizing and improving the effectiveness of public schools in Alberta. Purpose in the establishment charter schools; Outcomes of the implementattion of charter schools; Responsibility of the state to ensure the availability of charter schools to a large proportion of children.