Archive for the ‘News & Announcements’ Category
Just a quick note here: Along with some internal shuffling, we have also decided on a full top nav bar to house all of our internal and external links. Hopefully this solution will remove some of the clutter from our previous system and help to remove some of the user confusion, as everything you need to click on is now at the top instead of scattered on the side.
I might not be completely satisfied with the design of it, so it may change in the future depending on feedback. *Update* As of July 6th, I took the comments and feedback about it and changed it accordingly.
On a side note, this will free up some room for our “Partner” spot which has also recently been added to accomodate all of our partners. If you wish to be a sponsor or partner, please email us with a 90×90 graphic for your site and make sure to add us to your site. You will also now find Medicine Hat Media graphics on the bottom of the right sidebar as well as a press-kit PDF including a vector version of our logo.
Medicine Hat Community Foundation
Medicine Hat, Alberta (June 17, 2009) – In continuing its tradition of community support and assistance, the Community Foundation of Medicine Hat and Southeastern Alberta today announced the creation of the “Immediate Assistance Fund.”
The fund has been created in response to the plethora of local residents in urgent need of assistance with life’s basic needs during the continuing economic crisis. Money raised for the fund will be immediately directed to local charities for appropriate disbursement.
“Our local charities are working harder than ever to meet the needs of citizens in crisis,” said board chair Dr. Shann Snedden. “The Community Foundation is responding to concerns by providing flow-through donations to these front-line charities.”
A couple weeks ago we were contacted by Rob Sparks of Shaw TV who stumbled across Medicine Hat Media and he so kindly offered to interview us about the website, so of course we took him up on the offer!
We met up with Rob at The Medicine Hat College one afternoon and after setting up his equipment, he asked some questions and filmed Vaughn and I talking about Medicine Hat Media, and after a couple action shots of us typing away on our laptops and some post-interview production, the commercial was ready to air.
Being on TV was one of the sort of milestones that Vaughn and I both share. It is kind of akin to our presence on the Internet, because once you are on either, the possibility is there for an unlimited number of people to view your work. Also, I am not just so cool that I wore my sunglasses during the interview, but in actuality, I asked Rob if I should take them off, as it was sunny, and he said to leave them on.
The commercial airs every now and then on Shaw TV (Channel 10), but thankfully there is YouTube and you do not have to camp out to see it.
Richard Rose with fiancé Shirma Dewis and daughter Mikyla - Photography by Ian Sorensen, Medicine Hat News
Richard Rose is taking the steps that too many people thought would be a good idea but never dared to tread. He has big plans to open up a video gaming center in our own Medicine Hat, up till now there has been no such thing combining all the latest consoles and PC gaming, and even in bigger city centers like Calgary or Toronto, places that do both console and PC gaming are rare.
The name of this establishment will be Empire Gaming and its location will reside at 104-7 Strachan Bay SE, with an anticipated opening date of mid-August. There is currently a Facebook group, “Gamers of Medicine Hat”, which will have updates on progress and upcoming events. The fee is expected to be around $5 an hour, and a yearly membership can be purchased anywhere from $50-$70 which will give special offers and discounts – it does not offer free play. The hours of operation will be 9:00AM – 9:00PM every day of week for the first couple weeks, after such time, changes will occur. There will also be all night events and tournaments scheduled later on.
Carrying all top of the line consoles, there will be 2 Wiis, 2 PS3s, 13 Xbox 360s and 20 PCs. The reason for these ratios is due to the amount of games per console dedicated to multi-player gaming. It is definitely an all-out experience, the Wii’s will have 92″ projector screens with surround sound and sub woofers.
So far all the feedback has been positive and encouraging except for one remark to the effect of “Why pay for something you can do at home for free?”. Well, I’m certainly not rich enough to afford all the consoles or even the high-end gaming computers they have, but it isn’t even so much about that. I’m certain with the opening we will see that gamers really are social people and just haven’t been given the proper opportunities. As a gamer myself, I think it’s very difficult to find friends with similar interests simply because – all those people are in their basements gaming themselves to play on a common stereotype.
Snow, in June?
As if it was any wonder to most people, Spectrum 2009 has been officially cancelled. This morning I awoke to a delightful snowy day, well it would have been delightful if it wasn’t June and wasn’t Spectrum weekend. Although the yearly festival went ahead as scheduled on Friday night (with small attendance), it was cancelled on Saturday citing concerns for not only the weather, but for safety, as described in this Medicine Hat News article. The article also explains that it is not only cancelled, but it is really cancelled, as in, it’s not going to be re-booked or delayed because the money and planning has already been spent for this year.
It’s really a sad thing for the coordinators, the events planners, the entertainment and even the businesses; however, some shops downtown still had their pre-planned sales going on that were meant to bank off a steady stream of Spectrum go-ers. On the up side, a lot of people are happy about the move from Kin Coulee back into the downtown, hopefully it will stick for next year.
Alberta Health Services wants to move Medicine Hat’s Ambulance Dispatch to Calgary. City Council and many hatters believe this is a terrible idea and another snub on our region. A petition on this issue has been created to have AHS re-think their decision.
If we can get a decent amount of signatures on the petition, city council will present this petition to the province. Click here to sign the petition!
*Updated June 2nd, 2009*
In a seemingly recent string of local crime and tragedy, a man has been found murdered and another seriously injured last night at 11PM. The police were called to the scene, 515E Washington Avenue SE, where they found the adult male dead inside the residence and the injured male outside on the sidewalk. I’m not posting this as an effort to post what has already be written, but to comment on it and the nature of the killing. It has since been released that the man killed was Darcy Baumbach, 47 by Michael Steinkey, 37 who was charged with second degree murder and is scheduled for court on June 4th. The other injured man’s name is not being released at this time.
Correct me If I am wrong, but this is the first homicide in Medicine Hat, since March, 2007 when James Driscoll was suspected to be murdered; however, it was never concluded that indeed he was, but is still be considered “suspicious”. And then, since the April, 2006 Richardson family murders. Seemingly, as stated, there seems to be a recent string of crime and tragedy in the or around the Hat as of late. House fire and death, theft from a previous house fire, recent Brooks murder, Brooks taser death, Bow Island car crash claiming five lives, accidental death from a fall, Fritzke back in custody after having access to internet-enabled phone (or the whole Fritzke thing in general), tons of drug growing and related charges/arrests in Redcliff and in Medicine Hat. That’s just in the last couple months. Maybe it’s just because I am becoming more aware of the news and local happenings that I didn’t notice before, but I heard other comments that this city (in jest) is becoming “Gotham City”.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers or 403-529-8481.
Medicine Hat Police Service – James Driscoll media release page
Medicine Hat News Articles
Murder called a senseless act
Murder charge laid
Michael Steinkey charged with murder
First murder of the year
Rosalyn Church is a semi-finalist in Country Music Television’s “Casting Call” contest. This local girl is vying for a summer ‘on air’ job at CMT. She is pitted against 15 other hopefuls from across Canada. You can vote for your hometown girl and watch her video entry at this link:
http://www.cmt.ca/castingcall/SemifinalistRosalyn.aspx
Excerpt from her bio posted on the site:
I’ve had a taste of the industry but now I want the full meal deal. I’ve worked in TV for two years now so am very comfortable in front of the camera. I have an outgoing personality, quick on my feet and work well under pressure. I’ve also worked with the country music radio station here in the Hat where I’ve filled in a few times for the morning show. I’ve interviewed numerous country artists and have even made some friends along the way! Have always enjoyed new opportunities and look forward to new challenges.
You’ve heard right, Medicine Hat Media now officially has a twitter account and is going to be updating it as frequent or more frequently than site updates or posts here. I went through the advanced search function on Twitter to try and find everybody from Medicine Hat to follow, so don’t mind how we follow so many people (I heard it’s a bad thing to do since people think you’re spamming). I promised a couple posts ago that we would stop using 80/90’s cartoons references and obscure internet dialect in these news-less posts, so this is pretty much the end of it then. Here’s our new badge:
Also, for no reason at all, there’s an obligatory 80’s cartoon intro after the jump:
We are finally “newage” ! We have mastered technology and the internets! We made a Medicine Hat Media Facebook group. Look for a spammy-facebook-style invite coming soon!
We were just waiting for a large enough user base before making it, and now it is made, so get more fur than any turtle ever had, be more awesome than any biker mice on Mars, be more noble than a pharaoh when Egyptians ruled the world, quit the quack attacks, and join the group. Too many 1990’s cartoon references?
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