In a topic earlier posted it was discussed how The Doghouse, Ezzies and the Kensho-Kai Karate Club had burned down. Since then, new information had been brought forward by the owners and the investigators.

It looks as though the fire had started in the attic and since the building is fairly old, it did not have any “firewalls” which would normally impede fires – in this case, since  the fire spread so rapidly, firefighters could not salvage a lot of the building. Although, all that 40% alcohol probably didn’t help the haste of the fire, haha… not to make light of the situation of course. On that same note, surprisingly the Kensho-Kai Karate Club was hardly harmed at all – since it was located in the basement. Most of their equipment was unharmed besides any water damage that occured. The 30 or so students will be resume their classes and use the cleaned-up equipment at their new temporary location, the Medicine Hat Monumental warehouse. They still do not know the actual cause of the fire.

The Doghouse Beer Cooler - Photography from Facebook

The Doghouse has recently updated its site showcasing many links to all the news stories, but also links to a new Facebook group entitled “MAKE THE DOGHOUSE BIGGER AND BETTER” which already has 288 members. The Doghouse owner, Stig Gjerlaug is noted as saying (in a Medicine Hat News interview) that “We poured our hearts into that place, everything was going so well” and that he loves bringing entertainment to the community and he wants to continue. It really showed too, The Doghouse brought a lot of artists to Medicine Hat, that without The Doghouse probably would of never came here including bands like SNFU and A Wilhelm Scream to name a few. There was also a couple events that now have to be canceled or at least redirected including a perfomance by Priestess.

MAKE THE DOGHOUSE BIGGER AND BETTER Facebook Group

There was fire in the sky in the early evening of November 20, 2008, as a massive meteorite streaked across the Canadian Prairies. The sky lit up as far north as the Territories, and as far East and West as British Columbia and Manitoba respectively.

As we are near the latter part of the year, the days inevitably are getting shorter, so it is already quite dark by 530PM when the meteorite screeched across the sky. As a result, residents of Medicine Hat were amazed to see how it apparently seemed like it was midday time from the flame-engulfed ball of space rock.

Photo by Andy Bartlett on CBC.ca

It is speculated that the meteorite fell somewhere in central Alberta. Search parties are expected to begin this weekend to try and claim pieces of the rock.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/11/20/alberta-meteor.html?ref=rss

Last updated November 28th, 2008

It seems that a joke from the popular cartoon South Park titled “Kick A Ginger Day” got taken too literally
on November 20th in Medicine Hat and across the country. Teachers across the nation were warned by school boards to be on the lookout for attacks or out-of-hand jokes towards red haired children.

Throughout the day, My96FM describes that Facebook, one of the most popular social networking websites, also sported a public group declaring the event over a national scale. Continually throughout their “Free Speech Friday”, people have been calling in, discussing their thoughts on how Facebook and television is to blame.

In Medicine Hat, “Kick A Ginger Day” was accompanied by few students at various schools, including Medicine Hat High School, McCoy High School, Crescent Heights High School, refusing to go to school on November 20. In other cases, one student was allegedly kicked over 200 times, while in another case, one student was allegedly hospitalized after being kicked so hard.

South Park Ginger Kids

*UPDATE*
It seems as though the situation and comments were blown out of proportion. It was reported in the Medicine Hat News (days later) that no student was kicked 200 times and no student was ever hospitalized. The police were never called about any assaults. While kids were reported to have been kicked, it was clearly only in a friendly, jokingly manner.

This kind of behavior, like with most semi-violent or violent situations, brings up the irresolvable questions that asks if television and video games provoke violence. Do they? Personally, I believe that if kids are raised poorly, it will have a good effect on their judgment and consciousness, and to determine properly what is right and what is wrong. There are, indeed as we all know and have heard the media report, some cases in which youths of well-standing families turn awry and do things unexpected and violent.

* Click THE JUMP below to continue reading about how television, the Internet, and video games are not responsible for violence committed by youths.

THE JUMP – Read the rest of this entry »

At about 3:00AM on the morning of November 20, 2008, Ezzies and The Doghouse began to catch fire.

Hours later, there is nothing but smoldering embers where the two building used to be. Firefighters stood vigilant over the rubble and sprayed it with water to make sure the fire stayed down and did not start again or spread. In a brief interview on My96FM, a firefighter described: “There was just smoke when we arrived, when the firefighters approached, the fire was through the roof and it was impossible to get into the building.”

With The Doghouse gone, so goes one of the main venues where bands would often come to town and play.

7th Street SW remains open for the public to traverse.

On the night of November 13, 2008, there was apparently a disc-like object floating in the sky.

Some people calling into My96FM describe the object as a frisbee with lights thrown up and hovering.

Like most UFO reports; however, the description of the object are similar. The object has lights, spins or hovers in the sky, maybe goes back and forth between a few places or cruises along briefly, then zooms off faster than anything anyone has ever seen before. So it is hard to say what it might have really been.

Comments?

More on this subject can be found at: http://www.medicinehatmedia.com/2008/11/richardson-family-murders-steinke-trial/

Everyone in Medicine Hat and across the Canadian Prairies has heard of Jeremy Steinke and the Richardson Family. Indeed, news of their actions reached far across the nation as the daughter of the Richardson family became the youngest person ever charged with a multiple murder in Canadian history.

In a brief synopsis, the two allegedly met at a punk rock show in 2006 and for the next while they began communicating on social networking sites such as Nexopia. During their courtship, Richardson’s parents grounded her from seeing Jeremy due to the massive age difference. The eventual outcome was a triple murder of the family by Steinke and in part by Richardson. Shortly after, the two fled to Leader, Saskatchewan, where they were at length arrested.

On July 9, 2007, Richardson was found guilty of three counts of first degree murder and on November 8, 2007, she was sentence to ten years in prison, which was the maximum penalty a person under 14 years of age could receive, as well as four years in a psychiatric institution and four and a half years under conditional supervision in the community.

Steinke’s trial date was pushed back until November 14, 2008 and is taking place in Calgary. The jury was chosen in three hours of 6 men and 6 women, who were not allowed to research Steinke, Richardson, or their past history, although it seems unlikely that the jury, who are but a few hours down the road from Medicine Hat, would not already be well informed of the case.

More information about the history of the Richardson Family Murders can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_Richardson
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1897982