AHS officials say the three Edmonton-based supportive living co-ops offer “unique, specialized care”.

The contracts include the Abbey Road Housing Co-operative, Artspace Housing Co-operative, and Creekside Support Services.

AHS is also scrapping the “first available bed policy”, which required residents to accept the first placement within 100 kilometres of their home.

The organization has reached an agreement with 13 home care providers to provide care and support to Calgary and Edmonton clients.

The changes come almost a week after Health Minister Fred Horne fired the entire AHS board over its refusal to cancel $3.2-million in bonuses for health executives and appointed Janet Davidson as an administrator.

They say the mother and child have been found and the baby is safe.

Police were concerned that the mother was planning to leave Canada with the baby and return to China.

They said the woman had a stroller, baby supplies and a large suitcase with her.

Officers responded to a report of an alleged abduction Monday night around 7:45 p.m.

For more on the Amber Alert click here.

The gathering is being put on by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, better known as ALERT.

Alert Inspector Gerry Francois tells 660News it’s important to have such get togethers to share information on the best practices to keep gang and other organized criminal activity in check.

Francois says thanks to a concerted effort a few years ago, Calgary police managed to disrupt the activities of two rival gangs that were waging a bloody war, often putting innocent people at risk.

He says even though gangs are no longer generating headlines that doesn’t mean they are no longer operating in the province.

The latest trends in drugs and how those drugs are being brought into Canada from the U.S. is a big topic of discussion.

Francois says because of Alberta’s robust economy and a certain segment of the  population willing to buy those drugs, our province remains a prime target for criminal activity.

The conference wraps up Thursday, with organizers confident the information sharing will help them keep a lid on those intend on breaking the law.

Officials say they’re looking into what caused the debris to fall, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

No one was injured in the incident.

Chief Building Inspector Marco Civitarese tells 660News, they are still working at new guidelines aimed at keeping pedestrians safe.

“There’s elements now that they can adopt that have wind forecasting systems, that are height and site specific.” He says, So we have advanced weather forecasting systems available to existing building owners, and its mandatory for new building owners to adopt to employ a methodology for buildings being built over five storeys.”

The issue became top of mind after three year old Michelle Krsek was killed by falling sheet metal in downtown Calgary in 2009.

Monday afternoon, some roads around the Calgary Court Centre were shut down after a piece of sheet metal blew off the building, crashing some 26 storeys below; nobody was hurt.

While the wind was howling, other parts of the city were pounded by heavy rain and hail.

660News Meteorologist David Spence says nobody should be that surprised, because the severe weather season is well underway and will be with us until mid-August.

Spence says more storms are possible Tuesday, with the greatest risk of tornadic activity in the southeastern and east-central regions in the province.

Some funnel clouds were spotted Monday afternoon in the Hussar area, about 100 kilometres east of Calgary, but no twisters touched down.

The city is investigating Monday’s building material incident downtown, and charges could be filed.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters Tuesday that the eight nations have agreed they should not specify any outcome from peace talks that all agree should start soon in Geneva.

Ryabkov said the talks should aim to create a transitional coalition government for Syria, but should not predetermine whether Assad can participate in that government.

The formal Syria declaration is expected to be published later Tuesday.

Ryabkov dismissed Western claims that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons as unproven and said they require further investigation.

Inspector Darrell Hesse was one of the first to arrive that fateful December day in 2007 when a cement truck slammed into the back of a Chrysler Intrepid.

Chris Gautreau and his daughters Alexia and Kiarra, along with Melaina Hovdebo and her infant son Zachary Morrison were killed.

The driver of the cement truck, 55-year-old Daniel Tschetter, told police he had been looking at his air gauge at the time but witnesses reported seeing him weave through traffic, speed and tailgate.

On Friday, Tschetter was released after serving two-thirds of a five-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter.

Hesse remembers trying to secure the scene himself in hopes of shielding other officers from the carnage inside the twisted piece of metal.

He writes in The Calgary Sun he had wanted to limit the exposure of other officers on the scene, recognizing the psychological impact it might have.

An 18-year veteran of the force, he says he’s seen a lot of horrors over the course of his career but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw that night.

At times, Hesse tells the newspaper, he’s haunted by the images of the five people crushed inside the barely recognizable car.

He recalls how firefighters feverishly worked in vain to free the victims inside.

And he adds the look of horror on each of their faces will forever be burned into his brain.

The police inspector wants Tschetter to know that his deliberate actions not only took the lives of the victims but also impacted first-responders.

Now that Tschetter is a free man, Hesse hopes he becomes a contributing member of society rather than one who takes away from it.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced at a ceremony on Tuesday that his country’s armed forces are taking over the lead for security nationwide from the U.S.-led NATO coalition.

The handover of responsibility is a significant milestone in the nearly 12-year war and marks a turning point for American and NATO military forces, which will now move entirely into a supporting role. It also opens the way for their full withdrawal in 18 months.

“This is a historic moment for our country and from tomorrow all of the security operations will be in the hands of the Afghan security forces,” Karzai said at the ceremony, held at the new National Defence University built to train Afghanistan’s future military officers.

Karzai said that in the coming months, coalition forces will gradually withdraw from Afghanistan’s provinces as the country’s security forces replace them.

In announcing the fifth and final phase of a process that began at a November 2010 NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Karzai said “transition will be completed and Afghan security forces will lead and conduct all operations.”

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the coalition will help militarily if and when needed but will no longer plan, execute or lead operations.

Alliance training since 2009 dramatically increased the size of the Afghan National Security Forces, bringing them up from 40,000 men and women six years ago to about 352,000 today. After transition, coalition troops will move entirely into a supporting role — training and mentoring, and in emergency situations providing the Afghans backup in combat, mainly in the form of airstrikes and medical evacuation.

“Ten years ago, there were no Afghan national security forces. Five years ago, Afghan forces were a fraction of what they are today. Now you have 350,000 Afghan troops and police. A formidable force. And time and again, we have seen them dealing quickly and competently with complex attacks. Defeating the enemies of Afghanistan, and defending and protecting the Afghan people,” Rasmussen said.

Afghans will now have the lead for security in all 403 districts of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Until now, they were responsible for 312 districts nationwide, where 80 per cent of Afghanistan’s population of nearly 30 million lives. Afghan security forces were until now carrying out 90 per cent of military operations around the country.

Foreign forces will continue to support Afghans on the battlefield when they require it, but the Afghan army and police will be responsible for planning and leading military operations against the insurgency.

“As your forces step forward across the country, the main effort of our forces is shifting from combat to support. We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed. But we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations. And by the end of 2014, our combat mission will be completed. At that time, Afghanistan will be fully secured by Afghans,” Rasmussen said.

The handover paves the way for coalition forces — currently numbering about 100,000 troops from 48 countries, including 66,000 Americans — to leave. By the end of the year, the NATO force will be halved. At the end of 2014, all combat troops will have left and will replaced, if approved by the Afghan government, by a much smaller force that will only train and advise. President Barack Obama has not yet said how many soldiers he will leave in Afghanistan along with NATO forces, but it is thought that it would be about 9,000 U.S. troops and about 6,000 from its allies.

“From 2015, a new chapter will begin. We need to sustain, and build on, the progress we have made. And NATO is ready to play its part, Rasmussen said. “Together with our partners, we are planning a new and different mission.”

Called “Resolute Support,” Rasmussen said the goal of the new mission “is to train, advise and assist Afghan forces. We will also play our part in the broader international efforts, to ensure the long-term sustainment of the Afghan security forces. This will be another visible demonstration that Afghanistan does not stand alone, now or in the future. “

The U.S. and its allies have already pledged to fund the Afghan forces in the immediate years after 2015.

The handover was marred by a botched bomb attack against an Afghan politician in another part of Kabul. The bombing killed three civilians.

Kabul deputy police chief Mohammad Daoud Amin said the blast was in the Pul-e-Surkh area of the western part of the city, which is miles (kilometres) away from the site of the handover ceremony attended by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

A police officer named Asadullah said the target was the convoy of Mohammed Mohaqiq, a prominent ethnic Hazara lawmaker who is a former Cabinet member. Asadullah, who like many Afghans uses just one name, said he saw two dead bodies lying in the street and a police vehicle was destroyed in the blast.

Mohaqiq survived the blast, according to Nahim Lalai Hamidzai, another member of the Afghan parliament.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir, chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Division, said three people were killed by the bombing and another 30 were wounded — including six bodyguards.

“The roadside bomb targeted the Mohaqiq convoy, but he safely passed. One of his vehicles was damaged,” Zahir said.

The leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, Mohaqiq is a member of the National Front, which represents members of the former Northern Alliance that fought the Taliban before the U.S. invasion in 2001. The predominantly ethnic Pashtun Taliban persecuted the Hazara minority during their five-year rule that imposed a radical interpretation of Islamic law.

The Taliban insurgency has been pressing an intense campaign of violence in the run-up to Tuesday’s security handover. The transition is a major milestone of the 12-year-old war, with the coalition insisting Afghan security forces it has been training for years are now strong enough to take the lead in the fight against the Taliban.

___

Amir Shah, Rahim Faiez and Kay Johnson contributed from Kabul

The Nova Scotia-based parent of the Sobeys chain says the cash deal will boost its presence in Western Canada and help it compete in the broadening retail landscape.

Major U.S. retail players like Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT) have been making inroads in Canada with a broad selection of food items in their stores.

The transaction to buy Canada Safeway Ltd., which has 213 stores, will be completed through its wholly-owned Sobeys Inc. subsidiary.

It happened Sunday as 22-year-old Danielle Kendall was scaling the Cotopaxi volcano when a huge chunk of ice struck her.

An online report says the ice chunk was the size of a car and no one else was hurt in the group of eight climbers.

Kendall was a member of the U of C track team and through twitter, the team said their thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

The University of Calgary posted the following statement on its website:

“The University of Calgary has learned that Danielle Kendall was killed in a climbing accident in Ecuador.

Danielle had just completed her degree in chemical engineering, minoring in petroleum engineering, with the Schulich School of Engineering.

A dedicated athlete, Danielle was a member of the 2012-2013 Dinos Women’s Track and Field Team where she earned both personal and team medals.

The University of Calgary extends its deepest condolences to the Kendall family and her many friends at Schulich and on the Dinos.”