Calgary Citizen Newsletter Saturday Dec. 16

Thank you for helping to make the Calgary Citizen possible.

Hey Insiders, it’s Krista 👋 

We are giving away two pairs of double passes to Tinseltown: The Christmas Speakeasy, the Christmas-themed event at SunnyCider Bar & Kitchen running until Dec. 31. You can also get 10% off your tickets by using CODE CITIZEN10 at the online checkout when purchasing your tickets. Email us at [email protected] and we will contact the two winners on Monday.

Here’s what happened in the news this week

1. Calgary Humane Society charges dog trainer over incident caught on video

The Calgary Humane Society has charged a dog trainer in connection with an incident last year, alleging a dog was being mistreated. The agency says it received a complaint about Mia Hodal, a trainer with Dogs Tail, in December 2022. Following an investigation into a video shared on Facebook, charges were laid.

2. Calgary doctor says abuse from patients driving physicians out of family practice

Dr. Farhan Khan says in his over 20 years of practicing as a family physician, he has never seen anything like the unprecedented amount of abuse by patients — and non-patients — towards doctors and staff. This week, he came to work to find that his clinic had been vandalized with spray paint. His clinic isn’t the only one — Khan says family physicians across Calgary are experiencing similar acts.

3. Calgary bar manager facing six more sexual assault charges

A 42-year-old bar manager, who was charged with the sexual assault of an employee last December, is now facing six new charges after more victims came forward. In October, police charged bar manager Grant Lee Cichacki, a Calgary resident, with the sexual assault of an employee and since then six more victims have reported having a similar experience.

4. 'I was desperate': Former patient warns about doctor awaiting penalty for professional misconduct

A Calgary doctor found guilty of professional misconduct is waiting to find out his penalty and a former patient is warning others based on his experience with that doctor. The investigation began when a patient’s grieving widow filed a complaint stemming from a fruitless four-year-long treatment of a woman's case of atypical parkinsonism that her family says cost them close to $400,000.

5. Calgary motocross track at risk of closure as city eyes site for bus barns

It’s the only one of its kind in Calgary, boasting unique tracks with the city skyline as a backdrop, but after decades of high-octane fun, the Wild Rose Motocross Park is at risk of closure. The park, located in an industrial area off Blackfoot Trail in the city’s southeast, has been around since the 1960s but was reborn in the 1980s when the Wild Rose Motocross Association was formed to run the facility.

Here’s what’s happening this weekend

🗓 Christmas at the Nation Enjoy this third annual festive indoor holiday market on Saturday and Sunday 11am-7pm featuring more than 165 Indigenous and local artists, Tsuut’ina Nation dance performances, Indigenous crafts, and more.  

🗓 Once Upon A Christmas Enjoy classic indoor and outdoor Christmas activities such as horse-drawn wagon rides, visits with Santa, crafts, music, and more.

🗓 The Kinkonauts present Love at Christmas: This show is improvised right before audiences with all of those cheesy Hallmark movie tropes of long-lost small-town love and holiday dramatics. Friday to Sunday at The Atrium.

And here’s what we’ve got our eyes on

👀 It’s the last week of newsletters before the Christmas break

👀 A look ahead at New Year’s events in our events newsletter

👀 Our Insiders get a peek at our year-end interview with the mayor

Catch up on this week’s features

Want to see what you missed in the newsletters this week? Here you go!

• Tuesday: Three people are dead after a parking lot shed fire

• Thursday: An ironing board, a tiki torch, and a rifle, oh my! The bizarre items that end up in recycling bins