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[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-28T10:49:14 | null | 2016-08-28T06:45:11 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fopinion%2F12544%2Fgrading-more-than-tobacco.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Mac-McPhail-2.jpg | en | null | Grading more than tobacco | null | null | clintonnc.com | It’s now the dog days of summer. In the past, that would mean it was time for the tobacco market to open. And for towns like Clinton, Dunn and Fairmont, the tobacco market was a big deal. It was where the farmers were finally paid for all the hard work of the previous months by selling their crop.
For my family, it wasn’t just getting our tobacco crop out of the barns and to the market. It was being a part of the market itself, since my father worked there for all of my childhood, and most of his adult life. And I also spent many of those days during my teenage and young adult years working with my father and Mr. Leland Lee, and the rest of the folks at Lee’s Planters Warehouse in Dunn.
I was basically a “Hey, Boy!” during those days, doing whatever was needed. It may be weighing tobacco, unloading a truck, or driving a forklift or golf cart loaded with piles, or sheets, of tobacco, which usually weighed around 200 pounds. One of my jobs was to assist the USDA tobacco grader prior to a sale. I would pick up the tag off of each pile and hand it to the grader as we went down each row of tobacco. This would help him move quickly down the rows since there would be hundreds of piles of tobacco sold during each auction.
The USDA grader had an important job. The grade that he would put on that tag would determine the government price support for the pile of tobacco. It would be the starting point for the tobacco company buyers who would come along later during the auction. A better grade, like a B1L, would mean a higher starting point, a higher price per pound, and more money in the farmer’s pocket. A low grade, like a P5F, would mean much less for the farmer. And you didn’t want to get a grade with the dreaded “N” on it. That meant little or no price support.
So the USDA tobacco grader would quickly go down the rows of the cured tobacco piles, glancing at the tobacco, maybe briefly picking up a few leaves on a pile, before writing down his grade on the tag, or label, that I had given him. He would toss the tag back on the pile and quickly move to the next one that I would hand him. He would move quickly because there were hundreds of sheets of tobacco to grade, and it sure was hot in that tin covered warehouse.
That grade put on the tag determined the future of that pile of tobacco. A quick glance, and maybe a quick touch, and a grade was put on the pile of tobacco. That grade determined how the buyers would look at it later during the sale.
I suppose, in many ways, we are like that USDA tobacco grader, except we grade and label people, instead of sheets of tobacco. A quick glance, and we determine their grade and value. We all do it. Sociologists say our brains are hotwired to take shortcuts so we don’t have to process and store so much information. It’s helpful sometimes, but often it can be harmful. Let me repeat, we all do it.
We see a young African-American man with dreadlocks, wearing baggy pants, at Walmart. We quickly grade and write “Thug” on his label. On the other hand, at the same Walmart, we see a young white man, with his cap on backwards, riding around in his jacked-up pickup with a loud muffler. Once again, we make our grade, and write “Redneck” on his label. We have never actually met either individual, but we’ve graded them. Both of them may have been home from college and on their way to church, but we’ll never know. We’ve put our grade and label on them.
When I say we’ve all done it, I include myself. I heard a person talk from another part of our country, and I immediately graded and wrote on his label, “Retired Military Yankee.” (Due to dealings during my work career, that hasn’t been a good grade in my book.) But over time I got to know him, and, for me, the label changed to “Good Guy.”
Due to the large numbers of piles, and in his hurry to finish, sometimes the USDA tobacco grader did not examine a pile of tobacco correctly. The incorrect grade might cost the farmer. But, most of the time, that cost would only be a few dollars.
Incorrectly grading and labeling people is far more costly. Instead of a quick glance and judging, maybe we can take time, look, and examine closer. We may like what we see. We may determine a new grade and label. How about “Friend?”
Mac McPhail http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Mac-McPhail-2.jpg Mac McPhail
By Mac McPhail Contributing columnist
Mac McPhail, raised in Sampson County, lives in Clinton and can be reached at [email protected]
Mac McPhail, raised in Sampson County, lives in Clinton and can be reached at [email protected] | http://clintonnc.com/opinion/12544/grading-more-than-tobacco | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/e58f35967672b44fb53a6176f936ec8408d10d3cf8f0906e63cbeda1818cdc24.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-28T10:49:19 | null | 2016-08-28T06:30:11 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fopinion%2F12542%2Fprayers-that-sampson-clinton-students-have-a-successful-school-year.json | http://clintonnc.com/opinion/12542/prayers-that-sampson-clinton-students-have-a-successful-school-year | en | null | Prayers that Sampson, Clinton students have a successful school year | null | null | clintonnc.com | Tomorrow dawns a new day for children across Sampson County as students from ages 4 through 18 return to classrooms in our two public school systems for another year. Private school students took their first steps into a new year a little while back now and are already deep into their studies.
This new school year offers new beginnings for each one of them, no matter their academic record, no matter their past history and no matter their previous attitude toward school or life itself.
Each child should begin this year with a clean slate; each parent should begin this year with a new determination to help their children succeed in every way they possibly can; and each educator should work diligently to allow every child to enter the classroom free from the prejudices of their past academic history. The focus should be on reaching them where they are and bringing them to a place they need to be in order for them all to succeed. After all, success for our young means success for us all.
For teachers to be able to achieve their goals, parents must understand the role educators play in the lives of their children and then allow them to fulfill that role. That means realizing that teachers are there to teach and to discipline when necessary. They aren’t meant to be babysitters; they aren’t meant to be their nurses and psychologists. They are there to teach our children, arming them with the tools they need to succeed in this fiercely competitive world.
Parents, too, need to understand the role they play in their child’s academic future. Be there for them. If they are young, read to them, call out spelling words to them, help them with their math. If they are older, show interest in their grades and extra-curricular activities, praise their achievements and listen to the reasons they have fallen short of their goals. Have high expectations and work with them to meet and exceed them. In all cases, be involved in their schools, talk with their teachers, show up at parent nights and conferences, even when the child likely would prefer it if you didn’t.
But the responsibility for a student’s academic success also rests squarely on the shoulders of young people. The youngest of them are the examples every other age group should follow. Pre-kindergartners and kindergartners, even first and second graders, seem to soak in everything they are told. Wide-eyed and innocent, these young boys and girls are eager to learn and eager to try new things. Their attitudes are great and their enthusiasm is infectious.
Even those youngsters who have difficult family lives seem to find great joy in the learning process.
Somewhere along the way, however, the spark dulls, the attitudes change and the desire to learn is often replaced by the desire to just get by. It doesn’t happen to every child, but unfortunately it is happening to more and more children from all socio-economic backgrounds and races.
We pray this year will be different for our youngest citizens.
Every child deserves a chance; every child deserves to be educated and placed on a path that can, if allowed, take them to heights they may never even have imagined.
Not every child will become the CEO of a company, practice medicine or chose the law as a career path, but every single one of them can succeed at something given the opportunity and, of course, if they are willing to utilize that opportunity.
Most importantly, care for them and remind them of the importance of education.
If we all do our part, it can be a recipe for academic success and this can be the very best school year each student has had.
Let’s commit ourselves to helping students achieve their academic success. Together we can make a difference in the lives of children, and making a difference in their lives makes a difference in our own. | http://clintonnc.com/opinion/12542/prayers-that-sampson-clinton-students-have-a-successful-school-year | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/9e39f70f463d5f5b557c6da9d5eea4afecfffb175472a5ddea28ab44ced940eb.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-31T10:50:38 | null | 2016-08-31T06:12:09 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12599%2Fnewton-grove-fire-department-hosting-fundraiser.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Newton-Grove_1.jpg | en | null | Newton Grove Fire Department hosting fundraiser | null | null | clintonnc.com | NEWTON GROVE — The Newton Grove Fire Department is looking forward to community members having a good time while raising money in the process.
The department’s annual sportsman style fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Clinton-Sampson Agri-Exposition Center, 414 Warsaw Road, Clinton. Fire Chief Lee Wilson said the purpose is to help offset costs for equipment and gear for the group of volunteers.
“It’s something that we’ve always done,” Wilson said. “We do get the tax money from our district, but we don’t have a really big tax base. So, the fundraiser money go towards purchasing things that we need.”
The fundraiser includes chances to win a grand prize of $5,000 and sportsman’s items such as rifles, pistols, shotguns and other prizes. Half and half drawing raffles will also be added. Participants do not have to be present to win.
Entertainment will be provided by Jim Quick & Coastline, a band that blends soul, blues and rock during their performances. For food, heavy hors d’oeuvres will provided. Meadow Restaurant is catering the meal.
Wilson said the fundraisers have changed overtime, but it always existed through efforts such as barbecue and chicken meals. For the past five years, the department has held the sportsman giveaway, which includes drawings and live music.
Tickets are $20.
“For a $20 ticket folks can eat some food, listen to the band and have a chance to win one of the prizes,” Wilson said. “We set the tickets at a reasonable rate so they can come out, have something to do and enjoy the night.”
When people have fun on Sept. 10, the event will help about 40 people who volunteer for Newton Grove’s fire station. Wilson said it has become harder over the years trying to keep volunteers because of conflicts with schedules.
“There’s so many things going on now with kids and sports,” Wilson said while mentioning church and school too.”Back in the history of the fire department, we had a lot of volunteers who were farmers. Now, a lot of them have gone out of town, got jobs or not farming anymore or either retired.”
As a whole, Wilson said volunteers make up about 70 percent of firefighters nationally. Those individuals have to get training and meet requirements to be a volunteer member.
For more information about the event or ticket purchases, contact the department at 910-594-0211 or visit the Facebook page by typing ‘Newton Grove Fire & Rescue’ in the search bar. Tickets may also be purchased by individual members of the department.
“It’s a good event for everybody to come together and fellowship,” Wilson said.
Fire Chief Lee Wilson speaks to Newton Grove commissioners about the department. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Newton-Grove_1.jpg Fire Chief Lee Wilson speaks to Newton Grove commissioners about the department.
By Chase Jordan [email protected]
Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12599/newton-grove-fire-department-hosting-fundraiser | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/891afd06fb8a37099fd3887bace7c5293c9d75f850489afcedc20e34c586af96.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-26T12:54:17 | null | 2016-08-26T07:02:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12504%2Fkeeping-tradition-alive.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Pow-Wow_1.jpg | en | null | Keeping tradition alive | null | null | clintonnc.com | Heritage, culture and pride runs strong among the Coharie Tribe. For 47 years now, the Annual Cultural Pow Wow has been held as a way to celebrate and maintain Native American heritage.
The 47th annual Pow Wow celebration is scheduled for Sept. 9-10. This year’s Pow Wow will be host to various other events; such as a health fair, late night social dance, UNC American Indian Student Orientation, Warrior’s Memorial Ride and American Indian Bone Marrow Drive.
The Pow Wow will feature Native American dancing, the crowning of the newly selected Coharie princesses and braves, drumming and food, along with crafts, beautifully-crafted regalia, artwork and gospel singing.
Festivities are set to begin at 5:30 p.m on Friday at the Coharie Tribal Center, 7531 N US Hwy 421 Clinton. Grand entry will be on Friday at 7:25 p.m. On Saturday, the 5th annual Warriors Memorial Ride registration will begin at 8 a.m. Grand entry on Saturday will begin at 1 p.m. and again at 6:15 p.m.
The Warriors Memorial Ride is a way to honor veterans and military service personnel. The ride will begin at the Coharie Tribal Center and will leave promptly at 10 a.m. The riders will travel 88 miles through Sampson County. Following the ride, participants will have an opportunity to show off their motorcycles and enjoy lunch. The participating veterans and service personnel will be honored in the arena with a honor song. The general public is welcome to participate in this event. Simply go to www.coharietribe.org and click on Warrior’s Ride to download the registration form.
According to information provided by the Coharie Pow Wow Planning Chairperson, Bradley Brewington, the annual Cultural Pow Wow is the most important time of year for the Coharie Tribe. It is an opportunity for all Native American Indian people to celebrate the history of their ancestors. This opportunity allows the Coharie People to reunite and brainstorm on the growth and direction of future generations. It is also a time of sharing and education with the non-native community.
“It will be a time of cultural enrichment, fellowship and fun for everyone,” Brewington said. “The revitalization of our people and community is encouraging. Projects such as the Great Coharie River Initiative and the Coharie Community Gardens are organized to unify the Coharie People. We have seen an immense increase of youth and young adult participation among tribal affairs as well as community projects.”
According to Brewington, the dedication and overwhelming support of the community will make this years pow wow a great success. Corporate sponsors and individual families have pulled together to ensure that the Coharie Pow Wow is even more successful than years past. The tribal members and the pow wow planning committee, Brewington said, have planned and worked at the tribal grounds in an effort to organize the cultural event and enhance the grounds.
“We are extremely blessed to have such an outpouring of support,” Brewington shared. The event coordinator encourages more tribal members, youth and young adults to get involved and participate in the cultural events.
While a Pow Wow may seem like entertainment to an outsider, the grounds and ceremonies are all sacred events, blessed by the chief prior to the beginning of the ceremony. The Coharie Tribe recently elected a new chief, Wilbert Ammons, who will be participating in the September event.
As a way to honor the tribe’s traditions and the sacredness of the ceremony, Brewington says there should be no drugs, alcohol, profanity or boisterous behavior on the tribal grounds. The Coharie Pow Wows began in 1969 under the leadership of James D. “Dob” Brewington, who was chief at the time.
Each dance session begins with a grand entry, a procession of honor guard, head dancers, royalty and dancers. The flag bearers also known as the Honor Guards, lead the procession carrying the eagle staff, American flag, and frequently, the POW/MIA flag.
Being a flag bearer is an honor usually given to a veteran, a respected traditional dancer, or an elder. Indian royalty are next, consisting of tribal and organizational princesses, braves and other dignitaries (tribal chiefs and tribal elders).
The head dancers lead a single file procession of dancers arranged by dance category and age. As a sign of respect, everyone is asked to stand during the grand entry and men should remove their head coverings.
Today’s Coharie Tribe is located in the southeastern region of the state, including Sampson, Harnett and Cumberland counties. Members of the Coharie Tribe are descendants of the Neusiok Indians. Presently, there are more than 3,000 members of the tribe.
For more information regarding the 2016 Cultural Pow Wow call 910 564-6909 or www.coharietribe.org. For registration information for the Memorial Ride contact Vinnie Bryant at 910 337-3951 or by email at [email protected]
The 47th annual Coharie Pow Wow will be held Sept. 9-10 at the tribal center on U.S. 421 North. The two-day event will feature Native American dancing, drumming, crafts and food. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Pow-Wow_1.jpg The 47th annual Coharie Pow Wow will be held Sept. 9-10 at the tribal center on U.S. 421 North. The two-day event will feature Native American dancing, drumming, crafts and food.
Annual Pow Wow set for September
By Kristy D. Carter [email protected]
Reach Kristy D. Carter at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd. Like us on Facebook.
Reach Kristy D. Carter at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd. Like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12504/keeping-tradition-alive | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/6b181616cc70cdca7bb9bbaa537366891ca223463bc0bdd9c7d7d8d22e50f556.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-26T12:57:10 | null | 2016-08-25T20:30:23 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2Freligion%2F12493%2Fhow-you-experienced-gods-gifts.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Becky-Spell-Vann-5.jpg | en | null | How you experienced God’s gifts? | null | null | clintonnc.com | Have you experienced the power of the Gift as described in 1 John 20? “You have the gift that the Holy One gave you, so you all know the truth”. Sharing stories about being filled with the Spirit and receiving gifts has surely raised eyebrows and sparked conversations from believers who do not believe…or understand. The stirring from within is to bring attention to the times in which we live, to know the truth and the need to be filled to overflowing with the Spirit. It is not about me for I am constantly learning and leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus to help me go forth in faith; it is about making Jesus Lord of our lives and being ready when Jesus returns.
Smith Wigglesworth shares in his book what many of you may have experienced, as I did when I was 15 years old. “ Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:4
“We must look to the Holy Spirit to show us the use of the gifts, what they are for, and when to use them so that we may never use them without His power. I do not know of anything so tragic today as people using a Gift without the Power. Some have used the prophetic gift without the Holy touch; and they have come into the realm of the natural and it has bought ruin, caused dissatisfaction, broken hearts, upset churches.
Paul says, “For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.” 2 Cor. 5:13 The Lord will allow you to be very drunk in His presence – (like the 120 on the day of Pentecost), but sober among people. If you allow yourself to be drunk in a place of worship where people come who know nothing about the Word, you send people away. They look at you instead of seeing God. They condemn the whole thing because you have not been sober at the right time. So many things are commendable when all the people are in the Spirit. Many things are very foolish if the people round about you are not in the Spirit. We must be careful not to have a good time at the expense of somebody else. Throughout worship experiences the all important thing is to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Where the glory of God alone is desired you can look for every needed gift to be made manifest. To glorify God is better than to idolize gifts. We prefer the Spirit of God to any gift; but we can look for the Trinity in manifestation, different gifts by the same Spirit, different administrations but the same Lord, diversities of operation but the same God working all in all. Can you conceive of what it will mean for our triune God to be manifesting Himself in His fullness in our churches?”
In my youth, I believed but didn’t believe (understand). Attending a revival with a special friend at 15 years old left me shaking in my shoes and holding to the pew in front of me as the entire church celebrated in the Spirit: dancing, shouting, singing and speaking in tongues, which I had never experienced in worship at my church. I kept my head bowed while clinging to the pew and asking God to help me know what to do. I finally moved from the back pew and stood at the altar with no clear meaning of what was happening. I knew I loved Jesus and talked to Him in my heart without making a sound as I stood before Him in humility, I didn’t receive the revelation the precious people surely hoped for me to get that night; fear and lack of knowledge kept me from understanding and enjoying the gifts of the Spirit.
Nine years later, I attended another revival at the same church and enjoyed an amazing worship experience. Tim, my husband of one year, stayed home that Monday night to watch the Miami Dolphins play football. A lady evangelist shared the message that reached deep inside my heart. Sitting alone on the back pew, I thought of leaving when the invitation began. Do you have people in your church who leave before the invitation? The devil gave every reason to do so: your husband is home waiting for you, remember what happened last time, it will last forever, you need to get home and prepare for teaching tomorrow, this is not your style of worship, leave before it gets loud, go home Becky! But…His still voice stirred inside with a calmness that urged me to stay. And I did!
When the invitation was almost over, I was still standing in my pew praying silently and listening to the preacher’s plea to come forth and receive God’s blessing. There was no confusion, fear, or pressure to go forth, but a sweet, powerful presence stirred my heart with a desire to step in faith (amidst the chatter of tongues and shouts of praise to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). So, I did.
I found a place near the corner of the altar and kneeled in humility. Many people praised out loud; I prayed and praised with tears flowing – without making a sound. Yet, my heart exploded with joy and jubilation. People placed their hands on my shoulder but when the preacher laid her hand on my head, the power of the Spirit shot through me like a bolt of lightning. She asked me to stand for God had given her a word for me. In shock, I stood with no fear only admiration for my heavenly Father who opened the eyes of my heart as only He can do. The church became quiet as she spoke prophetic words that would be fulfilled eight years later.
“God says that your husband will go to a foreign country and serve as a missionary to help build a church”
I stood in awe of God and the word He sent to me as a newlywed whose husband had not received Christ and been baptized. Tim believed, loved the Lord, and we were active in church. I prayed for God to work in his life and use us to glorify Him throughout our life together. Then, I witnessed the sweet fellowship of believers who believe. Finally, I went home!
Tim was waiting with a grin. Sitting in his black leather (actually plastic) chair, watching our black and white television, eating a snack, wearing his Dolphin’s jersey, he motioned for me to come sit on his lap and enjoy the ending of a great football game. And I did!
When the news came on, I turned off our television and proceeded to share all about the service and word the lady evangelist had given me for Tim. He listened intently but shrugged it off with little regard for the fulfilling of this prophecy to ever come forth in his life. I hushed for the Spirit gave a peace to be quiet and know He was God who can do all things when we believe. So, I believed and prayed for God to work it all out. And He did!
The next eight years God blessed us beyond measure with Tim accepting Jesus and being baptized at Union Grove Baptist Church by Rev. Paul Honeycutt (the first person he baptized); our first child, Cameron Odell; our move to Sumter, S.C. with Tim’s new job; joining Sumter Baptist Church; moving back home and buying a home in Clinton; Tim working with Mike Hatch at Connor Mobile Homes, me teaching, Tim beginning a career with Allstate, us joining First Baptist Church, Mr. Warren and Mr. Pearson visiting in our home and bringing us into closer fellowship with Christ and our church, me selling Avon and World Book Encyclopedias, us striving to make ends meet and seeing God provide, Rev. Bill Jones taking time to minister powerfully in Tim’s life; and in 1981 seeing the prophetic word spoken over Tim’s life in our first year of marriage become reality. Pastor Jones asked Tim to join other men from our church on a two week mission trip to Venezula to help build a church. And he went! I am still praising God for that Word and remembering the joy we shared as a young couple so in love with one another and the Lord.
Thirty five years after that amazing mission trip changed our lives and brought us up close and personal with the power of His Holy Spirit, I am still in awe of how God works things out according to His plans for our lives. Next week, Smith concludes this series with his story of the perfect way to receive the Gift!
http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Becky-Spell-Vann-5.jpg
Contributing columnist
Becky Spell Vann is the owner and operator of Tim’s Gift and The Learning Station.
Becky Spell Vann is the owner and operator of Tim’s Gift and The Learning Station. | http://clintonnc.com/news/religion/12493/how-you-experienced-gods-gifts | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/3d9e562407d4f83ca4e7055fc2b9ad23779908cf4668fda2628420886f6e0574.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T22:50:28 | null | 2016-08-30T18:03:18 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12590%2Farson-arrest-made.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_arson.jpg | en | null | Arson arrest made | null | null | clintonnc.com | ROSEBORO — A Roseboro man has been charged with setting a fire Monday that destroyed his ex-wife’s home, authorities said.
Sampson County Sheriff’s deputies took the man into custody shortly after numerous fire units responded Monday afternoon to 309 Oak St., Roseboro, including Roseboro Fire Department and units with Autryville, Salemburg, Garland, Clinton and Beaverdam. The blaze was reported at 1:10 p.m. Monday.
Nicolas Turrubiartez, 57, whose address is listed in sheriff’s records as 309 Oak St., Roseboro, but was no longer supposed to be at that residence, was charged with second degree arson and violation of a domestic violence protective order (DVPO). He was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under $15,000 secured bond.
“(The) suspect had a domestic violence protective order against him and was not supposed to be at the residence of 309 Oak St.,” Sheriff’s Lt. Marcus Smith noted. “Witnesses saw the suspect at the residence shortly before a fire was discovered at the home.”
According to reports, the victim in the incident was Teodora Turrubiartez, 45, the ex-wife of the suspect. She was not reportedly home at the time.
Roseboro Fire chief Lee Coleman, who lives near the Oak Street residence, saw the smoke billowing above the residential area and responded to the area. Roseboro and Autryville units were the first on the scene of the blaze, which Coleman described as involving “heavy fire and heavy smoke.”
“There were no cars in the driveway and the back doors were open,” said Coleman, who pointed to that as a suspicious sign. “We didn’t find anybody and reports from the neighbors were that they saw the suspect.”
Coleman called Emergency Management and sheriff’s authorities responded. Smith said deputies and investigators responded to the fire scene and worked with firefighters to locate the suspect.
“A short time later the suspect was located behind Hardee’s in Roseboro and taken into custody,” said Smith. “Enough probable cause was established to charge the suspect with arson and violating the DVPO. The fire destroyed the home and was estimated at $40,000 in damages.”
According to the N.C. Department of Public Safety, this is not the first time Nicolas Turrubiartez has been charged with violation of a domestic violence protective order, a felony. He was convicted of the same offense in Sampson in August 2014, stemming from an incident two months earlier. He received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation.
In May 2015, he was convicted of driving while impaired in Sampson, stemming from an offense in April 2014, two months before the domestic incident. He received a suspended sentence for the DWI charge as well, court records show. The state agency lists his probationary status as “inactive.”
Turrubiartez http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_turrubiartez.jpg Turrubiartez The scene of a house fire on Oak Street, Roseboro, which destroyed the inside of the home and resulted in charges against a Roseboro man. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_arson.jpg The scene of a house fire on Oak Street, Roseboro, which destroyed the inside of the home and resulted in charges against a Roseboro man.
Man charged with torching ex-wife’s home
By Chris Berendt [email protected]
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12590/arson-arrest-made | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/8352a6b679e73003584cefa660e9a1d174dd8b50fd9122ef4233d60965264149.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-26T12:51:16 | null | 2016-08-25T20:45:16 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12496%2Frehearsals-begin-for-next-production.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Dr.-Bruce-Caldwell-6.jpg | en | null | Rehearsals begin for next production | null | null | clintonnc.com | Dan Holland, the director of “Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat,” had a good number of folks to show up for auditions this past Saturday and ended the day with a majority of the roles taken.
Two of our popular actors were assigned roles in this popular musical — Lucas Jackson as Joseph and Sarah Day as the narrator. Still needed are some of Joseph’s brothers and additional auditions will be this Saturday, Aug. 27, at 10 a.m. Rehearsals will begin productively this weekend.
Last week a paragraph was given to Sarah Day’s experience at Governor’s School East which she attended in July in Raleigh at Meredith University. One of the things she mentioned was they had to tell a story using no words. Try it yourself, it’s harder than you think. Sarah’s closing thoughts about her experiences follows:
“We questioned, ‘How do we define who we are in spite of how others define us?’ by explaining how the privileged, white, American, male, Clark Kent (superman’s secret identity) is no longer our America and we need to break through stereotypes to find our own true identity. Area II was our philosophy course, but instead of learning the typical elements of philosophy, we were the philosophers. We questioned the meaning of life by defining, in our own words, what is good, bad, true, and false. In Area III, we opened our minds to the different perspectives of different people throughout our very intense conversations. We came out learning about ourselves both internally and externally. Each of us dug deep and it became very emotional at times, but could also be a lot of fun. After classes, there would be electives which weren’t required, but very fun. They included documentaries, political conversations, crafts, salsa and swing dancing classes, open mic nights, poetry readings, and my favorite, improv comedy. The students could also go to the indoor pool or play sports such as tennis and basketball. There were required films we all had to watch, to later discuss in class, and amazing speakers each week. On Saturdays, the dining hall held dances which always had an amazing DJ and we could all let loose to celebrate another great week. On Sundays, we were free to do whatever we wanted, like sleep in or go across the road to grab Ben and Jerry’s with friends. There wasn’t ever a moment when you didn’t have anything to do and the people you did it with were absolutely amazing. The best and brightest of North Carolina are just that. I will treasure the many friendships I have made and miss each and every one of them terribly. Even the teachers constantly asked how you were doing and were extremely friendly. Just last week, I visited my friend Jacob at the beach in, Wilmington, NC and I visited some friends in Elkin, NC, and we have already planned on catching up very soon. I found myself at Governor School and learned so much, which will help me for my future career and life in general.”
Upcoming events
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat — Directed by Dan Holland. Extra Auditions Saturday, Aug. 27, at 10 a.m. Performances first two weekends of October.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying — Directed by Angela Martin. Auditions Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. Performances Dec. 2, 3, 4 and 9, 10, 11.
Thoughts until next week:
Art is how we decorate space; Music is how we decorate time.
I bet attractive people think the world is a lot more polite than it really is.
I wonder what my dog named me.
http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Dr.-Bruce-Caldwell-6.jpg
By Bruce Caldwell Contributing columnist
Bruce Caldwell is on the board of directors for Sampson Community Theater.
Bruce Caldwell is on the board of directors for Sampson Community Theater. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12496/rehearsals-begin-for-next-production | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/e0f809f338da1eed2b83772c048f1e9fcd6169a42551c432194d82387fa8452d.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-26T12:55:41 | null | 2016-08-25T20:30:21 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2Freligion%2F12491%2Fchristianity-is-an-every-day-religion.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Robert-Oliver-6.jpg | en | null | Christianity is an every day religion | null | null | clintonnc.com | It may be telling my age, but when I was young we had everyday clothes and we had “Sunday Clothes”. We wore our best when we went to the worship services, but as soon as we got home, we took those clothes off and put on something we could play in without worrying about getting them dirty or torn. It seems that there are many who claim to be Christians whose Christianity is somewhat like those clothes of yesteryear. They wear their Christianity on Sunday and then put is aside for the next six days. However, it is a fact that true Christianity is not a one day a week religion. It is a twenty-four hour a day, seven days to the week and fifty-two weeks to the year religion. There is not even a summer vacation during which you set aside your Christianity. There are no annual leave days nor any sabbaticals. It is an every day religion.
True Christianity is not a spectator sport. It is not something that one sits back and enjoys watching someone else play the game for their entertainment. Though many practice it this way, it is not a part time job that one just dabbles in during their spare time. It is more a full time job that requires dedication and commitment. The apostle Paul stated, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:58). The word “conversation” is often used in instruction to Christians. The word refers to a whole manner of life. Paul pointed to a complete change in this manner of life upon becoming a Christian. He wrote, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” Eph. 4:22-24). Peter wrote, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (I Pet. 1:15).
To become a Christian or to not become one is a matter of choice given to the individual. Physical Israel was made up of those who were born into the family of Israel. They did not decide to become Jews, they were born Jews and they remained Jews until they died. Christianity, which is spiritual Israel is made up of spiritual Jews. Paul wrote, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom. 2:28-29). One is not physically born a Christian, but one must instead be born again in order to become a child of God. Jesus said, “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). He stresses the distinction between a physical birth and the spiritual birth that is needed in order to become a Christian. He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). It is one’s choice to be born again or to not be born again, but once the decision is made and one has become a Christian, they are a Christian every hour of every day of the rest of their life.
However, just as not all physical Jews, though they were Jews, were faithful to God, not all Christians, though they are Christians, are faithful Christians. This brings us back to our beginning thought. True Christianity requires daily dedication and application of the instructions of God for His children. There is no place in Christianity for slothfulness and laziness. In the parable of the one talent man (Matt. 25:14-30), this point is clearly brought out. The one talent man was not condemned for anything that he did, he was condemned for that which he did not do. He did nothing! When the Lord addressed him He said, “Thou wicked and slothful servant…” (Matt. 25:26) and commanded that he be cast into outer darkness (Matt. 25:30). God expects His children to be actively involved in the life of a Christian. In the letters to the seven churches of Asia, in the Lord’s letter to the church of the Laodiceans, He stated, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16). Indeed, Christianity is an all day, every day religion.
It just might be that the need for such a reminder as this is that a lack of realization of the seriousness of the matter is prevalent among us. Paul told the Romans, “…knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11). We live in a time of busy, busy, busy, but let us not forget just what is the most important thing with which we are to be busy. It is our eternal soul that is at stake. “…What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). (Send any questions or comments to: [email protected] )
http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Robert-Oliver-6.jpg
By Robert C. Oliver Contributing columnist
Robert Oliver is a long time columnist for The Sampson Independent.
Robert Oliver is a long time columnist for The Sampson Independent. | http://clintonnc.com/news/religion/12491/christianity-is-an-every-day-religion | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/4ef92722893354e59fafd2a23e3b46bf0cb750abe8496162b9e505ee5bc2f981.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-31T12:50:42 | null | 2016-08-31T07:16:25 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12608%2Fclinton-shooting-injures-four-investigation-launched.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_emergency-graphic-1-1-1.jpg | en | null | Clinton shooting injures four; investigation launched | null | null | clintonnc.com | At least four people sustained gunshot wounds during an altercation on Byrd Street late Tuesday night, Clinton police officials have confirmed. The shooting, which sent three of those victims to Raleigh and Chapel Hill for further treatment, is under investigation.
Officers responded to the shooting at 410 Byrd St. around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Once there, officers found two gunshot victims, identified as Mario Oates, 27, whose listed address is 422 Trappers Run Lane, Clinton, and Lodell Maurice Bolton, 26, whose listed address is 203 Shamrock Drive, Clinton.
Oates was reportedly transported to Wake Medical Center in Raleigh and Bolton was taken to Sampson Regional Medical Center.
According to police, two additional gunshot victims were taken to Sampson Regional Medical Center by privately-owned vehicles prior to officers arriving at the scene. They were identified as Michael Jamal Oates, 24, also of 422 Trappers Run Lane, Clinton, and Tyreek Da’Sha Melvin, 21, of 300 Shield St., Clinton.
Michael Oates was also airlifted to Wake Medical and Melvin was airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.
Conditions of the four victims were not immediately known Wednesday morning. The Clinton Police Neighborhood Improvement Team is now conducting its investigation into the shooting, with preliminary information indicating that the shooting occurred during an altercation between the victims.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call the Clinton Police Department at 910-592-3105. Citizens may also provide information using the anonymous texting service, CPD TIP411 by texting “tipcpd” and the tip to 847411.
http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_emergency-graphic-1-1-1.jpg
By Chris Berendt [email protected]
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616 or via email at [email protected]
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616 or via email at [email protected] | http://clintonnc.com/news/12608/clinton-shooting-injures-four-investigation-launched | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/f442e9a1f27e65597a6a4b5940016cf74cbe49c61148dc5890168d1d0a47da10.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T14:50:16 | null | 2016-08-30T10:17:06 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2Fagriculture%2F12573%2Fusda-to-purchase-surplus-cheese-for-food-banks.json | http://clintonnc.com/news/agriculture/12573/usda-to-purchase-surplus-cheese-for-food-banks | en | null | USDA to purchase surplus cheese for food banks | null | null | clintonnc.com | WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to purchase approximately 11 million pounds of cheese from private inventories to assist food banks and pantries across the nation, while reducing a cheese surplus that is at its highest level in 30 years. The purchase, valued at $20 million, will be provided to families in need across the country through USDA nutrition assistance programs, while assisting the stalled marketplace for dairy producers whose revenues have dropped 35 percent over the past two years.
“We understand that the nation’s dairy producers are experiencing challenges due to market conditions and that food banks continue to see strong demand for assistance,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This commodity purchase is part of a robust, comprehensive safety net that will help reduce a cheese surplus that is at a 30-year high while, at the same time, moving a high-protein food to the tables of those most in need. USDA will continue to look for ways within its authorities to tackle food insecurity and provide for added stability in the marketplace.”
USDA received requests from Congress, the National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau and the National Milk Producers Federation to make an immediate dairy purchase. Section 32 of the Agriculture Act of 1935 authorizes USDA to utilize fiscal year 2016 funds to purchase surplus food to benefit food banks and families in need through its nutrition assistance programs.
USDA also announced that it will extend the deadline for dairy producers to enroll in the Margin Protection Program (MPP) for Dairy to Dec. 16, 2016, from the previous deadline of Sept. 30. This voluntary dairy safety net program, established by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides financial assistance to participating dairy producers when the margin – the difference between the price of milk and feed costs – falls below the coverage level selected by the producer. A USDA web tool, available at www.fsa.usda.gov/mpptool, allows dairy producers to calculate levels of coverage available from MPP based on price projections.
On Aug. 4, USDA announced approximately $11.2 million in financial assistance to U.S. dairy producers enrolled in MPP-Dairy, the largest payment since the program began in 2014.
“By supporting a strong farm safety net, expanding credit options and growing domestic and foreign markets, USDA is committed to helping America’s dairy operations remain successful,” said Vilsack.
While USDA projects dairy prices to increase throughout the rest of the year, many factors including low world market prices, increased milk supplies and inventories, and slower demand have contributed to the sluggish marketplace for dairy producers.
USDA will continue to monitor market conditions in the coming months and evaluate additional actions, if necessary, later this fall.
Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials. USDA has also provided $5.6 billion in disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; expanded risk management tools with products like Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and helped farm businesses grow with $36 billion in farm credit. The Department has engaged its resources to support a strong next generation of farmers and ranchers by improving access to land and capital; building new markets and market opportunities; and extending new conservation opportunities. USDA has developed new markets for rural-made products, including more than 2,500 biobased products through USDA’s BioPreferred program; and invested $64 billion in infrastructure and community facilities to help improve the quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. | http://clintonnc.com/news/agriculture/12573/usda-to-purchase-surplus-cheese-for-food-banks | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/cbcd2e38dd6cf40fd7c19b503b15b262c65234517156e8af59b39f53f9859bd2.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T12:50:15 | null | 2016-08-30T07:06:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2Fagriculture%2F12572%2Fhouse-of-raeford-farms-debuts-nw-online-presence.json | http://clintonnc.com/news/agriculture/12572/house-of-raeford-farms-debuts-nw-online-presence | en | null | House of Raeford Farms debuts nw online presence | null | null | clintonnc.com | ROSE HILL — House of Raeford Farms today announced the launch of the company’s new website. Built with user experience in mind, the website (www.HouseOfRaeford.com) features a host of new tools and information highlighting all aspects of House of Raeford’s brand—from products and services to culture and commitments.
“House of Raeford is a fourth-generation, family-owned business with a strong foundation,” said House of Raeford Farms President and CEO Bob Johnson. “We are focused on building upon this foundation for the next generation of poultry production, and growing deeper roots within the chicken food service and retail markets. With the launch of this new website come renewed commitments, especially to our customers, as well as our communities, employees and growers.”
For the first time, the new website features a full product showcase, making it possible for customers and consumers to access information on all House of Raeford products and services, including the company’s newly expanded product line.
The new site also highlights House of Raeford’s ongoing contributions to the community and its dedication to the health and safety of employees, animal welfare, food safety, product quality, and protection of the environment. Another new feature also enables those interested in employment or grower opportunities with the company to get information and submit applications online.
To learn about new products, browse new recipes and explore additional features, visit www.HouseOfRaeford.com.
House of Raeford Farms, Inc. is one of the nation’s top ten largest chicken processors, providing ready-to-cook and further processed chicken products to the foodservice, retail, and export markets. The company is family-owned and operated and based out of Rose Hill, North Carolina with additional facilities in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. | http://clintonnc.com/news/agriculture/12572/house-of-raeford-farms-debuts-nw-online-presence | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/011393de34ecc55ca09dbeeafb3d60e0b9cc29221c234d74aec38e48cb2a846a.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-27T12:48:37 | null | 2016-08-27T07:00:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Ffeatures%2Flifestyle%2F12515%2Fcelebrating-you-15.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Birthday-graphic1-1.jpg | en | null | Celebrating you! | null | null | clintonnc.com | null | http://clintonnc.com/features/lifestyle/12515/celebrating-you-15 | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/fd375bef752524f6546b0c00a5cb06075ae063b21b3f4bc961dfd01cf532c943.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-26T12:57:38 | null | 2016-08-25T15:39:48 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12489%2Fidentities-of-atm-robbers-sought.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_robbery-2.jpg | en | null | Identities of ATM robbers sought | null | null | clintonnc.com | NEWTON GROVE — Sampson County Sheriff’s authorities have released surveillance images of a suspect who robbed a Newton Grove woman at gunpoint as she was sitting at the BB&T automatic teller machine Friday night.
On Aug. 19, deputies responded to reports of an armed robbery at the BB&T ATM located at 307 Main St., Newton Grove. Upon arrival, deputies spoke with a 20-year-old female victim who reported that two unknown black males approached her at the ATM brandishing a handgun and demanding money.
The suspects robbed the victim of $20 cash and her wallet which contained personal information. Only one of the suspects is pictured in the photos released Thursday. He is wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt over a red hat, track pants with stripes down the side and sneakers.
The time-stamp on the images read 8:39 p.m.
The victim told sheriff’s authorities that the suspects left the area in a green passenger car last seen traveling on U.S. 701 toward Johnson County. No one was injured in the incident. Initial reports from the robbery stated that the female was robbed of her iPhone 5 and wallet at gunpoint. The phone was valued at $400 and there was a small amount of cash, $20, in addition to her wallet.
Investigators are seeking public assistance in identifying the suspects responsible and are urging anyone with information on the suspects’ identities to please contact the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office at 910-592-4141.
A suspect who robbed a woman at the BB&T in Newton Grove on Friday is pictured holding a gun in one hand and reaching for a woman’s cash with the other. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_robbery-1.jpg A suspect who robbed a woman at the BB&T in Newton Grove on Friday is pictured holding a gun in one hand and reaching for a woman’s cash with the other. One of two robbery suspects makes his getaway, reportedly in a green vehicle on U.S. 701, traveling toward Johnston County. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_robbery-2.jpg One of two robbery suspects makes his getaway, reportedly in a green vehicle on U.S. 701, traveling toward Johnston County.
By Chris Berendt [email protected]
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12489/identities-of-atm-robbers-sought | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/569acb6c13594fe5c40dac3f647820be7a9b9d4529d4d1bd935f85e17ab08652.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-27T20:49:28 | null | 2016-08-27T15:01:11 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fsports%2F12522%2Fraiders-win-55-54-thriller.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Carson-Calcutt-Midway.jpg | en | null | Raiders win 55-54 thriller | null | null | clintonnc.com | Fans of Midway and Princeton got more than they bargained for on Friday night as the Raiders and Bulldogs squared off in Spivey’s Corner in week two football action. Both teams were coming off victories in week one, setting up what would be a wild night at Raider Stadium. After an electrifying game that found Midway down by two scores on multiple occasions, the Raiders rallied to steal a 55-54 victory over the visiting Bulldogs.
Midway would get things started on the opening drive, starting on their own 35-yard line, and relying on an aerial attack to move the ball down the field. The Raiders capped the drive off, scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run by Jake Clark. After converting the PAT, Midway would lead 7-0 with 8:33 left in quarter number one.
The lead didn’t last long. Following the ensuing kickoff, Princeton’s Earl Gibson exploded down the field for a 65-yard touchdown run of his own. The PAT was successful and the game was tied a mere eight seconds later with 8:24 remaining.
Each team would trade possessions to end the quarter with things all tied up, 7-7.
This is when things got interesting. Following a Midway punt, Princeton was back on offense, setting up on their own 16-yard line to begin the series. This series was brief, however, as Princeton’s Matthew Stallworth stormed 84 yards down field for another score. The PAT was blocked, but the Bulldogs now led 13-7 with 10:43 remaining in the half.
Things went from bad to worse for the Raiders after quarterback Austin Raynor’s pass attempt was intercepted. A few plays later, the Bulldogs cashed in, scoring once again and converting the point after, pushing their lead to 20-7 with 7:48 now remaining in the half.
Midway responded, and in a big way. The madness begin as the Raiders capped off an 11-play, 64-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Raynor to Dashawn Tonge. Midway converted the PAT, cutting the deficit to 20-14 with 4:28 left in the half.
Princeton was unable to possess the ball on the ensuing kickoff which lead to Midway’s Colby Pope recovering the kick to set the Raiders up on the Princeton 37-yard line. One play later, Raynor connected with Pope on a 37-yard pass play for the tying touchdown. The game remained tied after an errant snap resulted in a failed PAT, but Midway was right back in it, having tied the game at 20-20 with 4:12 remaining in the half.
The chaos continued as Princeton gave the ball right back to Midway on another muffed kickoff. This time it was Carson Calcutt coming up with the recovery to get the Raiders right back in business to the Bulldog 39-yard line. Again, Midway found pay dirt, capping off a 3-play series on touchdown pass from Raynor to Sha’King Warren. The PAT was successful and Midway was now on top 27-20 with 3:08 remaining in the half.
The kickoff woes continued but this time it was Princeton that was the beneficiary, as the Bulldogs returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards for the touchdown. The PAT was successful and the game was tied once more, 27-27. That would be the halftime score.
The craziness continued into the second half. The action picked right back up as Princeton took the second play from scrimmage 61-yards for another touchdown. The extra point was missed, but the Bulldogs were back ahead 33-27 early in the third.
Midway would go three and out on the next drive, setting Princeton back up on offense on their own 18-yard line. Following a holding penalty, Derrick Loftis recovered a Princeton fumble on the Bulldog 6-yard line. Two plays later, Raynor connected with Tonge once more for the 7-yard touchdown pass. Midway would convert the PAT and reclaim the 34-33 lead.
After forcing the Bulldogs to punt, Midway found themselves in the midst of a promising drive deep into Bulldog territory. Unfortunately, Raynor fumbled the ball following a sack. The Bulldogs recovered, thwarting Midway’s plans of extending their lead.
It took one play for Princeton to make Midway pay, as the Bulldogs broke it open on yet another long rushing touchdown, this time going 75 yards. The 2-point conversion was successful and Princeton was now back on top 41-34 with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter.
Princeton held Midway to 3-and-out to take back over on their own 42-yard line. Once again, Midway surrendered a long run play – 58 yards – for another touchdown and PAT conversion. 2:48 remained in the third quarter with Princeton now ahead by two scores, 48-34.
Like clockwork, the pesky Raiders responded, as Jake Clark busted free for a 61-yard rushing touchdown of his own with 2:31 remaining in the third. Midway converted the PAT and was right back in the game, trailing 48-41.
On the ensuing Princeton drive, things went even further downhill for the Bulldogs as they fumbled the ball right back to Midway. Caleb Horne came up the huge recovery for the Raiders with 2:23 remaining in the quarter, setting Midway up on the Princeton 41-yard line.
It took them less than a minute to tie things up, as Clark found the end zone once again, scampering in from 13 yards out. After the successful PAT, the third quarter would come to a close with the game tied, 48-48.
Each team traded possessions through the first half of the fourth quarter. After putting together their longest-drive of the game in terms of duration, Princeton was faced with a modest fourth down attempt. The Bulldogs converted and with 3:52 remaining, scored the go-ahead touchdown. The Princeton coaching staff elected to roll the dice, setting up the 2-pt conversion attempt. It failed, and the Bulldogs only lead 54-48.
The Raider offense, just as it had all game, came through. With 3:38 left on the clock, the Raiders took over on their own 30-yard line. With 58.6 seconds left, Raynor found Calcutt on a post pattern, and Calcutt sprinted 42 yards for the game-tying touchdown. Brian Lucas converted the go-ahead PAT, giving Midway the lead at 55-54.
Midway’s defense stepped up and stopped Princeton at midfield to seal the victory, much to the satisfaction of the jubilant Raider faithful.
In the postgame, Raider head coach Jason Fussell spoke from a mixed bag of emotions.
“We shot ourselves in the foot plenty, but at times our offense was really good. Austin and the receivers really did a great job and got us some big pass plays. Our offensive and defensive lines have got to get better, but this is a good win.”
Offensively for Midway, the Raiders had 215 total rushing yards on 41 carries. Clark led the way with 13 carries for 107 yards. Warren had 10 carries for 46 yards. In the passing game, Raynor went 12-for-25, accumulating 201 yards passing, five touchdowns, one interception, and one fumble. Loftis and Clark led Midway defensively, with Loftis recording six tackles and Clark recording five.
Midway will be back in action next week, hitting the road for the first of several consecutive away games. The Raiders will be at Rosewood on Thursday night. That game is set for 7 p.m.
Carson Calcutt catches a pass and cuts upfield. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Carson-Calcutt-Midway.jpg Carson Calcutt catches a pass and cuts upfield. | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12522/raiders-win-55-54-thriller | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/e94b8dd65592fb115f13e659206b12ed649d5c7a0ef6c6a3722c3a61436786c6.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-27T18:48:43 | null | 2016-08-27T13:02:21 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fsports%2F12518%2Fclinton-carrboro-battle-to-1-1-draw.json | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12518/clinton-carrboro-battle-to-1-1-draw | en | null | Clinton, Carrboro battle to 1-1 draw | null | null | clintonnc.com | Coach Brad Spell took his Dark Horse Soccer team to Wake Med Park on Friday afternoon for a battle with Carrboro. The match was full of intensity throughout with several momentum changes along the way. When the dust settled the game was deadlocked at 1-1.
Carrboro scored first minutes into the match to take a 1-0 lead on a collapse in the Dark Horse defense.
Ten minutes later the Horses would respond with the equalizer. Ivan Potts would put the ball in the back of the net on an assist by Andrew Warren to tie the game at 1-1.
Clinton would play extremely well in the final 20 minutes of the first half.
“We settled down, got a good defensive mindset,” noted Spell.
In the second half Clinton would keep the momentum and controlled the ball the first 15 minutes. The match took a turn back to Carrboro in the final 20 minutes.
The Horses were on their heels and hanging on toward the end, but managed to come away with the draw.
Clinton is now 2-0-1 overall. They will travel to North Brunswick on Tuesday afternoon. Both junior varsity and varsity teams will be competing. | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12518/clinton-carrboro-battle-to-1-1-draw | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/0873f0f301f8882120899d687fe0192990231084638c8bfeae0fd4c9f9487001.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-28T00:48:58 | null | 2016-08-27T20:30:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12532%2Fscc-nursing-program-receives-beneficial-grant.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_IMG_4640-1.jpg | en | null | SCC nursing program receives beneficial grant | null | null | clintonnc.com | As Sampson County has the highest number of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in all of North Carolina, the most recent data (2013) indicates there are an estimated 6,876 agricultural workers in the county.
This includes migrants, seasonal farmworkers, and H2A workers (workers with temporary visas through the US Department of Labor). Sampson Community College is always seeking innovative ways to help educate students and prepare for work in the community and is honored to be a recipient of an Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Clinical Site Developmental Grant.
The Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program enhances access to high quality, culturally competent health care through academic-community partnerships to ultimately improve the distribution, diversity, and supply of the primary care health professions workforce who serve in rural and underserved health care delivery sites. The AHEC Program awardees subcontract with community-based AHEC centers in one or more regions of a state. Specific to this award, the Clinical Site Development grant focuses on at risk populations in rural and underserved communities.
“We are excited of the value this grant will bring as it benefits the students by allowing them a unique cultural experience to include health promotion,” Laura Gray, SCC Nursing Instructor and Grant Administrator, said. “It offers them another avenue to obtain clinical experience in a non-traditional setting and will allow them to see firsthand some of the health disparities and barriers of access to care. This partnership should also help expand the outreach efforts for our partners. Additionally, the farmworkers would benefit by having an access to healthcare workers. They also will be provided health promotion education to include options and ways to access healthcare. Screenings for diabetes and hypertension will be some of the basic assessments provided by this effort.”
In collaboration, the nursing faculty as a whole discussed different avenues in order to meet guidelines of the grant. The team decided to focus on seasonal farmworkers with the leadership of Gray as the grant author and administration as she initiated steps to establish the needed partnerships.
“I am so proud of Laura Gray and our nursing faculty for having the vision to see a need in our community and developing a grant proposal that will provide an opportunity for our nursing students to directly support this need during their clinical experience,” Dr. Paul Hutchins, President of Sampson Community College, said. “It is an honor for our nursing program to receive the Clinical Site Development Grant award.”
SCC is honored to partner with CommWell Health in Newton Grove, N.C. Farmworkers Project in Benson, and Farmworker Health Program at Pender County Health Department with the goal to assess and improve the health and access to care for migrant farmworkers in our community. This in turn, will improve the overall health of the entire community.
“Additionally, we also want to offer an eye opening cultural experience outside of the traditional hospital clinical setting for our nursing students,” Gray added. “It will require them to use their critical thinking skills and learn how to tap into local community resources.”
According to Wanda Capps, SCC Division Chair of Health Program, the grant offers a unique clinical opportunity for nursing students.
“Our grant was the only one funded in our region and the experience will give students real insight into the life of farmworkers as well as the healthcare barriers and health alterations they face,” she said. “In turn, the experience will impact the student’s ability to provide compassionate healthcare in a facility upon graduation. I am extremely proud to say this grant was the favorite one submitted and has received accolades for its innovation. The clinical begins August 23 and we have already been invited to present in Greensboro at the Academic Progression meeting for the Deans and Directors of all nursing programs in North Carolina.”
For more information about the health programs at Sampson Community College, visit www.samponcc.edu or call 910-592-8081. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12532/scc-nursing-program-receives-beneficial-grant | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/72ea17ece0ede5067438955c9df2878a511e9ed3b734549bd7f8cfdb39d4474d.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T10:50:12 | null | 2016-08-30T06:38:09 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12564%2Fsearching-for-a-match.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Be-the-Match_logo-RGB.jpg | en | null | Searching for a match | null | null | clintonnc.com | Patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma often go through an arduous search when finding someone who is a match to give bone marrow or cord blood for a transplant.
That search is even more complex for the Native American population, as only one percent of the millions in the Be the Match marrow and cord blood registry are a possible DNA match for someone with American Indian ancestry.
According to Gwen Locklear, American Indian Bone Marrow Drive coordinator, a registry drive will be held Sept. 10 at the Coharie Tribe Pow Wow as part of the health fair. Those interested in registering to be a part of Be the Match can come out between 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. to the tribal center.
“This drive is open to everybody, but targeted for the American Indians,” Locklear shared.
Bone marrow and cord blood are matched by DNA, rather than blood. For that reason, Locklear said it was important for those who have a Native American ancestry to come out and register to be a donor.
“The more races a person is made of, the more likely they are to be a match,” Locklear added.
There are millions of names in the registry, but only one percent of those names are a potential match for someone of American Indian decent. Leading the registry are Caucasians, with 61 percent of the registry or 7.6 million people.
“The likelihood of finding a match for someone who is Native American is slim,” Locklear said.
Be the Match is the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on saving lives through marrow and umbilical cord blood transplantation.
The process for registering is simple and quick, according to Locklear. In all, registering will take about 10 minutes and only involves completing paperwork and a few quick swabs inside the mouth.
There are stipulations that must be met before registry is considered. Someone interested in donating must be between 18-44 years of age to register at no charge. Those between the ages of 45-60 can register, but must pay a minimal fee.
“As we age, our blood stem cells do not reproduce as quickly as they do when we are younger,” Locklear said. “For that reason, it is harder on someone to be a donor after they turn 45 years old.”
Those who have been diagnosed and treated for cancer are not eligible for donation, as well there are height and weight restrictions.
“Many people say they want to get on the registry, but often have second thoughts when the time comes to take the next step in the donation process,” Locklear added. “Donating is a commitment and if someone decides to back out, it can let the patient down.”
While there is no cost or travel involved with being a donor, Locklear said the total donation process takes about 30 hours of time — over several days.
“All of the donating is done locally,” Locklear said.
Locklear’s passion for coordinating the American Indian bone marrow drives comes from her own personal commitment she made more than 20 years ago. As a donor on the registry since 1993, Locklear said she was notified that she was about to age out and wanted to make sure more Native Americans were on the list.
In that time, she has traveled across the state to different pow wows trying to reach out to the Native American people.
“Our numbers are so small,” Locklear attested. “I want to get our local natives on the registry so they can help save the lives or our people one day.”
http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Be-the-Match_logo-RGB.jpg
Donor drive set for Sept. 10 at Pow Wow
By Kristy D. Carter [email protected]
Reach Kristy D. Carter at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd. Like us on Facebook.
Reach Kristy D. Carter at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd. Like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12564/searching-for-a-match | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/f3cb4a750846857b087d08f4c62e61b1c6a555d55ab82c1d0e8b2897461b59d7.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T14:50:15 | null | 2016-08-30T10:20:12 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12579%2Fsampson-county-students-return-to-classrooms.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_First_9.jpg | en | null | Sampson County students return to classrooms | null | null | clintonnc.com | Early Monday morning, Principal Edward Holmes watched as lines of students, guided by smiling teachers, walked through the halls of Hargrove Elementary School. A little after 8 a.m., a bell rang — the first of many that will chime during the year.
“We’re looking forward to a great school year,” Holmes said. “The school has done well, academically. We’re looking to push everyone to be even better. My goal is for our school to be number one in the district. Then we’re going to shoot for among the best in the state.”
More than 1,543,527 students in North Carolina began school for the 2016-17 academic year. Sampson County Schools makes up more than 8,600 of the total.
“The kids, they all have been just great,” Holmes said about being embraced with smiling faces of students attending Hargrove for the first time.
He’s new too. Holmes’ previous stop was the Learning Center at Charles E. Perry, where he served as its director.
“It’s a different world, but I’m loving it so far,” Holmes said about the transition.
Holmes feels great about the new year, especially after hosting an open house for parents and students. He’s also ready to work with teachers and staff members as well.
“I’m just trying to stay out of the way so they can do their job,” Holmes said. “They’re wonderful.”
Dr. Eric Bracy, superintendent of Sampson County Schools, said the district was ready to welcome back students.
“We are excited to see what the new year holds and we look forward to working with our community to make this our best year ever,” Bracy said. “I can’t wait to get into classrooms to see excellent teaching and learning taking place.”
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction officials were prepared for a new school year as well. State Superintendent June Atkinson stated that North Carolina’s public schools are working harder and smarter to ensure that all students are making progress toward a goal. She said that the goal is to produce graduates prepared to meet the challenges of citizenship, post-secondary education and careers.
“Educators in the state’s public schools continue to integrate technology, for themselves and their students, as an essential tool for effective teaching and learning,” Atkinson said. “Yet even as schools discover new approaches to engaging students, educators know that the true power of education rests on a timeless foundation of high expectations and caring support to reach them.”
In a video message, Gov. Pat McCrory talked about several improvements such as raising average teacher pay to $50,000, increasing textbook funding and efforts to connect every classrooms to high speed Wi-Fi by 2018.
“Together we have accomplished a lot for education in our state,” McCrory said. “But we know there is a lot more to do. So as you begin a new school year, I look forward to continuing to work with teachers, parents, administrators and students to build on our success.”
McCrory also thanked teachers for helping what he called the best state in the nation.
“Best wishes to everyone on a new school year and may God bless you and the great state of North Carolina,” McCrory said.
Alisha Truzy, a first-grade student at Hargrove Elementary School, colors a schoolhouse. She is a student in Amanda McLamb’s class. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_First_1.jpg Alisha Truzy, a first-grade student at Hargrove Elementary School, colors a schoolhouse. She is a student in Amanda McLamb’s class. Chase Jordan | Sampson Independent Lynn Peterson, a second-grade teacher at Hargrove Elementary School, talks to students about the first day of school. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_First_4.jpg Lynn Peterson, a second-grade teacher at Hargrove Elementary School, talks to students about the first day of school. Chase Jordan | Sampson Independent On the first day of school, Lynn Peterson answer questions from her second-grade students at Hargrove Elementary. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_First_5.jpg On the first day of school, Lynn Peterson answer questions from her second-grade students at Hargrove Elementary. Chase Jordan | Sampson Independent Students at Hargrove Elementary School finish their first day of school. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_First_8.jpg Students at Hargrove Elementary School finish their first day of school. Chase Jordan | Sampson Independent Students from Amanda McLamb’s Hargrove Elementary class during their first day. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_First_9.jpg Students from Amanda McLamb’s Hargrove Elementary class during their first day. Chase Jordan | Sampson Independent
Sampson County students return to classrooms
By Chase Jordan [email protected]
Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12579/sampson-county-students-return-to-classrooms | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/a09913cfdd31018d34ae22ef18df8d093c0dba646e619fa74e98ee11247285f9.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T00:50:00 | null | 2016-08-29T20:30:20 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12561%2Fgreen-honored.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_PatGreen-1.jpg | en | null | Sampson Independent | null | null | clintonnc.com | Pat Green received the sapphire Paul Harris Fellow +1 pin during last week’s Rotary meeting, recognizing her contributions to the Rotary Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotary members and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world. Green was president of the Clinton-Sampson Rotary Club 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2008-2009.
Pat Green received the sapphire Paul Harris Fellow +1 pin during last week’s Rotary meeting, recognizing her contributions to the Rotary Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotary members and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world. Green was president of the Clinton-Sampson Rotary Club 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2008-2009. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_PatGreen-1.jpg Pat Green received the sapphire Paul Harris Fellow +1 pin during last week’s Rotary meeting, recognizing her contributions to the Rotary Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotary members and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world. Green was president of the Clinton-Sampson Rotary Club 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2008-2009. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12561/green-honored | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/eb2addb12fd030ef7f554206220b4d3d2c1f4533b5afac6325fe289cd1885c29.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-27T20:49:10 | null | 2016-08-27T16:30:35 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Funcategorized%2F12530%2Fcharles-lee-jr.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_barefoot-charles.jpg | en | null | Sampson Independent | null | null | clintonnc.com | Charles Lee Jr.
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Mr. Charles Dennis Lee Jr., 83, of 1429 Alexander Road, formerly of Duplin County, passed away peacefully on Aug. 27, 2016 at Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 30 at the Clinton Cemetery in Clinton with the Rev. Chris Denny officiating.
Mr. Lee was a native of Duplin County, where members of his family have lived for several generations. “Charlie” was loved by so many people for his extreme kindness to everyone and his undeniably, fabulous since of humor. He led a successful career in textile engineering and was fortunate to travel all over the world, coming home with many stories that will never be forgotten, mainly because they were recited multiple times. He was fascinated with history, the stock market, photography, travel, mainly to see his kids and their children. He was everyone’s “rock.” He last attended Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill. He was a graduate of North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
He was predeceased by his wife of 48 years, Mildred Anthony Atkins Lee, his parents Charles Dennis Lee and Virginia Atkins Lee.
His survivors are: his sister, Belle Lee Fite of Raleigh; two sons, Charles Dennis Lee III of Rock Hill, S.C. and Henry James Lee (Nina) of Simpsonville, S.C.; two daughters, Mildred Lee Burke (David) of Hilton Head, S.C. and Liza Lee Strickland (Robert) of Rock Hill, S.C.; two granddaughters, Lindsey Sinclair Burke and Erica Atkins Strickland; and two grandsons, Colby Lee Burke and Patrick Charles Lee.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Leukemia Research Foundation. | http://clintonnc.com/uncategorized/12530/charles-lee-jr | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/86c807ecd33f9d035ab7887f2eb3871ce214daf839fb15fd743e0651aec28ffe.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-29T20:49:54 | null | 2016-08-29T15:31:49 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fsports%2F12559%2Fsampson-sports-this-week-2.json | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12559/sampson-sports-this-week-2 | en | null | Sampson sports this week | null | null | clintonnc.com | null | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12559/sampson-sports-this-week-2 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/3d19a9495a8cf5c0dd87ec0fecd82d13e11fb76548a67748000cb7cb87e7398f.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-26T22:48:14 | null | 2016-08-26T17:27:07 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fnews%2F12513%2Fsampson-man-charged-with-incest-statutory-rape.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_spencer.jpg | en | null | Sampson man charged with incest, statutory rape | null | null | clintonnc.com | A Sampson County man has received felony charges in connection with an investigation into alleged sexual offenses against an underage girl, Sampson Sheriff’s authorities said Friday.
Stanley Lee Spencer, 40, of 4348 Baptist Chapel Road, Godwin, has been charged with statutory rape of a child, incest with a child and indecent liberties, all felony offenses. He was served the charges late Thursday. While limited information was disclosed due to the nature of the case, the charges against Spencer stemmed from a complaint made to the Department of Social Services.
DSS received a complaint on May 31, 2016, alleging sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old female, Sheriff’s Lt. Marcus Smith said. “A joint investigation with DSS and law enforcement was launched into the incident. Through the investigation enough probable cause was established to charge the suspect,” Smith stated.
Spencer turned himself into sheriff’s authorities Thursday at the magistrate’s office and was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under $250,000 secured bond.
Spencer http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_spencer.jpg Spencer
By Chris Berendt [email protected]
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook. | http://clintonnc.com/news/12513/sampson-man-charged-with-incest-statutory-rape | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/d17799be3e52fd3186d8c67de00591861f90c71434a47b99374cca5f42fa0c0c.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-30T22:50:30 | null | 2016-08-30T18:41:09 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fsports%2F12593%2Flady-leopards-fall-to-midway.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_McKinzie-Davidson-Lakewood-Copy.jpg | en | null | Lady Leopards fall to Midway | null | null | clintonnc.com | The Lakewood and Midway volleyball teams squared off Monday night in non-conference action. Midway, after dropping the opening frame, reeled of three straight set wins to win the match, 3-1.
The Lady Leopards were off to a hot start in the first frame, sprinting out to a 7-2 lead to force a Midway timeout. The Lady Raiders seemed to settle down and was able to pull within 17-15 to prompt a Leopard timeout. Lakewood would go on to win the opening set 25-20 as Midway was never able to recover from their sluggish start.
The second set had a different look to it as it was Midway seizing control early, opening leads of 6-2 and 12-5 behind strong serving performances by Leah Williams and Logan Baggett. The Lady Leopards never really threatened in the second set as Midway coasted to the 25-10 second set victory, tying the game 1-1.
Midway opened the third set on a 4-0 run behind solid serving by Hannah Lucas and two kills by Alyssa Wrench. After a Lakewood timeout, the Lady Leopards were able to tie things back at 7-7 and again at 8-8 before Midway was able to widen the gap a little. Still, though, the Lady Leopards hung around, pulling back to within 17-16 before Midway finished the game on a run to take the third set, 25-18.
Midway was now ahead in the match, 2-1.
The fourth set opened up seeming as if the Lady Raiders would cruise to victory. Lakewood, however, had no plans of just giving Midway the win. Lakewood absorbed an early deficit and was able to claw their way back, tying the game at 16-16. Midway answered, scoring a couple of points to go back ahead 18-16. After a long volley back and forth, Midway won the point and increased its lead to 19-16, forcing a Lakewood timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Midway scored the first point to push their lead to 20-16.
Lakewood didn’t quit as they were able to go on a spurt and pull within 23-22. After allowing Midway to sit on match point at 24-22, the Lady Leopards scored two consecutive points to tie the set up at 24-24. Midway scored, making it 25-24, but right back came Lakewood, forcing yet another 25-25 tie. Midway finally scored two straight points to take the set win, 27-25 to win the match 3-1.
After the game, while the coaches for both teams each agreed that their teams played hard, both teams still have areas that need addressing.
For Midway, Coach Whitney Lamb alluded to hitting and ball placement.
“I think one of our biggest problems tonight was we put a lot of balls out that obviously needed to be in,” Lamb said. “For Wednesday’s practice, hitting is an area we’re going to focus on.”
Lakewood head coach, Sheila Davidson, said that consistency and trust are areas of focus for her Lady Leopards, attributing a lot of that inexperience.
“Offensively and defensively we’re a little unpredictable. But, I honestly attribute that to how young we are and our girls just aren’t used to playing together,” she said. “We played hard, I’m not taking that away from my girls, we just didn’t play in sync.”
Coach Davidson, however, didn’t want to discredit her opponent.
“You can’t take anything away from Midway,” she iterated. “They play with fire, passion and trust.”
Statistically, Midway was led by Leah Williams with 13 serve points and 22 digs. Mackenzie Chavis had 12 serve points and 13 assists. Alyssa Wrench, Madee Royal, and Rachel Hodges were tough for Midway at the net, combining for 16 kills and 8 blocks.
Stats for Lakewood weren’t immediately available.
For Midway, the victory moves them to 4-0 overall on the young season while Lakewood drops to 3-2 overall.
Lakewood will return to action on Tuesday as they open up conference play when they host Spring Creek.
For Midway, the Lady Raiders continue non-conference action as they host South Johnston. | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12593/lady-leopards-fall-to-midway | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/8c0a6886d2974655ebb5ab9cc399e835a39e36f1f5ebb3c16d0e4b119700fcd7.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-27T12:48:35 | null | 2016-08-27T07:15:11 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Ffeatures%2Flifestyle%2F12517%2Fyour-salt-intake-may-surprise-you.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Lethia-Lee-New-1.jpg | en | null | Your salt intake may surprise you! | null | null | clintonnc.com | Do you try to be careful about the amount of salt in your diet? Are you pretty sure you’re eating about the right amount of salt (also known as sodium chloride) every day, according to what most experts recommend?
You may be wrong about that. Even if you throw your salt shaker away, you may still be taking in a lot of sodium——especially if you eat processed or prepared foods. In fact, the majority of sodium in the daily American diet comes from such foods which are often found on supermarket shelves and restaurant meals.
That’s why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working to gradually reduce the amount of sodium added to foods. The FDA has released a draft guidance for industry that would set voluntary goals for reducing sodium levels in processed and prepared foods. The focus is the sodium added to your foods by manufactures and restaurants before you eat them; not the salt you add on your own when cooking or at the table.
The goal is to help consumers gradually reduce their daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day. That’s about roughly one teaspoon of salt — the daily consumption amount recommended in federal dietary guidelines. Today, Americans consume an average 3,400 mg per day — almost 50 percent more than is generally recommended. That’s putting their health at risk. It’s no easy task for consumers to consume the recommended amount of sodium in their diets.
Why is too much sodium a serious problem? The words sodium and salt are often used interchangeably; but, there is a difference. The salt you sprinkle into your meal or add while cooking is a crystal-like compound (40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride). Salt is how sodium is most often consumed. Between personal use and the salt added to processed and prepared foods, at least 95 percent of the sodium in your diet comes in the form of salt.
The body needs a certain amount of sodium to function properly. That occurs naturally in many foods, including celery, beets, and milk. Too much sodium in the diet can lead to high blood pressure — a leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Reducing sodium in foods could prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and illness over a decade. According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), 90 percent of American adults eat more sodium than is recommended. Children and adolescent are eating too much sodium too, ranging from 2,900 mg per day for kids 6 to 10 years old, to 3,700 mg for teens age 14 to 18.
One in three Americans has high blood pressure, and in African Americans, that number increases to almost half.
Stay tune for part two of lessons on Sodium. For more information, you can contact Lethia Lee at the Sampson County Cooperative Extension Office at 910-592-7161
Lethia Lee http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Lethia-Lee-New-1.jpg Lethia Lee
By Lethia Lee Contributing columnist
Leitha Lee is the EFNEP program assistant for the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program with the Sampson County Cooperative Extension Center. She can be reached by calling the Extension Office at 910-592-7161.
Leitha Lee is the EFNEP program assistant for the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program with the Sampson County Cooperative Extension Center. She can be reached by calling the Extension Office at 910-592-7161. | http://clintonnc.com/features/lifestyle/12517/your-salt-intake-may-surprise-you | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/a69672f195950172f68fee4df644af52e15650a6fbcdedd10e3b8c13faa71b82.json |
[
"Sampson Independent"
] | 2016-08-28T16:49:18 | null | 2016-08-28T11:18:30 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclintonnc.com%2Fsports%2F12553%2Fwildcats-take-home-opener.json | http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Raekwon-Bryant-2.jpg | en | null | Wildcats take home opener | null | null | clintonnc.com | On a hot Friday night, the Hobbton Wildcats got their home season off to a roaring start with a 32-16 win of the visiting Chatham Central Bears Friday night. The crowd was sparse; however, the action on the field was a hot as the weather.
Wildcat head coach Robert Hill, Jr. said, “A win is a win. Its good to start out the home season with a win. We still have a lot of stuff to work on. We did a lot of stuff well; but, it just goes back to us being a better disciplined football team trying to do the fundamentals and get better. I was proud of them. It was hot and they put out a lot of effort. We had some problems but we will get better and I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Thew Wildcats got the ball first but started on the wrong foot. Omar Farrior caught the opening kick off and ran it 90 yards for a score only to have it nullified on a penalty. The ‘Cats then fumbled the ball away. However on first down, Chatham Central coughed it up with the Wildcats Charlie Cruz recovering on the 18-yard line.
After the recovery and on first down, Raekwon Bryant got loose and scampered 82 yards to the end zone for the first Wildcat score with 10:45 left in the first quarter. The point after kick was blocked for a score of 6-0, Hobbton.
Chatham took over on their 33-yard line but ran 3 and kicked. With exactly half the first quarter left, the Wildcats took over on their 31-yard line but ran out of gas and punted. They did, however, score with 1:55 left in the quarter on a 54 yard scamper by Farrior. The point after was blocked again. The score at the end of the first quarter was 12-0, Hobbton.
The second quarter saw both teams jockeying for field position with neither team able to get anything going. The halftime score was still 12-0.
With 2:14 left in the third, Farrior escaped up the middle and ran for 20 yards and a second touchdown of the night. Michael Escalera successfully kicked the point after for a 19-0 Wildcat lead.
The Bears finally got on the scoreboard with 57 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. Hunter Little hit Josh Williams in the end zone on a 12 yard pass for the score capping a 60-yard drive. Little then ran for the PAT making the score 19-8.
With 8:44 left in the game, Farrior got out of traffic on a 15-yard run for another score capping a 53-yard drive. Escalera’s PAT kick made the score 26-8.
Just over 4 minutes later, The Wildcats struck pay dirt again after a Chatham punt rolled into the end zone bringing the ball out to the 20-yard line. On the first snap, Bryant scampered 80 yards for another Wildcat score. The PAT kick missed. The score was 32-8.
With just 53 ticks left on the clock, the Bears scored again when Little managed to get outside on a 9-yard run. He also scored the PAT on a run to up the margin to 32-16.
The Wildcats then ran out the clock after an “on-side” kick rolled out of bounds giving the Wildcats the ball.
For the Wildcats, Bryant hat 8 carries for 215 yards. Farrior has 10 carries for 121 yards. Josh Polk and 5 carries for 34 yards and Mason Wilson had 7 yards. Farrior was 4 of 5 in the air for 64 yards. The Wildcats had 441 yards total offense.
Omar Farrior gets around the Chatham Central defense. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_OMar-Farrior-1.jpg Omar Farrior gets around the Chatham Central defense. Raekwon Bryant gets some running room. Bryant rushed for 215 yards. http://clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Raekwon-Bryant-2.jpg Raekwon Bryant gets some running room. Bryant rushed for 215 yards. | http://clintonnc.com/sports/12553/wildcats-take-home-opener | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | clintonnc.com/ff01557bc6a570cd0bc1e5de77e32e7131c5f07af88cb17d93ea7871c78ab4fa.json |
[
"Claudette Sandecki"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:40 | null | null | The Terrace B.C. senior housing survey and Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine marijuana bylaw raise a number of issues for me... | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F390088171.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/21732terracehelpwanted2web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Letter: Citizens need to get more involved | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | MORE people are working in northwestern B.C. this year than last.
Two current public surveys – the City of Terrace’s senior housing survey and the regional district’s need for feedback on its proposed marijuana bylaw – raise a number of issues for me though by the time a bylaw is finalized I may no longer be under its jurisdiction.
Turnout at the regional district’s public hearing may have been sparse because many residents were out of town at that time of year. As for letting citizens know about the dates for these hearings, even though the dates were published four times, how many readers pay attention to announcements of government hearings, proposed rezoning and such? Nor do roadside announcements posted near the fire hall attract notice if they are left up for days following meetings.
Specifically what does 150 metres look like? A block long? Two blocks? An RCMP accident re-constructionist might be able to eyeball such a distance, but I have no idea how far away 150 metres would be from a school or other dwelling, thus I can’t judge whether that distance is appropriate – sufficient or extravagant. Neither am I about to measure it with my 10-foot tape.
The second survey that concerns me is being conducted by the Greater Terrace Healthy Communities Committee, co-chaired by the City of Terrace and Northern Health, “to gain insight into residents’ experience with healthy aging”. The survey targets residents over 50 for their prospective future housing situations.
Two days after the survey was announced in this newspaper, I had reason to visit the Park Avenue medical building where I asked for a copy of the printed survey at two doctors’ offices, Third Floor reception, Life Labs, and Shoppers. Not one had heard of the city’s survey. (Neither had the public library.) Not one of them had a copy to give me though the newspaper article led me to expect to be able to pick up a survey from any one of them.
I was taken aback. As lackadaisical as the public often is about surveys, I would expect the sooner copies were available, the better the response the city might get.
Disappointed no one had heard of the survey, I walked to the Happy Gang Centre and arrived seconds after the city dropped off a handful of survey forms.
Aside from the rudimentary survey questions which appear geared more toward learning which businesses seniors might patronize rather than their prospective future housing needs, if the city hopes for a robust survey response I would suggest repeat advertisement of the survey’s availability including where a printed copy can be picked up.
Exactly how to best let citizens know of the survey, I can’t say. As far back as the l980s I recall the school board experiencing the same unaware citizenry despite attempts to reach out in various ways.
My main criticism of the survey is its broad questions with scant opportunity to qualify replies.
For some reason I was reminded of the joke about the fellow who suffered a major accident to his hands. After treatment the doctor told him, “The good news is you’ll be able to play the piano.”
The patient said, “That’s interesting. I never could before.”
To truly grasp the area’s accessibility, city councillors should try shadowing a disabled person for a week. Not a few hours. A week.
Experience entering from the back alley like a freight shipment while someone holds open the heavy door for your wheelchair. Switch dentists because you cannot access the renovated office. Book appointments to fit HandyDart’s busy schedule.
Kalum Kabs’ wheelchair accessible taxi is a boon to disabled locals with its spontaneous flexibility. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/390088171.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6ba84217a77af2cbcfc5e0457a91e60d67de89e03aa98d00a5f99cfe5d30adb9.json |
[
"Margaret Speirs"
] | 2016-08-26T13:08:16 | null | null | Iconic Terrace, B.C. Spirit Bear tucked away while new home sought | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F389876671.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/72714terraceMinimalllazellebear2008d.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Where's the bear? | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The Spirit Bear statue shortly after it was placed outside Lazelle mini-mall in 2008.
If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed that one of the city’s spirit bear statues is missing.
The bear at the Lazelle mini-mall was removed and replaced with a signpost that says Lazelle Plaza on it the week of July 18.
Michael Hogg, who owns the property, said the bear is now at Silvertip Signs until a new location for it is chosen.
“I’ve been talking with the city and the Downtown Improvement Association about where it will go, so we need to come to an agreement on that,” he said, adding that the bear was originally purchased by the city and association.
“I am certain that an agreeable and suitable home for the bear will be found soon.”
The new signpost was placed on an existing concrete pad originally put there for its use and to conform to the new city sign bylaw, he added.
It’s not the bear’s first move to a new location.
The bear was bought at the Spirit Bears in the City Auction and Gala, a fundraising event for the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities held in October 2006 in which several other bears with different designs were auctioned off, many of which are still located around Terrace.
This one was named the NWCC Spirit of Learning and was painted by Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art students.
It had been sitting outside the Lazelle mini-mall since 2008 where it had been moved from its previous location at the Coast Inn.
Then-city councillor Dave Pernarowski, who was also an organizer of the auction and gala, had decided on the move, saying it was time to “share the bear” and would make the statue and its artwork more accessible to the community. He also said the bear was moving “outside where bears like to be.”
Hogg had suggested on his development variance permit for the sign to the city that he was thinking of incorporating the bear into the upgrades to properties at 3227 and 3229 Sparks St.
He added that if there are more requests to display the Kermode bear at other locations, he is open to suggestions from city council and the public. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/389876671.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/3c9194dd1c3146a006c978720c7463117b17e976a1618cbd3795aa2473879a34.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T22:53:06 | null | null | Resurfacing bridge deck and other structure work expected to be completed by the end of October. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391652241.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Improvement work to start on Sande overpass in Terrace, B.C. | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Work will soon be underway to upgrade the Sande Street overhead bridge in Terrace, announced Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone, Aug. 29.
A $1.06-million contract for the project was awarded to Kingston Construction Ltd. of Surrey.
Work will include resurfacing the bridge deck to improve the running surface and preserve the existing bridge superstructure.
"Improving the overhead bridge at Sande Street was a priority project for this community and part of our B.C. on the Move commitment to invest $180 million over the next three years to repair and replace provincial bridges," said Stone.
"We also recently completed work at the Sande/Keith intersection, so all of these improvements will mean increased safety and reliability for both residents and commercial traffic travelling through this area on a daily basis."
The total cost of the project is $1.5 million and is scheduled to be completed at the end of October. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391652241.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/a38a3e9f0198897932facd7c0b354366577cf07e1449071193ff4b962e4d9c48.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:43 | null | null | Volleyball players from across the region gathered downtown Terrace for the annual beach volleyball competition last weekend. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fsports%2F389389571.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/33864terraceRBDvolleyball2016.2.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Volleyball kills at Riverboat Days 2016 | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Keel Haldane spikes the ball at the annual Riverboat Days Beach Blast Volleyball competition July 31.
Volleyball tournament results:
TWO ON TWO
Competitive: Thing1 & Thing2
Recreational: Swing Low
THREE ON THREE
Competitive: Shank City: Population 3
Recreational: Been Around the Block
FOUR ON FOUR
Competitive: Unknown 4
Recreational: Cracked Pepper | http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/389389571.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/7d4813651140750aca26e96921e2e1a57db99f479b4d7d2ce64ba2d5ef1b8a7e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:06:14 | null | null | Briana Greer is in Madagascar with other scouts working on a variety of tasks for children in a small village. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F391196441.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/6166terraceIMG_0632.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace scout helping children overseas | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Briana Greer
Following up on last year’s trip to the World Scout Jamboree in Japan, a local scout is now onto another adventure, this time in Madagascar to help with construction of new buildings for a small village.
Terrace scout Briana Greer is in the village of Ambato Boeni in Madagascar with 21 other members of Scouts Canada – she’s the only one from Terrace – to help with the development of a school until the end of August.
Before leaving for the island country off the coast of Africa, she was in Toronto for training for five days.
Greer said she applied to be a part of this team after deciding last year that she had travelled quite a bit with scouting for her own adventures and thought that it was her turn to help out.
“I want others to see my acts of kindness and I want it to spread to people which will hopefully create a chain reaction of good turns,” she said, adding she wants to indulge in the culture and learn a few words in Malagasy.
“I’m most looking forward to seeing the smiles on the children’s faces as we add on to their school and play with them.”
During their three-week stay, she and the other scouts are building an administrative centre at the school, which will include offices, secure storage and a kitchen to support the 300 students currently enrolled.
They’re also installing solar powered water pumps on the wells and water tower that will bring water to the washroom facility and help irrigate the school’s gardens.
“It is important to support a volunteer project like this one,” she said. “I truly believe that every child deserves an education. Education can, and will, change the world.”
Greer said she’s using scouting as her tool to help others and to break the cycle of poverty.
Going on this mission will allow her to grow as an individual and to be able to experience a diverse culture unlike our own, she added.
“People may ask why bother with other countries but other impoverished countries do not have any of the resources and support that we have here in Canada,” said Greer.
“It takes many small steps to create a better world. As a global neighbour and citizen, I want to be part of the change that creates a better world.”
Since 2006, Scouts Canada has been working in partnership with the village to help them achieve their goals: having clean fresh water, a school and electricity. Over the past decade, scouts in partnership with the local scouts and the community, have built a six-classroom school, homes for families, five wells, a fence around the school campus, a water tower, and compost station. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/391196441.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/b26fa21e208cb4a0dd2d7cfa4dca4de9509683f2f4fcc7dbdfb228cd5d12d084.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:33 | null | null | Letter writer thanks music festival committee for bursary for his son, who had great experience at summer music camp | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F390804861.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Tip of the hat to music festival | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Dear Sir:
I wish to extend my sincerest thank you to the Pacific Northwest Music Festival committee for the bursary awarded to my son, Matthew McDicken, for his performances at this year’s festival.
The award was given to him to help with the cost of tuition to attend a summer music camp for his instrument.
After a bit of online searching, I enrolled him in a two-week piano academy at the University of Victoria.
This was a great experience for him in many ways.
He had the opportunity to see daily concerts from senior students and several evening concerts by some of Victoria’s best piano players.
More importantly, he received a lot of inspiration by being witness to the exceptional playing and work ethic of his classmates, some of who were younger and playing at a higher level than himself.
In fact, the level attained by some of these young musicians was simply astonishing.
My son left the camp with the motivation not only to continue to play piano, but also with the desire to reach the level he saw from some of his peers.
For him to see the dedication, the commitment to daily practice, and the results that can occur when one works hard, is worth much more than the monetary costs to attend the academy.
These are also the same attributes that will help to make him successful in anything he chooses to do in life.
This is exactly what the festival society’s philosophy states on its website, “… to encourage them (art students) to continue to strive for excellence through learning….”
If Matthew had simply received cash or a cheque from the festival instead of a voucher to attend a music camp, I’m sorry to say he would have just spent it on things, like computer games, and we would not have even thought to send him to this camp.
Thank you once again to the festival committee for your contribution and your commitment to music and arts in our community.
Daryl McDicken,
Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/390804861.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/139322a90a3c634404478e120a27c75c5e9bb13db4d73b95c2e38d7baabdc8d9.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:11:17 | null | null | Small communities have more than 400 doctor vacancies, with 'telehealth' and visiting specialists filling gaps | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F385489111.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/32759BCLN2007Kelly-Doug15-2.4.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Video links grow as rural health care shrinks | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council
With patients in urban areas having difficulty finding a family doctor, the situation in rural B.C. is going from bad to worse, MLAs on the province's health committee were told Monday.
Ed Staples, a member of the B.C. Health Coalition, described his efforts to improve the situation in Princeton, a community of about 5,000 people that four years ago was down to one doctor providing on-call service.
Princeton now has four full-time doctors and two nurse practitioners, but there are still people who can't find a doctor in the region, including Penticton an hour and a half away. A recent search of the College of Physicians and Surgeons website turned up the nearest doctor accepting patients in Courtney on Vancouver Island, Staples said.
Health Match BC, the province's web portal for recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals, currently has more than 400 general practitioner vacancies, with 37 communities seeking 85 doctors. The result is "bidding wars" between communities to offer incentives to relocating doctors, and foreign doctors using a rural community as an entry point before relocating to the Lower Mainland, he said.
The B.C. government has announced its latest videoconferencing service for health care, linking psychiatrists with young people in Cranbrook. The service is available twice a month at the local Children and Family Development office, supplementing visits by specialists in communities such as Cranbrook and Princeton. Health Minister Terry Lake says video conferencing and electronic health records are a key part of the solution for reaching patients across B.C.
Doug Kelly, chair of the B.C. First Nations Health Council, told the committee of an Abbotsford doctor who travels to Carrier Sekani territory around Prince George for part of his practice, in a pilot project with Northern Health.
Kelly said video links and nurse practitioners are part of the solution to delivering rural and remote care, but the main obstacle is the business model for doctors that has them cycling through as many as 20 patients an hour to bill enough to cover their office overhead.
Committee members were also reminded that graduating doctors are increasingly reluctant to take on the demands of family practice, especially in smaller communities where they may find themselves on call around the clock. | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/385489111.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/36fe2276ddd8c2d30f13bac4709014225894170c8d7ae61889f7cbf27a764b00.json |
[
"Shannon Lough"
] | 2016-08-26T13:13:55 | null | null | Two months after having an endoscopy Joan Dudoward received a letter telling her that the endoscope used was not cleaned properly. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391353941.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/73852princerupertWEB.Joan-Dudoward.SL.35.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | VIDEO: Prince Rupert woman treated with unclean medical equipment, Northern Health, B.C. Centre for Disease Control confirms more than a hundred affected | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | A routine check-up at the hospital has turned into a nightmare for a Prince Rupert woman.
A month-and-a-half after having an endoscopy to inspect her nose and throat, Joan Dudoward received a letter from Northern Health stating that the endoscope used at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital was not cleaned properly.
From April until the end of June 2016, the endoscope, which is a flexible tube with a light and a camera used in nonsurgical procedures, was being cleaned with the wrong cleaning solution to disinfect the equipment. There were 104 patients affected and Dudoward was one of them.
“I was majorly stressed out,” she said in an exclusive interview with the Northern View. “I'm a cancer survivor. I try to keep my health up for my mom, I'm a caregiver for a 95-year-old woman.”
Dudoward had gone to the Prince Rupert hospital for an endoscopy on June 29 at 3:30 p.m. after complaining to her physician about reoccurring plugged ears and a sore throat. She received the letter from Northern Health on Aug.24, which stated the error did not impact the diagnostic outcome of the tests and the process error has been corrected.
The letter also states that the BC Centre for Disease Control has been consulted and “the risk of a patient being exposed to a virus as a result of this process error is extremely low.” The contact number for the director of acute care services is offered in case she has any other questions or concerns. Dudoward has many.
She called to find out why the instrument wasn't cleaned, what had happened and how many people had gone through the procedure before and after her. “She said she's not permitted to tell me anything about this,” was the response Dudoward said she received.
The vice-president of medicine for the Northern Health authority, Dr. Ronald Chapman, was quick to respond to media inquiries and stressed the importance of transparency. He said, based on previous experience, once they realized the mistake had occurred they consulted the BC Centre for Disease Control as well as the Northern Health infectious disease specialist in Prince George.
“The risk for the patient is extremely low. We're not concerned that it will at all have any negative impact on their health,” Dr. Chapman said. He added that it's Northern Health's policy to make patients aware even if the risk to them is low. “We believe it's important to be open with those patients and to be fairly transparent so at least they are aware of the mistake. In this case, we don't recommend any particular follow up or tests for the patients.”
This type of process error has happened before, Dr. Chapman confirmed. Not with the same scope, but he said there are many different endoscopes used and each are made by different manufacturers that have various recommendations on how to clean the equipment.
“The health sector is run by human beings and it's fairly complex. If mistakes do happen what we encourage our staff to do is to make management aware so they can learn from that experience,” he said. “I'm happy to say where those mistakes have happened in our environment, a process has been put in place and we haven't had any repetitions after some of those learning experiences.”
For the 104 patients that were affected by this incident, Dr. Chapman said their general practitioners have been notified and if they have any questions they can speak to them and the infectious disease specialist. They can also contact Northern Health's Patient Care Quality Officeto register a complaint.
For Dudoward, who had a bone marrow transplant in 2011 to battle leukemia, she is concerned and has already scheduled a meeting with her physician in early September.
“I'm thinking that my body is not going to be able to fight off infection like I was able to before the cancer because chemo takes a lot out of your body so this is like a bomb exploding in my life,” she said. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391353941.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/4e5f7f7ef5ae4b09c9607aa9f9665ced886a23f080b5db1af6a6db1103fec278.json |
[
"Staff Writer"
] | 2016-08-26T13:11:09 | null | null | In honour of Canada's 149th birthday, we have compiled some Canadian trivia questions. How many can you answer? | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F384892721.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/17474summerlandCanadaflag.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | CANADA DAY QUIZ: How well do you know Canadian trivia? | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | null | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/384892721.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/888f153971af2fd22a2db87c3e3bbf985746786c3076da177c168622f3e657d7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:41 | null | null | Climate change activists are unwittingly supporting one of the greatest moral travesties of our time | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F387115201.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Letter: There's another side to climate change activism | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Dear Sir:
In response to a column published in the Terrace Standard on February 17, 2016.
Climate change activists such as Al Lehmann are unwittingly supporting one of the greatest moral travesties of our time: the valuing of people yet to be born more than those suffering today.
Rather than focus on the need to help vulnerable people adapt to real climate change in the present, activists promote mitigation, trying to avert hypothetical events that may, or may not, someday happen.
The UN said that funding for mitigation and adaptation should be approximately equal. But the Climate Policy Initiative demonstrates that only 6 per cent of the more than $1 billion/day spent on climate finance across the world goes to adaptation.
The rest is spent on mitigation because of the common but unjustified belief that we can control our planet’s climate merely by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions.
People of all political stripes are starting to recognize that allocating more importance to the possible problems to be faced by future generations than to the known and serious issues faced by those suffering today is immoral.
Tom Harris
International Climate Science Coalition
Ottawa, Ontario | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/387115201.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/fb1b544bc753bc4a4f286406c5ffdae67ab2970b593e2bb26c1acfef6c0aaa85.json |
[
"Margaret Speirs"
] | 2016-08-30T18:53:14 | null | null | Police, fire and ambulance were called out to the scene in the late afternoon of Aug. 26. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391758341.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/96118terraceDSC_0073.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Coroners service investigating death in CN rail yard in Terrace , B.C. | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Police, fire and ambulance personnel check out the site where a CN freight train apparently hit a person Aug. 26.
The BC Coroners Service is investigating after a person apparently was run over by a freight train here in the late afternoon of Aug. 26.
“[We] can confirm that we are investigating a death which appears to involve a pedestrian run over by a freight train late Friday afternoon,” said coroners service spokesperson Barb McLintock.
“Everything is very preliminary at this point beyond that basic information.”
Police, fire and ambulance were called out to the scene and a CN official was on-site as well.
Terrace RCMP Sgt. Mike Robinson didn't comment, saying it was the coroner's investigation. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391758341.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/856764a71e7bf94eb42c0bffc345c7058cf09388b33cf84a19d967ccec048bc4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:03 | null | null | New hospital would vastly improve services in northwestern B.C. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391167011.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/94378terracemillsmemorialtoiletweb2016.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Trauma service key to a new Mills Memorial Hospital | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | PATIENT washrooms at Mills Memorial Hospital are inadequate and out of date.
Demolish the current Mills Memorial Hospital.
And build a new and much larger one on the same property but with its main entrance facing Tetrault St. and located much closer to the Sande Overpass.
The plan, which would result in the largest publicly-financed and most expensive construction project ever in this area at an estimated $430 million with the exception of B.C. Hydro’s Northwest Transmission Line, was commissioned by the Northern Health Authority in 2013 and submitted to the province the following year.
But the document, called a concept plan in the world of construction, has languished there ever since despite a growing local call for the province to move the project along.
It’s not as if local officials are asking the province to approve construction – what they want is for the province to undertake a Mills replacement business plan, a detailed document that would even include architectural plans and a solid idea of costs.
It would present the pros and cons of construction to the point of discussing whether or not extensive renovations of the existing main building, now 57 years old and considered well past its prime with inadequate washrooms for patients and inadequate space for its existing services, might be a better use of limited public monies.
Developing a business case is the next step after the concept plan and its findings figure in the decision-making on what should be financed and why by the provincial Treasury Board.
A request last year by the North West Regional Hospital District for the province to proceed was denied even after the hospital district, which provides 40 per cent of the money for health care projects, told the province it would foot the bill for a business case study all by itself.
The hospital district, its board of directors made up of directors of the three regional districts in the northwest, is to make that same request again next month when it meets with cabinet ministers in Victoria.
The hospital district has done this kind of thing before – it fronted the entire $2.7 million cost for the business case which then resulted in the approval for a $50 million new hospital in Queen Charlotte City on Haida Gwaii. It’s to open this fall.
The hospital now being reimbursed 60 per cent of that amount by the provincial government, which is the standard percentage amount the province pays for hospital construction.
But just as important as a strategy for how to convince the province a new Mills Memorial is needed is the Northern Health Authority’s plans for what should be located inside.
It wants to vastly increase the level of care for patients by having Mills be classified as a Level III trauma centre offering services only available now in the north at the health authority’s main hospital in Prince George.
At its current Level V status, Mills Memorial stabilizes patients needing critical care for transport to better-equipped facilities.
At a Level III status, however, Mills would have the facilities to offer, among a long list of direct and support services, around the clock general surgery within 20 minutes, around the clock orthopedic surgery within 30 minutes and have at all times an in-house emergency room physician on duty.
Information prepared by the hospital district indicates requests for a new Mills, and not a renovated one, dates back to at least 2010.
The prospect of a Level III trauma centre for a new Mills Memorial was first raised in 2013, indicate background documents prepared by the regional hospital district.
“As industry considers new development in the north, surrounding infrastructure will play a role in the final decision-making process,” states the district.
“New and existing industry needs to bring with it employees and knows that accessible health care, quality education and quality recreation are major factors for their staff considering relocating.”
The hospital district acknowledges the timeline for hospital construction is long – six years or more from concept to construction.
“Mills Memorial is operating well beyond expectations and capacity, yet it is not slated by the province for replacement any time in the near future.”
“What statement must be reached before a hospital becomes a priority for replacement,” it asks. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391167011.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/9f3bb2126b67beb7fced84eb269da1573b881eafcdf6ae930b7a319ea040466b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:15 | null | null | The City of Terrace is not the only party responsible for developing a mini-park at the bottom of Lanfear Hill. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F387115531.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/78937terraceLanfearHillsmallpark20160525_0002.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Letter: Terrace mini-park development is a relief | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Dear Sir:
Having mini-parks around Terrace is a great idea. However, it concerned me that, in a recent article in the Terrace Standard, readers were left with the idea that the City was the only party responsible for the development of mini parks here and that they had done all the work to make it happen.
I want to thank the individuals who made the park at the bottom of Lanfear Hill a reality: Barbara Tetz, Ron Lambert, and Demoskoff Construction Company.
I’ve watched this process from its beginning as I live very close to that area and over the years I’ve tried to mow as much of this lot as I could.
It was a relief to see other individuals interested in getting this lot cleaned up.
Over 30 years ago a house had been there and was burnt to the ground on the lot at the bottom of Lanfear Hill. After the fire the basement was partially filled and the lot was left in the messy condition.
The lot became the property of the City of Terrace with the intention of someday expanding Lanfear Hill and has thus been left “dormant” since the fire. This meant that grass was left to grow there and young people would hide in the grass and smoke.
I confronted a number of them and found them quite cheeky.
The lot was not just messy but also a fire hazard to the neighbourhood, given the dry grass and the smoking that was going on there.
Barbara Tetz sought and received permission from the City for volunteers to clean up this lot and make it more presentable. Barbara Tetz and Ron Lambert put in many hours pruning back the trees, picking rocks and generally cleaning up the area.This took many hours and not a few loads went to the garbage dump!
I was able to arrange for fill to be brought in. Then Demoskoff Construction Company and their crew then became involved and put in quite a few hours in weed eating. They also donated their equipment and using the numerous loads of donated fill, leveled the lot. Ron Lambert and Barbara Tetz then came and took loads of rock out to assist with safely mowing the lot, hoping that the City of Terrace would eventually take it on as part of their maintenance program.
The volunteers whose hard work made this park possible need to be thanked for all their efforts. Their efforts have made it possible for the City to come in and just add a layer of top soil and grass seed.
At the time that the volunteers were working with the lot, James Demoskoff had offered to donate picnic tables as well, but at that point the crew got caught up in the red tape of City planning. We are all glad that the City has followed through in putting a picnic table in there and in maintaining the lot.
The garbage can is a wonderful addition to the original plan as well. For those of us who have been working on this lot it was great to see the City take it on as a mini-park! We’re looking forward to see what other plans the City has for finishing up this park, as well as the others on their list.
Russ Shauer
Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/387115531.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/aa59db6d08dc188247661d404402196d298c595ee9f6c5bfae0317dbd7779a90.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:56 | null | null | What the effort to build a new Mills Memorial Hospital needs is a champion. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F390804641.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace Standard | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | WHAT the effort to build a new Mills Memorial Hospital needs is a champion. Someone of the highest order who can power through whatever obstacles there might be.
Someone like, for example, Premier Christy Clark who was present July 12 in Penticton for the official groundbreaking of what will be a $312.5 million six-storey tower at Penticton Regional Hospital.
Referring to the announcement she first made in 2014 that the project was approved, Clark said she knew there’d be skeptics but “here we are today, keeping that promise. Promise made. Promise kept.”
Even more, the premier continued, she pledged to help come up with the estimated $20 million needed to operate the Penticton facility when it’s finished.
Of course there’s a lot more to hospital construction than the above. Even someone like the premier can’t promise something out of the blue and snap her fingers to make happen.
A new Mills will cost somewhere north of $400 million and we should expect our governments to be wise and considered in their decisions of how they spend our money.
But that can surely be accomplished without the need for local officials to literally prostrate themselves before the provincial government as supplicants in some kind of medieval throwback.
But for now a new Mills needs a champion. If the premier fulfilled that role in Penticton, why not here. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/390804641.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/584ce0c4ccff4588ae1639fb12eb1cd9b13d328f7cea331c0a4c6cd86a28458b.json |
[
"Andre Carrel"
] | 2016-08-28T14:51:50 | null | null | There’s a lot to worry about over the prospects of a new hospital for Terrace, B.C., not the least is government refusing to plan. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F391507591.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/39448terraceP1010017millsweb.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Government ducking its duties for a new hospital | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | There’s a lot to be worried about over the prospects of a new Mills Memorial Hospital.
Not the least of which is the reaction by provincial health minister Terry Lake in turning down repeated requests to move the project along to the business plan phase.
The minister readily concedes that a business plan to replace our hospital would save time and thus money. But he then goes on to caution us that it would not be prudent to spend money on such a plan “prior to confirming funding sources” for the project.
The government’s repeated objective is to save “taxpayers’ dollars.” It would therefore make eminent sense to proceed with a business plan for the redevelopment of our hospital as such a plan would, and the minister agrees, save time and money.
The minister’s advice that it would not be prudent to “invest significant resources in detailed planning prior to confirming funding sources” is nonsense.
How, other than through detailed planning, could a reasonably accurate budget for the redevelopment of our hospital be developed? It is absurd for the minister to claim that he cannot spend money on planning until he knows what the project will cost.
If funding a new hospital were an exclusively local responsibility there would be no need to appeal to the minister.
However, the main funding source for a major health care capital project is not the regional tax base it is the provincial tax base. It is the same provincial tax base which funds billboards erected to inform citizens that Highway 16 improvement work is done by the provincial government, billboards maintained long after the work is completed.
At issue is not the source of funds. Citizens, individually and through their businesses are the sole source of all government funds. At issue is the allocation of the funds the government collects to serve the public good. At issue are the expenditure priorities the government assigns in the shaping of the provincial budget.
Citizens know who pays for provincial highway improvements. We know that the repaving of Highway 16 and the Sande Overpass upgrade were not paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The provincial government’s decision to install billboards to take credit for highway projects we pay for is not merely an insult to our intelligence; it is a waste of money – “taxpayers’ dollars” to use the government’s cherished terminology.
More disturbing is that billboards of the kind are an indicator of a government that has lost its reason for being.
I am not equating billboards with hospitals. I am suggesting that our government has lost all sense of its responsibilities and needs to re-examine its priorities.
Governments are not department stores; governments need not market their products as department stores do.
Hospitals, their infrastructure and their services, are a public good not economically, but in a social sense. It is nonsensical to claim that the citizens who ultimately pay for everything done by government cannot justify the cost of planning the replacement of their own hospitals!
The funds needed are available; the money is out there. The government has the constitutional power to generate the funds needed for a new hospital.
It can take money from society, citizens and corporations. That is what we pay taxes for. The government has a political responsibility to take a critical look at, and, if need be, to re-arrange its spending priorities. That is what accountability means.
Careful evaluation of the options will produce a solution. It is irresponsible to treat the need to replace a 50-plus year old hospital in the way a citizen would treat the need to replace an old TV set – can’t afford it just now.
The growth in our economy from 1961 to the present has kept up with inflation. We could afford to build a hospital in 1961 and we can afford to build a new one now.
The community should take the minister’s stand as a call to action. Our provincial government must be brought to recognize its purpose and responsibilities.
Retired public sector administrator Andre Carrel lives in Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/391507591.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/84f6f37e17ceb9f0f655b8f862fc00250b1cc9658137487e492a40df0d28a32c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:11:49 | null | null | Online option now available for licences, paper version of limited entry hunting applications phased out for 2017 | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F377444561.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/25265BCLN2007Moosebullwikim7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | B.C. hunting licences go online | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Moose and other big game hunting season is in fall, with limited entry draws in some areas of B.C.
The B.C. government has added an online option for buying hunting licences and entering limited-entry hunting draws.
The web portal accepts applications for resident hunting licences and the new Fish and Wildlife ID, which replaces the former hunter identification number.
Paper applications for limited entry hunting applications are no longer being issued and won't be accepted after the end of 2016. Licences and limited entry hunt applications can also be made in person at Service BC and FrontCounter BC offices, or at authorized vendors. | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/377444561.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/a6715a5085a87b2c0c474a04c813156c4a416a18ea7e703c7f87156d53384b25.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:22 | null | null | Death followed man being subdued by police using a conducted energy weapon | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391216631.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Man who died in Terrace, B.C. hospital identified | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of the man who died following an interaction with the RCMP in Terrace on Aug. 21, 2016.
The man was Nicolas Allan Jeppesen, aged 29, of Terrace.
In the early afternoon of Aug. 21, 2016, RCMP members were called to the area of Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace in response to a report of a man carrying an axe.
Officers encountered Jeppesen near the hospital's helicopter landing pad.
A conducted energy weapon, similar to a Taser, was used subdue Jeppesen.
During the interaction, Mr. Jeppesen sustained injuries and was taken inside the hospital but died a short time later.
The BC Coroners Service and the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) continue to investigate this death.
The mandate of the IIO is to investigate whether any offences may have been committed by the police officers involved. The mandate of the BC Coroners Service in such cases is broader, and the coroner's investigation may look at the events which led up to the final fatal outcome and whether there are reasonable and practical recommendations that could be made which might prevent future deaths in similar circumstances.
As of late last week, investigators with the IIO were looking for witnesses.
The witness contact number for the IIO is 1-855-446-8477. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391216631.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/530f9c0d0c8736cf81270689cec427b25baca646ad65cbe6ab33a2e534bc645f.json |
[
"Jackie Lieuwen"
] | 2016-08-28T14:52:52 | null | null | The Coast Mountains School District is applying for more than $550,000 to help with school bus costs, available through a new ministry fund. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391507651.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/62345terraceDSC_0979schoolbusesweb2.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Northern B.C. school district applies for bus cost assistance | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | COAST Mountains school district is applying for money to help run its bussing service.
The Coast Mountains School District is applying for more than $550,000 to help with school bus costs, available through a new fund recently announced by the BC Ministry of Education.
The school district is currently in its second year of a five-year contract with Diversified Transportation for $10.5 million — approximately $2.1 million per year.
They already receive an amount from the ministry for busing because of the large area the district covers, but this new money would be over and above that, said secretary treasurer Alanna Cameron.
The $14.7 million Student Transportation Fund was announced Aug. 10 and each school district is eligible for a different amount depending on the distance covered by the school district and where students are located.
School districts need to apply and include a plan for how they will use the money.
The ministry said school districts can use the money to add new routes, improve disability access and bus stops or improve access to public transit.
But the criteria also includes “funding existing transportation services and inviting the savings into enhanced student services,” according to a ministry statement. That would make the grant effectively part of the district’s general revenue.
A handful of other school districts in the Lower Mainland currently charge families a fee for bus services, but Cameron said our district does not charge.
More money for busing is one of several announcements made by the province recently to put more money into the hands of school districts.
Districts with rural schools are now eligible for assistance and the province is returning $25 million to school districts that it had them find in their budgets and then send back earlier.
And a $35 million program for minor projects has now been increased to $45 million. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391507651.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/fb28d030db27ae7630d770250c8a166450543d05f45a9b533ea6db73a86ed8f7.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:09:38 | null | null | B.C. stands in the way of Justin Trudeau government's plan to hike Canada Pension Plan contributions, but likely not for long | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F389123291.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/82199BCLN2007Bateman-Jordan13-2.4.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Business pushing back on CPP expansion | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Jordan Bateman, Canadian Taxpayers' Federation
The B.C. government is hearing objections from businesses and individuals faced with increasing Canada Pension Plan contributions in the coming years, and is the last province needed to ratify the increase.
Instead of joining other provinces in meeting the federal government's July deadline to adopt the change, the B.C. government launched a consultation phase expected to run through August. And they are getting push-back on a plan that would increase payroll deductions and employer contributions starting in 2019.
Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, said he's receiving hundreds of responses to his call to supporters to make their views known to the B.C. government. Most concerned are employers who would pay higher contributions for each of their employees.
Employer and employee contributions are to go up from the current 4.95 per cent of earnings to 5.95 per cent by 2023. For each employee earning $54,900, the employer contribution goes up $7 to $8 per month in each of the first five years of the phase-in.
"Obviously, lots of people are concerned about having to pay more," Bateman said. "But the interesting ones are the small business owners who talk about just how close to the edge they are financially."
B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong joined other provinces in agreeing in principle to the expansion in June. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said he is concerned about the decline in workplace pension plans and wants the CPP to move from replacing one quarter of employment income to one third by 2025.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business surveyed its members nation-wide when the CPP plan was announced, and more than 80 per cent wanted consultation and a delay of implementation. Morneau has indicated he plans to table legislation this fall.
B.C.'s refusal to sign on could derail the federal plan, but it shows little intention of doing so.
"British Columbia is committed to engaging with stakeholders in advance of ratifying the agreement in principle," said the statement from de Jong's office announcing the consultation.
The province's consultation website and feedback address can be found here. | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/389123291.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/34304202ec4769b150d90969779433029575b2aa65a001d6f1092a32046d0498.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T22:50:21 | null | null | Volunteers to ask seniors about staff, food, privacy, medications and other conditions in residential care | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F391445481.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/18269BCLN2007Nursinghomeflickr7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Senior home survey seeks volunteers | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | B.C. has 300 seniors' care facilities, and residents and their loved ones are to be surveyed on conditions.
More than 250 volunteers have signed up to compile a survey of seniors in residential care, and B.C.'s Seniors Advocate is looking for more.
The 27,000 seniors living in 300 residential care facilities around the province are being asked about their experience with care home staff, the quality of food, privacy, medications and other conditions.
It's the first comprehensive survey done in B.C., to measure resident satisfaction and provide a "roadmap" for improvements, said Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie.
Interviews will be conducted in person by trained volunteers, and a matching mail-out survey will be sent to each resident's most frequent visitor.
The project is seeking volunteers with a range of professional backgrounds, ages and ethnicities. To apply as a volunteer, visit www.surveybcseniors.org or call the Office of the Seniors Advocate at 1-877-952-3181. | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/391445481.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/5a64843cb48236170a5f89e1b59f297f478b9f490f368ce8c9df64433571c871.json |
[
"Claudette Sandecki"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:06 | null | null | How many little kids have gone missing in British Columbia so far this summer? | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F390804721.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Seconds matter with young children | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | How many little kids have gone missing in British Columbia so far this summer? Three? Four? I’ve lost count. Fortunately, they’ve all been found alive and unscathed except for mosquito bites.
In early May, a two-year-old went missing at 7 p.m. while walking with his mom and two siblings in Premier Lake Provincial Campground near Kimberley.
Seventy police officers and volunteers, a police dog, and two helicopters combed the bushes overnight for the tot who was found at 11 a.m. the next morning. He had managed to walk 2km toward Yankee Lake.
More recently on August 15, a three-year-old boy last seen mid afternoon playing with his brother in their yard biked off alone on his push pedal bike from their home near Courtenay on Vancouver Island.
After a frantic all-night search involving family, neighbours, 16 search and rescue volunteers, RCMP, a police helicopter, police dogs, a drone and a vessel patrolling the shoreline, the tot was found mid-morning next day by searchers riding an SUV along a logging road.
He had covered some 5km eating blueberries as he went. He told rescuers he had biked around piles of dog poop ( in reality bear droppings).
Whether these kids went missing from their homes or while camping in a park, I gather all were in “wilderness” areas as so much of B.C. tends to be.
Only parents who’ve experienced even the momentary disappearance of a tot know how much distance stubby little two-year-old legs can navigate in seconds.
When my kids were two and three, we lived close – too close – to the Skeena River.
They knew the rules, both dad and I repeated the shorthand version each time we buttoned their jackets and sent them out the door, but kids being kids, it didn’t take much to distract them.
The younger one, particularly, loved birds and flowers. She would follow a robin all over the yard as it moved from this bush to that grassy patch.
The fact that beyond the driveway most of the yard was rough vegetation, high as the kid’s waist or higher, didn’t impede her bird watching.
And if she spotted a flower, particularly an outstandingly beautiful or unusual specimen, she set her GPS to hone in on a fistful.
One spring, when the river was rising during melt, she spied a yellow flower growing some eight feet below level ground.
With eyes glued on the blossom, she picked her way down a stony path then along the ridge until she was within grasping distance of the prize.
Fortunately it was then I noticed her missing from their sandbox and grabbed her before she could tumble down the 20 foot embankment to the water.
It was the closest call we had during our seven years living within spitting distance of the water.
When we moved to an urban lot, dad surrounded it by a five-foot-high board fence. It gave me my first chance to relax without checking out the window every few minutes to make sure the kids were nearby and safe.
I have to wonder if cell phones and other media play a part in taking parents’ attention off their kids.
Leaving Mills Hospital one day, I met a mom checking her emails as she strode toward the elevators. Her three-year-old had not yet entered the building.
And Monday, a family of five parked in front of Dairy Queen, mom locked the van with her fob and sprinted up the stairs before her young son had stepped out of the van.
A lot can go awry in seconds if we depend upon our young children to do as we expect. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/390804721.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/bc5db5c1b1b94efdc1d6de85620377c451ce80f88c679cd7df0800eb64f361a2.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:53:16 | null | null | Two Terrace, B.C. residents travelled to Victoria for horseshoe nationals earlier this month. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fsports%2F391509511.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/63152terraceIMG_3188.Bruce.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | National ringers | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Horseshoe nationals in Victoria were the first competition for Terrace's Bruce Miller.
Two Terrace, B.C. residents travelled to Victoria for horseshoe nationals Aug. 17-20.
Above is Bruce Miller, who threw in the 'G' Elders class because this was his first competition. He finished third in that class, with 10 wins, four losses and 29.6 per cent ringers.
JP Bourgoin has a much more extensive horseshoe playing history, which included being ranked best horseshoe player in B.C. in 2014. See here for more on Bourgoin.
He finished fifth in the ‘A’ elders class with 52.3 per cent ringers.
He said that he did not do as well as he had hoped, but had some good games, winning six and losing eight against the top elders in Canada.
For all the national results and rankings, click here and scroll down to Aug. 17-20, Canadian Championships - Victoria, BC. | http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/391509511.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/dd6798b929be13867357bc2bdc3b08aaa838c013cf278441c8e7ab91b5b67cb3.json |
[
"Jackie Lieuwen"
] | 2016-08-26T13:14:34 | null | null | They say practice makes perfect, and for J.P. Bourgoin it has certainly placed him among the best. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fsports%2F390719131.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/67470terrace-RiverboatDays-Horseshoescompetition20160730_0001.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace, B.C. horseshoe player ringing for nationals | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | J.P. Bourgoin nails another ringer at the Heritage Park pits.
They say practice makes perfect, and for J.P. Bourgoin it has certainly placed him among the best.
With copious amounts of practice since he started competing in 2012, Bourgoin was the best horseshoe player in B.C. in 2014 and #10 of his class in Canada that same year, according to Horseshoe Canada stats.
Now at age 81, Bourgoin is heading to nationals in Victoria on August 17-20, where he currently ranks seventh among the 56 ringers from across Canada who are competing in the 30-foot division.
He will compete with the top eight in the ‘A’ class and his goal is to win, he said.
The past president of the B.C. Horseshoe Association, Sam Tomasevic, says looking at the ratings, J.P. Bourgoin has potential to rank quite high.
“I would say he has a chance to finish third or fourth,” said Tomasevic.
“It depends how much he is on his game. I’ve seen J.P. shoot really, really good. He is going to have some pretty tough competition there.”
Bourgoin has an average of landing 55 per cent ringers — a “3-Hi average” based on the top three tournaments he has played this year. During his best year, 2014, he had a 64 per cent average.
This is only his fifth year officially competing in horseshoes, but Bourgoin says he has been a backyard player since he was a boy.
He started tossing shoes onto pegs with his friends and enjoyed it, and in 1972 his brother-in-law showed Bourgoin his throwing technique.
“He showed me his way and I liked it. I have been increasing ever since and I never change,” Bourgoin said.
“I’ve tried to tell people the way I play, and it doesn’t work for them,” he said of his technique. “I know one thing, it’s not good to try all kinds of [throwing techniques]. It will throw you off.
“You have to find out what’s the most comfortable and go at it. Practice, practice, practice,” he said.
When Bourgoin moved to Terrace in 2010, he started playing at the horseshoe pits at Heritage Park.
At one time, over 20 years ago, Terrace had a strong horseshoe club and in 1988 the city hosted the horseshoe provincial championships.
But that club no longer existed when Bourgoin moved in; however, it was at the Terrace pits where he met Bob Price, who was a regular horseshoe player and a competitor in out-of-town tournaments at that time.
Price had won several Prince George tournaments, and invited Bourgoin to travel with him to competitions. The friends travelled to various tournaments around the province a number of times, and it got Bourgoin hooked.
He has won tournaments in Prince George more than 15 times over the last five years, and says he is now bored of competing there because winning is no longer a challenge.
“I always win. In 18 games I never lost, one time… I prefer to lose once in a while, rather than winning everything. You don’t fit in,” he said.
He has won medals in the B.C. Seniors Games (55+ Games) for the last five years, and ranked between third and fifth in six larger tournaments in the Lower Mainland since 2013.
One highlight from his competitions was in 2015 provincials where he played a long, intense game against Colin Nicholson, who was the third-ranked B.C. player in his division at the time.
In horseshoes, both players throw two shoes, and if both land a ringer, they cancel each other out.
“We had seven times, four shoes on the peg. It was all ringers!” Bourgoin said.
“It was like bang, bang, bang… that makes for a long game,” he laughed. “I think we threw 70 shoes to get 40 points.”
Bourgoin says that the competition and the challenge is one of the main things he enjoys about the sport, and he is aiming to have some similar games at nationals this weekend.
He practises every day at 1:30 p.m. at the Heritage Park pits, and says he is eager to compete with anyone in Terrace.
“I want someone to challenge me in Terrace,” he said. | http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/390719131.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/08606da7f0c316f3d92abca0203e64746f731b0c0fadf479f686d033d6bd061c.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:04:51 | null | null | Tragically Hip kick off tour's final show with fan favourites | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F390816951.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Downie calls out to Trudeau during Tragically Hip's final show of tour | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | KINGSTON, Ont. — The Tragically Hip mixed fan favourites, newer songs and some politics on Saturday night during the final show of their "Man Machine Poem" tour.
Lead singer Gord Downie, who started the show wearing a metallic silver suit and hat with a "Jaws" T-shirt underneath, hugged and kissed his bandmates before they stepped on stage at the K-Rock Centre in the group's hometown of Kingston, Ont.
Minutes earlier, as the raucous sold-out crowd waited for the band to emerge, an impromptu rendition of O Canada broke out and a banner reading "Thank You Prime Minister Downie!" was passed around the arena.
The band immediately gave fans what they wanted to hear, starting their set with four straight hits from the classic album "Fully Completely:" opener "50 Mission Cap," followed by "Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)," "Wheat Kings" and "At the Hundredth Meridian."
The Hip then segued into their latest album "Man Machine Poem," with four tracks including the single "In a World Possessed by the Human Mind."
Before "Machine," Downie launched into one of his trademark onstage rants, calling out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in the crowd for the show. Trudeau's official photographer tweeted a photo of the prime minister and Downie embracing before the concert.
"Well, you know, prime minister Trudeau's got me, his work with First Nations. He's got everybody. He's going to take us where we need to go," Downie said from the stage.
"It's going to take us 100 years to figure out what the hell went on up there," he continued, "but it isn't cool and everybody knows that. It's really, really bad, but we're going to figure it out, you're going to figure it out."
Many anticipate this will be the band's final tour, given the recent news that Downie is battling terminal brain cancer.
Before performing the "Road Apples" song "Fiddler's Green," Downie seemed to reference the outpouring of support from fans in the wake of his diagnosis.
"Thank you, people, for keeping me pushing and keeping me pushing," he said, which prompted a "Gordie!" chant from the audience.
After playing 21 songs, Downie and his fellow bandmates — guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay — embraced and prepared to retire for a pre-encore break. Downie was left alone on stage to take in the roaring ovation.
After returning for a few more songs, Downie again spoke about his fondness for Trudeau.
"Thank you to the prime minister for coming to our show, it really means a lot to all of us," he said.
"We're in good hands, folks, real good hands. He cares about the people way up North, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore, trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what's going on up there. And what's going on up there ain't good. It's maybe worse than it's ever been, so it's not on the improve. (But) we're going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help.
"Thank you everybody. Thanks for listening to that. Thanks for listening, period. Have a nice life."
David Friend, The Canadian Press | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/390816951.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/b188f102c903c67c7dad1dfe706e2c892d13b9c3dc3e3385010086a0f07ac1c2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:03 | null | null | The Abbotsford International Airshow takes place Aug. 12-14 and includes US Navy Super Hornets and the Breitling Jet Team | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F389322101.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/80542abbotsfordMosquito_Mustang_ABBOTSFORDAIRSHOW_McAllister_Surrey.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Abbotsford Airshow: Heroes of the Skies | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | By JIM REITH, President Abbotsford Airshow
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 Abbotsford International Airshow – Heroes of the Skies! Gadgets, special suits, technology and the coolest flying machines… Learn what it takes to be a HERO at the 2016 Abbotsford International Airshow!
From August 12-14, Heroes of the Skies take flight over the Fraser Valley for the 54th annual Abbotsford International Airshow. Watch in awe as we welcome back the world-class Breitling Jet Team from Europe in the second and final year of their North American tour. Explore the McDonald’s Kids Zone and Science World on the Road! Experience Friday’s twilight show and fireworks finale! And, watch in awe as the Screamin’ Sasquatch Jet Waco, Boeing and US Navy Super Hornets, Snowbirds, Skyhawks and others take to the sky!
The Airshow is pleased to welcome the involvement of several key players in the aviation industry, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Eurofighter and more. Spectators will see Boeing’s involvement in dramatic fashion – as the aerospace giant will bring two jets to do corporate flying demos with a full array of simulated weapons, a simulation trailer and the test pilot will be available to talk about the exceptional capabilities of the aircraft. Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter are also on-site in various capacities with educational and promotional pieces.
“An aspect of the Airshow’s strategic vision is to strengthen key partnerships with aerospace organizations such as AIAC Pacific who produce an annual Aerospace & Defence trade show in conjunction with our airshow, and the CBAA which will hold its annual convention next year at Abbotsford in conjunction with the airshow as well. Looking to the future, we expect the Abbotsford Airshow will have a major aerospace trade show event occurring in the days prior to the public weekend show in the style of Farnborough and Paris airshows.”
Heroes of the Skies tell the stories of everyday women and men who work hard to make the world a better place, in their own communities and beyond. We are proud to honour them at this year’s Abbotsford International Airshow! Tickets for this action-packed weekend are available at Save-On-Foods or by clicking abbotsfordairshow.com.
Next Generation BC Amateur Photographer of the Year
Finalists for this year’s 4th annual Next Generation BC Amateur Photographer of the Year contest have now been selected. From Vernon to Victoria and from Surrey to Smithers, seventy finalists have been chosen from all corners of BC to move forward and compete in an intense competition at the Abbotsford International Airshow, where they will race against the clock to complete daily photo challenges. Finalists will shoot 10 of their best photographs and/or videos, to be reviewed by a judging panel — one will come out with the title of 2016 Next Generation Amateur Photographer of the Year. Almost 3,000 entries were received from 80 B.C. communities.
Whether you’re a finalist or not, this is a show you won’t want to miss: The Abbotsford International Airshow is world-renowned for its prestigious performers and family-friendly entertainment. The 2016 Airshow on August 12th through 14th will feature two jet teams, (Snowbirds and the European Breitling Jet Teams ) a Friday twilight show with fireworks, the Canadian Forces Skyhawks parachute team, and the US military jet, the Super Hornet to name but a few. More details visit www.abbotsfordairshow.com.
CLICK HERE FOR INTERACTIVE AIRSHOW SPECIAL INCLUDING VIDEO
Photographhs by Ken McAllister - 2015 Next Generation Amateur Photographer of the Year. Photographs featured from the 2015 Abbotsford Airshow.
Congratulations to all of the finalists in the 2016 Next Generation Amateur Photographer of the Year contest, sponsored by London Drugs, the Abbotsford International Airshow, and Black Press. To see photo gallery click here. See you there! | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/389322101.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/3669a021ad770c6c8929dabb37823dfd07e46ba0acbd95b26adee408f252a08b.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:04:31 | null | null | Netflix series stars 13-year-old Vancouver actor Finn Wolfhard | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F388280781.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/22960BCLN2007e_NEW-TV-Stranger-Things20160721T1130.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | VIDEO: 'Stranger Things' is more than a horror show, says teen star | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Thirteen-year-old Finn Wolfhard says he loves the new series "Stranger Things" because he says it isn't simply a horror series. The Netflix series, which stars the Vancouver actor, was released mid-July.
Video courtesy of Canadian Press. | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/388280781.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/bc2b4631207d899834145370d72614df048d29e41fe5a29715210c48a7d42b6f.json |
[
"Margaret Speirs"
] | 2016-08-26T18:53:05 | null | null | The 39th annual King of the Mountain trail race in Terrace is coming up fast and organizers say it’s for all levels of runners. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fsports%2F391420631.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/8305terraceDSC_0274.king.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | King of the Mountain ready to challenge runners | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | In 2015, the King of the Mountain race saw 50 runners take on a cold day and slippery terrain on the trails.
The 39th annual King of the Mountain trail race is coming up fast and organizers say it’s for all levels of runners.
“[It’s] a great challenge,” says Kristine Ewald, adding that overall, trail running is easier on the joints than road running because of the softer ground compared to pavement. Ewald is hoping for 100 runners to participate in this fun and beautiful race.
Runner Brittany Lampton loved the race last year and signed up again this year.
“All signed up!! Looking forward to this year :) I did it my first time last year, I sure wasn’t the fastest ( more of a road runner) but it was so worth the beautiful scenery!”
The King of the Mountain trail race is 10 km of trails, starting at the Terrace Sportsplex, taking the bike trails from Johnson St. to the top of the hill and running the hiking trail back down.
Last year’s times to beat include Conner Block’s 0:52:29 first place in the Male 17 and Under category;
Avery Back’s 1:24:56 in the Female 17 and under;
Francois Dagenais Cote’s 0:48:10 in the Men’s 18-39, which was also the fastest time overall;
Kriste Johnstoen’s 0:54:13 in the female 18-39;
Judson Rowse’s 0:50:02 in the Male 40-54;
Erin Baker’s 1:08:26 in the Female 40-54;
Al Marleau’s 0:54:39 in the Male 55 and over; and Sherrie Hamer’s 1:12:25 in the Female 55 and over category.
Race registration is at Transcend Fitness, its website and at 9 a.m. race day Sept. 17 with the race set to start at 10 a.m. | http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/391420631.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/d250cd0de053ca74855d4bd236640412d77f58556d12fd194ca79706d6dd3584.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:00 | null | null | The vast majority of campsite reservations are by British Columbians and no one is given preferential treatment, says minister Mary Polak. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F390088431.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Polak says parks system is fair | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Dear Sir:
Re: Freddy Marks’ July 27 letter to the editor on BC Parks. BC Parks does offer spectacular wilderness close to home, and this means there are simply too many people chasing too few campsites. The challenge is that there are fewer than 6,000 reservable campsites in B.C. However, I’d like to clear up some misconceptions for your readers.
Commercial operators, including tour companies, make up less than one per cent of the bookings on the Discover Camping reservation system. For the most part, these companies book short stays of two days or less, with the majority occurring Sunday through Thursday.
It’s important to note the vast majority of people camping in our provincial parks are from British Columbia – roughly three-quarters of all reservations are made by British Columbians.
Everyone is given access to the reservable campsite inventory at the same time. No one is given preferential treatment to reserve campsites, and the system does not allow block campsite reservations.
While our main challenge centres around supply and demand, we take any allegations of unfair reservation practices very seriously.
Of the more than 138,000 reservations made so far this year, BC Parks is aware of approximately only 30 incidents of people attempting to resell reservations. We followed up on all of those to make sure all ads have been removed, or reservations cancelled.
We continue to explore ways to improve the reservation system. All options will be carefully considered to ensure we don’t negatively impact the majority of our users, while trying to solve a problem that is only being abused by a handful of reservation holders.
Mary Polak, Minister of Environment,
Victoria, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/390088431.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/1b3aa1d06fe7003f8014a700deaf0d30e0515c15d7084b0a1d873ab8e9f75665.json |
[
"Malcolm Baxter"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:35 | null | null | Is it really accurate to say that the greenlight from LNG project proponents is dependent on the price of oil? | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F389388601.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | LNG decision delay not surprising | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth got it exactly right when, in response to the announcement by LNG Canada, the majority of which is owned by Shell, that its project was on indefinite hold, he told the local newspaper, “Of course we were a bit disappointed, but we weren’t overly surprised.”
No one should have been surprised given the current state of the markets.
But where I think he was in error was in saying that the ability of project proponents to give the greenlight was related to “what the price of oil is.”
I concede that traditionally the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been tied to the price of oil and as the latter went up so did the price of LNG.
As I write this, the price of oil is well south of $50 and still edging down.
The reason of course is that oil production continues to outstrip demand, dragging down the price. And there is no reason to think that will change any time soon.
Saudi Arabia has given no indication it is willing to cut its production, with sanctions lifted Iran is now an exporter at whatever price it can get because it needs the revenue and the US producers keep pumping despite the fact some are losing money on every barrel.
In the weird and wonderful way markets work, those producers actually lose less money doing that than they would if they shut down their wells.
But let’s say by some miracle all the major oil producers agree to cut their output in order to push the price upwards and as a result oil leaps to $65, even $70 a barrel with no apparent danger it will reverse that trend.
Based on the traditional oil-LNG linkage, wouldn’t that mean B.C.’s proposed projects would be off to the races?
Back in the day, yes. But that was then and this is now.
The problem is that even if oil production is cut, thus ending today’s supply glut, that doesn’t change the fact that the glut of LNG will not go away any time soon.
In fact, it will likely get worse in the short term – the next five years – as new production comes on line and that’s even if the current slump in Asian demand is reversed.
For example, the current LNG glut does not yet include the new production that will flow from the massive Gorgon project in Australia.
Gorgon actually loaded its first vessel in March but immediately had to shut the operation down because of a malfunction. It fixed that and tried again, only to have a further problem which required another shutdown.
Assuming they finally get it right this time, that is another 15 million tonnes of LNG a year – triple the planned production of the first phase of the Kitimat LNG project – that will flood on to an already super-saturated market.
Granted it is theoretically true that those LNG sellers who have locked up long-term contracts with the price tied to oil will benefit from a hike in the latter.
But I say theoretically because, as detailed in earlier columns, Qatar for example bowed to pressure from buyers such as India and Pakistan and rewrote its contracts with those countries resulting in the LNG price being slashed nearly in half.
While having to make concessions like that to keep its contracts would hurt the bottom line for Gorgon, after spending about $60 billion it may well have little choice but to suck it up and take what it can get on the basis a bird in the hand is worth a flock in the bush.
Incidentally, the partners in the Gorgon project include Chevron (47 per cent), the lead proponent of Kitimat LNG, and the above-mentioned Shell which has 25 per cent of the Gorgon project in addition to its Canada LNG stake.
But wait, as they say on those incredibly annoying TV ads, there’s more.
However I am out of space so it will have to wait for next time.
Retired Kitimat Northern Sentinel editor Malcolm Baxter now calls Terrace home.
baxyard@gmail.com | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/389388601.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/fd2a9f3ca3b808babab453ba253b40fcb2c75e81fab461d94a9f2127cfe89d6d.json |
[
"Andre Carrel"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:24 | null | null | Columnist finds research that provides context for local students' apparent decline in math skills on FSA tests. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F390805171.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | These government tests just do not add up | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The Terrace Standard published an article on the declining math abilities of students attending Coast Mountain School District schools in its July 20, 2016 issue just as I was reading a rather distressing account by Diane Ravitch (Research Professor of Education at New York University) on the state of public education in the US.
Ravitch provided me with a context for The Terrace Standard’s article.
What is the public to make of a steady decline in Grade 7 math skills from 2011 to 2016? Have mathematics lessons or the material used been changed over that period?
Have the provincial government’s Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) tests been adjusted? Have teachers lost dedication to their profession?
Or is it that the 2016 batch of Grade 7 students is not as capable as the 2011 batch was?
What exactly is the purpose of (FSA) tests? What do these tests tell us about the state of public education in our communities?
Ravitch has documented how standardized tests, focused on math and literacy and ignoring all else, lead to dangerously distorted school assessments: high tests scores identified good schools; low tests scores brought to light the bad ones.
Inevitably, teachers and principals were held responsible for either outcome.
Governmental strategy to improve education results in the U.S. was to pay bonuses to teachers and principals for good test results.
Persistent poor results could result in the downgrading or dismissal of teachers and school closures. Teachers unions were demonized.
Schools responded with an increased focus on the tests. Priority was given to math and literacy at the expense of all other subjects.
Science, art, social studies and history; all other subjects had to make allowances for the extra time needed to prepare students for math and literacy tests.
The focus shifted from education to training. Students were being coached in preparation for the tests.
A test in any one subject pulled from a curriculum, be that math, literacy, geography, science, history or any other subject does not tell us anything about the state of our community’s schools.
A math test may reveal that Student A knew the correct answer to a question while Student B did not, but it ignores the cause for the differing results.
Education is not an industrial process where production results may be improved by changes in the process.
The material being processed in schools is not uniform. Schools are dealing with human beings, our children and grandchildren.
The socio-economic environment into which a child is born and which constitutes the world for a child in its early years has an enormous impact on that child’s readiness for school.
The future life of a child whose starting point is a difficult one, socially and/or economically, will not be helped by concentrating his attention on producing good test results in math so that his school may achieve a better standing in the province.
There are multiple reasons not related in any way to teaching strategies that may account for differences in test results.
The challenge in education is to instil in children a desire to learn.
It does not matter whether Grade 7 students know the answers to a few FSA test questions at a specific time.
Maybe those students had a bad day. Maybe they will learn how to find the answers a few weeks after the testing date.
A snapshot is a poor indicator of those students’ abilities. What does matter is their eagerness, curiosity and determination to learn.
What matters is for them to experience the feeling of satisfaction associated with learning.
The number of students who met FSA test expectations in math tumbled from 53 to 32 percent in four years.
It is a mistake to judge our children’s abilities on these results and to make consequential decisions affecting the school’s curriculum on that basis.
Retired public sector administrator Andre Carrel lives in Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/390805171.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/522d1de98bada2bc026c453c67a190e3daa0b3f2e0ad1724b0d7e963015834cc.json |
[
"Cecile Favron"
] | 2016-08-26T13:06:32 | null | null | Shaina Stephens will travel to Toronto for the Miss Teen Canada Globe pageant after an appearance in the Riverboat Days parade. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F388472801.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/97927terraceStephens4.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Nisga'a teen bound for national beauty pageant | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Ksim Nisga’a youth Shaina Stephens will take on the Miss Teen Canada Globe pageant this August.
She’s already a national finalist for an upcoming national teen beauty pageant and 15-year-old Shaina Stephens is determined to make her home community proud.
The Ksim Nisga’a youth will take on the Miss Teen Canada Globe pageant this August with the hope of making it to the level of international competition.
Stephens grew up in Laxgalts’ap in the Nass Valley and says it was a ‘why not’ moment that prompted her to apply to the pageant producers.
Now she is planning to take a message about cultural appropriation to the Canada-wide event.
“Cultural appropriation, it’s not perceived as the biggest problem, it seems almost silly to see it so seriously,” said Stephens.
“But when you look into the psychological aspect and the subconscious stereotypes it creates, it has very harmful effects.”
Her delegate platform is built upon a petition she started aiming to rid Canadian shelves of so-called ‘Native American’ costumes.
“It continues to sexualize Native American women, the way that Hollywood has been doing for years. And it also makes our people seem like we are fragments of history,” she said.
That’s something Stephens wants to see change and she said that starting small is one of the best ways to facilitate a shift in attitude.
“Those subconscious barriers and negative stereotypes will slowly deplete and the bigger changes won’t seem so drastic anymore,” she explained.
Stephens’ pageant experience also started small.
At the age of eight, she won the title of Snow Queen in her village pageant, but now she has her sights set on a much bigger goal in Toronto when the Miss Teen Canada Globe kicks off on August 3.
The competition starts with four long days of regional competition and training, she noted.
“We compete for our regional titles, and if I rank high, I’ll get Miss BC, if I rank low I’ll get Miss Northern BC – the higher you rank the more area you cover,” she said.
They’ll also practice their pageant walks, make-up skills and talents.
Then, the contestants move on to nationals and the real show begins.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, especially with the appearances during nationals,” Stephens remarked. “Nationals has different appearances, [we’ll go] to Canada’s Wonderland for an appearance.
“If they don’t let me ride any roller coasters, I’ll be very upset,” she laughed.
Stephens will also compete to be one of the top 10 talent performers in order to be featured in the final ceremony in front of the judges.
And she hinted that it is no secret what her talent will be.
“Recently, I was given my Nisga’a name. It’s Hlgu Limx Gibuu – which means ‘Little Singing Wolf’ – so you can probably guess my talent,” she said.
Stephens will be largely paying her own way to the pageant. Her village government sponsored her initial application fee and now she is looking for sponsors to help her cover travel, accommodations and clothing.
Each contestant needs to have a certain number of outfits in particular colours, she explained.
Stephens also would like to bring her mom to the competition as parents do the crowning at the end of the regional competition.
In an effort to raise awareness about what she is doing, Stephens has been busy making appearances at events across the northwest.
In addition to attending Salmon Fest in Prince Rupert and the Aboriginal Day festivities near her home, Stephens will have a float in this year’s Riverboat Days parade.
“It is worth it to make appearances, get the word out about what I’m doing and where I’m from,” she said.
The pageant also has a live-voting component where online votes can promote the Peoples Choice winner straight to semi-finals.
Looking ahead to the competition, Stephens mentioned she is most looking forward to the experience.
“Even if I don’t place, it will be worth it,” she said.
You can contact Stephens through her Facebook page Shaina Stephens for Miss Teen Canada Globe 2016. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/388472801.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/710e0bef453129b105256c5a32a552e6b21392fbd1ac8a5f99bed143d16d1f54.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:03:25 | null | null | 'A national celebration': CBC to air finale of Tragically Hip's tour in hometown | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F383418011.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/70712CPT117344936.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | CBC to broadcast final concert of the Tragically Hip | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | TORONTO – Fans of the Tragically Hip across the country will be able to watch or listen to the band's final concert on its upcoming tour, in what the CBC describes as a "national celebration" of the iconic Canadian group.
The public broadcaster will carry the Hip's hometown show in Kingston, Ont., live on its television, radio and online platforms on Aug. 20 starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.
CBC announced the plan as the band released its 14th studio album, "Man Machine Poem," on Friday.
"The Tragically Hip is a band that has had a lasting influence and impact on this country and they are beloved," said Jennifer Dettman, CBC's executive director of unscripted content.
"We want to make sure that all Canadians had access to this concert on whatever platform they should desire. We're really putting on what we call a national celebration for this band."
The tour is expected to be the final one for the band, following the recent shocking revelation that lead singer Gord Downie is battling incurable brain cancer.
Internal discussions about the possibility of carrying the Kingston concert began after the tour was first announced, Dettman said, but conversations started in earnest with the Hip's team after seeing tens of thousands of signatures for a petition asking for a broadcast of the show.
Dettman said the CBC also hopes to have more special coverage of the band in the lead-up to the concert.
"I think it really will be a very big cultural moment for us," she said.
"The band has had such an incredible impact and influence on Canada. They sing about our country and they tell our stories and they make great music.... I think we really want this concert to be this wonderful, national celebration where we pull the country together, and we really just all enjoy, watch, listen to the Tragically Hip."
On Friday morning, a handful of people lined up outside HMV's flagship store in downtown Toronto to be among the first to purchase the Hip's new album.
Longtime fan James Cashman said he made an hour-long trip from the city's east-end suburbs to get the disc.
"It's going to be their last one and the poor guy is sick, you know. It's really sad," said Cashman, a 64-year-old retired funeral assistant.
Cashman said he was glad to hear the band's Kingston show would be broadcast on television, noting he couldn't afford concert tickets.
"The tickets were gone so quickly, this resale thing, it's not good. They should just put out two tickets per person, you know. Then everybody has a chance."
Demand for concert tickets was overwhelming, with all 15 shows across Canada selling out almost instantly. Ticketmaster told The Canadian Press that roughly 1.3 million fans tried to buy tickets during the public sale but only several hundred thousand seats were available.
Earlier this week, a new batch of tickets went on sale after the band tweaked its stage design to accommodate more fans, but those seats also sold out immediately.
Fans have been fuming about the exorbitant mark-ups on tickets being sold on secondary websites like StubHub and classified sites like Craigslist and Kijiji.
Members of the Hip also seemed to be displeased with how ticket sales went.
Guitarist Rob Baker responded to a fan on Twitter, saying that they were "sad and concerned" about the sellout.
"We make every effort to make sure it is fair” much beyond our control," he tweeted. "We want fans rather than the connected."
CBC said the concert in Kingston will be carried on CBC Television, CBC Radio One, CBC Radio 2, its YouTube channels, and cbcmusic.ca.
The tour will launch July 22 in Victoria.
– With files from Canadian Press reporter Cassandra Szklarski.
Follow @lauren_larose on Twitter.
Lauren La Rose, The Canadian Press | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/383418011.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/9430389fd1c0d6615befa0ee0ce447d552c10e8359b589bd1ebc289177a4353d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:11 | null | null | Christopher Alexander was originally convicted for 1998 murder of Terrace woman | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391178241.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/3422terracelindalefranc1998.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Man on parole for Terrace, B.C. murder arrested again | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Linda LeFranc was murdered in 1998 in Terrace, B.C.
THE MAN paroled for the 1998 second degree murder of a woman here has been arrested again.
Christopher Alexander, now 34, was arrested by Abbotsford police in June after a warrant for breaching his parole was issued by federal corrections officials.
He's been in custody since, awaiting either a review of his file by federal parole officials or a full-scale hearing by the Parole Board of Canada.
What Alexander is accused of doing won't be known until a review is done or a hearing is held and a decision on his future is determined and released.
Following his parole last year, Alexander was living in a half-way house and working on a farm which employees parolees.
His conditions included a ban on using social media.
News of Alexander's arrest isn't surprising to Anita Johnstone, the sister of murder victim Linda LeFranc, who spent the past weeks drafting a statement to be presented to parole officials.
She's consistently opposed Alexander's attempts at either limited or broader parole after he was jailed for life following a trial in 2002.
Johnstone said Alexander has never taken responsibility for her sister's murder.
“My hope is that they will not be lenient on him. Alexander needs to do the work required to address the deep-seated psychological issues which we have said all along have not been acknowledged or addressed,” she said.
“Having said that, after this many years is he capable of change? I think not.”
One of the issues is the lack of resources provided to properly monitor people out on parole, Johnstone continued.
She said Alexander acts on impulse without understanding the consequences.
“He wants what he wants when he wants it,” Johnstone said.
After a parolee is arrested, a 90-day clock starts as to deciding what should happen next.
That Alexander remains in custody while the 90-day clock ticks down is significant, Johnstone added.
Before his parole, Alexander was living in an aboriginal healing village in the Fraser Valley within the Correctional Service of Canada system and able to go on short term unsupervised leaves.
Alexander was 17 years old in December 1998 when he broke into LeFranc’s southside townhouse, stabbing her 83 times with a knife taken from the kitchen.
Arrested in late 1999 following an extensive RCMP undercover operation in which an officer posing as the “Mr. Big” of a criminal gang got Alexander to admit to the murder, he was sentenced following a trial here in 2002.
Originally charged with first degree murder, Alexander was convicted of second degree murder.
He was a neighbour to LeFranc who was 36 when she was killed. Her seven-year-old daughter was in the house at the time. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391178241.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/408e42407dda7f23f272d88c6cf022d7c2b7df1c025b0e73a742ef96b4d37f86.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-30T18:53:16 | null | null | Some urban districts struggle with overcrowding, special funds for declining rural schools, bus service to take effect | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391773061.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/2045BCLN2007Schoolstudentblurwide-BJ7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | B.C. school enrolment up for second year | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Students return to public school next week, with changes to curriculum and some provincial exams.
Students are returning to class next week in most of B.C.'s public schools, with enrolment expected to be up province-wide for the second year running.
Education Minister Mike Bernier says early forecasts show about 529,000 students, an increase of 2,900 from last year. But that increase is centred on fast-growing school districts, while many rural areas continue to struggle with declining student numbers.
Among changes that parents and students will see this year is a new curriculum in place up to Grade 9, with a test year for changes in the senior grades. Bernier said the new emphasis on collaboration and communication skills does not mean a watering down of the basic skills, and is designed to improve students' ability to work at modern jobs.
Report cards are to continue this school year, but the ministry is reviewing its system with an eye to providing more frequent updates. Parents are being consulted on the changes, Bernier said.
Foundation Skills Assessment tests in grades four and seven are also continuing after years of protests from teacher unions, but that program is also being examined for possible changes. FSA tests will be "enhanced" but not eliminated, Bernier said.
Provincial exams continue for graduates in math and English, but science and social studies will now be assessed at a classroom level rather than school-wide tests, Bernier said.
The ministry provided a series of top-ups to education funding this year, for bus service and to keep selected rural schools from closing. Applications are still being taken for a transportation fund until Sept. 30, requiring districts to drop across-the-board school bus fees to qualify.
Districts may still charge transportation fees for international students or those from outside a school catchment area.
NDP leader John Horgan highlighted the crowding in Surrey school district, where 7,000 students remain in portables despite an expansion program. The NDP says the B.C. government's claim of record per-student funding ignores a reduction of education funding as a share of the provincial economy.
"Since 2001, the B.C. Liberals have dragged public education funding in this province from the second best in Canada to the second worst," Horgan said. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391773061.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/4937b0cac1e4e82cebff5cfcf97c3319b69ab3de39707671669b46713e61c5cc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:46 | null | null | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F386159771.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/22084terraceSalmon.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Letter: Let's keep streams clean for salmon | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Dear Sir:
My family and I have lived at Lakelse Lake now since 1981 and we’ve enjoyed our time here and this is where I plan to retire. But I’m concerned with the kind of activity that can go on that affects the spawning beds for salmon.
I’ve noticed over the years people putting material into salmon-spawning streams and sometimes altering their course.
Years ago my kids and I used to watch the salmon spawn and that’s something which is pretty rare.
We live near Crystal Creek, one of those streams where coho spawn. There used to be between 30 to 40 coho spawn in this creek every year but this year there were none that we could find.
I also noticed, being a lakefront owner, when I would go swimming, there were very few fry nibbling on me when I would stand still.
My wife and I have let the reeds grow in front of our place so that the fry, frogs, birds and bees have a natural place to live. But there are now very few fry.
Fisheries told me that it was, and I do know, a very poor return on fish stocks all over. But my point is that you should not jeopardize the return if you have very few offspring to start with.
Just recently a sign was put up asking people to protect the fish habitat and I couldn’t agree more.
But I would also like to see more enforcement on the part of Fisheries and other officials to protect and encourage habitat. That’s not too much to ask for considering that we live in such a wonderful place.
Brian Parent,
Lakelse Lake, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/386159771.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/86196f24498eb5ed32e554d245289ab9a424a8706c1370484355263ba6b0146d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:10 | null | null | The mere threat from a corporation to move has a dampening effect on wages and taxes. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F389388901.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/33631terracefreetrade-brianmulroneyfile.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Free trade only benefits corporations | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney holding copy of 1988 Free Trade Agreement at time of its signing.
Dear Sir:
Years ago Albert Einstein wrote: “The situation prevailing in an economy based on the private ownership of capital is thus characterized by two main principles: first, means of production (capital) are privately owned and the owners dispose of them as they see fit; second, the labour contract is free. Of course, there is no such thing as a pure capitalist society in this sense. In particular, it should be noted that the workers, through long and bitter political struggles, have succeeded in securing a somewhat improved form of the “free labour contract” for certain categories of workers. But taken as a whole, the present day economy does not differ much from ‘pure’ capitalism.”
I used this quote in a speech I made to an Anti-Free Trade Rally back in the late 80’s when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was having The Canada/U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiated.
When a deal was ready for ratification the other two federal political parties were opposed. There was a federal election before the deal was signed and FTA was a major issue in the campaign.
Mulroney was returned as PM but a majority of Canadians voted for one of the other two parties.
The implication was that most Canadians were opposed to the deal. Mulroney would not countenance any changes and it was ratified and signed.
What Brian Mulroney and the Tories did not consider (in hindsight maybe they really did) was that in time free trade would render borders between our two nations meaningless where corporate interests were concerned.
This would make it easier to facilitate the free flow of capital to lower cost jurisdictions south of the 49th.
These costs are primarily taxes and labour. The mere threat from a corporation to move would have a dampening effect on wages and taxes.
Many predicted this and they also predicted the pressure to reduce the funding of social programs as result of loss of tax revenue.
If you follow the decline in corporate taxes, decline in health and education spending and the stagnation of workers’ incomes over the last few decades, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was all part of the plan at the time.
It is almost like a bunch of very wealthy, greedy corporate interests got together and devised this scheme to create two distinct classes.
The first is the working poor and the second the uber-rich and render impotent the government which is supposed to protect all citizens equally.
Albert Einstein was right but he never probably envisioned that “Free Trade” would be imposed on a naïve public and how it would compromise the sovereignty of the nations involved, making them leaner as well as meaner and advancing the two basic principles of “pure capitalism”.
My guess is that he would have seen the signs long before the Brits got interested in BREXIT.
FTA was a big win for corporate interests.
They get to use the sales pitch that if we want to keep jobs, tax revenue, health, education and social programs, we must sell off more of our natural resources to foreign interests.
This is taking resources from future generations to give us the illusion of a booming economy for a short time.
We are now even told by the same interests that in order to repair our pot-holed roads we should never question the LNG hallucination, pipelines, log exports when our mills are closed and never question the pie-in-the-sky pronouncements from dreamy-eyed politicians of untold wealth for the province if we just say “yes” each time – even now when they have increased B.C.’s debt liability by something in the order of $130 billion since 2001.
Sure, there is a cost to saying “no” but it is the height of arrogance to think there is no cost to saying “yes” or not to recognize it.
Governments justify their twisted priorities and cut services to people so that taxes to big business can be reduced in the name of keeping them competitive.
We have even had workers unions accepting two-tiered pay packages so that any future hired employees will work for much less.
It is designed to increase the corporate profits and cut down labour costs.
It will keep happening until employment standards are harmonized with those in countries with low wages and no worker protection and get a little closer to the “free-labour contract” Einstein spoke about.
The message from the proponents of free trade and like-minded politicians was that we would all be better off.
The benefits of being competitive with more profit for corporations would trickle down to the average person.
We keep getting a healthy dose of this self-serving clap trap every time a trade deal is announced from the proponents of globalization, but ask the average person if they have been “trickled on lately” and you might get an interesting response.
Ironically it was the effects of this “globalization” – the EU brand – on the people that was in part the catalyst for Great Britain’s BREXIT referendum result.
In the aftermath of BREXIT, just imagine trying to untangle Canada from these arrangements at this stage.
The fact is that currently our economy is influenced much more by decisions made by people occupying the boardrooms of multinational corporations than by politicians you elect to represent you.
But that is okay isn’t it?
Our roads are allowed to get into a state of disrepair and the province’s visionary leaders won’t replace our hospital unless we agree with them and say “yes”?
Respect for a difference of opinion might be a start?
There are costs to saying “yes” as well.
Helmut Giesbrecht,
Terrace, B,C.
(Editor’s note: Helmut Giesbrecht represented the Skeena riding in the 1991-2001 provincial NDP government.) | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/389388901.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/2623d8eff4ae9f2465de813582b210819b2c904a725fc74f1185216b183a8784.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:30 | null | null | Gift From Within aims to register 1,000 more registered donors and raise money for the Canadian Transplant Association | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F379725191.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/77020BCLN2007EilieenandWeiZhang7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Cross-Canada ride to encourage organ donation | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Eileen Zheng donated a kidney to her mother Wei and is encouraging other people to register as organ donors.
When Eileen Zheng wanted to donate one of her kidneys to her mother, family members were at first concerned about the effect of the procedure on both of them.
But five weeks after the surgery, Wei Zheng was recovering from polycystic kidney disease after seven years on kidney dialysis, and Eileen was logging up to 65 km a day on her bicycle. And a year later, Eileen is preparing to ride across Canada to encourage more people to support organ transplants.
"I want to raise awareness, so more people are willing to register after seeing that I'm healthy after donating an organ," Eileen said at a ceremony at the B.C. legislature to launch the bid Monday. "We're hoping to raise at least 1,000 more organ donors compared to last year, and around $75,000 for the Canadian Transplant Association, for the life-saving work they do."
She has three and a half months to make the journey, starting with a Terry Fox-inspired dip of her bike wheel in the Pacific before heading east towards St. Johns, Newfoundland. Eileen's ride is called Gift From Within has a website where people can link to organ donor registration sites in each province, and her route stops and updates will be posted.
There are more than 45,000 people currently waiting for organ donations across Canada. B.C. residents can check their registration status or sign up to become a donor here. | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/379725191.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6f51e86a34642ece7b34751e90cb055b821c4b11ee5736a21a200921f0235868.json |
[
"Jackie Lieuwen"
] | 2016-08-26T13:14:28 | null | null | Quotes from youth indicate more education is needed, say Terrace city councillors | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F390994381.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/24776terraceDSC_1022kunar.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace, B.C. youth survey on homelessness raises concerns | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Ryan Kunar from the Terrace Youth Advisory Committee, presents to city council about the video and survey done by the group.
CITY OF Terrace councillors say more public education about homelessness is needed following a survey of young people on the issue.
The survey was conducted by the Terrace youth advisory committee and gave a snapshot from 188 students from Caledonia Secondary and Skeena Middle School, showing how they view the issue and how they believe it can be addressed.
Councillor Michael Prevost said he was concerned by some of the student quotes.
“Some of them really speak to the need to educate people around the stereotypes of homelessness, because some of the comments were quite harsh and off the cuff, without really thinking about some of the deeper impacts,” he said.
“It’s easy to generalize and make assumptions.”
One 15-year-old Caledonia student was quoted as saying “the government needs to stop giving them money. And cut their welfare in half.”
A 14-year-old Skeena student said homelessness could be alleviated by getting rid of drug dealers and limiting alcohol for the homeless.
Other students suggested providing shelter, donations, job ideas and rehab for those who need it.
One 16-year-old from Caledonia said “Set up shelters that helps put people on their feet. Send them to rehab if they need it. Help with job ideas and resumes or other forms needed…”
A 15-year-old from Caledonia said, “Offering more homeless shelters is an obvious option. Companies and businesses could offer more opportunities for people to make money. If someone really wants the money, they should work for it.”
Councillor Stacey Tyers said that for her, some of the survey responses raised concern because it shows how the harsh and thoughtless comments people make indicate how people see each other.
“I think that it is really important as adults and role models and leaders in the community… the language we use and the way that we talk about other human beings, is really impactful to children,” she said.
“Part of [addressing that problem] is getting into the education system and teaching more about [the issue].”
Image caption: Responses from 188 Caledonia students about their view on the priority ways to help homeless.
Tyers said she was also a little concerned that shelters was the number one response from students about how to address homelessness.
"As long as there is no housing, we will just keep having full shelters," Tyers said. "You can build as many beds as you can, but if there is no where for people to move, they are just going to stay in shelters."
The youth advisory committee also developed a video about homelessness to help educate people about the issue, its causes and what is needed to help. It included footage of local social service workers, the RCMP, and several residents of Terrace.
Ryan Kunar, one of the youth on the committee, presented the survey and the video to city council at a meeting last night, Aug. 22, and said they plan to post the video online and share and spread it as far as they can. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/390994381.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/3f922c534b005db0aea1c7549809439f2f2b6634dcc6ae8a2909581155ac73d3.json |
[
"Jeff Nagel"
] | 2016-08-30T00:53:07 | null | null | Chronic wasting disease is similar to mad cow disease but infects and kills deer, elk and moose | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391677361.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/56631BCLN2007Chronic_Wasting_Disease_Map.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | B.C. wary of deadly deer disease in Alberta | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Known infections of chronic wasting disease in deer and other wildlife as of 2014.
Provincial wildlife officials are concerned that a disease killing deer and elk on the prairies could soon spread into B.C.
Chronic wasting disease, a degenerative nervous system condition similar to so-called mad cow disease, has been discovered in an animal 30 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
That's the furthest west – by about 100 kilometres – that biologists have detected the deadly disease and the discovery intensifies concerns that infected deer may make their way to B.C.
No infected animals have been found yet in B.C. but wildlife health staff are stepping up monitoring efforts in the Peace and Kootenay regions, where deer are most at-risk.
Hunters are being asked to help by donating deer, elk and moose heads for analysis. Drop-off locations are listed at www.stopchronicwastingdisease.ca.
Anyone who encounters a sick or dead deer is urged to report it to B.C.'s wildlife health program by emailing wildlifehealth@gov.bc.ca.
Although chronic wasting disease is similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Alberta's agriculture and forestry ministry says there's no evidence it can infect humans, but notes the World Health Organization advises against allowing any meat source possibly infected by prions into the human food system.
It's thought to be unlikely that the disease could spread to domestic cattle or bison.
Outbreaks on game farms typically result in quarantines and culls.
Transmission is through saliva, urine and feces and is thought to be more likely to occur where elk and deer are crowded or congregate at man-made feed and water stations, according to the Alberta ministry.
Most of the Canadian cases have been in Saskatchewan. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391677361.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6107eff2d3eaa045c7abd2f92eede9db2d2a981d8627c78af397238980381a13.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:52:32 | null | null | For seven months of the year, this would protect habitat at Lakelse Lake near Terrace, B.C. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391401101.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Boat motor size ban sought for northwestern B.C. | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | THE PROVINCIAL government wants to ban boats with motors of more than 10 horsepower for seven months of the year from the southern end of Lakelse Lake and creeks there, saying it’s necessary to protect nesting migratory birds and their habitat.
The proposed restriction within the Lakelse Lake Wetlands Provincial Park area from March 1 to October 1 would somewhat replace a long-standing BC Parks voluntary request that owners of boats with motors not enter the area at all.
The wetlands park, established in 2004, covers 1,214 hectares at the south end of Lakelse Lake and is separate from the larger Lakelse Lake Provincial Park and contains internationally significant salmon spawning and rearing habitat and regionally important migratory and over-wintering waterfowl and moose winter range.
Trumpeter swans over-winter in the wetlands and grizzly bears frequent the area in spring and fall.
The proposed ban would include Ena, Andalas and Clearwater creeks which feed into the wetlands park.
BC Parks had contemplated a number of options up to and including a complete ban of motorized boats but decided a 10 horsepower seasonal restriction would suffice.
“A few people identified an interest in fall hunting, disabled boating access and winter snowmobile use,” the BC Parks statement indicated.
“As a result a seasonal restriction is the proposed outcome and a horsepower restriction as opposed to a complete motorized restriction is proposed. It is felt that based on public input received that a seasonal restriction (March 1 to Oct. 1) and a horsepower restriction will be the most practical solution.”
The ban would mean boats with motors of less than 10 horsepower would be allowed within the wetlands area from March 1 to October 1 and boats with motors of all sizes the rest of the year.
“While there may still be some concern it is not felt to be worth restricting use unless impacts start to occur,” said BC Parks in a statement. It is left open to allow responsible use by larger vessels that may be associated with hunting and for snowmobile use. If it becomes an issue we can revisit the applied for regulation.”
“Operators will need to be responsible and cognizant of the values to ensure that nesting sites and wildlife are not harassed.”
The Lakelse Watershed Stewards Society had been asking for a total ban on motors within the wetlands park area.
BC Parks cannot enact the restriction on its own and is making an application this winter to the federal government which has the jurisdiction to do so.
BC Parks has received approval for restrictions in other parks. At Seeley Lake Provincial Park there is an electric-motor-only provision. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391401101.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/ddba69128c660edb75fd50786c58d3a118ddd5422c775e26d69cb734555c0551.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:40 | null | null | The Hot August Nites drag races in Terrace, B.C. were again part of the annual sports blitz during Riverboat Days. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fsports%2F389746461.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/18933terracespeed_85087_o.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Racers burn through Hot August Nites | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Jason Schlosser and John Symes ready to race at the Hot August Nites drags on Sunday.
SUNDAY, JULY 31
Super Pro:
1) Paul Soares
2) Clint Dalla Vecchia
3) Steve Burkett
Pro:
1) Ted Moon
2) Dana Amado
3) Larry Craig
Bikes & Sleds:
1) John Symes
2) Chris Rego
3) Robin Kilgren
Jr. Dragster:
1) Quinn Amado
2) Delaney Ribeiro
3) Logan Calkins
Tom Burbee burns rubber at the Sunday races, July 31.
MONDAY, AUG. 1
Super Pro:
1) Ted Moon
2) Tom Burbee
3) Ryan McDonald
Pro:
1) Ed Hildebrandt
2) Jeremiah Wiebe
3) Jeremy McBride
Bikes & Sleds:
1) Ian Barriford
2) John Symes
3) Matthew Christiansen
Jr. Dragster:
1) Quinn Amado
2) Delaney Ribeiro
3) Logan Calkins
Quick 8:
1) Jeremy Arthur Soares
2) Paul Soares
Above is Paul Soares talking to his son Brodie Soares as he waits in the dragster for his race. | http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/389746461.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6c88e05af3577e42f126297a7ac3e3ab850439ac1a3c578775f2e75981305a01.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:19 | null | null | Premier Christy Clark has pulled out the duct tape to fix up rural schools, school buses and the minimum wage | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F390325601.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/3565BCLN2007ClarkOakesruralschools7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | BC VIEWS: Premier Red Green’s fast fixes | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | A totally spontaneous expression of gratitude breaks out for Premier Christy Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes at the Quesnel rodeo after a rural school fund was announced in June.
Comedian Steve Smith, better known as Red Green, is touring B.C. in September, reprising his popular TV series in which he fixes every conceivable problem with duct tape.
Green’s “I’m Not Old I’m Ripe” tour hits Chilliwack, Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Surrey, Vernon, Kelowna and Prince George.
His formula for deploying the handyman’s secret weapon has proven so popular that Premier Christy Clark may have been inspired. She’s had quite a flurry of hasty repairs in the last few months. Here’s a recap.
The B.C. minimum wage was starting to lag behind other provinces, even after the overhaul it received in 2015, where annual increases are tied to inflation.
Like Red’s truck tires, there has been a lack of inflation, and a surge of government spending back east leaving B.C. in the dust. B.C.’s wage rose 20 cents last year and was set to go up by another whole dime this fall.
There was that familiar ripping sound in May as Clark and Jobs Minister Shirley Bond announced the September increase will be patched up to 40 cents, with another 40-cent increase next fall. Two wraps should hold it until after the election.
Remember the episode where Red taped two old Hyundai Ponies side by side to make a handyman’s Hummer? The school system has seen that kind of work in recent months.
The first roll was applied by Education Minister Mike Bernier when he announced in March that the ministry’s “fix-it fund” was going from $35 million to $40 million. Then in mid-May, he announced 80 successful projects. The “fix-it fund” had fattened to $45 million, and Bernier was just getting his sleeves rolled up.
Hey school districts, remember the $25 million in “administrative savings” the ministry demanded for the second year in a row? Now that you’ve squeezed that from your budgets, Bernier’s good news at the end of May was that the government’s giving it back to use for “front line services for students.”
One of those services could be “maintaining schools despite falling enrolment in certain regions,” Bernier announced May 31, foreshadowing the next layer of repairs.
Sure enough, a “rural schools fund” was rolled out on June 15. Clark and Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes made the announcement in Quesnel, where Kersley and Parkland elementary schools were going to close.
Also eligible for a special fund was Okanagan-Similkameen, where Osoyoos high school students were going to be bused a half hour to Oliver. This is hardly unusual in rural schooling around B.C., but these are swing ridings, you see.
Kootenay Lake district declined the opportunity to keep Yahk elementary open, with an anticipated fall enrolment of zero students. This all comes during the annual ritual combat between the ministry and Vancouver school board over keeping half-empty schools open.
Bernier had one more roll in his overalls. School bus service, one of those things jettisoned or saddled with hundreds of dollars in fees per student as districts scraped up those “administrative savings,” was selectively saved with another $15 million fund announced last week.
There have been a few other country fixes. They’re not going to ban weddings on farms any more, for instance.
That old jalopy in the back yard you’ve been trying to soup up and get back on the road? Soon you can get a collector plate for that thing, which is perfect if you can only get it running once or twice a year.
To paraphrase Red, if the voters don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/390325601.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/84508696091782457df1cac367d759a52676e8ff6d5a307e7ba1e6a0e4bbce1b.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-29T18:53:05 | null | null | Province has alternatives if Canada Post employees begin strike action | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391636531.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/40679BCLN2007CanadaPostMailboxwikim7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | B.C. prepares for possible postal disruption | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The B.C. government's plan B for income assistance cheques and other time-sensitive documents could be re-activated as the long-running Canada Post labour dispute reaches another deadline.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is in a legal position to strike as of Monday, but postponed threatened rotating strike action after weekend talks with a federal mediator. Its initial action would be an overtime ban rather than a full-scale walkout that would disrupt mail delivery.
Canada Post served lockout notice in July, with the two sides far apart on issues including pension changes for future employees and pay for rural carriers.
Income assistance, rent subsidy and other B.C. government payments are not affected if they are direct deposit. For mailed cheques and information, updates on possible postal strike effects to the Ministry of Social Development will be available as necessary at this website or at 1-866-866-0800.
Phone and online contacts are set up for questions about affected provincial departments:
• Ministry of Advanced Education and StudentAidBC online here.
• Ministry of Children and Family Development 1-877-387-7027
• Medical Services Plan payments online here or 1-877-405-4909
• ICBC inquiries 1-800-663-3051
• Family Maintenance and Enforcement program 604-660-2528
• Public Guardian and Trustee online here or 604-660-4444
• Vital Statistics 1-888-876-1633
• WorkSafe BC online here or 1-888-967-5377 | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391636531.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/0f0eda59d3d7d480e285a3857cfa6ab0e15482cd7b6f438b72132cf51a82cf8c.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:03:00 | null | null | Whether it's home screenings or community viewing parties, much of Canada will be tuning in for iconic rock band's final bow | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F390688221.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/56997CPT122356039.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Televised Tragically Hip show an 'unprecedented event:' CBC | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | TORONTO – Few Canadian television events qualify as a momentous occasion for the nation, but Saturday's Tragically Hip concert promises to be special.
It seems like much of the country will be tuned into CBC's live broadcast of "The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration" from Kingston, Ont., when factoring in home screenings and community viewing parties.
Yet how many people will watch is anybody's guess at this point.
"This is an unprecedented event for us," said Jennifer Dettman, CBC's executive director of unscripted content.
The sentiment is true on many levels, she adds.
The last stop on the Hip's "Man Machine Poem" tour is widely expected to be their final performance, as lead singer Gord Downie is facing terminal brain cancer. After tickets to the tour sold out within minutes, fans launched a campaign urging the CBC to carry the band's Kingston show as a live TV event.
Dettman wouldn't speak to the contract negotiations that led to the Hip agreeing to the broadcast.
"CBC made both a competitive and financially responsible offer to acquire the broadcast rights, and we're thrilled to be able to offer this national celebration to as many Canadians as possible," she said.
The concert won't just be on the main CBC network, it will also be broadcast through various other platforms such as CBC Radio One, the CBC website and its YouTube and Facebook channels.
With so many viewing options, that will make it tough to capture how many eyes and ears are focused on the Hip this Saturday.
That's where ratings agency Numeris comes in. The Toronto-based company tracks viewership figures by using meters and viewing diaries prepared by a panel of Canadians representative of the population.
Their data shows that most huge audience draws are typically live programming, led by major sporting events.
The Super Bowl is the biggest TV event nearly every year — drawing about six million to eight million viewers in recent years — while a handful of other annual celebrations like the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and Grammys are perennial favourites too.
The gold medal game of the men's hockey tournament at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is considered to be the most-watched broadcast ever in Canada. It drew 16.6 million viewers, according to data from Numeris, about double the number of people who tune into most Super Bowls.
Those kinds of numbers will be hard to beat, even for a rock band with as much Canadian clout as the Hip.
Numeris spokesman Tom Jenks wouldn't guess how many viewers will tune into the CBC broadcast, but acknowledges it'll probably be a pretty big number.
The agency said it will be counting every public screening — from restaurants to movie theatres to community viewing parties — and each person streaming the concert on their phone. Viewers who playback the show on their DVRs within seven days will also be included in the final numbers.
"Our system captures all viewing," Jenks said.
Potentially driving those numbers higher is the decision make the Hip's concert a one-time broadcast, with no encore presentation and no availability on on-demand platforms.
"Our goal was to bring the experience of this live concert to Canadians in that moment," Dettman said.
"I'm sure the band will figure out what they will want to do with the concert afterwards."
She said the goal is to give all Canadians the same "crescendo" feeling that will ripple through the arena in Kingston.
"Our goal is to bring the experience ... to as many Canadians as we can," she said.
"The idea that we're all together experiencing this moment at the same time is really special."
Follow @dfriend on Twitter.
David Friend, The Canadian Press | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/390688221.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/94d19590bc515da583b67c24e1d0c9adf9f3b28e3ef10fe84a595fffe5225949.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:24 | null | null | Writer tired of system at the Park Ave. medical building in Terrace, B.C., calls for others to complain to stimulate change. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F390089581.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/82716terracedoc2.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Letter: Seeing a doctor is too complicated | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The challenge of accessing care in this medical system calls for a change, says letter writer.
An open letter to: The Northern Health Authority,
The Park Ave. medical building.
Dear Sirs:
I am very tired of trying to get an appointment at the Park Ave. medical building.
I try to get into my doctor and you have to book two to three weeks in advance. Or you phone and ask to see the doctor on-call and they ask you to please hold.
Then lo and behold, the doctor on-call is booked solid. Or that doctor only works until 11:30 a.m. and there is another doctor on-call in the afternoon.
But rather than let you know that there is a different doctor in the afternoon and book appointments with that doctor, they continue to put you through to the doctor that is finished in half an hour.
I feel bad for the mothers with crying children who get sent home. I am not someone who gets told “nope we can’t help you” or “please call back” but I am someone who gets angry and writes a letter of complaint.
Heaven forbid that they need some medical help anytime soon. Because guess what, they will have to deal with people exactly like themselves who pass the buck and say “oh I don’t know who you were dealing with but I can’t help you.”
My husband always complains too when you finally do get into the doctor that you have to wait.
Your appointment could be at 3:30 p.m. and you will finally get into see someone by 5:30-6 p.m.
They double book their appointments and wonder why people get angry when they finally do get in to see the doctor.
My sister went to the doctor for her daughter because her stomach was always hurting and the doctor didn’t do anything. It’s like “nope, sorry can’t help you.” What is that?
I encourage everyone not just people like myself to complain because if we don’t stand up for ourselves who will?
Double booking and not informing people that they could book with the afternoon on-call doctor is wrong. Not only are we as residents sick of this practice but we are sick and in pain. So if you have to deal with mad, angry upset patients realize that it is your receptionist and or nurses who made us this way by not helping us out or offering a simple solution as “no, that doctor is booked however you might be able to get in to see the afternoon doctor.”
Dawn (Wale) Derrick, Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/390089581.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/7b98f566aa5d27dfaa8ba17c51d316f6cb06a0231a0b4e9b038a945762e243b2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:36 | null | null | Wendy Clay began her military career in the Canadian navy | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F390308691.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/98579terracewendyclay1989fileweb.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace resident Canada's first female surgeon general in armed forces | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Wendy Clay in the cockpit during her military career.
By Madeleine Link
FIFTY years ago this month, the Terrace Omineca Herald reported that Wendy Clay, a young woman from Terrace, had enrolled in the Canadian Navy.
Although she was born in Fort St. John and grew up in Qualicum Beach, Wendy spent time in Terrace with her parents in between semesters at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
She was a Red Cross-certified swim instructor as well as an organist at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church and a member of Terrace’s Inter-Church Choir.
Wendy enrolled in the navy while completing a medical degree at UBC.
Wendy was a trailblazer for women in the Canadian Armed Forces.
After becoming the first female acting surgeon sub-lieutenant in the Navy, she became the first woman to achieve her pilot’s wings in the Air Force (in 1974, three years before the first trial program for female pilots and six years before pilot training was officially opened to women), the first female Major-General, and, finally, the first female Surgeon General for the Canadian Forces.
While serving, she also attended the University of Toronto and earned a Master’s Degree in Health Sciences.
“The most interesting thing is that I was in the military during a transitional period,” Clay reflects on her career.
“When I started, the role of women was very limited, and at the end it was unlimited.”
Wendy was active both in Canada and internationally, serving as Commandant of the National Defence Medical Centre in Ottawa and completing a six-month peacekeeping tour in the Middle East.
While she was in the Middle East, the 1978 Israel-Egypt peace treaty was signed, and the Iranian Revolution took place.
“[The Iranian Forces] all got recalled – I don’t know what happened to them, but it can’t have been anything good,” she recalls.
In 1995, Clay was awarded an honorary doctorate from UBC.
Wendy retired to Victoria, B.C., where she continues to volunteer in the community.
Madeleine Link is a student at the University of British Columbia. She is spending the summer as Heritage Park Museum’s digital assistant in Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/390308691.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/873f8e34479cab96bc34d963b869ea2be18235277a4acad2b329578b81e18aba.json |
[
"Jeff Nagel"
] | 2016-08-26T13:13:59 | null | null | $60 a year increase for most drivers once optional auto insurance increase is included | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391304001.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/52753BCLN2007CarcrashLangleyfile.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | ICBC seeks 4.9 per cent basic rate hike as crashes, costs climb | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | ICBC wants to increase basic auto insurance rates by 4.9 per cent – the fifth straight annual increase – as it continues to grapple with rising numbers of crashes, claims and dramatically increasing costs.
The typical driver will pay $3.50 a month or $42 a year more for basic insurance if the hike is approved.
But the corporation is also raising optional rates by 2.8 per cent so the average customer who buys both basic and optional insurance with ICBC will see their insurance bill rise $5 a month, or $60 a year.
ICBC CEO Mark Blucher said the basic rate hike would have been much worse – 15.5 per cent translating into a $130 annual premium increase – had the province not approved another major transfer of $472 million from the optional to the basic side of operations.
A compounding factor has been the long decline of interest rates, which result in less investment income revenue to ICBC.
"These external pressures have really created a perfect storm and it's a really significant challenge for the organization," Blucher said in an interview Thursday.
ICBC had raised rates 5.5 per cent a year ago, and the province's rate smoothing policy requires the annual change be within 1.5 per cent of the previous year's increase.
The number of crashes has climbed 15 per cent in two years and damage claims are up 11 per cent.
Vehicles are increasingly reliant on technology and expensive materials that have become more costly in recent years as the loonie sagged against the U.S. dollar.
Despite much safer vehicles, injury claims have soared to $2.4 billion, up 60 per cent from $1.5 billion in 2008.
"We've seen no evidence that these strong trends are abating," Blucher said. "In fact, if anything, they're continuing to escalate going forward."
Blucher also noted there are more cars on the road in B.C. today – 3.1 million up from 2.8 million in 2011 – and people are driving more because of cheaper gas, contributing to more accidents, particularly in densifying urban areas.
And he pointed to personal injury lawyers as an aggravating cause of ICBC's spiralling claims costs.
"B.C. is the only province in Canada where you can sue another motorist for even a minor traffic accident," Blucher said, noting an increase in lawyer-represented claims and advertising by injury law firms.
Internal operating costs have been cut by $186 million a year, and ICBC is counting on more savings ahead, through its modernization program, by more aggressively combatting insurance fraud and from a hoped-for drop in distracted driving as motorists respond to stiffer penalties.
But transfers from the optional side to bolster the basic side will likely be needed for the foreseeable future, Blucher said, because basic premiums can't keep up with rising costs.
In a surprise move, the B.C. government will this year forgo extracting its usual $160-million annual dividend from ICBC's optional side into general revenue.
"Forgoing the dividend this particular year is one strategy amongst a litany of others we're employing to get that basic trate increase down," Transportation Minister Todd Stone said.
Stone said the $514 million the province has transferred out of ICBC in dividends since 2012 is small compared to the $1.4 billion over the same period that has been shifted from the competitive optional side to basic to apply downward pressure on basic rates.
The minister would not say if the government would permanently give up the ICBC dividend.
Adrian DIx, the NDP critic for ICBC, said the dividends to government have exceeded $1.2 billion since 2010 and predicted they'll resume after next year's election because the BC Liberals are "addicted" to using ICBC as a "profit centre."
Dix said the reliance on shifting huge amounts of capital from optional to basic raises troubling questions.
"Next year they've got to find that $472 million," Dix said. "What they've done is create a disaster at ICBC and their only hope is to deceive the voters until after the election."
He said ICBC's new move to hire more claims staff underscores problems with completing the computer modernization that was supposed to make operations more efficient.
"The transformation project has taken longer than World War 2 and is not close to finished."
ICBC's basic rates rose 11.2 per cent in 2012 and at least five per cent every year since.
The new rate hike is subject to B.C. Utilities Commission approval.
ICBC Rate Pressure Charts | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391304001.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/bd4edb4d744511af0fead4c55f527d9b4b6fca8f35ead2a58ba8207dee82f9af.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:25 | null | null | Nicole Halbauer says money from resources extracted in the northwest needs to stay here in the northwest. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391221671.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | A second potential NDP candidate for Skeena steps forward | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | A second person has announced she's running for the NDP nomination for the Skeena riding for the next provincial election.
Nicole Halbauer of Terrace says she can't sit by any longer and watch the resources of the northwest be extracted and the money go down south instead of staying here.
“We can't just allow big industry to take over and have nothing for our future,” she says.
Halbauer, who is from Kitsumkalum, said she believes in responsible development, adding she wants to be able to take her grandchildren to the Skeena River some day and fish as she has done.
She said she recognizes that responsible development is needed so that people can earn a living and have access to childcare, health care and education.
Halbauer also keyed in on affordable housing, saying people must be able to afford a place to live and still pay their utilities instead of having to choose between paying for electricity and eating.
Halbauer has worked for the federal government as a zone secretary for the First Nations Inuit Health branch and then as its community services coordinator, and provincially for the Northern Health Authority.
She has an associate degree in criminology from Northwest Community College and Thompson Rivers University and is now completing a masters in business administration at the University of Northern BC.
She was an elected band council member for Kitsumkalum and a school board trustee for Coast Mountains School District. She and her husband are the new owners of Kalum Kabs. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391221671.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/3eb135446e05e93eac21a2856f9d4d78c48fa95fb7b7c7af71928f6e01b22df1.json |
[
"Claudette Sandecki"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:51 | null | null | She considered everything from mowers to goats, sheep and horses to tame her wild lawn, and finally found a solution. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F389388471.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Claudette has finally tamed her lawn | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | After a summer of seeking a way to rid half a lot of knee deep grass, moss and dandelions that proved impervious to my gas-powered mower, I had resigned myself to ignoring the mess until next spring. By then the grass would be dead. How I would cope with it then I had no idea.
My problem began in April when I read that dandelions are the earliest blossoms available to feed bees and therefore should not be mowed until other flowers come along.
Unlike 2015 when my mower was inoperable for weeks, this spring my mower was tuned, sprang to life with one yank of the rope.
No calling in a relative or neighbour to start the motor for me.
Knowing I could start the mower whenever I wished by myself made up for the visits I missed.
By mid-May, fewer dandelion blossoms showed, replaced by cherry trees in full flower ensuring a food source for bees ... if any bees had stopped by.
In all this season, I counted two bees, not worth the headache that finally faced me. My mower stalled cutting a swath more than six inches wide.
Alternative modes of lawn trimming were long overdue.
With my farming background, my first thought was goats.
One or two would do. Nanny goats for ease of handling and absence of objectionable odours typical of male goats. In the regional district where I live, bylaws strictly prohibit farm animals in my neighbourhood.
I bunted that notion around for some time before I reasoned, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and phoned the bylaw officer for permission.
The bylaw officer granted my request to pasture two nanny goats for two days on my field.
What I didn’t know was that goats of any description or breed are rare in this part of B.C., so rare none could be found to take part in the 2015 Skeena Valley Fall Fair.
A forenoon spent phoning veterinarians, a feed store, a petting zoo, farmers market vendors, as well as the local dog pound proved fruitless except for useful information.
One told me sheep would balance on the top of my wooden fence to strip leaves from my cherry trees rather than munch grass. An online source said both goats and sheep prefer almost anything to grass – noxious weeds, shrubbery, pine seedlings.
I’ve watched sheep climb twin berry bushes for the leaves. But grass? No way, unless the alternative is starvation.
Horses were listed as a better means of taming grass, with less incidental destruction. Their hooves also stimulate grass regeneration. But who would trust me with a precious pony? And what if the horse broke my fence? I’d have a bigger, more urgent and expensive problem.
That’s when a friend suggested a commercial company with a ride-on mower. Over the phone the owner proposed a time of two hours at $60 per hour.
But one look at my lodged tangle changed the estimate to a day of weed whacking before mowing could begin.
Disappointed, I wrote what I intended to be my last column on the subject.
Except the column elicited a response from Optimum Lawn Care.
I phoned Richard Lawrence at 250-877-0965 and asked him to take a look to be sure his machine could deal with my mess.
Two days later he drove his 60-inch industrial mower toward my grass and chaff flew like threshing prairie wheat on a windy day.
Fifty minutes and $60 later, my lot resembled a golf course rather than an illegal dump site. No more eyesore. If only I’d have learned of his business sooner.
Claudette Sandecki now looks over her cut lawn from her Thornhill, B.C. home. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/389388471.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/cb023487698ae2255c58b3e1df3f4816db4affaf8ec3b3060ba03384fea9ce15.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:03:47 | null | null | Iconic band's cross-Canada final tour kicked off in Victoria | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F388398531.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/85851BCLN2007e_MUSIC-Tragically-Hip20160723T1330.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | VIDEO: Tragically Hip fans on tour's 'touching and heartfelt' first show | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The Tragically Hip kicked off their 15-date, cross-Canada tour Friday night with a sold-out show in Victoria. Fans Lexi Ratz and Hillary Krupa say there was a feeling of togetherness in the crowd.
Video courtesy of Canadian Press. | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/388398531.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/7961854cb6fd2b6cd6dd4d9f35501742edce577495007f6c2994190195c3e1a2.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:52:24 | null | null | There are many people in our daily life we can admire and thank and show our gratitude. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F391507411.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/62212terraceIMG_6855Tims.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | It never hurts to say thank you | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Corey Cotter is one of the smiling faces who hands you coffee out the drive-thru window at Tim Hortons on Lakelse Avenue, and is one of those people who should be acknowledged each day.
Dear Sir:
There are many people in our daily life we can admire and thank and show our gratitude. Firefighters, nurses, doctors, police officers, teachers, musicians, artists, lawyers, judges, electricians and plumbers are just some of those on the list.
They are there for us in our times of need and they help us out. They make our daily lives easier too.
Take the time out of your rushed life to make sure they know how much you appreciate them.
Additionally, I believe that there are some people out there who have jobs that often get taken for granted, and people don’t say thank you enough to them. Some of those include cashiers, servers, waitresses, stockers, dishwashers, and receivers. These people work hard too. They stock products, lift heavy items even if they have back pain or joint pain. They help customers, they answer questions.
Then they go home and still have a life to live and work to be done. Sometimes they get yelled at and have people get angry at them because they make a mistake, or don’t know something, or they forget where an item or product is, or their store or establishment just does not have what that person is looking for.
So what. We all make mistakes. We all forget. We all do not know everything. That’s what makes everyone equal. We all mess up.
That’s how we learn and get better. Every person has a million thoughts rushing through their heads every day and night. If you forget a few times because your mind is just too over whelmed with stress. Do not beat yourself up over it. It is what makes you human.
When you are in a store or restaurant, or fast food place try to remember to say thank you to these people who work in these professions. Sometimes it may be the only thank you they receive. These people need encouragement, smiling faces, conversations, and support just as much as anyone does. What we do not need though is anger or yelling from a person.
Try to remember to think before you act and make sure what you are getting angry about is worth getting angry about. You never know how long any word you say to a person may stick in their brains. Or what it can do to their day, mood, stress, pain, and life.
Try not to get mad or freak out over little problems or little mistakes. Just politely ask for them to be changed and if a person has done all they can and still cannot provide what you are looking for, make sure they know that is okay. That you know they tried and that you appreciate that. Thank you for reading and to any one in any profession in the world, thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for all your help and support. Thank you for getting out of bed and showing up on time. Thank you for trying your best. Thank you for putting up with so much. Thank you for trying to brighten our days no matter how your day is going.
Kimberley Wilson,
Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/391507411.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/f2d1d1e0f25ba14bd69d4ecc0565c573c439b6a5c649c27e25e4a428580ef801.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:21 | null | null | Premier Christy Clark protests to Prime minister Justin Trudeau about latest claims of softwood subsidy | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F387881572.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/80455BCLN2007wfpmillworkers7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | U.S. Senators 'inaccurate' on lumber claim: Premiers | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Canada's softwood lumber agreement with the U.S. expired last fall, and U.S. interests are pushing to reduce the share allowed to go south.
Premier Christy Clark and other provincial and territorial leaders have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to refute the latest lumber trade action by U.S. interests.
"Unfair and inaccurate allegations of Canadian lumber subsidies" have been made by 25 U.S. Senators to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, seeking a reduction in the cap on Canadian lumber sales, the premiers wrote from their meeting in Whitehorse this week.
The premiers cited decisions by the World Trade Organization and NAFTA in 2006 that found Canadian subsidies to be less than one per cent and ineligible for trade action.
Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama reported progress on negotiating a new softwood lumber deal after their meeting in Ottawa in late June.
Trudeau and Obama's joint statement acknowledged the increase in cross-border ownership of forest products producers, and said a key feature a new agreement would be "designed to maintain Canadian exports at or below an agreed US. market share to be negotiated."
The last Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement expired in the fall of 2015, leaving trade unrestricted as Canadian producers benefit from a stronger U.S. dollar and housing construction. | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/387881572.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/4bec3dd9a61ffb921a88658a51c60703e258977ee44fd88b82fe9f813be6c6b8.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:07:50 | null | null | Instead of the usual big stars coming in from out of town to star in major arts events, two local young people star in the opera Carmen. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F388466231.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/95637terraceDSC_0768.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Local talent stars in opera | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Amy Spencer and Graeme Linton are Carmen and Don Jose in the opera Carmen for two performances July 28 and 29 and a shortened version July 31 during Riverboat Days.
Instead of the usual big stars coming in from out of town to star in major arts events, two local young people will take centre stage for the opera Carmen this Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Amy Spencer and Graeme Linton are Carmen and Don Jose accompanied by about a dozen members of the chorus for two presentations of the opera and one highlights show, along with the Terrace Symphony Orchestra.
The cast has been rehearsing nine hours a week for several weeks in preparation under the direction of a well-known director, who prefers to remain anonymous so as not to take the focus away from the local stars, and artistic director Christina Rogers.
Spencer says it’s been a lot of hard work. “It’s pretty intensive, a lot of intense work for me. I haven’t sung in the last four years so to jump back to it is a lot of work but it’s fun,” she says. “For me right now, I find I have to work harder because I haven’t sang for so long,” she says.
She and Linton both took lessons from well-known singer Katherine van Kampen via Skype as there aren’t a lot of teachers in the northwest.
Spencer sort of stumbled into the opera after Linton messaged her to ask if she wanted to come out and sing – she thought it was just a group of people getting together. When she found out what it was for, she thought she might get a small role in the chorus but came away with a starring role.
When Linton was approached, he asked to do administrative work on the show but was persuaded to sing, which didn’t take too much persuading.
“It’s so much fun,” he says enthusiastically, adding that he looks forward to rehearsals with all the other great singers and even though its nine hours of rehearsal a week in the evenings, it doesn’t feel like a job. Linton is taking Vocal Performance in Classical Singing at McGill University and says he’d welcome a career in opera if life takes him in that direction.
Carmen is presented on July 28 and 29 at the Terrace Pentecostal Assembly. Tickets on sale at Misty River Books and Sight and Sound.
A shorter version will also be performed July 31 at Heritage Park Museum free of charge. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/388466231.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/7e3ac7ad17b8190449d579b8a4f94ba88f3c9ded49517a283cdd732b276d0986.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:01 | null | null | Vehicle traffic up 5% with no net fare increase and discounts offered for vehicles pulling boats and travel trailers | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F391094851.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/59772BCLN2007ferrySpiritofBC7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | More discounts coming as BC Ferries traffic rises | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | BC Ferries sailings have been busier this year, thanks in part to strong tourist traffic and no net fare increase.
BC Ferries plans to continue its campaign of price promotions this fall and next spring in an effort to maintain increased passenger and vehicle traffic.
First-quarter results for the Crown corporation show passenger traffic up 2.5 per cent and vehicle loads up 5.1 per cent for the three months ended June 30, compared with the same period in 2015.
Buoyed by a strong tourist year for B.C. and no net fare increase, BC Ferries carried 5.3 million passengers and 2.1 million vehicles in April, May and June. The 1.9 per cent average fare hike was erased by a reduced fuel surcharge due to long-term contracts for cheaper diesel fuel.
Helped by reduced operating costs and higher retail sales from terminals and on-board gift shops, net earnings were $27 million for the quarter, up from $18.8 million in the same period last year. Revenues were up 4.9 per cent to $219 million, while costs for the quarter went up 1.5 per cent to $178.6 million.
BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan released the first-quarter results at the corporation's annual meeting in Victoria, where he also announced that unspecified pricing promotions will be offered this fall and next spring. This year BC Ferries has been offering discounts on over-length vehicles pulling boats or travel trailers.
Corrigan also announced he will be stepping down as CEO at the end of the fiscal year next March. He was promoted in 2012 to replace former CEO David Hahn, and presided over a controversial service review that saw sailings reduced on money-losing routes.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone praised Corrigan for reducing operating costs and embracing new technology, including three new medium-sized ferries using liquefied natural gas fuel that have been built in Poland.
LNG retrofits are also scheduled for the Spirit of B.C. and the Spirit of Vancouver Island, the workhorses of the main Tswassen-to-Vancouver Island route.
Corrigan's term also saw the first cable ferry in the BC Ferries fleet, the Baynes Sound Connector to Denman Island. Stone said the cable ferry cut fuel costs by half. | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/391094851.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/d610bcdb7b36aea7439b5f964c3678ea26ac3ec3456a1f979331f29f10dc55bf.json |
[
"Rod Link"
] | 2016-08-29T14:53:02 | null | null | The plan is for twice a day round trip service from Terrace, B.C. to Prince Rupert and to the Hazeltons, running two or three days a week. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391508011.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/62491terracehwy16transitdisplayweb2.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | New daytime transit to connect northern B.C. | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | BC Transit is touring its plans for Hwy16 transit service in a series of sessions along the highway.
TERRACE is to be the hub of a Hwy16 BC Transit service west to Prince Rupert and east to the Hazeltons, part of an effort to increase passenger service from the coast to Prince George.
So far BC Transit planners have laid out a schedule of twice a day round trip service in both directions for two or three days a week.
From Terrace west to Prince Rupert, for example, a bus would leave at 7:05 a.m., returning from that city at 9:35 a.m. with a second trip leaving here at 2:40 p.m. and returning from Prince Rupert at 5:10 p.m.
Whether that schedule will hold and how many days the service will be actually offered will be determined after BC Transit completes a lengthy series of public meetings along Hwy16, three of which are taking place here this week, says BC Transit official Jonathon Dyck.
“What we’ve heard so far is that people wish a same-day service,” he said. “What we’re planning is a service to complement existing ones.”
In all, BC Transit is planning four services along Hwy16 with one route from Prince George to Burns Lake and one from Burns Lake to Smithers in addition to the two to originate from Terrace.
The idea is to connect major communities with each other along Hwy16 as opposed to a continuous service from Prince Rupert to Prince George, said Dyck.
“The greatest need we’re hearing is for a connection between centres,” he added.
A $5 one-way fare for each route is being proposed with actual costs of the service to be born by a $800,000 annual subsidy from the province over three years and by monies from local governments along Hwy16.
Also to be determined is the size of the buses, something that BC Transit will decide the closer to the time it wants to start, which is later this year.
Also unknown is whether the buses will stop along their routes at other than designated locations to either pick up or drop off passengers.
“The stops have to be in a safe and effective place,” said Dyck.
As it is, the planned Terrace to Hazeltons route on this end will follow the existing route of the BC Transit bus connecting Terrace with Thornhill and the Kitselas First Nation’s Gitaus subdivision east along Hwy16.
And at the Gitaus subdivision, an additional bus shelter would be installed.
BC Transit’s four planned Hwy16 bus routes are part of a $5 million provincial effort over three years to increase passenger service and safety from Prince Rupert to Prince George.
In addition to the $2.4 million over three years for the bus service, $800,000 is to be spent so that smaller communities can offer their own connections to large centres, $300,000 will be spent on First Nations driver training and $1.5 million will be spent on more bus shelters and highway webcams.
Some of the latter money is coming from the federal government.
The three information sessions here this week take place today from 5-7 p.m. at the Kitsumkalum Community Hall, tomorrow from 9 a.m. to noon at the Skeena Mall and from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kitselas First Nation’s administration building at Gitaus east along Hwy16. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391508011.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/4839072059c0f68147096720edfbd3dde0121a7b70c21ddbafa00318f6a6358e.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:52:18 | null | null | Do not blame the hard working care providers who take care of you. Show them respect, says letter writer in response to medical criticisms. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F391507211.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/62110terraceP1010008.Park.Ave.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Medical frustrations not the staff's fault | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Folks in the Park Ave. medical building and elsewhere will respond when shown kindess and respect, says letter writer.
Dear Sir:
I have to respond to the Aug. 17, 2016 letter to the editor in which the writer complained about the booking procedure and wait times to see a doctor in Terrace.
I would like to preface this by noting I have been accessing the medical system in Terrace and in B.C. for almost 40 years.
I have been a controversial, outspoken activist and critic of maternity care in the early days, and later on the side lines, of our treatment of seniors.
As I have aged my focus has shifted to me, and my health as I age. One thing I have learned – the hard way – is, you get back what you give out.
Be nice to them and guess what? They be nice to you.
Having entered the arena of radical reform of the medical system with their attitude of Alexander the Great during my childbirth reform years, and having to eat crow more than once, I would like to note that actually the medical staff do – for the most part – have our best interests at heart.
This is spoken by a childbirth doula (me) who had to be hidden (by nursing staff) in the staff washroom when the local obstetrician went on a rant look for “The Weston Woman”.
So guess who eats crow? I do.
This year I had a health scare that placed me at the B.C. Cancer Center in Victoria and subsequently Victoria General Hospital.
I went there angry, combative, defensive. I came out the other end of the process completely in awe of the staff. From the kind lady who swept my floor and the shy young guy who wanted to talk herbs while he emptied my wastebaskets, to the hospitable food service people who advised me to get my own food brought in through the steady LPNs who would talk healthy eating and the lovely RNs whose never ending kindness blew my mind; not one person was anything but attentive, kind and respectful. Not. One.
The other thing I learned in the past years as I navigated the doctor appointments was to come prepared.
As patients we are one of many, many. Ask your doctor’s nurse the best way to book an appointment. Come armed with a book, and approach it as a time out from daily life, a time to relax.
Thank your nurse for her work. Bring her chocolate, flowers, a card. Take a step back and consider what it might be like to see patient after demanding patient all day long.
None of us is the centre of the universe; we are in it together.
I make no bones about the fact I do not agree with a lot of the allopathic approach to health care, nor the alarming focus on pharmaceuticals in the face of a deplorable life style by many.
Diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity … self-inflicted disease in many cases.
But do not blame the hard working care providers who take care of you. Show them some respect instead.
Marianne Brorup Weston,
Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/391507211.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/0b920f509e8427863dfe70f56cb99db2eb5dbfb53b09e9530a2d9f68de3aef95.json |
[
"Cecile Favron"
] | 2016-08-26T13:07:20 | null | null | This Riverboat Days, the Majagaleehl Nisga’a brass band will host a fundraising concert in George Little Park | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F388473291.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/98080terraceMembersoftheNisga-abrassbandpicturedin2015.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace homelessness benefit concert in the works | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Members of the Majagaleehl Nisga’s brass band marching at an event in Terrace last summer.
A Nass Valley brass band is planning to host its long-awaited benefit concert during Riverboat Days with proceeds going to help the city’s homeless.
The Majagaleehl Nisga’a band, which will be playing at the George Little Park on July 31, is aiming to reach $15,000 in donations which it will then distribute to social agencies in the community.
“I really hope that something good and innovative can come out of this,” said band director Craig McKay. “I really believe that it is a matter of connections when it comes to people that are on the streets.
“Hopefully what we can do is get them on a program that will help reintegrate them into society.”
The band is inviting people experiencing homelessness and others to the event and Kermode Friendship Society is offering up transportation to-and-from where homeless individuals are quartering for the night.
The concert had to be postponed multiple times this year due to deaths within the Nisga’a nation.
But now the band has decided to hold the benefit during Riverboat Days festivities because it will go ahead regardless of other circumstances, said McKay.
The City of Terrace has also stepped in to assist the event organizers and will be issuing donation receipts on their behalf.
“Once we receive the funds, we will sit down with any entity in Terrace that has an interest in the area of homelessness and then we will distribute the funds accordingly until we reach zero,” said McKay.
The brass band, made up of smaller groups from all four Nisga’a communities, also have the support of the Nisga’a Lisims Government.
McKay illustrated the concert will feature a wide array of music - from overtures to rock-and-roll.
They also plan to challenge their own government as well as those at higher levels to match the total raised at the event.
Entry for the public is free and cash and ‘dry good’ donations will be accepted. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/388473291.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/01d0f695fde1f700030c5bcfc4d3d6fe7f79a742e54573eec0656985a6839046.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:08:39 | null | null | Asian demand for B.C. wood products peaked in 2013, analyst says China sales on pace for 50 per cent drop | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F391328001.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/63096BCLN2007thomsonchinaosb7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Lumber exports shift to U.S. as China sales slump | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Wood products exports from Canada to Asia were down 18 per cent in the first six months of 2016, with the biggest decline being softwood lumber from B.C. to China, according to the Seattle-based Wood Resources International.
Lumber sales to China are on pace to drop by 50 per cent this year compared to 2014, as B.C. lumber producers direct their sales to a healthy U.S. lumber market, according to customs data tracked for the Wood Resources Quarterly (www.woodprices.com).
The latest edition notes that by value, 75 per cent of B.C.'s exports to Asia in 2015 and 2016 are in the form of lumber, while 77 per cent of exports from Washington and Oregon are logs.
Asian demand reached a record high in 2013, with China passing Japan as the largest importer of North American wood products in 2011. The B.C. and federal governments promote wood construction in China and Japan, and B.C.'s forest minister is required to conduct an annual trade mission to China, Japan and other Asian countries.
The shift in demand provides extra urgency for talks to renew the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement that expired last year. B.C. sales are booming without the export cap that both Ottawa and Washington have agreed will be required. | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/391328001.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6f76aba910b69d7060118cdcf9d105146541745ae500ce213da3ce3baf2a009a.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:09:49 | null | null | No permit required for weddings, festivals on farms if fewer than 150 people attend, says Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F388995481.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/15664BCLN2007farmWeddingCarriagewikim7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Brides, bands allowed back on farmland | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Almost a year after B.C. farm weddings were banned due to a crackdown on agricultural land use rules, the B.C. government has clarified what commercial activities are allowed on farmland.
Farmers can host up to 10 commercial weddings, concerts or non-agricultural events per year without a permit from the Agricultural Land Commission. Farmers can take payment to host a wedding or other event as long as no more than 150 guests attend and a list of conditions are met, according to regulations that took effect Tuesday.
To qualify, event hosts must provide all parking on the farm rather than along roads, with no permanent parking lots or structures, and the event must end in less than 24 hours. For more than 10 events a year or exceeding 150 guests, properties with farm tax status must apply to the ALC for a permit.
The new regulation also clarifies ALC policies to allow, with no permit, farm tours and demonstrations, hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin patch tours, harvest and Christmas fairs and special occasion events to promote farm products.
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick said the regulation requiring farms to generate at least 50 per cent of its revenue from farm products is also scrapped, after consultation in the past year suggested the new rules instead.
The crackdown on farm weddings came last fall, when the ALC issued stop-work orders to B.C. farms including the Fraser Valley, Kelowna and Vancouver Island.
The restriction came after the province expanded farm uses to allow breweries and distilleries to operate on protected farmland with the same rules used to permit wineries. The rules allowed for processing of farm crops into products such as juice or jam for commercial sale. | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/388995481.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/81f74cae6c1e5138934917ea27e5fa0da9bc3605e66dc18a178b7d219db396f4.json |
[
"Brian Taylor",
"Peter Howe"
] | 2016-08-26T13:04:10 | null | null | The Nice Guys, starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as private investigators, is your best bet for fun at the box office at the moment. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F381014811.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/12640vernontheniceguys.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Reel Reviews: Gosling, Crowe try to play nice | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | March (Ryan Gosling) and Healy (Russell Crowe) are two private investigators out of their league as The Nice Guys.
A pair of mismatched private investigators, March (Ryan Gosling), single dad to a tween daughter, and hired muscle Healy (Russell Crowe) investigate the apparent murder and cover up of a porn star in 1970s’ Los Angeles.
We say, “It’s your best bet for fun.”
TAYLOR: I say, “give me some grit!” At least, I say that of the movies I tend to enjoy. I was looking forward to The Nice Guys because it looked gritty, yet light-hearted.
It’s not that the film doesn’t take itself seriously, but it’s not exactly film noir. Like The Big Lebowski, The Nice Guys is a mystery solved by idiots, in a time and place seemingly teeming with interesting misunderstandings. The grit is there, but it’s very polished, Hollywood grit.
HOWE: I will have to agree with you. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but that is what makes this movie work.
The Nice Guys has all the right ingredients: the great cast, covers the plot points, right amount of action, little bit of silliness and a cracking ‘70s soundtrack. Whip them all up in a large mixing bowl and you have one very good movie.
I have noticed that with Russell Crowe, you either get a very poor acting display or a very good one. In this, he is good. Gosling proves once again he is a fine actor. If you want to see that Gosling is more than just a pretty face, check this out, or a couple of his older roles, either Lars and the Real Girl or The Place Beyond the Pines.
TAYLOR: I think Gosling has never acted more, or more convincingly than in this film. His comedic double takes and stifled screaming aside, there are moments where we can see what he’s thinking or feeling clearly expressed, powerfully.
The look of exhaustion at the end of the film is, by itself, worth the price of admission. But be warned, there is some Hollywood schlock in this film, particularly in the relationship everyone has with March’s tween daughter, Holly (Angourie Rice).
It’s not her performance, she’s quite convincing. But plot points brought up by dragging your kid around while your investigating porn murders are bothersome and Hollywood’s solution is to address it directly. So we come to be appreciative of murderous men who lie, invite them into our homes and become one ourselves. This is an impossible happy ending, so the film loses me at some point.
HOWE: I can’t believe you are knocking points off for that. I thought it was very appropriate for this film.
TAYLOR: I’m being picky, this is true. There are times when it’s fair to say, “shut up already, it’s just a movie.” Perhaps this is one of those times.
– Taylor gives The Nice Guys 3 more cigarettes out of 5.
– Howe gives it 4 elevator rides out of 5.
– Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are film reviewers based in Vernon, B.C. Their column Reel Reviews appears in The Morning Star every Friday. | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/381014811.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/28ce8b6862aaff527882d5d7f46662fa887bd5171ae74e7befcd3481354b4766.json |
[
"Staff Writer"
] | 2016-08-26T13:07:04 | null | null | Photographers from across the province competed in amateur competition | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F391187111.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/2985abbotsfordAmateurphotographjers.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Voting open for People's Choice Amateur Photography Competition | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Cameras were the focus as 70 photographers from across B.C., including Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Kelowna and Nelson, competed in the fourth annual Next Generation BC Amateur Photographer of the Year Contest at the recent Abbotsford International Airshow.
Sponsored by London Drugs and Black Press Media, the contest took place Aug. 12-14, as participants captured their best air, crowd, static, and wildcard shots.
Photographers experienced close-up action at the airshow including Friday's twilight show, and earned the "hot-side" tour at the airshow where they shot exclusive aircraft including the F-35, CF-18, FA-18, Breitling Jet Team, the Snowbirds and more for a chance to win the title of B.C.'s next Amateur Photographer title.
Awarding categories also include The Best in-air photograph ($750 grand prize), The Best ground/static scene photograph ($500 prize),The Best crowd scene photograph ($250 prize ), The Best video submission ($500 prize) all courtesy of London Drugs and honorary acknowledgement for Best Wildcard entry.
For the People's Choice Award Winner, the time has arrived for the public to vote on their favourite photo and be entered for a chance to win BC Lions game tickets.
For voting and contest information, click here. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/391187111.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/972bfb881c9c495c629e47ebf26a568037ac79e8b7019cdae16b66ad77ccbd2e.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T00:52:37 | null | null | Bruce Bidgood says he's running because Skeena riding is going to be remarkably important in the provincial election | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391457261.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Third person makes bid for northwestern B.C. NDP nomination | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The first man has jumped into the race for the NDP nomination in the Skeena riding for the next provincial election.
Bruce Bidgood, associate professor of social work at the Terrace University of Northern BC campus, says he's running because this riding is going to be remarkably important in the upcoming election.
“I want to do everything I can to make sure Skeena is retained as an NDP riding and that the NDP forms the next provincial government,” said Bidgood Aug. 26.
The retirement of NDP MLA Robin Austin, which has brought on the need for a new NDP candidate, could leave the Skeena riding open to a challenge from the Liberals because the provincial Liberal government is trying to demonstrate it has support here, he added.
Austin's retirement has sent in motion an NDP mandate that it replace a white male MLA who is not running again with a candidate who is either female, aboriginal, a person of colour or a person with a disability.
“My understanding is after a white male (incumbent), the NDP makes a special effort to recruit people from equity-seeking groups,” said Bidgood in acknowledging the policy.
He adds that the first two nomination hopefuls to make announcements, Sarah Zimmerman and Nicole Halbauer, are respectively, a woman and an aboriginal woman.
“Equity is an important value of the NDP and one I share personally,” said Bidgood.
Bidgood said that while he is a white male he is also a person with an invisible disability as he is hearing impaired, having lost a great deal of his hearing years ago when he worked in industry to pay his way through university.
Bidgood has been a member of the NDP for about 30 years and says his political experience, he was a two-term Terrace city councillor from 2008 to 2014, which included a spell as chair of the Kitimat-Stikine regional district, would be valuable in provincial office. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391457261.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/9ffcf78bd2140fec724716190902dd98382273b7e014eaa34e980cbb732daa17.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:11 | null | null | Four per cent rate hike already in effect, more to come as BC Hydro looks for savings to offset slow industrial demand | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F388687371.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/9960BCLN2007DamRevelstokewiki7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | BC Hydro rates rise as demand slows | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Revelstoke dam on the Columbia River is due to have a sixth water turbine added, but Site C is BC Hydro's priority today.
BC Hydro is going ahead with its planned four per cent rate increase this year and deferring more debt to future years as it revises its electricity demand forecast downward.
The provincially-owned utility has not asked for an increase in its government-imposed rate plan despite a revised demand forecast with $3.5 billion less revenue over the next 10 years. BC Hydro has filed a three-year plan with the B.C. Utilities Commission that would increase rates four, 3.5 and three per cent in the next three years. The four per cent increase is already showing up on customer bills as an interim increase.
With the Site C dam on the Peace River and other upgrades amounting to $2 billion a year, the plan includes additional deferred debt until 2023, when Site C is due to be completed. BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald said the long-term nature of capital projects means its capital cost savings don't start until the next decade.
BC Hydro has also cut some of its familiar Power Smart activities, such as the fridge buy-back plan and incentives for energy efficient light bulbs.
McDonald said BC Hydro is seeing lower revenues due to two warm winters and downturns in mining and forest products. It still projects growing overall demand as population and economic growth continue.
NDP energy critic Adrian Dix said the new deferred debt represents roughly $500 for each of BC Hydro's two million customers, and it is a political move to get the B.C. Liberal government past next year's election.
The 10-year rates plan imposed by Energy Minister Bill Bennett in 2013 overstated demand to justify the construction of Site C, and translates to a 28 per cent rate increase. It allows the utilities commission to regain control over approving customer rates by 2020, after five years of political direction.
Dix said with the new demand forecast and commodity prices expected to remain low, BC Hydro should have added a sixth turbine to its Revelstoke dam for $450 million before embarking on the $9 billion Site C project. | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/388687371.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6c78dc88988ff8ad99a86bbe39cb7429f533d92b44d4050357db5aed8b37751c.json |
[
"John Arendt"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:59 | null | null | B.C. Day, on Monday, Aug. 1, is an opportunity to celebrate this spectacular province. See how well you know British Columbia. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F388492001.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/60468summerlandimage.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | B.C. DAY TRIVIA QUIZ: How much do you know about British Columbia? | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | B.C. Day, on Monday, Aug. 1, is an opportunity to celebrate this spectacular province. See how well you know British Columbia. | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/388492001.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/c392274717a73f1dc60422fbcdbee3151ac0a346b1147849dd34f640a45d5f93.json |
[
"Jackie Lieuwen"
] | 2016-08-30T14:53:13 | null | null | The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit will benefit patients across northwestern B.C. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391737861.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/88653terraceMRIPhilipsweb.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, B.C. gets an imaging upgrade | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | MILLS Memorial Hospital in Terrace is to get a magnetic resonance imaging unit by next spring. A supplier has yet to be chosen for the unit.
MILLS Memorial Hospital is to be the home of a sophisticated MRI unit next spring, giving physicians a more detailed view of the inside of a patient’s body.
Costing nearly $3 million, the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) unit will be financed by the North West Regional Hospital District, the Northern Health Authority and the province.
Mills will need to renovate a space the machine, said Steve Raper from the health authority which runs the hospital.
“It will require some renovations, but we don’t know what that will look like or where they are going to put it at this point,” he said.
That will be decided when the health authority picks a supplier leading toward having the unit in place next spring.
Mills already has a CT (or computed tomography) device, installed in 2006, which isused for truama and acutely ill patients. An MRI takes longer but gives more detailed images of soft tissues and joints, and it is used for surgeries and detecting and treating cancer.
The Northern Health Authority had originally planned to buy a mobile MRI unit to travel between Terrace and Fort St. John but it was convinced to buy two fixed units because of advancing technology and price changes, said Raper.
“It’s still a larger investment, but the investment isn’t as large as it would have been and it made it feasible and realistic for us to move forward in this direction,’ said Raper.
“[We want to] plan for the future and try and get ahead of some of the potential volumes we might experience with an aging population,” Raper said.
Having an MRI in Terrace will decrease wait times and improve access for residents in the northwest, who will not have to travel to Vancouver or Prince George for the exam.
Northern Health started last January training hospital staff to use MRI technology, including two people in Terrace and two in Fort St. John. Their training will finish with a 16-week practicum by next spring.
“That is also a challenge, making sure that we have the right resources to staff this equipment when it is up and ready to roll,” Raper said. “We are working with people already living in the communities, because that is a better long-term strategy for us.”
A CT scan is typically used for trauma and acutely ill patients and uses x-ray radiation to take pictures of organs, bone, and blood vessels all in the same scan.
By comparison, an MRI is better for looking at soft tissues, joints, tendons/ligaments and provides more detail than a CT scan. It takes an average of 30 minutes, compared to a five-minute CT scan, and uses large magnet and radio waves to produce an image. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391737861.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/b2ddf467f236d709357946f9ebf2c2bafecaef286068cc3241bce38d8aea363d.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T00:53:19 | null | null | BC Coroners Service is investigating death that occurred Aug. 26 in Terrace, B.C. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fnews%2F391805901.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/96118terraceDSC_0073.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Identity of man who died in CN Rail yards released | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Police, fire and ambulance personnel check out the site where a CN freight train apparently hit a person Aug. 26.
The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a man who died in Terrace Aug. 26.
He was Bernard Romeo Desjardins, 59, of Terrace.
At about 7 p.m. on Aug. 26,, Desjardins and a companion were on foot, crossing northbound through the CN Rail yards behind the 3100-block of School Road.
A freight train was travelling eastbound on the northernmost track.
The companion was able to get off the tracks before the train came, but Desjardins was not able to do so, and was struck by the engine.
He was deceased at the scene.
The BC Coroners Service and RCMP continue to investigate this death.
Desjardins's family has been notified of his death.
On behalf of family members, the BC Coroners Service requests that the media respect their privacy during this difficult time. | http://www.terracestandard.com/news/391805901.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/fd17a9d94b23eb447330869f4363dd773c09ce4642fac7886943993a61c8df4f.json |
[
"Claudette Sandecki"
] | 2016-08-27T22:51:45 | null | null | Olympian Ryan Lochte was punished by sponsors, severing contracts worth $10 million. If only laws were as swift. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F391506671.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/61678terrace7737963114_RyanLochte.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Sponsors vote with their dollars | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Don’t you enjoy news stories of bad guys who bring on their own punishment? Like the U.S. Olympics swimmer, Ryan Lochte, who vandalized a Rio gas station washroom with three younger pals and then claimed they had been extorted and robbed.
Apparently learning to be a first rate swimmer takes muscle, technique and dedicated training, but not necessarily smarts.
His alibi had more holes than a beginner’s knitting project. For one, even in the poorer areas of Rio, video-recording smart phones wait everywhere ready to document any action, good or bad. Plus the gas station was well surveyed by its own security cameras. So it didn’t take more than a few moments to turn up visual evidence of the four Americans leaving the gas station and a clear trail of their destruction behind them.
Lochte also discounted the video record showing the four men returning to the Olympic Village wherein Lochte was still wearing his wrist watch and in possession of his wallet. Some robbery indeed.
Then to baldly fabricate a story for the police, and go on to perpetuate and embellish it in two follow-up interviews with Matt Lauer on NBC’s The Today Show ... What was he thinking? Or was he?
He excused himself as drunk, celebrating after a rigorous competition; said he had made an immature decision; and he had “over-exaggerated” the seriousness of the story he had spun for Lauer.
Not only did he cower from owning up to what had in fact transpired, he embellished his story claiming a loaded gun had been held to his forehead and he had been ordered to hand over his valuables.
He also forgot he had three accomplices, all much younger, none of whom was as keen to wriggle out of responsibility for their damage. Their stories didn’t jibe with Lochte’s.
Further adding to his guilt, he hightailed it back to the U.S. beyond reach of Brazilian authorities.
Earliest news reports downplayed his crime as little more than mischief by a kid, though he’s in his early 30’s and has participated in several summer Olympics prior to Rio.
Not only did his invented alibi make Rio look like a nest of thugs, he embarrassed the entire U.S. athletic teams in Rio with him and gave Olympic authorities a huge headache. An Olympics spokesperson was hard pressed to chastise Lochte’s behaviour after a top Olympics executive had been charged with scamming tickets.
Just when it looked like he might be let off as a thoughtless prankster, Lochte’s sponsors took decisive action, severing lucrative contracts. He won’t be the macho man on Speedo ads, or the charmer for four other products that netted him a $10 million annual income.
The other shoe will drop later for this swimmer in a few weeks when U.S. officials may go so far as to cancel his participation in all future swimming competitions.
A second news story with a similar outcome involved the Ohio spear hunter who baited and killed an Alberta black bear. He and his wife own a sport fitness store. Thanks to his barbaric hunting method, nonetheless legal in Alberta, and posting of his wife’s video on YouTube, Under Armour, a clothing line, cancelled their corporate sponsorship of the couple’s business.
After an investigation, Alberta Conservation has concluded the spear hunter broke no laws but the public uproar has convinced the government to outlaw spear hunting this fall.
In both cases corporate sponsors promptly expressed the public’s abhorrence by withdrawing their dollars. If only laws were as swift and decisive. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/391506671.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/42116d462562c15a60e305ec18939a0a6e083f1e1dc830850a6ba75b53456298.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T20:50:51 | null | null | Annual event in Terrace, B.C. takes place September 10 at the Thornhill Community Grounds. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F391649591.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/45499terraceFallFairSchedulePAGES2016PG1.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Skeena Valley Fall Fair booklets available | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | The 2016 Skeena Valley Fall Fair booklet is available.
The 2016 Skeena Fall Fair booklets are now available.
Booklets have all the information about categories to enter in the exhibition hall, 4-H Achievement Events and Open Classes, Open Livestock Classes, and information for vendors and dates, times and entrance fees for the fair grounds.
Pick up one at the following locations: Terrace Public Library, Creative Zone, MacCarthy GM, Nor-Burd RV, Spotted Horse Nursery, Sherwood Mountain Brewhouse, Northern Savings Credit Union and the Terrace Standard.
The Skeena Valley Fall Fair is Saturday, September 10 at the Thornhill Community Grounds. The exhibit hall is in the Thornhill Community Centre. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/391649591.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/70cb049e3550f4730e4fafe89dbc841e2eacb3de0d75127e1ce958809c07c99d.json |
[
"Jackie Lieuwen"
] | 2016-08-30T18:53:49 | null | null | Terrace’s Cam Hundal trained with the pro German soccer leagues, but found visa and language barriers blocked his chances to play there. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fsports%2F391770501.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/1057terraceHundal.soccer.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Hundal aims for North American pros: stint in Germany finds doors closed | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Cam Hundal drives the ball up the field in one of his games with the University of Victoria Vikes.
Terrace’s Cam Hundal is now aiming for a spot in the North American pro soccer leagues after being blocked from pro ball in Germany by language and situational barriers.
“It was hard to get a trial, especially being a Canadian,” Hundal said of his tryouts in Germany this past July.
“Being a Canadian, being a foreigner, it’s really difficult to make it over there… because of how much they have to pay you, they have to give you a work permit and a visa, whereas they could sign a local player for much less money,” Hundal explained.
“So if you are going to make it there, you have to be the best player on the team by a long shot.”
Hundal went to Germany this past July for their soccer pre-season, attempting to get into the European pros.
That followed a very successful four years in amateur soccer, playing on the University of Victoria Vikes for four years, 2012 to 2015 where he has earned multiple awards. That included being named All-Star of Canada West every one of those four years and winning the 2015 Player of the Year for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).
He also signed with the Victoria Highlanders in 2014 and 2015 and played in the Premier Development League.
Hundal said he has had several offers from semi-pro teams over the last few years, but turned them down, opting to first finish his kinesiology degree at UVic, which he graduated with last April.
After that he decided that he wanted a shot at the European pros because it’s a more technical, higher skilled game, with way more leagues and opportunities.
“Over there, because the leagues have been around for so long, it’s so organized and there is a lot more opportunity,” Hundal explained. “If you are doing well on a team, you have a lot more opportunity to move up in the ranks really quickly, because there are so many scouts everywhere.”
Hundal went to Germany July 7 to Aug. 8 and trained with FK Pirmasens and VfB Oldenburg, teams in the fourth division of soccer in Germany.
But Hundal said the experience was tough and disappointing because of the barriers he faced.
“The language was bit of a barrier… They all speak German there at practice, so it’s tough because you don’t understand what the coach is saying. When you start drills and stuff, you have to look around for a couple minutes and see what is going on and then just kinda learn yourself,” he said. “The players are all really nice, but at that level, and in a different country, especially when everyone is battling for a spot, guys aren’t as helpful.”
Besides the language, Hundal found that being a foreigner who would need a work permit and visa to sign with a team, closes a lot of doors with coaches.
“[I learned quickly] about the harsh reality that a lot of guys are good enough, but if you can’t get a look, there’s not much you can do,” he said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to it being a business more than anything.”
“When I was playing there I was never out of place or anything and with the teams I trained with, I think I was one of the better players, but I didn’t think it was worth it for me to stay… It was a bit disappointing because I couldn’t get the trial that I wanted to, but the training and the experience was really cool,” he concluded.
Hundal returned to Canada early in August and is taking a position as head coach at the University of St. Michaels in Toronto, a connection made through one of his Victoria coaches.
In January, he plans to try out for a team in the pro leagues here and is deciding between three options: Arizona United in Phoenix, FC Edmonton or Ottawa Fury.
He said he knows the Ottawa coach, and has had prior offers from the Arizona and Edmonton teams.
Arizona United plays in the United Soccer League (USL Pro), and the two Canadian teams play in the North American Soccer League (NASL), and Hundal said there are advantages to each.
“The NASL is a higher league in terms of the North American soccer pyramid, but USL Pro has more of an affiliation with the MLS (Major League Soccer), which is the top league,” Hundal explained. “So it’s either I go to a lower league so I have more of a chance of making it to the top league, or I play in a higher league but with less chance of making it to the top league.”
He added that he also has to consider the coaches and teams themselves.
“Do I want to play for a so-called better team or do I want to play somewhere where I can get more playing time, more chance to develop,” he wondered.
Hundal said that despite the short time he spent in Germany, he learned things that he will take with him.
“The mentality over there was a lot different. They take it so seriously,” he said. “The training is very intense all the time… no messing around… I can bring that mentality back here with me.”
The experience also raised the bar on his game.
Hundal watched some of best pro German teams train, and said it was a completely new level of soccer.
“Guys were making passes that I didn’t even see, and I wasn’t even playing,” he said. “It’s another thing to strive for now, moving forward…
“Even training for one month at that level, it makes you that much better and you get to realize how technical the game can get, and how skilled you can get,” he added.
He said that though skill is developed by playing more than anything, he was able to learn a new style to “add to his arsenal” as he shoots for the pros here. | http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/391770501.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/13b41e4f3806b5980fe27afc88107c1e2678bf7010d00de6513a98c60736809a.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:02:35 | null | null | Six hour miniseries to air on CBC and adapted by Sarah Polley | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fentertainment%2F389232131.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/33237BCLN2007e_TV-Margaret-Atwood20160801T1130.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | VIDEO: Margaret Atwood to cameo in TV adaptation of novel 'Alias Grace' | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Margaret Atwood's novel "Alias Grace" is being adapted into a six-hour miniseries, which will air on CBC and stream on Netflix outside Canada. Atwood says the adaptation's writer-producer Sarah Polley is a "brilliant writer."
Canadian Press video | http://www.terracestandard.com/entertainment/389232131.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/aff29fa04d51e5d95ac2e4972a1f401cd56692337eec1d9e2df77a542c614540.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:12:46 | null | null | Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett's position boils down to blaming racist, indifferent cops | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2F389749591.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/20136BCLN2007Bennett-Carolynswear-in7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | BC VIEWS: Missing women inquiry pre-determined | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett is sworn in as Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, November 2015.
The federal government’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is preparing to get underway in September.
With five commissioners led by B.C. judge Marion Buller and a budget that has swelled by a third to $54 million before it even starts, this inquiry has one big advantage over all the previous studies of Canada’s intractable problems of poverty and violence in aboriginal communities.
In this case, the politicians all agree what the outcome is going to be. They’ve been saying so for months, since the Justin Trudeau government got elected on this and other passionate, if questionable, promises.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation on the B.C. coast, a former Crown prosecutor and chair of the B.C. Treaty Commission, announced the terms of reference last week. She stressed that the inquiry will not attempt to retry cold cases, but to examine the “root causes” of the high numbers of missing and murdered women.
Next up was Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, who has no doubt at all what those “root causes” are: racism, sexism and the lingering effects of colonialism. Bennett has been meeting steadily with grieving families since being appointed, and now accepts that racist, indifferent cops are the main “root cause.”
Bennett explained this conclusion from New York in April, while attending a “Women of the World” summit. It’s an “uneven application of justice,” she told The Globe and Mail, a phrase we’ll hear again and again.
“You end up with people who have been told it’s an overdose, or a suicide or an accident,” Bennett said.
RCMP have reported close to 1,200 unsolved cases of murdered or missing indigenous women since 1980, a figure that Bennett scoffs at. What’s her evidence? She’s talked to families, and knows it’s “way more” than that.
One of the previous inquiries was by a United Nations official, James Anaya, in 2014. He noted the alarming statistics of education outcome and violent offences against women, and referred to 660 cases documented by the Native Women’s Association of Canada. He also described being besieged by demands for a national inquiry, as he went through the stacks of studies that have already been done.
“Since 1996,” Anaya wrote in his UN report, “there have been at least 29 official inquiries and reports dealing with aspects of this issue, which have resulted in over 500 recommendations for action.”
As the latest inquiry was being launched, Perry Bellegarde, the current Assembly of First Nations national chief, recited Bennett’s speaking points about the conclusions it will reach.
Bellegarde told CTV the problem is vastly under-reported because “…oh, it’s an accidental death. Oh, it’s a suicide.” Then he called for more money for housing and other programs via the failed Indian Act system.
There are several glaring factors that apparently will not be discussed, because they fall outside the politically correct boundaries of this pre-determined narrative.
One is the even more alarming number of aboriginal men and boys who are victims of violent crime.
Another is the rate of domestic abuse reported by indigenous women, which Statistics Canada estimated this year at about 10 per cent of their population. That’s three times the national average, but it was not mentioned amid the demands for justice at the inquiry.
Another key issue that is forbidden from discussion is the social and economic viability of remote communities. Some of them haven’t been able to maintain clean water and safe housing, much less education and employment, despite billions in spending every year.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/389749591.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/20793d69ada17cbc574c63b6876b3e12d3a150bc672cce8fe1c18ede76479f08.json |
[
"Canadian Press"
] | 2016-08-29T16:51:15 | null | null | Federal labour minister advised to allow temporary foreign workers as a backup to Canadians as B.C. aims to build LNG plants | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fbusiness%2F391580541.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/BlackNewsMedia-CLR.png?t=12345? | en | null | Libs looking at foreign workers for liquefied gas projects | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | OTTAWA – The federal labour minister was told earlier this year to give a positive signal to liquefied natural gas companies on the use of temporary foreign workers, but only if Canadians were considered first for jobs.
Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk's officials told her in February that it was inevitable that companies would need temporary foreign workers to proceed with energy projects in Western Canada.
In a Feb. 1 briefing note, Mihychuk's officials write that the federal government can speed up how quickly it processes applications for temporary foreign workers, but couldn't waive requirements for liquefied natural gas projects.
The briefing note, prepared ahead of Mihychuk's meeting with David Keane, president of the BC LNG Alliance, recommends "signal support" for temporary foreign workers "on the condition that Canadians are considered first for available jobs ... and only used as a measure of last resort."
The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the briefing note under the Access to Information Act.
In an interview, Keane said Mihychuk didn't give any indication of how the government would decide on the issue of foreign workers involved in projects. He said the message Mihychuk provided was that the government wanted to review the temporary foreign worker program.
He didn't want to speculate about what the message from department officials may mean for the fate of projects that require federal approval.
Thousands of temporary foreign workers are expected to be needed to work on any of the 20 separate liquefied natural gas projects being reviewed in British Columbia, including the Pacific Northwest LNG project that the federal cabinet has to decide on this fall.
The briefing note says unions are unlikely to speak out publicly about the use of temporary foreign workers because they know the majority of jobs will go to union members and that Canadians will be first in line for jobs.
Keane said the plan is to hire a workforce derived from local aboriginal communities and provincial residents before looking across Canada.
"There will be probably a requirement, and I think everybody recognizes this, for temporary foreign workers to be able to build this industry, but we have a plan in place and are developing the plan and refining the plan to make sure that we look at Canadians first before we bring in temporary foreign workers," Keane said.
Jordan Press, The Canadian Press | http://www.terracestandard.com/business/391580541.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/7788dca8ed6b5b449471436e84e1473318048098c2ff7ce669aca414a71f4d26.json |
[
"Tom Fletcher"
] | 2016-08-26T13:11:55 | null | null | Conservation officers have 300 bear conflict calls so far this month, with roadside bear viewing, feeding among problems | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Flifestyles%2F376640171.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/2744BCLN2007beargrassyoutube7web.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | 'Bear jams' on B.C. highways bad for people, animals [with video] | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Bear eats grass next to Highway 3 in Manning Park, in video shot by a tourist. Drivers are subject to fines for unsafe stopping on highways.
Bears are emerging from hibernation around B.C. as another strong tourist season begins, causing collections of often unwary onlookers and creating danger.
Hungry black bears come to roadsides in early spring to eat new grass, and can quickly attract a crowd.
"They cause what's known as bear jams, where people stop to photograph the bears, look at the bears or feed the bears," said Chris Doyle, deputy chief of provincial operations for the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
"The problem with that is that it causes the bears to be habituated to people. It also does cause bears to get hit by vehicles on the highways, because if they are getting fed, they're going to be attracted to those cars and they may dart out onto the highway quickly."
Conservation Officers have fielded 300 calls about bear conflicts since April 1. Doyle said the problem is mainly in southwestern B.C. now and will pick up farther north in coming weeks.
A perennial hotspot for bear conflicts is along the North Shore and up the lower Fraser River, extending from North Vancouver to Maple Ridge where housing development abuts with mountain terrain.
Doyle said proper garbage management and use of bear-proof containers will help minimize contact.
With camping season starting, Doyle stressed the need to keep garbage secure.
"Those can be dangerous situations when you have a bear wandering around a campground."
Here's a typical tourist video, from someone police hope is parked in a safe spot: | http://www.terracestandard.com/lifestyles/376640171.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/c88bc2d78834d083fd3e9f3b236357ef5139621e93b5e83a0a2f0ae69f679edc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:28 | null | null | Two women who worked the land a century ago in Terrace, B.C. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fcommunity%2F390477031.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/66186terraceDaninaLanfear-l-andEthelwynneFrench-r-onLanfear-FrenchFarm.FromTheGlamourofBritishColumbiabyH.Glynn-Ward..jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Terrace Standard | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Danina Lanfear, left, and Ethelwynne French on Lanfear-French farm. Below, The view looking out over Terrace from Lanfear Hill around the time Danina Lanfear and Ethelwynne French ran a farm at the top of the hill.
By Madeleine Link
Two Women Make Good: Are Working a Farm and a Summer Home Without a Man About Them,” proclaimed a headline from a 1927 edition of The Omineca Herald, offering an intriguing glimpse into the lives of Danina Lanfear and Ethelwyn French, whose contributions to early Terrace are often not acknowledged.
These women moved to Terrace from England and stayed here for 16 years, becoming valuable and celebrated members of the community. While alive, they were admired within the community, but today their legacy is rarely discussed. However, they should be remembered for their hard work, dedication and their commitment to each other.
Danina Hood, later Lanfear, was born in Scotland in 1869 and immigrated to Australia with her family at age three. As a young girl, she excelled in grammar school and eventually went on to study at Sydney University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1894 – less than a decade after the first female graduate.
After briefly working as a teacher, she married Charles Ernest Lanfear, a brewer, late in 1899. They had four children: three boys and one girl, Margaret.
Charles was frequently accused of incompetence, and often sued his former employers for wrongful dismissal and libel, with varying degrees of success. It’s unclear whether or not this string of court appearances contributed to the family’s decision to leave Australia, but whatever the case, the Lanfears sailed back to England in 1909.
While in England, Danina met Ethelwyn French, a teacher with an associate’s degree in piano from the London College of Music. Census documents place them both in the small community of “The Grove,” Staffordshire, early in the 20th century.
It’s possible, although not certain, that their relationship provided the catalyst for Danina leaving Charles. The exact nature of their relationship is unknown, but ultimately what matters is that for the rest of their lives, their primary devotion was to each other. A ship’s record from 1914 shows Mrs. Lanfear, Miss French and an 11-year-old Margaret leaving Liverpool for Canada.
After arriving in Terrace, Danina and Ethelwyn bought land from Charles ‘Speakeasy’ Green at the top of what is now called Lanfear Hill (the name was used as early as 1923) and began farming.
Elsie Smith, quoted in a 1989 The Terrace Review article, later described them as “two rugged women,” a quality that would have been necessary given the amount of work they did.
Their efforts resulted in a sprawling farm and garden, which produced many prize-winning entries in the annual fall fair.
Lanfear and French were particularly known for their flowers, their fruits and vegetables, and their poultry. The women were able to capitalize on their successes by selling their flowers, ready to plant, throughout the community.
The pair further demonstrated their business savvy through their Hill Farm summer home.
The bench became known as “where the sun shines,” and the women advertised it as an ideal place to rest and absorb vitamin D, which had recently become popular.
The farm and summer home featured playgrounds, a tennis court, and gardens, as well as both indoor and outdoor rooms.
The women advertised milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables and offered full supervision of children.
Hill Farm received many visitors, both children and adults, including D.T. Pattullo, an MLA who later became a premier of British Columbia.
Lanfear and French contributed to the community in many other ways. They supported the war effort during the First World War, volunteered to nurse influenza patients in a makeshift hospital in 1919, and contributed to both the Nurses’ Home Fund and a canvass for the Terrace hospital.
Lanfear was briefly a teacher in the schoolhouse, and French taught piano lessons for many years.
Although they returned to England in 1931, their contributions were numerous and significant, and as a result the goodbye dinner held for them at Knox United Church drew 50 attendees.
The farm area subsequently became the property of the Kerby family.
The pair stayed together for the rest of their lives. In a history often dominated by men, it’s important to remember two women whose primary relationship was with each other, and to recognize their contributions to Terrace history.
Madeleine Link is a student at the University of British Columbia. She is spending the summer as Heritage Park Museum’s digital assistant.
Top photo from The Glamour of British Columbia by H. Glynn-Ward. Bottom photo courtesy Heritage Park Museum. | http://www.terracestandard.com/community/390477031.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/f171c3cd7601ecf64adf30d8db12854a96e6cb7349c31f2425f467a0a2a489ab.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:29 | null | null | Worldwide, sea birds, whales, sea turtles and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in and around their bodies. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terracestandard.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2F388038572.html.json | http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/36610terrace15517069937_eae98d6065_o.jpg?t=12345? | en | null | Letter: Microplastics poisoning the Skeena | null | null | www.terracestandard.com | Dear sir:
Plastics are poisoning our waterways and food chains on a massive scale. Worldwide, sea birds, whales, sea turtles and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in and around their bodies.
Fresh water species across the globe have declined by 35 per cent in the past three decades partly due to plastics.
Researchers from the University of New York and University of California Santa Barbara recently discovered microfibres or tiny threads of plastic fibres poisoning our waterways and food chains.
The fibres are everywhere and worldwide.
Locally, synthetic microfibres or microscopic plastic fibres from our clothes are draining out of our washing machines to our waste water treatment facilities, down the Skeena River and out to the Pacific Ocean.
Synthetic fleece jackets can release over a gram of fibres each wash and older jackets release more than newer jackets. Rayon, nylon and other synthetic fabrics can also cause the same problem.
What can we do as good stewards of the land and water?
Some options may be to wash less, use purer soaps or no soap, try not to buy fleece or wash fleece much, perhaps discard the old fleece jackets and synthetic fabrics instead of taking them to the thrift store, knowing the harm synthetic fabrics are doing to our food chains and waterways.
In the Skeena Watershed, microbeads or (microscopic plastic beads) from some lotions, makeup, exfolients, soaps, shampoos and toothpastes travel down our drains from our homes to our waste water treatment facilities, then down the Skeena River and into the Pacific Ocean. Microbeads are entering the food chain along this route and affecting many species. So far, filters have not been developed for our waste water treatment plants that will pick out these microfibres and microbeads.
Think of this happening worldwide and it does not take long to develop huge problems.
The U.S. has banned microbeads. Canada is drafting regulations to ban micro beads by 2019 which is three years away. What might we do today?
Try not to purchase any personal care products containing polyethylene or polypropylene. An app has been released which allows you to simply scan a bar code with your smartphone camera to determine if a product has microbeads. Spend the time to read ingredients or scan products as there are many products we may wish to avoid. And please, speak with your wallet.
Canada has 20 per cent of the freshwater in the world. This huge global endowment comes with special responsibilities. We live in 1 of Canada’s 5 major watersheds called the Skeena River Basin which leads to the Pacific Ocean. Our watershed collects, stores and drains precipitation, ground water and waste water through our lakes, rivers, streams and other pathways. Try to visualize the journey of what you are putting down the drain and how it will affect our waterways and aquatic species on its trip out to the Pacific Ocean.
Development, pollution and climate change are putting Canada’s watersheds at risk. Water is the essence of life and it is a number one priority to look after our water.
When we gather together to protect our water we create a legacy that carries forward for future generations.
Mary Ann Shannon
Terrace, B.C. | http://www.terracestandard.com/opinion/letters/388038572.html | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.terracestandard.com/6cf71962bf16be760aee7a136bd7ffae23f4899704d1b1f4ff8d35bff7f7bdf4.json |
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