LOCAL NEWS: OPPORTUNITIES IN NORTH THOMPSON W A7 Monday, March 19, 2012 W Volume 47 No. 12 W www.clearwatertimes.com W $1.40 HST Included at Newsstands
Times THE
NORTH THOMPSON
First Place Best All Round Newspaper First Place Best Editorial Page All of Canada <1,250 circulation
HEALTH DATA: Medical Center gets new system. See page A2 inside.
Second Place General Excellence B.C. and Yukon <2,000 circulation
Clearwater retains bird count crown SUBMITTED
Companions Three caribou gather next to a flag that marks a heli-ski landing site on the Tiffany Run northwest of Blue River. The animals appear to like the landing sites because the snow is easier to stand on. The fact that they are often seen on the sites is evidence they are comfortable with helicopters in the area, say staff at Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing. For more about the story, see page A13 inside. Photo courtesy of Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing
FHC Enterprises buys Clearwater Fields outlet TIMES STAFF It appears that Clearwater’s Fields store will continue operating - possibly even under the Fields name. According to information from Barry Walchuk, a newly formed company called FHC Enterprises Ltd. is purchasing the rights to the assets of 59 of the 141 Fields-HBC stores in western Canada that had been announced as being liquidated and closed. Clearwater is one of the 59. The Walchuk family owns the building that the local store is located in. “This is good news for the employ-
ees and the people of Clearwater,” Walchuk said. “The District of Clearwater has been working hard with us to make something like this happen. We’d like to thank the community for its support.” Field’s Stores have been a part of the western Canadian landscape since 1948 when Joseph Segal opened the first store in Vancouver. Over the years it merged with Zellers and finally was absorbed, along with Zellers, by the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Hudson’s Bay Company then was sold to an American corporation headed by Jerry Zucker. Shortly after Zucker’s death it was resold to NRDC of New York.
HBC announced last February that it planned to close all 167 Fields stores in Canada. On Mar. 5 the Bargain! Shop announced that it was acquiring 10 of the Fields stores in western Canada scheduled to be closed, including those in Agassiz, Armstrong and New Hazelton in B.C. FHC Enterprises Ltd. is a new company headed by Jason McDougall. Originally from Saskatchewan and now a businessman in metro Vancouver, MacDougall has been in the retail, wholesale and discount business for over 20 years. He has surrounded himself with a team of retail experts that have a cumulated experience spanning more than 100 years.
It was close, but for the fifth year in a row Clearwater retained top place in Canada for checklists submitted to the Great Backyard Bird Count! London, Ontario, our closest competitor was only 30 lists behind Clearwater as we submitted 273 checklists, 81 less than last year’s record. Clearwater just missed the top 10 for checklists in North America at 12th place. We counted the most individual birds for black-capped chickadees and hairy woodpeckers; second most for common raven and pileated woodpecker; managing to get in the top 10 for 14 species. The most individual birds of a species counted in Clearwater were common redpolls (1329) followed by black-capped chickadees (1156), common ravens (870), pine siskins (705), and evening grosbeaks (388). Though Clearwater’s total for individual birds was down, three species were added to our tally over the previous years: green-winged teal, golden-crowned sparrow, and rusty blackbird. Clearwater was the only B.C. locality to report the Rustys, which are very rare in winter in B.C. and on the Species At Risk list. A sharp decline in American goldfinches occurred as numbers were down from a record 853 last year to only eight birds this year. Clearwater may be the only locality in B.C. experiencing this, as the provincial decline was less than our loss. North America actually had an increase of about 17,000. Appreciation for promoting the event goes to Forest House, Home Hardware, Friendship Soup Publications, RONA, the Times, and especially Clearwater Library, which put up a display about Clearwater’s GBBC years and handed out material for this year. Many thanks to the participants that enabled The pileated woodpecker is Clearwater to retain top the largest North American place in Canada again. woodpecker. Photo submitted
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