NEWS Highway 3 numbers cause ambulance mixups Page A3
COMMUNITY Princeton Air Show gets military Harvards Page A14
LIFESTYLE
New elaborate plans for ZigZag Trail Page A5 $1.10 Includes TAX
SPOTLIGHT The Similkameen
Volume 63 Issue 16
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
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24/7 ER care demanded MLA Harry Lali joined a public discussion about a petition urging the government to provide a 24/7 emergency department in Princeton Michaela Garstin editor@similkameenspotlight.com
More than 600 people have signed a petition for 24/7 emergency care in Princeton since it began circulating around a week ago. The petition’s organizer Nienke Klaver hopes more than 2,000 people will add their signatures by April 23 so the petition has time to be tabled into legislature by Harry Lali, MLA for Fraser-Nicola. Klaver and helpers are spreading the petition to other communities around Princeton, including Coalmont, Tulameen, Allison Lake and Missezula. Once Klaver has enough signatures, she will be giving the petition to Princeton town council, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, the Minister of Health and others. “I want to at least bring awareness to the politicians that this is not a good situation for Princeton, especially with the industry around us and a major highway going through town,” Klaver said. “It’s a dangerous situation. It’s always a matter of money, and we’re going to try to push for more money.” The government, Interior Health and the College of Surgeons and Physicians are the ones who can change the way the hospital is run, said Princeton resident Ed Staples. The petition asks the Minister of Health to bring back a fully functioning hospital with a 24/7 emergency room.
See EMERGENCY - Page 9
Lisa Carleton/Spotlight
DIAMOND DINNER - Jamie Holloway, Lindsey Nesbitt, Erin Hornslien, Jaci Colborn, Shawna Norton and Nikki Smith were just a few of the 120 lucky ladies who dressed to the nines for the Royal Canadian Legion’s 10th annual Diamond Dinner.
2012 budget set, residential property taxes increase Michaela Garstin editor@similkameenspotlight.com
ZigZag Trail reconstruction, wastewater treatment plant upgrades, town hall relocation and annual paving top the list of Princeton’s 2012 budget. Overall residential property taxes increased nine per cent from 2011, while business property taxes decreased by 14 per cent. The provincial government awarded $180,000 for upgrades to the ZigZag Trial. Provincial funding and money from the Federal
Weather Watch
Gas Tax Fund give construction a $225,000 total budget. Wastewater treatment upgrades will cost around $400,000 and include safety fencing, de-sludging of the septic pits and improvements of the campground sewage system. Relocation or renovation of town hall was identified in February as council’s number one priority, which has been slated at $350,000. Town hall employees need a larger place to work, said deputy mayor Jason Earle in a previous Spotlight article. Annual paving of roads in Princeton will cost $140,000.
See BUDGET - Page 19
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