LIFESTYLE Hedley encourages food sharing Page A2
SPORTS
BUSINESS Princeton gets needed security boost Page A4
Open burning restrictions for Princeton Page A8 $1.10 Includes TAX
SPOTLIGHT The Similkameen
Volume 63 Issue 17
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com
Dangerous air quality in town:
AQC
Michaela Garstin editor@similkameenspotlight.com
The air around Princeton had dangerously high levels of airborne material this winter that were dangerous to human health, according to the Princeton Air Quality Coalition. The Town of Princeton monitored the level of small particulate matter in the Princeton-area in August and found “dangerously high” levels of PM2.5, an airborne material measuring 2.5 microns or smaller and considered to be the most dangerous to human health, said Ed Staples from the Air Quality Coalition. The Ministry of Environment found the air in Princeton has the highest amounts of PM2.5 in the Thompson and Okanagan regions, especially in the winter, Staples said. Fine particles like the ones the Air Quality Coalition is talking about come from wood combustion, industry and diesel buses and trucks. “It is clear that Princeton has a problem. During the cold season - usually taken as October to March - the quality of the air in our valley is very poor,” Staples said. “Many diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, can be attributed to degraded air quality.” The particles are so small they can easily reach the deepest recesses of the lungs and stay there, he added.
See AIR - Page 15
Weather Watch
Submitted
GARDENING - Grade 1 students Tana Langlois, Makenna Gush and Kaelan Druck help plant vegetables at John Allison Community Garden. Story Page 3.
Emergency response times released Michaela Garstin editor@similkameenspotlight.com
It took an average of 15 minutes for emergency services to get to patients in Princeton, around 43 minutes for Coalmont and Tulameen and 42 minutes for Hedley, according to 2010/2011 data provided to the Spotlight from BC Ambulance Services. Emergency services - which can include
Princeton
ambulances or helicopters - respond to patients whose lives are in danger around three minutes faster than those whose conditions are not as bad. After an ambulance arrives on scene, most patients would be transported to a hospital - either Princeton Hospital or another depending on their condition. If an emergency happened when the Princeton Hospital was closed. patients
would have to be transported to another hospital, such as the one in Penticton. It takes emergency services in this area typically longer to reach patients than it takes an average person to dive the distance. There are many reasons for the longer response time, said BC Ambulance spokeswoman Kelsey Carwithen.
See EMERGENCY - Page 19
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Princeton