NEWS Hospital information building set up
EDUCATION Drinking and driving lesson for teens
COMMUNITY Backstreet Boys take-on Spice Girls
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$1.10 Includes TAX
SPOTLIGHT The Similkameen
Volume 63 Issue 19
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com
Mayor’s vision not realized
“We won’t give up” - Neinke Klaver, Save Our Hospital
Princeton Mayor Fred Thomas’ goal of a 24/7 emergency department never came to be before he passed away on May 4
When Princeton’s Mayor Fred Thomas died of prostate cancer early May 4, his goal of a 24/7 emergency department at Princeton Hospital hadn’t become a reality. Interior Health had sent out notices of hospital closures while Thomas was still mayor but he had already stepped down when it was announced the emergency department would close from midnight to 8 a.m. for at least a year. He believed the hospital’s declining service was a major reason why Princeton’s population dropped two per cent in the last four years. In search of better medical coverage, the influx of mine workers settled in neighbouring communities instead of Princeton, said Thomas in a previous Spotlight article. Warnings of limited physician availability in Princeton damaged the town, especially with a new mine opening, he said. “We lost out on the natural growth that should have occurred with the mine opening. Getting that growth back is going to be extremely difficult and time consuming,” he said. Thomas, who was 70 and mayor for four months, was dedicated to Princeton even when he had to give up his duties when he became too sick, said Area H director Brad Hope.
See MAYOR- Page 8
Weather Watch Wednesday
High 10/Low 2
Thursday
High 12/Low 0
Friday
High 18/Low 0
Saturday
High 22/Low 4
Sunday
High 23/Low 6
Michaela Garstin/Spotlight
Princeton resident John Sandness holds up a sign beside a petition table set up by Save Our Hospital on May 1. Story on Pages 4 and 10.
SPCA plans animal cruelty charge recommendation Michaela Garstin editor@similkameenspotlight.com
The SPCA is planning to recommend animal cruelty charges against the Princeton man who had five starving horses on his property. The severely malnourished horses were rescued from a ranch near Princeton in mid-February. The SPCA will recommended charges to Crown council, who will then decide whether to press charges.
Princeton
“I feel we have evidence to support a charge,” said Kathy Woodward, BC SPCA senior animal protection officer. It will take around a month for Crown council to decide whether to press animal cruelty charges, she said. But like other animal cruelty cases, it could take years before a ruling is made, she added. The SPCA interviewed witnesses and spoke with veterinarians as part of its investigation.
See HORSES - Page 14
EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE for the
May 23 Edition
All Ads & Insertions must be received by THURSDAY May 17 at NOON.
Spotlight Office will be
CLOSED MONDAY May 21.
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