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THURSDAY, August 9, 2012
Men with knife break into home Two masked men tried to rob a resident on Broadway Avenue Wednesday night. Police say that on Aug. 7 at 11:47 p.m., police responded to a report that two masked men dressed in black had forced open a door and tried to rob a resident on Broadway Avenue South. One of the males was brandishing a large butcher knife. Both males were described as being about six feet tall. One of them was described as being husky. The victim believed that both males were of aboriginal descent. The males fled the scene without stealing anything. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Williams Lake RCMP at 250-3926211 or Crimestoppers at 1-800222-8477 (TIPS).
Inside the Tribune NEWS RCMP respond to 95 calls.
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mural project highlights art walk
Gaeil Farrar photo
As the 2012 Art Walk begins this week lakecity muralist Dwayne Davis (left) is mentoring two students, Miranda Fontaine (centre) and Jamie Moore, in the art of mural creation, a project supported by the Williams Lake Central Business Improvement Area Association. This mural on the wall in the alley behind Deana’s Studio features an old time street scene. This month the team is also working on a second mural in the entrance at the Cariboo Friendship Centre.
Storm causes outages Boitanio Mall had hydro restored after the transformer blew cutting off power to the mall just before 8 a.m. Wednesday afternoon. At noon, mall security personnel Arielle Seebach said BC Hydro was on site and repaired the damage to the transformer on the pole. “We’re just waiting for an electrician to come down to deal with our vault room,” she said. “We have partial power and some of our stores have been able to open, but not all of them.” The rest of the power was restored by around 1:30 p.m. Due to a wind storm Wednesday morning, more than 1,000 customers in Williams Lake were also without hydro between 1:17 a.m. and 3:06 a.m. That power outage affected homes and businesses west of Highway 97 Central, east of Mackenzie Avenue South, and south of Ross Road. Longer outages were experienced by five customers in the 3200 Block of Highway 97 whose power went out at 5:50 a.m., and five in the 1800 block of Mission Rd, who lost power at 9:55 a.m.
Dog park result irks rec committee member Erin Hitchcock Tribune Staff Writer
COMMUNITY Mill worker turns model.
A member of the Central Cariboo Recreation Advisory Committee is unimpressed with the dog park in Williams Lake. It’s not because he doesn’t like dog parks — David Reedman stresses he’s not opposed to there being one — but he is disappointed by how much money was spent on it and how the decision was made. He says the off-leash dog park, located behind the skate park in Boitanio Park, cost taxpayers $15,000, and based on a Jan. 17, 2012 city staff report provided by Reedman, the dog park is estimated to cost $5,000 a year for maintenance. But city councillor Laurie Walters, a member of the dog park committee who campaigned for a dog park prior to last year’s election, says the dog park won’t cost the city $5,000 a year to maintain;
Weather outlook: Mix of sun/cloud today, high of 23 C. Cloudy/chance of showers Friday, high of 23 C.
$1.34 inc. HST
Monica Lamb-Yorski Tribune Staff Writer
SPORTS A10 English rugby players tour WL. A17
VOL. 82. No. 61
mowing the grass, for example, would need to be done anyway. She says the $15,000 spent was for fencing, and the dog park committee is actively fundraising to purchase items such as signage, benches, and irrigation. Reedman stresses the $5,000 annual maintenance estimate is included in a city report. “I wasn’t pulling that out of thin air,” he says, adding that while the dog park committee has committed to do some fundraising, the city still spent money before receiving any money from the committee. And with lots of other projects listed as a priority, and the dog park not being one of them, he says he struggles to understand how a dog park got the green light. According to an Oct. 11, 2011 city staff report, staff recommended city council approve the formation of a dog park stakeholder group to advise the city on possible locations and a design.
The report also noted there was no money allocated for creating the dog park and it’s not listed as a priority in the Parks, Trails, and Outdoor Recreation Master Plan or the Community Recreation Survey. “Not necessarily things deemed a priority take the priority,” Walters says. “Smaller projects like these are going to move a community forward and have been identified as being a good thing for a community.” Reedman says the project should have been referred to the CCRAC for input. Instead, a dog park committee was formed. Walters says part of the reason the issue wasn’t referred to the CCRAC was due to it often not having a quorum. “That advisory committee has been a really difficult committee, similar to some of the other committees we have at the city,” she says, adding a group of people (the dog park committee) was en-
thusiastic to take it on. Reedman says the CCRAC still should have had input. He says while there isn’t always a quorum, there had been a change in the terms of reference so a quorum isn’t required, and since the committee doesn’t have any decision-making power it shouldn’t matter. He says using a lack of quorum as a reason not to have the CCRAC involved is a “cop out.” Reedman alleges staff advised against the dog park for reasons including there not being widespread support for a project; a dog park was not identified as a priority in the Parks, Trails, and Outdoor Recreation Master Plan; a dog park is not part of the Boitanio Park Master Plan; and the community recreation survey in early 2011 didn’t identify it as a priority. See TRIAL Page A2