THURSDAY
S I N C E
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Sledge hockey camp coming to Trail
SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 187
110
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Page 10
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
FortisBC served with strike notice Union members vote 88 per cent in favour of job action BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
Strike notice has been served by 81 Trail people at FortisBC as employees of Cope 378 union voted in favour of a strike, according to voting results released earlier this week. Citing an attack on their benefits, the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, local 378 (COPE 378) announced its members at FortisBC Inc. (Electric) have given the union an 88 per cent strike vote. A 72-hour strike notice was served Tuesday at 1 p.m., said COPE 378 senior union representative Brad Bastien, but he anticipated the union members—which includes eight members in South Slocan, 48 in Kelowna, two in Penticton, and six in Oliver—would not be walking the picket lines. FortisBC is applying to the BC Labour Relations Board to have some electricity functions designated as essential. No job action can take place until an approved essential services order is in place. “(We) are very entrenched in not accepting any concessions within the collective agreement, and we are prepared to stay out as long as it takes to get those concessions off the table,” he said.
See TALKS, Page 3
Blood lead level testing starts today BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER
BREANNE MASSEY PHOTO
(From left to right) Skills Centre project coordinator Denise Robson, Sgt. Shane Granger, Chief Warrant Officer Sharman Thomas of the 44th Engineers Squadron, Skills Centre employment counselor Jos Sharp, Skills Centre assistant manager Rhonda Conn and Teck’s spokesperson Catherine Adair scoped out garbage for volunteers to pick up during the annual Rivers Day event.
Clean-up crews ready to tackle shoreline Rivers Day registration starts at 9 a.m. Sunday at Gyro Park BY BREANNE MASSEY
Times Staff
Times Staff
Let the testing begin. The next round of blood lead level clinics has descended on the Greater Trail region, with two clinics planned for today and Friday this week, and two more Oct. 2-3 (all 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Trail lead health service coordinator Jeannine Stefani said parents should bring in kids between the ages of six months and three years old who live and spend the majority of their days in the Trail or Rivervale area. As well, any preschool kids living in a recently renovated home in the Greater Trail area—from Fruitvale to Rossland—is encouraged to be tested.
Some things don’t go away in the wash. In an attempt to clear litter from the shoreline of the Columbia River, Greater Trail residents are encouraged to participate in a clean up this Sunday with the annual B.C. Rivers Day. Volunteers are asked to meet in Gyro Park at 9 a.m. for registration, followed by a walk up the banks of the river for clean-up between 9:3011:30 a.m. Afterwards, everybody is invited to return to Gyro
See PARENTS, Page 3
Park for a celebration featuring kettle corn snacks from the Trail Rotary Club, a live performance from Max Hawk and the Raptors and a Kiwanis barbecue. There will be children’s activities ranging from a climbing wall to kayak demonstrations, carnival games and activities, to an inflatable caterpillar and a rope and log bridge from the scouts. The Trail Skills Centre, the 44th Engineer Squadron/39 Combat Engineer Regiment and Teck Trail Operations have combined to add in a twist. For the first time ever, the Vancouver Aquarium Aquavan will visit the area. Thanks to a contribution from Teck Trail Operations, people can get a free tour and learn about marine life in a very
hands on and active environment, said Teck spokesperson Catherine Adair. “So any kids, families or youth that want to touch a sea star or play with a barnacle can,” she said. “And there will be experts on hand who can explain what the marine life they’re seeing is. So it’s a great educational experience and it’ll also be a lot of fun.” Teck also loaned the volunteers two trucks for the clean up and made a $2,000 contribution to aid the shoreline clean-up event. The 44th Engineer Squadron/39 Combat Engineer Regiment has planned training exercises for the weekend, and opted to utilize Sunday to help raise the public’s understanding of rivers.
“We always want to help out where possible,” chief warrant officer Sharman Thomas of the 44 Engineer Squadron said. “It only makes sense that we help out to maintain and beautify the community that we live in.” Last year’s event hauled roughly 17,000 pounds of debris from a 1.5-kilometre stretch of the river as well as 25 tonnes of material from the Columbia River’s banks below Glenmerry. “Shoreline litter is one of the biggest threats to our lakes, rivers, estuaries, oceans and other waterways,” said project coordinator Denise Robson of the Skills Centre. “Ninety per cent of the trash removed from our shorelines came from car bodies, water tanks and large metal waste.”
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