CITY WINS 4 BLOOMS PAGE 3
LORNE ELLIOTT TO ARRIVE PAGE 8
FOREST RALLY RETURNS PAGE 24
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Fiery crash kills 2 on 5A A ‘20-hectare’ fire resulted from the massive accident By Phillip Woolgar THE HERALD
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The City of Merritt’s newest council member, Kurt Christopherson, signs the Declaration of Oath of Office as he is sworn in as the replacement for ex-councillor Norm Brigden at Tuesday’s council meeting. Christopherson tallied 399 votes in September’s byelection, nearly doubling his closest competitor. Phillip Woolgar/Herald
Most Merritt municipal leaders support pot decriminalization By Phillip Woolgar THE HERALD
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After the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities convention vote to support decriminalizing marijuana, Merritt Mayor Susan Roline and the majority of councillors said they back the idea. Roline returned to Merritt last week after the four-day convention in Victoria from Sept. 24 to 28, where the union voted in favour of a resolution to decriminalize pot. “I think we’re spending far too much money in our province on people with simple possession, people who are growing for their own
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use,” she said. “Most people who understand marijuana and how it effects your body know that it doesn’t lead to harder drugs on its own. There are a lot of other things that come into play.” While the UBCM doesn’t have authority to enact rules regarding pot control, it is a major lobby group that can encourage the government to act. “Get it so that it is controlled by the government, much like alcohol is,” Roline added. “Once its production is controlled, you will get a better quality and you’re not getting things mixed into
it, such as what the case is now.” Three of the five Merritt councillors who attended the UBCM voted in favour of the resolution. Coun. Alastair Murdoch said his decision to support decriminalization was easy. “I’ve been opposed to marijuana criminalization for I don’t know how long,” he said. “I told [ex-premier Gordon Campbell] to his face one time that it’s a war they could never win, so why are they throwing their money at it. I don’t think he was overly impressed. “We are wasting money and destroying lives with the approach we have now.”
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But Coun. Mike Goetz voted against the motion, saying more research needs to be completed before decriminalizing. “It doesn’t have the teeth or the wherewithal that I think it should have,” he said. “The idea that it would take gangs out of circulation, I think is a misnomer. The gangs will find other things to be involved with.” Coun. Harry Kroeker, who attended the UBCM but was at another meeting during the vote, said he would have supported the resolution.
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Two men died in a fiery crash on Highway 5A approximately 45 kilometres north of Merritt on Friday after a lumber truck heading south crossed the highway’s centreline and struck a trailer carrying lime, the RCMP stated. Flames fully engulfed each vehicle immediately after the collision at about 7 p.m. One of the bodies was found late Friday night and the other wasn’t recovered from the burned wreckage until early Saturday. The BC Coroners Service confirmed ‘The roads Tuesday the identity were dry and of one of the men — bare ... Weath- Kamloops resident Gary Miller, 59. er was not a Joseph The name of the factor in the other driver isn’t being released until the family crash.’ —RCMP CPL. is notified. RCMP Cpl. Shana SHANA MORITZ Moritz said the road was in good condition. “The roads were dry and bare...,” she said in a release. “Weather was not a factor in the crash.” The Central Interior Traffic Services and BC Coroner Service are still investigating. A 20 hectare nearby patch of grass caught fire after the trucks instantly burst into flames. Crews managed to extinguish the fire Friday night. The Kamloops Fire Centre, which includes the Merritt Fire Zone, is still in the “high to extreme” dryness ranking by the Wildfire Management Branch. Highway authorities closed the road overnight and it was alternating single-lane from about noon Saturday. The road fully reopened at 8:15 that night. The Merritt-Kamloops route is infamous for its high number of crashes. The road frequently winds along the rolling grassland. The road is the Coquihalla Highway’s secondary route.
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