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Vol. 60, Issue 197
Coroner’s Inquest
Cells under renovation when man died Annalee Grant Townsman Staff
The Cranbrook cell block was under renovations when Collan Kohalyk hanged himself in custody on December 24, 2010. Former Inspector of the Cranbrook RCMP detach-
ment Bryan Edmondson testified at the Coroner’s Inquest on Wednesday, October 10. Construction had begun on half of the cellblock but had ceased for the Christmas holidays when Kohalyk was brought to the cells
under arrest for a domestic assault. Edmondson said a Canada-wide retrofit of all police holding cells had been ordered and the City of Cranbrook had approved a nearly $300,000 renovation of the five out of 10 cells at the RCMP detachment.
“When the cellblock was constructed, this was the standard of the day,” Edmondson said of the existing cells. “Over time the standards have changed and evolved.” The new retrofit would rid the cellblock of bars and
instead use heavy steel doors with viewing windows and repositioned cameras allowing a complete view of each cell. The cell in which Kohalyk hanged himself has not been retrofitted to this date, but Edmondson said when
he retired in February of this year, it was on the City of Cranbrook’s five year budgetary plan to complete the retrofitting of all the cells in the block.
See CELLS , Page 3
Courtesy RCMP
Otis: Smiling all the way into retirement.
Otis The Smiling Mountie signs off Cranbrook-based police dog retires after nine years of service Sally MacDonald Townsman Staff
A beloved police dog is taking his well-earned retirement from service in Cranbrook. Ten-year-old Otis, nicknamed The Smiling Mountie, left town in September bound for his new home with a loving family on an Alberta farm. Described by the RCMP as happy-go-
lucky, the chocolate brown labrador served nine years as a drugsniffing dog for Southeast Traffic Services. Over his years of service, Otis worked with two handlers: Cst. Claude Brisebois, and Cpl. Ryan McLeod, who described Otis’s friendly, gregarious personality.
See OTIS , Page 5
Sally MacDonald photo
REACHING READERS: Kootenay Ice forwards Jon Martin (left) and Brock Montgomery were selling copies of The Cranbrook Daily Townsman at McDonald’s in Cranbrook on Thursday for the Reach A Reader campaign. People were asked to make donations to the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy in exchange for copies of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, Kimberley Daily Bulletin, and Kootenay News Advertiser. All funds raised from the day will go towards literacy programs in Cranbrook and Kimberley.
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