WEST
GAVIN LAKE was fired as Okanagan Sun head coach because the players had tuned him out, says team president Paul Carson.
KELOWNA couple are the owners of the new Pulp Fiction Coffee House in downtown Kelowna that pays homage to the 1950s with its interior decor, says columnist Maxine DeHart.
WEST KELOWNA council has hammered out a new fiveyear road maintenance deal with HMC Services that will cost the district a minimum of $1.73 million annually.
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THURSDAY October 18, 2012 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
▼ KELOWNA
▼ BULLYING
Simpson home is taken off the heritage registry
Local parents reacting to tragic suicide Kathy Michaels STAFF REPORTER
With the story of a Lower Mainland teenager’s suicide in heavy circulation, local concerns over bullying are on the rise. “We usually get one report a year (about bullying),” said Const. Kris Clark, with the Kelowna RCMP. “Monday I had two. Parents are becoming more concerned, seemingly because of recent events, and that’s a marked departure from the norm.” While worries are spiking, Clark pointed out that bullying incidents haven’t really increased. It’s been a pervasive problem throughout time. The situation that allegedly prompted Amanda Todd to take her own life, however, is different on a number of levels, he said. In addition to its tragic and public conclusion, Todd’s story had criminal undertones. WE ENCOURAGE “If bullying becomes PARENTS TO KEEP persistent malicious beAN OPEN LINE OF haviour that causes someone to fear for their safeCOMMUNICATION ty, that’s criminal harassWITH THEIR ment,” explained Clark. CHILDREN. And in Todd’s case Const. Kris Clark in particular, the circumstance is more akin to extortion. In a video diary entry posted to YouTube before she died, Todd explained she was tormented after an unknown man convinced her to expose herself online in front of a webcam. He blackmailed her and that is something police may have been able to act upon, said Clark. That said, it’s better to be safe than sorry. “We take each case as it comes and we have to investigate each one as if it’s a criminal offence until proven otherwise,” he said. And there are tools that can be used to decrease a child’s vulnerability.
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PREPARING FOR WINTER…Gray Biggins, of Master Sweep It, uses an electric drill body to clean out the creosol from the chimney of this Rutland neighbourhood home to maintain the efficiency of its wood burning stove. In the wake of a series of recent fire calls related to furnace fires as the temperature has begun to drop, the fire department urges local residents to service their furnaces or chimneys prior to the onset of winter.
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Kelowna city council has agreed to a request from the owner of an Abbott Street house to remove the building from the city’s heritage registry. The property, which once was home to Kelowna Sawmill Co. owner Stanley Merriam Simpson, was placed on the registry because of its connection to the late local pioneer businessman. Simpson once owned much of the land that now makes up the downtown core and sold a large tract of land to the city in the late 1940s. That land now houses City Hall, Memorial Arena and Jim Stuart Park. City staff said although the original house was built in 1921, it has had a number of large and significant renovations and additions made to it over more than 60 years. The current owner, who is not related to the Simpson family, has been trying to have the property removed from the heritage registry for several years, according to the city planning department. A letter from the owner’s lawyer said with a heritage designation, insurance for the property is more expensive. But city officials point-
ed out the house does not have a heritage designation, it is simply on the registry. And that’s a key difference because inclusion on the registry does not afford the building any special protection, it merely indicates a historic significance—in this case as the former Simpson home. Heritage designation on the other hand, would protect it from substantial changes or demolition. While some members of council felt the building should stay on the registry because of its connection to the legendary Kelowna businessman, the majority, lead by Coun. Luke Stack, felt its history is well known and keeping records and photographs is good enough. Currently there are just 15 city properties with heritage designation— and thus protected—and there are 212 properties listed on Kelowna’s heritage registry. Stack and the other councillors who supported the staff recommendation to remove the property from the registry noted the lack of protection the registry affords any property included on it. Voting against the move were Couns. Robert Hobson, Gerry Zimmermann and Mohini Singh.
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