THURSDAY
S I N C E
NOVEMBER 8, 2012
1 8 9 5
Vol. 117, Issue 211
Mets, Bay part ways
110
$
Page 9
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
FRUITVALE
Council pushing for increased safety and visibility at crosswalk
Village teen victim of hitand-run crossing highway on Halloween night BY ART HARRISON
Times Correspondent
A major pedestrian highway crossing in Fruitvale that has been the scene of numerous nearmisses in the past has now once again come to the attention of the Fruitvale Council after a hit-andrun Halloween night had near tragic consequences. At its regular meeting Monday night, council unanimously passed a motion to, once again, petition the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for additional lighting and enhanced safety in the form of pedestrian activated flashing lights at the crossing of Highway 3B at Nelson Avenue, next to the Villagers Pub and Hotel. Village of Fruitvale Mayor, Patricia Cecchini, says she was approached by a constituent who reported her nephew was struck by
a passing vehicle Halloween night as he was crossing the highway at the crosswalk and the incident has renewed calls for crossing lights across Highway 3B. Fruitvale resident, Shalaume Leslie, said her 15 year-old nephew, Michael Hamilton, was on his way home after the village’s Halloween bonfire at approximately 8 p.m. Halloween night when the incident occurred. “He waited a for one vehicle on the highway to pass that he felt didn’t see him and tried to cross behind it when he was struck by a vehicle that came down Nelson Avenue,” said Leslie. “He wasn’t even sure what hit him.” Leslie said that, fortunately, her nephew wasn’t seriously injured in the hit-and-run but suffered scrapes, bruising, and a mild concussion. Leslie says his parents took him to Emergency at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital but didn’t call the RCMP until the following day. See POLICE, Page 3
ALEX ATAMANENKO
MP ‘happy’ Obama won BY GUY BERTRAND Times Staff
The impact of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election isn’t limited to the confines of the American borders. The aftermath of President Barrack Obama’s re-election wasn’t lost on Canadian politicians including Alex Atamanenko, the MP for Southern Interior. “I’m happy that Obama won,” Atamanenko told the Trail Times from his office in Ottawa on Wednesday morning. And while the pundits dissected the Democrats’ victory and the Republicans’ loss, the
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Volunteer Eleanor Harper receives help from client and volunteer Brad Longstreet with sorting the food bank’s staple of onions, carrots and potatoes.
Canadian parties were reviewing their own game plan. “I’m sure the strategists are looking at this and seeing how that will reflect on what’s happening here,” he said. “The one thing that I take from this, and I’m hoping, that it will put a brake on the whole Tea Party, the extreme do-away-withgovernment, libertarian philosophy that is even permeating our culture. “We cannot allow that to happen in this country and I think this election will help us put a stop to that.” See DEMOGRAPHICS, Page 3
Food bank demand continues to rise BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
With the growing number of Canadians using food banks across the country, Trail’s food bank is no exception. Tuesday, an hour before the 10 a.m. opening, the Trail United Church basement was already a beehive of activity, with volunteers preparing to feed over 100 people as they had the week previous. Three times this year, the demand has emptied the United Church’s pantry and no funds were left to purchase the staple soups and canned vegetables. Because the food bank purchases groceries with money
donated from the community, the volunteers kept their fingers crossed the next donation was on the horizon. “Volunteers just go out and buy at the case lot sales, with their own money, and hope to get reimbursed,” said Eleanor Harper, volunteer at the food bank since 2005. Brad Longstreet, a client and volunteer, who oversees the pantry inventory, at both the Trail United and St Andrews Anglican church food banks has watched the numbers grow. “In July 2011, there were 70 people using the food bank each week. That number doubled by January (2012), when we saw
140 people coming in to use the food bank.” The same is true at the food bank hosted once a month by the St Andrews Anglican Church. “About four years ago we were feeding up to 50 people. Today we are feeding over 100 people,” said Canon Neil Elliot. “Our patrons are not street people, we are seeing a whole range of people needing the help, particularly families who are the working poor.” The Salvation Army Food Bank, at Kate’s Kitchen, also reports the growing number of families with young children See FOOD, Page 3
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