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MINING GROWTH PAGE 4
CENTS’ LOHAN COMMITS PAGE 10
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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Lt.-Gov. shakes hands throughout the region By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
“It’s always good to come home,” Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon said at an appearance at Coquihalla Gillis House last Tuesday. And it was a coming home in more ways than one for the Nicola Valleyarea rancher. “I was on the board for the hospital foundation when we built Gillis House, actually,” Guichon said. “I’ve had a long connection with the health care in Merritt.” Guichon spent just under an hour at the seniors’ home where she spoke to and greeted residents, had tea and cake, and toured the facility. During her address, Guichon talked about her first three months as lieutenant governor. “One of my goals is to travel to every part of this province and meet with people, particularly folks who work in the resource industries — agriculture and logging and mining,” she said. “I want to share that with city folks and remind them how important it is for rural communities to be healthy, strong communities.” She also presented Gillis House residents with a book of pictures of Government House gardens.
Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon (left) shook hands with people at the Coquihalla Gillis House last Tuesday. Merritt Mayor Susan Roline (right) accompanied her as she made her rounds through the facility. Emily Wessel/Herald
“We’re very fortunate in British Columbia to have this heritage,” she said. “It sits on 36 acres [15 hectares] and we have 400 volunteers who help look after the gardens — I wish I had those kind of volunteers to come to ranch and help look after the gardens.” Guichon was then introduced to each of about 30 residents in attendance and reminisced with some. Residents appeared glad to have the opportunity to meet with the Queen’s representative. Guichon said she is looking forward to the new opportunities she gets in her job. “New things come up all the time,” she said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the Queen in February and before I go, I will be in the legislature for the reading of the speech from the throne, so there’s lots of firsts still. It’s very exciting.” It was the ninth of 11 stops for the lieutenant governor, in the second round of a two-and-a-half day tour through Gold Country, Merritt and Kamloops. While in Merritt, Guichon also toured the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and visited the local Royal Canadian Legion. On Wednesday morning, she addressed the students at Merritt Central Elementary School at a school assembly.
Family’s supply of ice fishing gear stolen The equipment is estimated at about $1,500, and some has sentimental value By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
It was a disappointing start to what looked like a promising weekend of ice fishing for Jason Arnold and his family. Arnold awoke on Friday morning to discover thieves had
taken all of the family’s ice fishing equipment from the driveway of their Diamond Vale home. “It’s a total pain for us now,” Arnold said, estimating that the equipment added up to about $1,500. “The tent was the most expensive thing
M E R R I T T
‘That’s how I noticed, because I wouldn’t even have looked over, but I saw the cords.’ —THEFT VICTIM JASON ARNOLD
at 400 bucks, and the sleigh was two [hundred], and then there was all the gear.” All that remained
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he said. “That’s how I noticed, because I wouldn’t even have looked over, but I saw the cords. That’s all that was left.” Arnold said he normally kept the gear inside the garage, but left it out Thursday night because he was
storing a truck he was working on in the garage that night. He covered the pile with a drop sheet and left it on the driveway between the garage and his truck, which he had parked close on the driveway.
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of the ice fishing gear was a couple of tent straps that had ripped off, some bait, a roll of toilet paper and
the bungee cords that held the gear together. It was the bungee cords strewn on the driveway that tipped Arnold off to the theft. “The bungee cords that we had strapped over for the tent to stay on were off, and everything was gone,”
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