WEDNESDAY
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FEBRUARY 20, 2013
Cranbrook team on hand for Victoria unveiling | Page 3
Morrow to open Slopes for Hope > Renowned climber keynote speaker at March fundraiser | Page 4
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Vol. 61, Issue 35
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Mayor on cull: ‘They’re not our deer’ Cranbrook’s mayor justifies council’s decision to cull 30 deer by saying the province didn’t give them a choice
S A L LY M AC D O N A L D Townsman Staff
After refusing to provide comment on council’s decision last week, Cranbrook’s Mayor Wayne Stetski has explained why the city is culling another 30 deer this winter.
deer”. “Deer are owned by the province. We and all of the municipalities in Canada can only do what the province permits us to do. “We often hear groups asking for a variety of options, like hazing — chasing
Speaking about the decision at Monday’s regular council meeting, Mayor Stetski said he wants permission from the province to try other methods of urban deer management, pointing out several times “they are the province’s
them out of Cranbrook with dogs. We hear about translocation of deer. We hear about using infertility drugs with does,” said Stetski. “We can only do what the province gives us permission to do. We want to work with the province to
get permission to try other deer management techniques and tools, and maybe some we haven’t even thought of yet.” On Thursday, the City of Cranbrook announced that it has a permit to kill another 30 mule deer using clover
traps inside city limits, and council has agreed to go ahead with the cull. It would not say when or where the traps would be set, and council would not provide any comment on how it reached the decision. It is the second cull to be carried out in Cranbrook, after 25 urban mule and whitetail deer were trapped and killed in November 2011.
See MAYOR , Page 3
Skier dies in avalanche near Jumbo KRISTIAN R ASMUSSEN Invermere Valley Echo
RICK BENDKOWSKI PHOTO
THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW: Parkland Middle School is taking on a Broadway musical classic. “Annie,” the story of a bold and energetic young orphan, opens Friday, March 1 at the Key City Theatre in Cranbrook. See more, Page 4. Above, left to right: Caleb Creber, Julia Coltman, Jamie Byram (as Annie), Michaela Eckersley, Emily Johnson and Kendra Ackerman.
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• EAST KOOTENAY REGIONAL HOSPITAL
Michelle Strauss & Jason Francis of Kimberley, a son Jeanelle Reynolds & Randy Brown of Invermere, a daughter Sigourney & Ken Schmidt of Cranbrook, a daughter Jaclyn Amy & Mike Oakland of Kimberley, a son Jenna & Joseph Ray of Canal Flats, a son
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Jocelyn & Darren Matheson of Cranbrook, a son Emily Saltzman & Brad Halguist of Cranbrook, a daughter Christy & Jude Brinders of Cranbrook, a son Shawna & Tim LaRade of Cranbrook, a daughter
An afternoon avalanche claimed the life of a 34-year-old skier and swept up three others in its path during a heli-skiing trip in the Purcell Mountains west of Radium Hot Springs on Monday, February 19. Gotz-Thilo Ries of Karlsehie, Germany, was skiing with a group of friends south of Jumbo Mountain when the avalanche struck sometime after 2 p.m. The deluge was classified as a two out of a possible five on the Canadian Avalanche Scale. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased,” said Rod Gibbons, operations manager at Invermere’s RK Heliski, who took the skiers on the excursion. “It is an absolute tragedy; there is no other way to describe it.”
See SKIER , Page 3
Jason Wheeldon
Personal Real Estate Corporation
250-426-8211
East Kootenay Realty