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Vol. 61, Issue 42
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Woman survives midnight plummet off road
Lillie Young faced a long night with a broken back by McPhee Bridge, but her survival instincts kicked in C AROLYN GR ANT Daily Bulletin
Clear thinking and a strong will to survive kept 19-year-old Lillie Young of Marysville alive two weeks ago when her car went off the road and down the em-
bankment at McPhee Bridge. Lillie is recovering at home now, after a week at East Kootenay Regional Hospital, with injuries including a broken back, severe bruising, cuts and abrasions. The accident occurred
just after midnight on February 18, 2013. Lillie spoke to the Townsman/Bulletin this week about her experience. “I was at my friend’s house in Cranbrook and driving home just after mid-
night, maybe 12:30,” she said. “Right before McPhee, I skidded off the road. “I don’t remember going down the bank. I don’t remember crashing or rolling. I woke up in my car. I got that my car was upside down, but
I didn’t know how I got there. I remember crawling out. I squeezed out and my back was hurting.” The airbags had deployed and Lillie was wearing a seatbelt. She has injuries from both, but realizes it could
have been much worse if she wasn’t belted in. “I looked at my car and then I tried to find my phone but I couldn’t find it. It was so cold out.”
See SURVIVAL, Page 4
Deer cull complete
Twenty-four mule deer killed in Cranbrook’s limits using clover traps over 18 days in February SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
After 18 days of trapping, Cranbrook’s second urban deer cull is finished, the city announced Thursday. In a statement released February 28 by Corporate Communications Officer Chris Zettel, the city said that 24 mule deer were captured and killed: seven adult bucks, 10 adult does, and seven yearlings. Five whitetail deer were also captured, but released unharmed on instruction by the city and provincial wildlife biologists. The City of Cranbrook’s lengthy statement revealed information previously withheld from the public for public safety reasons when the second cull was announced February 14. The B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations issued a wildlife permit to the City of Cranbrook in November 2012, expiring March 15,
2013, allowing the cull of up to 30 urban deer. Some time after that, council held a closed meeting where it approved recommendations by the Urban Deer Management Advisory Committee. As well as approving the cull at this meeting, council approved the strategic locations where the clover traps were to be placed. These locations were chosen based on complaints about aggressive deer received in 2012, deer population counts conducted in 2012, and priority areas identified by the Conservation Officer Service. In early January, the City of Cranbrook approached four possible contractors who had expressed interest in conducting the cull. Two of those contractors submitted a quote, and one was chosen, though the city’s statement does not say who that contractor was.
See CULL , Page 3
JOEL ROBISON PHOTO
VOTE GOAT: Up and coming Cranbrook band The Good Ol’ Goats has made it to the top 20 in CBC’s Searchlight: Radio West competition, a search for the best local talent in B.C.’s Okanagan, Interior and north. Voting is open until Sunday, March 3, at midnight and you can vote once a day at www.music.cbc.ca/#/Searchlight-Radio-West. There is also a link on the Townsman’s Facebook page. The bluegrass alt-folk band is made up of Mount Baker Secondary School students Joelle Winkel on shaker and backing vocals, Nolan Ackert on lead vocals, banjo and guitar, Angus MacDonald on mandolin, backing vocals and fiddle, Theo Moore on standup bass and backing vocals, Julian Bueckert on drums and Angus Liedtke on guitar, dobro, banjo, harmonica and vocals.
Councillor decries cull secrecy Gerry Warner regrets debating Cranbrook’s second urban deer cull behind closed doors SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
A Cranbrook city councillor is speaking out against the process council underwent in approving the urban deer cull this February, saying that council’s secrecy “stirred up the proverbial hornets’ nest”. Councillor Gerry Warner, a former Townsman reporter,
apologized to the public for participating in closed council meetings where decisions about the recently completed second cull were made. “Whatever we decide, it must be decided in public,” said Coun. Warner. “So far we have hidden from the public eye and, like shadowy apparat-
chiks of some Third World regime, we’ve cowered behind closed doors and taken a bad situation and torqued it up into something infinitely worse. “I have been partly responsible for this and for that I here and now unequivocally apologize to each and every citizen of Cranbrook for my role in this
toxic mess.” Warner said that council agreed to hold its discussions in a private meeting because of alleged vandalism and public safety incidents that occurred last year in Invermere while the district was carrying out its cull.
See COUNCILLOR , Page 5