FRIDAY
The clock calls the shots >
MARCH 8, 2013
Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 10 at 2 a.m. Set clocks ahead one hour (and then go back to sleep!)
< Back from the show
Kimberley curlers share Provincials experience | Page 8
1
$ 10 INCLUDES H.S.T.
Vol. 61, Issue 47
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
www.dailytownsman.com
CONSPIRACY TRIAL
Police agent later worked as babysitter C AM FORTEMS Kamloops Daily News
The lifelong criminal who signed on to become an RCMP agent was given $1,000 a week and promised $50,000 in order to conspire with three Cranbrook men to kill a drug rival, a police handler testified Tuesday. But Const. Kyle Weatherhead said Garry Shank’s employment
SALLY MACDONALD PHOTO
The new digital mammography machine is now in action at East Kootenay Regional Hospital, demonstrated by Diagnostic Imaging department head Dr. Julie Nicol (left) and x-ray technician Anna-Marie Skolos at an open house Thursday, March 7, to celebrate the successful A Clear View fundraising campaign.
A Clear View to treat cancer New digital mammography machine, now in action in Cranbrook, will mean fewer women die from breast cancer, doctors say at celebration open house S A L LY M AC D O N A L D Townsman Staff
Tears were flowing, hugs were given freely and celebration was in the air in a narrow hallway at East Kootenay Regional Hospital on Thursday, March 7. It was an open house for the new digital mammography machine now in service at the hospital, which was bought and paid for through the A Clear View campaign by East Kootenay Foundation for Health (EKFH). The $1 million campaign was achieved in a little over
11 months thanks to the dedication of EKFH staff and board, local service clubs, the business community and individual contributors. EKFH executive director Donna Grainger said that although the program launched in the fall of 2011, fundraising actually began in April 2011. “We started writing letters, making phone calls and telling our stories,” Grainger remembered. “The question we asked throughout this campaign was: is there anyone who has
not been affected by someone having breast cancer?” Past chair of the EKFH board, Linda Berukoff, said community support for the campaign was overwhelming. “Basic health care is a given in B.C. Excellence in health care is a challenge. It is very evident that this is a challenge that the people of the East Kootenay are willing to take in hand,” said Berukoff. “What an amazing, heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking journey this
has been. Now it’s time to celebrate.” Anthea Gill, Interior Health’s Professional Practice Leader, acknowledged the hard work Grainger put into the campaign. “There are hardly words to express how grateful I am,” she said. “Remember that someone you know or someone you love will benefit from this equipment. They will all have a chance of beating cancer,” Gill said.
See NEW MACHINE , Page 3
last year, after the investigation was complete, involved babysitting his girlfriend’s child. Weatherhead testified Wednesday in the trial of Lonnie Adams, Lorne Carry and Colin Correia, who are charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The trial is scheduled to last through April.
See TRIAL , Page 4
MacDiarmid understands pressures of ER B.C. Health Ministry in talks with Emergency Medicine docs B A R RY CO U LT E R
In recent days the doctors who work in B.C.’s emergency departments have declared a “state of emergency,” launching a campaign to deal with declining staffing levels and increasing ER visits. This campaign was detailed in a story in the Daily Townsman on Thursday, March 6. On Thursday, Margaret MacDiarmid, B.C. Minister of Health, told the Townsman the Ministry of Health was in discussions with the Emergency Medicine Section of the B.C.
BC Minister of Health Margaret MacDiarmid Medical Association, but also that she herself was sympathetic to the pressures ER doctors face.
See HEALTH , Page 4