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THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Carjacking in Lower Nicola By Staff
THE HERALD newsroom@merrittherald.com
HOOP DREAMS - Several First Nations youth as well as some elders were at Merritt Bench Elementary School on April 24 to show students different parts of Aboriginal culture including hoop dancing, drum circles and elders’ story telling. Above, (Front row, from left) Pie Akachuk, Rose Howard, Megan Dunsmore, Niah Prowal. (Back row, from left) AJ Akachuk, Trisha O’Brien and Sky Akachuk, have a good time as they practice hoop dancing. Craig Lindsay/Herald
Merritt RCMP are investigating a reported carjacking that occured on May 1 around 8:30 a.m. in Lower Nicola. The victim was loading her vehicle at her residence in Lower Nicola when two males forced their way into her vehicle and told her to drive,” said Cst. Tracey Dunsmore of the Merritt RCMP in a press release. “The males had her drive to a remote location North of Aberdeen Road then told her to stop and when they exited the vehicle she was able to drive off and alert the RCMP detachment.”
RCMP went to the area with police dog services and an Air 4 helicopter but were unable to locate any suspects. The suspects are described as two aboriginal males in their mid to late 30s. One male was 6 feet, 210 to 220 pounds and wearing a black and blue jacket. He had long hair and wore a ball cap. The second male was described as having a slight build and was shorter with a green v-neck shirt. RCMP are continuing to investigate and are asking for the public’s assistance. Anyone with information is urged to contact the RCMP or Crimestoppers.
Walk of Stars sign must be repaired or face removal Destination BC gives May 15 ultimatum to fix or replace decrepid sign By Craig Lindsay THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
Destination British Columbia, formerly Tourism BC, is requesting the Merritt Walk of Stars replace or refurbish the sign currently located at the B.C. Visitor’s Centre by May 15 or it will be removed. Ron Sanders, president of the Walk of Stars, was at council on April 23 and approached council
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about working together to fix or replace the sign. “We just want to get the sign replaced in a timely fashion and get council on board,” he said. “It’s time to replace it or take it down. Of course, we’d prefer to replace it because it’s a terrific location for visitors to get information about Merritt.” The Walk of Stars doesn’t have the money to replace the sign at
this time and are looking for help from the city and possibly the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) or corporate sponsors. Sanders said it’s important to get past issues the walk has had with council and move forward. “There’s been issues between us about branding and so forth,” he said. “It’s hard to go forward because there’s issues
Ron Sanders, chair of the Merritt Walk of Stars, spoke to council on April 23. Craig Lindsay/Herald
slowing down progress: sign committees, branding issues, funding issues. Now, B.C. Tourism (Destination BC) is forcing the
issue.” Sanders notes it’s not just the sign at the visitor’s centre that needs repair, but all the Walk of Stars signs on the highway. Council voted to meet with the Walk of Stars representatives and further discuss the situation. “Whenever there’s anything on the agenda that were speaking to, anyone from the public can speak to it like Ron did,” said
Coun. Dave Baker. “I’m glad he did, because there were differences between what he said and the report that came to us. The motion I made was for council to sit down with the Walk of Stars and talk about their signs and what we can do with them. It’s not just a Walk of Stars thing, they put a lot of effort into this over the years and I think the city needs to come to the plate with them
and come to an agreement. Ron said that TOTA was involved and that’s great because there’s money there. Also, TOTA is a good conduit for that kind of thing.” The signs are important for drawing tourists into the downtown core of Merritt, said Baker. “They’re very important to the city,” he said.
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