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TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013
Proudly serving Williams Lake and the Cariboo-Chilcotin since 1930
Downtown power out Monday
VOL. 83. No. 43
$1.30 inc. TAX
DEVELOPMENT UNDERWAY
A lightning arrestor shorted out in Williams Lake Monday afternoon, leaving more than 2,100 customers without power, mostly in the downtown area. At around 2 p.m. some observers noticed smoke coming from one of the hydro poles in the alley between First and Second Avenues North. A BC Hydro crew member attended and said the shorted arrestor took out a circuit, which resulted in the power outage. That outage extended from the immediate vicinity, to areas as far away as Walmart and Mountview elementary school. Within an hour power had been restored to most places except for business close to hydro pole, where power was not fully restored until 4:45 p.m.
Inside the Tribune
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NEWS RCMP seek peeping tom.
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Students enrolled in the BC Aboriginal Mine Training Association Heavy Operator Program have been learning and working at the Williams Lake Indian Band Coyote Rock subdivision development, south of Williams Lake.
SPORTS Lakers Show and Shine.
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Coyote Rocks to new development
COMMUNITY A12 Formal wear free for grads. Weather outlook: Sun/cloud today, high of 17 C. Cloudy/ showers Wednesday, high 17 C.
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Monica Lamb-Yorski Tribune Staff Writer Work being done by students enrolled in a heavy equipment operator program near Williams Lake is helping with a future development. “The reality is that this is a training exercise that ties in with our Coyote Rock subdivision development plans,” said Williams Lake Indian Band economic development officer, Kirk Dressler. “What’s taking place is a heavy equipment operator’s program that is sponsored by the British Columbia Aboriginal Mine Training Association, Thomson Rivers University and the WLIB.” Students are helping install the booster system for water, explained WLIB Chief Ann Louie. “We completed the main system and are putting in the booster system now for the development.”
Louie said potentially within 25 to 30 years, there could be 90 residential lots at the development site. “There are 11 large commercial development sites as well,” Louie added. The British Columbia Aboriginal Mine Training Association (BCAMTA) Heavy Equipment Operator (Civil and Mining) Program is intended to give practical experience to aboriginal persons who are seeking employment opportunities in mining or other industries. The program includes a classroom and practical component with elements that include training in construction, equipment operation, traffic control, First Aid, and WHMIS. BCAMTA anticipates there will be multiple intakes at the Coyote Rock site. Presently there are 20 students participating in the second set of
training sessions. “They’ve completed one set and are doing another one,” Louie explained. “The training is geared toward working in mining, but the expertise they achieve in the program gives them the opportunity to get into almost any employment.” Students hail from the 15 bands in the region, including some from areas as far away as Smithers. Recently a student told Louie his lifestyle had been very negative until he entered the program. “He thanked me for bringing BCAMTA to Williams Lake and encouraging the training within our band because it had changed his life style. Even if we make a change in one individual’s life it’s great.” Louie said WLIB has been involved with BCAMTA right from the very beginning.
Len Jackson, director of operations for BCAMTA, said typically there are two full-time instructors through TRU Kamloops, but this time they’ve done something completely different. “There’s an actual contractor on site, IDL Construction, with the building of the roads and the commercial construction. They are providing an on-site supervisor to assist the TRU instructor and to oversee the actual construction of what the WLIB is wanting to have occur on site,” Jackson said. “Normally a mining partner will give BCAMTA an area at a mine and the students will simply move dirt, whereas this time we spoke to the band to see if there was something that we could do for them, and this is what we landed on.” See INITIAL Page A3