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Vol. 61, Issue 103
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Million-dollar fix for burst pipe Cranbrook draws on reserve funds for emergency repairs to a worst-case scenario at its spray irrigation fields SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
CAROLYN GRANT PHOTO
A successful aversive conditioning trial — or deer hazing — was conducted in Marysville Wednesday. There was no fuss, no muss, no stampede — just a group of deer moving out of town under the guidance of two humans and two very well trained dogs. See full story Page 4. Above: Deer hazing professionals John Zehnder, with Bob, and Margie Jamieson, with Tess, conducted the exercise.
New trial ordered for Cranbrook man convicted of murder Trial judge misdirected jurors before their verdict, rules BC Court of Appeal KIM BOL AN Vancouver Sun
The BC Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for a Cranbrook man convicted of second degree murder in 2009, saying the trial judge misdirected jurors before their verdict. Cheyenne Manuel Learn, 53, was convicted in the fatal shooting of Tammy Ellis, a friend of his former girlfriend, at Ellis’s home in December, 2007. Learn claimed he was drunk and accidentally shot Ellis at short range with a sawed-off shotgun when he went to her house to confront his ex, Brandy
Lahay, over her drug trafficking. But Lahay and another witness testified that “Learn pointed the gun at the victim, spoke to her and fired the gun” after accusing her of getting Lahay “hooked on crack.” One of Learn’s grounds of appeal was that the trial judge made a mistake when he gave the jury instructions on the necessary intent required to convict someone of murder. Appeal Court Justice Ian Donald agreed in a written ruling that an error was made and that a retrial was necessary. “I am persuaded that the
judge misdirected the jury and I would order a new trial on second degree murder,” he said in a ruling released Wednesday. Appeal Court Justices Harvey Groberman and Christopher Hinkson, who were also on the panel, agreed. Learn had been sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for 16 years. At sentencing, the judge cited his lengthy criminal record, which included several violence-related offences involving firearms. No date has been set yet for Learn’s new trial.
A rupture in a wastewater pipe in the worst possible location has forced the City of Cranbrook to pull $1 million out of a reserve fund. “This is a one million dollar surprise,” said Mayor Wayne Stetski. The burst pipe is located out at the city’s spray irrigation fields in Mayook – 20 feet beneath the newly renovated pumphouse building. The 24-inch pipe carries wastewater from one of the two lagoons at the spray fields to the pumphouse, from which it is dispersed through pivots to irrigate the 2,200-acre property. Unfortunately, a worst-case sce-
See 15-FEET, Page 3
Arts Council puts out the call: Decorate those domestic deer A R N E P E T RYS H E N Townsman Staff
Deer have become a part of our community and so when the Cranbrook and District Arts Council was searching for a subject for a competition, the city’s lawn-dwelling ungulates were a logical suggestion. Jenny Humphrey, from the arts council, said the choice was a chance to flip the deer issue on its head. “Rather than being embarrassed by urban deer, let’s not see it as a problem,” Humphrey said. “Let’s be proud of them. Cranbrook is known
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nario came about this spring when city staff learnt that the 40-year-old pipe was leaking, and had been for some time. “It started off as probably just a pin hole leak and we don’t know how long it has been leaking, but we know it’s probably been leaking at least five years if not more,” Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Staudt told city council on Monday, May 27. Even worse than the tricky location of the burst pipe is that years of leaking wastewater created a sink hole underneath the pumphouse building, which contains hundreds of thousands of dollars in technology.
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for its deer already, so let’s have it be known for its artsy deer.” The contest, called the Urban Artsy Deer Quest and Competition, has a two pronged approach, one for businesses and one for adults, families and children. “You get a wooden deer that you get to take home and decorate any way you choose,” she said. “You might want to paper-mache it, you might want to put clay on it, you might want to stick bows all over it... pop cans...whatever.”
See DECORATE, Page 5
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