TUESDAY
S I N C E
JULY 16, 2013
1 8 9 5
Vol. 118, Issue 110
105
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Union, Fortis at odds over essential services Page 3
INCLUDING G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Search continues for missing man presumed drowned
HAPPY FEET
Family seeks answers and closure BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Children’s musician Will Stroet stopped by the Trail and District Public Library Monday as part of the summer reading program, much to the delight of 30 children who sang-along and danced to his high-energy bilingual songs about road safety, animals and sports.
A family is left wading in the Columbia River searching for their missing son to provide closure to a tragedy. Fruitvale's Andrew Evans, 28, has been classified as a missing person but is also presumed drowned after a police chase resulted in him disappearing in the water last Wednesday. The Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire/ Rescue continues to patrol the Columbia and so does his dad Dobie Evans of Thrums, who is offering a $25,000 reward for his son's body. Meanwhile his mom Tammy Evans and his sister Alisha Evans of Castlegar view the incident as a mishap that could have been avoided. The Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment Crime Reduction Unit and members from the Trail and Greater District RCMP attended a home in Glenmerry to arrest Evans for several unendorsed arrest warrants for breach of conditions late that afternoon. The operation went sideways when Evans jumped out of a second-storey window while the officers were still on the main floor. The perimeter officers were unable to intercept him and he ran through the property and into the river, according to Cpl. Dan Moskaluk, media relations for the South East District. From the shoreline, officers watched as Evans swam back toward the shore, where he remained in the water holding onto a tree branch while he spoke to officers at the river's edge. The rescue boat was immediately dispatched but it was too late as Evans eventually let go of the branch and floated downstream until he See PURSUIT, Page 3
Reverend and community builder moving on Farewell dinner planned for Thursday in Warfield BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
Uniting people in conversation has been a local reverend’s passion for almost 10 years, and now that he is leaving, the community is coming together to share in a warm farewell. The Trail United Church
invites everyone to join in a pot luck supper to say goodbye to Reverend Keith Simmonds and his family on Thursday at the Warfield Hall, 5:30 p.m. Simmonds has been ministering to members of Communities in Faith and Pastoral Charge in Rossland, Trail, Beaver Valley, and Salmo since 2004. He is relocating to Vancouver Island to be closer to aging family members and to minister
at Duncan United Church. “Keith has been very much involved in the four churches and in community outreach,” said Merle Ruckstuhl, 70-year member of the Trail United Church. “He’s really going to missed not only in our pastoral charge but also in the community.” Simmonds philosophy is all about community and creating a better world by pulling people together and having conversations
KEITH SIMMONDS
about what is important to them. “I was called into doing something that was bigger than me,” he said. “I wanted to learn how to make a safe place for the community to come together to talk and work on issues that matter to them.” He has fond memories of his ministry, but one in particular stands out as his first “teachable moment” in Trail. Having a work his-
tory as cabinet assistant in the NDP government in the 90’s, Simmonds was passionate and focused on social justice, labour unions, and politics when he delivered his first Labour Day homily to the Trail congregation almost a decade ago. “Things were going well until then,” he said. “That morning I talked about the Israelites leaving Egypt after years in captivity,” said Simmonds. See DOWNTOWN, Page 2
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