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PACIFIC SELECTS Local Bantam players take on the best in North America.
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FOREST GRANTS Wetzin’kwa hands out bursaries.
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GRAF HONOURED Smithers resident named Firefighter of the Year.
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
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Larson disarms pilot By Jerome Turner Smithers/Interior News
A potentially fatal incident was prevented at a small Fortune Minerals camp in the Klappan region when Conrad Larson, a Lakelse Air helicopter mechanic, disarmed a crazed 37-year-old pilot wielding a shotgun on July 12. The pilot, who had been acting out of sorts for a couple of days, according to a source close to the incident, began firing shotgun rounds at his own helicopter around 1:30 a.m. causing more than $500,000 in damage to the machine. Larson, 22, who grew up in the Kispiox Valley, was observing the pilot from the office tent about 300 metres away. He also saw the pilot jump in the helicopter and attempt a hot-start, which is starting a helicopter with the throttle engaged. “When it lit, a ball of flames came out the exhaust pipe,” Larson said, adding the pilot also shot flares at a fuel container during the incident. The pilot then mounted his ATV and started back for the main camp area, where the Dease Lake RCMP had already been notified of his actions. Larson with his own shotgun, which is allowed for protection from bears, attempted to avoid a confrontation with the erratically-behaving pilot. See PILOT on A4
LEGENDARY The Bulkley Valley Regional Pool and Rec Centre held its annual Legendary Water Fight on July 18. Kids of all ages took on lifeguards and members of the Smithers Volunteer Fire Department. Ryan Jensen photo
Construction starts on second arena By Ryan Jensen Smithers/Interior News
Construction has now started on Smithers’ second sheet of ice. On July 16, Town of Smithers councillors and officials, contractors and members of the public gathered to break ground for the project that has been in the works for more than 20 years. “As Counc. Adomeit says, this is officially the end of if and the beginning of how,”
Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach said. The first step in the building process is to pre-load the site, said Rob Trampuh, owner of Timber Peak Construction, one of the local contractors on the project. This prep work will take between one and six months, he said. But what the finished project will look like is not yet set in stone. Of the $4.7 million budget, $400,000 must still be raised by the community. Despite this formidable
hurdle, Bachrach said he was confident the project would be finished on time and on budget. “One thing the past has shown us, when you look at the past of Smithers, is when the community gets behind a project there’s no stopping it,” he said. “We’ve achieved some incredible things in our 100 years of history and I’m absolutely confident the community’s going to get behind this project and we’re going to pull it off in great form.” The arena is being
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designed and constructed by C & M Development Inc. from Nanaimo, with the assistance of a number of local contractors, which is another reason Bachrach said he has faith in the project. “One of the things that gives council the confidence to pull off this project is the fact so many people have skin in the game and we’re going to be harnessing so much of the talent of this community,” he said. See ARENA on A2
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