106th Year - Week 38 PM 40007014
Money raised to date:
$186,820 GOAL
$400,000 NEW ARENA DONATIONS
Oscar & Florence Hidber: $10,000
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Smithers/Interior News
Golfer Adam Veenstra scores amateur tournament invite.
SPORTS/A13
LAWNMOWER MAN Madchild returns to Smithers Sept. 27.
A&E/A21
INSIDE LETTERS SPORTS COMMUNITY OUR TOWN THREE RIVERS CLASSIFIEDS
A7 A10 A17 A20 B1 B10
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Recycling debate continues
By Ryan Jensen and Nolan Kelly
AIMING HIGH
www.interior-news.com
The Town of Smithers drafted an emergency resolution to take forward to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention this week to address concerns with a curbside recycling contract being proposed by Multi-Material B.C. MMBC is an industry stewardship group made up of major retailers and producers that is set to take full responsibility for collecting and recycling packaging of all sorts by next May as a result of new provincial regulations. Smithers council has been discussing the merits of signing the MMBC contract to provide curbside recycling services to the town for most of the summer. One of their main concerns is the contract states the recycling centre will be located no further away from the town than 60 kilometres. “I know this is something that so many other communities in B.C. are struggling with,” said Mayor Taylor Bachrach. “The way this is rolling out is not working for a lot
of communities. If we can take a bit of a leadership role in that regard, I think it would be fantastic.” At the Aug. 27 regular meeting, council signed the agreement in principle, with the condition the recycling centre be located no further away than the current one. They are still awaiting a response from MMBC on that caveat. MMBC is offering an annual $55,000 incentive to communities that signed on the dotted line, which is not something that should be dismissed, said Deputy Mayor Frank Wray. “I really support this because I don’t think we should throw recycling away over a bad contract but I also don’t think we should sign a bad contract without some sort of fight,” Wray said. The Village of Telkwa is in a different position than Smithers. Their public works department has provided curbside recycling to residents for the past two years. The village is interested in sitting down to discuss a possible deal with MMBC, but they have a few issues to sort through first. See RECYCLE on A4
MARATHON OF HOPE Lucia Gastiazoro and Sacha Allen-Fleury, both five years old, make their way around the Smithers Terry Fox Run route on Sunday. More than $5,500 was raised. Fundraising totals from the Quick community run were not available at press time. Ryan Jensen photo
IIO looking into young man’s death By Ryan Jensen Smithers/Interior News
The circumstances leading up to the public suicide of a young Bulkley Valley man are now under investigation by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. On the afternoon
of Sept. 9, Lionel Thomas walked into Canadian Tire and killed himself in front of witnesses. Prior to the incident, the Smithers RCMP had multiple dealings with Thomas over a period of several hours, the IIO said in a statement on their website. He was given a medical
assessment and spent time in a RCMP cell. The IIO was notified of the suicide by the Smithers RCMP that evening and deployed investigators to the scene. “General investigative activities involve interviewing witnesses, talking to on-scene police
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officers and reviewing evidence,” said Owen Court with IIOBC. “Timelines vary in accordance with the complexity of an investigation. It’s not possible to assign a number of weeks or days.” Any witnesses to the incident can call the IIO info line at 1-855-446-8477.