THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2013
Vol. 39, Issue 42
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Black Press Group announces LocalWork.ca Job/employee search site
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Community Wildfire Protection Plan shelved
Balancing act STAR/JOURNAL photo: Jill Hayward
A tow truck rights a semi trailer that went over the embankment, south of Barriere, near Hanson Road the morning of Oct. 10. RCMP, BC Ambulance and ARGO Road Maintenance attended the scene; with police reporting the investigation reveals the commercial truck and trailer were southbound on Highway 5 at the end of a right hand curve when the vehicle left the road. The road surface was wet at the time of police arrival, with a cool temperature but not to the freezing level. The commercial vehicle unit went off the road to the right, landing on its right side down the embankment. The information provided to police indicate there was a vehicle oncoming that was in the lane of the commercial truck causing the driver to take evasive action steering to the right. At this time there is no description of the vehicle and no witnesses to the collision. The three occupants of the commercial vehicle were treated for non life threatening injuries. The commercial truck and occupants are all from Ontario.
TNRD declined
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Community Forest Society to raise grant funds to $30,000 for 2013 Year end financial report
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Mammogram Screening Clinic Oct. 21 in Barriere call 1-800-663-9203 for appointment
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78195 50017
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Still no sign of missing senior By Keith McNeill and Robyn Rexin As of press-time earlier this week the search continued for missing Vavenby resident Vern Boettger and his 1997 Ford Ranger, B.C. license 8769HB. Boettger, age 78, was last seen Sunday afternoon, Oct. 6, driving his pickup. During this past long weekend, close to 20 Search and Rescue members plus about 30 non-member volunteers searched the thousands of kilometers of backroads in the area. “If it’s drivable, we’ve been going down it,” said one searcher. Search and Rescue members from the Wells Gray, Kamloops, Logan Lake, and South Cariboo (100 Mile House) teams took
part. Members from Robson Valley Search and Rescue combed the backcountry working south from Valemount. An RCMP helicopter plus volunteer-flown aircraft from PEP Air were also involved. Wells Gray Search and Rescue set up a command trailer at Vavenby Christian Church. All the searchers meet there in the morning before setting out. They then check in when they return in the evening, and where they went is marked on a map, and searchers are debriefed. Several of the search teams are equipped with satellite transceivers that allow them to communicate with base as well as show their location using GPS. The search effort has received good support from the
Submitted photo:
Vern Boettger, a Vavenby senior, has been missing since Oct. 6. community of Vavenby, said search manager Les Sakals. “It’s been fantastic,” he said. “They’ve been feeding the searchers three or four times a day. We got a roast beef dinner on Friday and a turkey dinner on Saturday.” “The church has been letting us use the photocopier, phone, building and washroom.”
According to Clearwater RCMP, on Monday, Oct. 7, at 7:45 p.m., a Vavenby woman contacted the detachment to report that she had not seen her father, Lavern Boettger since Sunday afternoon. She described her father as a loner who, when bored, likes to go driving on Forest Service roads in the backcountry. Although, elderly, police report that Boettger does not have significant medical/health issues, does not use alcohol or drugs and does not have dementia. On Tuesday, RCMP contacted Wells Gray Search and Rescue and advised them of the incident. A RCMP helicopter (Air 4) was also contacted and assisted with the search efforts. Initial information confirmed Boettger got gas in Clearwater and as a result
the initial air search was conducted in the Clearwater area. Clearwater RCMP received new information that night advising that a Vavenby resident who knows Boettger and his truck observed him in his vehicle driving north on Highway 5 from Vavenby. Search efforts on Wednesday were concentrated between Vavenby and Blue River. Friends, family and other local residents helped in the search. By the weekend the search area had been expanded again to include the roaded area from Tree Farm License 18 west of Clearwater to near Valemount. Boettger has lived in the Vavenby area since the early 1960s. Now retired, he worked mostly in the forest industry.
S E R V I N G T H E N O RT H T H O M P S O N VA L L E Y F R O M H E F F L E Y C R E E K TO B L U E R I V E R