FRIDAY
< Kootenay newcomers hit the Ice
OCTOBER 25, 2013
Page 8
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Vol. 61, Issue 208
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
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BARRY COULTER PHOTO
The Royal Canadian Legion’s 2013 Poppy Campaign is underway as of today, Friday, Oct. 25. Members of Branch 24 Cranbrook were on hand Thursday at City Hall to present Mayor Wayne Stetski, as representative of the municipal government, with the first poppy of the season. Les Radcliffe (left), third vice-president, and Clive Brown, president, both co-chairs of the Cranbrook campaign, had to wait until after 11 a.m. to make the presentation — by protocol, both the Governor General of Canada and the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. must receive their poppies first. But as of today, we all of us can now wear poppies with pride and recognition of our veterans’ sacrifice, so look for the poppies on sale around town and get one today. Top right: Mayor Stetski was also presented with a “Lest We Forget” wristband, which is new this year from the Royal Canadian Legion and is already proving immensely popular among the citizenry.
Chamber celebrates Marijuana campaign reaches halfway mark small businesses Cranbrook and district business people gathered on Wednesday to mark Small Business Week in B.C.
SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
October 20 to 26 is Small Business Week in B.C., and the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce marked the occasion with a mini trade fair and small-business themed discussion at the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort on Wednesday, October 23. Chamber members were invited to stop by booths and visit small business owners at the lunch-time event, “Bring Your Business To The Table”. The Playpen Pet Boarding and
Grooming, Blade Runner Shredding Service with Cranbrook Society for Community Living, Ashley Furniture HomeStore, Koocanusa Publications, e-Know, Pacific Coastal Airlines, RBC, BDO, Haddad Financial, Initial Designs, Community Futures East Kootenay and Kootenay Raft Co. all had booths set up at the event, talking about what their business has to offer. During lunch, Keith Powell moderated a discussion with several Cranbrook small business owners, first bringing the crowd to a standing ovation for local
small businesses. First up, a panel discussing what a successful business looks like in Cranbrook featured Martin Torgerson from Home Hardware, Denise Pallesen from Nutter’s, and Megan Lescanec from Bumble Tree. Next, a panel on the intricacies of family business included Chris Thom from Rocky Mountain Diesel, Chad and Leanne Jensen from New Dawn, Derek Spring from NorthStar, and Corey and David Spring from Spring Honda.
See CHAMBER, Page 3
Organizers in local ridings say about half the signatures needed to force decriminalization issue to referendum have been gathered BARRY COULTER AND C AROLYN GR ANT
Sensible BC’s campaign to force the issue of marijuana decriminalization to referendum in B.C. has just reached its halfway mark, and organizers say about half the signatures needed have been gathered. A 90-day countdown began Monday, Sept. 9, for a petition campaign to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana in B.C. Volunteers for Sensible B.C. have until Dec. 5 to collect more than 400,000 signatures. This number represents 10 per cent
of eligible voters in each of B.C.’s 85 electoral ridings. In Kootenay East, 3,100 signatures are needed. Barbara Kern, who’s organizing the campaign in Kootenay East, said there is certainly a ways to go for the campaign to achieve its goal, but the pace is picking up. “In the last two weeks we’ve doubled our canvassers (in B.C.) from about 1,600 to 3,100,” she said. “In Kootenay East we have about 12 active cavassers.
See MARIJUANA , Page 5