S TANDARD TERRACE
1.30
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VOL. 26 NO. 33
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Powerline work charges forth THE GOAL of making hydro power more available farther north of here continues with work just beginning on an extension to BC Hydro's Northwest Transmission Line. The extension runs north of the transmission line's current end at a new substation at Bob Quinn along
Hwy37 North to the Red Chris copper and gold mine now being built by Imperial Metals. It will have the same capacity as the Northwest Transmission Line – 287 kilovolts – and will run approximately 95 kilometres north of Bob Quinn to Tatogga Lake. From there, a shorter branch line runs
about 20km east to the Red Chris site. Based on construction schedules, the extension work and the mine will be finished by late May of next year to fit with the planned completion of the Northwest Transmission Line, says Imperial Metals official Steve Robertson. The timeline fulfills Imperial's
longstanding objective of being the first customer to accept power from the $746 million Northwest Transmission Line, which itself is 344 kilometres long. “We are on schedule for commissioning by the beginning of June,” said Robertson of the start of Red Chris operations.
Imperial has chosen a Western Canada-based company called Rokstad Power to construct its line from Bob Quinn to Tatogga Lake. Valard, the company chosen by BC Hydro to build the Northwest Transmission Line, was also in the running for the work.
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Public school enrolment numbers down By ANNA KILLEN
MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO
■■ Little helper KIPLIN STAINTON with her parents’ donation jar to raise money for Typhoon Haiyan relief in the Philippines at the Kawrner Store on Kalum St. Nov. 21. They will send away what they’ve collected from now to next month to get in on the federal government’s pledge to double the money, and will keep the jar, which has been out since Nov. 15, out until next year.
ENROLMENT NUMBERS for the Coast Mountains School District (CMSD) are down from last year, with district officials saying that it’s difficult to predict how an improving economy is affecting the public school population. Full-time enrolment for kindergarten through Grade 12, excluding home school students, in the CMSD taken at the end of September stood at 4,714. That's down from 4,851 in September 2012. CMSD superintendent Nancy Wells says this overall drop in students wasn't necessarily what the district was anticipating. “We like our projections to be accurate,” Wells said. “In our area, there's a lot of unknowns happening right now because of the economic development. Some people think that's going to drive more students, and, actually, it doesn't necessarily. It's been very hard to project this year because of things happening in our communities.” One example Wells gives of this instability is the rent increases that have been happening in the Terrace area. “Particularly in the downtown, Horseshoe core, we've lost families to other communities who can no longer afford to rent in Terrace. “That's impacted our overall numbers – and we didn't expect that,” she said.
“We're really sorry to lose those families because for a lot of our schools, those kids were an important part of our schools, they're doing really well, they know their teachers, and then they have to move.” For the two downtown elementary schools, overall enrolment has dropped, with 209 students at Cassie Hall last year, and 197 students this year. Suwilaawks Community school has 221 students this year compared with 252 last year. Terrace's French immersion school, Ecole Mountainview, has a higher number of overall students – 171 compared with 151, in part because of extra kindergarten spaces added this year. Uplands' enrolment has also increased, with 309 students enrolled last year and 315 this year. Thornhill Elementary saw 159 students last year, comparable to the 154 enrolled this year. Thornhill Primary saw 225 students last year, which this year increased to 244. And at Skeena Middle School this year, the school's second year with Grade 7 through Grade 9, there are 585 students, down from last year's 628. Parkside Secondary had 133 spaces filled last year, with 120 this year. Caledonia Secondary has 661 students for 2013/2014, down from 720 last year.
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King of video
Health risk
Double take
Local band makes first music video ahead of new CD release \COMMUNITY B3
Group says province needs to ensure facilities produce cleanest LNG \NEWS A16
Terrace’s Orrey twins are enjoying playing for the 100 Mile House Wranglers \SPORTS A18