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VERNON/KELOWNA rink falls one step short of qualifying for the 2014 Winter Olympics curling for Canada on the men’s side.
A CAREER change finds Big White’s baker in a job every town needs, including at the ski resort he calls home.
COLUMNIST Marjorie Horne says adapting to life’s challenges as we advance in age will determine how we enjoy our golden years.
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TUESDAY December 10, 2013 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
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Rutland will see benefit from budget Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kelowna city council will head into its annual budget deliberations later this week looking at a staff recommendation that could boost residential property taxes by 2.67 per cent in 2014. On Monday, council was presented with its formal introduction to the budget, when staff made its annual public presentation prior to council’s line-by-line budget deliberation set for Thursday at City Hall. Financial services director Keith Grayston said for 2014 the city is looking to raise $107.9 million in taxes, 37.4 per cent of the entire $289 million budget. The remaining money will come from fees and charges (33.1 per cent), reserves and surpluses (12 per cent), grants (4.8 per cent), other revenue (4.7 per cent),general revenues (four per cent), departmental transfers (2.2 per cent), parcel taxes (1.2 per cent) and borrowing (0.6 per cent). It contains $735,000 worth of additions approved in the 2013 budget, including pay for more police officers added last year but who only started part way through 2013 and now need to be accounted for on an annual basis. The proposed 2.67 per cent tax hike would add about $45.11 to the $1,734.79 in municipal taxes the owner of an average-priced home in Kelowna ($451,440) would pay next year. Other taxes on the annual city tax bill homeowners receive, such as those for the school district, regional district and regional hospital district, would all be on top of that amount and are not known yet, said Grayston. The city’s provisional 2014 budget will be hammered out during an all-day council session Dec. 12. According to the city, in 2014 it will be challenged to provide new services that are in demand, while maintaining existing service levels and looking for opportunities for future growth. Despite that, one councillor said he feels the upcoming budget will help an area of the city believed by many to have been overlooked for too long. See Budget A7
GRADE 10
Kelowna Secondary School student Michael Patora demonstrates what he learned through the ACT Foundation high school defibrillator training program held Friday at KSS. WADE PATERSON/ CAPITAL NEWS
Defibrillator training comes to high schools Wade Paterson STAFF REPORTER
Okanagan secondary students are receiving training that could help them save lives. Several Kelowna Secondary School students were on hand Friday for the official launch of the Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation high school defibrillator training program. “We’re going to see all public secondary schools in the Okanagan region training their students how to save a life with CPR skills, and they’ll learn also from
their teachers how to use a defibrillator,” said Sandra Clarke, executive director of ACT Foundation. “So they’ll all be empowered to save lives as they graduate.” The training program will be introduced at KSS, Mount Boucherie Senior Secondary, Okanagan Mission Secondary, Rutland Senior Secondary and George Elliott Secondary; about 1,900 students will be trained in both CPR and how to use a defibrillator each year. According to Clarke, the program cost is about $5,000 to set up in each school. The funding includes 28 automated external de-
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fibrillator (AED) training mannequins, 28 AED training units and four AED units for in-school cardiac arrest emergencies. Early CPR, combined with the use of an AED within the first few minutes, can improve survival rates for cardiac arrest victims by up to 75 per cent, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Clarke said students who have been involved in the program in other parts of the province haven’t had much difficulty learning how to use the defibrillators. “We’ve already set up the program in over 50 secondary schools around the province of
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B.C.; the teachers say it’s easy to teach students how to use the defibrillator,” said Clarke. “The actual machine is very easy to use. It has voice prompts on it, so it actually takes (students) through the simple steps.” After taking part in the twoweek training course, Grade 10 KSS student Michael Patora said he is confident he could help save a life if the situation ever presented itself. “It was a little bit confusing at first, but we have good teachers,” said Patora.
See Training A7
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