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Morning gStar Friday, Feb. 7, 2014
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No injuries in mishap RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
There was a scary situation at an Armstrong business Thursday. Just after noon, a truck went through the front window at Armstrong Computer Service on Smith Drive and came to rest inside the store. “I had just got out of my car and I heard a crash and glass shattering,” said one witness. “I saw a truck inside the store and there was well over a foot (of space) behind him.” The business is owned and operated by Armstrong Spallumcheen fire chief Ian Cummings, who was on his way to a meeting with municipal politicians when he received a page saying there had been an explosion at his business address. “I turned around and raced back,” said Cummings. There were three employees and a customer inside the business at the time of the
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A pick-up truck went though the front window of Armstrong Computer Service and into the store just after noon Thursday. For a video of the aftermath visit www.vernonmorningstar.com crash, though nobody inside was hurt. “That’s the miraculous part here,” said Cummings. “It could have been fatal, there’s no doubt about that.” All of the people were on the other side of the building when the truck crashed.
The driver of the truck, an elderly man from Armstrong, was not physically injured, but was quite shaken up. Firefighters, the police and paramedics converged on the scene and the incident remains under investigation. The truck is
being taken in for a mechanical inspection. It’s not known if charges could be laid. “We are still very much in the early stages of the investigation,” said VernonNorth Okanagan RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk.
Vernon’s own SonReal collects Juno nod KRISTIN FRONEMAN Morning Star Staff
Halifax produced Classified. Toronto has Drake. And Vernon has its own hip hop star on a mega rise with SonReal. The 28-year-old rapper, who is now based in Vancouver, has just been nominated for his second Juno award for Rap Recording of the Year with his song, Everywhere We Go. Known as Aaron Hoffman when he was a W.L. Seaton Secondary School student, SonReal is no stranger to award nominations. He was nominated in the same category at the Junos last year for his album, The Closers, with Toronto’s Rich Kidd and was also nominated at the 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards for Hip Hop Video of the Year for the song, Hometown, which was
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Vernon’s SonReal performs for fans in Thunder Bay Wednesday night while on tour with Down with Webster. The hip hop artist, born Aaron Hoffman, has been nominated for his second Juno for Rap Recording of the Year. partially filmed in Vernon and Coldstream. “Being nominated for a Juno is amazing,” said SonReal. “We work relentlessly at this craft and to get
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recognized on this type of platform is always humbling.” Everywhere We Go has also made a splash, literally, with its video, directed by Peter Haung
and produced by Mad Ruk Ent. It features SonReal as a Napoleon Dynamite-type character hanging out pool-side, trying to stay cool. The video has been on regular rotation on MuchMusic since it was released last fall, has received close to one million views on YouTube, and according to The Georgia Strait, is the biggest independently released song to ever be produced by a Vancouver artist. “When we recorded Everywhere We Go we knew we had something special, but it really was the video that really made the song what it became,” said SonReal. The prolific hip hop artist, who is currently touring the country with band Down with Webster, has released seven mixtapes since 2008. His latest, One Fine Day, is available for free online at www. iamsonreal.com and features a
who’s who of Canadian hip hop talent including Kardinal Offishall and Shad. Up against some pretty heavy competition at the Junos, including the aforementioned Drake and Classified as well as his former music partner Rich Kidd and Shad, SonReal says he’s optimistic about his chances and thanks his team for getting him there. “As previous awards have proven, any one nominee has a chance,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to have the nomination if I didn’t have a great team behind me. Shouts to my manager Byron Wilson, my DJ Rich-A, my label Black Box Records, Adam Sylvester, MuchFACT/Much Music, Universal, and all the fans that continually push the music.” This year’s televised broadcast of the Juno awards takes place in Winnipeg March 30.
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