Cranbrook Daily Townsman, February 14, 2014

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Vol. 63, Issue 31

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Kimberley cull delayed because traps stolen Deer Protection Society circulating anti-cull flyers

C A R O LYN G R A N T Daily Bulletin

The BC Deer Protection Society out of Invermere is hitting Kimberley with flyers this week as the City’s permitted cull has been delayed because of the theft of government-owned clover traps.

Kimberley Mayor Ron McRae confirmed that the cull hasn’t begun yet, primarily because of the incident this week where the clover traps were stolen from the Ministry building in Cranbrook, with some

being destroyed. “We are still on track but we can’t proceed without the traps,” McRae said. “It’s not going to deter us but obviously it will slow us down.” The traps are owned by

the provincial government. McRae was planning to meet with a ministry representative Thursday afternoon to discuss the permit time frame. The flyers being circulated label Kimberley as a good

place to waste tax dollars on killing deer and calls Kimberley the deer culling capital of B.C. Kimberley currently has a permit to carry out a cull of up to 30 mule deer — 15 from Marysville and 15 from Lower Blarchmont/Chapman Camp. They also had a

permit to remove 100 deer two years ago. The BC Deer Protection Society is the same group that is involved in the law suit against the District of Invermere for its deer cull.

See CULL, Page 3

Kindergarten research tool needed, school district says SD5 board is urging the B.C. government to continue annual research of children for the Early Development Instrument S A L LY M AC D O N A L D Townsman Staff

The School District board is asking the B.C. government to continue the same level of funding for what it considers an essential research tool for kindergarten-aged children. Each February, kindergarten teachers in East Kootenay schools fill out a 104-question form for each of their students. These anonymous forms are used by UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership to put together a report that reveals population-level trends for children by province, region and neighbourhood. The research tool is called the Early Development Instrument (EDI). “We’ve been using the EDI in our district for 10 years,” said Frank Lento, chair of the School District 5 board of trustees, adding that

SD5 was one of the first in B.C. to use the data. “As a result, we’ve been better able to plan for supports for children in school and have also worked closely with community partners to improve opportunities for children to access early childhood programs.” The EDI is jointly funded by the B.C. Ministries of Education, Health and Children and Family Development. But Lento said that earlier this year, SD5 was told the B.C. government will no longer fund annual testing. Instead, teachers will fill out the forms for every third kindergarten class, after next year. UBC recommends that school districts with smaller kindergarten classes participate each year for accurate results.

See SCHOOL, Page 3

ALEXEY DENGIN PHOTO

With the Sochi Olympic Games in full swing, Canadian athlete and Cranbrook native Gord McArthur, along with fellow competitors on the UIAA World Cup tour, are busy showcasing the demonstration sport of ice climbing to the world.

Local tech sends skis to Sochi Kimberley’s Scott Reid helps prepare gear for Canadian Olympic ski crossers T R E V O R C R AW L E Y Townsman Staff

While Canadian ski cross athletes prepare for Olympic glory in Russia next week, they could potentially be sporting some equipment with a Kimberley connection. With the warm temperatures in Sochi presenting a

challenge on the slopes and the effects on snow conditions, the national ski cross team sent some custom-made skis to Kimberley’s Scott ‘Scooter’ Reid for some work. Reid, a ski technician who is a familiar face at the upper echelons of Alpine Canada,

has past Olympic experience, working with the ski cross athletes at the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010. With the Canadian ski cross athletes on the World Cup circuit in the fall leading up to the Sochi Games, they simply didn’t have the time to put in the necessary work to

set up the skis. That’s where Reid came in. A former racer turned coach turned ski technician, Reid was given a contract to get about a dozen pairs of skis ready for possibility of warm conditions on the slopes.

See KIMBERLEY , Page 8


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