NEWS: Small Town Love for Houston
NEWS: Regional Search & Rescue Training in Houston
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2014
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Huckleberry early start up By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
FLAME Fighters
The mill at Huckleberry Mine looks like it will be restarting in the next couple of weeks. “We’re fairly confident that we’ve found a shortterm solution through our various consultants and milling experts,” said Randall Thompson, Vice President of Operations at Huckleberry Mines. Asked what the temporary solution involves, Thompson said they are changing the operating parameters (restrictions) of the gear with the goal of achieving 100 percent capacity. “We’re looking to re-start [the mill] within a couple of weeks,” he said. The SAG mill at Huckleberry Mines was temporarily shut down Feb. 26 after a break down involving
Jackie Lieuwen/Houston Today
The Topley Volunteer Fire Department started burning the old Uplands Motel for practice last Saturday and is running a few weekend practices to burn the place before the snow melts. Above are volunteer Fire Chief Byron Sketchley, Jim Dickson, Sean Forsyth, Lt. Rob Saunders, Kyle Townsend, and Safety Officer Lt. Terry Bayfield. See page 3 for more on the burn.
“ the bull gear - a gear involved in grinding big chunks of rock
“We really want to thank the employees,”
- Randall Thompson, Huckleberry VPO
into smaller pieces. Ordering a bull gear takes four to six months, and Thompson says that is an on-going process which they are continuing to work on for the long-term. While the mill was shut down, mill employees were put to work on upgrades and maintenance projects at the mill. See MINE on Page 3
April 9 job fair open to the whole community By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
Houston is hosting a job fair tailored towards mill workers from Houston Forest Products, which begins its gradual shut down May 9. The job fair runs Wednesday, April 9, from 12 to 8 p.m., 2007 FORD EXPEDITION
Eddie Bauer
at the Houston Community Hall, and will be open to the entire community. It will showcase a variety of employers and exhibits including Canfor, Tolko Industries, Ridley Terminals, Mount Milligan Mine, Endako Mines, and Smithers Exploration 2010 TOYOTA MATRIX AWD
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Group. The job fair was initiated by the Economic Development Pillar and Worker Transition Pillar group, and organized by a hired consultant funded by a provincial grant. When the HFP closure announcement was made, the District of Houston 2007 TOYOTA TUNDRA TRD 4X4
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put together three pillar groups to focus on community transition: There are the Economic Development Pillar, the Community Services Pillar, and the Worker Transition Pillar group. These groups have met since November and are working on a 2013 NISSAN ROGUE S AWD
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variety of initiatives to help HFP workers and the Houston community work through the transition following the mill closure. The teams have run a variety of sessions and workshops at HFP related to stress, managing change, entrepreneurship, and mortgage and hous2006 TOYOTA RAV4 BASE
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ing. Northern Health has hired a new full time clinician for Houston to deal with adult mental health and youth addictions. They are also hiring another part-time life skills worker for youth in Houston. The Economic Development Pillar is
considering running four workshops about economic development and diversification between April 14 to 18. There’s a Reverse Trade Show planned for Sept. 10 to 13, and the Community Services Pillar is considering a Health Fair to run later this year.
w w w. g l a c i e r t o y o t a . c a Smithers, BC 1-866-844-6723
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