Trail Times Wednesday, May 28, 2014 www.trailtimes.ca A3
REgional
Power outages hit Greater Trail homes
By Times Staff A strong windstorm and equipment malfunction combined to cut power off to a large swath of Greater Trail on Monday. Afternoon gusts of wind, topping 30 kilometres per hour, sent power lines to the ground in Montrose around 4 p.m., causing a power outage to a section of that community. A tree fell on a power line and knocked out power to 20 customers for four hours, according to
FortisBC spokesperson Grace Pickell. Around 6 p.m. on Monday, FortisBC said an equipment malfunction, and resulting safety precautions, at Beaver Creek caused a power outage to 4,700 customers in Trail and the Beaver Valley for approximately 10 minutes. Fortunately crews were already on site repairing the malfunction when safety precautions were activated, which resulted in the brief outage.
New Denver
Jim Bailey photo (top) Sheri Regnier photos (left and right).
Bodies potentially located The Nelson Star RCMP say the bodies of three local youths missing since a canoe accident on Slocan Lake 16 days ago may have been located. Police were contacted Monday by the owner of Ralston & Associates, Idaho-based underwater recovery specialists hired by some of the families to continue searching after police suspended their search. In a news release, Sgt. Darryl Little said the youths were found in about 500 feet of water, further from shore than originally reported.
Additional equipment is being brought in from the Lower Mainland to assist in recovery efforts, which are expected to take place today. The RCMP dive team has also been recalled to the scene. Jule Wiltshire-Padfield, 15, Hayden Kyle, 21, and Skye Donnet, 18, have been missing since their canoe capsized in Bigelow Bay as they were en route from New Denver to Rosebery. Lily Harmer-Taylor, 19, was pulled from the canoe but died in hospital.
Nelson
Man dies in logging accident
The Nelson Star A 35-year-old Nelson man died Tuesday morning in a logging accident in the Beasley area. RCMP said at about 8:30 a.m. they were called the accident near Smallwood Creek Forest Service
Road. Sgt. Darryl Little said it appeared the man was hit by a tree, claiming his life, although the exact circumstances have yet to be determined. WorkSafeBC and the BC Coroners Service are investigating.
Pickets were up and school was out during a one-day walkout by School District 20 teachers on Tuesday. Above, teachers at J.L. Crowe Secondary got honks of support from passers-by. Teachers at Webster Elementary (right and left) were joined by support staff on the line.
Negotiations a never-ending story FROM PAGE 1 The Kootenay Columbia Teachers’ Union joined districts across the province in rotating strikes this week as part of the second stage of job action. “I do believe that they have the right to ask for whatever monetary restitution that they deem necessary to bring them up to par with the rest of teachers in Canada,” said Smith. “Class composition was taken away from them illegally by the Liberal government and that
was ruled in BC Supreme Court that it was illegal so I really feel for them because they’re being treated as fourth-class citizens, for lack of a better term.” Smith fears this is foreshadowing. He has been up to his ears in contract negotiations since he became president of his union last year. CUPE 1285’s contract is up at the end of June and much like it does for teachers, negotiations feel like a never ending story. He said healthy bargaining shouldn’t stretch for the dur-
ation of a contract, which was the case for support staff. CUPE negotiated for 18 months before coming to a two-year agreement this winter and are now preparing for further talks this summer. “As soon as we signed it right away it was like OK now we’ve got to get our proposals for the next round,” he said. “I’d like to see all the public unions in B.C. say ‘To hell with you, we’re all walking out and supporting the teachers’ — it’s long overdue.”
BC Transit offers up free rides for grads in June Student events impacted by dispute
Submitted TRAIL – A record number of BC Transit communities are helping high school graduates celebrate their accomplishments with GradPASS. The special pass offers two days of free, unlimited transit travel during the month of June. A total of 19,500 GradPASS cards will be given to Grade 12 students in 30 communities. GradPASS was first introduced in Vancouver in 1988 as part of the Counterattack Program. The Victoria Regional Transit System embraced the program in 1990. Over the past 24 years, the number of participating communities
has grown. Last year, there were 20 communities involved in the program. In 2014, GradPASS will be given to students in Trail, Rossland and several other communities around B.C. “The safety of young people is of paramount concern, and the province, local governments, BC Transit and parents support students’ smart decisions to take transit during graduation celebrations,” said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone. “I congratulate this year’s high school grads and wish them well on their journey forward.”
Students are bracing for how this job action will further impact their school activities after the school board cut break times by 15 minutes across the district, resulting in elementary students losing their 15 minute recess. Locally this was done as a means of lessening the duty for district management staff, who were responsible for before-school, recess and after-school supervision since teachers refuse to perform those duties as part of their strike action. Superintendent of schools Greg Luterbach just informed parents that the district elementary track and field meet scheduled for May 28-29 has been cancelled. If no agreement is reached, secondary school teachers will be locked out June 25
and 26, and all BCTF members will be locked out June 27, a year-ending administrative day. Locally, provincial exams are scheduled from June 18-26, according to the SD20 schedule found on the district website. Prior to making a comment, Luterbach told the Trail Times SD20 is still trying to get a handle on what the news means and how it will impact the Kootenay-Columbia. The B.C. Public School Employers’ Association says that it has no intention of using its partial lockout actions against B.C. teachers to block their participation in endof-school performances or ceremonies. But rumblings about what graduation will look like if this dispute is not settled has many anticipating disappointment. – Rossi
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