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AUGUST 22, 2014
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Vol. 63, Issue 162
www.dailytownsman.com
SURVEY SAYS …
Cranbrook streets are not the worst Local streets get a few votes in BCAA survey, but nothing like Westside Road near West Kelowna
ARNE PETRYSHEN Townsman Staff
It’s probably no surprise that the potholed and crumbling roads of Cranbrook had at least some votes in BCAA’s Worst Roads Survey. It may
also be a surprise that none of Cranbrook’s roads actually made the top-10 list. Mayor Wayne Stetski took a moment from Monday’s council meeting to really emphasize that point.
“I’ll probably say it twice,” Stetski said. “But no streets in Cranbrook made the top 10 in BCAA’s list.” Every year BCAA takes their list of members complaints and makes a top 10
list which it then releases. While Cranbrook was not in the top ten list, it was not spared complaints, as BCAA also releases a list of all the streets in B.C. that had complaints. Sure enough, Cran-
brook makes that list. “They’ve identified some roads that need some work,” noted Wayne Staudt, the chief administrative officer for the city. “The good news is we have pretty much fixed
all the suggestions that they had: 11th Avenue South, 30th Avenue North, 4th Street North, 11th Street South and Cobham Avenue West.”
See CRANBROOK , Page 3
Local writer finalist in literacy contest TREVOR CRAWLEY
A Vancouver-based non-profit company is raising awareness on literacy rates by holding a letter-writing contest that has a Cranbrook resident as one of the finalists. Cara Carmelo’s creative entry to the Literacy is Life contest is in the top-five from entries across the province. Her submission explains what literacy means to her, how it has impacted
her life and what she’s done to increase literacy in Cranbrook. Organized by Decoda Literacy Solutions based out of Vancouver, the contest is part of a province-wide campaign to raise awareness on the importance of literacy, create a new, modern understanding of literacy and raise funds for community-based literacy programs across B.C.
See LITERACY, Page 4
Cranbrook looks to social media for info distribution ARNE PETRYSHEN
Cranbrook will soon be making the jump to the digital world of social media thanks to a new Social Media Governance policy. The city won’t be making too much of a leap though, as the policy deals only with “emergency information distribution.” The policy will help the municipality to get time-sensitive information out to the public in a timely manner. City staff noted that social media is often better at disseminating information quickly that traditional media sources. The move was
prompted by the July 2012 windstorm which knocked out the city’s website as well as the radio station. Staff noted that the radio’s Facebook page was the only avenue the city had of getting important information out to residents. “This came out of the fire department,” Mayor Wayne Stetski said. “Again it’s just recognizing the reality of the day, where social media is the fastest, most effective way to get out information. It’s designed, at this point, to be a one-way passing of information.”
See CITY, Page 3
BARRY COULTER PHOTO
The Don Davies Quartet was in action Thursday night at the Heid-Out in downtown Cranbrook, with a little Jazz over the dinner hour and evening to lead into Friday and the weekend. Left to right: Steen Jorgensen on drums, Stewart Taylor on trombone, Don Davies on piano, Ferdy Belland on bass. Have a good weekend, everybody — see you Monday.