The Hope
Standard
Streams full of spawning Kokanee salmon 15
Office: 604.869.2421 www.hopestandard.com
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
news@hopestandard.com
4 SILENT AUCTION
SUPPORTS HOSPITAL
Annual auxiliary event will have over 300 items for people to bid on this year
5 LITERACY PROJECT RECEIVES FUNDING
Province gives Read Right Society $31,630 to further its programming
Bike park construction 3 PUMPKIN SMASH IS BACK IN HOPE
The event on Oct. 25 will feature demolition derbies and mini stock races
INSIDE
$
1(PLUS GST)
Hoots Inc. crew member Kyle Isman, of Sechelt, peels bark off a cedar log on Monday, in preparation for use on the new Hope Bike Skills Park. Logs used have been harvested from the forest adjacent to the Sports Bowl. Pathway Partners and Hope Mountain Centre are hosting a special meeting tomorrow (Oct. 24) for youth to meet bike park designer Jay Hoots, see the plan, tour the site and get involved in the construction process. Participants are asked to meet at the food concession area inside the Hope Arena at 1 p.m.
Watchdog website launched in Hope Kerrie-Ann Schoenit Hope Standard
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Community . . . . . . 8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Classifieds . . . . . 17
BARRY STEWART / THE STANDARD
A new website has been launched to provide residents with an information database on municipal affairs. HopeWatchDog.com will serve as a community-developed electronic town hall meeting place that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The goal is to provide resources for people who are confronted by municipal government pressure or abuse. “We need public involvement in a way that will exercise more pressure on politicians so that we know a little more about what’s going on,” said
website developer Richard Madison. “Transparency and accountability are byproducts of this sort of a process. The objective behind the website is to give residents a location where they can share information. When that information is shared, statistics can be drawn from that and inferences made. By doing that, it has an indirect impact on the transparency and accountability of governments because everybody knows what they’re up to.” HopeWatchDog.com will inform residents of government processes and how to utilize or change them. It will also have an interactive bulle-
tin board for residents to make comments and discuss local issues, and a database of problems and how they were solved by others. Madison said interaction on the website can be made anonymously. Another objective of HopeWatchDog.com is to audit the district, which includes council and civil servants. Madison said up to $10,000 will be offered to whistleblowers and up to $4,000 for the best bylaw violations reported. Madison is funding all the startup costs himself, but hopes the group will eventually be self-sufficient through
community donations and fundraising initiatives. Once HopeWatchDog. com is fully established, local volunteers will take over running the group, garnering information and making phone calls. The website is currently in the development phase and Madison is seeking input from volunteers and the public on what the site should provide and how it should look. HopeWatchDog.com is also seeking NGO (nongovernmental organization) status and charitable exemption. For more information, visit the website or call 604-860-4642.
What’s Better than sunshine, lollipops & rainbows? OUR BLOG . . . seriously. Check it out blog.blackpress4good.com Showcasing heartfelt community stories from around the province.