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7353 2nd Street Grand Forks 250-442-2213
NOVEMBER 15
RE-ELECT
Michael Wirischagin
to Grand Forks City Council
YOUTH, INTEGRITY, VISION and a Proven Track Record
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Arsonist sentenced to another 10 months
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014
VOL 117 NO. 45
Wrestle mania! Page 25
CRAIG LINDSAY
Grand Forks Gazette Authorized by Michael Wirischagin, Financial Agent. 250-442-6090
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Andre Conn received 10 more months of jail time and two years of probation on Monday in Rossland Court for setting fire to Grand Forks City Hall. The fire, which occurred on Sept. 19, 2013, caused extensive damage to City Hall. Conn was arrested later that day by Grand Forks RCMP near the scene of the fire. He was found guilty on Sept. 11, 2014 of one count of arson causing damage to property. Conn, who is 32 years old, received credit for 20 months jail time after serving 13 months total. He also received a firearms prohibition and must provide a DNA sample. The fire gutted most of the first floor of the venerable City Hall building and caused smoke damage to other parts of the building. City Hall is currently being rebuilt at a cost of approximately $1.2 million and is expected to be ready for the Dec. 1 city council meeting, which will be the first of the new council.
Grinch comes early There was plenty of ghouls and boys at the annual Rotary Halloween bonfire and fireworks event. Enjoying the bonfire are (from left) Shane the ninja, Laurie and Thing #2 Molly, the Grinch, Julie and up front is Phoenix as Cindy Loo Who. See page 15 for more glimpses of Halloween.
Craig LIndsay photo
Welfare dollars not enough, pair discover
ELECT
CRAIG LINDSAY
Grand Forks Gazette
FRANK
KONRAD MAYOR Strong, Honest & Democratic Leadership with Vision for a stronger, re-vitalized Grand Forks. I will be REPRESENTING YOU, The Citizens of Grand Forks. Authorized by: Frank Konrad, Financial Agent, (250) 443-2370
Budgeting for food is often a challenge for anyone making a decent wage, but doing it on $3 a day would seem impossible — yet that’s what those on welfare in B.C. are forced to do. The welfare challenge was a province-wide initiative where participators spent one week, from Oct. 16 (Hunger Awareness Week) to Oct. 22, only eating the food they could buy with $21. The amount of $21 for a week’s worth of food came from the expected food allowance remaining from a monthly welfare cheque of $610. Less
rent ($450), room damage deposit ($20), book of 10 bus tickets ($21), cell phone ($21) and personal hygiene/ laundry ($10). The remainder is $84 divided by four weeks: $21 per week. Two local women, Tammy Battersby and Leda Leander, took up the challenge and struggled to do their regular jobs on their meager food allowance. Both women are familiar with the difficulties of individuals and families who struggle with having enough money for food and other basic necessities. Battersby is the community care coordinator at the Gospel Chapel and organizes the community Christmas hamper program, while Leander is the executive
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director of Boundary Family and Individual Services Society. “I put the welfare challenge out in the community,” said Leander. “I also said it wouldn’t be a very healthy thing to do for people with children living in their homes because it’s really, really difficult to feed children in a healthy manner based on the amount of money families receive on income assistance.” The group putting on the welfare change is called Raise the Rates and they are dedicating to convincing the government to raise the income assistance rates in B.C. “I saw that a celebrity (singer Bif Naked) was doing the challenge and I said, I need to do this,” said Bat-
tersby. “I was intrigued with this and read up on it. I give people hampers but I don’t really understand where they’re at or what they’re experiencing.” Battersby said she has not received social assistance but has been broke before. “It was a reminder: what are the people I’m seeing everyday experiencing?” she said. “It’s been awhile (since I’ve been broke) and it was a good reminder. I wanted to build my compassion.” Battersby set aside the money she would have spent on food and donated it to the Christmas hamper program. • See WELFARE CHALLENGE page A16
On behalf of our employees and directors, we honour our veterans for their courage and dedication. Grand Forks Credit Union 250-442-5511 • www.gfdscu.com CLOSED TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
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