New calls for Princeton deer cull
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SPOTLIGHT
$1.10 Includes TAX
The Similkameen
Volume 65 Issue 52
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Club delivers holiday spirit on Jingle Bell Ride Spotlight Staff
A group of glittery cowboys and girls astride decked out horses brought a little Christmas magic to Princeton Sunday with the second annual Jingle Bell ride. The ride was organized by the Princeton Riding Club and the first stop was Ridgewood Lodge. About a dozen riders, accompanied by voices on the ground, sang carols for the residents. “We’re having a little bit of fun and bringing some cheer to the community,” said Stephanie Antonic, who coordinated the event. Antonic said the first year the club visited the Ridgewood residents was “an emotional experience.” Many of the elderly people living at the lodge have ranching or farming backgrounds and were thrilled to see the horses and riders. “Some of the residents that we visited talked for the first time in months,” she said. Antonic said the mandate of the riding club is to get riders out together to share experiences. The Jingle Bell ride Sunday was also a fundraiser for Princeton Crisis Assistance.
Copper Mountain deflects threats from Indian band Andrea DeMeer Spotlight Staff
An official with Copper Mountain Mine declined last week to respond directly to threats from an area First Nations band to seek a court injunction to close mining operations in Princeton. Don Strickland, vice-president of operations at Copper Mountain, said “we will continue to work with the USIB and LSIB (Upper Similkameen Indian Band and Lower Similkameen Indian Band)…We will continue our dialogue as we have been doing.” A tailings line spill, which released approximately 500 tonnes of slurry over containment walls at the mine, occurred December 10. Days later the
LSIB issued a press release stating the band was “considering legal and direct action” against the mine unless conditions were met. Interior Health ordered a Do Not Use advisory for water from Wolfe Creek directly downstream from Copper Mountain. That advisory was lifted December 16 for all areas except the Rock Ridge Canyon water system and that area was given the all-clear later in the week. In an interview with The Spotlight last week LSIB Chief Kevin Crow called for an independent investigation of how the spill occurred, as well as a probe into the environmental impacts of both the recent spill and a 2013 spill continued page 3
Weather Watch Wednesday
High3/Low-3
Thursday
High-3/Low7
Friday
High-3/Low-8
Saturday
High-2/Low-7
Sunday
High-2/Low-6
Andrea DeMeer
Stephanie Antonick, member of the Princeton Riding Club and coordinator of the second annual Jingle Bell Ride, saddles up on her husband’s horse Brew before the carol ride.
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