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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Suspected bank robber arrested
BURN AWARENESS On Jan. 29, Merritt Secondary School’s Grade 11 and 12 drama class put on a performance for elementary school classes to demonstrate safety around hot liquids as part of Burn Awareness Week, which runs from Feb. 1 to 7.
Police have arrested 26-year-old Shaun Christopher Cornish in connection to at least nine bank robberies in three provinces. The robberies began in Princeton on Dec. 1, 2014. Over the next several weeks, robberies took place in Vernon, at Merritt’s Royal Bank on Dec. 23, and in banks in Aldergrove, High River, Lethbridge and Claresholm in Alberta, and Swift Current, Sask. The final heist before Cornish’s arrest took place in Dawson Creek on Jan. 28. In each case, the suspect mentioned or produced a weapon, though nobody was hurt during any the robberies. Cornish was arrested on Jan. 30 at the Grande Prairie Lodge Motor Inn in Grande Prairie, Alta. The owner of the motel told reporters Cornish stayed at the motel for two nights. He said employees became suspicious when the man went to his truck every time he needed money. Cornish is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Okotoks, Alta. on Feb. 6. Charges in B.C. and Saskatchewan are pending.
The plot involved an inattentive babysitter, appropriately named Distracted Debbie, looking after a group of disobedient children. The kids continuously get in trouble for playing around with matches or boiling liquids, and firefighters have to come in to stop them and teach them about fire safety. “Common things can be dangerous too,” Grade 11 student Anneka Stroes — who played Distracted Debbie — said of the play’s lesson. Students in the drama class built their own props for the performance, too. Michael Potestio/Herald
Lady Antebellum added to Rockin’ River lineup Lady Antebellum, Big & Rich and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will take the stage at Merritt’s festival grounds this summer as headliners at the Rockin’ River Music Festival. Organizers of the fourday country music festival announced Monday some of Nashville’s finest will join fellow Tennessee-based platinum-selling solo artist Dierks Bentley and make Merritt Youth & Family Resources Society
Family Place Child Care Infants to 12 yrs Autism Support
6AM to 9PM
their way north this summer for the festival’s first year in Merritt. Also on the bill is longrunning California-based classic folk group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. A few Canadians are slated to round out the bill, including Haligonian troubadour Ridley Bent and rising star MacKenzie Porter of Medicine Hat, Alta. The festival is relocat-
Dierks Bentley
Lady Antebellum
ing from the site it outgrew over six years in Mission.
Last year’s attendance over the weekend totalled
Kenny Hess has said Merritt’s reputation as a country music festival site, its designation as the Country Music Capital of Canada, and its proximity to major B.C. highways makes Merritt a natural choice for a location that can accommodate the expanding festival. Big & Rich Photos submitted Rockin’ River begins July 30 and runs until Aug. 26,000 people. 2. Rockin’ River organizer
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