Wednesday February 18, 2015 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST Included
Weather causes closure Foothill road: Run-off destabilizes bank. By Martha Wickett obServer STAFF
The wet weather took its toll on a portion of Foothill road, which has been closed indefinitely. Tuesday morning city crews were called to a stretch of Foothill just west of Mount Ida cemetery, when the lower edge of the road began sloughing down the bank. crews blocked off the road to traffic from 14th Street SW to 30th Street SW, the two closest access points to the slide. by 11 a.m. Tuesday, about three metres of the shoulder and roadway had sloughed off along a 30-metre stretch of road, with a total of about 60 metres affected by cracks and fissures. Periodically small chunks of asphalt and earth would tumble down the bank, while rivulets of water could be seen pushing their way out of the soil far below the road’s surface. city engineer Jenn Wilson explained the oversaturation of the ground had compromised the road structure. “There’s a little creek – it came down the hillside along the ditch – it’s getting under the road base.” See Crews on page A2
Heading for the hoop
Shuswap Middle School’s Evan Smith drives to the hoop against Kelowna Secondary’s Parker Johnstone in the opening game of the second annual Barry Dearing Invitational Basketball Tournament at SMS on Friday, Feb. 13. For more results, check out page A16.
Murder trial gets underway Courts: Salmon Arm’s Valentine Degenhardt killed in Alberta. By Barry Kerton bArrHeAd leAder
Evan BuHlEr/obServer
Erosion: A part of the pavement from Foot-
hill Road collapses on Tuesday, Feb. 16, as crews walk around the washout near the Mount Ida Cemetery.
Evan BuHlEr/obServer
The trial of norman John Jerrett, who is accused of the murder of a Salmon Arm man, has opened in edmonton. Jerrett, a 48-year-old barrhead, Alta. resident, pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, the most serious being murder, in relation to the death of a Salmon Arm man, valentine degenhardt. The other charges include robbery with a firearm, interfering with a dead body, break and enter, possession of a loaded restricted firearm, unlawful use of a firearm and possession for the purpose of trafficking. on July 19, 2013, degenhardt was reported missing when he failed to contact
This week Salmon Arm Secondary wrestlers win the zone title over the weekend. Results on A18. Meet the Shuswap couple who is featured in the reality TV show Yukon Gold. See A19.
his wife after visiting family and friends in barrhead, Alta. Two days earlier, July 15, degenhardt was seen departing a barrhead gas station early in the evening. believing his disappearance to be suspicious, rcMP opened an investigation headed by the edmonton Major crimes unit and supported by several other rcMP detachments. Hikers came across degenhardt’s Jeep about 200 kilometres northwest of edmonton, off Highway 32 between Whitecourt and Swan Hills in early november of 2013. Police then conducted a thorough ground search of the area, aided by information from hikers and interviews from
other people of interest and found human remains, which the medical examiner identified as degenhardt. Although degenhardt was a Salmon Arm resident, he spent a lot of time travelling between his home and a rental property he had in Morinville, Alta. and often stopped in barrhead. It was during one of these stops in barrhead that crown prosecutor Greg Gudelot alleges the murder took place. The crown said in an opening statement that degenhardt was involved in the drug trade and travelled from his Salmon Arm home to supply local Alberta drug dealers, See Crown on page A2
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Time Out................... A11 Sports................A15-A18 Arts & Events ... A19-A21 Vol. 108, No. 7, 44 pages