Spring training
Pirates pitcher gets glimpse at big league baseball. Page 28
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015
VOL. 26, NO. 87
Casino revenue dwindles
Mayor to sit on numerous committees Mayor Bill McKay will take on the lion’s share of political seats this term, according to a new roster of council appointments. Political appointments to the city’s boards and committees were announced by the mayor last week, with the heaviest assignment loads going to McKay and councillors Jim Kipp and Jerry Hong. According to McKay, tasks were assigned based on job demands and councillors’ interests. He took a lot of ‘fill ins’ for positions others weren’t keen on. Ten appointments in total have gone to the mayor, with half to external boards and liaison committees like the Tripartite Liaison Committee and Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce. Hong will have positions on the Regional District of Nanaimo board and six city committees – the highest number of internal seats given to any one councillor – including the new Youth Advisory Council, while Kipp saw most of his seven appointments to external groups. Continued /5
I
CITY’S SHARE of money from gambling reverts to downward trend. BY TaMaRa CUNNINgHaM THE NEwS BULLETiN
CHRIS BUSH/THe NewS BUlleTIN
RCMP constables Jason Patovirta, of Port Alberni, left, Tim Venselaar, of Surrey, and Mat Watkin of Nanaimo confront a training officer, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, playing the role of a gunman during an active shooter training scenario at Dufferin Elementary School on Thursday.
Police officers train to take on school shooters BY CHRIS BUSH THE NEwS BULLETiN
When a gunman enters a school, casualties can mount quickly if police don’t respond immediately to remove the threat. RCMP officers from across the Island and Lower Mainland were at the former Dufferin Elementar y School last week conducting immediate action rapid deployment training. The course runs police officers through scenarios in which
they must respond as quickly as possible in two- and four- member teams to locate and apprehend a suspect or “active shooter” who has entered the school and begun harming students and staff. In such situations the first police on scene can’t wait for backup, but must move in as fast as possible to save innocent lives. Prior to the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, when two students killed 12 fellow students and staff
members and injured 23 others before committing suicide, standard police strategy called for deployment of an emergency response team that would start gathering intelligence once on scene – an ineffective strategy when someone is intent on rapidly killing as many victims as possible. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., that claimed the lives of 20 children, six adult staff and their assailant hap-
$ 29 95 OIL CHANGE
WE SERVICE ALL MAKES & MODELS
*includes 5L of 5W30 or 5W20 oil. Enviro levy & shop supplies extra. Does not include diesel and synthetic oil changes. Expires MAR 31/15.
INCLUDES: ✓Complimentary car wash and vacuum ✓42-point inspection ✓Free local pickup & drop off
NANAIMO
2525 Bowen Road Nanaimo Call 1-888-325-5974 mazda.appointments@harrisauto.ca
pened in about nine minutes. “We’ve realized that you have to get in there quickly,” said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman. “So we’re training first responders. These are the general duty members, so they have the skills if the call comes in that they can get to the scene as quickly as possible and go in as teams of two, three or four, if necessary, and engage and deal with the threat.” photos@nanaimobulletin.com
Maintaining increased casino revenues wasn’t in the cards for the City of Nanaimo, which saw its cut drop six per cent last year. The City of Nanaimo’s share from Great Canadian Casinos was just under $2.4 million last year – a $154,000 decrease from 2013. It’s not the turnaround in revenue the city had banked on. As a casino host, Nanaimo gets 10 per cent of the cash flow from gaming tables and slots after prizes, providing the municipality with an alternative revenue that it’s used toward policing, social grants and the Nanaimo Museum. Since 2008 there have been yearover-year declines, with the city’s share falling from $3 million to $2.3 in 2012 – a pattern the casino blamed on competitive gaming and cautious spending as a result of the economic downturn. That losing streak stopped in 2013 when the city got $2.55 million in gambling dollars. It was $250,000 more than it had planned for, and it was considered a “safe bet” to assume it would see a similar share in 2014, according to Brian Clemens, the municipality’s director of finance, who said that turned out not to be the case. Continued /3
AUTOMOTIVE DETAIL PACKAGES
15% OFF
EXPIRES MAR 31/15
2525 Bowen Road Nanaimo Call 1-888-325-5974 mazda.appointments@harrisauto.ca