PM41537042
Wednesday April 1, 2015 Our greenhouse is now open! Come and see all our new berry bushes!
Vol. 7 • Issue 78
Editor wins history prize See Page 9
600 cupcakes at princess party See Page 12
More than just a farmers store
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524 Railway St Nelson (250) 352-5375
Kick-flip into spring The Nelson Skatepark attracted a variety of residents on sunny Monday afternoon, with scooter-riding 4-year-old Felix Pilipshen (below right) sharing space with Kelly Rose Heath (below left), who completed an ollie for the Star. Meanwhile Mitch McCambly (top left) took full advantage of the bowl to show off his skating prowess. Will Johnson photos
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Transit funds frozen for three years BILL METCALFE Nelson Star C Transit has frozen any spending on new transit projects across the province for the next three years. A representative of BC Transit made this announcement at a recent meeting of the Kootenay Regional Transit Committee. “It was a big surprise,” says Hans Cunningham, who is the RDCK director for the rural Salmo area and a member of the transit committee. “It is an impossible situation,” he said. “In Salmo we are quite willing to pay our share. We have been standing there with cash in hand but there is no bus coming, and from the looks of it there is not going to be.” In addition to bus service to Salmo, the funding freeze would postpone a number of plans that have been contemplated for the West Kootenay for the next few years including reinstatement of service to Perrier Road, Sunday service in Nelson, 30-minute service on all runs in Nelson, additional runs on the connector to Castlegar and Trail, and more runs up the Slocan Valley. Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff, the head of the regional transit committee, says such a spending freeze could result in cuts to existing service because of inflation and cost increases over time. “For 2016-17, we will be locked into 2015 dollars,” he said. The regional transit committee is a Regional District of Central Kootenay body with members from rural areas and municipal governments in the region. B.C. Transit is the provincial government body that funds about half the cost of transit in B.C. It coordinates transit systems and provides transit expertise to local governments. Asked by the Star for the reasons for the three year freeze, BC Transit spokesperson Meribeth Burton replied with a brief email. “As funding levels are forecast to remain relatively flat over the term of the plan (three years), requests for expanded transit budgets cannot be accommodated,” she wrote. According to Chernoff, BC Transit controls the
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