InteriorNEWS THE
108th Year - Week 20
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 www.interior-news.com
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NO TRAIL DEAL Section of Perimeter Trail stays closed.
COMMUNITY/A10
BAKING DOWN BARRIERS Skeena Bakery success.
THREE RIVERS/A19
SOCCER CHAMPS Smithers soccer girls going to provincials.
SPORTS/B1
INSIDE LETTERS A7 COMMUNITY A9 OUR TOWN A13 A&E A17 THREE RIVERS A19 SPORTS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B5
BULKLEY RIVER RUNNETH OVER Low lying areas along the Bulkley River near Smithers bear the brunt as unseasonably warm weather quickly melts the snowpack, riaising the water and in some areas causing it to spill over the banks. A flood watch was issued by the B.C. River Forecast Centre. Story on page 3. Nick Briere photo
Walk-in closure By Alicia Bridges Smithers/Interior News
The owner of Smithers’ only walk-in medical clinic, which will stop taking drop-in patients on July 1, expects there will be an influx of patients at the local hospital emergency room after the change. The Bulkley Valley Outpatient Walk-In Clinic announced last week it would stop taking walkin clients when it transitions to a family practice on July 1. Owner and general practitioner Wouter Morkel said he has been seeing between 40-50 people a day
at his Main Street medical centre. He said he needed to reduce his workload because his family dynamic had changed. “I have a little baby,” said Morkel. “I’ve been running the clinic by myself for a year and I’m just seeing too many patients so I have to ... limit the amount of patients that I see on a daily basis so the only way to do that is to only see my patients.” Morkel said cutting back to between 30-35 appointments per day would also enable him to provide a better level of care for his clients. See DOCTORS on A8
Friday Only!
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Huggies Natural Care Wipes 1120 count
School District 54 plans for future belt tightening By Chris Gareau
like Lake Kathlyn yet, but a loss of funding protection from the province forecast to be in the near future when enrollment is expected to stop declining may force hard decisions to be made. “There may come a point down the road where people may have to think, well what would you rather have. But we’re not there,” said van der Mark. Where enrollment growth comes from would play a role in how the budget is affected, since salaries by far take the biggest chunk. See FUNDING on A2
Smithers/Interior News
There is more money in the budget, but Bulkley Valley School District 54 is preparing for a future where more cost savings would have to be found. Those savings could come through attrition — not replacing retiring teachers — or closing schools. Superintendent Chris van der Mark said the district is not at the point of closing under-used schools
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