NANAIMO REGION
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Under revised timelines, the city now has until July 24 to choose a construction option and submit designs to the B.C. water comptroller’s office to upgrade the lower Colliery Dam. A3
Transit tax voted down own in Metro Vancouverr
Effort to get stay order on dams rejected by province
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The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Friday, July 3, 2015
» Weather
COMMUNITY
123-year-old temperature record shattered in Nanaimo
Anonymous donor gives $500,000 to foundation ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS
Two-year-old Nash McNaught makes sandcastles with his grandmother at Westwood Lake on Thursday. Nanaimo shattered a 123-year-old heat record on Saturday with a recorded temperature of 33.3 C, making it the hottest June 27 on record in the city. [SPENCER ANDERSON/DAILY NEWS]
June was hottest on record for Harbour City record for June was also in 1892, when the average daily temperature was 15.6 degrees. Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald said the average temperature record is significant, since “Nanaimo has one of the longest records of temperature in the province.” MacDonald said much of the province, including the southern coast, is the result of a “blocked weather pattern,” which has seen a high-pressure ridge system remain over the region for the last two months, trapping heat. “It just doesn’t want to budge.” In addition to daytime temperatures, MacDonald said a number of weather stations are seeing records set for highest minimum temperatures for overnight lows. The weather will remain hot and dry, but MacDonald said he
SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
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recent heat wave has seen Nanaimo sear its way past two temperature records, each more than 100 years old. During the weekend, Nanaimo and 63 other communities in B.C. broke temperature records, with some areas reaching more than 40 degrees Celsius. Nanaimo did not reach that level of skin-sizzling heat. But on Saturday, June 27, the temperature peaked at 33.3 C. The last time is was that hot on that month and that day was in 1892, when city residents had to pull their horses and buggies over to avoid 31.7 C heat. Last month was also the warmest June on record, reaching an average daily temperature of 18.7 C. The previous
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Nanaimo hottest days 40.6 C July 16, 1941 37.8 C July 15 ,1941 36.7 C Aug. 9, 1960 36.6 C July 29, 2009 36.1 C July 30, 1965 36.1 C July 31, 1965 36.0 C July 28, 2009 35.9 C Aug. 8, 1981 35.6 C July 12, 1961
Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255
SOURCE: ENVIRONMENT CANADA
Greece divided over upcoming referendum
BP to pay out $53.8B for 2010 Gulf oil spill
International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the country needs debt relief and $56 billion in new financing from October through 2018. » Nation & World, A8
Civil claims by the five Gulf states and the federal government were, by far, the largest unresolved piece of BP’s financial obligations for the spill. » Nation & World, A11
Local news .................... A3-5 Markets ...............................A2 B.C. news ........................... A10
Sunny High 30, Low 17 Details A2
does not expect to see further records broken this week. “It’s still 10 degrees above normal, but it’s not quite record breaking yet,” MacDonald said. Sweaty, sticky June was preceded by a bone-dry May. A total of 7.6 millilitres of rain was measured in Nanaimo, compared to the historical average of 43 millilitres. That made for the third-driest conditions for the month since weather records began being recorded. The city began the year with one of the lowest snowpacks in years, which officials warned could put a strain on the city’s water supply. Other communities have also seen snowpack levels diminish.
A person in Nanaimo who wishes to remain anonymous has donated $500,000 to a number of worthwhile causes. The money was given to the Nanaimo Foundation, a non-profit community organization that connects donors to charities and other causes in the region, with specific instructions as to where most of the funding is to be directed. Daniel Martinez, the foundation’s development director, said $200,000 of the funding will go to the new Nanaimo Travellers Lodge 130-bed care facility, and the Nanaimo Foundation will hand over the cheque at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new care facility on Sunday. He said another $100,000 will be given to the Nanaimo SPCA to help with its plans for a new building, and $10,000 each will be given to the Nanaimo Minor Baseball Association, the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute and Seva Canada, a Vancouver-based charitable organization that fights blindness and helps restores sight. Martinez said the donor requested that the Nanaimo Foundation determine the best uses for the rest of the funding. He said it’s not the first time this donor has contributed large amounts of money to the community. Martinez said last year, the donor gave the foundation $300,000, with $100,000 of that earmarked for the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge, another $100,000 to Nanaimo Hospice and the rest of the funding was distributed by the foundation at its own discretion. “That’s a lot of money for one donor to give to the community in two years and we’re hoping this person will keep the funding coming,” he said. “I think I have the greatest job in the world because I get to call these organizations and tell them about the donation. They usually can’t believe it. To a small organization like Nanaimo Minor Baseball, a $10,000 donation can accomplish a lot.”
Editorials and letters ..... A4 Sports ................................... D1 Scoreboard ........................ D4
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Robert.Barron @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4234
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