100 Mile House Free Press, September 03, 2015

Page 1

WEATHER DOESN'T DAMPEN GARLIC FESTIVAL B1

$1.30 ST

September 3, 2015

Includes G

Two Sections, 32 pages

100milefreepress.net

HEALTH MINISTER VISITS HOSPITAL

WALKER SPOTLIGHTS MISSING DAUGHTER A3

Call for Auditions Carole Rooney photo

Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett and Health Minister Terry Lake, together at centre, toured the South Cariboo Health Centre along with Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District, Interior Health, Cariboo Regional District and District of 100 Mile House dignitaries and staff on Sept. 1.

NEW THEATER SEASON BEGINS A18

Drought dries up hay supply Carole Rooney Free Press

INSIDE

opinion A8 letters A9 entertainment A19 sports A19 community B1 classifieds B3

The voice of the South Cariboo since 1960 How to reach us: Ph: 250-395-2219 Fax: 250-395-3939 www.100milefreepress.net mail@100milefreepress.net

Drought conditions across the province have impacted farmers and ranchers in the South Cariboo who are now scrambling for hay with skyrocketing prices. While the province-wide drought is at its worst in the south-west and on Vancouver

Island, low rivers and streams and little precipitation have led to poor crop harvests across the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Locally, 100 Mile Ranch manager Greg Messner says he is fielding 20 to 50 calls every day from ranchers looking for hay, not just from the area, but also from more distant parts of British Columbia and Alberta.

On Aug. 28, the last two round bales rolled off the ranch on a customer’s truck, he adds. While the large, historic local ranch has irrigation, this season’s lack of surface water has rendered that equipment useless, Messner notes. “For us, even though we have several water licences, it just didn’t make a differ-

ence ... we are in a Category 3 Drought Level right now [in the Cariboo]. “We’ve got four dams on the ranch, seven water licences, and there isn’t water in any of those creeks and all the dams are dry.” Messner says the ranch’s water licence on Little Bridge Creek normally brings water from Exeter Lake – after the

dam boards are removed – downstream to its hay field across from Central GM. This summer, it takes a full 24 hours for water to flow from just one kilometre away, and the dry stream banks absorb most of it, he explains. “We need a flow rate of upwards of 300 gallons a Continued on A4

Assault at Women’s Centre on Aug. 27 Ken Alexander Free Press

Around 2:40 p.m. on Aug. 27, local RCMP members responded to a call about an assault at the 100 Mile House & District Women’s Centre. Women’s Centre executive director Sonja Ramsay says she was talking on the phone in her office when a staff

member knocked on her door and told her to phone 9-1-1. Noting there were 10 women in the office, Ramsay says a man, who was known to staff and had been in the office before, appeared to be agitated and he was causing a commotion. When he was asked to leave, the assailant threw the employee to the floor and then a client intervened, she

says, adding the employee jumped to her feet and pushed the assailant out of the office and locked the door. Ramsay notes the man pounded on the door and wanted to get back in; he went away, returned and pounded on the door again before leaving for good. 100 Mile House RCMP Cpl. Brian Lamb says the suspect had left the

building before police arrived and he was later found in the area. He was apprehended and arrested for assault. “The assault wasn’t directed at any one person; it wasn’t targeted. The individual had been in the office before, but on that day, he had been consuming alcohol, and had come in Continued on A6


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