CASTLEGAR NEWS Thursday, December 17, 2015
Vol.12 • Issue 51
Breaking news at castlegarnews.com
Lorene MacGregor RE
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• RRSP’s, RRIF’s, GIC’s, TFSA’s • Life Insurance • Income for Life • Health Insurance • Annuities • Estate & Financial Planning
Christmas Shopping Spree See pages 31-32
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Mutual funds offered by Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc.
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Community Services needs help during holiday See page 3
Rauni Naud
Advisor, Member of the Million Dollar Round Table
304-3101
Learning centre hosts Christmas lunch See page 10 Jury finds Kalmikoff guilty of robberies
1451 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, BC
250.365.0484 rauni.naud@sunlife.com
BILL METC ALF Castlegar News
Jo-Ann Bursey Mountainview Realty Ltd.
250.304.8681 jo-ann@century21castlegar.com
Kelly Prescott (third from left) and Devin Cuddy (second from right) played the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train in Castlegar on Monday afternoon. Photo by Chelsea Novak
Nancy Trotman
All aboard the Holiday Train
Mortgage Broker
CHELSEA NOVAK
250-365-9513 888-998-9513
Castlegar News
PJ Poznekoff
Phil@castlegarrealty.ca
365-4679
what we needed to accomplish this year, so our first few months in the new year are going to look okay.” In total the food bank received the $6,000 from Canadian Pacific (CP), $3,500 in monetary donations and four truckloads of food. Presenting the cheque from the CP was Steve Sugars, manager of digital media at Canadian Pacific. He said the Holiday Train has been a big success this year. “The crowds have been amazing,” said Sugars. “They’ve been coming out and actually the donations have been exceeding what they’ve been expecting, so it’s been an amazing experience this year.” Monday afternoon’s crowd in Castlegar is one of the biggest he’s seen so far. “It’s huge,” said Sugars. “I couldn’t believe it when we pulled up and I just saw all these people waiting.” The museum also raised a good amount of money selling hot dogs and hot chocolate to the happy and excited crowd.
Hundreds of Castlegar residents lined the railway tracks on Monday afternoon to welcome the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train to town. The train brought with it musicians Kelly Prescott, Jim Cuddy, and his son Devin Cuddy, who put on a great show for the crowd. The train’s visit was a great success not only because it seemed to bring so much joy to kids and adults alike, but because midway through the performance Deb McIntosh from the Castlegar Community Harvest Food Bank, Mayor Lawrence Chernoff, and MLA Katrine Conroy were brought onstage to receive a cheque for $6,000 to the food bank. McIntosh was very pleased with the support shown by the community. “Tons of donations came in monetarily and grocerywise,” she said. “It’s put us over the hump I think as far as
The co-accused in a series of armed robberies in Nelson and Castlegar has been convicted of five of six charges. A jury found Krista Kalmikoff, 27, guilty of two counts of robbery (at the Nelson and District Credit Union and Kootenay Currency Exchange), two counts of possessing stolen property worth over $5,000 (money from the credit union robbery and pharmaceuticals stolen from two pharmacies in Castlegar), and failing to stop when pursued by police. The jury found her not guilty of one charge of knowingly having a restricted firearm in a vehicle. Kalmikoff was charged with being an accomplice to Andrew Stevenson, 35, who was convicted of a number of robberies in the West Kootenay in the spring of 2014, for which he is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence. After a trial that lasted nearly three weeks, the jury in BC Supreme Court in Nelson deliberated Friday (Dec. 4) afternoon and evening until 10 p.m. and all day Saturday, delivering its verdict at about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 5. The minimum sentence for robbery with a weapon is five years in jail. Interviewed after the verdict, Crown prosecutor Sunday Patola said: “It was about what she knew and when she knew it. This case was about what she said in her statements to the police and then in court — that is what it rested on. The jury seemed to take it seriously and I respect their decision in this case.” Kalmikoff will be back in court Jan. 4, when a date for sentencing will be set. Justice Mark McEwan ordered a pre-sentence report and a psychiatric report to be prepared in the meantime. A pre-sentence report is a report on an offender’s background, prepared by a probation officer to help the judge decide on sentencing.
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