WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2015
KIJHL
KNOW IT ALL
RIVALRY RESUMED
NEW YEAR’S EVE AND INTO THE NEW YEAR
Nitros vs. Ghostriders See SPORTS page 2
See FEATURES page 12
THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 83, Issue 245 | www.dailybulletin.ca
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KIMBERLEY YEAR IN REVIEW PART I
The year that was January, February, March and April C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
JANUARY
CHAD ST. PIERRE PHOTO
Five people in this black Ford were injured in this crash on Steamboat Hill on Monday, December 28. The highway was closed while emergency personnel extricated the victims. Police are asking motorists to slow down and drive to conditions.
Icy roads lead to crashes
21 accidents over Christmas break ARNE PETRYSHEN
There were 21 motor vehicle accidents over the week of Monday, Dec. 21 to Monday Dec. 28. Staff Sgt. Hector Lee said five of the accidents resulted in non-life threatening injuries. “Most of them were on the highway, out of town,” Lee said. “We can attribute most of those accidents to the weather and poor driving.” It is Lee’s first winter in the
East Kootenay and he said he was surprised by how fast people are driving in the slippery conditions. “You would just think people would slow down a little bit around here, but that’s not the case,” he said. The majority of the accidents occurred on Dec. 24 and Dec. 28, when the big snowfalls occurred. On Monday, RCMP responded to eight collisions in a matter of five hours. They attributed the accidents to extreme road conditions and speed. Police noted that High-
wy 3/93, Hwy 95A and Hwy 3/95 were extremely slippery and asked motorists to use caution while driving. They also suggested Monday that people only travel if absolutely necessary and instead wait until conditions improve. Mainroad, the company in charge of plow operations for East Kootenay Roads was expecting sporadic snow flurries Tuesday with low cloud as the weather is slowly moving south east through the area. This will be followed by cold temperatures of around -15 degrees Celsius.
“We have compact snow with slippery sections on all highways in the service area,” said Niki Taylor, Mainroad Group Communications. “Plowing and sanding is in progress. We will be using a pre-wetted sand to combat these conditions.” Taylor said Mainroad would commence salting and de-icing once the road and air temperatures warm up to -6 degree Celsius or warmer for a period of four to six hours, which allows de-icing chemicals to work and resultant slush to be removed.
Busy Christmas Eve, Day for RCMP CPL. CHRIS NE WEL For the Bulletin
DEC 24
Christmas day can be hard on emergency services personnel. Officers are on duty 24 hours a day and as such can’t be with their families. Also the types of calls can be troubling. Kimberley RCMP responded to ten calls for service starting Christmas Eve and through Christmas Day.
6:46 pm commercial building alarm, false 8:15 pm, a domestic dispute between boyfriend and girlfriend, alcohol involved, the incident is still under investigation but one person was arrested. 9:34 pm, domestic dispute between husband and wife, alcohol involved, one subject ar-
rested for assault.
DEC 25
3:05 am, domestic dispute, alcohol involved one subject in possession of a sword upon police arrival. Police ordered him to drop the sword and he was arrested. The incident is still under investigation but weapons charges are pending. 4:05 am, commercial
building alarm, false 8:46 am, a person appeared in distress near the ski hill, ski patrol assessed the person and found he was ok 1:03 pm, a young child found wandering the streets, safely returned home 2:23 pm, commercial building alarm, false 5:11 pm, person found deceased in their
home, police and coroner attended; death is not deemed suspicious. 11:00 pm, dispute between neighbors, alcohol involved. It’s unfortunate that the alcohol seems to be the catalyst in the incidents that resulted in arrests. Kimberley RCMP would like to wish you a Happy New Year.
The New Year kicked off with a bang for Cranbrook RCMP members, who had their hands full throughout the New Year’s evening as they responded to a number of calls. The most serious was an incident up in the Park Royal neighbourhood at 2:45 a.m. where two groups of people were involved in a fight. Four individuals suffered significant injuries such as slash wounds, knocked-out teeth and bite marks. Four people were taken into custody. BC Assessments released its yearly summary of property values, and most Kimberley homes were worth slightly more than the year before. The average price for a home in Kimberley was $248,000. Two Kimberley males faced drug charges after a search warrant was executed late on January 6. A residence on sixth avenue was searched and a small quantity of marijuana was seized with evidence to support drug trafficking charges. A large machete was also seized. Opposition to the provincial announcement of a wolf hunt conducted by helicopter to reduce numbers in order to protect the endangered mountain caribou population in the Selkirk mountain region was been swift to arrive. Helicopter hunt a “narrow and short term approach” said the Ktunaxa Nation; “morally indefensible” said
Northern Lights Wolf Centre. Kimberley’s new Council decided that rather than going ahead with a new parcel tax to fund water and sewer utilities, they would go ahead with fee increases. Mayor McCormick said that increases to utility costs will be phased in over three years, working out to an $84 per year increase, rather than the $107 parcel tax. In January Teck completed a review of Sullivan Mine tailings ponds, which was ordered by Mining Inspector after the Mount Polley spill the previous summer. The review indicated there are no immediate safety or stability concerns for any of the Sullivan Mine tailings storage facilities and accompanying dam structures in Kimberley. Yahk resident Waylon Jesse Edey, aged 39, was killed in a police shooting on the highway near Castlegar on January 29. The 39-year-old man shot and killed during an attempted traffic stop had a history of impaired driving and had received a three-year driving prohibition in February 2012.
FEBRUARY
Prime rib and Gasthaus coffee have been traditions in Kimberley for 25 years, but that come to an end as Peter and Annamaria Rathpoller announced that the restaurant would close by the end of February. In February, CanFor announced a shift reduction at the Canal Flats saw mill. The move affected 81 employees. However, that was not the end of the cutbacks. By year’s end the mill had closed entirely. See REVIEW, page 3