Nanaimo Daily News, January 05, 2016

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TOP STORY

Court house campers in Victoria to get shelter

Woman charged in fatal accident After Saskatchewan crash that killed a couple and their two young children, Catherine McKay faces three counts of impaired driving causing death. » News, 13

DIRK MEISSNER THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tension heats up for Iran, Saudis Campaign by Saudis highlights aggressive stance King Salman and his son have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival. » News, 15

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Wet, cold and windy nights adjusting tarps and pounding pegs into the soggy ground are about to come to an end for John Bertrim and dozens of others who have slept in tents on the Victoria Law Courts’ lawn for months.

Eric Lincoln also said Monday he is getting ready to take down his tent for a move indoors after two months’ sleeping outdoors at the courthouse.

Bertrim, his common-law partner Laurel Hanuse and Lincoln are among the first homeless people to volunteer to vacate the bedraggled tent village that sprung up last spring at the courts for a move into a temporary, government-funded shelter at a former Victoria Boys and Girls Club facility.

“You need lots of tent pegs, lots of tarps to make sure your home is secure,” said Bertrim, who is 39, noting he’s been homeless for the past year.

Tents blow away in the wind, he said.

Lincoln, 44, said he arrived at the camp to be near his street friends after his wife Belinda Jack died in November. He said he’s looking for a fresh start after too many bad choices, family break ups and personal losses.

“It’s very community oriented here,” he said. “Everybody looks after everybody and the community has been very giving.”

People regularly arrive with food, clothing and cash, but it hasn’t been a complete utopia, with at least one drug overdose death and a stabbing incident that sent one man to hospital and saw police chasing the male suspect through the leafy downtown neighbourhood.

The camp fills the courthouse lawn with all sizes and colours of tents. The City of Victoria installed portable toilets and left a dumpster. A steel drum burns damp wood, emitting clouds of dense smoke that mingles with the constant smell of marijuana.

Starting Tuesday, 40 people will leave the

A tent stands in front of the Victoria Courthouse in June. Almost half of the homeless people who built a tent village last year at the court house lawn are moving indoors. [THE CANADIAN PRESS]

urban campground for warmth, food and help, but not a permanent home.

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said 110 people are currently camping at the courthouse grounds, but the $500,000 shelter project can only take 40 people. The British Columbia government is contributing $400,000, Victoria $75,000 and the United Way is contributing $25,000.

Helps said the shelter project includes indoor tents for privacy, three meals a day and services to help people find permanent housing. It is not a drop-in centre, she said.

“There’s basically a bedroom set up for everyone,” she said.

Helps said Victoria has been working with the government to ensure the remaining courthouse campers can stay at the site, even though the province owns the land.

“We’ve been working hard with the province to not do anything to the people who are still there except continue to work to try and find housing,” she said.

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Victoria has been wresting with the issue since a 2008 court ruling allowed people to pitch their tents in city parks when shelters are full.

Helps said the city spends $600,000 annually on staff to clean up parks and police officers who enforce the bylaw that requires people to break camp at 7 a.m.

Opposition New Democrat housing critic David Eby said homelessness is a provincewide issue.

“It is a sad comment on the inadequacy and unavailability of shelters in B.C.,” he said.

“This is not a problem that is going to go away.”

Rich Coleman, B.C.’s minister responsible for housing, was not available for comment, but his ministry’s website states that since 2001 the provincial government has invested $4.4 billion to provide affordable housing for low-income individuals, seniors and families.

3

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Top newsmakers for 2015 Familiar names made big headlines during interesting year in Nanaimo region

A

look back at the top newsmakers of 2015, the people who made the biggest Daily News headlines of the year, in random order.

Nations and white teams to unite them as one. His induction came just weeks after he was inducted in the Soccer Hall of Fame in Ontario, as well as the Nanaimo Sports Hall of Fame.

ppresents

Sandy’s Ukrainian Kitchen Ukra a

The Nanaimo mayor and his council also made headlines a number of times in 2015.

Although he has been deceased for decades, Snuneymuxw First Nation soccer great Harry Manson made the headlines in 2015.

Manson, who captained the indigenous Nanaimo Wanderers soccer team, a dominant club that posted numerous wins from 1897-1904, was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in July.

The move was considered a tribute to his legacy of breaking down the racial barriers between local First

2016 Ukrainian

Bill McKay

Harry Manson

Dinner & Dance

The Lantzville mayor and his council were in the spotlight during the summer with the resignation of three senior staff members and four councillors.

Councillors Jennifer Millbank, Rod Negrave, Dave Scott and Graham Savage all resigned, citing issues with governance in the district. Chief administrative officer Twlya Graf, director of finance Jedha Holmes and community planner Lisa Bhopalsingh also resigned their positions during the same period. A byelection was held in August to fill the vacated council seats, and some staff positions have been filled since then.

Samra was hired to be Nanaimo’s interim city manager in November.

She replaced Ted Swabey, who took over as chief administrative officer in Maple Ridge.

When Samra was hired, the hope was that the city’s new top bureaucrat would help cool tensions between councillors, and between council and staff, and shepherd change amid a trying political period for the city.

In her short time in her new position, Samra has announced a $229,000 contract has been awarded for a core review of the city’s operations, eliminated three senior manager positions at city hall and was successful in having council vote on a ‘provisional’ budget that will result in a zero per cent increase in overall tax revenue for 2016.

Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016

Colin Haime

Tracy Samra

Doors open at 4pm Dance starts at 5pm Dinner at 6 pm

Malcolmson was elected as the NDP MP for new Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding in October’s federal election.

The Gabriola Island resident and former Islands Trust chairwoman handily captured the riding by beating out Liberal Tim Tessier, Conservative Mark MacDonald and Green candidate Paul Manly.

Malcolmson has already taken

Lunney, the long-standing Conservative MP for Nanaimo-Alberni, announced his resignation from the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent in April. He said he decided to resign in defence of his religious beliefs and “the concerns of my faith community.”

The move came after Lunney said he was cyberbullied for his creationist views. “(The) decision (to sit as an independent) is entirely my own,” Lunney said in a statement. “Given the circling trolls, I do not intend to entangle the most multi-racial, multicultural and multi-faith caucus in parliamentary history in my decision to defend my beliefs.”

Beban Park, 2300 Bowen Road, Nanaimo

Sheila Malcolmson

James Lunney

One of the main issues for council this year was the loss of a planned luxury hotel to be built adjacent to the Port of Nanaimo Centre.

The Chinese-based tourism firm SSS Manhao bought the land from the city in 2013, but the deal soured during the summer after council refused a request for a one-year-extension to pour the foundation of the building, leaving the long-anticipated project in limbo. The city also had to hire Vancouver-based The Integrity Group, a firm specializing in workplace assessments and conflict resolution, in July due to deteriorating relations between Nanaimo council members.

The Parksville-Qualicum MLA was picked to lead the B.C. government’s social development and social innovation portfolio in January.

Stilwell, a former gold medal-winning Paralympic athlete, began her political career as a star candidate for the B.C. Liberals in the general provincial election in 2013.

Never forgetting her athletic roots, Stilwell took gold in the 100-metre T52 race during the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto in August.

She completed the race in 19.58 seconds, edging out Americans Kerry Morgan and Cassie Mitchell.

Tickets – $30 each

The chairman of the board in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district and the eight other trustees have faced considerable controversy this year.

The school board is under increasing pressure from the province to deal with declining enrolment and close schools, and voted in December to close Rutherford Elementary School, Woodlands Secondary School and Woodbank Primary School.

The fact that Rae and a number of other trustees are from Cedar and the board voted to re-open Cedar Secondary School early in their mandate after last year’s municipal election has also sparked some discontent.

A rude hand gesture made by Rae to a patron at a downtown bar that appeared on social media in early December made for more headlines. Rae ended the year on medical leave.

on a number of issues in the short weeks since she was sworn in.

They include calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to allow BC Ferries access to federal infrastructure grant funding, and urging the government to strike from the Criminal Code of Canada wording that makes it illegal to possess cannabis.

Michelle Stilwell

Vensa Dancers

Steve Rae

Nanaimo Coun. Gord Fuller made a remarkable recovery after a cardiac arrest in January. [DAILY NEWS]

The founder and CEO of Nanaimo’s increasingly successful Real Estate Webmasters which designs websites for realtors, turned heads a number of times in 2015.

Real Estate Webmasters made $15 million in revenue in its last fiscal year, ending in June, and Canadian Business and PROFIT magazine ranked it as Canada’s 248th fastest-growing company in its 27th annual Profit 500 listings.

Carey also turned down a $2-million equity stake offer from the entrepreneurs on CBC’s hit show The Dragons’ Den before joining forces with Barbara Corcoran, a real estate maven and investor on NBC’s Shark Tank, who invested in Real Estate Webmasters.

CALL 250-753-6677 or 250-729-6995

Gord Fuller The Nanaimo city councillor, along-time advocate for youth and the homeless in Nanaimo, was rushed to hospital in January after a cardiac arrest.

The first-term politician had Robert his medical Barron emergency Reporting while driving a van belonging to the 7-10 Club, a non-profit organization to feed low-income or homeless people, in which he is chairman of the board of directors.

Fuller was placed on life support at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and doctors gave him about a 10-per cent chance of fully recovering. But recover he did, and was released from hospital on Feb. 19 and has returned to his full council duties.

Carey did express interest in appearing again on the show as one of the dragons.

Morgan Carey

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

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NEWS 5

HEALTH

Smoking cessation initiatives draw wide praise ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS

Government plans to make it easier for smokers who want to kick the habit are being received warmly by local health officials.

Dr. Derek Poteryko, from the Central Island Smoking Intervention Clinic in Nanaimo, said he’s “very excited” about the announcement this week by Health Minister Terry Lake.

Lake announced that as of Jan. 1,

anyone who wants to quit no longer needs to call HealthLink BC at 811 to join the province’s smoking cessation program.

Lake said smokers can now sign up at any pharmacy and have access to free nicotine replacement therapy products.

Options include nicotine lozenges, inhalers, gum, the nicotine skin patch, as well as specific prescription drugs.

“This takes down one more barrier

HEALTH

for those who are looking to quit smoking,” Poteryko said.

“People used to have to go through the phone calls and being put on hold before they could finally talk to a pharmacist about what they need to help stop smoking. The new requirements will be a lot less cumbersome for people in their efforts to get 12 weeks of (nicotine replacement therapy products).”

The smoking cessation program began in B.C. in 2011 and the prov-

ince has invested more than $38 million since then, helping more than 187,000 people try to kick the habit.

Poteryko said he’s pleased that inroads have been made since smoking cessation program began in B.C. and across the country in recent years. He said approximately 14 per cent of the residents of B.C. currently smoke, while the Canadian average is approximately 19 per cent, which is a significant decrease from a decade ago.

“The trend is definitely down, and estimates are that more than one-million Canadians have quit smoking since these initiatives began in the early 2000s,” Poteryko said.

Poteryko said Weedless Wednesday will be recognized in Nanaimo on Jan. 20 with a free event at Beban Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Robert.Barron @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4234

EDUCATION

Free home-health District officials hope earthquake monitoring available will result in new seismic upgrades DAILY NEWS

Bill Miller learned he had an irregular heartbeat and heart failure while visiting the doctor for a basic physical examination.

“I’d never been sick before,” said the Nanaimo resident.

“It was frightening.”

Miller is one of close to 300 south and central Vancouver Island residents who have used Island Health’s free home-health monitoring service to self-monitor their heart health.

The service helps detect problems early, enhances quality of life, improves health outcomes and reduces hospital admissions.

“Home-health monitoring gives patients the confidence they need to self-manage their health from their own homes,” said Island Health telehealth specialist Lisa Saffarek.

“It enables us to be more proactive in detecting changes in a patient’s condition. “We can work with the patient and the care team to prevent urgent visits to physician offices or the emergency department.”

Through home-health monitoring, Miller received the support he needed to measure his blood pressure, weight and oxygen levels from home. His daily responses were automatically sent to a home-health monitoring nurse, who monitored his results and maintained regular contact with Miller and his physician.

“They walked me through the steps that I needed to follow to get better,” said Miller, whose condition has since stabilized.

“Home-health monitoring gives patients the confidence they need to self-manage their health from their own homes.”

Lisa Saffarek, telehealth specialist

“The monitoring system was easy to use. You’re made aware immediately of any changes in your health, and if there’s an issue it can be fixed quickly.”

Saffarek said of the patients who have made use of the service, 100 per cent would recommend it to others.

The overall satisfaction rate is 98 per cent.

“What this program is really about is the connection that is built between the patient and the home-health monitoring nurse,” she said.

Patients who are interested in this free service can call the local home-health monitoring office at 250-388-2273 in the south Island, 250-739-5749 in central Island or 250-951-9550 in Oceanside.

Patients can also discuss with their nurse while in hospital, or with their physician or nurse practitioner. » We want to hear from you.

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ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS

School officials are hoping last week’s earthquake will lead to much-needed seismic upgrades at a number its facilities.

Steve Rae, chairman of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district, said the 4.3 magnitude earthquake that was felt across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland should be a “wake-up call” for the Ministry of Education to provide funding for the projects as soon as possible.

“It’s certainly an ongoing concern, especially considering the fact that we live in an earthquake zone,” Rae said.

“Pete Sabo (the district’s facilities manager) provides annual updates on the condition of our schools to the ministry every year, but we haven’t received any new money for seismic upgrades since the funding for Wellington Secondary School was approved.”

In 2010, the ministry revised its priority list for schools considered vulnerable to earthquake damage, based on work and studies on B.C.’s schools prepared by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia.

Wellington school was rated high for the need for seismic upgrades on the priority list because it was constructed mainly from heavy concrete and more susceptible to earthquake

Jan. 1-7

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damage than schools built primarily with wood.

The major $23-million seismic-upgrade project at the school began in 2013, and is scheduled to be completed in early 2016.

While not rated as “high-risk” on the ministry’s revised priority list, the district’s Brechin, Cilaire, Departure Bay and Pleasant Valley elementary schools and North Cedar Intermediate were determined to be in level three of priority seismic projects that would receive funding in future announcements.

But no new funding for Nanaimo-Ladysmith’s seismic projects has been forthcoming from the ministry for years.

“We know that there are many schools across the province that require seismic upgrades, but this school board’s main concern is with the schools in this district,” Rae said.

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A ministry spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said student safety is the government’s top priority.

But he said the pace of approved projects on the ministry’s priority list is largely dependent on how quickly and efficiently local school boards continue to deliver their requirements.

He said that since 2011, the ministry has invested more than $1.4 billion in new and improved schools, including more than $500 million in seismic upgrades.

So far 149 projects have been completed.

“There are 16 schools under construction and nine proceeding to construction with a price tag of $456 million,” the source said.

“Another 49 projects are in various stages of planning. Overall, 214 projects have been completed or are in progress.

“In the months to come, the ministry will be reviewing all capital plans from across B.C. to determine priorities for future capital investment.”

Jan. 1-7 STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (PG) (VIOLENCE) NO PASSES FRI-SAT 12:20, 3:35, 6:50; SUN 12:10, 3:25, 6:40; MON,WED-THURS 6:40; TUE 3:25, 6:40 STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS 3D (PG) (VIOLENCE) CC/DVS, NO PASSES FRI-SAT 11:50, 12:50, 3:05, 4:05, 6:20, 7:20, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30; SUN 11:40, 12:40, 2:55, 3:55, 6:10, 7:10, 9:20, 9:50, 10:20; MON,WEDTHURS 6:10, 7:10, 9:20, 9:50, 10:20; TUE 2:55, 3:55, 6:10, 7:10, 9:20, 9:50, 10:20 JOY (PG) (COARSE LANGUAGE) CLOSED CAPTION & DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO FRI-SAT 12:05, 3:20, 6:40, 9:40; SUN 11:55, 3:10, 6:30, 9:30; MON,WED-THURS 6:30, 9:30; TUE 3:10, 6:30, 9:30 CONCUSSION (PG) (VIOLENCE,COARSE LANGUAGE) CLOSED CAPTION & DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO FRI-SAT 1:25, 4:25, 7:30, 10:20; SUN 1:15, 4:15, 7:20, 10:10; MON,WED 7:20, 10:10; TUE 4:15, 7:20, 10:10; THURS 7:20 BROOKLYN (PG) (SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE SCENE,COARSE LANGUAGE) FRI-SAT 1:00, 3:45, 6:30, 9:20; SUN 12:50, 3:35, 6:20, 9:10; MON,WED 9:10; TUE 3:35, 6:20, 9:10; THURS 6:20 THE BIG SHORT (14A) (COARSE LANGUAGE) CLOSED CAPTION & DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO FRI-SAT 12:35, 3:55, 7:10, 10:10; SUN 12:25, 3:45, 7:00, 10:00; MON,WED-THURS 7:00, 10:00; TUE 3:45, 7:00, 10:00 THE HATEFUL EIGHT (18A) (EXPLICIT VIOLENCE) CLOSED CAPTION & DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO, NO PASSES FRI-SAT 2:50, 6:30, 10:10; SUN,TUE 2:40, 6:20, 10:00; MON,WED-THURS 6:20, 10:00 SHERLOCK: THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE (PG) (VIOLENCE) MON,WED 7:00 THE FOREST (14A) (FRIGHTENING SCENES) NO PASSES THURS 10:10 THE REVENANT (14A) (SCENE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE,VIOLENCE) NO PASSES THURS 9:00

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OUR VIEW

Much more emphasis needs to be on accessibility

L

et the hand-wringing begin in earnest.

Team’s Canada’s 6-5 loss to host-team Finland on Saturday, in quarter-final action at the World Junior Hockey Championships, will surely set off the latest round of ‘what’s wrong with the game in this country?’

We may be treated to imperial summits, featuring the game’s greatest and most influential minds.

Twitter has been ablaze with idiots who seem to think it’s acceptable to unload all manner of vile vitriol on a handful of teenagers.

In the end, however, focusing on ‘failures’ at the highest level of competition is misguided.

It’s cute that the same nation that celebrates a 48th-place showing in an international biathlon competition

It has become more a game for the financial elite than the puck-loving masses.

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BC Ferries needs to look at own fast ferry service

Publisher/Subscriptions: Andrea Rosato-Taylor 250-729-4248 Managing Editor: Philip Wolf 250-729-4240

General enquiries: 250-729-4200 The Daily News is a member of the National NewsMedia Council.

Editorial comment The editorials that appear as ‘Our View’ represent the stance of the Nanaimo Daily News. They are unsigned because they do not necessarily represent the personal views of the writers. If you have comment regarding our position, we invite you to submit a letter to the editor. To discuss the editorial policies of the newspaper, please contact Managing Editor Philip Wolf.

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loses its collective mind when one of our national hockey teams doesn’t win gold.

Without a doubt, that single-minded focus on winning is part of what has made us so great as a hockey nation, and provided so many of the aforementioned high-level triumphs.

But the reality is the world is catching up with us, especially in an overcoached world where creativity is stamped out well before it can bloom.

Heck, even Denmark is no longer a pushover.

Dear BC Ferries: My name is Roland, and I’m seven months old now. I live in Vancouver with my mom and dad. So far, life is pretty good. Our apartment isn’t too far from a downtown park and the ocean where I get taken for walks. I love it there.

But you could help me. See, both of my grandmas and grandpas live in Nanaimo, and so does my great grandma. And by the time we ride Skytrain, buses and your ferry from Horseshoe Bay, almost four hours goes by.

Doing that twice uses up almost the whole day! And great grandma is nearly 95, and that really tires her out.

My parents keep saying that a faster ferry from downtown to downtown might start up, but it just never seems to happen. I’m sure there’s lots of other kids like me that would like to see their grandparents more often with a shorter ferry ride — and that cuts out the long bus ride to downtown.

You guys are already in the boat business. How come you don’t just do it yourself?

I bet with all us kids and grandparents and all those business people and tourists who want to ride back and forth without their stupid cars, you’d make a killing.

Maybe you should think about it.

I’m not going to be little much longer. I gotta go. Our Christmas Island visit is over, dad’s gotta go back to work. Everyone’s crying and saying goodbye and trying to tire me out, ’cause I’m gonna be strapped into stuff for the next four hours to be safe while travelling. You try that!

Thanks, I’ll be waiting, Roland P.S. GrandpaBear said since I don’t have an email address yet, he’d put his name on this.

Scott Littlejohn Nanaimo

Given our collective passion for the sport, there should always be more high-end wins than losses.

Interestingly, the bigger long-term issue may actually be that collective passion.

Will it be passed down through coming generations, when it’s becoming harder and harder to simply participate in the sport? Are we pricing some of our best athletes right out of hockey?

It’s well-documented how much it costs to have your children in the game, particularly if they’re good or lucky enough to play on a travel/rep team.

Couple that with the cost of keeping up with the Joneses (spring hockey, summer hockey, performance camps, tournaments, absurdly expensive equipment) and if you’ve

The truth is that taxes don’t always have to rise Re: ‘The other side of a 0% tax hike has problems’ (Opinion, Daily News, Dec. 23) Mr. Walton’s recent column arguing why to keep increasing property taxes does zilch for the average Nanaimo family.

Reciting some California proposition from 40 years ago ignores recent facts that several cities there have filed for bankruptcy and 49 other municipalities in the United States did too.

Then there are the many countries that have put themselves in dire straits for spending stupidly when a core review would have easily told them how to fix their bad habits.

There is a small group in Nanaimo with overstuffed piggy banks who are fearful their golden goose is coming to an end with a new city manager

got a couple of little would-be Crosbys or Wickenheisers, you’re potentially looking at tens of thousands of dollars.

It has become more a game for the financial elite than the puck-loving masses.

And that’s not right.

Note this cash crush isn’t limited to hockey, but that’s fodder for another debate.

Many minor hockey associations do a nice job of ensuring that kids who want to play at the earliest levels at least get a chance. Other businesses and groups do likewise, behind the scenes and without fanfare.

It’s not enough.

How many young kids were watching Saturday’s game, wishing they could be wearing a Team Canada jersey — and knowing they couldn’t?

and they are using whatever scare tactics available to divert attention from the truth: taxes do not always have to rise.

George Oliver Nanaimo

City manager only doing what she was hired to do Acting city manager Tracy Samra is getting negative press for doing the work she was hired to do. What is the problem? Is she to sit and do nothing for six months and collect a paycheque? She attends all staff and city meetings.

Assessing what needed be done, she acted upon those decisions with mayor and council’s approval.

She is well educated and qualified for the job. We needed someone on short notice. The core review process is now shortened/less cost.

Not because they didn’t love the game, or lacked the necessary talent and passion.

But because their families didn’t have enough money.

The bigwigs of the game in our nation need to place more emphasis on accessibility.

Maybe the NHL needs to step in. Or the cable giants.

Heck, our governments are always whining about the rising cost of health care and have an innate ability to waste all kinds of taxpayer dollars.

Maybe toss some more money into allowing kids to participate in sports.

The benefits would be tenfold down the line. » We want to hear from you.

Send comments on this editorial to yourletters@nanaimodailynews.com.

It is apparent who on council are the problems; speaking to others with no respect is not acceptable. We as taxpayers want action now.

Let Ms. Samra do the job she was hired to do.

Was the previous city manager position hired from within? We need fresh ideas to save us money.

Previously we had waste and cost overruns.

Carroll Murray Nanaimo Letters must include your hometown and a daytime phone number for verification purposes only. Letters must include your first name (or two initials) and last name. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, taste, legality and for length. Unsigned letters and letters of more than 300 words will not be accepted. Email to: yourletters@nanaimodailynews.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

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NEWS 7

TRANSPORTATION

Stalled vehicles delay holiday ferry sailings SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS

The holiday travelling season closed out with three-sailing waits out of BC Ferries’ Departure Bay terminal in Nanaimo Sunday.

Ferry traffic out of Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver also held up at least one sailing, after two cars on two separate passenger deck would not start, said Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall.

The captain of the 7 p.m. departing vessel from Horseshoe Bay apologized to passengers for the delays, referring to mechanical issues with vehicles that had been travelling aboard. Marshall said announcements like those are meant to keep passengers informed of earlier issues in the day that might hold back sailings later like a ripple effect.

“Stalled vehicles happen daily throughout the fleet on our vessels and at our terminals,” she said in an email. “If our crews are able to quickly provide a jump start, it’s not an issue.”

“It’s when it causes a delay, such as what happened yesterday . . . that we would record them. For example, we had three recorded incidents throughout the fleet in the month of December where dealing with a stalled delayed a vessel more than 10 minutes.”

Marshall said Ferries crews are equipped to jump-start vehicles when need be, but sometimes a towing service is needed.

Meanwhile, large vehicle traffic vol-

Vehicles line up at the BC Ferries terminal at Departure Bay. [DAILY NEWS]

umes contributed to three overload sailings from Departure Bay, with excess traffic leftover from the 12:30 p.m, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. sailings from Nanaimo.

In each case, “They weren’t very big overloads,” said Marshall, although

she added it was little comfort to passengers left behind.

Sunday’s high traffic “would have been the last push” from the holiday season, said Marshall, adding that Boxing Day and Dec. 27 were the busiest sailings for the season.

The busiest sailings of 2015 came at the height of summer on Friday, July 31, the beginning of the August long weekend. More than 90,000 passengers and 30,000 vehicles travelled across the ferry system.

“On Dec. 26 and 27, approximately

15,000 passengers travelled from the Departure Bay terminal to Horseshoe Bay.” Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255

TRANSPORTATION

Gabriola Island residents must wait for bridge feasibility study DARRELL BELLAART DAILY NEWS

Gabriola Islanders will have to wait some more for a government-funded, $200,000 bridge feasibility study.

After Transportation Minister Todd Stone announced it in December of 2014, consulting firm CH2M Hill Canada was contracted to look at potential sites and do a cost analysis comparing a fixed link to Nanaimo, to ferry service.

In July, a ministry official con-

firmed government officials were reviewing preliminary information from the consultant.

In October, Sonia Lowe, ministry spokeswoman, said by email the study “should be released in the next few weeks.”

On Oct. 28 she said again it “should be” released in the a few weeks, but the year ended without that happening. The study was in response to pressure from a group of Gabriola residents who presented a petition with more than

600 signatures to a petition calling for the feasibility study.

By late summer Gabriola Bridge Society members were growing frustrated with delays.

In October, Stone announced a study, to find options to improve transportation for the ferry-dependent Sunshine Coast.

That announcement helped renew hope for Jeremy Baker, who led the push for the petition for the bridge study. Baker said it tells him this government is serious about

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doing something to improve transportation in coastal B.C. “That was the turning point for me,” Baker said. “I think they are going bigger and the issue is more complex, and it’s taken more time.”

Lowe said Monday she could not provide a date for the release of the bridge

feasibility study report.

“I have a suspicion it’s coming out this month,” Lowe said. “It looks like its imminent, just from what I’ve heard.”

Darrell.Bellaart @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4235

www.nanaimodailynews.com

8 NEWS

@NanaimoDaily

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

NANAIMO

Colliery dams cost update expected today Construction of an auxilliary spillway and bridge at the lower Colliery dam is on schedule, while further details on the project’s cost and progress are expected today.

The spillway project was approved last summer following an order from the B.C. Water Comptroller — the provincial regulator — to ensure the lower Colliery dam met safety standards.

Council approved the project without a budget — or ‘cost-plus’ contract — due to tight deadlines in the provincial order. Local officials feared the province could take enforcement action like imposing fines or removing the city’s water licence.

“We’re on schedule but wrapping it up is around the end of March,” said Toby Seward, acting senior director of strategic operations for the city.

Seward said contractors will be putting in construction walls at the dam

LANTZVILLE

MARINE LIFE

SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS

between now and Jan. 15.

The province has also approved designs for a new spillway and pedestrian bridge, following weeks of site preparation and tree removal from the park.

Seward also said a recent 4.3 to 4.7-magnitude earthquake that shook the province did not impacted the dam or the project.

Seward did not say how much money has been spent on the project to date, adding he needs to review

information on the dam before providing a report to council.

He said that information will be in the report.

Information will also be presented on the middle Colliery dam, which, like the lower dam, is also located in Colliery Dams Park.

The province has said the city will need to produce an assessment of the middle dam, which was flagged by engineers as a less pressing safety concern.

Construction work on the dam has been a contentious issue since October of 2012.

Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255 » We want to hear from you.

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Letters must include daytime phone number and hometown

Woman Humpback whales are ‘just curious’ shocked by and not a danger to boaters, says expert dog pickup ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS

ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS

Wendy Halsall felt the grinch was alive and well during Christmas.

Halsall, who lives in the District of Lantzville, said she was surprised when her beloved Labrador retriever was picked up by animal-control officers from Parksville for being offleash on Dec. 29.

She said she has lived in Lantzville for almost 40 years and has never seen animal enforcement of any kind related to pets in the district.

Halsall said 11 year-old Sadie is friendly and she doesn’t understand why animal-control officers from Parksville picked up her dog, and two others from the community.

“Sadie had an identification tag that we put on her collar so the officers returned her to us with a warning that the next time she is caught running loose, we’d have to retrieve her from the pound in Parksville.

“This is the first time that I’ve had a problem with this in Lantzville. If a new animal-enforcement policy has been adopted here, they should have made a public announcement about it.”

But Brad McRae, Lantzville’s new chief administrative officer, said the district is covered under the animal-enforcement bylaws of the Regional District of Nanaimo.

He said those bylaws state that dogs are not allowed to be at large in the community without their owners’ supervision. McRae said animal bylaw enforcement in Lantzville is contracted out to a private firm that also looks after Parksville.

“Generally, enforcement officers only respond to complaints, so I expect they received a complaint from that area,” he said.

Robert.Barron @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4234 » We want to hear from you.

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Boaters should have no fear of humpback whales in the waters off Nanaimo.

Tessa Donelesko, a marine biologist with the Vancouver Aquarium Cetaceans Sightings Network, said the two adult humpback whales that had close encounters with a recreational boat near Entrance Island were likely “just curious.”

Kyle Noble, his parents and girlfriend were setting prawn traps near Entrance Island when they saw humpback whales approaching their small vessel on New Year’s Day. The two whales got very close to the fishing boat for approximately five minutes, swimming around and under the vessel, and then breaching beside it.

When the whales moved on, Noble moved a few kilometres to the south and began fishing when the whales came back again and spent another A screen capture of an encounter with a humpback whale, posted via social media by Kyle Noble. couple of minutes next to the boat before heading north.

Noble posted the video of his are not allowed within 100 metres of really smart and inquisitive and they The whales’ numbers are reboundencounter on his Facebook page on them, but it’s clear from the posted may have been simply checking out a ing in local waters after hunting Jan. 1 and it has already received video that the whales approached the new object in their environment.” them was prohibited in the 1960s more than 159,000 views. boat.

Donelesko said there are no record- when there were as few as 1,500 Donelesko said it causes concern “The boaters did the right thing by ed instances of a humpback whale humpbacks left in the entire north anytime there’s close encounters turning their engines off and staying attacking a boat in local waters.

Pacific Ocean. between whales and boats. where they were until the whales It’s estimated that up to 4,000 She said marine regulations prodeparted,” Donelesko said. humpback whales may now regularly Robert.Barron @nanaimodailynews.com hibit the harassment and disturbance “It’s hard to say why the whales visit B.C.’s coast and the Strait of 250-729-4234 of all marine mammals, and boaters approached the boat, but whales are Georgia.

VICTORIA

Man in custody as handguns, drugs recovered SAANICH NEWS

A 22-year-old Esquimalt man is in custody following an investigation for drugs and weapons at a Saanich basement suite.

On Tuesday, the Victoria Police’s Crime Reduction Unit, working in tandem with Saanich Police and the Greater Victory Emergency Response Team, executed a search warrant at a suite in a residence in the 700-block of Rogers Avenue.

Homes surrounding the residence were evacuated “out of an abundance of caution,” said Saanich Police media spokesperson Sgt. Steve Eassie.

“The nature of the file being a weapons and drug-related matter, the potential for someone to be harmed was there in the event that police were to have been met with resistance,” said Eassie. “We obviously didn’t want any bystanders to be placed in harm’s way.

“We were able to make contact with the individual in the suite and were able to have them depart from the residence without any incidence at all.”

Police recovered three handguns, ammunition and evidence “consistent with drug trafficking,” including one kilogram of cocaine and half a kilogram of methamphetamine. The male was arrested on an outstanding warrant and now faces additional charges.

In August 2015, the VicPD CRU and Strike Force sections, and the GVERT, searched the man’s residence in the 2900-block of Quadra Street, where investigators found one kilogram of methamphetamine, half a kilogram of cocaine and “a significant amount of cash.”

“It is concerning to us when people are engaging in this type of criminal behaviour in our communities,” said Sgt. Iain Campbell of VicPD’s Crime Reduction Unit in a statement.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

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VICTORIA

◆ VANCOUVER ISLAND

Young Island girl wins creative writing contest

Man found dead in boat

Maggie Wehrle’s imagination captivates CNIB judges KENDRA WONG VICTORIA NEWS

It’s a world where the dirt shimmers silver, dragons soar and one girl is tasked with stopping underworld beasts from stealing people’s shadows to nourish the hungry land.

This may sound like the beginning of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, but it’s a world that has come directly from eight-year-old Maggie Wehrle’s imagination.

Maggie’s story called The Underground Festival won first place in her age category as part of the recent Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s annual braille creative writing contest.

“I was really happy. I was really glad,” said Maggie, a Victoria resident who is blind, about winning the contest.

Maggie placed second the previous two years for stories about her father and his pet pug, and one about three bears and a shark. But this year she took home the top prize for the four-paged story that took her two weeks to write.

Alexandra Korinowsky with CNIB said Maggie’s imaginative story told with astounding maturity impressed the judges.

A self-professed book worm, Maggie’s love for reading and writing began at a young age.

Her parents, Trevor and Melissa, used to read her Dr. Seuss books and The Chronicles of Narnia

NEWS 9

northeast of Sidney. Corp Erin Fraser, with the Sidney North Saanich RCMP, said the man was alone. The coroner says the cause of death appears to be natural.

Shortly after noon on Dec. 30 a man in his 70s was found dead in a sailboat

— BLACK PRESS

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Maggie Wehrle, an eight-year-old Victoria resident, won her age category in the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s annual braille creative writing contest.

before she could understand.

Now, Maggie has flown through a number of books including The Lemony Snicket Series, Alice in Wonderland, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Hobbit and is currently reading The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

After finishing the Harry Potter series, Maggie was inspired to pick up her Perkins brailler to create

her own fantasy worlds on paper.

“I like just being able to put my ideas onto a piece of paper. It’s fun,” Maggie said.

Her mother Melissa, who is also a fan of fantasy books, said she can hear the sound of Maggie’s brailler early in the morning.

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Arrowsmith Search and Rescue had a busier-than-usual year, responding to 38 calls in the last 12 months, according to search manager Gord Yelland.

He said many of those calls were from outdoor enthusiasts visiting Parksville Qualicum Beach who weren’t quite familiar with Vancouver Island’s rugged terrain.

“We’ve had more calls this year from people who are lost saying ‘we think we’re here, this is what our phone says’ — we’ve had more of those calls than ever before,” said Yelland. “Part of it is people are using their smart phones to access maps to go out and do things and they haven’t done enough research.”

But those very smart phones have also been a saving grace.

Yelland said the local search and rescue branch has been using new software developed by a search and rescue volunteer in Coquitlam known as ‘your location.’

“It allows (Arrowsmith Search and Rescue) to send a text to the subject’s phone,” Yelland explained, noting the subject needs to turn on their GPS. The lost person will receive a text leading the subject to click a link that automatically sends search and rescue their location. “It even plots it on a map for us.”

The technology has been a major help in the last year.

Yelland said they’ve received calls from a wide array of subjects, from despondent people to seniors with various levels of dementia to lost hikers hailing from all over B.C. He said one of the more mem-

orable calls came last summer when the search and rescue team was called out to Little Mountain, where a dog had fallen over the mountain. “It took us some time to find it and evacuate it out,” recalled Yelland. “The poor thing had broken its back and we couldn’t do anything to save it.”

Arrowsmith Search and Rescue has 25 active members and runs strictly on donations and grants.

This year, Yelland said the organization spent $40,000-$50,000 on search efforts, not including the cost of new equipment.

While critics often suggest people who use search and rescue should be charged for the cost of the service, Yelland disagrees.

“If that policy was brought in we could be creating more problems because it’s not cheap. Some of these calls are very expensive,” he said.

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BUSINESS

Hydro orders protesters off land Members of small but defiant group pledge to keep up action against Site C hydroelectric project THE CANADIAN PRESS

FORT ST. JOHN — Members of a small but defiant group are pledging to keep protesting the Site C hydroelectric project in northeastern British Columbia, despite being ordered off the land.

They set up a camp on Dec. 31, when BC Hydro and Power Authority issued an eviction notice while pressing ahead with land clearing for the controversial $9-billion dam.

The crown corporation gave protesters 24 hours to leave the area

known as Rocky Mountain Fort, on the south bank of the Peace River, just a few kilometres south of Fort St. John.

It warned that BC Hydro personnel will remove all contents of the camp and deliver it to RCMP but such action had not been taken by Monday afternoon.

Verena Hofmann, a Peace River Valley resident who was at the encampment over the weekend, said contractors appear ready to begin logging a three-kilometre region that is First Nations territory.

“We’ve just heard that equipment has started up. It looks like they are intending to keep on cutting,” she said on the phone from Fort St. John. “Treaty 8 First Nation people are holding their ground and are not moving from the site, so things are intensifying and changing quickly.”

Hofmann said demonstrators believe BC Hydro has no right to force them off the land in the midst of ongoing legal challenges involving Site C. Several court cases raise major concerns about the potential impact

of flooding from the creation of a new lake on the Peace River and the surrounding valley during construction of the dam.

She said upward of about five people at a time are occupying the west side of the mouth of the Moberly River in rotating shifts. First Nations people and other landowners are staying in a small cabin that was flown to the bank, as well as a hunting tent, she said.

Local people are trying to protect the land — significant because it contains swaths of old-growth boreal

forest — until court proceedings run their full course, Hofmann said.

She said the group has asked that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reassess the environmental approval granted for the project by the former Conservative government, in conjunction with the B.C. government.

BC Hydro said a spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

The dam will be the third on the Peace River, creating an 83-kilometre-long reservoir that’s slated to power up to 450,000 homes a year.

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B.C. 11

COURTS

Cache of firearms nets man conditional sentence PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

A Prince George man has been handed a six-month conditional sentence related to the seizure of weapons including firearms and two spiked metal balls attached with chains to wooden handles.

Karl Heinz Haus, 55, was also given a 10-year prohibition Monday on owning unrestricted firearms and a lifetime ban on restricted firearms.

The Prince George resident pleaded guilty to six charges last July.

During a sentencing hearing in November, the Crown argued for as much as two years behind bars while defence counsel maintained a conditional sentence would be appropriate, partly because Haus’s business, The Pastry Chef, would have to close if he were jailed. He and his wife employ about 15 people.

Much of the provincial court hearing focused on itemizing the weapons RCMP seized from Haus’s home in September 2013.

The Canada Border Services Agency

notified police after officers intercepted two packages that originated in Germany and were addressed to Haus.

They contained components used to convert an M-16 assault rifle into a fully automatic weapon.

Police seized nine rifles, including a fully-automatic M-16 and a fully-automatic AK-47 as well as two shotguns and three handguns, two of which were loaded.

Five 100-round capacity drum magazines, 50 assault rifle magazines

capable of holding 30 to 40 bullets and 31,000 rounds of large and small-calibre ammunition were also found.

Four bullet-proof vests were illegal because they contained ceramic rifle plates, which provide the highest level of protection and are often used by gangs, though there was no such link in Haus’s case.

Most of the items were found in his garage but some were uncovered in bedrooms, the laundry room and the living room.

Serial numbers on two of the fully-automatic rifles had been defaced and rivets on the magazines, which had limited their capacity to five rounds, had been removed.

Some were empty or held just a few rounds while others held as many as 44 bullets.

Crown lawyer Geoffrey McDonald described Haus’s case as in the middle range between an outlaw carrying a weapon to aid in committing a crime and someone who made a regulatory error.

WEATHER

Big ice jams prompt concerns over flooding THE CANADIAN PRESS

SMITHERS — Residents on the southeast edge of Smithers are on high alert as ice jams threaten to flood the area and force people from their homes.

Chunks of ice have been gradually backing up along the Bulkley River for the past two weeks, causing waters to rise and seep into basements and crawl spaces of some nearby homes, said Bill Miller, chairman of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.

“It’s kind of like an orange peel, almost,” Miller said. “It bunches up down the river and kind of piles up against one another.”

About 15 to 20 homeowners have been warned they may need to evacuate if the water level continues to go up.

Miller said several residents left voluntarily over the holiday season, opting to stay with friends or family instead of living with the stress of a possible evacuation. Access has been cut off to one residence in the area.

“There is water on the roads. It just isn’t too deep right now,” said Miller.

Spring flooding is normal for the region, Miller said, but ice jams have caused problems in the past.

An evacuation alert was issued for the same general area in January 2012, and about a dozen homes were ordered evacuated in April 2009.

Miller said this year’s flooding is a bit odd.

“Normally ice jams are brought on by freeze-thaw cycles and this year we’ve had a really constant freeze,” he explained.

“With this one, if you can imagine, it’s almost like when the beavers build a dam across a creek.

“It slowly builds the water up behind the dam,” Miller said.

He compared the river to a partially clogged sewer, where the channel cycles between opening and freezing.

The regional district is telling residents the ice jam is unpredictable and not to approach the river.

POLITICS

B.C. Conservative leader will resign as of Feb. 20 THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER — The head of British Columbia Conservatives says he’s resigning as leader due to family and business responsibilities.

Dan Brooks was elected leader on April 12, 2014, taking over from John Cummins after the party’s disappointing finish in the 2013 provincial election.

His business, a tourism resort in north-central B.C., means Brooks is an absentee leader for much of the summer, and he says members want somebody who is more active.

The B.C. Conservatives garnered 4.8 per cent of the popular vote during the 2013 provincial election and failed to win a seat.

Brooks says he will serve as interim leader until the party’s annual general meeting in Richmond on Feb. 20.

“My own financial situation doesn’t allow me to be a volunteer leader any longer,” he says.

“I simply can’t be the leader that the party needs in order to be competitive in 2017 because my time at my business takes me away from that. So I think I made the right choice for the party, so that the party can find new leadership and find that person who can fill that role that I wasn’t able to.”

The party’s website says Brooks and his wife Ellen are parents to seven girls.

The next general election in the province has been scheduled for May 9, 2017. » We want to hear from you. Send comments on this story to: yourletters@nanaimodailynews.com.

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YOU AND THE LAW®

FRANCHISE IS A GOOD WAY TO START A BUSINESS DĐ ŽŶĂůĚ͛Ɛ͘ DŝĚĂƐ͘ ŽƐƚŽŶ WŝnjnjĂ͘ :ĂƉĂŶ ĂŵĞƌĂ͘ KǀĞƌ ϳϲ͕ϬϬϬ ĨĂƐƚ ĨŽŽĚ ĞĂƚĞƌŝĞƐ͕ ĮƚŶĞƐƐ ĨĂĐŝůŝƟĞƐ͕ ĂƵƚŽ ƐŚŽƉƐ͕ ĐŽŶǀĞŶŝĞŶĐĞ ƐƚŽƌĞƐ ĂŶĚ ŽƚŚĞƌ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĚ ŽƵƚůĞƚƐ ĐŽŵƉĞƚĞ ĨŽƌ ŽƵƌ ĂƩĞŶƟŽŶ ŝŶ ĂŶĂĚĂ͘ KŶĞ ŽƵƚ ŽĨ ĞǀĞƌLJ ĮǀĞ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ƌĞƚĂŝů ĂŶĚ ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ ĚŽůůĂƌƐ ŝƐ ƐƉĞŶƚ Ăƚ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞƐ͘ &ƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŝŶŐ ŝƐ à ŵŝŶŐ ƉŚĞŶŽŵĞŶŽŶ ;ŐĞŶĞƌĂƟŶŐ ŽǀĞƌ ΨϭϬϬ ďŝůůŝŽŶ ŝŶ ƐĂůĞƐ ĞĂĐŚ LJĞĂƌͿ͘ /Ĩ LJŽƵ start in business as a franchisee, you have an 80% chance of success, much greater than if you start a new business on your own. So should you jump on the franchise bandwagon too?

Franchising is simply a way to distribute products and services. Typically, the franchisee pays a fee ĂŶĚ ŽŶŐŽŝŶŐ ƌŽLJĂůƟĞƐ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ ǁŚŽ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞƐ Ă ĐŽŵƉůĞƚĞ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ƉĂĐŬĂŐĞ ĨŽƌ ƐƚĂƌƟŶŐ ĂŶĚ ƌƵŶŶŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ͘ dŚĞ ƉĂĐŬĂŐĞ ŵŝŐŚƚ ŝŶĐůƵĚĞ ƚŚĞ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ŶĂŵĞ ;DĐ ŽŶĂůĚ͛ƐͿ͕ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ŵĂŶƵĂůƐ͕ ƚƌĂĚĞŵĂƌŬƐ ĂŶĚ ůŽŐŽƐ ;DĐ ŽŶĂůĚ͛Ɛ ͞ ƌĐŚ ĞůƵdžĞ͟ ŚĂŵďƵƌŐĞƌƐͿ͕ ĞŵƉůŽLJĞĞ ƵŶŝĨŽƌŵƐ͕ ƚĞĐŚŶŝƋƵĞƐ ;ŚŽǁ ŵĂŶLJ ƐůŝĐĞƐ ŽĨ ƚŽŵĂƚŽ ƚŽ ƉƵƚ ŝŶ LJŽƵƌ ďƵŶͿ͕ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƟŶŐ ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ͕ ĞƚĐ͘ ZƵŶŶŝŶŐ Ă ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĚ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ƚĞŶĚƐ ƚŽ ĂƉƉĞĂů ƚŽ ŵŽƌĞ ĐŽŶƐĞƌǀĂƟǀĞ ĞŶƚƌĞƉƌĞŶĞƵƌƐ͘ /Ĩ LJŽƵ͛ƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŝŶŶŽǀĂƟǀĞ ƚLJƉĞ͕ Ă ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ŵŝŐŚƚ ƉƌŽǀĞ ƚŽŽ ƌĞƐƚƌŝĐƟǀĞ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ǁĂLJ LJŽƵ ǁĂŶƚ ƚŽ ĐŽŶĚƵĐƚ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ͘ &Žƌ ĞdžĂŵƉůĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ ŽĨ Ă ͞^ĐŚŶŝƚnjĞů ĂƌŽŶ͟ ƌĞƐƚĂƵƌĂŶƚ ŝŶ DĂƚƐƋƵŝ ŐŽƚ Ă ĐŽƵƌƚ ŽƌĚĞƌ ƉƌĞǀĞŶƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĞ͕ ǁŚŽ ǁĂƐ ƚƌLJŝŶŐ ƚŽ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞ ƉƌŽĮƚĂďŝůŝƚLJ͕ ĨƌŽŵ ƐĞůůŝŶŐ ͞ ĞĞƉ &ƌŝĞĚ WĞƌŽŐŝĞƐ ǁŝƚŚ ^ŽƵƌĐƌĞĂŵ Θ KŶŝŽŶ͕͟ ͞KĐƚŽďĞƌĨĞƐƚ ^ĂƵƐĂŐĞ ŽŶ Ă ƵƩĞƌĞĚ ƵŶ͟ ĂŶĚ ŽƚŚĞƌ ŵĞŶƵ ŝƚĞŵƐ ŶŽƚ ĂƵƚŚŽƌŝnjĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ franchisor. ^Ɵůů͕ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĞĮƚƐ ŵĂLJ ŽƵƚǁĞŝŐŚ ƚŚĞ ĚŝƐĂĚǀĂŶƚĂŐĞƐ ʹ ĨŽƌ ďŽƚŚ ƉĂƌƟĞƐ͘ dŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĞ ŐĞƚƐ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ͛Ɛ ƉƌŽǀĞŶ ŶĂŵĞ ĂŶĚ ƚƌĂĐŬ ƌĞĐŽƌĚ ƉůƵƐ ŝƚƐ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŶŐ ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ͘ dŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ ŐĞƚƐ ƚŽ ƌĂƉŝĚůLJ ĞdžƉĂŶĚ ŝƚƐ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ǁŝƚŚŽƵƚ ŝŶǀĞƐƟŶŐ ƚŽŽ ŵƵĐŚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂů͘ Ƶƚ ŝƚ ĐĂŶ͛ƚ ĮƌĞ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĞ ĂƐ ƌĞĂĚŝůLJ ĂƐ ŝƚ could an employee, because the franchisee is an independent business person. /Ĩ ƉůĂŶ ƚŽ ďĞĐŽŵĞ Ă ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĞ͕ ĐĂƌĞĨƵůůLJ ĐŚĞĐŬ ƚŚĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚĞĚ ƉƌŽĮƚĂďŝůŝƚLJ ŽĨ LJŽƵƌ ƉƌŽƉŽƐĞĚ ŽƵƚůĞƚ͘ ^ƉĞĂŬ ǁŝƚŚ ĂŶLJ ĞdžŝƐƟŶŐ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞĞƐ ĂŶĚ ǀŝƐŝƚ ƚŚĞŝƌ ůŽĐĂƟŽŶƐ͘ /Ɛ ƚŚĞƌĞ ƌĞĂů ƌĞĐŽŐŶŝƟŽŶ ĂƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ŶĂŵĞ͍ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ǁĞůůͲ ŬŶŽǁŶ ŝŶ KŶƚĂƌŝŽ ŵĂLJ ďĞ ƵŶŬŶŽǁŶ ŝŶ ͘ ͘ EĞǁ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ůĞŐŝƐůĂƟŽŶ ŚĂƐ ďĞĞŶ ŝŶƚƌŽĚƵĐĞĚ ŝŶ ͘ ͘ Ƶƚ ƵŶƟů ŝƚ ďĞĐŽŵĞƐ ůĂǁ͕ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ĂŐƌĞĞŵĞŶƚ ŵĂŝŶůLJ ĐŽŶƚƌŽůƐ LJŽƵƌ ƌŝŐŚƚƐ ĂŶĚ ŽďůŝŐĂƟŽŶƐ͘ hƐƵĂůůLJ͕ ƚŚŝƐ ůĞŐĂů ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚ ĐŽǀĞƌƐ ŝŶ ĚĞƚĂŝů ƚŚĞ ƉĞƌŝŽĚ ŽĨ ƟŵĞ LJŽƵ ŚĂǀĞ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ĨŽƌ͕ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ƚĞƌƌŝƚŽƌLJ ;Ğ͘Ő͕͘ Ăůů ŽĨ sĞƌŶŽŶ Žƌ ũƵƐƚ ĮǀĞ ďůŽĐŬƐ ŽŶ ŽŶĞ ďƵƐLJ ƐƚƌĞĞƚͿ͕ ĂŶLJ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ ƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ ƉƌŽŐƌĂŵ͕ ƚŚĞ ŚŽƵƌƐ ĂŶĚ ĚĂLJƐ ŽĨ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ͕ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƚ Žƌ ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ͕ ƉĂLJŵĞŶƚƐ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ ŽĨ ĂĚǀĞƌƟƐŝŶŐ ĨĞĞƐ ĂŶĚ ǀĂƌŝŽƵƐ ŽƚŚĞƌ ŵĂƩĞƌƐ͘ ^ƚĂŶĚĂƌĚ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ĂŐƌĞĞŵĞŶƚƐ ĂƌĞ ƚLJƉŝĐĂůůLJ ŽŶĞͲƐŝĚĞĚ ŝŶ ĨĂǀŽƵƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐŽƌ͕ ǁŝƚŚ ůŝƩůĞ ƌŽŽŵ ƚŽ ŵĂŶŽƵĞǀƌĞ͘ zŽƵƌ ůĂǁLJĞƌ ǁŝůů ŐŽ ŽǀĞƌ Ăůů ƚŚĂƚ͛Ɛ ŝŶǀŽůǀĞĚ͕ ĂŶĚ ŵĂLJ ďĞ ĂďůĞ ƚŽ ŶĞŐŽƟĂƚĞ ƐƉĞĐŝĮĐ ĐŚĂŶŐĞƐ ƚŚĂƚ ƐƵŝƚ LJŽƵƌ ƐƉĞĐŝĮĐ ƐŝƚƵĂƟŽŶ ďĞƩĞƌ͘ ĨƌĂŶĐŚŝƐĞ ĐĂŶ ďĞ Ă ŐƌĞĂƚ ǁĂLJ ƚŽ ƐƚĂƌƚ Ă ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ͘ Ƶƚ ŝƚ͛Ɛ ĐƌŝƟĐĂů LJŽƵ ŬŶŽǁ ĞdžĂĐƚůLJ ǁŚĂƚ LJŽƵ͛ƌĞ ŐĞƫŶŐ ŝŶƚŽ ďĞĨŽƌĞ LJŽƵ ƐƚĂƌƚ ƐůŝŶŐŝŶŐ ƚŚŽƐĞ ďƵƌŐĞƌƐ͘ This column has been written by Janice and George Mucalov, LL.B.s with assistance from FABRIS McIVER HORNQUIST & RADCLIFFE. It provides information only and must not be relied on for legal advice. Please contact FABRIS McIVER HORNQUIST & RADCLIFFE for legal advice concerning your particular case. Lawyer Janice Mucalov is an award-winning legal writer. YOU AND THE LAW is a registered trade-mark. © Janice and George Mucalov.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

ECONOMY

Markets start year with sharp drop Toronto’s main stock market emerged less scathed than most others, losing about 0.6 per cent for the day DAVID FRIEND THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — Stock markets got off to a tumultuous start in the first trading day of the year as a sharp decline in China triggered a sell-off that spread worldwide.

It started with a nosedive in Chinese stocks — the main index sliding seven per cent — after the world’s second-largest economy posted the 10th consecutive month of weaker manufacturing data.

As traders reacted to that and other uncertainties affecting the country’s economy, the drop in prices enacted a new “circuit breaker” mechanism that closed trading early to limit losses. The Shanghai index shed 6.9 per cent to 3,296.66 before the market was closed early to avert steeper falls.

The uncertainty appeared to set off a panic across other global markets as questions arose about the fallout’s repercussions to other economies.

Toronto’s main stock market emerged less scathed than most others, losing about 0.6 per cent for the day, helped by a rally in gold stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 82.80 points on Monday, taking the index to 12,927.15, after falling as much as 262 points earlier in the day.

But neither Wall Street nor markets in Europe fared quite as well.

In New York, the Dow Jones average marked its biggest loss in two weeks, closing down 1.6 per cent, or 276.09 points, at 17,148.94. The broader S&P 500 index declined

Man dies in explosion at Alberta farm THE CANADIAN PRESS

CONSORT, Alta. — A man has died from injuries he received in a propane tank explosion on an east-central Alberta farm.

Mounties say the man, who lived on the rural property near Consort, had been operating a propane-fired torch.

A spokesperson for the air-ambulance service was called to the scene just before noon on Sunday.

The helicopter was told to “stand down” because it wasn’t medically required to transport the patient.

Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson said Alberta’s new farm safety legislation, which came into effect Friday, doesn’t apply in the death.

“The man who died was the owner of the farm,” she said in an email.

“Because of that, this incident is exempt from the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act.”

A pedestrian walks past a sign in downtown Toronto on Monday showing TSX activity. [THE CANADIAN PRESS]

31.28 points to 2,012.66 and the Nasdaq lost 104.32 points to 4,903.09.

European markets were also bruised, with the DAX in Germany, whose export-led economy is sensitive to developments in China, down the most at 4.3 per cent.

“This is really an affirmation to the market that China is going to con-

tinue being the central global risk,” said Craig Fehr, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

Fehr said after years of stimulus from central banks, investors need to become more accustomed to relying on economic data to stand on its own.

This year, the markets could feel

the impact of the shift as traders respond to good news and bad news “more sharply,” he suggested.

“I think this is going to be more the norm than the exception moving forward,” Fehr said.

The Canadian dollar ended at 71.73 cents U.S., down 0.52 of a cent from Thursday’s close before the New Year’s holiday.

Last year, the loonie was stripped of nearly 14 cents of its value against the U.S. dollar, making it the worst performing of the G10 currencies, according to a report from TD Securities.

The bank’s troubling outlook for the dollar, outlined in a report titled, “Return of the Northern Peso,” suggested that tight corporate spending, a “non-trivial” chance of further monetary easing and a subdued outlook for oil prices all factored into its pessimistic view.

“We see the Canadian dollar remaining under pressure for the next three to six months,” TD Securities senior FX strategist Mazen Issa wrote.

In commodities, gold prices settled at their highest level in more than a week, helping the sector lead gains on the TSX, rising 3.7 per cent.

The February contract rose $15 to US$1,075.20 an ounce. Gold is often seen as a safe haven in times of political or economic uncertainty.

Political tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran left traders questioning the outlook for oil prices.

The February crude contract was originally up but eventually gave way to close 28 cents lower at US$36.76 a barrel, while the February contract for natural gas was unchanged at US$2.33. » We want to hear from you.

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POLITICS

Memos say Trudeau must meet public’s digital demands for online inclusion and transparency JIM BRONSKILL THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau’s advisers are warning that the federal government needs to do a better job of connecting with Canadians — especially online — in order to keep pace with ever-evolving public expectations.

The new landscape is being shaped by policy complexity, rapid technological change, limited finances and increasing demands for citizen involvement, say internal briefing memos prepared for the prime minister.

More and more, people expect the government to include them early and often in the design of policy and programming choices that affect them, say the notes, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

TRUDEAU

“There is a gap in Canada between how citizens communicate with each other and with private sector service providers (e.g. banks) and their experience with the federal government,” says one memo.

In order to remain relevant to Canadians, the government needs

to focus on delivering high-quality, factual digital content.

However, government is often bogged down by red tape, the need for signoffs from various layers of management and barriers to effectively spending money and assigning people to tasks, the notes say.

The notes suggest updating the outmoded 2006 federal communications policy to reflect the “voracious demand” from Canadians for online information and the rising use of mobile devices.

Information published on the prime minister’s website and social media must be factually accurate and non-partisan — tenets that should be enshrined in a new communications policy, the advisers say.

Government advertising is seen to be “partisan in nature” at times, another shortcoming that must be

addressed in the revised policy, the notes stress.

The Conservative government was pilloried by critics for lavish multimillion-dollar ad campaigns that seemed to convey little useful information.

The Privy Council Office is already working with Treasury Board officials to ensure potential amendments to the policy include “clear accountabilities for non-partisanship” when it comes to ads.

The federal public service is responding by trying to support innovation across government and highlighting successful pilot projects and new approaches.

The Trudeau government “could consider making a high-level, public commitment” to encourage departments to take such new paths, the notes say.

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INQUIRY

Alberta judge says better screening needed in gun licence applications THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY — A fatality inquiry judge is calling for stricter reviews of gun licence applications after a southern Alberta man with a history of mental problems was fatally shot by police.

Corey Lewis, 39, was shot outside his Okotoks home in July 2010 after a standoff with an RCMP tactical team.

He was found holding a dark-coloured umbrella that he had pointed at officers, who thought the object was a weapon.

Provincial court Judge Marlene Graham says she finds it disturbing that Lewis was granted licences for five firearms, including restricted weapons, despite his mental problems, a suicide attempt and a previ-

“I find that the screening process . . . gives me no assurance that public safety, which is the purpose of the Firearms Act, was being sufficiently emphasized.”

Marlene Graham, judge

ous emergency protection order.

“I do find that Mr. Lewis’s possession of the five long-barreled guns was an integral part of the event leading up to his death,” Graham

wrote in a report released Monday.

“I find that the screening process used to grant the gun licences to Mr. Lewis lacked diligence and common sense and gives me no assurance that public safety, which is the purpose of the Firearms Act, was being sufficiently emphasized throughout the process.”

Graham recommends better screening for firearms licence applicants, including a telephone interview with the applicant’s spouse.

She also recommends that police consult with mental-health professionals when dealing with armed people in standoffs to help get them to surrender.

The report says that in the hours before he was shot, Lewis was angry and distraught.

After knocking his wife down and punching his stepson, Lewis’s family fled the house, contacted RCMP and told the Mounties that he was in the bedroom with five guns and ammunition. Officers called in a tactical team of 20, including a sniper, to surround the house.

During the inquiry, Barry Benkendorf, lawyer for the RCMP, said Lewis caused officers to shoot him. The lawyer called it a case of “suicide by cop.”

Graham ruled the death a homicide.

The report notes that Daniel Magotiaux, Alberta’s chief firearms officer, testified that a policy change was made last year to require a medical check of gun licence applicants if there is a mental health concern.

CITIZENSHIP

CRIME

Website confuses policy on immigrant reunions

Impaired charges after parents, kids die in crash

BRUCE CHEADLE THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The Liberal government says it remains committed to doubling to 10,000 the number of applications it will process each year for family reunification of parents and grandparents.

However, the government’s Citizenship and Immigration website says applications are now being accepted for 2016 — and cautions in bold text that the number of applications is capped at 5,000.

Justin Trudeau promised during the election campaign that a Liberal government would double the cap as part of a package of immigration reforms. The annual limit on family reunification applications for aging parents and grandparents was brought in by the former Conservative government, which called the program an abuse of generosity.

The Liberal government did not explain why the 5,000-application cap remains flagged on the website, but in an emailed statement, Immigration Minister John McCallum said he still plans to double the cap.

The measure to double the application cap is also listed among the “key commitments for action in first 100 days” cited in the prime minister’s briefing books, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Saskatoon woman, 49, remanded in custody until Thursday THE CANADIAN PRESS

SASKATOON — A woman is facing impaired driving charges following a crash outside Saskatoon that killed a couple and their two young children.

RCMP said Monday that the last family member in the accident, a five-year-old girl who had been taken to hospital with serious injuries, did not survive.

Jordan Van de Vorst, 34, and his 33-year-old wife, Chanda Van de Vorst, were pronounced dead at the crash scene early Sunday.

Two-year-old Miguire also died in hospital with his sister Kamryn.

“It’s a pretty tough day for all of us,” said Michael Murchison, a friend of Jordan Van de Vorst.

He said the man worked as a microbiologist but his passion was photography. They were part of a small group of amateur photographers who often went out together to snap photos of things such as the northern lights.

“We were talking about going out the night of the crash after he got home, but he never got back to anybody,” said Murchison. “We just assumed he went home to bed.”

He said Van de Vorst was always talking about his two kids.

“He was a great dad, great person, a great friend. And we’re all going to miss him a lot.”

Van de Vorst posted several photos of his smiling children on Facebook.

They sat on Santa’s lap a few weeks ago. On New Year’s Day, they went tobogganing.

NATION&WORLD 13

NEWS IN BRIEF The Canadian Press ◆ SEGUIN TOWNSHIP, ONT.

Charges for possession of unmarked cigarettes Ontario Provincial Police say a 58-year-old Manitoba man is facing charges following the seizure of contraband cigarettes in central Ontario.

Police say officers responded to a 911 call on Dec. 29 about a car in the centre median of Highway 400 in Seguin Township, about 220 kilometres north of Toronto.

Investigators say the driver was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

As a result of the investigation, police allege 20,000 unmarked cigarettes were seized from the vehicle.

Henry Hacault of Winnipeg is charged with possession of unmarked cigarettes, and interfering with traffic.

Hacault is to appear in court in Parry Sound, Ont., on Feb. 2.

◆ TORONTO

Raccoon that bit cop last month found not rabid Toronto public health says a raccoon that bit a city police officer was not rabid.

Police received a call last Monday from a store owner for a raccoon that “appeared to be in distress and possibly blind,” hanging around a downtown store.

Two officers showed up and tried to corral the raccoon, which is when one officer was bitten in the hand and was taken to hospital to be treated for a minor injury.

Toronto public health said in an email Monday that as of Jan. 4, 2016 all animals, including raccoons, that had been submitted for testing have come back negative for rabies.

Raccoon rabies had been eliminated in Ontario for more than a decade until one tested positive in Hamilton in early December.

◆ OTTAWA

Ex-Harper bandmate jailed on sex charges

A memorial to a previous crash marks the intersection outside of Saskatoon where a family of four were killed in a collision with an SUV Sunday morning.

Catherine Loye McKay, 49, has been charged with three counts of impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death. [THE CANADIAN PRESS]

The last picture he posted was of a sparkling snowflake. The Saskatchewan Freedom Photography Group posted it Monday in memory of the family.

Mounties said the Van de Vorsts were in a car that was struck by an SUV that was crossing Highway 11 just north of Saskatoon.

Catherine McKay of Saskatoon faces three counts of impaired driving causing death. Police said after

the death of the girl that additional charges are pending.

The 49-year-old woman appeared briefly in court Monday and was remanded in custody. She is to appear in court again Thursday. » We want to hear from you.

Send comments on this story to yourletters@nanaimodailynews.com.

Letters must include daytime phone number and hometown

A former school teacher who once played drums in Stephen Harper’s occasional rock band has been sentenced to two years in jail on sexual exploitation charges.

Phillip Nolan pleaded guilty in October to two counts of sexual interference involving a 13-year-old girl.

Police said the incidents dated back to 1990 and 2000.

In February 2014, Nolan was charged with five counts each of sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Nolan was a music teacher who taught Grade 7 and Grade 8 students.

He was also one of three regular members of Herringbone, a Celtic folk band that backed up then-prime minister Harper, who played keyboard and sang in live performances in Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary.

Harper had known Nolan and the other band members for years; they played at the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive. They also played together at the National Arts Centre in 2009.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

COURTS

Slumping loonie could add $3.5B to cost of Windsor-Detroit bridge

Jury told teen died in ‘reign of terror’ by her dad

Details laid out in a secret briefing note to the PM obtained by The Canadian Press JORDAN PRESS THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government will need to find $3.5 billion more to pay for a new bridge at the bustling border crossing between Canada and the United States.

Documents show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been warned that the cost of building the new Windsor-Detroit bridge has likely gone up by at least $2 billion, thanks to the declining value of the Canadian dollar.

Government officials told Trudeau the project would also need an extra $1.5 billion in a contingency fund to bear the shock of any interest rate increases should the loonie decline further against its American counterpart. The Canadian dollar closed Monday at 71.73 cents U.S., down 0.52 of a cent from Thursday’s close and its lowest point in the last 10 years.

The government’s long-term fiscal framework has the price of the bridge, to be named after hockey legend Gordie Howe, pegged at $4.8 billion.

The details are laid out in a secret briefing note to Trudeau obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. The Windsor-Detroit crossing is the busiest commercial trade crossing between the U.S. and Canada. Almost one quarter of all goods moving between the two countries pass over the existing bridge and through the tunnel connecting Detroit and Windsor.

DIANA MEHTA THE CANADIAN PRESS

A photo of Gordie Howe at the announcement in May 2015 that the Detroit River International Crossing will be named the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The federal government will need to find $3.5 billion more to pay for a new bridge at the bustling border crossing between Canada and the United States. [THE CANADIAN PRESS]

The long-sought new bridge, to be built over the Detroit River, spawned a hard-fought political battle among national, state, provincial and local politicians and the private owner of the existing Ambassador Bridge.

To make the project a reality, the Canadian government agreed last year to pay for all construction costs, including $250 million for the inspection plaza on the American side of the river, with a plan to recoup the costs through tolls.

The government expects to collect about $4 billion in tolls over 30 years — more than enough, Trudeau was told, to cover the $2-billion cost increase that consultants from Deloitte calculated in October.

Otherwise, the documents state, the costs could only be recovered “before the end of the useful life of the bridge,” adding in brackets, “100 years.”

Three select companies will be given the opportunity in “early 2016” to bid on the construction work, said

Mark Butler, a spokesman for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the Crown corporation that is overseeing the project.

Butler wouldn’t comment on the authority’s finances.

“To protect the best interests of taxpayers, it is not appropriate to discuss cost estimates for the entire scope of the contract during the procurement phase,” he wrote in an email.

“Doing so could jeopardize the competitive process.”

JUSTICE

Swift Current apologizes to Sheldon Kennedy for abuse he suffered there in junior hockey THE CANADIAN PRESS

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — Former NHL hockey player Sheldon Kennedy, who was sexually abused by his junior hockey coach while playing in Swift Current, says he accepts an apology from the Saskatchewan city.

Kennedy said it needed to happen, but he’s already been long-focused on healing.

“I wasn’t sitting around waiting for an apology from the city of Swift Current,” Kennedy said Monday in a phone interview with The Canadian Press.

“The way I look at it is that . . .

Swift Current is in a position to show great leadership on how a community can take such a negative tragedy and turn it into something positive, and be leaders in our country around child protection.”

KENNEDY

Kennedy revealed 20 years ago that he was abused by Graham James, his coach with the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos.

James would serve 3 1/2 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sex offences against Kennedy and two others.

Kennedy said he doesn’t hold a grudge against the city. He says he tweeted “APOLOGY ACCEPTED” to let Swift Current residents know that he supports them.

“I’m with them in the journey, because you know what, the people of Swift Current don’t want to see kids being abused.”

Swift Current Mayor Jerrod Schafer expressed his “sincere and absolute sorrow to the victims of Mr. James and their families.”

Schafer wrote in a statement that sons were sent to Swift Current to chase their dreams and “too many players left with a lifetime of nightmares.”

The city plans to launch a new initiative on Friday for community organizations. It will require a criminal background check of adults working with children, along

with education on how to prevent bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination.

Schafer said he hopes community organizations that offer youth programming will adopt the new benchmark for their staff or volunteers.

Kennedy, who is now an advocate for child victims, plans to attend the announcement.

He said groups such as Hockey Canada already have similar training, but there are gaps around rules for things such as private coaches and daycares.

“What we’re trying to do is fill the gap of organizations that fall under the city’s umbrella and, to us, that was a place where there was really no checks and balances, so . . . the city making it a priority is critical,” said Kennedy.

TORONTO — A father’s “reign of terror” reduced his daughter from a happy, healthy child to a starved, emotionally broken teen, ultimately killing her, a Crown prosecutor told a Toronto court Monday as she urged the jury to find the man guilty of first-degree murder.

Everton Biddersingh has pleaded not guilty in the death of 17-year-old Melonie, whose charred body was found in a burning suitcase 21 years ago.

“His reign of terror over Melonie ultimately resulted in her death,” Crown prosecutor Mary Humphrey said in closing arguments. “But for his actions or his omissions, Melonie would have been alive today. She would have been 38 years old.”

The case has taken two decades to get to trial because police weren’t able to identify Melonie’s remains until they received a tip that eventually led to the arrest of Biddersingh and his wife in March 2012.

The trial has heard that Melonie came to Canada from Jamaica with two brothers in 1991, when she was 13, to live with her father and stepmother.

Jurors have heard that the girl — who hoped to one day become a nurse — was not sent to school and suffered brutal beatings, food deprivation and gut-wrenching abuse at the hands of her father.

Melonie was treated like a slave, Humphrey said, and was “withering away” before her father’s eyes but he did not stop mistreating her.

“Everton took away everything from Melonie,” she said. “He took away her will to live.”

Biddersingh viewed his daughter as a “traitor” after he believed she once took her stepmother’s side during a marital dispute, Humphrey said.

He also used the girl as a free housekeeper, a caregiver for his other children and an outlet for his anger towards his wife, Humphrey said.

Over the course of many months, Melonie was confined for hours in a tiny closet, had her head placed in a toilet that was flushed, was chained to the furniture at times, was denied food and was kicked, punched and thrown against walls by her father, the trial has heard.

“The evidence was clear that Everton had a real dislike for his daughter,” Humphrey said. “He told (Melonie’s older brother) Cleon he wished he had dropped her on the head as a baby.”

After Melonie’s death, Humphrey told the jury, Biddersingh crammed his daughter into a suitcase, drove her to a remote area and set her on fire.

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NEWS IN BRIEF The Associated Press

@NanaimoDaily

MIDDLE EAST

BUSINESS

VW sued

by U.S. in emissions cheating scandal

◆ SAN FRANCISCO

Prosecutor says alleged killer is hardly reformed A prosecutor told jurors Monday that a man charged with murder and racketeering in a Chinatown organized crime investigation was not the reformed bad boy he claimed to be during his testimony.

In her lengthy closing argument in a packed San Francisco courtroom, Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Badger depicted defendant Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow as a cold-blooded killer and skilled liar.

“He is not the victim here,” Badger said during her nearly four-hour presentation. “He is not the world’s most misunderstood criminal.”

The investigation was spearheaded by an undercover FBI agent posing as a member of an East Coast crime syndicate. He testified that he spent hours with Chow and people connected to him at fancy restaurants and nightclubs, recording many of their conversations.

◆ TRAVERSE CITY, MICH.

Study says Asian carp may dominate Lake Erie Asian carp could become the most common fish in Lake Erie if the ravenous invaders develop a breeding population there, while popular sport species including walleye and rainbow trout likely would decline, scientists said Monday.

A newly published study based on computer modeling projected that bighead and silver carp, which are Asian carp species, eventually could make up about one-third of the total fish weight in Erie, which has the most fish of the five Great Lakes even though it’s the smallest by volume.

The carp, which have overrun the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries since being imported to the southern U.S. from Asia in the 1970s to cleanse sewage treatment ponds, gorge on tiny plants and animals known as plankton that all fish eat at some point in life. They are migrating northward toward the Great Lakes.

◆ MEXICO CITY

Deporting ‘affluenza teen’ may take months The Mexican lawyer for a Texas teenager known for using an “affluenza” defence in a fatal drunken-driving accident says his appeal could delay his client’s return to the United States for weeks, months — or just a single day.

Lawyer Fernando Benitez says a Tuesday meeting with client Ethan Couch at an immigration detention centre in Mexico City will determine whether Couch stretches out the process, or agrees to drop the appeal.

Benitez says he was hired to represent Couch in Mexico, but doesn’t say who hired him.

He said Monday that Couch was just hours away from being deported when the injunction was granted last week. Benitez says the appeal centres on why Mexico tried to use a deportation proceeding instead of the longer extradition process in Couch’s case.

NATION&WORLD 15

MICHAEL BIESECKER AND ERIC TUCKER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn an effigy of King Salman of Saudi Arabia during a demonstration in Baghdad on Monday. [AP PHOTO]

Saudi allies scale back diplomatic ties with Iran Campaign reflects aggressive stance taken by King Salman JON GAMBRELL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead Monday and scaled back diplomatic ties to Iran after the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic, violence sparked by the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Sudan and the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain said they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late Sunday. Within hours, the United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to Tehran to the level of the charge d’affaires, while other nations issued statements criticizing Iran.

The concerted campaign by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival.

“What we have seen during the last 24 hours is unprecedented . . .

It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at Emirates University. “This is the Saudis saying: ‘There is no limit to how far we will go.”’

The standoff began Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges — the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980.

Al-Nimr was a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, who long denied advocating violence.

News of his execution has sparked Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan.

In Iran, protesters attacked the

“What we have seen during the last 24 hours is unprecedented . . .

It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message.”

Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, Political science professor

Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. By late Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the kingdom would sever its relations with Iran over the assaults, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave his country.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority suspended all flights to and from Iran, saying the move was based on the kingdom’s cutting of diplomatic ties.

Iran expressed “regret” over the attacks on the diplomatic missions in a letter to the United Nations on Monday and vowed to arrest those responsible.

In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, Iran’s UN envoy Gholamali Khoshroo says more than 40 protesters have been arrested and that authorities are searching for other suspects.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have long vied for influence in the Middle East, with their rivalry deepening following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, which allowed Iran to assert dominance there, and the chaos of the Arab Spring, which gave rise to proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

An early battleground was Bahrain, where the Shiite majority staged mass protests in 2011 demanding political reforms from the Sunni monarchy. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent in troops to help quash the revolt, viewing it as an Iranian bid to expand its influence.

Bahraini officials have since accused Iran of training militants and attempting to smuggle arms into the country, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. In October, Bahrain ordered the acting Iranian charge d’affaires to leave within 72 hours and recalled its own ambassador after alleging Iran sponsored “subversion” and “terrorism” and funneled arms to militants.

Sudan, which has been looking to Saudi for aid since the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011, on Monday announced an “immediate severing of ties” over the diplomatic mission attacks. Sudan once was closer to Iran, but in recent years has tilted toward Saudi Arabia, and has contributed forces to the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen.

The UAE, a country of seven emirates, has a long trading history with Iran and is home to many ethnic Iranians. It said it would reduce the number of diplomats in Iran and recall its ambassador “in the light of Iran’s continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented levels.”

Saudi Arabia previously severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991 over hajj rioting in 1987 and Iran’s attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf.

That diplomatic freeze saw Iran halt pilgrims from attending the hajj in Saudi Arabia, something required of all able Muslims once in their lives.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department sued Volkswagen on Monday over emissions-cheating software found in nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the United States, potentially exposing the company to billions in fines for clean air violations.

The civil complaint against the German automaker, filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges the company illegally installed software designed to make its “clean diesel” engines pass federal emissions standards while undergoing laboratory testing. The vehicles then switched off those measures in real-world driving conditions, spewing harmful gases at up to 40 times what is allowed under federal environmental standards.

“Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emission control systems breach the public trust, endanger public health and disadvantage competitors,” said John C. Cruden, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“The United States will pursue all appropriate remedies against Volkswagen to redress the violations of our nation’s clean air laws alleged in the complaint,” he said.

The company is in the midst of negotiating a massive mandatory recall with U.S. regulators and potentially faces more than $18 billion in fines for violations of the federal Clean Air Act. The company and its executives could also still face separate criminal charges, while a raft of private classaction lawsuits filed by angry VW owners are pending.

Volkswagen Group of America spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said Monday that the company “will continue to co-operate with all government agencies investigating these matters.”

The federal lawsuit alleges that Volkswagen intentionally tampered with the vehicles sold in the U.S. to include what regulators call a “defeat device,” a mechanism specifically designed to game emissions tests. Under the law, automakers are required to disclose any such devices to regulators.

Justice Department officials said on Monday the case was filed in the Eastern District of Michigan because that is where “significant activity” related to the company’s cheating scheme occurred. EPA’s primary emissions-testing lab is located in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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BUSINESS

GM CEO to also take on role as chairman TOM KRISHER AND TOM MURPHY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

David Bakal, father of Alon Bakal, who was killed when a gunman opened fire at a bar in Tel Aviv on Friday, during the funeral for his son in Carmiel, northern Israel, on Sunday. [AP PHOTO]

With killer on the run, fear in Israel ratchets up Unusual escape of Arab suspect one element creating tension ARON HELLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TEL AVIV, Israel — For all its years of strife, Israel has rarely seen anything quite like this: an armed, wanted Arab killer on the loose, spreading fear across the land.

Even the most stoic are keeping their children home from school following the deadly daytime shooting at a popular bar on a busy Tel Aviv street that has become among the most unsettling attacks in a threemonth wave of violence.

Israelis are used to quickly resuming their daily routines following attacks because assailants are typically captured or killed. But the frantic search for this gunman, whose attack on Friday afternoon was caught on security cameras, has sent jitters across this seaside city.

The unusual escape of the accused gunman, Nashat Milhem, an Arab from northern Israel who is considered to be armed and dangerous, is one of many elements of a case that has left Israelis on edge.

“Everything about this is characterized by uncertainty,” said Yossi Melman, a prominent security analyst, adding that the level of planning and sophistication were closer in style to those of Islamic State attackers in Brussels, Paris and California.

“I’m not familiar with an event like this, with an unclear nature that has lasted this long,” he said.

The shooting on Tel Aviv’s busy Dizengoff Street, which killed two Israeli men and wounded six other people, was recorded on security cameras at a health food store next door.

In the footage, a man with short dark hair, glasses and a black bag over his shoulder is seen scooping up nuts from the shop’s bulk food section, putting them in a plastic bag,

“I’m not familiar with an event like this, with an unclear nature that has lasted this long.”

Yossi Melman, security analyst

then emptying them back. He then walks to the store entrance, places his backpack on a shopping cart and takes a gun out of it before stepping outside and opening fire into the bar.

He then runs away.

Police say that after tossing his cellphone, Milhem hailed a cab that took him to northern Tel Aviv, where he killed the driver and escaped in the taxi before abandoning it and going off the grid.

Authorities got their first lead when Milhem’s father, Mohammed, recognized his son from the closed circuit footage aired on TV. Milhem apparently obtained the licensed semi-automatic weapon he used by stealing it from his father, a security guard. The father condemned the killing and called on his son to turn himself in. Residents of their Arab town, Arara, also quickly denounced the attack.

The shooting comes amid more than three months of almost daily Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. On the Israeli side, 21 people have died, mostly in stabbings and car-ramming attacks.

At least 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, 90 of them identified by Israel as assailants.

Israel has accused Palestinian leaders and social media sites of inciting the violence. Palestinians say the attacks are the result of frustration over five decades of Israeli military occupation.

Whereas most attackers have been Palestinians from the West Bank or east Jerusalem, Milhem is one of just a handful of Arab citizens of Israel accused of such violence.

And, he comes from a family that was well integrated into Israeli society.

Police say they found a Qur’an in his bag, hinting at Islamic inspiration, though family members say he was emotionally unstable and traumatized after a cousin was shot dead in a 2006 police arrest raid.

At the time, police said they were searching for weapons and claimed the shooting was in self-defence.

Milhem served time in an Israeli prison after being convicted of attacking a soldier and trying to steal his weapon. But he was also described by residents of the upscale Tel Aviv neighbourhood where he worked as a grocery store delivery man as being so trusted that customers gave him their house keys to make deliveries when they were out.

“I knew him like the back of my hand. He ate and drank and worked with us,” a local Israeli vegetable salesman who was not identified told Channel 10 TV. “He was a normal guy. . . . People really liked him. And I liked him too.”

The suspect’s picture is plastered across newspapers and television screens, and police say they are on “heightened alert,” with stepped-up security in Tel Aviv, as they conduct their investigation.

Assaf Zamir, a deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, said some neighbourhoods reported only 50 per cent school attendance but he expected the numbers to rise.

“From our experience as days go by, the numbers will fill up and everyone will come back to school,” he said.

“We have always bounced back.”

General Motors CEO Mary Barra is taking on the added role of chairman at the nation’s largest automaker.

The company’s directors Monday unanimously elected her to lead the board, effective immediately.

She replaces former Cummins Inc. Chairman and CEO Theodore Solso as GM’s chairman. He will stay on as the board’s lead independent director, the company said Monday in a statement.

Barra replaced Dan Akerson, a former telecommunications and private equity executive, who also held the chairman and CEO roles before leaving GM. GM’s leadership consolidation runs counter to the trend in corporate governance, according to the proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services. About half of the companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index have separated their chairman and CEO roles. That’s up from 30 per cent in 2005.

Corporate governance experts often recommend separation of the chairman and CEO roles to keep the board more independent. But Solso said in a statement that the board determined that it’s best to combine the chairman and CEO roles again “at a time of unprecedented industry change.”

He said that under Barra’s leadership, the company consistently has delivered its earnings targets and has led in breakthrough vehicles and technologies. Having Barra in the dual role, he said will “drive the most efficient execution of our plan and vision for the future.”

However, Charles Elson sees the consolidation as “a real step backwards” for GM. The director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware said boards have been separating the chairman and CEO roles because they are now viewed more as monitors of a company, not advisers.

“The board is there to oversee the CEO, and the person who is chairing

BARRA

the board shouldn’t be the person overseen by the board,” he said. “It’s a conflict.”

Barra joined GM at age 18 as a co-op student, working for several months at a time at GM’s Pontiac division while studying for her engineering degree at General Motors Institute, a Flint, Mich., college then owned by the company.

She graduated from GMI, now Kettering University, in 1985, and GM eventually sent her to Stanford University to earn an MBA. When she returned, she rotated through a number of jobs, including executive assistant to then-CEO Jack Smith, a role often given to rising stars. She headed midsize car engineering and managed GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

Just after GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, then-CEO Ed Whitacre put her in charge of human resources, a stop that isn’t normally along the CEO track.

In 2011, Akerson plucked Barra from HR to run GM’s huge worldwide product development, an operation he says was in chaos at the time.

Barra, 54, took over as CEO in January of 2014, becoming the first woman to lead a major global automaker.

Her appointment came shortly before GM became embroiled in a scandal over faulty small-car ignition switches.

But she led GM through the crisis and a related series of embarrassing safety recalls.

Defence gets delay in case of cops charged in shooting THE CANADIAN PRESS

BATHURST, N.B. — The case of two police officers charged in the shooting death of a New Brunswick businessman has been delayed while one of them hires a lawyer.

Michel Vienneau, 51, of Tracadie-Sheila was shot in his vehicle near the Bathurst train station last January during what police said was a drug investigation.

Constables Patrick Bulger, 38, and Mathieu Boudreau, 26 of the Bathurst City Police force were both charged in November with man-

slaughter, assault with a weapon and unlawfully pointing a firearm.

Both men appeared in provincial court Monday, but Boudreau’s defence lawyer, T.J. Burke, asked for more time to review the case before entering pleas. He also said Bulger needed more time to secure a lawyer, who would also need time to review the file.

Both of the accused avoided reporters by using different exits from the courthouse Monday, and members of the Vienneau family said they didn’t wish to speak. Burke offered no comment as he left the courthouse.

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NATION&WORLD 17

TERRORISM

MEXICO

Seige of India air base goes into third day; one attacker remains

Mayor’s murder seen as warning to officials

Army statement said last gunman firing from a building that is part of living quarters CHANNI ANAND AND MUNEEZA NAQVI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PATHANKOT, India — A fifth gunman was killed Monday on the third day of a siege at a heavily fortified Indian air base near the border with Pakistan and at least one attacker remained as troops worked to secure the sprawling compound, a military official said. Seven troops have been killed.

The search operations at Pathankot air force base will continue until all areas have been completely secured, Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh, from India’s elite National Security Guard, told reporters.

The attack has dragged on since early Saturday morning as government troops struggle to contain the heavily armed attackers. At least twice over the weekend it appeared that the attack had ended but fresh gunfire and explosions erupted both times.

Four attackers were reported killed

by Saturday evening, and at least two were said to have been exchanging gunfire with troops as of Monday morning. By evening one had been shot dead, Singh said.

Defence officials have said authorities had been alerted about a potential attack in the area on Friday, and that aerial surveillance at the base spotted the gunmen as they entered the compound, leading to criticism of the handling of the situation.

Singh told reporters in Pathankot that it will take a “long time” to declare the base completely secure

Outrage after maid offered as lotto prize THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NICOSIA, Cyprus — The Parent-Teacher Association of a Cyprus elementary school has come under fierce criticism for putting up a domestic helper as a prize in a children’s holiday lottery draw.

Cyprus PTA Confederation chief Maria Savva told state-run radio Monday that a man who runs a placement agency offered to waive the fees and costs of finding a housemaid as one of the prizes in the traditional children’s draw at the Aradippou school. It’s unclear if anyone claimed the prize.

Thousands of domestic helpers are employed in Cyprus, mostly foreign nationals who are recruited in countries where labour is cheaper.

Cyprus Education Ministry official Elpidoforos Neoclous condemned the prize on private Sigma TV station as “unacceptable.”

MARK STEVENSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Indian army soldiers take positions on a rooftop of a building outside the Indian airbase in Pathankot, 430 kilometres north of India’s capital, New Delhi, on Saturday. [AP PHOTO]

because of its size and geography. It is spread over more than 2,000 acres, including forests and tall grass.

The commanding officer of the base, Lt. Col. J.S. Dhamoon, described it as a “mini-city” with homes and a school for the children of the personnel stationed there.

An army statement said the last gunmen were firing from a building that is part of the living quarters on the base.

The base has a fleet of India’s Russian-origin MiG-21 fighter jets and Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, along with other military hard-

ware. Officials have said no military hardware has been damaged in the fighting.

Military funerals were held Monday for the soldiers who were killed in the attack.

Their killings inside a military base despite intelligence alerts have angered many in India.

“The biggest problem is the multiplicity of command and control.

Nobody knows who is really in charge,” said Rahul Bedi, an analyst for Jane’s Information Group.

The Pathankot base and the northern state of Punjab, where it

is located, has “probably the highest concentration of military personnel in India because it’s so close to the border with Pakistan,” Bedi said.

Since Saturday morning, the base has been swarming with air force commandos, army soldiers, National Security Guard troops and local police. Officials, however, have refused to say how many security personnel were involved in the engagement.

The air force base is on the highway that connects India’s insurgency-plagued Jammu and Kashmir state with the rest of the country.

U.S. POLITICS

Obama says he’s within legal rights to tighten U.S. gun restriction laws JOSH LEDERMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama defended his plans to tighten the nation’s gun-control restrictions on his own, insisting Monday that the steps he’ll announce fall within his legal authority and uphold the constitutional right to own a gun as he set himself up for a certain confrontation with Congress.

Opening his final year in office on an aggressive note, Obama summoned his attorney general and FBI chief to the Oval Office to firm up a set of measures he said he’d announce over the next few days.

Although the details are still uncertain, Obama’s administration has been preparing behind the scenes to expand background checks on gun sales by forcing more sellers to register as dealers.

OBAMA

“This is not going to solve every violent crime in this country,” Obama said, tempering expectations for gun control advocates calling for far-reaching executive action.

“It’s not going to prevent every mass shooting; it’s not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal. It

will potentially save lives and spare families the pain of these extraordinary losses.”

Obama is training his attention once again on a policy goal that has eluded his administration. He tried the legislative route in 2013, pushing hard for a package that included expanded background checks.

But that effort collapsed spectacularly in Congress. Obama and his aides have described their inability to move the issue forward as one of the most frustrating failures in his presidency.

This time, with barely a year left in office and his political currency dwindling, Obama is eschewing Congress in favour of presidential action.

Any proposal for new gun laws would be a non-starter in the Republican-controlled Congress — especially in a presidential election year.

MEXICO CITY — A drug gang killed a newly installed mayor over the weekend as a warning to other officials to reject state police control of local cops and let cartels co-opt low-paid local officers, the governor of Morelos state said Monday.

Gov. Graco Ramirez sent a post on his Twitter account blaming the slaying of Temixco Mayor Gisela Mota on the Rojos gang, which has been fighting a bloody turf battle with the Guerreros Unidos gang across the neighbouring state of Guerrero in southern Mexico.

Their rivalry may have played a role in the worst mass disappearance in recent memory, that of 43 students in Guerrero in 2014. Some suspects told investigators that Guerreros Unidos mistook the students for members of the Rojos and used local police under their control to capture them.

Without going into details, Ramirez had said at a news conference Sunday that Mota’s killing was tied to his efforts to unify state control of police forces in Morelos as a way to combat corruption in local police forces.

Mota had accepted state police control, though she had demanded traffic cops remain under local authority.

“This is a message and clear threat to the mayors who have recently taken office not to accept the co-ordination plan and police framework that we have been promoting,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said the state police plan has led to a decrease in the wave of kidnappings, extortions and drug gang killings that swept the state in recent years.

Many critics have questioned whether the unified command will be cleaner or more efficient than the local forces and the state government has struggled to persuade mayors to give up control of officers who are a source of influence, protection and often income from bribes.

A local newspaper, La Union de Morelos, cast doubt on Ramirez’s motives in an editorial Monday that accused him of opportunistically using Mota’s killing “to get around the growing opposition to a model of security whose effectiveness is belied by figures and facts.”

Following Mota’s killing Saturday, two suspects were killed in a clash with police and three others arrested — a 32-year-old woman, an 18-yearold man and a minor.

TThe expressway — and drug routes — between Mexico City and the country’s murder capital of Acapulco passes through Cuernavaca and Temixco.

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18 NATION&WORLD

@NanaimoDaily

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

STANDOFF

Officials lie low as ranch dispute simmers Armed group says it wants an inquiry into whether the U.S. government is forcing ranchers off their land REBECCA BOONE AND BRIAN MELLEY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BURNS, Ore. — Father-and-son ranchers convicted of setting fire to federal grazing land were expected to report to prison Monday as the armed anti-government activists who have taken up their cause maintained the occupation of a remote Oregon wildlife preserve.

Federal authorities made no immediate attempt to retake the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the remote high desert of eastern Oregon, which the activists seized last weekend as part of a decades-long fight over public lands in the West.

There appeared to be no urgent reason for federal officials to move in. No one has been hurt. No one is being held hostage. And because the refuge is a bleak and forbidding stretch of wilderness about 300 miles from Portland, in the middle of winter, the standoff is causing few if any disruptions.

Meanwhile, the armed group said it wants an inquiry into whether the government is forcing ranchers off their land after the father and son were ordered back to prison for arson on federal grazing lands.

The group of about two dozen members calling itself Citizens for constitutional Freedom demanded a government response within five days related to the ranchers’ extended sentences.

Ammon Bundy — one of the sons of rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 Nevada standoff with the government over grazing rights — told reporters that Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven Hammond, were treated unfairly.

The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006, one of which was set to cover up deer

Members of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, left, conduct a tour with the media on Monday near Burns, Ore. The group calls itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom and has sent a ‘demand for redress’ to local, state and federal officials. [AP PHOTO]

poaching, according to prosecutors.

The men served their original sentences —three months for Dwight and one year for Steven. But an appeals court judge ruled the terms fell short of minimum sentences that require them to serve about four more years.

Their sentences have been a rallying cry for the group, whose mostly male members said they want federal lands turned over to local authorities so people can use them free of U.S. oversight.

An attorney for the Hammonds said they were to turn themselves in Monday in Los Angeles.

The Hammonds have distanced themselves from the protest group and many locals, including people who want to see federal lands made more accessible, fear they may bring trouble.

Schools in the small town of Burns, about 30 miles from the refuge, were closed for the week out of concern for student safety.

For the moment, the federal government was doing nothing to remove them, but the FBI said it was monitoring the situation. The White House said President Obama was aware of the situation and hopes it can be resolved peacefully.

The refuge was established in 1908

by President Theodore Roosevelt to protect bird populations that had been decimated by plume hunters selling feathers for the hat industry.

It sits in a wide snow-covered valley rimmed by distant mountains and contains lakes and marshland. The preserve has grown over the years to about 300 square miles and surrounds the ranch Dwight Hammond bought with his father in 1964.

Dwight Hammond said his family has resisted pressure to sell the ranch as the federal government chipped away at his grazing allotments and increased fees on other lands.

The refuge contains about 10 small buildings, some of which had been entered by the occupying group.

Other members of the group blocked the entrance to the headquarters.

The takeover prompted an outcry far beyond Oregon from both those who want to see federal lands opened to more ranching and logging and others who were astounded that private citizens with guns could seize government property without any intervention by law enforcement.

Opponents say the federal government should administer lands for the widest possible uses, including environmental and recreational.

◆ CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.

◆ MOSCOW

◆ GUATEMALA, CITY

◆ VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

◆ PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

SpaceX’s booster rocket returns with no damage

Brit to be deported for alleged national insult

Volcano spews fiery material, ash columns

Man kills his children by throwing them in well

Presidential runoff can take place Jan. 17: Panel

SpaceX’s booster rocket, the Falcon, is back in its nest following a historic landing.

The California company led by Elon Musk shared a picture of the returned booster Sunday. The used Falcon 9 is shown on its side inside a hangar at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Musk says no damage was found.

The booster carried satellites aloft Dec. 21, then flew back to its specified landing zone, a first for an orbital mission. It landed upright on legs.

Musk plans to fire the booster again in a test to demonstrate rocket reusability.

This particular booster won’t fly again, given its significance. Another booster landing could occur as early as next month on a space station supply run for NASA.

Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry says a British citizen who made rude remarks about the country on social media is to be deported within a day.

The statement Monday on the ministry’s website did not specify what Michael McFeat said, but local media reports say his offending post likened a Kyrgyz sausage called chukchuk to the genitals of a horse.

According to the ministry, McFeat’s comment sparked labour unrest at the Kumitor gold mine, where he is an employee, and in the wake of the scandal he tried to leave the country but was detained at the capital’s international airport.

He was taken to court, charged with insulting the national dignity and then found to be lacking necessary papers for legal residence.

Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire has erupted in dramatic fashion, spewing incandescent material and sending columns of ash up to 7,000 metres above sea level.

No evacuations have been ordered due to Sunday night’s volcanic activity. But officials are asking nearby communities to remain vigilant.

The country’s volcanology agency says the mountain produced “constant sounds similar to a train locomotive and strong explosions” that rattled roofs and windows 18 miles (30 kilometres) away.

National disaster response spokesman David de Leon said Monday that particulate matter was falling in at least eight nearby towns.

The Volcano of Fire stands some 3,763 metres above sea level.

Police say a 36-year-old man in central Lithuania has admitted killing his two children by throwing them into a well during a domestic dispute.

Lithuanian police said Monday both the two-year-old boy and the six-month-old daughter drowned in the incident, which took place in the village of Savieciai in early January.

The unemployed man was not able to explain his actions to police, officials said. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.

President Dalia Grybauskaite summoned an emergency meeting of officials and police Monday. She said several recent cases of domestic violence and child abuse show that social problems are increasingly a concern in the Baltic country.

A panel that evaluated Haiti’s contested presidential election says the majority of the irregularities it found in first-round voting were due to ineptitude by poll workers.

Commission member Rosny Desroches said Monday that only eight per cent of examined tally sheets and other documents from the Oct. 25 vote were free of irregularities. But the commission describes that as a woeful lack of preparation rather than vote-rigging as the opposition has asserted.

He says commission members did not see evidence of widespread fraud favouring any candidate.

No. 2 finisher Jude Celestin has rejected the official election results and refused to campaign in recent weeks.

NEWS IN BRIEF The Associated Press

19

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NHL

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

CURLING

VAN OSCH

Daniels, Van Osch win B.C. title, will form provincial team at nationals SCOTT MCKENZIE DAILY NEWS

Vancouver Canucks right wing Derek Dorsett looks on as Arizona Coyotes right wing Shane Doan puts a shot past Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom during third period NHL action in Vancouver on Monday. [THE CANADIAN PRESS]

Canucks’ scoring issues remain in 3-2 loss BEN KUZMA THE PROVINCE

W

illie Desjardins’ mouth was wide open in disbelief and Daniel Sedin’s mouth looked like a chipped picket fence from taking a puck in the face.

Who knew they would combine to inject some needed life into the Vancouver Canucks when it mattered most Monday at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks look dead and buried when Jacob Markstrom couldn’t glove a Michael Stone shot and what appeared to be a 4-1 lead early in the third period looked safe.

Not quite.

Desjardins challenged that the scoring play was offside and the Canucks coach finally got one right with his fifth challenge of the season.

Six seconds later, Henrik Sedin put a saucer pass on Daniel Sedin’s blade and the winger went stick side to turn what had initially looked like a 4-1 hole into a 3-2 nail-biter, but that was the final score, and the loss raises concerns because the Canucks are now 8-7-9 in one-goal games.

Nobody was giving up more goals per game than the Coyotes at 3.18 per outing and what better way to prop up an offence that is plunging like the Canadian dollar.

However, on a night when the 39-year-old Shane Doan scored twice — once on a re-direct in the slot and another on a comedy of errors in front of the Canucks net — preventing goals has become as concerning as scoring them for Vancouver.

SPORTS INSIDE Today’s issue

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20 21 22 23 24 27 28

Doan’s easy second goal came after Chris Tanev had fallen and Tobias Rieder was left alone trying to deke Markstrom. He put his effort off the far post and an untouched Doan made a one-foot putt for his 15th goal of the season.

It was the same story when Laurent Dauphin scored his first NHL goal to give the Coyotes a 2-1 lead.

After Bo Horvat ended a prolonged scoring drought, the Arizona rookie easily deposited a loose puck just 19 seconds later after Yannick Weber went swimming by trying to defend.

WHAT THIS MEANS: Hurry back Sven Baertschi.

For all the ink spilled about what the winger hasn’t accomplished this season, goals in consecutive games last month at Detroit, Florida and Tampa were as impressive as his will-

ingness to get to the net and maintain a defensive awareness.

However, a hit from Jake Muzzin at side of the net on Dec. 28 saw his head snap back and sent him to the sidelines with neck and shoulder concerns.

Baertschi took the morning skate Monday but didn’t play. Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden said Baertschi was actually feeling good and was put on injury reserve to open up a roster spot for the recalled Alex Grenier.

Linden added that Baertschi is a possibility for Wednesday against Carolina.

Chris Higgins had two first-period shots and Ronalds Kenins had more of a presence Monday, but there’s a speed and creative element in Baertschi that’s much more intriguing.

WHAT WE LEARNED: Brandon Prust has strong opinions.

He has called out players and questioned a $2,000 diving fine to Jannik Hansen. But the Canucks winger wasn’t biting when asked if the leg-on-leg hit he took from Ryan Kesler on Friday — Prust didn’t practice Sunday, took the morning skate Monday but didn’t play — was intentional.

“It was a weird play and it definitely took my leg out,” he said. “Whether it was intentional or not, I’m not sure.

“I tried to make a play between my legs which is weird enough on its own.”

IN A WORD: BLEEDING: Daniel Sedin left in first period when Michael Stone swatted a puck out of his own zone and caught the winger in the mouth.

Daniel was stitched up and returned.

SCORING: Bo Horvat finally ended a 27-game goal drought by getting to the crease on a power play and jamming home a bouncing puck off the Coyotes’ defender.

SEEKING: Ben Hutton nearly scored his first career NHL goal when he went hard to the net and nearly deposited a Derek Dorsett centring pass off the wall.

ADVANCED STATS 56: Percentage of faceoffs won by rookie Jared McCann through two periods — 5-for-9 — and after going 0-for-10 against Los Angeles and with a 32 per cent efficiency this season, an improvement.

80: Percentage of positive Corsi for Dorsett at even strength through 40 minutes. Had a Corsi For of 12 and a Corsi Against of 3 for a combined Corsi of 9.

33: Games that rookie Hutton has gone in search of his first NHL goal.

But with six shot attempts through two periods — three on net, one block and two missed — he’s getting closer.

12: Distance in feet in which Horvat was away from the net when he charged to take an attempted Henrik Sedin pass. But the puck hit a Coyotes defenceman, who handed it to Horvat for unassisted power-play goal.

Nanaimo’s Marika Van Osch has seen a lot of Corryn Brown in the past four years.

The two have met numerous times, including in the last four junior women’s provincial curling championship matches.

And with Brown having won two of the last three, Van Osch helped even the score on Sunday, winning the 2015-16 B.C. junior curling title over Brown in Kamloops as part of the New Westminster-based Sarah Daniels rink.

“We played them a couple times before provincials started and had a pretty good record against them,” Van Osch said. “We were pretty confident we could at least pull out a good game against them, so it worked out really well for us. They missed a couple key shots and we were able to capitalize on that to pull out a win.”

The Daniels rink went 6-1 in the tournament’s round robin stage, and finished with an overall 8-2 record with their only losses coming at the hands of Brown — once in round robin, once in the page playoff, but not in the final when it counted most.

Sunday’s win was the fourth at the junior championships all-time for Van Osch, who also won with her sisters Kalia and Kesa in 2011-12.

She joined the Daniels rink last season with both her sisters having graduated to the women’s division and lost out to Brown in last year’s final. Now, the Daniels rink can go by a new name — Team B.C. They will represent the province at the Canadian Junior Championships held Jan. 23-31 in Stratford, Ont. Playing with her sisters, Van Osch reached the championship match at nationals in 2014.

“It’ll be two people on our team’s first time there,” van Osch said of this year’s national tournament. “I think for our team we just have to keep playing the way we can and just not take everything too seriously, relax and have a good time.”

Scott.McKenzie @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4243

20 SPORTS

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

YEAR IN REVIEW 2015

Clippers star is Athlete of the Year Sheldon Rempal led the team in goals in 2014-15, heads into 2016 as strong candidate for BCHL’s MVP award SCOTT MCKENZIE DAILY NEWS

A

t the beginning of 2015, Sheldon Rempal would show fans — from time to time — what he is capable of with a hockey puck on his stick. And it was pretty amazing. The left-winger led a stacked Nanaimo Clippers team in goals in the 2014-15 B.C. Hockey League season with 29, a team that made it all the way to Game 6 of the Fred Page Cup championship series.

It would have been a largely successful year already.

But what Rempal did at Frank Crane Arena and the other 16 BCHL arenas to wrap up 2015 was nothing short of spectacular.

He has led the league in goals and points for most of the 2015-16 season, and now has a two-point lead over Penticton Vees stars Scott Conway for the top spot on the BCHL leaderboard with 42 goals and 79 points in 40 games.

He is a strong candidate for the the BCHL’s Most Valuable Player award for the season, and on Dec. 30 became the first Clipper to score 40 goals in a season since Blair Riley did in 2005-06. And he’s still got 18 games to go.

For that, and much more, Rempal is the Daily News’ Athlete of the Year for 2015.

Rempal is now on pace for 115 points this season, which would be a feat no Clipper has achieved in well over a decade — the last Nanaimo players to produce more than 100 points in a season were Michel Léveillé (108) and Myles Kuharski (104) in 2001-02.

Rempal is also on pace to score 61 goals.

To put that in perspective, last season’s BCHL MVP and top scorer was Coquitlam Express star Corey Mackin, who had 50 goals and 54 assists.

Rempal recently passed Kyle Kramer for fourth all-time in career points with the Clippers, and if he remains on his pace for 214 points in three seasons in Nanaimo, he will be second all-time only behind eventual NHLer Barry Pederson.

He was a streaky scorer in 2014-15, but as the Clippers move into 2016, he is the clearly the most talented, driven and dynamic scorer that has played junior hockey in Nanaimo in a long, long time.

In his final year of junior eligibility, the 20-year-old from Calgary is a must-see player.

I

t was a memorable year for Rempal, 2015, for more than just his stats.

For one, he unexpectedly returned to the Clippers after putting off his NCAA Div. I hockey scholarship to play for the Clarkson Golden Knights due to issues with the NCAA Clearinghouse.

“I kind of just had to embrace it and swallow the pill,” Rempal said in July when it was apparent he would be back in Nanaimo.

“I talked to (Clippers head coach

Sheldon Rempal prepares for a faceoff during a 2014-15 B.C. Hockey League game at Frank Crane Arena. [SCOTT MCKENZIE/DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO]

and general manager Mike Vandekamp) a little bit and he has pretty high expectations for me to be a top scorer in the league and maybe even get up there in points this year, hopefully, and keep working on little things to get ready for college.”

That’s exactly what he did.

He scored at a scintillating pace, causing some opponents to revert to unconventional tactics to try to stop him.

But it’s rarely worked.

In 40 games, he’s been held without a point just four times.

He also had a five-goal game on the road against the Surrey Eagles in December.

“I was able to get a lucky one to start the game, and it just took off from there,” Rempal said after that game. “I got some nice passes from my linemates, found some lanes and was able to bury a few in the second.

“I was lucky enough to be out there at the end with their goalie pulled to put the fifth one in. It was fun.”

Rempal has guided the Clippers to a 25-14-1-0 record, which leads the Island Division.

He credits most of his success to experience in the league, and to his

trainer in Calgary for adding an extra step to his game over the summer.

“If you can believe it, I think he’s even faster,” said Clippers captain Devin Brosseau in an interview before Christmas.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Rempal wasn’t the only athlete in Nanaimo to have a noteworthy year in 2015.

Here are the other candidates for the Daily News’ Athlete of the Year award, in no specific order: • Tyus Barfoot, NDSS basketball By far the most talented, athletic player in high school basketball on the Island, Nanaimo Islanders guard Tyus Barfoot led his team to an Island Triple A championship and a seventh-place finish in provincials, where he was named a tournament all-star.

Barfoot ended his season by earning a scholarship to play for the University of Victoria Vikes.

• Josh Burgmann, Nanaimo Pirates One of the brightest young baseball prospects in Canada (with another year to play before college), right-handed pitcher Josh Burgmann had a scintillating year on the mound

with the Vauxhall Academy Jets in Alberta, the Nanaimo Pirates in the B.C. Premier Baseball League, and Team Canada at the Under 18 World Baseball Cup in Japan.

Burgmann has since committed to play NCAA baseball at the University of Washington after graduating high school in 2016.

• Jenna Carver, VIU basketball Vancouver Island University Mariners forward Jenna Carver wrapped up her five-year PacWest basketball career in 2015 by setting a school record for rebounds in a game with 29 against Mt. Allison.

She was a team leader for a squad that hosted Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championships in March and won a conference bronze medal. She also led the PacWest in rebounding throughout the season. Carver now coaches the Nanaimo Islanders senior girls basketball team.

• Cory Fletcher, John Barsby football After playing most of his minor career with Football Nanaimo, Grade 12 senior linebacker Cory Fletcher joined the John Barsby Bulldogs to take a crack at the four-down game.

While the Bulldogs couldn’t win

their third straight Varsity AA B.C. championship, Fletcher was 10th in the province with 67 tackles in nine games (including two games his opponents forfeited).

After the season, he was named as the Varsity AA B.C. defensive player of the year, the second straight year that award was earned by a Barsby linebacker.

• Justin King, VIU basketball After taking time off from college basketball, Justin King joined VIU for one memorable season in 2014-15 before signing a pro deal in Australia in the summer.

King, a Las Vegas native, was named as a CCAA All-Canadian, the PacWest player of the year, and led his team to a conference championship and an appearance in the national championship game.

He was also part of a Mariners team that set a school record for points in a game with 136 against the Kwantlen Eagles.

His 23.6 points per game with the Mariners is also the best ever at VIU. Scott.McKenzie @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4243

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

@NanaimoDaily

SPORTS 21

WORLD JUNIORS

Russia, Finland will meet for gold medal Americans led the Russians 1-0 but fell 2-1, host Finland beat archrival Sweden to advance to the final THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HELSINKI — Yegor Korshkov had a goal and an assist and Russia advanced to the gold-medal game of the world junior hockey championship with a 2-1 victory over the United States on Monday.

Russia will face host Finland for the gold on Tuesday. The Finns advanced to the final after hanging on to beat Sweden 2-1 earlier Monday.

Pavel Kraskovski also scored for Russia and Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.

“We’ve got to forget about the game tonight and worry about tomorrow.“ Christian Dvorak, Team USA

Christian Dvorak scored for the United States, which will face Sweden on Tuesday in the bronze-medal game. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 31 shots.

The Americans have won bronze

four times (1986, 1992, 2007, 2011).

It’s a disappointing outcome for a team loaded with NHL-drafted talent.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” U.S. top scorer Auston Matthews said.

“They kept us on the outside, and they blocked a lot of shots.”

The Russians ousted the U.S. in the tournament for the third straight year.

“We’ve got to recover here,” Dvorak said.

“We’ve got to forget about the game tonight and worry about tomorrow. We’ve got a chance to win

a bronze medal, so we’ve got to give it all we’ve got.”

Dvorak opened the scoring at the 9:03 mark of the first period. He swatted in a cross-crease pass from linemate Sonny Milano.

“We started off pretty well,” Dvorak said. “I thought we played a pretty good, solid game today. We just didn’t get the bounces we needed.

We ran into some penalty trouble. It stings, for sure.”

Kraskovski knocked in a rebound from just outside the crease to tie it 1-all for Russia at 15:08 of the second

period. Korshkov gave Russia the lead for good minutes later, pushing the puck between Nedeljkovic’s foot and the near post.

In the other semifinal, Antti Kalapudas scored a second-period power-play goal to send Finland to its second championship final in three years. The Finns beat host Sweden 3-2 in the 2014 gold medal game.

Roope Hintz also scored and Kasperi Kapanen and team captain Mikko Rantanen each added two assists for Finland. Kaapo Kahkonen made 21 saves for Finland.

BOOK

HOCKEY

Tie Domi tells it all in his new autobiography

Top prospect Matthews focuses on team after U.S. loss in world juniors semifinal

NEIL DAVIDSON THE CANADIAN PRESS

JOHN CHIDLEY-HILL THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — The photos on the inside cover of Tie Domi’s Shift Work tell the book’s tale.

There are shots of family as well as stars like Mario Lemieux and Mark Wahlberg. But they are outnumbered by those showing Domi surrounded by firefighters, cabbies, police officers, construction workers and other everyday folk.

The former NHL tough guy values his real-life connections and what they stand for.

Domi, 46, said he turned down past requests to do a book because he didn’t want the focus to be on fighting. Instead he wanted to write a book dedicated to his late father, about positive life-lessons and oldschool values like treating people how you want to be treated.

“If I was going to do a book, I wanted to make sure it was a book that I can actually put my name to and be proud of,” Domi said in an interview.

After 16 years, 1,118 games and 3,753 penalty minutes in the National Hockey League, Domi had no shortage of hockey stories. He says he fought a record 333 times during his NHL career.

“Not that I’m proud of it, but it is what it is,” he writes.

But when he decided to say yes to a book, he promised only headlines from his childhood, career and life after hockey. There were other things he wanted to say.

“If you want to be a true leader and a decent person in this world you have to know the real people who do the hard work in life,” he writes.

“That goes for business and everyday life as well as hockey.”

“If everyone would take the time to acknowledge people and get to know them and show them the basic common courtesy they deserve — even just a simple hello and goodbye — the world would be a much better place,” he adds. “Just remember that everyone is equal, on a hockey team and in life.”

uston Matthews showed why he is considered the top pick in this summer’s NHL draft. But right now, he just doesn’t care.

All the American forward could talk about on Monday was United States’ 2-1 loss to Russia in the semifinals at the world junior hockey championship.

Yes, his seven goals lead the tournament heading into to the final.

Yes, his seven assists put him in third for overall points. But to Matthews, none of that matters without a gold medal around his neck.

“I thought I was fine,” said Matthews of his performance throughout the tournament. “I thought my line did well. I thought we really clicked well and as a team we played unbelievable as well. There’s really nothing you can say.

“We gave 110 per cent and obviously it’s a tough pill to swallow with losing in the semifinals.”

Yegor Korshkov had the eventual winner and added an assist as Russia advanced to the final against host Finland. The Finns advanced to the final after hanging on to beat Sweden 2-1 earlier Monday.

The United States will play Sweden in the bronze medal game earlier Tuesday.

“We’ve got to refocus, get ready for tomorrow and play with some pride for our country,” said Matthews.

“Any time you put on that jersey you’ve got to be ready to play.”

Pavel Kraskovski also scored for Russia and Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for the win. Christian Dvorak scored for the United States, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 31 shots.

Matthews, who most experts expect will go first overall in the draft this June, has taken an unconventional path to the NHL. Instead of playing in major junior in Canada or in the NCAA in the U.S., the native of Scottsdale, Ariz., opted to play

A

United States’ star Auston Matthews reacts to his team’s loss to Russia during semifinal hockey action at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland. [AP PHOTO]

professionally for the ZSC Lions in Zurich, Switzerland. The 18-year-old forward leads his club with 14 goals despite playing against adult veterans. Matthews was put on a line with Matthew Tkachuk and Colin White for the world juniors. Captain Zach Werenski praised both Matthews and Tkachuk — who is also draft eligible

— after the Americans’ semifinal loss.

“They’re unbelievable players,” said Werenski. “They’re everything they’re hyped up to be. They had great tournaments, both of them. It’s just unfortunate the way it ended.”

Head coach Ron Wilson had nothing but praise for Matthews’s per-

formance at the international event after practice on Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve been very impressed,” said Wilson. “Right from the get-go this summer Auston was our best player. I only hope that my coaching wouldn’t hinder any of his play at all and so far it hasn’t. He’s been exemplary.”

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NFL

Lynch rejoins Seahawks, could start in playoffs against Vikings Star runningback had been rehabbing an injury in his hometown of Oakland, Calif.

JAYSON JENKS THE SEATTLE TIMES

W

hen teammates invoke Marshawn Lynch’s nickname, they are paying tribute to his reputation.

All the runs, over all the years, that earned him the title of Beast Mode.

That is the level where Lynch has been, but the question is: Will he remain there if he returns for the playoffs after having abdominal surgery in November?

Lynch rejoined the team Monday, which means he might play in Sunday’s playoff game at Minnesota. His teammates expressed full confidence in him.

“Beast Mode,” offensive tackle Garry Gilliam said. “Let him do his thing.”

“I mean, there’s nothing like having Beast Mode,” receiver Jermaine Kearse said. “You know what I’m saying?”

But what will the Seahawks get?

Lynch hasn’t played in almost two months and played in only seven games this season because of various injuries.

When he played, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry, his lowest average since 2010. By other measures Lynch was the same as ever. Pro Football Focus ranked Lynch as the league’s third-best running back as late as December. More interesting, though, is this tidbit from PFF: Lynch was one of the league’s most elusive running backs, having forced 37 missed tackles on 124 touches.

If healthy — a big disclaimer — Lynch gives the position stability and experience. No one understands what

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) runs against the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 22. [AP PHOTO]

“I mean, there’s nothing like having Beast Mode. You know what I’m saying?“ Jermaine Kearse, Seahawks receiver

the Seahawks want from their running backs better than Lynch. And no one should be better suited to readjust to how the offensive line is playing, how all the pieces are fitting together, on the fly.

He has seen it all before, and he has

six 100-yard performances in 10 playoff games.

“He’s a master craftsman,” safety Earl Thomas said. “He understands how to flow with what’s going on, and that just adds power to what we bring to the table.”

Lynch gives the Seahawks a trusted source in big moments, when they need a yard or two, on second and third down.

“Ain’t nothing to worry about,” receiver Doug Baldwin said.

There always has been something almost mystical about what Lynch has meant to the Seahawks. For years Lynch infused the Seahawks

with an identity. When you thought of the Seattle Seahawks over the past few years, you thought of Lynch and the defense, often in that order.

“Just the way he runs brings energy,” Gilliam said. “Regardless of it’s a long run or a short run, just the way he runs and the physicality he brings to the game, we all feed off of it, from offense to defense to special teams. I’m excited.”

But the offense’s dynamics have shifted this season. Quarterback Russell Wilson had the best season in franchise history, and the offense has clicked in ways it hasn’t before.

Running the ball is still the Seahawks’ top priority, but Lynch is returning to a different team than the one he last played for in November.

Offensive-line coach Tom Cable hinted at this change, however big, a couple weeks ago.

“I think if he’s right and ready to and all that, I’ve said this before, he’s a fine football player,” Cable said in December. “So it’s his ability to adapt to us, really, who we are and how we’ve come together as a group and as a team.”

Cable added, “That will be his challenge.”

It’s unclear how Lynch will play, how it will all fit together. But his teammates look forward to welcoming him back.

“His leadership, his presence,” Baldwin said.

“Even though he was gone, he was very present with our team and talking to people, sending text messages.

To have him in our huddle, it gives us a different mentality. I’m excited to get him back.”

Broncos’ QB quandry not an issue as top AFC seed ARNIE STAPLETON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER — Tom Brady handing off like he was Tim Tebow. The Panthers playing like they had nothing wrapped up. The Browns looking for an AWOL Johnny Manziel.

Week 17 was full of big calls, none more so than Gary Kubiak’s decision to bench Brock Osweiler for Peyton Manning.

“I don’t think Brock did anything wrong,” Kubiak said. “Just my gut told me to turn it over to him.”

Kubiak’s hunch paid off as Manning led Denver to 20 points in 1 1-2 quarters for a 27-20 win that gave Denver the top seed in the AFC playoffs.

Even though Osweiler had thrown for 222 first-half yards, including a 72-yard TD to Demaryius Thomas on the game’s second play, five turnovers — only one of which was his fault — ended Osweiler’s day.

Fans greeted Manning like a conquering hero when he trotted onto

KUBIAK

the field with 8:18 left in the third quarter.

“They were cheering loud, but I’m pretty sure everybody was in their same seats when they were booing my butt off against Kansas City back about six weeks ago,” Manning said of his four-interception nightmare that sent him to the sideline with a torn left plantar fascia on Nov. 15.

So, the Broncos (12-4) head into

their first-round bye with a quarterback quandary on their hands.

Kubiak isn’t saying who his starter will be. Osweiler has been more effective, but Manning is far more accomplished and experienced — 24 playoff starts, albeit 13 of them losses.

Kubiak needed to see how Manning would do before the playoffs began, and he’ll find out this week how his sore foot held up.

One thing’s for sure, Kubiak said: This is a nice problem to have.

“I would say it’s enjoyable because of where we’re at. In this business you work really, really hard to get in the position that we’re in right now and to be a part of this next month,” Kubiak said. “There’s always going to be tough decisions to make.”

Manning has played in two dozen playoff games, but he’s gone oneand-done an NFL-worst nine times.

He nearly led the league in interceptions despite missing nearly half this

season, finishing one behind Blake Bortles’ 18. And he was just 5 of 9 for 69 yards Sunday.

Osweiler is more mobile, athletic and accurate right now.

But Manning makes up for that in pedigree and panache. He also has something to prove now after starting out Sunday as a backup for the first time as a pro.

GM John Elway’s philosophy in free agency is to go after younger players, but he was more than willing to make exceptions for Manning and DeMarcus Ware, both coming off injuries when they got their second chance in Denver.

“I like getting Hall of Fame players with chips on their shoulders,” Elway explained last year.

And in Manning he now has a bigtime player with a huge chip on his shoulder.

Manning’s nemesis, meanwhile, is sore all over except for his right shoulder.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

NFL BRIEFS The Associated Press ◆ NEW YORK

With two Super Bowl rings, Coughlin resigns With the New York Giants facing a difficult decision on his coaching future after four straight years out of the playoffs, Tom Coughlin walked away gracefully, doing what was best for him.

The Giants gave him 12 years to run one of the NFL’s flagship organizations. He delivered two Super Bowls and restored the franchise to the league’s elite for a while.

It was mutually beneficial, and so was the departure Monday when the 69-year-old Coughlin resigned rather than force co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch to fire him.

The Giants announced the decision one day after the Giants (6-10) capped their third straight losing season with a 35-30 defeat against Philadelphia, their third in a row and sixth in seven games.

◆ MIAMI

Dolphins promote from within with new GM hire The first step in the Miami Dolphins’ latest round of off-season changes was settled quickly Monday, when Chris Grier’s promotion to general manager was finalized.

His first task: Help the Dolphins find a coach.

With Grier in place, the biggest order of Dolphins’ off-season business — finding a coach — could get under way. Former Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith interviewed for the job Monday, Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan will get an interview Tuesday, Chicago offensive co-ordinator Adam Gase is expected to be a top candidate and many players are clamouring for interim coach Dan Campbell to be back.

◆ CLEVELAND

Manziel back with Browns after shakeup Johnny Manziel showed up to assess the damage.

One day after the Browns fired coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer to conclude a miserable 3-13 season, Manziel returned to the team’s facility after being spotted in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Manziel was excused from being at the home finale against Pittsburgh because of a concussion, but owner Jimmy Haslam said the second-year quarterback failed to report for medical treatment for his head injury.

The Browns weren’t sure of Manziel’s exact location on Sunday, when USA Today reported the 23-year-old was in Vegas eating at a casino and even sitting down at a blackjack table. It’s the latest drama surrounding Manziel, who has not delivered on expectations after being drafted in the first round in 2014.

According to several teammates, Manziel was in attendance for exit meetings and when Cleveland’s players were addressed Monday by Haslam and Sashi Brown, the team’s newly appointed head of football operations.

www.nanaimodailynews.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

NHL

@NanaimoDaily

SPORTS 23

NBA

Blackhawks Raptors fall 122-100 to Irving, Cavaliers captain just keeps on coming through STEVE HERRICK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHRIS KUC CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Captain Serious has been Captain Clutch for the Blackhawks.

With games on the line, no Hawk has come up bigger than Jonathan Toews, who now holds the single-season franchise record with an NHL-leading four overtime goals — and the season isn’t halfway over. “There are only a handful of guys who are going to get the opportunity to make the difference in the game,�

Toews said of playing in the threeon-three overtime format. “There is the same mindset in the shootout to be the guy who makes the difference.

I’ve had some pretty good opportunities to score and been lucky enough to see a few of them go in.�

Four of Toews’ last five goals have been game-winners to move him into second in the league with six behind the Sharks’ Joe Pavelski (seven).

Toews’ overtime goal in the Hawks’ 4-3 victory over the Avalanche on Thursday was his 49th career winner, pulling him into a tie with Steve Larmer for third in Hawks history, trailing only Stan Mikita (67) and Bobby Hull (65). “It’s a good feeling, especially when you’re fighting to score and create offense,� Toews said. “A lot of those goals have happened on nights when, in some ways, I was frustrated with my production and I was able to find a bounce when it mattered.�

Coach Joel Quenneville knows whom to turn to in critical moments. “(Toews) plays a lot of overtimes, plays meaningful minutes, is out there at critical times of the game, and his minutes seem to go up when the games are tight,� Quenneville said. “He finds a way to score in big settings. “We all know he’s a big-time player.

He seems to rise to the challenge, (and) the bigger the game, the bigger the setting, the bigger the time of the game, he usually finds a way to be the guy.�

That includes shootouts. Toews has converted on 40 attempts in his career to tie for second in NHL history (the league adopted the shootout in 2005-06). His shootout success rate of 49.4 percent is third all time.

Well on his way to surpassing his career high of eight game-winners set in 2010-11, Toews has been more adept at scoring in key situations. He has seven non-winning goals.

With Toews centering a line with Marian Hossa for much of the season and Andrew Shaw joining them recently, production from the top trio has been down. Hossa has not scored in his last 11 games, and Shaw has one goal in his last nine. “We work hard and we play well, but they’re not going in,� Toews said.

CLEVELAND — Here’s more bad news for opponents of the Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving is back.

Playing his sixth game since returning from a broken left kneecap, Irving scored a season-high 25 points and Cleveland defeated the Toronto Raptors 122-100 on Monday night.

The performance was a big moment for Irving, who faced nearly seven months of rehab after being injured in Game 1 of last season’s NBA Finals. “It’s about getting better every game,� said Irving, who returned to the lineup Dec. 20. “It was so fun to be out there.�

Irving was 10 of 16 from the field with eight assists and six rebounds.

The three-time All-Star scored 14 points in the second half when Cleveland pulled away enough that LeBron James sat out the fourth quarter. “He’s much better than an AllStar,� said James, who had 20 points and seven assists in 31 minutes. “If he continues to play the way he’s been playing, but also progress in his game over the years, he can do something that’s very special. I know in my head what he can become and tonight he showed it.�

Irving exchanged hugs with James and Cavaliers coach David Blatt on the court after the game. “Honestly, I just told him, ’Man, it’s good to have you back and looking at full strength,�’ Blatt said. “It felt like he was himself tonight. It just looked like the old Kyrie.�

J.R. Smith scored 24 points on eight three-pointers, and all five

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, left, and teammate Tristan Thompson, right, put pressure on Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry during a game on Monday in Cleveland. [AP PHOTO]

Cleveland starters finished in double figures. Tristan Thompson added 14 points with 11 rebounds, and Kevin Love scored 14 as Cleveland improved to 15-1 at home.

The Cavaliers used a 21-9 run late in the third quarter to finally open up some distance on the Raptors, who were led by Kyle Lowry’s 23 points. Smith’s three-pointer midway through the third broke a 69-all tie.

Two dunks and a three-pointer by James, Irving’s layup and Matthew Dellavedova’s three-pointer keyed the spurt for Cleveland, which led 90-78 going into the fourth.

Smith’s eight 3s were a season

high, and the Cavaliers hit 17 of 33 for the game. “That won the game for them right there,� Lowry said. “They’re a real good team and they’re the Eastern Conference champs for a reason, so they’re the team to beat.�

Dellavedova added 11 points. Love, who didn’t participate in the morning shootaround because he wasn’t feeling well, played 33 minutes and grabbed nine rebounds. The final margin was Cleveland’s biggest lead.

DeMar DeRozan scored 19 for Toronto, which played without forward DeMarre Carroll (sore right knee).

INJURY WOES Carroll’s knee injury has forced him to play at less than 100 per cent and kept him out Monday. “His right knee is swollen a little bit more than usual,� coach Dwane Casey said. “It’s a concern, but we’ve got to look at the long term with him and get him right.�

LONG TRIP The Cavaliers begin a six-game road trip Wednesday in Washington. The trip also includes stops in Minnesota, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Cleveland doesn’t play at home again until Jan. 18 against Golden State.

Ex-Canuck Murray Baron proud to be included in B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame BRAD ZIEMER VANCOUVER SUN

VANCOUVER — Murray Baron has only one real regret about a National Hockey League playing career that lasted 15 seasons.

He wishes he’d squeezed another dozen games out of it.

Baron retired in 2004 having played 988 NHL games and acknowledged Monday that in recent years the fact he didn’t quite make it to 1,000 has bothered him. “I should have tried to stick around a bit longer,� Barron said after he was named as one of six 2016 inductees to the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame. “That’s a regret, but there’s nothing you can do about it now.�

Barron, who was born in Prince George and raised in Kamloops, is proud of the career he did carve out in the NHL as a dependable, stay-athome defenceman. “Even making the league was an accomplishment,� Baron said. “I was an eighth-round draft pick and played house-league hockey up until midget, so I am definitely proud of the career I had.�

Barron had 35 goals, 129 points and 1,309 penalty minutes in his NHL career. “I definitely wasn’t a point-getter, you know that,� said the man his teammates called Bear.

Baron spent five seasons with the Canucks, from 1997-98 through 2002-03. He is entering the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame with three other new inductees who have Canuck connections.

Former Vancouver teammate Brendan Morrison, longtime Canucks equipment manager Pat O’Neil and former Canucks defenceman and current B.C. Hockey League commissioner John Grisdale will also be inducted at a July 22 ceremony in Penticton, along with longtime Merritt hockey supporter Brian Barrett.

The 1998-99 Vernon Vipers team, winners of RBC Cup-Canadian Junior A championship, is the other B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame indictee for 2016. “When I got here we struggled,� Baron said of his stint with the Canucks. “But we improved each year and to be part of Nazzie (Markus Naslund), Bert (Todd Bertuzzi) and Mo (Morrison) when they were flying was nice. We had some good teams there toward the end.�

Now 48, Baron settled in Phoenix after retiring, but is back living in Kamloops with his wife and two sons. He still owns a Kamloops nightclub, but has sold the pub he once owned.

He said his two boys — aged five and 10 — keep him busy. “They’re both in hockey,� he said. “I am one of the coaches for my older son’s team. We are at the rink probably four or five nights a week now.

It’s busy.�

He called his induction into B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame something special. “Your career goes by really fast,� he said. “I can remember my first game like it was yesterday and the next thing you know 15 years has gone by.�

January 4 - March 10, 2016 Schedules are subject to change without notice.

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24 SPORTS

NHL

HOCKEY

EASTERN CONFERENCE

COYOTES 3, CANUCKS 2

ATLANTIC DIVISION

)LUVW 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — Dorsett Vcr (tripping) 11:51.

6HFRQG 3HULRG 1. Arz, Doan 14 (Murphy, Richardson) 6:55.

2. Vancouver, Horvat 3, 13:41 (pp).

3. Arz, Dauphin 1 (Rieder, Domingue) 14:00.

3HQDOWLHV — Domi Ariz (goaltender interference) 12:24; Dauphin Ariz (interference) 18:35; Horvat Vcr (hook) 20:00.

7KLUG 3HULRG 4. Arz, Doan 15 (Rieder, Vermette) 1:13 (pp).

5. Van, D.Sedin 17 (H.Sedin, Tanev) 4:41.

3HQDOWLHV — None.

6KRWV RQ JRDO E\ Arizona 10 12 7 —29 Vancouver 12 14 11 —37 *RDO — Arizona: Domingue (W, 4-2-2); Van: Markstrom (L, 4-5-3). 3RZHU SOD\V (goal-chances) — Arizona: 1-2; Van: 1-2. $WWHQGDQFH — 18,377 at Vancouver.

Florida Montreal Detroit

*3 : / 39 23 12 40 22 15 40 20 13

2/ 3 2 5

6/ *) *$ 1 106 85 1 116 99 2 101 106

3WV +RPH 50 13-6-2-0 47 11-6-2-0 47 11-8-3-1

$ZD\ 10-6-1-1 11-9-0-1 9-5-2-1

/DVW 9-1-0-0 3-7-0-0 4-5-0-1

6WUN W-9 W-1 W-2

2/ 2 3 2

6/ *) *$ 1 121 83 2 113 99 2 112 103

3WV +RPH 59 15-3-1-0 49 13-6-2-0 46 14-5-1-0

$ZD\ 13-4-1-1 9-7-1-2 7-9-1-2

/DVW 6WUN 8-1-0-1 L-2 5-5-0-0 W-1 3-6-1-0 L-1

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

Washington NY Islanders NY Rangers

*3 : / 38 28 7 40 22 13 39 21 14

WILD CARD

New Jersey Boston Ottawa Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Carolina Philadelphia Toronto Buffalo Columbus

*3 : 40 20 37 20 40 19 38 19 39 19 40 16 37 15 37 15 39 15 40 15

/ 15 13 15 15 16 17 15 15 20 22

2/ 1 3 2 1 1 6 4 3 1 2

6/ *) 4 93 1 116 4 114 3 91 3 100 1 92 3 79 4 99 3 91 1 103

*$ 95 102 120 93 95 111 102 103 105 127

3WV +RPH 45 9-9-1-2 44 9-10-2-0 44 10-5-1-3 42 10-7-0-3 42 10-8-0-2 39 8-8-3-1 37 8-5-2-2 37 7-6-3-2 34 8-12-1-1 33 7-8-2-1

$ZD\ 11-6-0-2 11-3-1-1 9-10-1-1 9-8-1-0 9-8-1-1 8-9-3-0 7-10-2-1 8-9-0-2 7-8-0-2 8-14-0-0

/DVW 5-4-0-1 5-4-1-0 4-5-0-1 4-5-0-1 5-4-0-1 4-3-3-0 4-4-0-2 6-2-2-0 4-5-0-1 4-5-1-0

6WUN L-1 L-1 W-1 W-2 W-1 L-2 L-3 W-2 L-4 W-2

WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION

Dallas St. Louis Chicago

*3 : / 41 28 9 42 23 14 40 23 13

2/ 2 4 4

6/ *) *$ 2 144 107 1 103 103 0 111 97

3WV +RPH 60 16-4-0-0 51 13-7-3-0 50 15-5-1-0

$ZD\ 12-5-2-2 10-7-1-1 8-8-3-0

/DVW 6WUN 5-3-1-1 L-2 5-4-1-0 L-3 7-3-0-0 W-3

*3 : / 39 25 12 39 19 16 38 16 15

2/ 1 3 5

6/ *) *$ 1 105 87 1 110 124 2 73 90

3WV +RPH 52 12-6-0-0 42 10-6-2-0 39 10-5-3-1

$ZD\ 13-6-1-1 9-10-1-1 6-10-2-1

/DVW 6WUN 6-4-0-0 L-1 5-2-2-1 W-1 5-3-1-1 W-1

*3 : 38 20 39 19 40 19 40 15 37 18 38 18 39 18 41 17

2/ 6 6 3 7 2 1 1 3

6/ *) 1 101 1 103 0 113 2 97 0 101 1 101 1 104 0 102

3WV +RPH 47 14-5-1-0 45 12-5-2-1 41 7-9-3-0 39 7-8-3-0 38 5-11-0-0 38 12-7-0-0 38 11-5-1-0 37 12-7-1-0

$ZD\ 6-6-5-1 7-8-4-0 12-9-0-0 8-8-4-2 13-6-2-0 6-11-1-1 7-14-0-1 5-14-2-0

/DVW 5-4-0-1 4-4-2-0 6-2-2-0 4-5-0-1 4-4-2-0 6-4-0-0 4-6-0-0 3-6-1-0

PACIFIC DIVISION

Los Angeles Arizona Anaheim

WILD CARD

Minnesota Nashville Colorado Vancouver San Jose Calgary Winnipeg Edmonton

@NanaimoDaily

/ 11 13 18 16 17 18 19 21

*$ 90 102 111 113 106 121 114 122

6WUN L-2 W-1 W-1 L-1 L-1 W-1 L-1 W-2

1RWH winning team is credited with 2 points and a victory in the W column; a team losing in overtime or shootout receives 1 point in the respective OTL or SOL column.

0RQGD\¡V UHVXOWV Arizona 3 Vancouver 2 Ottawa 3 St. Louis 2 (OT) Edmonton 1 Carolina 0 (OT) Colorado 4 Los Angeles 1 Detroit 1 New Jersey 0 6XQGD\¡V UHVXOWV NY Islanders 6 Dallas 5 Florida 2 Minnesota 1 Chicago 3 Ottawa 0 Anaheim 4 Winnipeg 1 7XHVGD\¡V JDPHV Minnesota at Columbus, 7 p.m.

Dallas at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.

Washington at Boston, 7 p.m.

Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

Montreal at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Winnipeg at Nashville, 8 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Calgary, 9 p.m. :HGQHVGD\¡V JDPHV New Jersey at Montreal, 7 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Chicago, 8 p.m.

Carolina at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

Toronto at Anaheim, 10 p.m.

St. Louis at Colorado, 10 p.m.

7KXUVGD\¡V JDPHV Washington at NY Islanders, 7 p.m.

Florida at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Winnipeg at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Arizona at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Toronto at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.

Detroit at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.

RED WINGS 1, DEVILS 0 )LUVW 3HULRG 1. Detroit, Larkin 14 (Richards, Sheahan) 9:20.

3HQDOWLHV — None.

6HFRQG 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — Tatar Det (goaltender interference) 9:06.

7KLUG 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — Tlusty NJ (boarding) 10:44; Abdelkader Det (kneeing) 13:03.

6KRWV RQ JRDO Detroit 9 6 6 —21 New Jersey 12 5 4 —21 *RDO — Detroit: Mrazek (W, 13-8-3); NJ: Schneider (L, 17-11-5).

3RZHU SOD\V (goal-chances) — Detroit: 0-1; NJ: 0-2. $WWHQGDQFH — 15,547 at New Jersey.

Kane, Chi Benn, Dal Seguin, Dal Hall, Edm Karlsson, Ott Tarasenko, StL Wheeler, Win Gaudreau, Cal Pavelski, SJ Malkin, Pgh

0RQGD\ V JDPHV QRW LQFOXGHG

BASEBALL

BASKETBALL NBA

SCORING LEADERS A 34 28 27 25 32 17 30 22 18 19

MOVES HOUSTON — Agreed to terms with OF Eury Perez and RHP Cesar Valdez on minor league contracts.

)LUVW 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — Ehrhoff LA (delay of game) 5:29; King LA (interference) 9:58; AnGUHRII /$ 0F/HRG &RO ÀJKWLQJ

Martinsen Col (elbowing) 14:25.

6HFRQG 3HULRG 1. Colorado, Barrie 5 (Duchene, Comeau) 6:34 (pp).

2. LA, Toffoli 19 (Kopitar, Muzzin) 11:01 (pp).

3. Colorado, Barrie 6 (Martinsen) 12:20.

3HQDOWLHV — Muzzin LA (high-sticking) 5:24; Varlamov Col (delay of game) 10:31; Landeskog Col (hooking) 16:26; Martinez LA (tripping) 19:36.

7KLUG 3HULRG 4. Colorado, Duchene 18 (Barrie, Landeskog) 1:23 (pp).

5. Col, Iginla 11 (Barrie, Comeau) 13:02 (pp).

3HQDOWLHV — Beauchemin Col (delay of game) 9:18; Doughty LA (interference) 12:01; Landeskog Col (high-stick) 13:34.

6KRWV RQ JRDO Los Angeles 7 8 16 —31 Colorado 10 13 10 —33 *RDO — LA: Enroth (L, 3-3-1); Colorado: Varlamov (W, 13-10-3). 3RZHU SOD\V (goal-chances) — LA: 1-5; Colo: 3-5. $WWHQGDQFH — 15,202 at Colorado.

G 23 24 23 16 9 23 10 17 20 18

)LUVW 3HULRG 1. StL, Brouwer 7 (Steen, Stastny) 14:16.

3HQDOWLHV — Gunnarsson StL (hook) 5:09; Chiasson Ott (trip) 6:40; GunnarsVRQ 6W/ 0F&RUPLFN 2WW ÀJKWLQJ

6HFRQG 3HULRG 2. St. Louis, Shattenkirk 8 (Steen, Tarasenko) 7:42 (pp).

3. Ottawa, Hoffman 19 (Ryan, Karlsson) 18:46 (pp).

3HQDOWLHV — Prince Ott (hooking) 2:30; Stone Ott (hooking) 6:42; Gunnarsson StL (stick holding) 18:19.

7KLUG 3HULRG 4. Ottawa, Ryan 12 (Turris) 5:01 (pp).

3HQDOW\ — Bouwmeester StL (trip) 4:57.

2YHUWLPH 5. Ottawa, Ryan 13 (unassisted) 2:33.

3HQDOWLHV — None.

6KRWV RQ JRDO Ottawa 13 7 11 1 —32 St. Louis 11 14 13 0 —38 *RDO — Ottawa: Hammond (W, 3-3-2); St. Louis: Elliott (LO, 5-4-3). 3RZHU SOD\V (goal-chances) — Ott: 2-3; StL: 1-3. $WWHQGDQFH — 19,152 at St. Louis.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

OILERS 1, HURRICANES 0 (OT) $9$/$1&+( .,1*6 )LUVW 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — None.

6HFRQG 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — McGinn Car (high-sticking) 8:20.

7KLUG 3HULRG Âł No Scoring.

3HQDOWLHV — Versteeg Car (hooking) 11:42; Hunt Edm (hooking) 16:39.

2YHUWLPH 1. Edmonton, Sekera 5 (Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle) 2:47.

3HQDOWLHV — None.

6KRWV RQ JRDO Carolina 9 9 9 2 —29 Edmonton 6 8 8 5 —27 *RDO — Carolina: Ward (LO, 11-11-4); Edmonton: Talbot (W, 7-11-2).

3RZHU SOD\V (goal-chances) — Carolina: 0-1; Edmonton: 0-2. $WWHQGDQFH — 16,839 at Edmonton.

SENATORS 3, BLUES 2 (OT)

Pt 57 52 50 41 41 40 40 39 38 37

LEAGUE OFFICE — Fined Milwaukee G O.J. Mayo $25,000 for aggressively SXUVXLQJ D JDPH RIÀFLDO IDLOLQJ WR OHDYH court in timely manner upon his ejection during Jan. 2 game against Minn. Fined Detroit F Marcus Morris $15,000, and Indiana F Paul George $10,000, for their parts in altercation during a Jan. 2 game.

PHILADELPHIA — Agreed to terms with F Elton Brand. Waived F Christian Wood.

FOOTBALL NFL &+,&$*2 ³ 6LJQHG &% 'H¡9DQWH Bausby, QB Matt Blanchard, C Cornelius Edison, RB Paul Lasike, WR Marcus Lucas, LB Danny Mason, WR Nathan Palmer, TE Gannon Sinclair and G Martin Wallace to reserve/futures contracts.

CINCINNATI — Signed LB Trevor Roach to the practice squad. Placed LB Emmanuel Lamur on injured reserve.

DALLAS — Signed LB Derek Akunne, WR Donte Foster, DB Buddy Jackson, RB Ben Malena, DE Mike McAdoo, CB Brandon McGee, DE Efe Obada and LB Keith Smith to reserve/futures contracts.

MIAMI — Named Chris Grier general manager.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Announced the resignation of coach Tom Coughlin.

TENNESSEE — Fired general manager Ruston Webster. Named Steve UnGHUZRRG SUHVLGHQW &(2 6LJQHG 5% David Fluellen, TE Kevin Greene, WR 1LFN +DUZHOO * -RVXH 0DWLDV 27 :LOO Poehls to reserve/futures contracts.

HOCKEY NHL ARIZONA COYOTES — Assigned F &UDLJ &XQQLQJKDP WR 6SULQJÀHOG $+/

NEW YORK RANGERS — Recalled F Jayson Megna from Hartford (AHL).

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

FOOTBALL

NBA

TENNIS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

WHL

NFL FINAL STANDING ATP

EASTERN CONFERENCE

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

EAST

$W 'RKD 4DWDU 6LQJOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def. Dustin Brown, Germany, 6-2, 6-2.

Daniel Munoz de Nava, Spn., def. Feliciano Lopez (5), Spn., 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Jeremy Chardy (7), France, def.

Mubarak Shannan Zayid, Qatar, 6-1, 6-1.

Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia-Herzegovina, def. Marco Cecchinato, Italy, 6-4, 6-2.

Kyle Edmund, Britain, def. Martin Klizan, Slovakia, 6-2, 6-3.

Robin Haase, Netherlands, def. Aslan Karatsev, Russia, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

Andrey Kuznetsov, Russia, def. Marsel Ilhan, Turkey, 6-2, 6-4.

EAST DIVISION GP W Brandon 40 24 Prince Albert 39 23 Moose Jaw 39 19 Regina 40 17 Saskatoon 38 15 Swift Current 39 12

L OL 12 2 12 3 15 4 17 3 20 3 22 4

SL 2 1 1 3 0 1

GF GA 150 122 130 121 135 128 125 144 121 157 91 126

Pt 52 50 43 40 33 29

SL 0 0 1 0 1 0

GF GA 166 120 149 115 140 129 112 132 125 148 82 172

Pt 54 52 52 36 32 17

CENTRAL DIVISION GP W Lethbridge 39 27 Red Deer 39 26 Calgary 42 25 Edmonton 40 16 Medicine Hat 38 14 Kootenay 41 7

L OL 12 0 13 0 15 1 20 4 20 3 31 3

WESTERN CONFERENCE B.C. DIVISION Kelowna Victoria Prince George Kamloops Vancouver

GP W 40 28 40 23 39 23 37 18 40 15

L OL 10 2 14 1 14 1 14 4 20 3

SL 0 2 1 1 2

GF GA 145 113 133 101 133 115 129 114 118 139

Pt 58 49 48 41 35

L OL 12 0 14 3 15 3 17 1 20 2

SL 2 0 2 0 0

GF GA 100 79 118 111 129 132 134 124 120 143

Pt 46 43 43 41 34

U.S. DIVISION Everett Seattle Spokane Portland Tri-City

GP W 36 22 37 20 39 19 38 20 38 16

1RWH Division leaders ranked in top 2 positions per conference regardless of points; a team winning in overtime or VKRRWRXW JHWV SWV D YLFWRU\ LQ WKH : column; team losing in overtime or shootout gets 1 pt. in OTL or SOL columns 6XQGD\¡V UHVXOWV Saskatoon 6 Moose Jaw 3 Kootenay 3 Swift Current 1 Prince Albert 7 Regina 3 Brandon 4 Calgary 1 Vancouver 5 Prince George 3 Portland 5 Spokane 1 7XHVGD\¡V JDPHV $OO WLPHV /RFDO Red Deer at Prince Albert, 6 p.m.

Moose Jaw at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.

Tri-City at Victoria, 8:05 p.m. :HGQHVGD\¡V JDPHV Red Deer at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.

Vancouver at Edmonton, 7 p.m.

Swift Current at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.

Prince George at Kamloops, 8 p.m.

Tri-City at Victoria, 8:05 p.m. )ULGD\ V JDPHV Medicine Hat at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.

Prince Albert at Brandon, 6:30 p.m.

Vancouver at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Regina at Kootenay, 7 p.m.

Lethbridge at Red Deer, 7 p.m.

Tri-City at Kamloops, 8 p.m.

Victoria at Prince George, 8 p.m.

Everett at Kelowna, 8:05 p.m.

Portland at Seattle, 8:35 p.m.

BCHL INTERIOR DIVISION GP W Penticton 38 33 Salmon Arm 36 22 West Kelowna 39 23 Trail 38 18 Vernon 40 16 Merritt 39 13

L 4 10 14 20 21 23

T OL GF GA Pt 1 0 162 77 67 2 2 148 105 48 0 2 152 134 48 0 0 116 147 36 0 3 161 137 35 0 3 134 169 29

L

14 14 20 21

T OL GF GA Pt

0 2 137 104 46 2 3 132 159 43 0 4 102 112 32 2 2 99 146 30

ISLAND DIVISION GP W 1DQDLPR

Powell River 38 22 Cowichan Vally 38 19 Victoria 38 14 Alberni Valley 38 13

MAINLAND DIVISION GP W Chilliwack 37 24 Wenatchee 38 23 Langley 37 22 Coquitlam 38 16 Prince George 39 9 Surrey 37 5

L 8 10 14 17 28 31

T OL GF GA Pt 1 4 146 89 53 3 2 130 89 51 1 0 145 111 45 1 4 125 150 37 0 2 88 175 20 1 0 88 191 11

6XQGD\¡V UHVXOWV Powell River 8 1DQDLPR West Kelowna 7 Surrey 2 Langley 7 Prince George 1 Wenatchee 3 Chilliwack 2 (OT) :HGQHVGD\¡V JDPHV Langley at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.

Merritt at Coquitlam, 7 p.m.

Alberni Valley at 1DQDLPR, 7 p.m. )ULGD\ V JDPHV Cowichan Valley at Alberni Valley, 7 p.m.

Trail at Coquitlam, 7 p.m.

Prince George at Surrey, 7 p.m.

Penticton at Vernon, 7 p.m.

Powell River at Victoria, 7 p.m.

Merritt at West Kelowna, 7 p.m.

Salmon Arm at Wenatchee, 7:05 p.m.

z-New England N.Y. Jets Buffalo Miami

W L 12 4 10 6 8 8 6 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .625 .500 .375

PF 465 387 379 310

PA 315 314 359 389

W L 9 7 8 8 5 11 3 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .563 .500 .313 .188

PF 339 333 376 299

PA 313 408 448 423

W L 12 4 10 6 5 11 3 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .625 .313 .188

PF 419 423 328 278

PA 279 319 401 432

W L 12 4 11 5 7 9 4 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .688 .438 .250

PF 355 405 359 320

PA 296 287 399 398

SOUTH y-Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Tennessee

NORTH y-Cincinnati x-Pittsburgh Baltimore Cleveland

WEST h-Denver x-Kansas City Oakland San Diego

NATIONAL CONFERENCE EAST y-Washington Philadelphia N.Y. Giants Dallas

W L 9 7 7 9 6 10 4 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .563 .438 .375 .250

PF 388 377 420 275

PA 379 430 442 374

W L 15 1 8 8 7 9 6 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .938 .500 .438 .375

PF 500 339 408 342

PA 308 345 476 417

W L 11 5 10 6 7 9 6 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .688 .625 .438 .375

PF 365 368 358 335

PA 302 323 400 397

W 13 10 7 5

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .813 .625 .438 .313

PF 489 423 280 238

PA 313 277 330 387

SOUTH h-Carolina Atlanta New Orleans Tampa Bay

NORTH y-Minnesota x-Green Bay Detroit Chicago

WEST z-Arizona x-Seattle St. Louis San Francisco

L 3 6 9 11

x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ] FOLQFKHG ÀUVW URXQG E\H K FOLQFKHG KRPH ÀHOG DGYDQWDJH 6XQGD\¡V UHVXOWV Minnesota 20 Green Bay 13 San Francisco 19 St. Louis 16 (OT) Miami 20 New England 10 Carolina 38 Tampa Bay 10 Pittsburgh 28 Cleveland 12 Philadelphia 35 N.Y. Giants 30 Houston 30 Jacksonville 6 Cincinnati 24 Baltimore 16 Indianapolis 30 Tennessee 24 Denver 27 San Diego 20 New Orleans 20 Atlanta 17 Seattle 36 Arizona 6 Washington 34 Dallas 23 Detroit 24 Chicago 20 Buffalo 22 N.Y. Jets 17 Kansas City 23 Oakland 17

END OF REGULAR SEASON

NFL PLAYOFFS WILD-CARD 6DWXUGD\ V JDPHV

AMERICAN CONFERENCE Kansas City (11-5) at Houston (9-7) Pittsburgh (10-6) at Cincinnati (12-4) Sunday, Jan. 10

NATIONAL CONFERENCE Seattle (10-6) at Minnesota (11-6) Green Bay (10-6) at Washington (9-7)

DIVISIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE Pittsburgh, Kansas City or Houston at Denver (12-4) Cincinnati, Houston or Kansas City at New England (12-4)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE Seattle, Green Bay or Washington at Carolina (15-1) Minnesota, Washington or Green Bay at Arizona (13-3)

NCAA BOWLS Monday, Jan. 11

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME $W *OHQGDOH $UL] Clemson (14-0) vs. Alabama (13-1), 8:30 p.m.

AIRCEL CHENNAI OPEN $W &KHQQDL ,QGLD 6LQJOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Borna Coric (8), Croatia, def. Marcel Granollers, Spain, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4.

Ante Pavic, Croatia, def. Nicolas Almagro, Spain, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1).

John Millman, Australia, def. Evgeny Donskoy, Russia, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6).

'RXEOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Lukas Rosol, Czech Republic, and Igor Zelenay, Slovakia, def. Philipp Oswald, Austria, and $GLO 6KDPDVGLQ 3LFNHULQJ 2QW , 6-3, 7-5.

WTA ASB CLASSIC $W $XFNODQG 1HZ =HDODQG 6LQJOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Svetlana Kuznetsova (4), Russia, def.

Mona Barthel, Germany, 6-2, 1-1, retired.

Sloane Stephens (5), U.S., def.

Polona Hercog, Slovenia, 6-3, 6-3.

Irina Falconi, U.S., def. CoCo Vandeweghe (6), U.S., 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Alexandra Dulgheru, Roman., def.

Alison Van Uytvanck (8), Belg., 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, def. Johanna Larsson, Sweden, 6-1, 7-5.

Carina Witthoeft, Germany, def. Tatjana Maria, Germany, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Nao Hibino, Japan, def. Mariana Duque-Marino, Colombia, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

6+(1=+(1 23(1 $W 6KHQ]KHQ &KLQD 6LQJOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Irina-Camelia Begu (3), Romania, def.

Lara Arruabarrena, Spain, 6-3, 6-2.

Monica Niculescu (4), Romania, def.

Anastasija Sevastova, Lat., 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Zarina Diyas (7), Kazakhstan, def.

Zhang Kai-Lin, China, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Alison Riske, U.S., def. Annika Beck (8), Germany, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2.

Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, def. Duan YingYing, China, 6-4, 7-5.

Timea Babos, Hungary, def. Evgeniya Rodina, Russia, 6-3, 6-2.

Anna-Lena Friedsam, Germany, def.

Bojana Jovanovski, Serbia, 6-0, 6-3.

Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def. Andreea Mitu, Romania, 6-3, 6-3.

Cleveland Chicago Miami Atlanta Toronto Indiana Boston Detroit Orlando Charlotte Washington New York Milwaukee Brooklyn Philadelphia

W

L

Pct

GB

23 20 21 21 21 19 19 19 19 17 15 16 14 10 4

9 12 13 14 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 19 22 24 33

.719 .625 .618 .600 .583 .559 .559 .543 .543 .500 .469 .457 .389 .294 .108

— 3 3 31/2 4 5 5 51/2 51/2 7 8 81/2 11 14 211/2

WESTERN CONFERENCE Golden State San Antonio Oklahoma City L.A. Clippers Dallas Memphis Utah Houston Sacramento Portland Denver Minnesota New Orleans Phoenix L.A. Lakers

W

L

Pct

GB

32 30 24 22 19 19 15 16 14 15 12 12 11 12 8

2 6 11 13 15 17 17 19 20 22 23 23 22 25 27

.941 .833 .686 .629 .559 .528 .469 .457 .412 .405 .343 .343 .333 .324 .229

— 3 81/2 1 10 /2 13 14 16 161/2 18 181/2 201/2 201/2 201/2 211/2 241/2

0RQGD\¡V UHVXOWV Cleveland 122 Toronto 100 Miami 103 Indiana 100 (OT) Philadelphia 109 Minnesota 99 Boston 103 Brooklyn 94 Detroit 115 Orlando 89 San Antonio 123 Milwaukee 98 Sacramento 116 Oklahoma City 104 Houston 93 Utah 91 Memphis 91 Portland 78 Golden State 111 Charlotte 101 6XQGD\¡V UHVXOWV Chicago 115 Toronto 113 New York 111 Atlanta 97 Miami 97 Washington 75 Portland 112 Denver 106 L.A. Lakers 97 Phoenix 77 7XHVGD\¡V JDPHV Milwaukee at Chicago, 8 p.m.

New York at Atlanta, 8 p.m.

Sacramento at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Golden State at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. :HGQHVGD\¡V JDPHV New York at Miami, 7 p.m.

Indiana at Orlando, 7 p.m.

Cleveland at Washington, 7 p.m.

Toronto at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m.

Detroit at Boston, 7:30 p.m.

Denver at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Dallas at New Orleans, 8 p.m.

Utah at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Memphis at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m.

L.A. Clippers at Portland, 10 p.m.

LACROSSE NLL EAST DIVISION

ATP-WTA BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL $W %ULVEDQH $XVWUDOLD 0HQ V 6LQJOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, def. Gilles Simon (5), France, 6-3, 7-6 (10).

Denis Kudla, U.S., def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Tobias Kamke, Germany, def. Benjamin Mitchell, Australia, 6-2, 6-4.

Chung Hyeon, South Korea, def. Sam Groth, Australia, 7-6 (8), 6-4.

0HQ V 'RXEOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG +HQUL .RQWLQHQ )LQ -RKQ 3HHUV

Australia, def. 'DQLHO 1HVWRU 7RURQWR Radek Stepanek, Czech Rep., 6-3, 6-3. :RPHQ V 6LQJOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG Angelique Kerber (4), Germany, def.

Camila Giorgi, Italy, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

Carla Suarez Navarro (6), Spain, def.

Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia, 6-1, 6-2.

Belinda Bencic (7), Switzerland, def.

Sara Errani, Italy, 6-1, 6-2.

Roberta Vinci (8), Italy, def. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Sam Stosur, Australia, def. Jana Cepelova, Slovakia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 6-2, 6-0.

Samantha Crawford, U.S., def. Priscilla Hon, Australia, 6-4, 6-4.

Madison Brengle, U.S., def. Katarina Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. :RPHQ V 'RXEOHV Âł )LUVW 5RXQG *DEULHOD 'DEURZVNL 2WWDZD, and $OLFMD 5RVROVND 3RODQG GHI $QDVWDVLD Arina Rodionova, Australia, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Toronto New England Rochester Buffalo Georgia

GP 0 0 0 0 1

W 0 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 0 1

Pct. GF GA GB .000 0 0 — .000 0 0 — .000 0 0 — .000 0 0 — .000 15 16 1/

W 1 1 0 0

L Pct. GF GA GB 0 1.000 16 15 — 0 1.000 10 8 — 0 .000 0 0 1/ 1 .000 8 10 1

WEST DIVISION GP Colorado 1 Saskatchewan 1 Vancouver 0 Calgary 1

6DWXUGD\ V JDPHV Toronto at Georgia, 7:05 p.m.

Calgary at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

Colorado at Rochester, 7:30 p.m.

New England at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

7KXUVGD\ -DQ Rochester at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

SOCCER GREECE GREEK LEAGUE Panathinaikos 4 Panetolikos 2

SPAIN PRIMERA Real Sporting de Gijon 1 Getafe 2

LIGA SEGUNDA Girona 1 Valladolid 0 Tenerife 1 Alcorcon 2

NBA

Leonard’s third quarter leads Spurs over Bucks 123-98 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MILWAUKEE — Kawhi Leonard scored 10 of his 24 points in the decisive third quarter and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Milwaukee Bucks 123-98 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory.

The Spurs improved to 30-6 and joined defending champion Golden State as the only teams to reach 30 wins already this season.

Rookie swingman Jonathon Sim-

mons scored a career-high 18 for the Spurs, who set a season high for points two days after posting 121 against Houston. LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Tim Duncan finished with 14 points and 10 boards for the Spurs, one game after going scoreless for the first time in his 19-year career.

San Antonio played without starting point guard Tony Parker due to right hip soreness, but still won its 27th game in the last 31.

76ERS 109, TIMBERWOLVES 99 Ish Smith had 21 points and 11 assists, and Richaun Holmes scored 17 to lead Philadelphia over Minnesota.

Still the worst team in the NBA at 4-33, the 76ers have won three of six games and have a new confidence since they hired Jerry Colangelo as chairman of basketball operations last month. Colangelo’s first big move was acquiring Smith from New Orleans in a Dec. 24 trade that cost

them nothing but second-round draft picks. Smith averaged 13.4 points and 7.6 assists since the deal and has made his teammates better.

Shabazz Muhammad led the Timberwolves with 20 points.

CELTICS 103, NETS 94 Jae Crowder scored a career-high 25 points with a strong start and a clutch finish, and Boston beat Brooklyn to split a home-and-home series.

Crowder had 14 points in the first

quarter, then was largely quiet until hitting a three-pointer and adding a three-point play after Brooklyn got close in the final minutes. He surpassed his previous best of 24 points by making a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining.

Isaiah Thomas added 19 points for the Celtics, who rebounded from consecutive losses at home. Evan Turner, starting for injured Avery Bradley, had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

www.nanaimodailynews.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016 GARFIELD

@NanaimoDaily

DIVERSIONS 25

CROSSWORD SHIRT STUFF ACROSS 1 Eiffel Tower’s city 6 Puts frosting on 10 Chick’s chirp 14 Get out of bed 15 __ Scotia, Canada 16 Three-layer cookie 17 Queued (up) 18 Heat to 212 degrees 19 Person from Istanbul 20 Arrest someone 23 Boston cream, for instance 24 April 15 payment 25 Man’s respectful title 27 Pencil tip 31 Barely visible 33 Sour-tasting 34 Walking speed 36 Just average 39 Give an unplanned speech 43 Filled tortilla 44 Nevada casino city 45 Good-hearted 46 Defeats, in boxing 48 Priest 50 Pester persistently 53 Wriggly fish 54 __ carte menu 55 Holder for an LP 62 Was bought 64 Crook, to a cop 65 Have supper at home 66 Those people 67 Toward the sunrise 68 Concert piano 69 Lighten, as a burden 70 World War II turning point 71 Double-curve letters

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

ANDY CAPP

ZITS

DOWN 1 Coconut tree 2 Opera solo 3 Figure skater’s surface 4 “That’s clear now” 5 Tranquil

PREVIOUS PUZZLE SOLVED

6 Office mail holder 7 Put in the fridge 8 Wicked 9 Spicy sausage in sandwiches 10 Flower holder 11 Blow one’s top 12 Spooky 13 Card game with antes 21 Ship’s freight 22 Remove soap from 26 Wall Street investments 27 UFO crew

28 Spellbound 29 Square footage 30 Orders of pancakes 31 Military band flutes 32 Letter-routing abbr.

35 Frizzy coif 37 Man’s business attire 38 Point __ return 40 Australian bearlike beast 41 Aspirations 42 WWII-era president 47 Barked sharply 49 Make an accusation 50 Undue speed 51 Oahu greeting 52 Reduced-price events 53 Containing nothing 56 Moccasin decoration 57 __ Major (Big Dipper locale) 58 Cobs of corn 59 Incoming plane stats.

60 Wall-climbing plant 61 Concludes 63 Change the color of

HI AND LOIS

HAGAR

» EVENTS // EMAIL: EVENTS@NANAIMODAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JAN. 5 6:30-9 p.m. VectorVest User Group was formed by active stock market investors who use the VectorVest system to identify opportunities in the stock market. Cost is $10. 741 third St., Nanaimo.

7-9 p.m. Country Idol at the Queen’s. The annual talent search runs Tuesdays through January, with a final show Feb.10. Singers 15 and up complete for $500 and a vocal appearance with George Canyon Feb. 10.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6 7 p.m. Open Mic Acoustic night with Dave Marco, every Wednesday at Smoke‘n’Water

Restaurant, Pacific Shores Resort, 1-1600 Stroulger Rd., Parksville

FRIDAY, JAN. 8

TUESDAY, JAN. 12

THURSDAY, JAN. 14

THURSDAY, JAN. 7

8-11 p.m. Elvis Birthday Tribute Show. Cover $10. Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #10, 129 Harewood Rd., Nanaimo.

7 p.m. Nanaimo Newcomers Club for women. St. Andrews Church hall, 4235 Departure Bay Rd.

6:30 p.m. Parksville Newcomers’monthly meeting in the Parksville Community Centre, 132 Jensen St., Parksville

7 p.m. Laryssa Campbell and more Live At Longwood A free live concert series every Thursday at Longwood Brew Pub 5775 Turner Rd., Nanaimo

SATURDAY, JAN. 9 7 p.m. Nanaimo Clippers vs Powell River Kings.

Tickets $5-20, at Clippers office, 1-2290 Bowen Rd., Nanaimo. Game is at Frank Crane Arena.

7-9 p.m. Country Idol at the Queen’s. The annual talent search runs Tuesdays through January, with a final show Feb.10. Singers 15 and up complete for $500 and a vocal appearance with George Canyon Feb. 10.

SUNDAY, JAN. 10

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 13

8 a.m. to noon Second Sunday Market: Art, craft, new, vintage, collectible, and food, with a pancake breakfast and live music. .

240 Lions Way, Qualicum Beach.

7 p.m. Open Mic Acoustic night with Dave Marco, every Wednesday at Smoke‘n’Water Restaurant, Pacific Shores Resort, 1-1600 Stroulger Rd., Parksville.

8:30-11:30 p.m. Nico Rhodes Trio at Vault Coffee House 499 Wallace St. Tickets $15, students $10.

7 p.m. Myc Sharratt, Ali Prince Live At Longwood Brew Pub, 5775 Turner Rd., Nanaimo.

FRIDAY, JAN. 15 7 p.m. Acoustic Tribute to Radiohead, featuring Mercedes Courtorielle, Dane and Jesse from Gold and Shadow, Paul Mitchell, David Bitonti, Nick Begg and Katelyn Wood, Sean Patton. at Dinghy Dock Pub, 8 Pirates Lane, Nanaimo. Tickets $20 in advance from the artists, The Dinghy Dock Pub, or at ticketzone.com.

www.nanaimodailynews.com

26 DIVERSIONS BLONDIE

@NanaimoDaily

HOROSCOPE

by Jacqueline Bigar ARIES (March 21-April 19) Tempers flare in the morning, and disruptions seem to be the name of the game. You might want to pull back and not be so involved. Someone close to you might be creating a hassle. Confusion surrounds conversations. Try not to hold a grudge.

Tonight: Dive into a project.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You could be in a situation where you feel that there should be fast changes. Others might want to take control, and you have nothing to lose by stepping back. Confusion surrounds money matters, as someone does not see eye to eye with you. Tonight: Stay relaxed.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Your ruling planet, Mercury, does a backward jig and affects your travel plans, making it difficult to see certain facts clearly. You could be in a position where you want to take a deep breath. If you can avoid making any decisions, do so. Tonight: Read between the lines.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Be careful with partners and close associates. You might think they are saying one thing, when really they are expressing something different.

If you feel confused, clarify; otherwise, you take the risk of having an argument. Tonight: Let a loved one take the lead.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You might be too serious for many people in your life. They are not used to seeing this side of you. Confusion surrounds a partnership that you value. If this misunderstanding does

BABY BLUES

BC

WORD FIND

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

not occur today, it could in the near future. Try to keep the airways clear.

Tonight: Say “yes” to living.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Pace yourself, as you might have a lot to do. An unacknowledged difference of opinion could be the source of a disagreement that goes on for far too long. A friend might feel inspired and full of ideas. Listen to what he or she has to say.

Tonight: Catch up on news with a neighbour.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Be aware of the costs of proceeding as you are. You might not be aware that a conversation you have had about a risk and money involvement could be misunderstood on the other side. You will land all right as long as you don’t trigger an argument.

Tonight: Check your bank account.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Express your creative side. You could be surprised by what comes down the pike. For some of you, your imagination is likely to create some wild scenarios. For others, this endless source of fantasy might serve you and your loved ones well.

Tonight: Anchor in.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Stay on top of communication. A dropped call here and there could cause you a significant problem in the near future. The other party might make a faulty assumption, which could create a chip on his or her shoulder. Tonight: Time to visit someone at a distance.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Oneon-one relating will evoke a strong response, no matter who you are or how you are acting. You might develop a stronger relationship

without trying. Open up to new possibilities within this bond, which could be either personal or professional. Tonight: Dinner and talks.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You will act like a chicken with its head cut off. You could be easily overwhelmed. How you handle a personal matter will be a lot different from how you had intended. Also, the reaction from the other party might be very different from what you expected. Tonight: Be available.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Keep reaching out to someone at a distance. How you speak to this person could be very important.

You are very different people who rarely respond in the same way. You easily could misread each other and cause a problem. Clarify and confirm. Tonight: Read between the lines.

YOUR BIRTHDAY (Jan. 5) This year you have every chance to manifest a long-term goal. You will notice a tendency of confusion; it likely emanates from you. You are the common denominator. When you feel confused, ask yourself what you are trying to avoid seeing. You easily could sabotage yourself if you are not careful. Foreign interests, education and travel could appear in your life in some form. If you are single, someone quite unique could stroll into your life. The interactions between the two of you will be very exciting. If you are attached, this year will be dynamic for your relationship. Your partner will be more dominant than he or she has been in a while. SCORPIO understand you well.

SUDOKU CRYPTOQUOTE

PREVIOUS SUDOKO SOLVED

1/02

$36.76 -$0.28

17,148.94 -276.09

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The Canadian dollar traded Monday afternoon at 71.73 cents US, down 0.52 of a cent of a cent from Friday’s close. The Pound Sterling was worth $2.0525, up 1.18 cents, while the Euro was worth $1.5097, up 0.68 of a cent.

NASDAQ

4,903.09, -104.32

S&P/TSX

➜

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6 1 7 4 3 9 2 8 5

Dow Jones

➜

2 8 3 7 1 5 6 9 4

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4 5 9 8 2 6 7 1 3

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12,927.15 -82.80

SOLUTION: A GREAT SPORT

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TENNIS

Williams suffers setback THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PERTH, Australia — Serena Williams withdrew from her opening match at the Hopman Cup on Monday because of inflammation in her left knee, an early setback in her preparations for an Australian Open title defence.The top-ranked Williams practiced ahead of her scheduled season-opener against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the international mixed-team competition at Perth Arena, but withdrew from the match and was replaced by Vicky Duval.

Duval lost 6-4, 6-1 to Svitolina and Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Jack Sock 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the best-ofthree Group A match for Ukraine before the U.S. pair won the mixed doubles 6-2, 6-3.

Williams said she expected to be able to join Sock in the U.S. team to play the Australia Gold team on Tuesday. Hopman Cup tournament director Paul Kilderry said Williams reported feeling pain in her knee on Sunday.

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ENGLISH SOCCER PREVIEW

GOLF

New-look Stoke changing perceptions, making strides ahead of League semis

PXG tries to make a move in the club industry

STOKE VS. LIVERPOOL Liverpool’s form continues to oscillate under recently hired manager Juergen Klopp, as shown by a 2-0 loss at West Ham that came on the back of solid victories over Leicester and Sunderland.

Klopp’s biggest concern is getting the best out of expensive off-season signing Christian Benteke, a big striker with limited movement who struggles at times to fit into the high-energy style favoured by Klopp.

Injuries to Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge have allowed Benteke an extended run in the team, although Sturridge could be available against Stoke. Sturridge scored twice in Liverpool’s 6-1 demolition of Southampton in the quarterfinals.

Stoke’s American defender, Geoff Cameron, is available for the match after a successful appeal against his sending off in a Premier League game against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

STEVE DOUGLAS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANCHESTER, England — Think of Stoke City over the last past decade, and what immediately springs to mind is a physical, powerful team, route-one football and Rory Delap’s long throw.

That’s all been consigned to the past during a season in which the transformation of Stoke’s playing approach rivals Leicester’s rise and Chelsea’s decline as the story of the 2015-16 campaign in English soccer.

After dismantling the two Manchester giants at home and Everton away in impressive Premier League victories in December, Stoke was tagged with a nickname few can ever have imagined the team getting — “Stokelona,” in reference to Spain’s Barcelona.

Stoke has a long way to go to match the level of the current European champions but, in relative terms, there’s a comparison to be made.

And it makes the central English team a genuine contender when the League Cup semifinals begin this week with the first-leg matches: Stoke vs. Liverpool on Tuesday, and Everton vs. Manchester City on Wednesday.

The reshaping of once-unfashionable Stoke under manager Mark Hughes, who had a spell at Barcelona during his playing career, has seen former Barca players Bojan Krkic, Ibrahim Afellay and Marc Muniesa join the club since 2014, bringing a new mentality to the Britannia Stadium. The style of play has changed, too, from a long-ball game to an emphasis on passing and possession.

Then there’s the creation and blossoming of a lively front three comprising Bojan, another diminutive attacker in record-signing Xherdan Shaqiri and one-time enfant terrible Marko Arnautovic — Stoke’s answer to the Lionel Messi-Neymar-Luis Suarez triumvirate. The change has

Stoke City’s Xherdan Shaqiri is challenged by West Bromwich Albion’s Gareth McAuley, left, during the English Premier League soccer match at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, England, on Saturday. [AP PHOTO]

been startling.

Man City and Man United were blown away when they visited Stoke last month, with their 2-0 losses potentially being much heavier. Stoke then went to Everton and won 4-3 in a devastating display of attacking football.

“Compliments are fine and we take them,” Hughes has said of the “Stokelona” tag, “but probably doesn’t sit too comfortably with us at

the moment because we usually slip under the radar and others get the plaudits.

“If the profile of what we are doing is raised, it’s what we have to deal with.”

Stoke, which won the League Cup in 1972, is up against a Liverpool team that has won the competition a record eight times.

Here’s a look at both semifinal match-ups:

EVERTON VS. MANCHESTER CITY City is still involved in four competitions this season, with manager Manuel Pellegrini seemingly making the League Cup one of his priorities judging by the strong teams he has fielded in earlier rounds.

After a busy festive schedule of Premier League matches, Pellegrini may rotate and has more options to do so compared to his Everton counterpart, Roberto Martinez. The likes of Jesus Navas, Wilfried Bony and Fabian Delph could therefore get starts for City, which won the League Cup for the third time in 2014.

Everton picked up only one point from its last three games in the Premier League and relies on the goals of striker Romelu Lukaku, the league’s top scorer with 15.

City won 2-0 at Goodison Park in August. The teams also play in the league this month, meaning they’ll be facing each other three times over the next three weeks.

SOCCER

Madrid coach lost fans’ confidence, his job HAROLD HECKLE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADRID — Not many soccer coaches have been fired barely two weeks after winning a match 10-2 but too many things went wrong for Rafa Benitez to stay at Real Madrid, after losing the confidence of fans at the 10-time European champion.

Club president Florentino Perez, who fired Benitez on Monday, had presented the Spaniard to supporters in June as a coach “who breathes football,” adding “he will make us strong.”

But his league debut ended in an uninspiring 0-0 draw against newly-promoted Sporting Gijon, and soon after that dismissive talk began

about Benitez’s defensive style — something taboo to Madrid fans.

A 4-0 home loss to rival Barcelona in November fuelled disquiet at the Santiago Bernabeu, with farewell handkerchiefs being waved at Benitez’s dugout in disgust.

Even more criticism followed amid reports the coach didn’t get on with James Rodriguez, Francisco “Isco” Alarcon and Denis Cheryshev.

Benitez told journalists that Rodriguez was not “ready to play more than 30 minutes,” while Cheryshev said there was “very little communication” with the coach. Alarcon rarely got to play at all.

Then Madrid was expelled from the Copa del Rey for fielding Cheryshev

in a first-leg 3-1 win over Cadiz on Dec. 2 in its opening round. The Russian was carrying a one-match suspension for yellow cards received last season while on loan at Villarreal, a fact that Madrid appeared to be unaware of until taking the player off halfway into the Cadiz match.

An ashen-faced Perez insisted Madrid had not acted improperly in fielding Cheryshev but authorities, including the country’s top sports tribunal, disagreed by heaping opprobrium on the club in successive judgments against Madrid.

Even after Madrid had routed Rayo Vallecano 10-2 in December, fans at the Bernabeu maintained their disapproval of Benitez with more jeers,

more criticism and more farewell handkerchiefs.

At post-match press conferences Benitez started to look unsettled.

“The press in England never exaggerated like you do here in Spain,” said Benitez, with a selective memory of his time in the Premier League.

“Here there is a campaign against Florentino Perez, Real Madrid and its coach.”

Although Benitez kept Madrid alive in this year’s Champions League — the club’s most cherished competition — continued crises in the Spanish league and growing discontent among players, the media and above all the fans proved too much for Perez to bear.

DOUG FERGUSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Bob Parsons conducts business to an extreme, and that now includes golf clubs.

The people he hired to build his golf clubs have no limitations and no deadlines. Money is no object, either, and that better be the case for the consumers. Parsons, the billionaire founder of GoDaddy, is selling his PXG clubs at about $5,000 for the entire set.

“Making money is not what I have in mind,” Parsons said. “My goal with this is to build some very incredible clubs without regard to cost, without regard to the process. I’ve been telling people what I’m doing and I’ve heard many times, ‘You’re nuts.’

That’s a very good sign.”

Ryan Moore last year became the first PGA Tour to put them in play.

Now, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company is hopeful of making a big splash in 2016 by signing an additional eight players, men and women, to staff contracts at PXG. Topping the list is British Open champion Zach Johnson, who had been with Titleist his entire PGA Tour career that includes 12 victories and two majors.

Johnson, who is in the field this week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, did not want to discuss his switch ahead the announcement at Kapalua. He said in a release that he did not make the change lightly.

“My entire team, from caddie to coach, was part of the discernment process,” Johnson said. “We all agree that PXG is undeniably the best equipment to help me achieve my goals on the course.”

PXG also signed Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, James Hahn and Charles Howell III on the PGA Tour, along with Cristie Kerr, Alison Lee and Gerina Piller on the LPGA Tour. Already on board with the clubs were Moore, Rocco Mediate (Champions Tour), Sadena Parks and Beatriz Recari.

Parsons describes himself as a golf fanatic and an equipment junkie. He didn’t start playing seriously until he was in his 30s because he was too busy with work, first with Parsons Technologies for 10 years (which he sold in 1994 for $64 million) and then with the GoDaddy Group. He stepped down as GoDaddy executive chairman in 2014, though he remains on the board and is the largest shareholder.

By then, an affinity for golf turned into an addiction.

“It got to the point three or four years before I started the PXG venture that I would spend about $250,000 to $300,000 a year on equipment,” he said. “I bought pretty much everything and would hit it.”

29

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

Potassium is a little Teaching improv to aid like sex and money HEALTH

in coping with anxiety

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones The Doctor Game

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — A decade ago, Cameron Algie couldn’t imagine getting up on a stage in front of an audience, let alone performing improv comedy for one.

Gripped by anxiety, he scoffed when his therapist suggested he was naturally funny and might do well in an improv class at Second City Toronto.

“It seemed like the scariest thing to do,”’ recalls the Cambridge, Ont., native.

“Getting through the door that first day, the first class, is the scariest thing. Anxiety is all about anticipation and imagining all these scary things, but once I was there in the class, it really was scary but fun.”

Algie went on to complete all five stages of the improv classes there and then studied at the conservatory level.

Now he teaches Improv for Anxiety or Public Speaking at the Second City Training Centre in Toronto.

“I think play is the key, No. 1 part of it so it doesn’t feel like therapy or work,” he says.

“Getting them playing — and then tackle issues like being in the moment and get in touch with your body, connect with other people, make mistakes, allow yourself to not be perfect and be OK with not being perfect.”

Group work and building social skills are also a focus of the centre’s new class, improv for teens on the autism spectrum, which begins Jan. 9.

Instructor Cassie Moes, who pitched the idea for the class, learned how to work with people with special needs as a middle-school teacher.

She also had experience teaching improv exercises for people with special needs and did respite care at Reach Child and Youth Development Society in Delta.

“I find a lot of the times . . . as kids get older — kids who are on the spectrum — there’s not a lot of programming and resources that’s of good quality for them to explore different things,” says the Vancouver native.

“So I really wanted to offer a pro-

C

Improv comedy instructor Cassie Moes. Group work and building social skills are a focus of the Second City Training Centre’s new class, improv for teens on the autism spectrum. [CP HANDOUT PHOTO]

“Anxiety is all about anticipation and imagining all these scary things, but once I was there in the class, it really was scary but fun.”

Cameron Algie, improv teacher

gram where not only will they get the social element that improv really provides but they would also just get to learn some skills which they can apply in their day-to-day life.”

Algie says the biggest obstacle for students in the anxiety class is self-judgment.

“When you stand in front of an audience, the audience is never judging you as harshly as you’re judging you,” says Algie.

“If you make a little mistake onstage, the audience probably doesn’t notice or care or think of it as a mistake. They probably laughed, found it funny.”

Moes, who has also taught the class, says they tell students not to try to be funny.

“I always try to say, who you are

and what you have and what you bring inherently is enough,” she says.

“You are protected by the framework of the game. The more you let yourself go, those are the people who have the most success, the people with no filter.”

Algie and Moes say some anxiety alumni have gone on to perform in front of hundreds and even formed their own troupes.

“For a lot of people, public speaking is worse than death,” says Moes.

“So they’re like, ’If I can stand on this stage and perform in front of 200 people, what else can’t I do in my life?”’

The Improv for Teens on the Spectrum classes are for “high-functioning independent teens” ages 13 to 19.

Moes says she plans to do group exercises to help students feel safe, pick up on emotional cues and “go outside of themselves.”

“Also just to have fun and have a regular space, where it’s just like, ‘Hey, there are all these people on the same page as me, let’s just be friends and have fun with each other in this environment that’s less schooled and less worried about fixing what’s wrong with you.”’

an you have too much of anything these days? Surely, by now, you know that you can get too much sugar, too much salt and too many calories, to name a few things. But you can also get into trouble by getting too little of some nutrients. So this week, here’s why potassium is so like sex and money.

Paul Whelton, Professor of Epidemiology at Tulane School of Public Health in New Orleans, is an expert on hypertension. He reports good news in the Nutrition Action Health Letter for those who love to add salt to their food. He claims good evidence shows that consuming enough potassium may counter the effect of excess salt on blood pressure.

In 1997 Whelton combined the research of 29 studies that had randomly selected people who got high or low levels of potassium, primarily from supplements. The result? He discovered a 3 to 5 point reduction in blood pressure in those who had taken a normal potassium supplement.

But those who received from 3,500 milligrams (mgs) to 4,700 mg daily in their diet showed a drop of 7 points. As Whelton says, “That’s not to be sneezed at as it resulted in a 30 percent decreased risk of stroke.”

The other significant finding was that potassium had the greatest effect on patients who needed it the most, namely, people with the highest blood pressure, the elderly, and others who were eating a lot of salt.

Dr. Deborah Green, a researcher at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, followed 5,888 men and women ages 65 and over for eight years. She discovered that those with low levels of potassium were twice as likely to suffer a stroke due to a blood clot.

There’s more worrying news. One of the risks of getting older is an irregular heart rate called auricular fibrillation. Patients who suffer from this condition, who are also taking diuretics (water pills) and have low blood potassium, face 10 times the

risk of a stroke compared to those who have normal heart rhythm , no need for diuretics and normal potassium.

So getting enough potassium from food is the ideal way to obtain this mineral. Whelton says that getting it from supplements is safe as long as you consult your doctor. This is because patients with kidney disease can get too much potassium. And some drugs can interfere with the excretion of potassium.

Bess Dawson-Hughes, Director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Human Nutrition Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston is an authority on potassium. She reports that potassium can also help to prevent osteoporosis (brittle bones).

Hughes explains that potassium rich foods generate alkali and that bone is the great reservoir for the storage of alkali. Alkali is needed to counteract acid produced by protein rich foods such as meat, poultry, fish or dairy products. She adds that if the body gets more acid than it can excrete, it breaks down bone to add alkali to the system. If this situation continues over a long period of time, bone loss can lead to osteoporosis and fractures. The article in Nutrition Action reminded me of a column I’d written years ago about Dr. David Young, Professor of Physiology at the University of Mississippi. He hit a home run when he said, “Potassium is like sex and money. You can never get too much!”

This is good news for me. Thank God, there are more ways to consume potassium than eating a cup of spinach. I’d die for roast beef and potatoes, both loaded with potassium, especially when you eat the skin of the potato. You can also get 1,200 milligrams of potassium by drinking three glasses of milk. A banana contains 450 mg and there’s potassium in citrus fruits, nuts and green leafy vegetables.

So there’s a message to all as we start 2016. While there is so much strife in this world, this is a good time to make love and money, not war. And don’t forget the benefits of potassium.

For comments info@docgiff.com.

For medical tips, visit the website at www.docgiff.com

Have you considered a gift in your will to support a cause that is important to you?

Please contact the VIU Advancement Office by calling 250.740.6216 and we can explore the various options to ensure that your gift intentions are met.

Sometimes economic hardship interferes with a student’s ability to focus on their studies, but with the help of VIU’s generous donors many of us are able to overcome these struggles.

I was extremely grateful to receive the Stan & May Radzik Bursary of $2,000 in January of this year.

The funds helped to take some of the pressure off and I was able to significantly increase my GPA over the spring and summer semesters.

From a grateful student, Alison Burfoot

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016

ADVICE

‘Star Wars’ moves up the list Family continues to of all-time box-office smashes impose religious views THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — Star Wars: The Force Awakens marched confidently into the new year, raking in an additional $88.3 million over the New Year’s weekend and topping the box office for a third week, according to studio estimates Sunday.

In addition to setting a new high mark in New Year’s box office history, the record-busting film from creator George Lucas blew past the domestic grosses of both Jurassic World ($652.3 million) and Titanic ($658.7 million) to become the second-highest earner of all time with $740.3 million in just 19 days of release.

The top domestic film is Avatar with a $760.5 million lifetime domestic gross, but Star Wars is barrelling in to surpass it soon. For context, it took Avatar 72 days to reach $700 million. Star Wars did that in 16 days.

While Star Wars might not give up its throne any time soon, films like Daddy’s Home and Sisters have proven to be incredibly strong performers.

Daddy’s Home, the comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, came in second with an estimated $29 million, bringing its total to $93.7 million in just two weeks.

The film fell only 25 per cent from its first weekend in theatres.

Even more formidable is the mere

LUCAS

11 per cent drop from the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler comedy Sisters, which brought in $12.6 million in its third weekend for a fourth-place spot. The film has earned $61.7 million so far.

“When you look at the holding power of Daddy’s Home and Sisters, it shows you that those films are for many people the antidote to Star Wars,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for box office tracker Rentrak. “The diversity of the slate that the studios created by not retreating from Star Wars is helping.”

Quentin Tarantino’s bloody Western The Hateful Eight, meanwhile, took third with $16.2 million in its first weekend in wide release after a strong limited debut.

The three-hour epic, which cost a reported $44 million to produce, has made $29.6 million to date — just shy of what Django Unchained made in its first weekend.

“There is still a big audience out there for auteur-driven cinema,” Dergarabedian said.

“Tarantino, no matter what, is an interesting filmmaker. Film fans want to see what he’s up to.

It’s not as big as some of his other films, but it’s still doing well as it expands.”

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip took fifth place with $11.8 million, dropping only 10 per cent from last weekend.

The year is off to a strong start overall, up 24.5 per cent from last year.

This New Year’s weekend could even set a record if it tops the $220 million total of 2009/2010, when both Avatar and Sherlock Holmes were in theatres.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Rentrak.

Final domestic figures were to be released late Monday.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, $88.3 million.

2. Daddy’s Home, $29 million.

3. The Hateful Eight, $16.2 million.

4. Sisters, $12.6 million.

5. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, $11.8 million.

6. Joy, $10.4 million.

7. The Big Short, $9 million.

8. Concussion, $8 million.

9. Point Break, $6.8 million.

10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2, $4.6 million.

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town soon, and I know I will encounter Louise. I want to tell her to stop this nonsense, but she will play the martyr and use it against me. What do I do?

— Number Eight

Kathy Mitchell & Marcy Sugar Annie’s Mailbox Dear Annie: I was raised in a devout Catholic family. When my husband and I married 30 years ago, we independently decided to leave the religious fold, but we never imposed our views on others. My eight siblings live within close proximity of each other, and I live nearly 5,000 kilometres away.

Over the years, most of my family has never missed an opportunity to impose their religious views on me.

Even though I have made it clear that I am not interested, I am often subjected to family members sending me religious material, making offhand cynical remarks about my soul, or cornering me at gatherings to coax me back, share their anger or try to make me feel guilty.

A few years ago, when my sister “Louise” and I had a disagreement, I was brutally chastised, told by her and others that it was my fault because I did not read the Bible.

What is even more insulting is that most of my siblings have had major life problems (affairs, money issues, fraud, child abuse), but my husband and I have had none of that. We have welcomed my family into our home on many occasions, treating them to fantastic stays in our city, which is a vacation destination.

Recently, Louise sent me a misleading email, asking what seemed to be an innocuous question, but which was intended to get me to research material that would create an “aha” moment to get me back into the fold.

I have had it with this passive-aggressive behaviour. We are going to their

Dear Eight: You are not going to convince your family, especially Louise, to stop trying to “save” you. So we recommend you stop being drawn in. It’s annoying to be sure, but not worth your time. When they email you material that you find offensive, send it to the trash folder. Ignore the remarks. When they try to make you feel guilty, respond politely, “Thanks for your concern,” and walk away. You may need to limit contact with family members who are especially difficult, but please try not to be so angry. It serves no purpose and only makes them redouble their efforts.

Dear Annie: The holidays are over, but I have a suggestion for people who don’t know what to give family and friends next year.

So many people are struggling with unemployment, underemployment or living on a fixed income, and prices are rising all the time. The very best present you can give is the gift of food – a gift certificate to a favourite restaurant or supermarket. Everyone needs to eat.

– Underemployed and Hungry in Connecticut Dear Connecticut: Gift cards for the grocery or a local restaurant are usually welcome and appreciated. As you said, everyone needs to eat and these cards won’t go to waste. We hope our readers will keep this in mind.

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column.

Please email your questions to anniesmailbox@creators.com, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

COURTS

Judge says Cosby’s wife must give a deposition THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON — Bill Cosby’s wife will be forced to testify in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven women who accuse the comedian of sexually assaulting them decades ago.

A federal judge on Thursday denied a motion by Camille Cosby to throw out a subpoena requiring her to give a deposition in the lawsuit. She is scheduled to be deposed by lawyers on Wednesday.

U.S. Judge Magistrate David Hennessey in Springfield, Mass., said Camille Cosby failed to prove that she and her husband were protected by the state’s marital disqualification law. He also rejected claims that the value of the testimony would be outweighed by the “undue burden” the deposition would cause.

The arguments “do not outweigh the potential significance of Mrs. Cosby’s testimony, nor has Mrs. Cosby provided any authority that they do,” Hennessey wrote in a 12-page ruling.

The couple has been married for more than 50 years and Camille Cosby is her husband’s business partner. She is not a defendant in the lawsuit against Bill Cosby. A lawyer for the women, Joseph Cammarata, argued last month that he should be able to question Camille Cosby because he believed she had “information that’s relevant to the litigation in this matter.”

In a motion filed Dec. 18 to quash the subpoena, Bill Cosby’s lawyers said his wife does not have any information about the accuracy of the women’s allegations.

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2015 IN REVIEW 31

NORTH AND CENTRAL VANCOUVER ISLAND

2015 headlines have outdoor flavour A look back of some of the stories from outside of the Nanaimo area that captured people’s attention AARON HINKS DAILY NEWS

T

ragedy, controversy and the unusual make the top 10 news stories of 2015 for Vancouver Island north of the Malahat.

Kidnapped kids Doctor takes kids overseas, keeps them there.

Four Comox Valley children who were allegedly abducted by their father this summer were eventually located in the Middle East.

In August, Alison Azer received word her ex-husband — Dr. Saren Azer (also known as Salahaddin Mahummudi-Azer) — hadn’t returned to Canada from a court-approved trip to Europe with her children Sharvahn, 11, Rojevahn, 9, Dersim, 7 and Meitan, 3.

Family spokesperson Jody Korchinski confirmed in a December email that Alison does now know the location of her children.

Baby Grant Comox mother dies after entering frigid water with infant.

A 26-year-old mother who died after being pulled from a Courtenay river was on maternity leave from her job at North Island College, where she was remembered by co-workers as a sweet and friendly colleague.

Veronika Sophie Weaver, of Comox, was identified in February by the B.C. Coroners Service as the woman who was pulled from Puntledge River, about an hour after her sevenmonth-old son was rescued after several failed attempts and survived.

Witnesses reported seeing the baby floating face down and the mother bobbing in and out of sight in the water. After approximately 25-minutes the baby was pulled from the river, rescuers performed CPR and the baby was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Comox.

The bow of the ‘Leviathan II’ is seen near Vargas Island, as it waits to be towed into Tofino for inspection. [THE CANADIAN PRESS/FILE]

Soccer team spat

Tourists die as boat sinks, Five British nationals and one Australian die in Tofino whale watching tragedy.

The rescue of 21 people from a whale-watching ship that sank in October off the west coast of Vancouver Island — with the loss of six lives — drew heavily on the resources of a native village.

Girl kicked off Comox team after dissing sponsor.

Freyja Reed and her mother Anissa are both opponents of fish farming, and trouble began when Marine Harvest, one of the biggest fish farming companies in the world, became the title sponsor for the Upper Island Riptide soccer program.

The outspoken teen was kicked off the team. Shortly afterward, the 14-year-old received a $2,000 donation from a local commercial fisherman.

Cat fight

On life support Port Alice struggles in the wake of mill closure.

About 60 people packed into the Port Alice community centre in September to help create an economic development plan to jumpstart the community in the wake of the Neucel Specialty Cellulose Pulp Mill’s indefinite halting of operations.

The mill provides 75 per cent of the village’s tax base and more than 50 per cent of the direct local jobs.

Port Alice has lost about 70 per cent of its students, going from 250 in 1995; to 124 students in 2004; to 35 for this school year.

Estimates peg the town’s population at about 500, down from 805 in the most recent census.

The town’s only grocery store had to scale back its operations due to ‘extreme conditions.’

F.P. Foods store manager Bill Feader Jr. said sales have dropped 20 per cent since the summer and necessary investment in new freezers, meat

Whale watching tragedy

AZER

REED

cases and other equipment left a large debt.

Meteorologist Matt MacDonald said the province has seen a ‘truly exceptional’ drought.

Man punches cougar in the face.

Father Travis Nielsen punched a cougar that was attacking his twoyear-old daughter, Bree. Nielsen said he struck the animal in the face and that’s when it let her go.

The attack happened in the backyard of their Tahsis home in September. Nielsen suffered puncture wounds in the attack, including two on her chest, one above her right ear and one on her back.

Toxic soil, toxic situation

The bear necessities

Angry community sues province for allowing contaminated soil operation over water supply.

Cowichan Valley Regional District officials went to court in November seeking an order that prohibits South Island Aggregates from operating its contaminated soil treatment and storage facility on Stebbings Road in Shawnigan Lake.

The operation is seen by many as a major threat to the drinking water of more than 12,000 people.

B.C. conservation officer transferred out of job after refusing to kill bear cubs.

Bryce Casavant rejected orders from his boss to euthanize two orphaned bear cubs. Instead of killing the animals, Casavant sent the cubs, which were found near Port Hardy.

The cubs are being cared for at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre and are scheduled to be released in a remote habitat sometime in 2016.

Summer drought Communities worry about fire and water supplies during exceptional extended dry spell.

Central Vancouver had one of its driest summers on record, according to Environment Canada.

Water restrictions and extreme fire warnings persisted through the summer months and blanketed the province.

Vancouver Island was cooked by a combination of constant blistering temperatures, drastically reduced rainfall, and non-existent snowpack to draw from.

Island goes orange NDP nearly sweeps Vancouver Island in federal election The New Democratic Party may have lost its status as Canada’s official Opposition in November’s federal election, but it was the popular choice on Vancouver.

The party nearly swept the Island, winning six of seven available seats, with the sole exception being the Green Party’s Elizabeth May in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding.

“This is what we expected; the only real surprise for me is that the we expected the biggest opposition would come from the Conservatives,” said NDP supporter Gail Adrienne.

Strong Liberal support across the country eroded the threat from the Conservatives locally, she added.

Aaron.Hinks @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4242

32

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