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It takes a community
Local talent takes stage
In Part Two of our series on a family stricken with Lyme disease, the Goertzens talk about isolation and the community support they get.
Ten young performers strut their stuff Tuesday at the 7th Annual RichCity Idol contest at Gateway Theatre. Proceeds go to help rebuild Haiti.
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EDUCATION
HEALTH
Teachers need break
New CT scanner unveiled
Most parents back 2-week break
BY NELSON BENNETT
BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
nbennett@richmond-news.com
A small but vocal group of parents turned out to a special meeting Tuesday to question the rationale behind the Richmond school board’s decision to consider an extended spring break. What they heard was that it has little to do with finances, and nothing to do with academic achievement. Rather, it is about school staff, especially teachers, wanting the extra week off. A survey shows that the vast majority of parents in Richmond also support a two-week spring break. “I would have to say that this is the issue I hear most often from teachers,” Al Klassen, president of the Richmond School Teachers Association, told a handful of parents who questioned the move. He said he had made it Al Klassen his mission to push for a twoweek spring break. “They bring forth issues of wellness. They bring forth issues of not having sufficient time within the school year to be well enough and rested enough to do the work that’s been downloaded onto them by the ministry (of education) these past eight years.” He said the Liberal government has piled more and more work onto teachers. “Teachers are at the point of rebellion and saying enough is enough,” he said, adding the prospect of an extra week off in spring gives them a “glimmer of hope.” Seventy-seven per cent of parents who filled out online surveys also support the extended spring break, said assistant superintendent Nancy Brennan. But some of the nine parents who turned out to a special meeting at MacNeill secondary suggested they were misled and misinformed. A letter that went out to parents explained the school district’s rationale for moving to a two-week spring break, but provided none of the potential drawbacks. The rationale included: increased staff wellness, decreased absenteeism, costs savings and better ability for families to plan vacations. see RTA page 6
“Teachers are at the point of rebellion...”
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The patient came into emergency on a Friday afternoon complaining of leg pain. A CT scan that same afternoon showed he had two serious blood clots in the artery leading to his right leg. “He was in OR in a matter of hours,” said Dr. Ian Dunn, director of diagnostic imaging with Richmond Hospital. The patent is now home recovering. That is just one recent example of how the treatment of patients a variety of injuries or chronic conditions are being treated more quickly, thanks to a brand new 128-slice CT scan, which went into operation April 29 at Richmond Hospital. The new scanner — purchased at the basement bargain price of just $500,000 — replaces the hospital’s older 16-slice CT scan, which is going to a hospital in Powell River. It was purchased, along with a new $4 million MRI, from Seimens, a German company. The scanner is worth $1.7 million, but Richmond Hospital was able to pick it up for just $500,000 as part of a package deal that included the new MRI. see CT page 7
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