U S T C A L L R Y A N

Exterior Cleaning

Swiss skier Fanny Smith took gold in the ski cross on Mar. 17. Hoffos’ teammates also did well in that race, with Canadian Marielle ompson getting bronze, and Canadian Hannah Schmidt coming in fourth. Canada’s Reece Howden got gold in the men’s ski cross race on Mar. 17. e Mar. 18 women’s race was won by France’s Marielle Berger Sabbatel, but two Canadians once again rounded out the podium, with Marielle ompson second and Brittany Phelan third. In the men’s Mar. 18 race, Canadian Brady Leman won gold.

e imbalance between skill, effort and results evaporated on St. Patrick’s Day.

“It was awesome,” she said. “I’m where I feel I should be.”

Hoffos burst onto the World Cup ski cross scene with a Rookie-of-the-Year performance in the 2019-2020 season, earning three World Cup medals that first year and making the semifinal heats of almost every competition. She followed up with more strong results in 2020-2021 and rose to the sixth ranked women’s ski cross racer in the world.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS, HEIRS, AND OTHER CL AIMANTS

In the Matter of the Indian Ac t, R.S.C. 1985 c 1-5 as amended, and in the matter of the Estate of

JAMES NICHOLAS WHITE

No. 078, 01 Akisq’nuk First Nation in the Province of British Columbia, DECEASED

Notice is hereby given pursuant to sec tion 8 of the Indian Estates Regulations that all creditors, heirs and other claimants having claims or demands against the Estate of the said

JAMES NICHOLAS WHITE who died on or about FEBRUARY 17,2023, are required to send by post prepaid or to deliver on or before MAY 15, 2023 to:

CHRISTAL WHITE PO BOX 1887

FORT ST. JAMES, BC V0J lP0 their names and addresses, full par ticulars of their claims, statement of their accounts, and the nature of the securities (if any) held by them

And take notice that after such last mentioned date the Administrator will proceed to distribute the assets of the deceased among the par ties entitled thereto, having regard only to claims filed before that date or which the Minister orders may be later received, and that the said Administrator will not be liable for the said assets or any par t thereof to any person or persons of whose claims notice was not filed by that date unless the Minister orders it may be later received

Dated at For t St James, British Columbia, on MARCH 10, 2023

Administrator /Executor, CHRISTAL WHITE en the dip came. Hoffos slipped to a ranking of 10th overall during the 2021-2022 season, largely as a result of competing in the 2022 Olympic Games held in Beijing. She also lost some of her season to a Covid infection. e first two racers in each heat move on to the next round, “knockout style.” e top two skiers in each of the two semifinal heats qualify for the ‘big final’ to race for 1st through 4th place. e ‘small final’ for 5th through 8th place, is made up of the four ‘losing’ semfinalists. rough this World Cup season Hoffos has only managed to reach only a few small finals, and one big final, in which she came fourth. A few times she was eliminated in the first round of a race. But she believes she has the potential to regularly bag top-five finishes (either winning the small final or getting into the big final). is season she’s also ranked 10th overall, and said that troublingly, she can’t seem to figure out why she’s not doing better. e silver medal boosted Hoffos’ confidence and was made all the sweeter by success across both the Canadian men’s and women’s team in Craigleith. Canada earned the Ski Cross Nations Cup as the best overall country during the World Cup season. at “created some good momentum. All of us (Canadians) were really fired up. at certainly helped me,” said Hoffos. e district inherited the Lake Windermere Resort Lands in 2019 for $5 million, following a referendum in favour of doing so, and plans to turn much of the area into public parks and other green space. Golden-based wildlife biologist Rachel Darvill discovered that about a dozen bank swallow had burrowed nests into a sandy face on the pile. e project involves preserving about a third of the pile as habitat (the remaining two thirds will be used to help create the park the area will become), putting up barriers to keep people away from the nesting sites, and adding some interpretive signs.

In ski cross, 16 racers qualify for any given World Cup race. ey compete in heats of four, racing together down a course of jumps, berms and technical features.

“It been difficult. It does make you feel you are trending in the wrong direction,” she said.

Craigleith, which has a vertical drop of just 211 metres, was hosting a World Cup ski cross for the first time ever, which generated plenty of buzz and drew big crowds.

“ e fans were were so excited,” she said. “We signed what felt like a million autographs for kids.

Hoffos had a crew of nine supporters travel from the Columbia Valley and Calgary to Craigleith to cheer her on.

When her family and fans noticed that Hoffos was in second place coming in to the end they hoped she stayed on her feet and none would squeak past.

“It’s one of those sports that things can change very quickly,” said Jenny Hoffos, Courtney’s mom.

Hoffos stayed out east after the World Cup season ended, competing in some NorAm (North America) circuit ski cross races at Craigleith, then headed to North Bay, Ontario with some of her Canadian teammates to run the Live Like Miki ski cross race, held in honour of former Canadian ski cross racer Mikayla Martin who died in a mountain bike accident in 2019. e event doubles as a sort of camp for aspiring young ski cross athletes, said Hoffos.

“It was great, the kids had a ton of fun,” she said. Proceeds from the event went to the charitable Mikayla Martin Memorial Fund.

It’s a late addition to the budget mostly because it came to the attention of the district only a week at the last minute, Invermere planner Rory Hromadnik told the Pioneer. e habitat is the large pile of soil on the south side of the gravel road that leads to the Athalmer boat launch.

“Anything we can do to make things more environmentally responsible there, we should,” said Hromadnik. e budget will come back before council for adoption at its Tuesday, Apr. 11 meeting.

“ e ground is already ready to burn,” she said. In a few more weeks, when the grass is drier “a spark could light the whole town on fire.” vice in the Columbia Valley might get together and reach a collective agreement on what works here and then perhaps agree to a standard surcharge. So people understand the difference between the cost of the food and the cost of new packaging.

Any fire spreading up from track through grassland would quickly reach timber, said Hale.

Harmsworth has lived in Invermere for more than 55 years, and recalled that decades ago, a rail speeder used to trail trains as they passed near and through the community, in part to watch for any sparks. A rail speeder is a very small rail car once used to move inspectors and workers along the tracks. Harmsworth suggested this is no longer done because the sheer number of trains these days makes it impractical.

Sparks from trains and other rail activity have caused wildfires in the past, in Canada and elsewhere around the world. Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) had to pay $16 million in damages after an investigation determined rail workers cutting a line sparked the 2015 Cisco Road fire, which burned for months south of Lytton, B.C.

A 2021 wildfire that destroyed most of Lytton and killed two people was blamed by some Lytton residents on a passing train. A Transportation Safety Board investigation found no evidence to conclude the fire was caused by CN Rail activities. But two residents later filed a class action lawsuit alleging a CN Rail train did indeed cause the blaze.

With the federal regulation more than eight months away, the District of Invermere has staff looking at a single-use-plastic ban of their own. ere is no guarantee that the federal government will implement the regulations, said Invermere CFO e Single Use Plastics Prohibition and Regulations (SUPPR) ban the use of “single use plastic” in food service just before Christmas.

Invermere mayor Al Miller last week said he thought the pursuit of a local ordinance, that the district is investigating, is justified and in keeping with the municipality’s focus on environment. Invermere is considering a single use plastic ordinance of their own. Miller said that though the federal ban is clear and covers what Invermere might seek to regulate, there is no guarantee the SUPPR will be enacted.

At Spice Hut scores of styrofoam containers and plastic bags were once used daily to support their takeaway. Now, they’re putting out paper straws and much of the food is going out the door in paper containers, said Spice Hut manager Rashveer Sidhu.

For the most part, the reality of align- ing with the single use plastic ban is not as hard as expected for the owner of Valley Foods in Invermere. Sydney-Anne Porter said her offerings are sold in whatever her suppliers have available at the moment. She intends to rely on suppliers to make sure that Valley Foods’ takeaway counter is in line with federal or local regulation, whichever has governance over single use plastic at the given time. ere is a mix of new style and soonto-be banned materials in the prepared food section. Not all food does well in cardboard or fibre that restaurants use, Porter said. Prepared food will often sit in packaging in the warm food shelf for a time before the customer gets it. So, for now, single prepared meals of lamb or butter chicken will still be sold in clear plastic topper. e base has changed, she said.

Prepared food has become a large part of the grocery business across Canada. However, takeaway at Valley Foods is more of a service to singles and seniors that live in town, she said. It’s not a huge part of the over all business, but it’s important for some in the community, she said.

“ is is how people eat,” Porter said.

As the growing take out industry moves into the biodegradable containers, industry suppliers are looking wide to support food service with fibre based products. An American Chemical Society paper published on March 28 says that certain food wrappers in use in Canada, including fibre bowls, are laced with forever chemicals ( polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS) in the waterproof coatings and the finer binding agents. e study looked at the transfer of the chemicals from packaging into the food. e society urges caution and awareness saying that the use of PFAS-infused fibre based food containers begin to take over as the norm a different toxic problem could develop.

“ e total use ban expected in December will likely lead to greater use of plant fibre-based food packaging alternatives, to which PFAS may be added to achieve grease- and water-repellency. If so, this would represent a regrettable substitution of trading one harmful option for another.”

Restaurants Canada said usable plastic alternatives remain on the market that will not be subject to the ban in December. But those will be subject to some testing to determine if the item is “single use” as defined by the government.

Shoemaker said he doesn’t see it working well for folks bringing in reusables or containers from home to pick up a ursday-night sushi order. As with most restaurants, but in particular sushi, there is a food contamination issue.

“It’s just not a feasible exchange,” he said.