THURSDAY, March 7, 2013
INDEX
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TODAY’S FORECAST Sun with clouds High: 9 C Low: 2 C
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WEATHER ALMANAC One year ago Hi: 6.9 C Low: -3.1 C Record High: 17.8 C (2005) Record Low: -20 C (1951)
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Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 TODAY’S FLYERS *Selected distribution Cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 Future Shop, Michaels, New Life Mission, Real Estate Guide, Safeway, Sears, Shoppers, Superstore, Walmart, Rexall*, Cooper’s*, Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B9 Save-On-Foods, NF Newsletter*, M&M Meats*, Highland Valley Foods*, GDN PC*, BCAA*, Classifieds . . . . . . . . . B11 Extra Foods*, Chop ‘N Block*, Canadian Tire*, Brian Delaney*
UPFRONT
KAMLOOPS
THIS WEEK Ed Jensen (left) and Jeanette Jules officially perform smudging of the newly unveiled maintenance facility of Rocky Mountaineer on Wednesday, March 5 with Peter Armstrong, founder and executive chairman of the Armstrong Group, and Jeff Pelletier, executive co-ordinator for the office of the president and CEO. Dave Eagles/KTW
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Teachers wary of wireless By Dale Bass STAFF REPORTER dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
Maintaining Rocky Mountaineer in city When the Rocky Mountaineer delivers its last guests of the season to their destinations each October, its trains have one more trip to make. Each off-season, 75 rail cars and locomotives funnel into the company’s maintenance yard on CN Road in Kamloops for servicing. This year, however, there is something new to see at the site — a state-of-the-art maintenance centre the rail-tour company is touting as a significant investment in the city. The 20,000-square-foot building was under con-
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struction for about two years and replaces a series of less-permanent structures on the site, said company spokesman Ian Robertson. “They were temporary, modular buildings. It looked like a very temporary facility,” he said. “This really signals our commitment to Kamloops and to that area.” The new setup allows the company to roll up to six cars into the building at one time. “We have lifting hoists and it’s all enclosed within a facility that makes it much more accessible and easy for
our staff to maintain the equipment,” Robertson said. In addition to the year-end checkups, rail cars are also funneled through the building when the Mountaineer makes overnight tour stops in Kamloops, as do two of its four routes. “Kamloops is kind of the midway point. Ever since the company started, our maintenance facility was in Kamloops,” Robertson said. More than 40 people maintain the Mountaineer’s rail equipment year round, along with another 28 seasonal staffers.
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Teachers in the Nicola Valley want protection from the radiation of technology in the classroom, but their Kamloops counterparts aren’t ready to take a stand on the issue. KamloopsThompson Teachers’ Association president Jason Karpuk said his group is looking at the research on wireless routers, laptops and tablets and the amount of radiation they emit. The Nicola Valley Teachers’ Union has gone one step further, sending a resolution to the annual general meeting of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, asking the union to support teachers who want to exercise precautionary measures to limit exposure to radiation. The meeting is scheduled for Vancouver from Saturday, March 16, to Tuesday, March 19. The resolution notes a cancer-research agency with the World Health Organization has classified the radiation emitted by the wireless devices as a potential carcinogen. The American Academy of Pediatric Physicians has also warned of potential harm to children from overexposure to the radiation.