FRIDAY, January 24, 2014
INDEX
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WEATHER ALMANAC
TODAY’S FORECAST
One year ago Hi: 2.7 C Low: -4.6 C Record High: 11.7 C (1953) Record Low: -33.9 C (1957)
Cloudy (yet again) High: 3 C Low: -1 C
Viewpoint/Your Opinion . . . . A8-9 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . A26 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A17 Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A27 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . A21 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . A28 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A25
TODAY’S FLYERS *Selected distribution
Home Hardware, Target, The Bay, The Source*, Nature’s Fare*, Easy Home*, Highland Valley Foods*
UPFRONT
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KAMLOOPS
THIS WEEK
Minute amount of pot has judge asking questions By Cam Fortems STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
Thrive Festival participants undertake an outdoor yoga class at Thompson Rivers University. The two-and-a-half day festival, organized by Alan Corbishley through his business, B.C. Living Arts, lost money in its inaugural year despite receiving $75,000 from Kamloops taxpayers. KTW file photo
Festival did not exactly Thrive By Dale Bass
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
If Alan Corbishley heads back to city council for more money for his Thrive Festival, he will face some tough questions from at least one councillor. “Council would have to take a really, really hard look at it,” Tina Lange told KTW. “And I would want to see details, all their financial numbers, how much they spent.” Lange voted against Corbishley’s request last year for city money to help fund the festival, which was held in June at Thompson Rivers University. A majority on council voted to provide Corbishley, through his business, B.C. Living Arts, $75,000 as seed money. The Thrive Festival included various exhibitions and activities. Its website describes it as “The Kamloops Thrive Festival is a confluence for mind, body and soul development designed to illustrate that creativity is not confined only to the traditional art forms such as music, visual arts, dance or drama, but is also found in recreation, pastimes and everyday activities.” Corbishley has prepared a final report on the two-and-a-half-day event and said he is in talks again with the city. The report has no financial information, but notes the event finished with a small deficit.
The Thrive Festival included Amy Baskin (left) and Katherine Bermiller dressed as sheepherders. KTW file photo
When asked the amount, Corbishley said his company’s deficit for the fiscal year was $2,500, but he declined to indicate what the festival’s red ink totalled. Corbishley said he had to use some of his company’s money to help finance the event. The report notes the festival received $150,000 worth of advertising — all but
$10,000 of it free. The report said 1,370 tickets were sold, representing about 1,000 people, as most bought admission to just one event, Corbishley said. Lange said attendance is a concern as it did not appear the festival was as successful as Corbishley had told council it would be. Although surveys were done, Corbishley said he didn’t ask where people came from, but he said he knew the festival drew from outside the city. “The response was good and people said the quality was really, really high,” Corbishley said. “And there was no fanatic nature to it. It was all well-executed, for the most part.” Corbishley said he and his team learned a lot from last year’s event and will be making changes to it this year. Pricing was a point of confusion, Corbishbley said, so he’s considering a single ticket price to access several events. Having events scattered across the TRU campus was another issue, so this year’s festival will be held in one venue at the university. Lange said council “does what it can to help festivals. “Ribfest is a good example,” she said. “But this was what, a quarter-million-dollar venture with the in-kind? And the plan was to make money so it would have a cushion for the next year. “$75,000 for just 1,000 people is a huge subsidy by the city.”
A provincial court judge questioned why a Kamloops couple was brought in front of him for possession of pot worth a total of $25. Jason and Amanda Stachoski were each charged with possession of marijuana after they were busted by Calgary police in September. Police pulled over a car driven by Jason Stachoski because its rear licence plate was not lit. The arresting officer smelled pot and the pair each admitted to possession of a small amount — he was caught with $15 worth of pot, she with $10. Alberta prosecutors agreed to waive the file to Kamloops, where the couple lives. Both pleaded guilty to the charge. “Aren’t charges like this sometimes diverted?” judge Chris Cleaveley asked Crown lawyer Anthony Varesi on Thursday, Jan. 23. Under criminal law, both police and the Crown have discretion whether to follow through with prosecution in the courts. In B.C., those who acknowledge guilt to minor offences can agree to be sent to alternative measures, a community-supervision program. Under the program, charges are stayed by the Crown. But, Varesi said, because the file was waived from Alberta, he had no authority to send the pair through alternative measures. Cleaveley gave them both an absolute discharge, meaning they will have no criminal record. Amanda Stachoski told Cleaveley social-services authorities were advised of the charges and had opened a file on the family and its two children. “If social services is breathing down your neck, I think you get the message,” Cleaveley said.
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