KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK TUESDAY
LOCAL NEWS
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APRIL 26, 2016 | Volume 29 No. 50
SKEETERS CAN NOW ENDANGER YOUR SEX LIFE
DIARY OPENED TODAY’S WEATHER Showers High 20 C Low 8 C
Westsyde stages The Diary of Anne Frank
Pesky critters blamed for sexually transmitted Zika virus
A15
A34
The younger face of city’s homeless
Drugrelated shooting The city’s top cop said a targeted early morning shooting over the weekend in Brocklehurst was directly related to the drug trade and organized crime. Three shots were fired at a home on Parkcrest Drive near Holt Street just before 6 a.m. on Sunday. No one was injured. “The individuals involved are known to us and the residents involved are known to us,” Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller said. “It’s in direct relation to control of the streetlevel drug trade here in Kamloops. It’s involving intimidation and retribution in regard to control of that drug trade.” Mueller said it is connected to gang activity. “Every time you’re dealing with the drug trade, there’s elements of organized crime to that,” he said. “Some are local and some are linked to the Lower Mainland. It’s very much our main focus and concern.” See SHOOTING, A6
ANDREA KLASSEN
STAFF REPORTER
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
LEONARD PIGGIN PHOTO Kamloops Fly Fishers member Carey Miggins netted a rainbow trout on the weekend from a flooded field and transferred it to a bucket. From there, buckets of fish were taken back to Jacko Lake, more than a kilometre away. Dozens of people took part in the fish rescue after the lake south of Aberdeen overflowed.
CHASING RAINBOWS AT JACKO LAKE CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
Anglers who expected a tranquil day of casting at Jacko Lake on the weekend instead went to work in a rescue operation to get stranded fish back into the lake south of Aberdeen. A flood, caused by seasonal runoff in combination with thunderstorms, pumped up the lake, causing it to overflow into a channel and then into fields as far as a kilometre or two away.
“Saturday morning, people discovered fish swimming around in a field,” said conservation officer Kevin Van Damme. “Some had beached themselves and died.” But those out for fishing and recreation went to work under the guidance of the conservation officer service. Van Damme estimated as many as 1,000 rainbow trout were transferred back to the lake on Saturday and another 200 to 300 on Sunday. “The outflow is completely natural. Fish want to spawn
and want to leave the lake “They go to these streams and get stranded.” In addition to people who happened to be out at the lake, two local clubs put out the word to members. On Sunday, members of Kamloops Fly Fishers and Kamloops Fish and Game Club volunteered to gather fish from fields. “I’ve never seen that happen before,” said Len Piggin, president of the fly fishers. See KGHM AJAX, A4
There’s a new face to Kamloops’ homeless population. At a meeting of the city’s co-ordinated enforcement task force yesterday, social agencies and the Kamloops RCMP said an increasing number of young homeless people are arriving in the city, many of whom aren’t interested in moving into more permanent housing. RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller said crimes against persons in the city are up by 22 per cent, while the number of property crimes have climbed by 12 per cent compared to this time last year. It’s an increase he said is partly the result of an increase in younger homeless people in the city who are “not interested in seeking services to help themselves, but are more interested in continuing with aggressive type of behaviour.” Representatives from various non-profit groups have reported an increase in the city’s homeless. Bud Forbes, co-ordinator of St. Paul’s Cathedral’s Out of the Cold program, told KTW last week that the final month of the seasonal meal and shelter program was far busier than in previous years. While Out of the Cold would normally bring in 25 people at most per night during its final weeks of operation in March, Forbes said this year as many as 62 people showed up per night, noting the shelter’s 28 beds were full all nights but one. “It’s not normal at all. There’s a huge number of mostly young people in town right now,” he said. Forbes said the new arrivals tend to be males between the age of 25 and 35, while regular clients skew older, from 45 to 65. See CITY, A7
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