KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK TUESDAY
LOCAL NEWS
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MAY 10, 2016 | Volume 29 No. 56
POURING THE PIG INTO THE LOWER MAINLAND
DESERVED KUDOS BC SPCA honours Kamloops vets and a volunteer
Pub owners to deliver idea to Mission, North Vancouver
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TODAY’S WEATHER
Sunny High 22 C Low 10 C
Fines, points to increase B.C. NEAR TOP IN NATION FOR DISTRACTED-DRIVING PENALTIES CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
A first offence for checking your phone while driving will cost B.C. drivers $543 when new penalties take effect June 1. The fine for distracted driving goes up from $167 to $368, and drivers will also be assessed four penalty points, triggering another $175 charge. The combination results in a total penalty of $888 for a second offence within a year of the first. Public Safety Minister Mike Morris said the new penalties put B.C. near the top of distracted driving fines for Canadian provinces. Two tickets in a year will also trigger an automatic
review by the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles that could result in licence suspension. Public consultation over the past year found support for a tougher approach. “A lot of the input that we had indicated even higher penalties than that,” Morris said. Transportation Minister Todd Stone said the public awareness campaigns have not convinced enough people of the dangers of trying to use mobile phones or other devices without hands-free services. “Imagine trying to drive the length of a football field while you’re blindfolded,” Stone said. Central Saanich Police Chief Les Sylven, president of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police,
reminded drivers that being at a stop light or stuck in a traffic jam does not mean the distracted driving penalties don’t apply. NDP public safety critic Mike Farnworth said the government didn’t need to take a year to increase one of the lowest distracted driving penalty systems in the country, and giving the superintendent discretion over multiple repeat offenders doesn’t send a clear enough message. “Frankly, I think that if you get more than three in the course of the year, there should be no ‘may’ about it, you will lose your licence,” Farnworth said. Distracted and inattentive driving was a factor in the deaths of 66 people and injuries to 630 in B.C. in 2014.
Council to be hen-pecked today ANDREA KLASSEN
STAFF REPORTER
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
Chicken is back on the menu at Kamloops City Hall. City council will decide today whether to take a series of new rules concerning urban hens to a public hearing — the first step toward legalizing backyard poultry in the Tournament Capital. According to a staff report, the rules would restrict residents on lots under one acre to having between two and five chickens. Roosters and chicks would not be allowed. The new rules also lay out coop and fencing requirements for the chickens, including a “fully enclosed indoor area” to protect the hens from other
animals, a nesting box for each hen and a fullyfenced backyard. Residents with urban chickens would need to register their animals with the city and would not be allowed to sell eggs or meat from the animals. Approving urban hens isn’t without a cost. Social and community development supervisor Jen Casorso said city will need about $10,000 to set up the program. The money would be used to train bylaw officers to enforce the new rules and to create facilities to impound any birds who fly their owners’ coops — a chicken pound of sorts. Staff are also proposing an education campaign for would-be hen owners, to teach them about how to best set up their animals.
WHEN DARRIN BECAME DEANNA
TRANS-CENDENT
A Two-part series begins on page A10 and concludes in Thursday’s edition of KTW
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