KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK TUESDAY
LOCAL NEWS
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OCTOBER 24, 2017 | Volume 30 No. 127
BEST IN BUSINESS TODAY’S WEATHER Sunny High 12 C Low 5 C
HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN SHUSWAP Man in custody as police search two properties Page A6
The Business Excellence Awards were held on weekend
A15-A17
Two shot in ‘problem’ city house TIM PETRUK STAFF REPORTER tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
DIGGING UP THE DIKE DEBATE ANDREA KLASSEN STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
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neighbourhood association’s Facebook poll has re-ignited a decades-old controversy in Westsyde. In September, the Westsyde Community Development Society posted a poll asking residents how they would feel about paving the dike that runs behind Oak Hills. After a multi-year absence from Facebook, the volunteer-run group’s new social-media person was interested in re-connecting with residents. “I was kind of surprised this erupted the way it did,” society president Steve Delaney said. A previous poll in 2014 had shown support for the proposal and the development society had already endorsed the paved pathway in a letter to the city in April.
However, while some residents expressed support, saying they would like to be able to bike more easily on the path, many others were vehemently against anything of the kind and shocked to discover the proposal was up for debate. Some worried paving would damage the dike. Others suggested asphalt would be too hot for dogs’ paws, hard on runners’ knees and slippery in winter. “It seems like the city’s trying to ramrod this through whether we like it or not,” said Westsyde Road resident Hedzer Vanderkooi, who contacted KTW after hearing a rumour the city was paving the dike. He said he has never heard of the Westsyde Community Development Society. Vanderkooi said paving the dike is a waste of money and a project no one wants. “There’s a fear that if it gets paved, there are going to be bicycles moving at a pretty good clip along it, possibly skateboarders
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and stuff,” he said. “Right now, it’s fine the way it is.” Delaney has his own view of the opposition. “The dike is for everyone out here in Westsyde, not just the Oak Hills residents,” he said. “It would be nice to have access up there for wheelchairs and teens to rollerblade and skateboard and they don’t want anybody up there.” It’s a neighbourhood drama 20 years in the making. In 1997, the City of Kamloops first made plans to pave the dike, only to run into serious opposition. Westsyde residents collected about 1,400 signatures on a petition calling for the dike to be left as is. “In our opinion, it doesn’t need to be changed. We have our little piece of nature here,” Joan Janyk-Rollier told a KTW reporter at the time.
Kamloops Mounties were looking for a suspect as of KTW press deadline Monday after two people were shot in a North Shore house. The shootings occurred in a home at 217 Nelson Ave., just east of Fortune Drive and directly across from Northills Shopping Centre. Staff Sgt. Simon Pillay said the two shooting victims were taken to Royal Inland Hospital with undetermined injuries. One of the victims, a man who appeared to be in his 20s, made his way to the nearby McDonald’s restaurant, where he was tended to by paramedics. Pillay said one person was detained at the scene of the shooting, though he is not believed to be the shooter. “The address is very well known to police,” Pillay said. “We come here on a regular basis and we consider it a problem residence.” At least one bullet hole has been found in the back door of the house as Mounties, with weapons drawn, entered the home just past noon. Following the shooting, police asked that nearby Arthur Hatton elementary be placed on lockdown since it is a few blocks away from Nelson Avenue. Police have not commented on whether the shootings may be gang- or drug-related. Go online to kamloopsthisweek.com for updates. Kamloops Mounties used a police dog in the search of a home at 217 Nelson Ave. on Monday after two people were shot. TIM PETRUK/KTW
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