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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | Volume 31 No. 17
WEATHER
ASSESSING THE BUDGET
Sun and clouds High 6 C Low 1 C SNOW REPORT Sun Peaks Resort Mid-mountain: 172 cm Alpine: 226 cm Harper Mountain Total snow: 270 cm
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The federal Liberals unveil their spending plans and we get reactions
NEWS/A6
CITY SETS TAX HIKE AT TWO PER CENT ANDREA KLASSEN STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
Johnston said he has worked at similar venues that have shut down and noted it’s a painful experience for everyone. “One year working at a nightclub is like living two years,” he said. “You age fast and you become so tight. It’s beyond family, a brotherhood.”
The average-assessed Kamloops household will pay $43 more in property taxes in 2018. City council approved a number of community and staff requests at a special meeting on Tuesday that will set this year’s property-tax increase at 2.08 per cent, up from the 1.8 per cent previously forecast. While many of the items on this year’s request list will be paid for using other city funds, ongoing operational improvements at the Westsyde Pool and Fitness Centre helped hike this year’s tax number. The city typically funds ongoing programs through taxation, rather than using money it gets from casinos, gas taxes or other fluctuating funding sources. Plans to improve fitness equipment in Westsyde will cost the city $35,000 annually. Council also voted to spend $125,000 a year to maintain extended hours put in place following the facility’s multi-million dollar building renovation. Coun. Donovan Cavers argued the city should scale back the centre’s hours to 2014 levels, rather than spend more money on a facility that is almost exclusively used by residents in that neighbourhood. City figures show 90 per cent of visitors come from Westsyde. “It’s putting too much money into an area ...” Cavers said. “If it was a facility that served a wider population, I could support this. But it’s a neighbourhood pool.”
See CJ’S, A4
See POOL, A11
ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW
DRUMMING ATHLETES OUT OF GAMES
The Raiden Taiko drum group from the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association helped send off about 2,000 athletes, coaches and officials during the BC Winter Games closing ceremony on Sunday at Sandman Centre. The four-day Games event was held in Kamloops, Sun Peaks and Stake Lake. For a complete wrap on the Games, turn to Sports on page A28 and go online to kamloopsthisweek.com and click on the BC Winter Games tab.
Last call for CJ’s
DALE BASS
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
The pending closure of CJ’s Nightclub has been met with mixed emotions downtown. Carl DeSantis, executive director of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association, said he is sad to see
the longtime venue shut down, but added he is excited at the possibility the site will attract a new business. CJ’s is located at the corner of Lansdowne Street and Fifth Avenue. It will close on March 5. David Johnston, owner of The Blue Grotto nightclub in the 300block of Victoria Street, echoed DeSantis’ comments.
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