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FRIDAY JULY 5, 2019 | Volume 32 No. 54
KELLY O AND THE KIDS
Kamloops-raised Kelly Olynyk of the NBA’s Miami Heat returns home to conduct his annual basketball clinic at TRU A25
RUBES ROLL ON Rube Band marks its 21st year with a trip to Newfoundland A21
WEEKEND WEATHER:
DREAM WIN
Wet. Great time to read a good book High 25 C Low 14 C
Meet the owners of the 2019 Y Dream Home A3
Tk’emlups to receive ancestral remains JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
WHY ARE THOSE RAINBOW CROSSWALKS SO EXPENSIVE? JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
T
here have been letters to the editor, calls to the KTW newsroom and plenty of posts online with respect to the proposed rainbow crosswalk downtown. Virtually all of the above focus on the city’s estimated cost to apply the multicoloured crosswalk — $10,000. The city is considering the
installation at the request of Kamloops Pride. A rainbow crosswalk is intended to demonstrate the city’s commitment to inclusivity for all its residents. Kamloops Pride had hoped to have the crosswalk installed in time for its downtown parade in late August. The city is working with the group on a possible temporary rainbow crossing that could be ready in time for the Aug. 25 event. The city’s preliminary $10,000 cost estimate includes highly durable material known
as methyl methcrylate (MMA) road-marking paint. According to the province’s Ministry of Transportation, MMA road-marking paint is typically 10 to 15 times the cost of standard paint per metre to apply. A report with a more specific cost breakdown will go to council later, but city CAO David Trawin explained the majority of the cost is due to the material. See SPECIALIZED, A5 D#30150
A ceremony was held on Tuesday to honour the dead at the West Victoria Street site where ancestral human remains were discovered last week. About a dozen people from the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, four people from the City of Kamloops and contractors were on hand for the private gathering. “I really appreciated being a part of it and having that offer extended to us,” city capital projects manager Darren Crundwell said. The remains were discovered on June 26 by construction crews working in the area. Work immediately stopped and RCMP officers, Tk’emlups representatives and Golder Associates employees attended the scene as part of archeological protocol for the project. A coroner and archeologist determined the remains to be “non-modern,” predating European settlement in the area. West Victoria Street is among the oldest areas in the city. The remains are still on site and Crundwell said an anthropologist was coming from Vancouver to work with archeologists to exhume the remains on Thursday and Friday. Anthropologists study humans with past and present societies.
It is not known if additional remains could be in the area of the $13-million West Victoria Street reconstruction project, which involves digging down and replacing subterranean infrastructure. Professionals will sift through the soils. Since the project began in April, glass bottles and a portion of a tool have been discovered, but June 26 was the first time human remains were found. “If there is more, we’ll just keep working with Golder and Tk’emlups to make sure we’re doing the right thing on site,” Crundwell said. Once exhumed, the remains will be given to Tk’emlups te Secwepemc, which will eventually decide their final resting place. In the past, remains given to Tk’emlups have been repatriated and buried on the reserve. Meanwhile, crews are back at work this week after taking the Canada Day long weekend off. “We just skipped ahead right now,” Crundwell said. “We’re working in front and behind. If we couldn’t deal with that area for weeks and months, yeah, it would eventually impact things. “Thankfully, it was in an area where we just skipped over that. “Then, once that site is cleared by Tk’emlups and the archeologist, we’ll go back and finish what we need to do in that area.”
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