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MARCH 4, 2020 | Volume 33 No. 19
WEATHER Sun and clouds High 9 C Low 0 C SNOW REPORT Sun Peaks Resort Mid-mountain: 195 cm Alpine: 219 cm Harper Mountain Total snow: 261 cm
WEDNESDAY
ABOUT THE BUDGET
MAKING A RACQUET
Different perspectives on 2020 document
Local squash players are working on having courts return to city
PAGES A15/A21
SPORTS/A23
Parking issues persist at Royal Inland Hospital JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW
ART PARTY IN KAMLOOPS
Ila Schmidt enjoys a face-painting session from aunt Carly Schmidt, who owns Kamloops Art Party on 12th Street on the North Shore. Schmidt held a grand opening on Saturday, with art and food for the many visitors, along with music from local band Loops. More photos are online at kamloopsthisweek.com.
As parking problems continue to plague Royal Inland Hospital, a TNRD director said more should be done to prevent people who are not attending the hospital from utilizing its new parkade. Ronaye Elliott, director of Area A/Copper Desert Country (Cherry Creek and Savona) said there are many people parking their vehicles in the parkade in the Clinical Services Building and, instead of entering the hospital, heading down or across Columbia Street on their way to work. “I actually watched a group of professionals park, pay for the day and they left, went down the street,” Elliott said. She implored the hospital district to find a solution to the problem. Despite the addition of the parkade, which was built as part of the recently constructed clinical services building, patients, visitors and staff continue to
DAVE EAGLES/KTW FILE The new parkade at Royal Inland Hospital exits onto Columbia Street, as do many drivers who park their vehicles inside and walk to work in the area.
have problems finding a space and often park downtown and walk to the facility. In February, a group calling for an end to pay parking at hospitals in B.C. released information showing 7,841 parking tickets were issued at Royal Inland Hospital in the 2018-2019 fiscal year (April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019). Of those, 3,107 tickets have been paid, 2,507 tickets remain
outstanding and 2,227 tickets were cancelled. Based on a parking ticket amount of $57, RIH potential parking ticket revenue in 20182019 was $447,000, of which $177,000 has been collected. Meanwhile, the province’s health minister said his government is “looking” at how hospitals charge patients for parking. See DIX SAYS, A4
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