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INSIDE TODAY’S PAPER Look for the yellow bag for use in this weekend’s Rotary Food Drive. Turn to PAGE A6 for information on the event.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020 | Volume 33 No. 29
TODAY’S WEATHER
EATERIES CLOSED
COVID-19 VEXES VOWS
Remaining Subways in city close due to COVID-19 pandemic
The virus has thrown wedding plans for a loop in the Loops
Sunny and warm High 15 C Low 1 C
NEWS/A12
NEWS/A7
Survey shows pandemic’s hit locally JESSICA WALLACE STAFF REPORTER jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
Firefighters mop up after an April 10 blaze gutted the North Shore Wendy’s restaurant. Go online to kamloopsthisweek.com to see more photos of the fire and aftermath. ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW
Despite fire at Wendy’s, no layoffs TIM PETRUK
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
Investigators hope their probe of a fire that gutted a North Shore fast-food restaurant last week will be complete within days. The Wendy’s location at Eighth Street and Fortune Drive burst into flames early Friday morning. The blaze gutted the restaurant. Despite that, Wendy’s district manager Alma Porras told KTW none of the fast-food chain’s employees have been laid off. Porras said Wendy’s employs between 60 and 65 people in Kamloops. She said the 16
to 20 workers at the North Shore location have been given hours at the restaurant’s two other storefronts — in Sahali and Valleyview — following Friday’s blaze. “We’re trying to accommodate everybody to work in those locations,” Porras said. “Our No. 1 goal is to make sure all of our employees are taken care of.” No one was injured in Friday’s fire, which was called in at about 2 a.m. Kamloops Fire Rescue investigator Dean Olstad said Tuesday the investigation is ongoing, but nearing an end. “There’s nothing official just yet, but it looks like the fire started higher up in the structure,” he told KTW, noting there is no
indication the blaze was set intentionally. Olstad said he expects the investigation to be complete by Wednesday afternoon. Porras said she was emotional after the fire. She said the North Kamloops location had been performing well, even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “I was crying,” she said. “I’ve worked for Wendy’s for 20 years. That location is really busy. We have Skip [The Dishes] and everything. Business was really strong. I was excited.” Porras said the North Shore Wendy’s was due for a renovation, slated to begin in mid-April. She said those plans have been shelved.
A grim first look at the Kamloops economy amid the pandemic, courtesy a survey conducted by the BC Chamber of Commerce, shows that 40 per cent of businesses have closed and 70 per cent of businesses have experienced decreased sales. However, it’s not all bad news. Kamloops Chamber of Commerce president Tyson Andrykew said local businesses have also stated their intention to re-open once the pandemic ends. “It’s promising to hear businesses are largely planning on a rebound,” Andrykew told KTW. The provincial chamber regularly surveys members and takes information gleaned to the provincial and federal governments as part of advocacy efforts. In its most recent questionnaire, 90 Kamloops businesses responded, providing perspective — which has thus far been anecdotal — on the local economy amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. Andrykew said a little more than 40 per cent of local businesses that responded said they have closed, 70 per cent reported decreased sales and an average of nine employees have been laid off. (It is unclear what types of businesses responded, though it is believed to be a wide range of small businesses.) Andrykew expected the number of businesses with decreased sales to be higher. “It could be that some professional services responded, maybe some grocery stores, liquor stores, which are really the only sectors I’ve heard of that are doing the same or slightly lower or better,” he said. See CHAMBER, A5
Electric vehicle charging station
50%OVER PRE SOL -LE D/ ASE D Bike parking & shower/ change room
10 years reduced property taxes
Underground parking for purchase or lease
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