Make-up race
Bobby Twan and her horse Alfred make their
to be held during the BCNE that
Hundreds enjoy Thanksgiving at Huble
Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff
chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca
The intermittent clank of horseshoes hitting their mark could be heard throughout the Huble Homestead Monday as hundreds decided to work off some of that Thanksgiving dinner by paying the pioneering site a post-turkeywith-all-the-trimmings visit.
Kids could dress up at Kids’ Corner, while the Unger Family played some tunes in the welcome barn. Apples hanging from strings posed a temptation for some willing to take the bob and weave challenge as others sat down to create their own corn-husk doll.
Just past the welcome barn the makeyour-own scarecrow competition was well on its way in the large barn with already-created entries into the contest lined up outside the barn like anti-crow soldiers standing guard. The best scarecrows earned prizes and will be called to scare duty during the annual Halloween Spooktacular, which has grown by popular demand from a one-day to a two-day event this Oct. 26 and 27 from 3 to 8 p.m.
Attending Huble Homestead for the first time was Dylan White and wife, Melissa, who brought along their daughter, two-and-a-half-year-old Finley, who looked pretty thrilled to be checking out the bunnies who were busy hopping about in their expansive hutch.
“I just saw it posted online and I thought it was a good idea to do something for Thanksgiving,” Melissa said.
Melissa White, holding daughter two-and-a-half-year-old
and Dylan, visited Huble Homestead for the first time Monday to enjoy the Thanksgiving event offering traditional games, hot lunch and bunnies to watch.
Support offered after student death at local school
Citizen staff
The principal of College Heights Secondary School sent a letter home for parents and students Friday to offer support after the death of a student had occurred recently.
“We are doing everything we can to support your child and our staff through this difficult experience,” principal Randy Halpape said in the letter.
“We have asked for the assistance of the District and School’s Critical Events Response Team (CERT) to help our school deal with the loss.”
The letter describes the death of the student as sudden and assured parents there are support systems in place.
“It’s really nice here,” Melissa said who grew up down south and would visit Fort Langley as a child and wanted the same experience for her daughter.
Thanksgiving day at Huble Homestead saw typical numbers with about 300 crossing the welcome-barn threshold to enjoy a hearty soup and barbecued hamburgers or hotdogs for lunch while
The little family was joined by their extended family with lots of nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles and grandparents coming together to enjoy the day.
participating in all the activities and oldfashioned games. Huble Homestead Historic Site, 15000 Mitchell Rd., is a 30-minute drive north of Prince George. Turn off on Mitchell Road to continue another six kilometres down a well-maintained dirt road to the dog-friendly park. Admission is by suggested donation of $10 per family. For more information call 250-5647033 or visit www.hublehomestead.ca.
To that end, posted on the school’s website it said the Centre for Learning Alternatives, 3400 Westwood Drive, was open during the Thanksgiving weekend with counselors and community resource staff on hand to help staff and students on a drop-in basis.
The counseling was a community coordinated effort between School District 57, Prince George RCMP, Intersect, Foundry, Native Friendship Centre and Northern Health to ensure supports and resources are available to students and families throughout the weekend.
Continued support will be available moving forward CHSS for students.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHRISTINE HINZMANN
Finley,
CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHRISTINE HINZMANN
There were many scarecrows entered into the contest at Huble Homestead and those who attend the Halloween Spooktacular on Oct. 26 and 27 may find them hidden in unexpected places throughout the pioneer site.
Prince George provincial court docket
From Prince George provincial court, Oct. 1-4, 2018:
• Kristopher Edward Leclair (born 1986) was sentenced to 162 days in jail for possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, to 30 days and one year probation for causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal. Leclair was also sentenced to 30 days for breaching an undertaking or recognizance and assessed $500 in victim surcharges on the counts. Leclair was in custody for six days following his arrest on the weapon charge.
• Johnny James Timothy Boys (born 1993) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $500 plus a $75 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Harold Lewis Clifton (born 1986) was sentenced to 27 days in jail for breaching probation. Clifton was in custody for one day prior to sentencing.
• Clinton Levi Poitras (born 1981) was sentenced to 27 days in jail for breaching probation. Poitras was in custody for two days prior to sentencing.
• Brandy Leah Forget (born 1979) was sentenced to one day in jail and one year probation and assessed a $100 victim sur-
charge for theft $5,000 or under.
• William Junior Troy (born 1969) was sentenced to 120 days in jail for assault causing bodily harm.
Troy was also sentenced to one year probation and assessed $400 in victim surcharges on the count as well as two counts of breaching an undertaking, committed in Prince George, and one count of breaching an undertaking or recognizance, committed in Terrace.
• Melissa Marie George (born 1986) was sentenced to 18 months probation and assessed $300 in victim surcharges for assault, mischief $5,000 or under and theft $5,000 or under.
• Michael Aaron Lerat (born 1991) was sentenced to one year probation, assessed $200 in victim surcharges and issued a five-year firearms prohibition for possessing a weapon for dangerous purpose and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm. Lerat was in custody for five days prior to sentencing.
• Charles Roger West (born 1959) was sentenced to nine days in jail and one year probation and assessed a $100 victim surcharge for theft $5,000 or under, committed in Prince George, and issued a one-year
$500 recognizance after allegation for causing fear of injury or damage, committed in Houston. West was in custody for six days prior to sentencing.
• Mellissa Grace Wilson (born 1976) was assessed $300 in victim surcharges for three counts of breaching probation, committed in Gitanmaax.
• Merle Jones Cahoose (born 1970) was sentenced to 34 days in jail and assessed a $200 victim surcharge for being unlawfully at large. Cahoose was in custody for 98 days prior to sentencing.
• Roger Todd Creuzot (born 1967) was sentenced to 57 days in jail for possessing a controlled substance and 10 days in jail for breaching probation, both to be served on an intermittent basis, and assessed $200 in victim surcharges on the counts.
• Jason James Johnson (born 1974) was prohibited from driving for one year and fined $750 plus a $105 victim surcharge for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act.
• Virgil Stanley Johnson (born 1985) was sentenced to one year probation and assessed $300 in victim surcharge for possessing a break-in instrument, theft $5,000 or under and breaching probation.
Johnson was in custody for 51 days prior to sentencing.
• Cecil Glen Martin (born 1975) was sentenced to 52 days in jail for assault, to 30 days in jail for a separate count of assault, to 22 days for mischief $5,000 or under and breaching an undertaking and to eight days for driving while prohibited or licence suspended under the Motor Vehicle Act, all to be served on an intermittent basis. Martin was also sentenced to 18 months probation, issued a five-year firearms prohibition fined $500 and assessed $650 in victim surcharges on the counts.
• Zackary William Edward Isaac (born 1986) was sentenced to nine days in jail for breaching probation, to seven days for theft $5,000 or under and to one year probation and assessed $200 in victim surcharges on the counts. Isaac was in custody for seven days prior to sentencing.
• Tyler Edward Johnson (born 1984) was issued a one-year $500 recognizance after allegation for causing fear of injury or damage.
• Kirby Thomas West (born 1975) was issued a one-year $500 recognizance after allegation for causing fear of injury or damage.
B.C. couple find massive mushroom
VANCOUVER — Olya Kutsiuruba and David Swab of Vancouver had just spent a day doing what they love – mushroom picking – and their baskets were full of the day’s bounty, when Kutsiuruba says her husband started lagging behind. It was late Thursday afternoon as they were walking down a hilly slope in the Sea to Sky corridor between North Vancouver and Squamish, when Swab “let out a shriek” and started backing away from a bush.
“I thought he was bitten by something or he saw a bear,” Kutsiuruba said in an interview.
“I ran over and he told me to peek under the underbrush, and I looked through the leaves gently and there sat the most massive mushroom.”
She said both of them burst out laughing on seeing the giant king bolete mushroom – a brownish-white monster that tipped the scales at 2.92 kilograms and measured about 36 centimetres wide across the cap.
“For mushroom pickers this isn’t something that happens at all,” she said. “If ever.”
She said both of them burst out laughing on seeing the giant king bolete mushroom – a brownish-white monster that tipped the scales at 2.92 kilograms and measured about 36 centimetres wide across the cap.
The fungiphiles like to go out as much as they can in the fall, and Kutsiuruba said this year they have noticed there are a lot more mushrooms than there were last year.
“I have an entire fridge full of mushrooms in paper bags. We have way too much. It’s kind of the case with mushrooms. When it rains, it pours,” she said.
The hobby isn’t without its dangers: last week, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control warned mushroom lovers not to forage in urban areas of Vancouver, the
Woodlands survivors to receive compensation
Citizen news service
VANCOUVER — Survivors of abuse at a notorious school and psychiatric facility in New Westminster have begun receiving compensation from the provincial government, after previously being left out of a legal settlement because of a legal loophole.
Residents who lived at Woodlands before 1974 will each receive $10,000, with the money expected to be paid out by March 31, 2019. Those residents were left out of a 2009 classaction settlement because it didn’t become legal to sue the province until 1974, but the government reversed course in March.
Bill McArthur, a former Woodlands resident and survivors’ advocate who was previously denied compensation, received his money from Health Minister Adrian Dix on Monday, according to a news release from the province. He says he feels “some sense of closure on a difficult past.” Woodlands operated from 1878 until 1996, providing care for children and adults with developmental disabilities and some individuals with both developmental disabilities and mental illness. Abuse at the facility is well documented and in 2002, thenprovincial ombudsperson Dulcie
McCallum confirmed widespread sexual, physical and psychological abuse had occurred.
“I, and many Woodlands’ survivors, are finally achieving something we have long fought for,” McArthur said. “Furthermore, I encourage other survivors to reach out to the provincial government to receive their redress as well.”
Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island because they could reap a deadly harvest.
Death cap mushrooms are the deadliest on the planet and have been identified in 100 locations in the Vancouver area, the warning said.
But Kutsiuruba said the practice is “almost in our blood.” She said her grandmother was an avid mushroom picker in Ukraine who taught Kutsiuruba’s father, who in turn taught her.
“As a kid I got really excited about it mushroom picking is part of my heritage and I enjoy it. I’m happy that I can carry it on with my husband,” she said, adding that she planned to share photos of their big find with family members in Ukraine.
Kutsiuruba said she and her husband spent most of Saturday dehydrating the giant king bolete, and all those mushrooms will make for a tastier Thanksgiving.
“We’re very much thankful for this,” she said. “It’s really our own little harvest.”
She said she’s going to make her favourite dish with the king bolete – a dill-heavy, creamy sauce that can be poured over mashed potatoes, polenta or perogies. She said she learned the recipe from her mother.
Military says increase in sex-assault reports a sign of progress
Lee BERTHIAUME Citizen news service
OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces are explaining a dramatic increase in the number of sexualassault reports last year as proof that efforts to crack down on such illicit behaviour in the military are having a positive impact – and not that there have been more actual crimes.
Military authorities received 111 reports of sexual assault between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018, according to new figures provided to The Canadian Press. That was more than double the 47 such reports received over the previous year.
While those numbers appear troubling, at least on the surface, the head of the military’s sexual misconduct response team suggested that they in fact represent a sign of progress in the Forces’ commitment to eliminate such offences from the ranks.
“It’s a positive indication that people feel free to come forward,” Commodore Rebecca Patterson, who took over command of the response team in July, said in an interview on Thursday.
“We have to combine that with the fact that things that may have been overlooked in the past are now being reported because there is the understanding among members of the (military) that they will report if they see things.”
However, the military did not provide a breakdown on when the alleged sexual assaults actually occurred, and Patterson admitted that officials are still wrestling with questions about the figures, which were gathered from across the entire Forces.
“As we move forward and we build the analytics piece into those various databases, the intent would be to be able to say: Are these occurring cases with serving members or historical cases based on a timeframe?” she said.
One thing that is clear is that inappropriate behaviour continued to occur within the Forces over the past year.
Hina ALAM Citizen news service
OLYA KUTSIURUBA AND DAVID SWAB HANDOUT PHOTO
Olya Kutsiuruba and David Swab hold a king bolete mushroom that tipped the scales at 2.92 kilograms, and measured about 36 centimetres wide across the cap in this handout photo.
Health system needs more than baby steps
After years of inadequate funding, our provincial heath-care system is on life support. About 700,000 British Columbians have no GP. Wait-lists for various types of surgery – particularly hip and knee operations – are unacceptably long. And it can take a year to see some specialists, depending on the field.
Yet it is becoming increasingly obvious that no one in authority is serious about doing anything.
Two recent developments make clear the near-total lack of focus.
First, Health Minister Adrian Dix has announced a crackdown on private surgery clinics. Starting immediately, these facilities will no longer be allowed to extra-bill their patients.
That means they can’t charge add-on fees for procedures that are already covered by the Medical Services Plan. Doctors who do can be fined $10,000 for a first offence and $20,000 for a second.
Yes, private clinics run contrary to the notion of a universal health-care system. And yes, they divert resources from the public system. Yet if Dix persists, the probable outcome is that most of the private surgery clinics will close. How is that going to shorten wait-lists?
The problem isn’t private clinics. The problem is a shortage of operating rooms in the public system.
Over the past few years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to build three new hospitals on Vancouver Island, with a fourth about to break ground in the Cowichan Valley. No doubt these are welcome, though our health-care system has been held hostage by the glamour of hospitals for too long. If money is short, and it is, the place to begin is by opening more surgical suites – a lot more.
Then we have the spectacle of Canadians who studied medicine abroad launching a lawsuit. They complain that residencies – the last stage in medical training – are
awarded preferentially to graduates who studied in Canadian universities.
In effect, we’re turning away apprentice physicians when the province has a serious shortage. Why?
Partly because the government refuses to fund enough GP residencies to make up the shortfall (they cost about $100,000 each).
But in addition, medical students increasingly don’t want to go into general practice. Many would rather work as hospitalists –meaning they treat patients only in hospital. It’s not difficult to figure out why.
A hospitalist working at Royal Jubilee earns $300,000 with no overhead. GPs working in the community would have to earn $400,000 to pay their own office costs and still take home as much. Mathematically, that’s nearly impossible.
If you were trying to concoct a system that would result in too few GPs, it would look like this.
So what should be done? The critical step is to increase the take-home pay for family physicians.
YOUR LETTERS
Pool decision questioned
I would like to respond, belatedly, to The Citizen article entitled “Pool foe running for council” on Sept. 14, as what was spoken in this piece concerns election issues that remain relevant today.
In regards to this, I am not an “pool foe.”
There was a referendum on Oct. 28 last year and a majority of those voting voted yes.
The city certainly may borrow up to $35 million “for the development and construction of a new pool building to replace the Four Seasons Leisure Pool.”
I do not disagree with this. I do disagree with the current council as to where it should go.
Building the pool at the Days Inn location, after this hotel’s planned demolition, is a very much a current, relevant issue.
In fact, it is a perfect one today because as candidates continue to discuss things like spending, the homeless and the environment, these issues are integral to the planned destruction of this hotel.
If you hear a candidate speak about being a good steward of tax dollars, of caring about rising city taxes, about homelessness, of their concern for the environment, you can see what this would actually translate to by just asking their position on this hotel.
This is not some hypothetical issue but one that exists now.
The purchase of the Days Inn property and the tearing down of this perfectly sound hotel is approximately a $5 million-dollar price tag.
Millions would be wasted in the destruction of the hotel which would have to be paid by taxpayers which speaks to the issue of responsible spending and increasing taxes.
The pool could be put beside the Y on city land, costing nothing for the land or on the Hart, where 1,600 plus residents have asked for one in a petition.
The rooms inside the Days Inn could be turned into low income housing, instead of being destroyed, which would help alleviate homelessness.
As well, if torn down, this sound hotel building would instead be turned into tons of rubble which will be trucked to our land fill which does nothing to help the environment.
There is no compelling legal or moral reason to put the pool on the Days Inn property and destroy the hotel.
As the Citizen editor Neil Godbout stated in a Sept. 29 editorial, “What the referendum is really about”, because the referendum question concerned only how
much could be borrowed, the pool could be put anywhere in the city. The argument, involving mind-reading, that “everybody knew” the pool was going on the Days Inn site and voted accordingly in the referendum is ridiculous and beneath Prince George, an important city of the interior of our province.
The incumbents have, so far with the exception of Terri McConnachie, shown no interest in explaining why the destruction of the Days Inn is a good idea and I suggest it is because they cannot do so.
McConnachie hasn’t been able to but at least been willing to talk to me about it.
But maybe having an unresponsive council is what the city continues to need, (see the Citizen editorial of Sept. 6 “Just two questions for Oct. 20” on senior management overtime policy and the recommended 15 per cent salary increase for the city manager, for an example of their unresponsiveness).
I recommend residents to look at the Days Inn question as a window into how candidates really think, and would act, on a number of important areas of city government.
Paul Serup Prince George
LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen.ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.
Mailing address: 201-1777 Third Ave. Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7
Office hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday General switchboard: 250-562-2441 info@pgcitizen.ca General news: news@pgcitizen.ca Sports inquiries: 250-960-2764 sports@pgcitizen.ca
Classifieds advertising: 250-562-6666 cls@pgcitizen.ca
Until the income gap with hospitalists is closed, there is little incentive to enter general practice.
In part, this could be done by recruiting family physicians to work in clinics where the overhead costs are paid for, either by the local health authority or the province. Dix has taken a step in this direction with the announcement that patient-care centres will be set up where 200 GPs can work in collaboration with other caregivers. While well-intentioned, this is a drop in the ocean.
The bottom line is we have an inverted salary scale that turns GPs away. Until this is corrected, nothing else will matter. Our provincial health-care system has been marching downhill for years. Baby steps are taken and proclaimed as giant moves forward, when in practice we’re still going backward.
Only two people can reverse this – Dix and his premier, John Horgan. Are they up to it?
— Victoria Times Colonist
Proportional representation not an improvement
With regard to proportional representation, it is interesting how the proponents tend to use all sorts of tricks in their arguments. Straw man arguments, ad hominin attacks, reduction ad absurdum and plain old fear – all show up in their letters.
But not too surprising because if you can’t attack the argument, attack the person making it. As in all arguments, though, there are a few well-meaning individuals who speak from the heart.
A letter by one – Ian MacKenzie – was featured recently in this paper. He started off by stating he is 85 and won’t be around much longer but he wanted to leave a better world for his off-spring.
He then says: “… I don’t want to leave them hornswoggled by the disguised dictatorship of first-past-the-post which has left me unrepresented…” which is a statement which needs to be unpacked. But for the most part, his letter appears as a genuine plea for something better.
Unfortunately, proportional representation isn’t better. I would argue it’s actually worse. Consider the results of an election under proportional representation – and for the sake of argument I am going to focus on the proposed Mixed-Member PR system such as used in Norway.
The election is called. Each person votes in a riding on some form of list ballot which effectively means ranking the candidates.
In Norway, there are 19 counties designed to elect 169 members of the Storting.
In B.C., we will need to have a similar number of multi-membered ridings in order to achieve a legislature with some semblance of the proportional vote.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume 16 ridings with 5 candidates drawn from each and 19 candidates elected from party lists. (Note: Three is the minimum number of MLAs in a riding which has any hope of giving something proportional. Five is a better option.)
This gives us a legislature of 99 MLAs and some fantastically diverse ridings with five rural ridings covering 96 per cent of the land mass of the province and eleven ridings concentrated in the Lower Mainland and Capital Region District.
To put this in perspective, each of the rural ridings will cover an area of 82,372 sq. km while each of the nine or so Lower Mainland ridings will cover 4,000 sq. km. (I should point out Norway uses a system where each voters counts as 1 point and each square kilometre as 1.8 points to determine the number elected from each county.) Does size matter? Absolutely.
It is hard to represent someone in Atlin if you are also trying to represent someone in Valemount or Queen Charlotte City.
If representation requires our MLAs to listen to the people they are elected to represent then massive ridings severely restrict the ability of anyone to engage in meaningful dialogue.
However, let’s go with our 80 seats and 16 ridings. Voters in each riding will support one or more of the candidates from one of the 27 political parties in the province. The winners will be based on who gets the most votes – and not on who gets a majority of votes. Or we could be simply voting for a party and not for a person.
In any case, 80 MLAs will be elected and presumably will have some form of loose association with the voters in their riding. For the rural ridings, the major population centres of Nanaimo, Kamloops, Kelowna and Prince George are likely to dominate the voting and the MLAs will be drawn from these cities.
We will then have 19 MLAs selected by party leaders and added to the pool to give us a “proportional government.”
At this point, the MLAs will be sworn in by the Lieutenant-Governor with the party able to garner the largest coalition forming the government. This doesn’t mean the party with the most seats or votes but the one most effective at cutting back-room deals and making private promises.
For example, in Norway, Erna Solberg is prime minister and leader of the Conservative party which won 45 seats in the 2017 election. The Labour Party, under Jonas Store, won more seats (49) but Ms. Solberg was able to form a minority coalition with the Progress and Liberal parties to give her 80 seats. She is presently running the country with a total of 44.6 per cent of the popular vote and only 25 per cent for her own Conservative Party.
And yet, Norway is labeled “The World’s Best Democracy.” Finally, once elected and sworn in, the various members of a MMP government are no longer answerable to the people. They will vote along party lines.
If we pursue Proportional Representation, nothing about the system will change. We will still have a “disguised dictatorship.” And we will ensure a significant portion of those MLAs will not be accountable to anyone but their party.
How is this better?
Display advertising, digital advertising and website inquiries: 250-562-2441 ads@pgcitizen.ca Reader sales and services: 250-562-3301 rss@pgcitizen.ca Letters to the editor: letters@pgcitizen.ca
Website: www.pgcitizen.ca
Website feedback: digital@glaciermedia.ca
Refinery explosion shakes Saint John
Kevin BISSETT Citizen news service
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — A massive oil refinery blast shook this historic port city Monday, sending flames and black smoke high into the sky but causing only four minor injuries – and leaving officials relieved it wasn’t far worse.
“We’re very grateful today – and being Thanksgiving, I think it’s appropriate,” Kevin Scott, Irving Oil’s chief refining and supply officer, told reporters at an afternoon briefing after a tense day. “Very fortunate they had only minor injuries.”
Saint John residents described feeling an explosion at about 10:15 a.m. local time, at Irving’s refinery on the city’s east side.
“My whole house shook. I thought my furnace had exploded,” said Litsa Daeres, 34, who opened her curtains and saw the flames and thick, black smoke.
Scott said there had been a malfunction in the refinery’s diesel treating unit, where sulphur is removed from diesel fuel.
One worker at the refinery, who didn’t want to be identified, said the initial blast had been enough to knock him down.
“There was quite a shockwave when the blast happened,” he said as he left with coworkers hours afterward.
There were as many as 3,000 workers on the refinery Monday – but most of the facility was shut down for major maintenance, and nearly all of the workers were contractors working on the turn-around.
Scott said the unit was quickly shut down after the blast.
“The fire did take a number of hours to extinguish, with some of the material that had leaked into the area of the unit that was affected. At times we were letting that just
safely extinguish itself,” he said.
Most of the minor injuries were to contractors, not Irving staff, he said.
The refinery is near several residential neighbourhoods, and is about five kilometres from the city core, known as Uptown.
According to the Irving Oil web site, the refinery produces more than 320,000 barrels of “finished energy products” every day, with more than half going the U.S. northeast. Scott said they hope to minimize the impact on clients.
At 4 p.m. local time, residents were still being asked to stay in their homes, and nearby streets remained closed. But District Chief Mike Carr of Saint John fire said there were no air quality concerns, other than the smoke.
“At this time, the incident is stabilized,” said Carr.
The thick, black plume of smoke earlier in the day had been cause for concern for Gordon Dalzell, who lives in the nearby subdivision of Chaplain Heights – but the bigger issue, he said, is the other pollutants in the air that can be neither seen nor smelled.
Dalzell, the chair of Saint John’s Citizens Coalition for Clean Air, said the refinery already emits many different types of “volatile organic compounds” into the air: organic chemicals that have a high vapour pressure and can be hazardous to human health.
“Obviously, there was a lot of black, sooty smoke but I worry more about what you can’t see in terms of pollution that comes from the refinery,” he said.
“The pollutants you can’t see or smell, they’re the ones that are of great, great concern, on a regular basis.”
He said he was grateful that nobody was seriously injured.
Entrepreneurs cook up edible pot products despite legalization delay
Laura KANE Citizen news service
VANCOUVER — Yannick Craigwell doesn’t need to guess how large the Canadian appetite will be for edible pot once it’s legal. He already knows – it’s huge.
The Vancouver entrepreneur whips up marijuana-infused cookies, brownies and fudge that he sells online through his company Treatsandtreats.
“Once it becomes legal, I think the only thing that’s going to change is you’re going to get the people who were raised to think... ‘Weed is bad, it’s the devil’s lettuce,’ and they’re going to be open to trying,” he said.
“It’s not really anything to be afraid of, but we are stigmatized by the laws that we have on the books.”
Businesses across Canada are cooking up weed-laced goodies to prepare for their legalization next year. Companies are betting on a big market and hope to avoid some of the pitfalls seen in U.S. jurisdictions when edibles were legalized.
The only legal marijuana on Oct. 17 will be fresh or dried bud, oil, plants and seeds. The federal government has promised to develop regulations to support the sale of edibles and concentrates within a year and will launch consultations later in 2018 and 2019.
Canada’s cautious approach stands in contrast with Colorado, which had practically no restrictions when pot treats hit stores in 2014. The Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center received 87 marijuana exposure calls about children that year, nearly doubling the previous year’s total, though no children died.
The statistic grabbed headlines and pushed the state to introduce regulations in 2015. Edibles must now be contained in child-resistant packages, stamped with a universal symbol and divided into servings of 10 or fewer milligrams of THC, pot’s psychoactive ingredient. They also can’t be shaped like animals, fruit or people.
The dangers of edibles hit close to home last week when a young child on Vancouver Island ate pot-infused gummy bears. She was rushed to hospital in medical distress, RCMP said, but was expected to fully recover.
Health Canada is considering requiring a standardized cannabis symbol on labels and banning product forms, ingredients and flavouring agents that appeal to kids, said spokeswoman Tammy Jarbeau. Previously introduced regulations already require marijuana to be in child-resistant packaging.
The effects of edibles take longer to be experienced and last longer than those caused by smoking cannabis, she said, putting users at risk of overconsumption. And since edibles can look like normal food, there’s a risk that children and pets will accidentally eat them, she added.
“These two issues point to the need to control the amount of THC in edibles, as well as the need for measures to ensure that edibles are appropriately packaged and labelled,” she said.
It’s illegal for anyone other than a licensed producer to sell medical pot, but Craigwell said he operates in the “grey.” He requires online buyers to agree to terms and conditions that state they need cannabis for medical reasons and he also sells his edibles in dispensaries in Vancouver, where police have chosen not to crack down.
A standard dose of THC in Colorado is 10 mg, but Craigwell’s goodies range from 90 mg to 175 mg. He said he’s open to the government mandating a lower dose, but it should consider what customers want.
“All you’re doing is risking them going into the black market,” he said.
“My business model won’t succeed if I don’t have customers.”
Craigwell advised first-timers to eat a small piece and wait to feel the effects.
“Start off with a quarter. Work your way up to a half, and then a whole,” he said.
Experts predict edibles will eat up a major chunk of the market once legal. Six out of 10 likely pot consumers will choose edibles, according to a Deloitte survey of 1,500 Canadians.
The format has less stigma than smoking, said Deloitte partner Jennifer Lee.
“We found that it was really a product category – baked goods, chocolate, candy, beverages, honey, (ice pops) – that is much more accessible,” she said.
Some companies are banking on alcohol-free cannabis beverages rising to the top of the pack.
The Coca-Cola Company has reportedly been in talks with Aurora Cannabis Inc. about beverages containing a non-psychoactive pot component. Molson Coors Canada teamed up with HEXO Corp. to sell marijuana-infused drinks, while Constellation Brands Inc., which makes Corona beer, invested $5 billion in Canopy Growth Corp. Bruce Linton, Canopy’s CEO, noted it’s already common to socialize over a beverage.
“At five o’clock, do you want to meet for a gummy bear or a glass of wine?” Linton asked.
AP PHOTO
Flame and smoke erupts from the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, N.B., on Monday.
Barrel racers get chance to race in BCNE make-up event
Ted Clarke Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Taylor Cherry has probably logged enough distance in her rodeo travels to cross Canada several times over.
Whatever it takes to get to the top of the barrel racing world.
Saturday in Prince George she made the relatively short trek from her home in Vanderhoof and rode her 16-year-old Palomino quarter horse Whisper to a big win at the B.C. Northern Exhibition. The 19-year-old Cherry won the D1 open class event, cutting around the outdoor barrels course at Exhibition Park in 16.458 seconds for a $1,000 payday.
“The ground was shifty but my horse handled it, so it was good,” she said. “Other people had slips and issues. I was not too bad on the draw, second on the rake. It didn’t feel smooth. The horses couldn’t get into the ground today, but I’m happy.”
Cherry grew up in a rodeo family in Quesnel and moved to Vanderhoof with her parents in 2016. She’s been rodeoing since she was four and was the B.C. Rodeo Association all-around cowgirl rookie of the year two years ago. In 2017
she finished fourth in three events at the B.C. high school finals and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyo.
Cherry started training Whisper in 2012 and they’ve been a winning combination ever since.
“I’ve had him since he was two – he’s just an awesome horse who tries hard every time,’ said Cherry. “We had a few gate issues today. He stalled a bit and I had to have some help, but it happens. He did really well.”
She admits she wasn’t a frequent competitor on the BCRA circuit this year. She’s been keeping busy as a horse trainer and was kept grounded as a result of a few injuries to her horses and their vet bills, which cut into the travel budget.
“I have a couple young ones coming up that’s been taking my time,” said Cherry. “I had a good horse started this year that ended up getting hurt. (She) has a really rare airway issue and there’s nothing we can do.”
Cherry did enter a few jackpot events, some big-money slot races and competed for the first time at the Alberta Barrel Racing Association finals in Ponoka, but didn’t
get rich at any of those events. She finished 13th in the 2018 BCNE barrel racing standings with $1,798.38 in earnings. She also ended up 19th in the breakaway roping standings.
Cherry plans to go hard at it again in 2019 as she chases her dream of becoming a professional barrel racer, following in the tracks of B.C. pros Sarah Gerard, Katie Garthwaite, Julie Leggett and Jolene Seitz and Carmen Pozzobon.
“I’m looking for a younger horse to go pro, I just don’t have the
horsepower at this point,” she said. “I had high hopes for that mare I can‘t run now. Hopefully in couple years I can go pro.”
Three sisters from Clyde, Alta., Hailey, Nevada and Bree Keith –the granddaughters of BCNE team roping event organizers Carl and Judy Hyde – all made their mark in the arena Saturday.
Hailey, 13, won the junior barrel racing (16.912 seconds), with her 12-year-old sister Nevada a close third (17.226), behind Hailey and second-place Lainey Proctor of Prince George (who clocked 17.191). Nine-year-old Bree captured the peewee title (17.729).
“I made my run on my rope horse (Itty Bitty) today and it definitely helped me that he was a little horse to be able to move around those barrels so tight,” said Hailey Keith.
Hailey’s mom Megan grew up in Prince George and is a former barrel racer and her dad Murdock is a two-time CFR competitor in team roping. Hailey and Murdock competed together in the No. 11 team roping event on Sunday.
Everyone in the family knows how to handle a rope.
“It’s competitive but it brings home some fun and little games
to do,” Hailey said. “Most of our barrel horses know how to rope as well.”
Murdock followed the amateur rodeo circuits in Alberta this summer and that kept the three girls busy almost every weekend. Hailey ended up sixth at the Lakeland Rodeo Association finals. She came into the Wildrose Rodeo Association finals sitting second in the standings and finished second in the event. Nevada qualified in breakaway at the WRA finals and placed sixth. The barrel racing was combined with team roping events Saturday afternoon and Sunday. They were originally scheduled as part of the BCNE in August but were postponed due to the wildfires that left the city under a choking haze of smoke.
Audrey Cooper of Vanderhoof won the BCNE senior barrel racing title (17.255). In the team roping open event which followed the barrel racing Saturday, Todd Bonderoff of Aras and Kyle Bell, both of Monte Creek, captured the title with a four-round cumulative time of 35.2 seconds. They each left with BCNE championship jackets and each earned a $1,250 payday.
Cougars outplay, but can’t out score, Vancouver Giants
Ted Clarke Citizen staff
The effort was there, they outshot their opponents and created the lion’s share of the best scoring chances.
Heck, even the power play connected for the Prince George Cougars.
But it still wasn’t quite enough to defeat Bowen Byram and the Vancouver Giants, who rolled to their second-straight win over Cougars, hanging on for a 3-2 victory Saturday at CN Centre.
Just as they did in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Cougars, the Giants totally changed the complexion of the game with three consecutive goals, all in the second period.
Milos Roman, Parker Hendren
and Byram, with his second of the season, gave the Giants what they needed in the offensive end.
Then they leaned on goalie Trent Miner to do the rest, posting their sixth win in seven games to start the season.
Byram, the Giants highly-touted defenceman, ranked by NHL Central Scouting as a potential top-10 pick in next year’s draft, took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play early in the period to score the goal that erased a 1-0 deficit.
He gained the puck deep in the Cougars’ end and went post-topost with his pass to a waiting Milos Roman. That came with Josh Maser out of the game after being assessed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for
slewfooting Giants’ centre Justin Sourdif against the side boards.
Austin Crossley, while killing the penalty, lost his helmet and as he skated to the Cougar bench he got involved in the play and was sent off. Roman’s goal came at 3:31 came 22 seconds into the two-minute, two-man advantage. Parker Hendren’s onetimer from the point made it a 2-1 game for the Giants, set up on the point by rookie winger Lukas Svejkovsky, who got the rebound of his own wraparound attempt. That came at the 10:20 mark. Near the end of the period, the 17-year-old Byram took matters into his own hands to pad the lead.
— see ‘WE WORKED, page 8
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Nora Wallach and horse Kortez make their way around a barrel on Saturday morning. The barrel racing event was to make up for the event that was supposed to be held during the BCNE that had to be postponed due to wildfire smoke.
CHERRY
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Prince George Cougars goaltender Isaiah Dilaura makes a stop against the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night at CN Centre.
‘We worked hard and maybe were undisciplined’
— from page 7
He skated in with the puck and left three Cougars in his wake waving their sticks and he scored on a backhand deke on goalie Isaiah DiLaura, playing his first game of the season.
“We definitely needed a better game after a tough one (Friday) – we came away with two points but we weren’t totally happy with that, so I was confident the team would bounced back tonight and I think we did,” said Byram.
“We worked hard and maybe were undisciplined at times but we got six points on our roadtrip so we’re going home happy. Our goalie Trent stood on his head and played well all night. The Cougars definitely had a push at the end and we were able to hold them off and get the win.”
The Cougars got the spark they were looking for to start a dominant third period and it came from an unusual source – their beleaguered power play. Defenceman Joel Lakusta connected for his second of the game to draw the Cougars to within a goal, trailing 3-2 with almost 16 minutes left. That was only their second power-play goal in 32 chances this season and it seemed to put a surge of energy into the team. They answered right away with two dangerous shots on net from Jackson Leppard and Vladislav Mikhalchuk that Miner calmly turned aside. He made 33 saves as his team was outshot 35-28.
“I think we pretty much played 55 minutes out of 60 in this game but that five minutes off, that’s all it takes to lose it,” said Lakusta.
“As a team we’re gelling a lot better than we were the first game and in the six or seven games we’ve had so far we’ve come a long way. Our power play wasn’t where it needs to be and this game we got another goal. It’s tough, we worked on it all week in practice, we’re just not getting the finish but it’s coming.”
The Cats’ power play ended up 1-for-7, while the Giants hit on one of their three power-play chances.
While outshooting the Giants 15-10 in the final frame, the Cougars’ best chance to tie it came while killing a penalty with 5:28 left. Tyson Upper stripped the puck away from James Malm at the Giants’ blueline and broke in alone, lifting a shot that hit the crossbar and dropped down just outside the goalline.
The goal light came on but the play was reviewed and it was ruled no goal.
Jackson Leppard had a great chance in the dying seconds with DiLaura on the bench – a point-blank shot that Miner saved with his shoulder and caught with his glove. They didn’t get the bounces they needed and consequently suffered their thirdstraight loss, dropping to 2-4-0-1.
“We came pretty close, I thought we were working hard there in the third, a couple lucky bounces and I’m sure it’s going to go our way next time,” said Leppard, still looking for his first goal after seven games.
“We stuck with it pretty well in the third and we were battling our hardest to get
that goal to tie it up but it obviously didn’t work.”
Vancouver (6-1-0-0), remained tied with the Victoria Royals atop the B.C. Division, each with 12 points, seven ahead of the third-place Cougars.
The Cougars led 1-0 after one period, ending a lengthy goalless drought, a 106-minute stretch that started in the second period of their loss to Kelowna a week ago. Josh Maser got it going in the final minute of the period with shot off Miner’s chest protector. The puck ended up in the corner for Mikhalchuk, who spotted Lakusta cruising into the deep slot and he
let go a fluttering shot that had just enough steam to get past Miner’s blocker into the net.
DiLaura, 18, looked comfortable in his first start and made some early saves that gave him some confidence. It was his first game with the Cougars since March 16, in Kamloops.
We stuck with it pretty well in the third and we were battling our hardest to get that goal to tie it up but it obviously didn’t work.
— Jackson Leppard
“He was awesome back there, he hadn’t played a regular season game in a long time so to get in there for the first one and do as well as he did, I’m proud of him,” said Leppard. “He held us in there and gave us all the chances he could.”
LOOSE PUCKS: Cougars winger Reid
Perepeluk served a one-game suspension Saturday for his hit into the end boards on Giants defenceman Ty Ettinger near the end of the Game Friday. Ettinger fell just as Perepeluk came in for the hit and was slow to get up but was not seriously injured. Perepeluk was handed a charging major and game misconduct… The Cougars head for Alberta next week for games in Medicine Hat on Friday, Lethbridge on Saturday and Kootenay on Sunday afternoon. They return to CN Centre on Oct. 21, a Sunday matinee against the defending-champion Swift Current Broncos… Just 2,393 showed up to watch at CN Centre Saturday, among the lowest crowd counts of the weekend in the WHL… The Victoria Royals (6-0-0-0) are the only unbeaten team left in the WHL. Former Cariboo Cougars goalie Griffen Outhouse stopped 26 of 27 Kamloops Blazers shots to preserve a 2-1 win Saturday in Kamloops.
Canada routs Cuba in Women’s World Cup
Citizen news service
EDINBURG, Texas — Adriana Leon and Jordyn Huitema each had four goals in Canada’s dominating 12-0 victory over Cuba on Monday night in the group stage of the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament. Canada, ranked No. 5 in the world, needed a big result against No. 88 Cuba
after Jamaica’s surprising 1-0 upset of Costa Rica earlier in the day in Group B at HEB Park. Leon scored in the 11th, 23rd, 55th and 59th minutes, while Huitema scored in the 13th, 37th, 52nd and 71st minutes. Christine Sinclair, Deanne Rose, Rebecca Quinn and Diana Matheson also scored. Matheson made her 198th appearance for Canada, while Sophie Schmidt earned her 175th cap.
Prince George Cougars forward Tyson Upper breaks out of his zone against the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night at CN Centre.
Brees becomes NFL’s all-time yards passing leader
Brett MARTEL Citizen new service
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees has become the NFL’s all-time leader in yards passing – and he did it in style.
The 39-year-old Brees eclipsed Peyton Manning’s previous record of 71,940 yards with a 62-yard touchdown pass to rookie Tre’Quan Smith during the second quarter of Monday night’s game against the Washington Redskins.
After the record-breaking completion, officials stopped the game and the game ball was handed over to Pro Football Hall of Fame officials on the sideline while the Superdome crowd offered a standing ovation. Brees removed his helmet, held out his arm to salute the crowd and hugged his wife, Brittany, and children on the sideline.
“I love you guys so much,” Brees said while hugging his three boys as Brittany held their daughter nearby. “You can accomplish anything in life if you’re willing to work for it.”
Brees entered the game needing 201 yards for the record. He passed for 250 by halftime, completing 17 of 20 passes, including two TD tosses and no interceptions, as his fellow athletes saluted him on social media.
“Congrats on the achievement/milestone. Sheesh that’s a lot of passing yards!!” LeBron James tweeted.
In a victory at Atlanta earlier this season, Brees broke Brett Favre’s career record of 6,300 completions. Brees still needs 42 touchdown passes to surpass Manning’s record of 539, something the Saints quarterback could achieve next season if he maintains his current level of play. But Brees also would have to outpace New England’s Tom Brady, who has 500 TD passes, the only active player with more than Brees in that category. Brees threw No. 499 in the third quarter on Monday night.
Manning, a New Orleans native whose father, Archie, starred for the Saints, could not attend the game because of a scheduling conflict. However, he had pre-recorded a congratulatory message played on the Superdome’s video boards. Shown on the video slicing tomatoes, Manning deadpanned that his time as the career yards passing leader have been “the greatest thousand days of my life.”
“Thanks to you, that’s over now,” Manning continued as the laughter erupted in the stands. “You’ve ruined that for me.”
“Also, let this serve as the congratulations for the touchdown record because as you can see I’m very busy,” Manning added. “I don’t have time to keep doing these videos for you.”
On a more serious note, Manning said Brees broke the record “the right way.”
“All your hard work and dedication have paid off,” Manning said while holding up a photo of himself and Brees standing sideby-side in 2000, when Brees was still at Purdue and Manning was a third-year pro.
“You and I have come a long way since this picture.”
Saints officials said Brees also would hand
his uniform over to the Hall of Fame after the game.
Brees is in his 18th season out of Purdue.
The San Diego Chargers took the 6-foot Brees at the beginning of the second round of the 2001 draft, but allowed him to leave in free agency after a major throwing shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season.
The Saints took a chance on Brees in 2006, and the payoff has been extraordinary.
Brees has passed for more than 59,000 yards and more than 400 TDs in 12-plus seasons for New Orleans, smashing every meaningful Saints passing record while helping long-frustrated franchise win its first Super Bowl in 2010 and go to the playoffs six times.
Machado, Dodgers finish off Braves
Paul NEWBERRY Citizen news service
ATLANTA — When the Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered their already powerpacked lineup with slugging shortstop Manny Machado, this is just what they had in mind.
Plenty of long balls. Another deep run in the post-season.
Next stop, the NL Championship Series for the third year in a row.
Machado drove in four runs – three of them with a seventh-inning shot into the left-field seats – and the Dodgers finished off the Atlanta Braves with a 6-2 victory Monday in the NL Division Series.
“There are so many expectations put on him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“We have a lot of good players, but I can’t say enough about his focus and preparedness.”
Los Angeles took the best-of-five series
3-1 and advanced to face the Brewers. Game 1 is Friday night in Milwaukee.
Coming off a tense victory in Game 3, the Baby Braves grabbed the lead on pinchhitter Kurt Suzuki’s two-run single in the fourth.
But David Freese, the 2011 World Series MVP with St. Louis, came through again in the post-season. He delivered a pinch-hit single in the sixth off Brad Brach, driving home Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig for a 3-2 lead.
Machado finished off Atlanta in the seventh, launching a 1-2 pitch from rookie Chad Sobotka over the Dodgers’ bullpen – his team’s eighth homer of the series. A free-agent-to-be acquired from Baltimore in July, Machado also had a run-scoring double in the first. He had only three hits in the series, but two of them were homers, along with six RBIs.
“I’m just sitting here enjoying everything, enjoying the ride,” Machado said.
Ryan Madson (1-0) earned the win by getting the final two outs in the fifth to escape a bases-loaded jam. The Braves’ final gasp came in the eighth, when Lucas Duda’s drive into the second deck in right drifted foul with two on against Kenta Maeda. Duda flied out to end the inning, and Atlanta went down quietly in the ninth.
The Dodgers celebrated briefly and posed for pictures in the middle of SunTrust Park, but they have much bigger goals. Los Angeles is seeking its first World Series title since 1988.
“We all know that there’s a lot more work to be done,” Robert said. “We have eight more wins to go.”
Atlanta’s return to the post-season for the first time since 2013 yielded a familiar result.
the field after an
In 2012, Brees also set the NFL record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass at 54. Brees surpassed Hall-of-Famer Johnny Unitas’ streak of 47 straight – which had stood since 1960. Former Saints receiver Devery Henderson, who caught the pass on which Brees broke Unitas’ mark, attended Monday night’s game.
The game featured other touches meant to honour Brees. In the press box, the Superdome catering staff served “beefy mac,” a meal of macaroni with ground beef that has long been one of Brees’ traditional meals on the night before games.
Brees also was the final Saints player to run onto the field during pre-game introductions as fans belted out elongated howls of “Dreeeeeeew.”
The Braves have lost nine straight playoff appearances, their last victory coming 17 long years ago against a team that is no longer in the National League. Since a sweep of Houston Astros in the 2001 NL Division Series, October has been a month of misery for the Braves.
Getting back to the playoffs ahead of schedule after a massive rebuild, Atlanta simply didn’t have the experience, depth or power to stick with the power-packed Dodgers. Los Angeles had a franchise-record 235 homers during the regular season and hit eight more against the Braves, accounting for 14 of its 20 runs.
“They’re a very powerful team,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s what they’ve done all year is hit home runs. We’re not built like that yet.”
Los Angeles also benefited from some shaky Atlanta defence during its go-ahead inning.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees acknowledges the crowd as he runs off
NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in New Orleans on Monday. Brees broke the NFL all-time passing yards record during the game. The Saints won 43-19.
Banksy art shredded moments after sale
Jill LAWLESS Citizen news service
LONDON — Art prankster Banksy has struck again.
A work by the elusive street artist self-destructed in front of startled auction-goers on Friday, moments after being sold for 1.04 million pounds ($1.4 million).
In an Instagram post Saturday, Banksy claimed the dramatic artistic payoff had been years in the making.
The spray-painted canvas Girl With Balloon went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London, fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate and equaling a record price for the artist.
Then, as an alarm sounded, it ran through a shredder embedded in the frame, leaving half the canvas hanging from the bottom in strips.
A post on Banksy’s official Instagram account showed the moment –and the shocked reaction of those in the room – with the words “Going, going, gone...”
A video was later posted on the account, stating: “A few years ago I secretly built a shredder into a painting in case it was ever put up for auction.”
The video showed images of a shredder being implanted into a picture frame along with footage of Friday’s auction finale.
Banksy’s spokeswoman, Jo Brooks, confirmed that the post was genuine.
Sotheby’s – which had noted before the sale that the work’s ornate gilded frame was “an integral element of the artwork chosen by Banksy himself” – appeared as shocked as anyone else.
“It appears we just got Banksyed,” said Alex Branczik, head of contemporary European art at the auction house.
The auction house said it was “in discussion about next steps” with the buyer, whose identity was not disclosed.
Some art-market watchers say the work could be worth even more in its shredded state.
“We have not experienced this situation in the past where a painting spontaneously shredded, upon
achieving a record for the artist,”
Branczik said. “We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context.”
Geneva-based artist Pierre Koukjian, who was at the auction, said the buyer was “very lucky” to own a now-historic piece.
He called Banksy’s prank “a turning point in the history of contemporary and conceptual art.”
Koukjian, who has met Banksy, said he is sure he caught a glimpse of the artist in the saleroom amid the confusion of the moment.
“What he did is really shocking, in a good way,” Koukjian said. “I think it will be historic and people will talk for a long time about it.”
Brooks would not say whether the artist had been at the auction.
She said Sotheby’s had been “100 per cent” unaware of the planned stunt.
Banksy is not the first artist to deconstruct his own work. In the years after Second World War, German-born artist Gustav Metzger pioneered “auto-destructive art,” creating paintings using acid that ate away the fabric beneath.
Banksy, who has never disclosed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists.
His mischievous and often satirical images include two policemen kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge.”
He also has a penchant for elaborate pranks.
In 2005, he hung an image of a spear-toting ancient human pushing a shopping cart in the British Museum, where it remained for several days before being discovered.
The next year he smuggled a life-sized figure of a Guantanamo Bay detainee into Disneyland, and in 2015 he erected a full-scale dystopian theme park – “Dismaland” – by the British seaside.
Girl With Balloon, which depicts a small child reaching up toward a heart-shaped red balloon, was
instruments pinched from West Coast rock band 54-40
Citizen news service
VANCOUVER — West Coast rock band 54-40 says it was robbed of seven “irreplaceable” instruments ahead of two shows in Vancouver Friday and Saturday night.
In a pair of statements posted to the group’s Facebook page, the band says the instruments were stolen from a rented cube van Friday morning in New Westminster.
The seven stringed instruments include a blond 1957 Fender Esquire electric guitar, a 1966 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard and a 1954 Gibson Florentine electric mandolin. Band Manager Allen Moy said the instruments hold great value to the group, beyond just their monetary worth.
“While we might be able to collect insurance money, of course, it’s difficult to replace them, they’re really kind of oneof-a-kind instruments.” Moy added that the band members know there’s a risk taking prized vintage guitars on the road, but their attitude is that they’ve earned them and “they’re meant to be played.”
The band, whose hits include I Go Blind, One Day in Your Life and Ocean Pearl, is urging anyone with information to contact them or police and is offering a $5,000 reward for their safe return.
Moy said area guitar stores had been notified to watch out for the instruments, and that police were hopeful they would eventually “surface.”
originally
on a
lessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s best-known images.
Moy noted that some of the guitars had been acquired well over a decade ago, and while he described the band as being “pretty broken up” over their loss, he said the Thanksgiving weekend shows at the Commodore Ballroom would go on.
Will Vinton, animator, dies
Citizen news service
PORTLAND, Ore. — Will Vinton, an Oscar-winning animator who invented Claymation, a style of stop-motion animation and brought the California Raisins to TV, has died in Oregon. He was 70.
Citing a family statement, The Oregonian reported that Vinton died Thursday following a lengthy battle with multiple myeloma. He won an Oscar in 1975 for the animated short film Closed Mondays then founded Vinton Studios in Portland the next year and went on to win three Emmys as a producer.
Stop-motion is a technique that requires animators to shoot puppets a single frame at a time, adjusting them slightly between frames to simulate movement. Claymation used putty or clay for a textured, somewhat cartoonish feel.
Vinton Studios was best known for the 1986 California Raisins ad campaign featuring Claymation raisins dancing to I Heard It Through the Grapevine.
“He saw the world as an imaginative playground full of fantasy, joy, and character,” Vinton’s children wrote on his Facebook page. Rose Bond, a professor at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, said Vinton single-handedly established the city’s animation community.
Vinton, with his distinctive handlebar moustache, was among the city’s best-known artists. Vinton Studios at its peak in the late 1990s employed 400 people with annual revenue of $28 million. Vinton, however, acknowledged that the business was a financial mess and he sought out Oregon’s richest man, Nike founder Phil Knight, for financial assistance. Knight purchased a stake in the company for $5 million in 1998. He asked for monthly financial statements from Vinton and suggested the studio hire his son, Travis Knight, as an animator, the newspaper reported.
The company’s financial woes continued and Knight eventually seized control. In 2003, the studio laid off Vinton without severance. Knight renamed the studio and put his son in charge.
Vinton remained active after leaving the studio and taught at the Art Institute of Portland. He is survived by his wife, three children and two sisters.
stenciled
wall in east London and has been end-
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOT
In this undated photo provided by Sotheby’s the spray-painted canvas Girl with Balloon by artist Banksy is pictured.
CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE PHOTO
In this screen grab taken from video shot on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 people watch as the spray-painted canvas Girl with Balloon by artist Banksy is shredded at Sotheby’s, in London. The Banksy artwork altered moments after being sold at auction for $1.4 million USD, in a prank apparently orchestrated by the elusive street artist.
Long weekend in West Hollywood
MACNAULL Kelowna Daily Courier
Indulge. Repent. Repeat.
It will become my wife, Kerry, and I’s mantra during a long weekend of self-regulated revelry in West Hollywood.
For every drink sipped at the rooftop pool of The London West Hollywood Hotel there will be an hour of cycling in Beverly Hills spying the mansions of the rich and famous. The morning after a wine-paired dinner at Lucques on Melrose Avenue, an hour at the trendy urban sweat lodge is de rigueur.
Another dinner at Sunset Boulevard hotspot Tesse requires next-morning jogging in the Hollywood Hills.
Yet, the indulgence of playing with The London’s real-life bulldog mascot, Winston, requires no repentance at all.
He’s just so cute and cuddly.
We picked West Hollywood for our long weekend of balance because it’s the epicenter of weather-perfect Los Angeles.
And as our Bikes and Hikes LA cycling guide Zach Signote explains, West Hollywood is the California capital for anythinggoes fun.
As such, WeHo, as it’s called by those in the know, is an enclave for the stylish LGBTQ+ community, A-list Hollywood celebrities, entertainment industry titans and tourists.
We see such diversity on the sceney, 10th-floor, cabana-ringed and palm-treed rooftop pool of The London while lounging and sipping those aforementioned drinks. Singletons and couples, both straight and gay, sunbathe and a family from Germany and another from the American Midwest splash in the aquamarine water.
As its name suggests, WeHo is its own 4.9-square-kilometre city smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles, west of Hollywood proper. West Hollywood is home to famous stretches of Sunset Boulevard, Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard replete with shops, restaurants, bars, talent agencies and TV headquarters.
And, back on our bikes, we pass it all on
our way to adjacent Beverly Hills to glide past the mansions of the rich and famous. Full disclosure: they are electric-assist
bikes, which means we still have to peddle, but e-boosts kick in when we need it on the tony neighbourhood’s inclines.
We flit past Beverly Hill’s only highrise, Sierra Towers, where Cher, The Osbournes, Lindsay Lohan and RuPaul call home.
There are the sprawling estates of Jennifer Aniston (when she was married to Brad Pitt), Tom Cruise (when he was married to Katie Holmes), Michael Jackson (where he overdosed), Elvis (in his heyday) and Mick Jagger (when he was getting some satisfaction). With some exercise under our belts, we reward ourselves with lunch at Gracias Madre, a vegan Mexican restaurant on Melrose Avenue, where we order the jackfruit tacos and an enormous margarita for two.
Then, there’s more pool time at The London before heading out to Lucques’ ivy-covered courtyard for pan-roasted barramundi fish paired with Gruner Veltliner wine from Santa Barbara County.
The next morning, to effortlessly work off the indulgence, we drop by the West Hollywood outlet of Shape House, an urban sweat lodge.
We’re wrapped in infrared blankets and heated to 77 C for an hour while we sip alkaline water and watch repeats of That ‘70s Show on TV.
The profuse sweating promotes weight loss, reduces stress and soreness and gives you a big metabolic boost for 36 hours. Invigorated, and armed with the promise of faster metabolism, we Uber to outdoor mall The Grove for some shopping and lunch before more pool time back at The London and dinner at Tesse on the Sunset Strip.
At Tesse, I’m sure we obliterate all the benefits of our sweat by gorging on caviar on toast, lobster sausages with French fries double fried in duck fat and chocolate souffle.
Oh well, I went for a run the next morning to repent, zig-zagging up and down streets in the Hollywood Hills to soak in the palmtree scenery and say goodbye to California before returning to Canada’s upcoming winter.
Air Canada flies to Los Angeles from Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Check out VisitWestHollywood.com and The LondonWestHollywood.com.
Steve
CITIZEN PHOTO BY STEVE MACNAULL
The 10th-floor, rooftop pool at The London West Hollywood Hotel.
Our Bike and Hikes LA Celebrity Tour peddles down palm-treed Bedford Avenue in Beverly Hills.
Popularity of cauliflower leads to invention of tots
Katie WORKMAN
Citizen news service
There is no question that cauliflower has been having a long, popular moment.
I was already a cauliflower fan, even a cauliflower lover, mostly favouring sliced and broken chunks of cauliflower tossed with a generous amount of olive oil, sprinkled with a liberal amount of salt, and roasted to a deep caramelized brown in a fairly high oven.
My family can eat a baking sheet of that before dinner even hits the table.
But geez, once people started realizing you could “rice” cauliflower – e.g., chop it into tiny rice-sized pieces – it blossomed into a true “thing.” It can be used in stir fries, pizza crusts, risottos, meatloaves –anywhere regular rice might appear, cauliflower is edging its way in.
Now, cauliflower is taking over your tater tot. The same general concept – finely chopped and cooked cauliflower bits – is showing up in the form of caulitots.
To start with, these are just plain delicious. (The cheese does not hurt.)
Second, they are just plain fun.
Third, if you are among those parents wondering how to get more vegetables into your kids’ bellies, you may have found a go-to solution.
You might even want to enlist a kid or two
to help you form the tots.
Here are some variations I’m going to try adding to the tots in the future: minced chives, chopped parsley, a pinch of garlic powder, or chili powder or paprika. But if you make them just as they are below, I’ll probably see you at the next Cauliflower Fan Club meeting.
Cauliflower tots
Servings: 4 (about 16 tots)
Start to finish: 40 minutes 2 1/2 cups cauliflower florets 1 large egg 1/3
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Oil a baking sheet, or line with parchment paper, and set aside. Place the cauliflower florets with 1/2 cup of water in a medium saucepan, cover the pot, place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and place the cauliflower in a food processor. Pulse the cauliflower until it is in very small pieces, essentially a grated, rice-like consistency. Place the chopped cauliflower on a clean kitchen towel, roll it up, and twist and squeeze it over the kitchen sink until you have removed as much moisture from the cauliflower as possible. Lightly beat the egg in a medium-size bowl, and mix in the cheddar, Parmesan, Panko, and salt and pepper. Add the cauliflower and stir to combine. Scoop out rounded tablespoons of the mixture, form them into cylindrical shapes and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the caulitots are golden and firm. Serve hot. Nutrition information per serving: 117
This November 2017 photo shows riced cauliflower tater tots.
Maurice Dorlie Dube
March 10, 1934September 21, 2018
Maurice is survived by his wife, Eldrid; sons, Kelly (Linda), Karey, Kim, Jason; grandchildren, Alyssa, Carson; brother Larry Dube (Betty). He was predeceased by his parents, Adeaudat and Edna; brothers, Herman, Aurele, Clarence and sister, Clarice. A funeral service will be held at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 10:30am. Father John Garden will be officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice. Prince George Funeral Service in care of arrangements 250 564 - 3880.
Marianne Wiebe (nee Sutherland) Oct 4, 1933 - Sept 12, 2018
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Marianne Wiebe, born October 4, 1933 in Didsbury, Alberta. Marianne was predeceased by her husband, Peter, and her brothers, John and Bill. She is survived by her children, Robert (Barb) and Barbara (Ray), as well as her grandchildren, Scott, Sarah, Natalie and James. A Celebration of Life will be held on October 13, 2018 at 10am at the Pineview Hall, 6470 Bendixon Road, Prince George, BC. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Prince George Equine & Animal Rescue or the Canadian Cancer Society.
Mooers Laura Evelyn (nee Dubord-Zielke)
Apr 28, 1929 - Oct 02, 2018.
It is with very heavy hearts, we announce the passing of our beautiful loving mother Ev. Born in Winnipeg, moved to Vancouver in the late 40’s where she met and married George, with whom she had her children, moved to Prince George in 1950. Predeceased by; Parents Thomas Dubord (Canada) Miriam Cook (England). Daughter Susan Laura (Ross) and Son Milton William Sterling Zielke. Husbands George Zielke , John Mooers. Sisters Ellen, Greta, Sybil. Mom leaves: Daughter April (Jerry) Selinger Sons David (Pam ) Zielke, Scott (Laurie) Zielke Grandchildren: Rod (Regan), Karry (Tim), David (Sheli), Natalie(Beau), Laura (Zane), Anna (Scott), Sarah (Colton), Brandy (John-Eric), Ben (Alie), Jessica (Scott) Colin (Nicole). Fifteen great grandchildren, two more arriving soon. Numerous nieces, nephews, in-laws, work, travel and pool friends. Mom was known for her open mind, acceptance of all, her loving ways, kindness and her wicked sense of humor. Love of animals, music, dancing, travel, shopping, fashion, hunting, fishing, cooking and holidays. Special thank you to the Nurses, Care staff and YMCA Volunteers at the Simon Fraser Lodge. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Royal Canadian Legion and the SPCA. No funeral by her request. A private celebration will be held at a later date.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Established Franchise Tax Preparation BusinessMackenzieservicing and McLeod Lake area for over 30 years.
Gross Revenues of $85,000 to $90,000 Annually and Potential to expand revenues in a growing economy. Transition support available for the right buyer.
Serious Inquires Only Office (250)997-9003 Home (250)997-5538 Cell (250)990-0152
