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Jennifer Stahn
Hot dogs being sent to provincial meetings
KAMLOOPS - Should bylaw officers be given authority to break into vehicles when animals are locked in during hot, or cold, weather? Councillors from across the province will discuss the merits of giving this authority at a meeting later this month thanks to Kamloops council. The idea gained momentum last month when council, supported by...
Renewed call for information in decade old homicide case
KAMLOOPS - The body of Shana Labatte was discovered in the Mission Flats area in 2004 and RCMP are again asking for help from the public in solving the decade old case. Labatte’s body was discovered near a walking trail March 23, 2004 and RCMP were quick to say the 31-year-old had been murdered. At...
Rothenburger in the running again
KAMLOOPS - His time as a school board trustee, city mayor and member of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board was not enough for Mel Rothenburger. This morning he announced his intention to run for the Rivers and the Peaks region of the district in the upcoming election. Rothenburger, who served as mayor from 1999-2005, says...
Affordable housing project finally breaks ground
KAMLOOPS - Construction of an affordable housing complex project in downtown Kamloops is finally underway more than a year after land preparations first began. The building sits alongside the Kamloops United Church at 429 St. Paul St. and will house 56 units, 41 of which will fall under the affordable housing banner. Construction is set...
Fassbender: ‘It’s driving me crazy’
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Education Minister kicked off a press conference Monday afternoon with not one, but two movie references (Groundhog Day and Back to the Future if you were wondering), following them with a counter proposal to the teachers’ union second request to enter binding arbitration. Since talks broke down just before school was set to...
Drone project set to take off
KAMLOOPS - A professor at Thompson Rivers University is hoping a pilot program, mostly aimed at tracking cattle, will soon take off. “This is fabulous technology,” John Church, the Cattle Research Chair at the university says. “The concept of using drone technology for precision farming… to my knowledge, there’s not a lot of people using...
Pitbelly for mayor campaign lacks transparency
KAMLOOPS - Mr. Open Pitbelly is the latest to announce candidacy for the November elections, but while Pitbelly is open about three of the key pillars to his election campaign, he admits much of his campaign lacks transparency. “They’re very secret, I will come (forward) with these events through the weeks,” Pitbelly said at a...
UPDATE: General strike in support of teachers put on hold
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Plans to call for a general strike beginning Wednesday have been put on hold while B.C. residents wait for the results of a teachers' union vote on suspending the strike and whether the government will agree to binding arbitration. A group of concerned citizens originally planned a three-day general strike to begin Wednesday...
Teachers’ union continues push for binding arbitration
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Even after the B.C. government said no to binding arbitration this weekend, the teachers’ union won't give up hope. The union feels arbitration could end the strike and get its members a fair settlement. “Binding arbitration is a fair, practical and pragmatic approach,” B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker said Monday morning at...
Talking North Shore community safety
KAMLOOPS - Concerned about safety on the North Shore? The local business improvement association is hosting a session on Tuesday dealing with community safety, everything from graffiti to crime prevention. “Community safety is an issue for everyone and we are relaunching our Community Safety Committee by having this public dialogue with business and community members,”...
No school, no extra-curricular activities
KAMLOOPS - With teachers on strike it is more than classroom eduction suffering, many extra-curricular activities, likes Girl Guides, preschool and sports, are being left out in the cold. School District 73 Supt. Karl de Bruijn says pretty much all program rentals are on hold right now. “We have no way of cleaning or locking...
Details on Ajax environmental plan process coming soon
KAMLOOPS - If you have questions about the environmental application process for the proposed Ajax mine, you might get answers as early as this October. Scott Bailey of the Environmental Assessment Office finally agreed to an earlier meeting after initially declining a May letter from Kamloops city council. He had said the office would meet to discuss...
Fassbender not a fan of binding arbitration
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The education minister was not willing to say no to a proposal put forward by the teachers’ union this morning, but he did go as far as saying he is not a fan of binding arbitration. During a press conference this afternoon, Peter Fassbender said binding arbitration takes away the responsibility of the...
Mr. Open Pitbelly plans to make Ajax Mine proposal a Kamloops election issue
KAMLOOPS - The proposed Ajax Mine will definitely be an issue in the upcoming Kamloops municipal election campaign because Mr. Open Pitbelly has thrown her hat into the ring. Artist and master gardner Elaine Sedgmen will officially announce her intention to run for the mayor's chair on Monday. Sedgman will be running as the costumed character...
Enjoy warm weather while it lasts
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Enjoy the weekend while it lasts — another blast of heat is coming our way this weekend but there'll be a significant drop in temperatures Monday. Temperatures will reach as much as 30 Celsius in the region and the sun in expected to shine throughout the weekend. Kamloops will see the warmest temperatures...
Teachers’ union has plan to get school back in session
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Just two days after saying the union would not consider a vote to suspend the current strike Jim Iker, the teachers’ union president, says they would recommend members vote to suspend the strike if the government is willing to agree to binding arbitration. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation president says this is another option...
STAHN: Even our goals for voter turnout are sad
In the 2011 municipal election less than 30 per cent of eligible people voted in Kamloops. This is a typical trend across B.C., and even the country, in most municipal elections. To break it down into very simple terms, less than a third of people chose to speak up when it mattered most. Nearly everyone...
UPDATE: Woman rescued after falling 20′ into canyon pool
KAMLOOPS - A woman in her early 20s had to be rescued Thursday night after the rope her group was using to rappel in Tranquille Canyon broke, making her fall into a pool near the river below. "Basically they were trying to access a canyon with pools to go swimming," Kamloops Search and Rescue Search...
Kamloops a hidden Canadian gem
KAMLOOPS - According to a recent online poll Kamloops is one of Canada’s hidden gems, often glossed over by travel sites and guides. In a recent online poll of Buzzfeed readers Kamloops was named one of the 20 top underrated places in Canada, along with Wawa, Ont., Dempster Highway, Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump, Alta. and Haida Gwaii....
TEACHERS’ STRIKE: How much money the Terry Fox Foundation stands to lose
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The kids, the teachers, the government, the parents. We’ve heard over and over again how the current labour dispute is affecting them, but what about the organizations that also rely on schools to help with fundraising? Every year during September, students raise money for the Terry Fox Run but this year, unless teachers and...
Ringworm scare as SPCA prepares for large fundraiser
KAMLOOPS - This past weekend the local SPCA shelter had to once again shut its doors as staff dealt with what they believed could be another case of ringworm. Lime Plus baths, containing sulfur, were given to the kitten believed to have the skin infection as well as its litter mates, and shelter staff now...
“We’re not suspending any strike:” Iker
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers’ union president Jim Iker has declined the Premier's request to suspend the strike while bargaining continues. Earlier today, Christy Clark urged him, before a packed news conference, to allow teachers to vote to end the strike or suspend it. Two hours later, Iker held is own conference and stood his ground. “We’re...
Parking pinch coming to downtown
KAMLOOPS - The BCLC parkade on Seymour Avenue is set to undergo $4 million in renovations over the coming months and that means about 100 vehicles normally parked there will likely be parked in the downtown core. The parking deck is now 50-years-old and the parking deck slab needs to be updated on the third...
Parents taking control during teacher strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With no end to the current labour dispute in sight many parents are wondering how they can make sure their kids do not fall behind in their education — book sections in many stores are picked over, only a few workbooks remaining, and many school-age programs filled up before the summer was even...