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Jennifer Stahn
Cougar sightings on the rise
KAMLOOPS — Cougar sightings have been on the rise in and around the city in the last few weeks. One sighting was reported Monday, April 7 in Kamloops, and recently a woman photographed two young kits near Pritchard. The cougar and kits moved on without bothering anyone but Wildsafe B.C. Provincial Coordinator, and Kamloops resident,...
Goals for Kamloops Bike to Work Week will be met with help from volunteers
KAMLOOPS - Plans for this year’s Kamloops Bike to Work Week are underway and the organizing committee has set a goal of 1250 participants — 300 of which they hope will be new commuters — for 2014. This will be the seventh year Kamloops has participated in this province-wide initiative — which aims to get...
Boyce once again speaking out against Ajax
KAMLOOPS — Richard Boyce shocked people when he announced he did not support the proposed Ajax Mine and this weekend he will speak out again. At an October Rotary Club meeting Boyce, the president of the local steelworkers union, shocked the room when he said as it stood he could not endorse the project. “Personally,...
Man injured in Brock shooting
KAMLOOPS — Early this morning a person was taken to hospital after being shot during a fight in the Brocklehurst area of the city. Around 3 a.m. RCMP were called to a report of shots fired in the 1900 block of Tranquille Road. They found a person with a single, non life threatening gun shot...
IN PICTURES: Why a controlled burn?
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — Understanding fire, how it will travel, what it will travel through and what the ambient conditions will do to it is not only a science, it's an art form. It's also something the guys and gals at B.C. Wildfire take great pride in and it was obvious watching them work at a controlled...
Special needs funding a challenge for school district
KAMLOOPS — Funding the programs and staff for special needs students in School District 73 continues to be a challenge, especially with the decline in special needs students expected this year. District Treasurer Kelvin Stretch says they are expecting to be down 15 special needs students across the district because of graduations or moving away....
Ajax debate rages on Facebook
KAMLOOPS — The passion over the Ajax Mine debate reached an ignition point over the last week as talk of pipe bombs and blowing up the mine circulated on Facebook. One poster mentioned they were surprised pipe bombs weren't more common and that KGHM hadn't been targeted while another spoke of how environmental terrorism could...
Bring on the block party
KAMLOOPS — The city wants to see more people on the streets of Kamloops partying and getting to know their neighbours. Specifically, staff wants to see more block parties and the hope is an underutilized fund will help community associations host some in the near future. The Neighbourhood Matching Fund is allocated for community associations,...
Man rescued in the back country
KELOWNA — An elderly man who didn't return after a drive on Three Forks Road last night was located after search teams were deployed to the area. Central Okanagan Search and Rescue along with RCMP were called out by the man's wife around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday when he failed to return from an early...
Westmount home lost to early morning fire
KAMLOOPS — Early Friday morning fire crews were called to an active structure fire on Collingwood Drive. Kamloops Fire Crews called the RCMP just after 3 a.m. to assist at a fire that had engulfed the house at 578 Collingwood Dr. By that point the house was fully engulfed and fire crews were still fighting...
UPDATE: Debris cleared after rock slide on Highway 5
KAMLOOPS — A rock slide that completely closed Highway 5 south of Barriere this morning has been cleared. Drive B.C. says the highway was fully closed for several hours but one lane was to be opened around 9:30 a.m. to alternating traffic. By about 2:20 p.m. both lanes were reopened to traffic. North of Barriere...
Controlled burns well under way
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — Crews are busy around the region conducting controlled burns to help rehabilitate ecosystems and reduce risks of wildfires later in the season. On Wednesday 42 B.C. Wildfire crew members were on hand near Lytton to take part in two separate burns, a 14 hectare burn at Skihist Park campgrounds and another 34 ha...
Domtar eyes North Shore monitoring station
KAMLOOPS — Though complaints are down, Domtar continues to closely monitor odours from the factory and is even looking at adding an additional air quality monitor near McArthur Island. Kristin Dangelmaier, Environmental Manager for the Kamloops mill, says there appears to be a direct correlation between the reduction in number of calls and the closure...
City pushes for direct Edmonton flight
KAMLOOPS — A direct flight between Edmonton and Kamloops would open up opportunities for the airport and those working in oil patches up north. Coun. Ken Christian along with airport and local business management attended a meeting between the three major Thompson-Okanagan airports and Kevin Howlett, Vice President of Air Canada, late last week. Christian...
Castle Cheese recall continues
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — With even more Castle Cheese associated products added to recall list this week the Lumby-based producer has not seen the last of a recall due to listeria. The voluntary commercial product recall began at the end of February after a conveyor belt in one room tested positive for listeria. By mid-March the recall expanded...
Ajax aims for open communication
KAMLOOPS — KGHM Ajax Mining says it wants the community to talk about the project and is utilizing another online forum in the hopes of getting more local people talking. After taking the time to thank about 2,000 supporters with a party at Interior Savings Centre a couple weeks ago the company is now aiming...
Expect to see smoke from highways this week
KAMLOOPS — After two weeks of delays highly visible burns are finally set to take place in the Lytton area starting Wednesday. The controlled burns are part of a B.C. Wildfire prescribed burn plan with work being done in three separate areas through April 15, depending on the weather. “Burning is happening right now, there's...
Thousands of surgeries expected in temporary $3.6 million surgery suite
KAMLOOPS — At an investment of about $450 per surgery a temporary operating room comes with a hefty price tag but is expected to serve thousands of people over the lifetime of the unit. The Thompson-Nicola Regional Hospital District recently approved a list of cost shares requests from Interior Health Authority and the temporary surgical...
Skate with local Olympians
KAMLOOPS — Just over a month after winning a silver medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics speed skater Jessica Hewitt will join several other local Olympians on the ice for a celebration skate with the public. The city, along with Kamloops Long Blades and PacificSport are hosting the Journey of Champions celebration Saturday, April 5...
Bee bylaw gets batted around
KAMLOOPS — City councillors are considering allowing backyard beekeeping, but at least one resident is concerned an increase in bees could mean an increase in bears. Council agreed to send the proposed bylaw amendment to a public hearing earlier this month. In an effort to promote biodiversity and food security, city staff is recommending beekeeping...
North Shore community centre gets green light
KAMLOOPS — The $1.84 million contract for the redevelopment of the former John Tod School has been approved by council and construction of the new North Shore community centre is set to begin immediately. Only one bid was submitted during the tender process and while it came in just above budget staff say they are...
Firefighters finally have contract
KAMLOOPS — Delays in getting to a contract agreement mean the new four-year contract the city and the firefighters union just signed will expire at the end of this year. The previous collective agreement expired in December 2010 and the new contract provides for wage increases beginning January 2011. The initial wage increase sits at...
More crime tipsters in 2013
KAMLOOPS — Crime Stoppers has been operating for 30 years in Kamloops and the number of tips again rose in 2013, though the number of tips fell in the rest of the district. The Kamloops area (city and rural) 639 tips were received in 2013, up 16 from the year before. The number of tips...
Chamber membership votes on new board of directors
KAMLOOPS — A sold-out crowd of Kamloops Chamber of Commerce members gathered at the South Thompson Inn for their annual general meeting last night for Mayor Peter Milobar's annual “State of the City” address before voting on their new board of directors. “Our team of directors and staff at the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce are...