Kamloops Newsmakers 2014

Flights cancelled by police helicopter searching for suspect

KAMLOOPS - Two arrival flights were cancelled Wednesday afternoon due to RCMP acitivities that closed air space above Kamloops.  RCMP requested air space closure as its helicopter hovered and flew over the Batchelor Heights area in the search for suspects after a Mountie was shot in the early morning hours. "It was a tad on...

Ajax would offer significant economic impact

KAMLOOPS — Ajax mine will have a significant impact on the local economy if operational by 2018, according to a recent study commissioned by Venture Kamloops. The study, released this week, shows Ajax Mine will directly employ almost 220 people and directly contribute $360,000 in municipal taxes annually once operational. During the design phase municipal...

Costs of air pollution latest in Ajax talks

KAMLOOPS — A local economics professor is set to talk about the possible economic impact the proposed Ajax Mine could have, including the way deteriorating air quality can affect the city's health and economic evaluation. Dr. Peter Tsigaris, an economics professor at Thompson Rivers University and Kamloops resident for more than 20 years, will look to...

Ajax would impact air quality, health: Doctors

KAMLOOPS - The city is already burdened by air quality issues and the addition of more particulate matter via an open pit mine would put the people of Kamloops at risk, according to local doctors opposing the mine. The Kamloops Physicians for a Healthy Environment, which formed about a year ago, said Kamloops need not...

Doctors: Kamloops deserves same protection as Kitimat

KAMLOOPS - A local group of physicians say Kamloops has no more room for pollution and wants the province to provide more funding for air quality control in our city. Since the group formed in 2013, Kamloops Physicians for a Healthy Environment have been questioning the level of fine particulate matter already in the air...

Hundreds seek clarity on environmental assessment process

MORE CURIOSITY THAN OPPOSITION FOR AJAX KAMLOOPS - More than 860 people attended information sessions this week and even though the proposed Ajax Mine was the topic there were no protests, picket lines or large groups gathering at the Coast Hotel. While many were seeking more information on the environmental assessment process many more were...

UPDATE: Input on information requirements for Ajax extended

KAMLOOPS - The public has been given a couple more days to comment and provide feedback on the proposed Ajax Mine and what information the company needs to submit in its application. After significant changes were made to the footprint of the proposed mine in the spring the provincial government decided there should be another...

Kamloops to take a look at what kind of arts centre best suits the city

KAMLOOPS - Arts and culture has taken yet another leap forward thanks to approval of a study that will outline exactly what Kamloops needs in a performing arts centre. While the study into what a performing arts centre would need to look like in Kamloops was approved alongside the city budget earlier this year the...

2014 NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR: Officer down

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP NEWSMAKERS OF 2014. TODAY: NUMBER ONE KAMLOOPS – Most residents of the Batchelor Heights neighbourhood were asleep when several shots rang out in the early morning hours of Dec. 3. The sound of gunfire was followed by a vehicle speeding off, while the shooting victim, an RCMP...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: Kamloops Daily News shutdown

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP NEWSMAKERS OF 2014. TODAY: NUMBER TWO KAMLOOPS - The media landscape changed quickly in 2014 when Glacier Media announced in the first week of the year it would shut down the Kamloops Daily News. “Personally I am very saddened to make this announcement,” Daily News publisher Tim...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: The proposed Ajax Mine

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP NEWSMAKERS OF 2014. TODAY: NUMBER THREE KAMLOOPS — On the surface, not much happened with the proposed Ajax mine; the environmental review wasn't finished and no decisions have been made. But the proposal still loomed large over public discourse in Kamloops throughout the year, making it our...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: Flash flooding

INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP NEWSMAKERS OF 2014. TODAY: NUMBER FOUR KAMLOOPS - A torrential downpour hit Kamloops fast and hard in July, flooding many parts of the city and causing a lot of damage. With reports of much as 20 millimetres of rain falling in 20 minutes, meteorologist Doug Lundquist said the rate...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: The Kamloops connection to ISIS

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE STORIES FROM 2014 KAMLOOPS - Few stories got more attention world-wide than the advance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The terrorists made international headlines as the group spread through Syria and Iraq, taunted the West and posted...

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...