Friday, April 17, 2009

Podunk Below the Masthead, Thursday, April 16, 2009

Track and Field fans get ready for high school zones next month, Hartley Bay has questions about pipelines and the school board offers a few comments on the recent departure of Superintendent Mercer. Some of the items in Thursday's Daily News.

TRACK AND FIELD ENTHUSIASTS ARE GETTING EXCITED-- Fans of Track and Field will be looking forward to May, that's when the high school zones return to Prince Rupert for the first time in over a decade. The front page, headline story provided some details on the upcoming event and some history on track and field over the last ten years or so.

While the Carrier-Sekani nation was heralding a new direction in talks with the Pacific Trail partnership, (a combination of Pacific Northern Gas and Galveston Inc), Hartley Bay was wondering how come they aren't part of the new agreement. Of particular concern to them is the lack of consultation on the issue, especially considering the fact that any tankers approaching the BC coast will be transiting through the waters near their community. They are more than a little frustrated at having found out about the ongoing discussions with other first nations, only after reading about them in a newspaper.

The departure in February of Superintendent Ray Mercer continues to be a topic of conversation in the area, and Thursday's paper provided a little bit more information about the departure but no real reasons as to why it was necessary.

From the Thursday paper, we learn that the School District wants to go with a new vision and that there was a cost associated with the severance of Mr. Mercer from the School District. As part of the contractual obligation the School district was required to pay a bit over 140,000 dollars upon the departure of the former Superintendent. While the article suggests a form of closure on the topic, one suspects that the decision may yet still be a popular topic of conversation in the community.

The front page, headline story on track and field carried over onto the sports page as well as a review of the success of Tristen Repole at the Best Ever hockey tournament in 100 Mile House.

Total pages in Thursday's paper (16)

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