Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Podunk Below the Masthead, Tuesday April 14, 2009

Stolen games and stolen cars, more setbacks for Acropolis Manor advocates and the promise of pressing questions for our local candidates, some of the highlights of the Tuesday Daily News.

STOLEN CAR BECAME A BURNING ISSUE-- The Daily offers up some CSI interpretations on a pair of crimes committed over the weekend, as they draw parallels between a stolen game from Data Boy computers downtown and a stolen car on the city's west side.

A car stolen from 11th Avenue East was set on fire on Borden Street on Good Friday morning, sending both Prince Rupert RCMP and Prince Rupert Fire Rescue to their duties at the start of a long weekend. Part of a pair of crimes that have been thought of as possibly linked in the short term crime spree.

While the Fire Department was putting out the Fire and the RCMP investigating the fate of the Dodge Caravan another crime earlier that morning at Data Boy on 4th Street downtown also was catching their attention, In that incident a single game, Grand Theft Auto was taken from the store, the only item taken during the course of the break in. Though it was not the first break in at the store that week, a few days prior someone had broken in to take a PS3 and Xbox Game platform, which apparently would work with the game taken on Friday.

The connections between the two crime scenes does seem interesting to note, considering the nature of the video game which in this case could have been a training video of some sorts for the mayhem to follow that morning. One wonders if we should be thankful that the criminals didn't take any other games, considering the possibilities of watch and do. The RCMP continue to investigate the twin crimes.

Advocates in favour of finding another use for the soon to be old Acropolis Manor received a setback this week. Local residents have been lobbying to keep the centre open, once the seniors residence closes its doors when the new building is completed, hoping to see it find a new life continuing to provide medical care in some capacity in the city.

Northern Health officials identified a number of problems with the old structure, life cycle issues as they called them that call into question the expense of bringing the building up to current standards of the BC Building code. Falling back on a rating of 0.6 on structural and functional integrity given the building back in 2004, Northern Health President and CEO Cathy Ulrich described the findings as in the lowest quarter of all buildings surveyed that year.

Findings which contributed to the decision of Northern Health to have the building demolished upon the completion of the New Acropolis Manor. How these latest details will impact on the local advocates and City council remains to be seen, but it would seem clear that Northern Health would really rather not have to spend any further money on the building, preferring it would seem to make it but a memory as soon as the new one opens its doors.

With the election campaign underway the Daily News appears to be preparing to provide some coverage on the candidates for office as they seek our vote. Page three of the paper provided a teaser advising residents to check the paper every Wednesday and Friday for the paper's in depth coverage of the election. Included in that coverage will apparently be Pressing Questions for each candidate, Feature Articles on important issues of the day and profiles on each candidate.

Considering the interest in the latest direction of the paper as far as its news view and agenda may be, you can be sure that locals will be reading each article and devouring each question with a fair amount of interest.

The sudden glimpse of spring took the Sports page to the Golf Course with a preview of sorts of what may be ahead for this golf season.

Total pages in the Tuesday edition (12)

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