Podunk Below the Masthead (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)

A shiny red truck drives around town, Hawkair finds a new corporate home and Regional District has budget woes, some of the highlights of the Tuesday news cycle.

Daily News, front page, headline story
PRINCE RUPERT HAS A NEW FIRETRUCK  - AND WHAT A BEAUTY SHE IS! -- The city's shiny new Fire ride  arrives in town, and with guest appearances around the city quickly becomes the talk of the town, the Daily dedicates its top half front page to the arrival

A review of the SQCRD budget proposals is outlined, with the first talking point the prospective budget deficit that would be illegal  under the Local Government Act, a problem that the members of Regional District will have to try and balance while still attempting to provide good governance for the region.

The Daily News catches up with the developments from the BC Hydro power call of last week, sharp eyed blog readers would have learned of the power call results from our blog post of  early Saturday morning. In Tuesday's Daily News George T. Baker takes a look at some of the successful bids, a couple of local ones that haven't made the first cut and some of the backlash against the need for these kinds of projects in the first place.

(Archive for Daily News Articles for March 16, 2010 )

Prince Rupert has a new fire truck - and what a beauty she is!
SQCRD proposed budget is out 
First Round for Clean Power call approved
Classroom on Haida Gwaii
Highway of Tears sign update

The Northern View
Charges laid against officer responsible for steering Queen of the North -- An update from the Northern View's wire services on the charges entered in a provincial courtroom on Tuesday in the sinking of the BC Ferry Queen of the North in March of 2006 (see article here)

The Northern View
RCMP seeking more suspects in assault case-- The weekly Crime report gets a review in the Northern View (see article here)

The Northern View
Regional budget will see a overall balance by 2014 -- A look at the budget plans of Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District (see article here)

The Northern View
NaiKun not in first set of Hydro contracts -- The Northern View outlines its examination of last weeks Power Call decisions from BC Hydro, which saw some local power projects left off of the first round of successful applicants (see article here)

The Northern View
Anti-Hitchhiking sign no longer planned -- After over a year and a half of discussion and at times attempted fund raising, the City of Prince Rupert is apparently moving away from the prospect of a billboard to warn of the dangers of hitchhiking (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
Central Mountain Buys Hawkair-- Some details on the Tuesday announcement that Smithers based Central Mountain Airways has purchased Hawkair (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
Hazelton's Hockeyville Bid Falls Short -- There will be no Northwest repeat in the Hockeyville competition, as Hazelton's Bid didn't make the western cut, as the Northwest Community came up short behind Cranbrook and Yellowknife (see article here)

CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North
No updates to the CBC website have been made since March 5th

The most recently posted items archive for Daybreak North can be found here

Daily News, front page, headline story

Prince Rupert has a new firetruck - and what a beauty she is! 
By Monica Lamb-Yorski 
The Daily News
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

It has arrived. Prince Rupert’s new fire truck rolled into town Sunday afternoon after a trip up the coast from Port Hardy aboard the B.C. Ferries vessel Northern Adventure.

Sporting a new motto: The Few Dedicated to the Many and a new logo, that has a ladder and a hydrant and includes the City of Prince Rupert’s logo, the truck has been named “Ladder 6”.

There is also a Canadian Flag in the front grill and a “Support Our Troops” ribbon on one of the side windows.

 “We started the process of acquiring a new truck over a year ago” said Fire Chief Dave McKenzie. In late September 2009, he travelled to Appleton, Wisconsin after Pierce Manufacturing won the contract to build the truck.

 “I went there once Pierce had done the first draft of the drawings and options,” explained McKenzie.

 In February he went back, accompanied by the City’s mechanic Anthony Holowachuk. The two spent two days doing road tests and operating the ladder.

 “There were no major flaws,” recalled McKenzie. “We had to decide on the location of accessories and asked if the strap for the ladder could be relocated.”

From Appleton the truck was driven to Wholesale Fire and Rescue Ltd. in Calgary where small equipment, such as chains and flashlights, were added.

 “They did a final test on the pumps and anything else to make sure everything was okay,” McKenzie said.

 Last week the truck left Calgary for the trip to Port Hardy and was delivered to Prince Rupert Fire & Rescue Station on Sunday by Derrick Harvey, representative from WFR for B.C. and Alberta.

 “I could drive up to 98 km an hour, that’s what she’s governed at,” said Harvey. The carwash was being dismantled in Port Hardy so the crew on the ferry actually washed the truck, Harvey added.

 Next week an instructor will be coming in from Pierce to teach the crew, but while he was here Harvey got them started Monday afternoon behind the Lester Centre of the Arts.

 The price tag for the new truck was $626,000 U.S.

It has a 75-ft ladder, a 
pumper, water tank, fire hose, aerial device and ground ladders.