Podunk Below the Masthead Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Green Gym is opened by the Mayor, PPWC members are told they're no longer required at Watson Island, Coast Tsimshian Resources sends its logs to China and Northern Health talks about the flu, some of the items of note for the Tuesday news cycle.

Daily News, Front page, headline story
GREEN GYM OFFICIALLY OPENED SATURDAY-- Already in use (all be it by the younger set) Mayor Jack Mussallem had his photo opportunity moment in the sun on Saturday as he officially opened the Green Gym on the grounds of McClymont Park at the Civic Centre (Daily News Article here )

A change of owners means unemployment for five members of the PPWC Local 4 at the Watson Island pulp mill site, with the City of Prince Rupert given title to the industrial site they chose to end the agreement that Sun Wave Forest Products had with the PPWC members for environmental and security duties at the mill site. Instead, the city has now apparently hired seven employees (most likely at a lower wage scale) to handle those duties previously done by the PPWC five. The move sets the stage for an appeal with the Labour Relations board, with the PPWC offering up concerns over the termination without notice of its members (Daily News Article here )

Mayor Jack Mussallem provided his version of the Cole's Notes update on the recent UBCM meetings in Vancouver at the end of September. The Mayor outlined some of the city's discussion topics while in Vancouver, as the city's representatives (though no numbers were provided as to how many were flying the Rupert flag) fanned out to discuss such items as the Tsimshian Access Project, port development and it's impact on the the communities of the northern corridor and health care concerns for the North coast. (Daily News Archive Article )

A local group continues their efforts to bring attention to the Homelessness situation in the city, as the North Coast Transition Society takes on the role of sponsors for Homeless Awareness Week in B.C. (Daily News Archive Article)

The Sports section provided a recap of the Prince Rupert high school cross country meet held over the weekend, details of the Prince Rupert Rampage's weekend trip to Terrace were also included in the Tuesday edition of the paper.

Northern View
Company cracks Chinese market-- Details on a recent agreement between Coast Tsimshian Resources and Chinese interests, an agreement that will see the first shipment of 25,000 cubic metres of logs sent overseas, the first large shipment of the agreement and one they are hoping will be just the first of many to come (see article here)

CFTK News
Watson Island for sale....again -- The City makes its preparations to put the recently acquired mill site back on the for sale listings. The Mayor advising anyone interested to keep an eye out for the advertisement which will provide more details and the conditions attached to the prospective sale (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News (see news report below)
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CFTK News
Permissive Tax Exemptions for 2010-- City council gives first, second and third readings to the Permissive Tax Exemptions bylaw, which if adopted could provide relief to a number of volunteer organizations to a potential 455,000 dollar value (see article here)

CBC Northern British Columbia, Daybreak North
Figuring out the flu -- Dr. David Bowering, Northern Health's Chief Medical Officer outlines some of the details of this years flu season and the preparations that Northern Health are taking to meet up to its challenge (listen to the interview here)

Daily News, Front page, headline story
Green gym officially opened Saturday
By Monica Lamb-Yorski
The Prince Rupert Daily News
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Under sunny skies the community of Prince Rupert celebrated the opening of the McClymont Park Green Gym Saturday.

People of all ages were there to help Mayor Jack Mussallem cut the ribbon and try out the equipment, some for the first time.

"It's an all-weather opportunity," Mussallem said of the facility. "I see adults here in the morning and children after school. It's accessible, free and easy to use."

The 15-unit fitness park was funded entirely by a Towns for Tomorrow provincial grant and a federal Canada's Participaction Program grant. The equipment cost was $30,000 and the installation $17,000.

"It was quite the excavation challenge," said Director of Recreation Michael Curnes. Eby's construction, the local company that installed the equipment, dug through two different levels of muskeg. During the first dig they thought they'd reached bedrock, but it turned out to be clay.

Curnes and his program assistant, Michelle Willard, first learned of green gymns at a provincial
conference two years ago. A company had a display at a Trade Show, featuring two pieces of equipment and an elaborate brochure.

"We had been looking at ways to upgrade and make access free, so for two years were on the hunt for government grants," Curnes said.

Curnes and Willard hand-picked the 17 pieces to design the park. There is also a wheelchair portion that will be paved in the near future, and while the path closest to that section is too steep, people in wheelchairs will be able to access it by the longer pathway.

All of the equipment is designed to use 37 percent of a person's body weight as resistance. There is no need to add extra weights because the resistance works against one's own body weight.

And in a week various flood lights will be installed, making it possible to work out in the dark.
Elaine Calli was trying the equipment out for the first time and said she thinks it's great. Over the years she has had memberships to all the gyms in town but said the green gym "is a fitness workout for everybody and it's multifunctional. People don't have to pay and that's great because money is short for some in this community."

Staff at the Civic Centre is making a calendar for 2010 that will feature people in the community using various pieces of the gym. All proceeds from the sales of the calendars will go toward the Civic Centre's 'Everyone Gets To Play' program that provides funding for those in the community who cannot afford to access programs.

"We should have the calendars ready by the third week in November," said Curnes.