Podunk Below the Masthead (Friday, March 26, 2010)

Shared celebrations bring a gift, the Daily News outlines its findings on the Roosevelt Condo story and some YouTube viewing for those wanting to learn more about the Northwest Transmission project, some of the items of note for the news cycle of Friday.

Daily News, front page, headline story
ANOTHER 100 YEAR CELEBRATION - THE NAVY'S AS OLD AS PRINCE RUPERT -- Avast mateys, the Navy has pulled into town to provide salutations to the population on their centennial celebration. The Canadian Navy has joined in on the celebration of Prince Rupert's 100th anniversary, presenting council with a loan of a symbol of some maritime history. The Canadian Navy, which is celebrating it's 100th anniversary as well, provided the city with a bell off of the namesake ship of the city, HMCS Prince Rupert which served in the Atlantic theatre during World War Two, primarily on convoy escort duties, the vessel was sold off out of the navy in 1947. Council will be displaying the bell in council chambers until the end of June.

Some more background on the court proceedings underway between local owners of condo units in the Roosevelt Heights apartments and the Vancouver based developers of the project, which include a high profile real estate specialist, Ozzie Jurock, known for his radio and television appearances in the Greater Vancouver area. As we reviewed on the blog back on March 19 , the local owners have taken the condo developers to court over concerns that there were misrepresentations on the condition of the buildings provided to would be buyers at the time of the sale. Lawyers for the property developers have vowed that their clients take the charges very seriously and will spare no expense in defending their reputations in court. As we examined in our blog piece of the 19th, the transition to condo development at the  Roosevelt Heights complexes at the time made for a controversial debate at City council.

The discussion over suitable building materials for Prince Rupert's rather damp climate at times continued on in City Council chambers this week as a local contractor explained some of the challenges he believes the current city regulations on the use of Hardie Board provide. The Daily surveyed a number of local contractors for their opinions on the nature of building material options for the North coast.

The Sports section featured an indepth look at Aboriginal Sport in British Columbia, with a new society that is hoping to pick up the torch from the exciting days of the Cowichan games in 2008 and build upon it for the next Aboriginal Games of  2011 scheduled for Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

(Daily News Archive items for March 26,2010)

Another 100 year celebration - the Navy’s as old as Prince Rupert 
Class-action suit against previous condo owners 
The ‘Hardie Board’ debate 
Sign up for Block Stock 2010 
Call for excellence in initiative nominees

The Northern View 
No new items were posted to the Northern View website for Friday

CFTK TV 7 News 
Online Video Released on Northwest Transmission Line Project -- An online Video outlining the impact of the Northwest Transmission Line has been released, designed to provide an overview of the project and the importance to the region that it could provide (see article here)

Video presentation is below:



CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North 
No new items were posted to the Daybreak North website for Friday.

Daybreak North is only posting selected items on their website now. The most recently posted items for this week can be found on the weekly archive for Daybreak North click here

Daily News, front page, headline story 
Another 100 year celebration - the Navy’s as old as Prince Rupert 
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Friday, March 26, 2010

 A link to Prince Rupert’s history and involvement in the Canadian military will be on display in the City’s Council Chambers until the end of June.

A bell that once belonged to the HMCS Prince Rupert has been loaned to the city by the Canadian Navy as part of an effort to reacquaint Canadian communities with their namesake warship during the Navy’s centennial year.

Capt. Alex Rueben, Chief of Staff Maritime Forces Pacific, presented the bell to Mayor Jack Mussallem at Monday’s city council meeting.

 “I would like to congratulate Prince Rupert on your centennial just as the Navy is celebrating its centennial, which is equally important,” said Rueben.

Appropriately, the ceremony included participation by members of Prince Rupert’s Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps., Captain Cook, who marched in with the bell hanging from a paddle.

The bell was hung on a custom-made display stand on the north side of the room, after which the cadets rang the historic icon. A commemorative plaque of the HMCS Prince Rupert was subsequently presented to the mayor.

The HMCS Prince Rupert, commissioned on August 30, 1943, had an illustrious career on the wartime seas, helping win the Battle of the Atlantic against Nazi Germany by being employed on Convoy duties.

She paused only for refit and maintenance throughout the war, until victory came to Europe.

The ship was sold by the Canadian government in 1947.

 “I am sure that the City of Prince Rupert, which played an important role during the Second World War, would be proud of her namesake ship,” said Rueben.

 Councillor Sheila Gordon-Payne asked Rueben about increasing the presence of the Navy in Prince Rupert. Naval ships have visited less frequently in recent years, which Rueben explained was due to budget constraints.

 “We would like to do more visits to Prince Rupert. I see a cutback, however, in the number of deployments to Prince Rupert in the next year, but I cannot give an accurate count,” explained Rueben.

Rueben did confirm that a naval ship would not be able to visit Prince Rupert during Seafest this year, because it coincides with the Navy’s International Naval Review.

 “But the Navy would like to remain involved in the future,” commented Rueben.

it's the economy (Friday, March 26, 2010)

China tops Germany as an export leader, It's that 70's show for England and Canadian Teachers buy into a British Lottery,  some of the items of interest for Friday.

Globe and Mail-- AT&T takes $1-billion health care hit
Globe and Mail-- GM to recall, hire new workers
Globe and Mail-- Nickelled and damned
National Post-- Anti-competitive complaint 'simply false', realtors say
National Post-- IMF in the dark on role in Greece
National Post-- Saskatchewan eyes harmonized sales tax
Vancouver Sun-- $450-million casino and hotel project to be built beside BC Place
New York Times-- Under Pressure on Foreclosures, White House Pledges Aid
New York Times-- Europeans Vow Effort to Bring Economies Closer
New York Times-- Going to Extreme
USA Today-- AT&T will take $1B non-cash charge due to health care
USA Today-- State jobless rates stabilize as layoffs slow
Guardian UK online-- Alistair Darling: we will cut deeper than Margaret Thatcher
Guardian UK online-- Amazon's move into Canada sparks cultural war with booksellers
Guardian UK online-- British Airways chief: I was not trying to break Unite union
Times online UK-- China overtakes Germany as world's top exporter
Times online UK-- Euro bounces back on Greece bailout plan
Telegraph UK online-- Politically, socially and economically, we are heading back to the 1970s
Telegraph UK online-- Why G20 talk of global reform doesn't cut it with legislators
Telegraph UK online-- National Lottery operator Camelot sold to Canadian teachers' pension fund
Irish Independent-- Economy shrinks to same levels as 2003 after record slump
Irish Times-- External trade surplus rises 34%
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Irish economy shrinks by dismal 7.1 per cent
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Beware bubble trouble: RBA
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Watchdog lays out issues for BHP-Rio on controversial iron ore tie-up
Sydney Daily Telegraph-- Short work-week 'creating working poor'
People's Daily-- Governor: Stimulus to continue until recovery realized
People's Daily-- Chinese, U.S. officials vow to promote healthy bilateral economic, trade ties
China Daily-- Drought causes severe forest losses in China
China Daily-- PetroChina spends $1.4b in parent finance unit
Times of India-- Zain is largest Indian acquisition in Africa
Times of India-- Rupee ends at more than 18-month high at 45.23/24 vs dlr