What’s the hardest job in Prince Rupert these days? Well probably by a country mile (or two or six hundred) it’s the folks that are trying to sell the local population on the logistical joys of bus transportation to and from local medical facilities along the Highway 16 corridor.
Northern Health is having a hard time spinning the story that the new transportation option being offered up is going to result in quality health care. From the locals who toured the new buses, to the folks on the Charlottes who just saw their visiting specialists visits reduced in number, the whole concept of quality health care in the Northwest seems to be taking a bit of a hit of late. Combine those issues with the much reported staffing problems at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and well, the selling isn’t so great as they would say.
They may wish to take heed of a comment from an exasperated president of the Prince Rupert Senior’s Center who asked rather plaintively “What are we going to do with Northern Health?” Indeed, when pretty well the whole community thinks that things are pretty bad and heading towards worse, it may be time to re-think many of your policies.
Below are two articles from local media that kind of explain the rock and a hard place that the folks at Northern Health are finding themselves in. Try as they might to paint a pretty picture out of the current situation, few it seems are willing to take their offerings at face value of late. The Daily News has details on the reaction to the bus transportation option and the Queen Charlotte Islands Observer tackles the issue of cutbacks to the visiting specialists there.
BUS NOT UP TO SNUFF, SAY CRITICS
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Page One
The recent tour of Northern Health’s new buses has left local seniors and politicians feeling skeptical at best and outright deceived at worst.
“I went on the bus, I was totally flabbergasted,” said Marion Weir, Senior’s Centre president. “It’s a coach like Greyhound… the seats, there’s no leg room, there is this lift for the wheelchair and the bathroom opens up to let a wheelchair in it, but there’s no place for it unless they take seats out.”
Weir’s shock came from an absence of beds and other amenities that seniors believed they would get on the ‘luxury coach’. Instead they’ve received a standard bus, she said.
“They never said a word to me (about why it was standard),” said Weir. “I said ‘where’s the beds, there will be people not well enough to sit up,” and the guy there said. ‘We’re not going to take those kind of people.”
Her feelings about the Health Connections Program soured further when NH staff seemed unresponsive to suggestions.
“There was also at least seven Northern Health employees who got on that bus while I was there and every one tried to tell them how angry they were with Northern Health and that they just weren’t listening at all,” she said, adding that the Connections program also never met with local seniors.
While Weir believes some people will benefit from the $4 million program, and that the cost -$20 to Terrace, $40 to Prince George and $80 to Vancouver, all return – was very reasonable, she doubts the buses will ever be highly utilized.
“What are we going to do with Northern Health?” she said. “Everyone is upset at them, they’re just blindly going ahead and they turn everything you say to them into something happy.
“It’s unreal.”
After riding aboard the bus, Port Edward Mayor Dave MacDonald’s message to NH is simple: “prove me wrong.”
“Citizens are afraid this is the start of service up the highway instead of in our own hospital. I just don’t know if this is the right way to go,” he said. “I feel that we’re taking service away from the community and they keep telling me that’s not what they’re planning on doing.
“I always say prove me wrong and show me the service is just for helping people get back and forth between communities – I can live with that. But it’s that old saying; the proof will be in the pudding down the road.”
North Coast MLA Gary Coons, who also boarded the bus, said it was another example of the cost of the province’s regionalization scheme.
“The bus is not going to meet the needs of people in the Northwest,” he said. It’s not getting health care when and where you need it.
“The shorter shuttles from Prince Rupert to Terrace might work, but for people who are not in the best of health to be traveling to Prince George and beyond? I just think this another kick in the stomach for them.”
Coons invited Minister of Health George Abbot, who accepted the offer publicly while in the legislature, to ride the bus with him to Prince George and back. The North Coast NLA said he hoped the trip would be taken this summer.
“Hopefully we can spend some time together on the 20-24 hour return trip,” said Coons. “We’d have an opportunity to share a lot of good stories.”
SPECIALIST VISITS TO THE ISLANDS REDUCED
By Heather Ramsay
Queen Charlottes Island Observer
Friday, July 8, 2006
Just as a touted health-related travel service starts, Northern Health has seen fit to cut visits by medical specialists to the islands by one third.
A new Northern Health Connections bus will be providing trips between communities for patients who need to go to larger centres for specialized health care. The highway coaches will have the first on-board wheelchair accessible washrooms in North America. But at the same time, the 2006/07 budget for visiting specialists on the islands has been cut from 40 visits to 27. These specialists cover such fields as psychiatry, general surgery, urology, obstetrics and gynaecology.
MLA Gary Coons thinks the timing is horrendous.
“There are less specialists coming to town because you can just hop on the bus,” he says. “What a waste of time and money.”
The New Democrat Health critic Adrian Dix says although demand for health care continues to grow, the BC government is obviously not meeting the needs of rural and remote patients.
He says an internal document shows the Minister of Health George Abbott is only planning to fund 65 per cent of requested visits to rural communities in the northwest under a province-wide Northern And Isolation Travel Assistance Program which allows physicians and specialists to visit remote communities.
Chief of staff at the Queen Charlotte Islands General Hospital Dr. Tracy Morton says visiting specialist services are vital to islanders who are financially disadvantaged or have disabilities that prevent them from travelling.
He wrote a letter to Northern Health's regional chief operating officer Suzanne Johnston saying he would bring the matter to the attention of the media and local politicians. Queen Charlotte council discussed the letter at their July 4 meeting and agreed to send their own letter to the Premier and other appropriate members of the government and Northern Health on the topic.
“This strikes a blow at the most vulnerable layers of society,” said councillor Greg Martin.
Sean Hardiman, the regional manager of the Northern Health Connections program says the new bus and the cuts to specialists visits are not connected.
“The purpose of Connections is not to reduce existing services in the north,” he says. As for the limitations of the bus service, which runs from Prince Rupert to Terrace and on to Prince George and Vancouver, to islanders, he says Northern Health is looking for a solution.
He has looked into the concept of low cost airfares, but has received no interest from airlines to provide service options. He says the funding, a boost of $4 million to the Northern Health operating budget, works out to about $13 per person, not enough to be used for airfares.
He says the government's travel assistance program covers the ferry fare for medical purposes and once the ferry schedule is finalized, he will work to co-ordinate the bus schedules.
Dr. Jamie Chrones says the bus doesn't really help islanders at all. “It doesn't address the issue of getting across the water,” he says.
He says people often need to visit a specialist more than once and feel it is too much of a hardship to go off-island to access these services. This will result in people not getting the care they need, he says.
He says most specialist services were already overbooked before the cuts, but there are some specialists, like an ear, nose and throat doctor, that the medical team has not been able to recruit for many years while maintaining a budget allocation for one. “If we are not using the funding for some, why not let us use the funding for the specialists we do use?” He sees this as a short-term solution. “The permanent solution is don't cut anything. We are so remote. We don't have the option of driving three hours down the highway.”
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Alaska Marine Highway Historical
With Prince Rupert feeling the effects of a reduced ferry service and waiting patiently for the replacement vessel for the Queen of the North, it's interesting to look at our northern neighbours and of the importance they place and their dependence on a coastal ferry system.
The Alaska Marine Highway System is one of the keys to travel up and down the Alaskan coast, the Sitka News put together a fairly informative bit of history on it's website. Complete with pictures and colourful stories about the early days, it's a great testimony to travel from Rupert to the far reaches of Alaska, check it out here.
The Alaska Marine Highway System is one of the keys to travel up and down the Alaskan coast, the Sitka News put together a fairly informative bit of history on it's website. Complete with pictures and colourful stories about the early days, it's a great testimony to travel from Rupert to the far reaches of Alaska, check it out here.
Joey Ramone meets Celine Dion
Clear the pogo zone, the times they are changing.
It’s a move that just doesn’t seem right, no matter how hard they try to spin it. CBGB’S the birthplace of The Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith and New York’s favourite sons The Ramones is moving to Las Vegas.
Owing the extremely high rent and caustic relations with the landlords, the famed rock and roll cauldron was scheduled to close its New York doors this September 30th. The plan at the time was to hopefully find a new locale a little less expensive but true to the rocking roots of the original. But as they say all plans can be subject to change, and what a change it’s going to be.
Imagine the surprise to punk and rock aficionados everywhere, to learn that the new CBGB is locating West, Far West as in Celine Dion and Wayne Newton West.
Hilly Kristal, owner of the musical home for an entire genre of music says the new Vegas version won’t be the same size, or the shape but will come complete with all of the historical pieces that made CBGB the club of a generation of rock and rollers, including the urinal in which Joey Ramone would conduct his business before and after shows.
Kristal says he still has plans to open up a New York City club, but with the Vegas hall taking all the good stuff, it most likely won’t have the same, uh ahem, ambience. In fact a move of CBGB to the neon and heat of the desert just conjures up end of an era kind of visions.
Perhaps noted Vegas diva Celine can pop by for a set at the new CBGB. Celine belting out a song set comprised of the Ramones Blitzkreig Bop, Rock and Roll High School, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue and I Wanna Be Sedated, should convince even the most ardent punk rock era hanger on that end has truly arrived.
If you listen carefully, that sound you hear, it’s Joey Ramone rolling over!
It’s a move that just doesn’t seem right, no matter how hard they try to spin it. CBGB’S the birthplace of The Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith and New York’s favourite sons The Ramones is moving to Las Vegas.
Owing the extremely high rent and caustic relations with the landlords, the famed rock and roll cauldron was scheduled to close its New York doors this September 30th. The plan at the time was to hopefully find a new locale a little less expensive but true to the rocking roots of the original. But as they say all plans can be subject to change, and what a change it’s going to be.
Imagine the surprise to punk and rock aficionados everywhere, to learn that the new CBGB is locating West, Far West as in Celine Dion and Wayne Newton West.
Hilly Kristal, owner of the musical home for an entire genre of music says the new Vegas version won’t be the same size, or the shape but will come complete with all of the historical pieces that made CBGB the club of a generation of rock and rollers, including the urinal in which Joey Ramone would conduct his business before and after shows.
Kristal says he still has plans to open up a New York City club, but with the Vegas hall taking all the good stuff, it most likely won’t have the same, uh ahem, ambience. In fact a move of CBGB to the neon and heat of the desert just conjures up end of an era kind of visions.
Perhaps noted Vegas diva Celine can pop by for a set at the new CBGB. Celine belting out a song set comprised of the Ramones Blitzkreig Bop, Rock and Roll High School, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue and I Wanna Be Sedated, should convince even the most ardent punk rock era hanger on that end has truly arrived.
If you listen carefully, that sound you hear, it’s Joey Ramone rolling over!
Friday, July 07, 2006
Port Corp awards contracts worth 90 million so far
The Prince Rupert Port Authority awarded another multi million dollar contract on Wednesday, as Ledcor Design were awarded a 7.5 million dollar contract to design and build two buildings as part of the Fairview Container Port.
The latest contract brings the total of contracts awarded so far up to 90 million dollars so far, as work continues on the Prince Rupert mega project
Below is the report from the Vancouver Sun.
Ledcor wins contract
Vancouver Sun
Thursday, June 6, 2006
PRINCE RUPERT -- The Prince Rupert Port Authority said Wednesday it has awarded a $7.5-million contract to Vancouver's Ledcor Design-Build (B.C.) Inc. to design and build two buildings linked to the construction of the port's new container terminal.
Ledcor is scheduled to begin construction this fall on a two-storey administration building and a maintenance building for the terminal. The two facilities are expected to be completed in June 2007.
The port authority has so far awarded contracts totalling nearly $90 million for the $170-million container terminal project. The port anticipates the terminal will help it become a leading gateway for trade between North America and the Asia-Pacific.
The first phase of terminal, slated to begin operating by the fall of 2007, will be able to handle 500,000 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, per year.
A second phase will expand the container port's capacity to two million TEUs by 2010. Barry Bartlett, manager of corporate communications for the Prince Rupert Port Authority, said work on the project is going as planned.
The latest contract brings the total of contracts awarded so far up to 90 million dollars so far, as work continues on the Prince Rupert mega project
Below is the report from the Vancouver Sun.
Ledcor wins contract
Vancouver Sun
Thursday, June 6, 2006
PRINCE RUPERT -- The Prince Rupert Port Authority said Wednesday it has awarded a $7.5-million contract to Vancouver's Ledcor Design-Build (B.C.) Inc. to design and build two buildings linked to the construction of the port's new container terminal.
Ledcor is scheduled to begin construction this fall on a two-storey administration building and a maintenance building for the terminal. The two facilities are expected to be completed in June 2007.
The port authority has so far awarded contracts totalling nearly $90 million for the $170-million container terminal project. The port anticipates the terminal will help it become a leading gateway for trade between North America and the Asia-Pacific.
The first phase of terminal, slated to begin operating by the fall of 2007, will be able to handle 500,000 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, per year.
A second phase will expand the container port's capacity to two million TEUs by 2010. Barry Bartlett, manager of corporate communications for the Prince Rupert Port Authority, said work on the project is going as planned.
The spy who came in for the cola
The counter espionage unit at Coca Cola has once again outwitted those that wish the cola maker ill will, yet another group of spies has been caught by the Atlanta soft drink maker. In what can only be described as something out of Mad magazine, the spy vs. spy routine netted three suspects accused of stealing confidential information about Coke, including a sample of a new drink and trying to sell it all to rival pop maker Pepsi.
The battle for market share between Coke and Pepsi is legendary, almost worrisome in fact as the two makers of sugary carbonated products occasionally resemble participants in the old Cold War as opposed to the Cola Wars.
The three caught today, include an administrative assistant who was kept busy rifling through drawers looking for files and smuggling a sample of a new Coke product out of the offices.
Coke said that they will review their internal security precautions and no doubt keep closer tabs on their employees. No word on if they plan on launching a retaliatory strike on their cola rival. However, since the folks at Pepsi participated in the investigation, the folks at Coke may not look at Pepsi as part of any evil cola empire.
As you can see all this commercial enterprise is rather serious, as market share and profit and loss statements can rise or fall on a simple piece of information.
We await further outbreaks of hostilities in other sectors, perhaps finally we now will learn those secret herbs and spices in the barrel of the colonels finest, if people really eat the red Smarties last, can you really eat just one Lays chip and exactly how they get the Caramilk into a Caramilk bar!
The battle for market share between Coke and Pepsi is legendary, almost worrisome in fact as the two makers of sugary carbonated products occasionally resemble participants in the old Cold War as opposed to the Cola Wars.
The three caught today, include an administrative assistant who was kept busy rifling through drawers looking for files and smuggling a sample of a new Coke product out of the offices.
Coke said that they will review their internal security precautions and no doubt keep closer tabs on their employees. No word on if they plan on launching a retaliatory strike on their cola rival. However, since the folks at Pepsi participated in the investigation, the folks at Coke may not look at Pepsi as part of any evil cola empire.
As you can see all this commercial enterprise is rather serious, as market share and profit and loss statements can rise or fall on a simple piece of information.
We await further outbreaks of hostilities in other sectors, perhaps finally we now will learn those secret herbs and spices in the barrel of the colonels finest, if people really eat the red Smarties last, can you really eat just one Lays chip and exactly how they get the Caramilk into a Caramilk bar!
The out migration of redcoats begins
Prince Rupert has many seasons it seems; there is herring season, salmon season, the monsoon rain season and the Mountie transfer season. That last one is in the high point of its cycle right now, as the city sees a number of familiar members of the local detachment transfer out.
With more than a dozen members leaving town, it’s a major change for the force and something that the community has become used to over the years.
This time around, roughly 45 % of the incoming crop of those charged to “Mantien le Droit”, will be just out of the RCMP depot in Regina, so it will no doubt be a rather eager and gung ho group of constables on patrol over the next little while, finding their first taste of law enforcement on the streets of Rupert.
The Daily News had a full report on the upcoming changes, as well as a bit of background into the challenges facing those that patrol the streets and highways of the area. From loud parties, to traffic duty, vandalism, theft and public drunkenness; there’s apparently no shortage of work waiting out there for those that will have just arrived, or are on their way to our town.
The full article is provided below.
RUPERT COPS GET OVERHAUL
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Pages One and Three
Prince Rupert’s policing is undergoing a big change this summer, with more than a dozen officers headed out of town.
“Over the next couple of months there is going to be a significant turnover,” said Inspector Ray Noble, officer in charge of the Prince Rupert detachment.
“(But) we haven’t had any delays in staffing, everything is going quite well. The new members are (already) arriving.”
Local officers have transferred to Ottawa to work on Parliament Hill, to Vernon, Summerland and London, Ontario among other places.
“The members that are moving on from Prince Rupert are going to some interesting places, they’ve taken on some good pretty good jobs,” said Noble. “But we’ve also got a pretty interesting crew coming in.”
Among the new members are a couple of promotions including a new officer in charge of operations and new head of the general investigation section.
The replacements will also be made up of about 45 per cent new cadets.
“One of the interesting things about doing that, is those members actually arrived anywhere from five to six months… before the positions are vacated,” he said.
They finish their field training before they get transferred into a substantive position, so we got very lucky that way.”
The remaining members coming to Rupert have a number of years of service, and are also bringing training that will allow some specialized skills to be taught to officers locally.
While the summer will be a transition period for the detachment, he local RCMP will continue to focus key areas of concern including loud parties, property crime and road safety.
Since a “no tolerance” approach was adopted towards loud parties last year, complaints have dropped more than 10 per cent in the first six months of 2006, from 628 to 557.
RCMP have double the number of municipal bylaw tickets, a $100 fine they hand out for the noise disturbance, to 150 this year.
“One of the things we are doing is giving a lot more ticket,” said Noble. “One of the nice things about taking that approach is we’re now finding that most of the time when we attend a complaint we’re getting compliance.”
And for those repeat offenders who are not taking the tickets seriously, police have been able to up the ante and punish offenders.
“A lot of the tickets we issued were to people that had multiple – three, four, five – tickets,” he said. “One of the things that has happened as a result of that, I think everyone’s surprise, is that we’ve actually gotten arrest warrants for some of the people that failed to pay their tickets.
“We’re going to that next loud party complaint and they’re being arrested on the strength of outstanding warrants.”
RCMP will also be using a mischief provision of the Criminal Code, which essentially makes it unlawful to interfere with someone’s enjoyment of their property, to get a warrant to seize stereos if partying gets out of control in the future.
The summer will also see a continuation of high levels of traffic enforcement, something the Rupert inspector acknowledges has benne a controversial issue locally.
“One of the things that everybody has to remember with IRSU (Integrated Road Safety Unit) is that their goal is to reduce the amount of serious collisions, reduce the numbers of injuries and deaths that occur on the highways,” said Noble. “There’s a very common feeling that the level of enforcement for seat belts is excessive in the area, but there’s a very good reason for (it).
“That is simply because our compliance rate is well below the provincial average and there is a direct correlation between the seat belt usage and prevention of injuries”
Noble notes unsafe traffic behaviours are far more likely to result in death – 12 times more likely – or injury – hundreds of times more likely – than criminal activity.
“The impact of accidents spread beyond the people it happens too,” he said. “Yes, there are high levels of enforcement, but they’re directed at those areas that are … either casual factors to accidents or increase the likelihood of an injury in an accident.
“Using your seat belt saves lives and prevents injuries … increased levels of enforcement leads to increased compliance. I guess my message is that if our compliance rates get over 85 per cent, our focus will be able to shift to other priorities.”
Impaired driving, of both cars and water craft, will also be a focus.
Beyond motorists, careless pedestrians, cyclists and skateboarders are also contributing significantly to the traffic problems. Police will ticket jaywalkers and, if it becomes necessary, even seize skateboards.
On the property crime front, Noble explained volumes of activity tend to have more to do with who is in town rather than what season it is.
That being said, officer swill be focusing resources on the small minority of people that are responsible for the vast majority of the vandalism, thefts and public drunkenness in the downtown core.
“They vary their activity, it’s thefts one day and vandalism the next, and drinking, or whatever – they cycle through all kinds of different behaviours but very often it’s the same core group of people responsible for the largest number of complaints,” he said.
With more than a dozen members leaving town, it’s a major change for the force and something that the community has become used to over the years.
This time around, roughly 45 % of the incoming crop of those charged to “Mantien le Droit”, will be just out of the RCMP depot in Regina, so it will no doubt be a rather eager and gung ho group of constables on patrol over the next little while, finding their first taste of law enforcement on the streets of Rupert.
The Daily News had a full report on the upcoming changes, as well as a bit of background into the challenges facing those that patrol the streets and highways of the area. From loud parties, to traffic duty, vandalism, theft and public drunkenness; there’s apparently no shortage of work waiting out there for those that will have just arrived, or are on their way to our town.
The full article is provided below.
RUPERT COPS GET OVERHAUL
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Pages One and Three
Prince Rupert’s policing is undergoing a big change this summer, with more than a dozen officers headed out of town.
“Over the next couple of months there is going to be a significant turnover,” said Inspector Ray Noble, officer in charge of the Prince Rupert detachment.
“(But) we haven’t had any delays in staffing, everything is going quite well. The new members are (already) arriving.”
Local officers have transferred to Ottawa to work on Parliament Hill, to Vernon, Summerland and London, Ontario among other places.
“The members that are moving on from Prince Rupert are going to some interesting places, they’ve taken on some good pretty good jobs,” said Noble. “But we’ve also got a pretty interesting crew coming in.”
Among the new members are a couple of promotions including a new officer in charge of operations and new head of the general investigation section.
The replacements will also be made up of about 45 per cent new cadets.
“One of the interesting things about doing that, is those members actually arrived anywhere from five to six months… before the positions are vacated,” he said.
They finish their field training before they get transferred into a substantive position, so we got very lucky that way.”
The remaining members coming to Rupert have a number of years of service, and are also bringing training that will allow some specialized skills to be taught to officers locally.
While the summer will be a transition period for the detachment, he local RCMP will continue to focus key areas of concern including loud parties, property crime and road safety.
Since a “no tolerance” approach was adopted towards loud parties last year, complaints have dropped more than 10 per cent in the first six months of 2006, from 628 to 557.
RCMP have double the number of municipal bylaw tickets, a $100 fine they hand out for the noise disturbance, to 150 this year.
“One of the things we are doing is giving a lot more ticket,” said Noble. “One of the nice things about taking that approach is we’re now finding that most of the time when we attend a complaint we’re getting compliance.”
And for those repeat offenders who are not taking the tickets seriously, police have been able to up the ante and punish offenders.
“A lot of the tickets we issued were to people that had multiple – three, four, five – tickets,” he said. “One of the things that has happened as a result of that, I think everyone’s surprise, is that we’ve actually gotten arrest warrants for some of the people that failed to pay their tickets.
“We’re going to that next loud party complaint and they’re being arrested on the strength of outstanding warrants.”
RCMP will also be using a mischief provision of the Criminal Code, which essentially makes it unlawful to interfere with someone’s enjoyment of their property, to get a warrant to seize stereos if partying gets out of control in the future.
The summer will also see a continuation of high levels of traffic enforcement, something the Rupert inspector acknowledges has benne a controversial issue locally.
“One of the things that everybody has to remember with IRSU (Integrated Road Safety Unit) is that their goal is to reduce the amount of serious collisions, reduce the numbers of injuries and deaths that occur on the highways,” said Noble. “There’s a very common feeling that the level of enforcement for seat belts is excessive in the area, but there’s a very good reason for (it).
“That is simply because our compliance rate is well below the provincial average and there is a direct correlation between the seat belt usage and prevention of injuries”
Noble notes unsafe traffic behaviours are far more likely to result in death – 12 times more likely – or injury – hundreds of times more likely – than criminal activity.
“The impact of accidents spread beyond the people it happens too,” he said. “Yes, there are high levels of enforcement, but they’re directed at those areas that are … either casual factors to accidents or increase the likelihood of an injury in an accident.
“Using your seat belt saves lives and prevents injuries … increased levels of enforcement leads to increased compliance. I guess my message is that if our compliance rates get over 85 per cent, our focus will be able to shift to other priorities.”
Impaired driving, of both cars and water craft, will also be a focus.
Beyond motorists, careless pedestrians, cyclists and skateboarders are also contributing significantly to the traffic problems. Police will ticket jaywalkers and, if it becomes necessary, even seize skateboards.
On the property crime front, Noble explained volumes of activity tend to have more to do with who is in town rather than what season it is.
That being said, officer swill be focusing resources on the small minority of people that are responsible for the vast majority of the vandalism, thefts and public drunkenness in the downtown core.
“They vary their activity, it’s thefts one day and vandalism the next, and drinking, or whatever – they cycle through all kinds of different behaviours but very often it’s the same core group of people responsible for the largest number of complaints,” he said.
Roll Em, Roll Em, Roll Em, get them tourists rollin’
A number of tourism groups in the Northwest and Northern BC have begun to work out their plan to salvage a tourism season that has taken a number of hits so far this year.
With the sinking of the Queen of the North, rising gasoline prices and border concerns on their minds the Province and its tourism organizations are getting ready to put their plan of action in place.
The Daily News had all the details in a front page story on Wednesday.
PLANS TO HERD TOURISTS TO THE NORTH UNVEILED
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Pages One and Three
Tourism organizations around the region have released plans for the first three programs designed to address a potentially disastrous season for local operators in the wake of the sinking of the Queen of the North.
“At the end of May, our ministry provided a one-time $1 million investment to help ensure visitors are aware of all the travel opportunities available in Northern B. C.,” said Minister Olga Ilich, Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts.
“The communities and operators in the Northern Tourism Region have done an excellent job of identifying creative uses for the $450,000 share of the funding to help attract visitors to the region this year.
”These new strategies are going to let visitors know that Northern B. C.‘s doors are open, and generate legacy benefits in the region for years to come.”
The Northern Fund Management Committee, set-up to administer the funds, will begin by filling two summer counselor positions at the Gateway Visitor Information Centre in Prince George.
“That’s our gateway for highway travel,” said Bruce Wishart, Tourism Prince Rupert executive director. “When those people are on the road already, let’s intercept them in Prince George and have people that thoroughly understand all that is available in Northern British Columbia so we can still bring people on the road west of Prince George.”
An extensive campaign will also launch featuring 15 large, annual festivals held throughout Northern British Columbia. Information will also be distributed to the region’s VIC’s weekly on 160 other smaller events.
“The idea was that we have these large festivals … in a lot of communities across the North,” he said.
“There really are significant draws bringing a lot of people into these communities, they’re really significant events in a lot of cases so we thought let’s take our best, bundle them together and brand them as the ‘Northern B. C. Signature Series.’
“It encourages people within the North to travel around to festivals in their own backyard and it creates the idea the Northern British Columbia is a place of festivals and events around music and culture.”
Finally, a direct marketing campaign in the form of 100,000 brochures directed at the Alaskan market will be undertaken on behalf of the Queen Charlotte Islands.
“The problem was that when the ferry sank people thought it was not longer possible to go to Prince Rupert and continue their circle tour,” said Wishart. “There is available capacity on the ferry, our idea is that we should promote that.
“There’s already significant traffic coming out of Southeast Alaska to places from the Queen Charlotte Islands to Smithers .. why not get them to stay a little longer, invite more people to come down for leisure.”
The initiatives are all part of a B. C. wide push to get people to experience their home province.
“For those people that are intending to go on a holiday, what we’re trying to say is travel within your own province, see your own province, it’s full of the most beautiful things to see and great experiences and great people.” Sail Ilich. “I’ve taken my kids to places like Disneyland and traveled around the world, but in my own backyard I’ve got a wealth of experiences and things to see and do and people to meet.”
Over 50 per cent of B. C’s tourism market right now is composed of tourism from people within the province, with an additional 27 per cent coming from people in other parts of Canada, providing many opportunities for a homegrown effort, she said.
“We’d like to be focusing on the North and saying there’s fabulous attractions, drive there, go there,” she said.
“We’d like to see (people in the North) not lose any business. If whatever we do has any impact in lessening the losses I think that will be a benefit.”
Through a $50 million investment in Tourism British Columbia, double the amount normally provided, Ilich explained the province is also trying to attract people from outside B. C. but this can be a difficult task due to a number of issues beyond the ferry sinking including gas prices and challenges crossing the border.
”It’s very difficult to associate the loss of business directly with the ferry sinking,” she said. “You don’t know what the real situation might be. What we … know (is) there’s been an issue, we know there’s been a problem and we want to make sure we can address the problem in whatever way we can.”
With the sinking of the Queen of the North, rising gasoline prices and border concerns on their minds the Province and its tourism organizations are getting ready to put their plan of action in place.
The Daily News had all the details in a front page story on Wednesday.
PLANS TO HERD TOURISTS TO THE NORTH UNVEILED
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Pages One and Three
Tourism organizations around the region have released plans for the first three programs designed to address a potentially disastrous season for local operators in the wake of the sinking of the Queen of the North.
“At the end of May, our ministry provided a one-time $1 million investment to help ensure visitors are aware of all the travel opportunities available in Northern B. C.,” said Minister Olga Ilich, Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts.
“The communities and operators in the Northern Tourism Region have done an excellent job of identifying creative uses for the $450,000 share of the funding to help attract visitors to the region this year.
”These new strategies are going to let visitors know that Northern B. C.‘s doors are open, and generate legacy benefits in the region for years to come.”
The Northern Fund Management Committee, set-up to administer the funds, will begin by filling two summer counselor positions at the Gateway Visitor Information Centre in Prince George.
“That’s our gateway for highway travel,” said Bruce Wishart, Tourism Prince Rupert executive director. “When those people are on the road already, let’s intercept them in Prince George and have people that thoroughly understand all that is available in Northern British Columbia so we can still bring people on the road west of Prince George.”
An extensive campaign will also launch featuring 15 large, annual festivals held throughout Northern British Columbia. Information will also be distributed to the region’s VIC’s weekly on 160 other smaller events.
“The idea was that we have these large festivals … in a lot of communities across the North,” he said.
“There really are significant draws bringing a lot of people into these communities, they’re really significant events in a lot of cases so we thought let’s take our best, bundle them together and brand them as the ‘Northern B. C. Signature Series.’
“It encourages people within the North to travel around to festivals in their own backyard and it creates the idea the Northern British Columbia is a place of festivals and events around music and culture.”
Finally, a direct marketing campaign in the form of 100,000 brochures directed at the Alaskan market will be undertaken on behalf of the Queen Charlotte Islands.
“The problem was that when the ferry sank people thought it was not longer possible to go to Prince Rupert and continue their circle tour,” said Wishart. “There is available capacity on the ferry, our idea is that we should promote that.
“There’s already significant traffic coming out of Southeast Alaska to places from the Queen Charlotte Islands to Smithers .. why not get them to stay a little longer, invite more people to come down for leisure.”
The initiatives are all part of a B. C. wide push to get people to experience their home province.
“For those people that are intending to go on a holiday, what we’re trying to say is travel within your own province, see your own province, it’s full of the most beautiful things to see and great experiences and great people.” Sail Ilich. “I’ve taken my kids to places like Disneyland and traveled around the world, but in my own backyard I’ve got a wealth of experiences and things to see and do and people to meet.”
Over 50 per cent of B. C’s tourism market right now is composed of tourism from people within the province, with an additional 27 per cent coming from people in other parts of Canada, providing many opportunities for a homegrown effort, she said.
“We’d like to be focusing on the North and saying there’s fabulous attractions, drive there, go there,” she said.
“We’d like to see (people in the North) not lose any business. If whatever we do has any impact in lessening the losses I think that will be a benefit.”
Through a $50 million investment in Tourism British Columbia, double the amount normally provided, Ilich explained the province is also trying to attract people from outside B. C. but this can be a difficult task due to a number of issues beyond the ferry sinking including gas prices and challenges crossing the border.
”It’s very difficult to associate the loss of business directly with the ferry sinking,” she said. “You don’t know what the real situation might be. What we … know (is) there’s been an issue, we know there’s been a problem and we want to make sure we can address the problem in whatever way we can.”
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Missed your World Cup fix?
For those that may have been busy the last few days and missed out on some of the action in Germany (especially you fans of Portugal and Germany), the Toronto Star takes care of all your World Cup needs.
Check out their World Cup site for stories and features of the beautiful game as it winds down in Germany and then listen in to the audio section for a podcast of some of their material.
Check out their World Cup site for stories and features of the beautiful game as it winds down in Germany and then listen in to the audio section for a podcast of some of their material.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Not a good trend for Citywest
To borrow and modify a phrase from the Buggle's (see above) big hit of the eighties, Satellite killed the cable providers. It's a song that might not have much rotation at Citywest, the recently crowned owners of the Monarch cable operations of the northwest.
A report released by the CRTC has shown that Canadians apparently are letting their eyes do the talking and the eyeballs are picking up on the likes of Starchoice and Expressvu.
The study shows that the total number of households with satellite television in 2005 rose by 8% to 2.5 million subscribers going the space bound digital way, compared to a drop in cable usage with 24,000 former cable users dropping out, taking the cable penetration down to just over 6.61 million users.
The satellite industry collected revenues of 1.5 billion dollars while cable dropped below 1 billion for the first time, collecting revenues of 926 million in 2005.
It would seem for now until the next new wave of technology comes our way, that the satellite industry is the one with the growth while cable seems to be in decline after many years of owning the business.
For those with a bit of time on their hands, you can read the full CRTC report here, complete with links to pdf files and such, happy reading!
A report released by the CRTC has shown that Canadians apparently are letting their eyes do the talking and the eyeballs are picking up on the likes of Starchoice and Expressvu.
The study shows that the total number of households with satellite television in 2005 rose by 8% to 2.5 million subscribers going the space bound digital way, compared to a drop in cable usage with 24,000 former cable users dropping out, taking the cable penetration down to just over 6.61 million users.
The satellite industry collected revenues of 1.5 billion dollars while cable dropped below 1 billion for the first time, collecting revenues of 926 million in 2005.
It would seem for now until the next new wave of technology comes our way, that the satellite industry is the one with the growth while cable seems to be in decline after many years of owning the business.
For those with a bit of time on their hands, you can read the full CRTC report here, complete with links to pdf files and such, happy reading!
Pictures of Podunk: Heading out from the Atlin Terminal
The view of the entrance to the Yacht club, taken from the dock at Atlin Terminal.Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Dreaming the dream of the Beautiful game
They’ve got football fever in Ontario, and this one has nothing to do with the Toronto Argonauts or Hamilton Tiger Cats.
With the World Cup playing down its final days with its semi finals today and tomorrow, they’re daring to dream the big dreams in Toronto.
Plans and funding were finalized today, and construction has started for a 20,000 seat soccer stadium at the old CNE Stadium site, a football palace that will be home to a new franchise for the MLS and one day maybe host a strong Canadian squad making its bid to play on the biggest stage, the World Cup.
Canada has an interesting history with the game, but yet only one appearance in the World’s biggest football show a 1986 trip to Mexico, a puzzling statistic for a nation so full of immigrants and one you would just assume would be a foundry for football. Perhaps that old saying about hockey fans and California could be true for soccer in Canada; we’ve attracted millions of ex-patriots to our land, all united in a dislike for the sport.
But judging by the large number of Italian, Portuguese, French, English and German flags that have popped up in the last two weeks, that’s probably not true. In fact, with Italy through to the finals, it's guaranteed that Toronto and all cities small and large across the land, will be soccer mad on Sunday morning as the Italians take on either Portugal or France.
Canadians are not strangers to the World Cup or the soccer world for that matter (the linesman in Tuesday's Italia-Germany match was a Canuck!) we're just not frequent visitors or large in numbers, but perhaps that is about to change for the better. Canada hosts the world Under 20 championships next year in Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton. A chance to see the best young soccer players in the world on our turf.
In fact one our nation’s most promising footballers is already on the world stage all be it with another nation, Owen Hargreaves, donned the jersey of England for his International football career, leaving his Calgary roots far behind as he plies his trade in the football stadiums of the Bundesliga.
It’s hoped that with a dedicated soccer stadium in Toronto (and other soccer palaces planned elsewhere, hello there Yaletown dwellers!!) that Canadian soccer will soon be producing home grown stars and International heroes.
With Toronto and Vancouver building their soccer palaces, it probably won't be long before other large Canadian centres look for a soccer boost. Toronto is to join the MSL loop in 2007 and one has to think that Vancouver won't be too far behind in seeking an entry into the MSL. With a strong professional league in North America once again, perhaps the game will finally not only build on its strong roots but propel Canada back onto the world stage.
In Toronto, it’s a case of if they build we shall come and hopefully conquer the soccer world!
Podunk Below the Masthead for July
A daily look at the BIG TYPE headline of the Podunkian Daily News. We'll list that day's BIG STORY, the one the Daily puts out in the big type just below it's masthead, for all Podunkians to ponder. There will be a link to this feature on the right hand side of the blog. Unfortunately there will be no link to the stories, as . Now you just end up at a dead end, asking you to go purchase your paper for (as Paul Harvey would say) the rest of the story.
JULY 31 BRIGHT FUTURE FOR AREA IS IN THE AIR SAYS FIRM-- A group with plans to harness the winds of Mount Hays, sees success with announcments from BC Hydro. (see story here)
JULY 28 WINDS OF CHANGE BLOW ON NORTH COAST--More reaction and information regarding the approval of wind power projects for the North Coast. (see story here)
JULY 27 TRIO IN COURT FOLLOWING LONG ABALONE STAKE-OUT-- Illegal Harvesters of abalone find themselves arrested in the largest seizure of Northern Abalone in B. C. History.
JULY 26 FISH DERBY WILL LAND AREA HUGE BENEFITS--The organizers of the Great Northern Salmon Classic begin the process of selling their six week extravaganza to the locals. The Daily News carries the story on the front page.
JULY 18 ----???? The Podunkian is on a vacation, recaps of the headlines will re-commence upon my return...
JULY 17 NORTHERN ECONOMY FINALLY TURNS THE CORNER--The Credit Union of BC releases a report on the upcoming fortunes of the Northwest. (see story here)
JULY 14 MUSEUM SLEUTH HUNTS FOR LOST HAIDA VILLAGE-- A University of Washington professor is searching the world for artifacts representing a turn of the century Haida village (see story here)
JULY 13 B. C. COMMITS $4 MILLION TO HAIDA CENTRE--The Provincial Government contributes 4 million dollars towards the cost of creating a cultural centre on Haida Gwaii. (see story here)
JULY 12 TEACHERS SAY NOT ENOUGH HELP FOR KIDS-- Deputy Premier and Education Minister Shirley Bond met with local educators to discuss education needs in Prince Rupert (see story here)
JULY 11 PREMIER SAYS PORT KEY TO NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT-- The Premier shares his vision of better days for the North coast at a Liberal party fundraiser (see story here)
JULY 10 PREMIER OPENS $2.4 MILLION HOSPITAL WING-- Premier Gordon Campbell spent the weekend in Prince Rupert attending a number of functions, the main one being the ribbon cutting on the Hospital renovation project. (see story here)
JULY 7 FAMILY GLAD 1989 MURDER VICTIM NOT ON TEARS LIST-- The stil unsolved 1989 murder of Alberta Williams makes headlines, as the family once again explains the circumstances around her death (see story here)
JULY 6 BUS NOT UP TO SNUFF, SAY CRITICS-- The Bus Transportatin plan unveiled by Northern Health finds more than a few critics in the Northwest. (see story here)
JULY 5 PLANS TO HERD TOURISTS TO THE NORTH UNVEILED--Tourism organizers across the Northwest release their ideas on how to bring more tourists up to the North coast despite our ferry woes. (see story here)
JULY 4 'CITY TO HOST 2020 NORTHERN WINTER GAMES'--Prince Rupert gets the nod for the third time to host the BC Northern Winter Games in February of 2010. (see story here)
JULY 31 BRIGHT FUTURE FOR AREA IS IN THE AIR SAYS FIRM-- A group with plans to harness the winds of Mount Hays, sees success with announcments from BC Hydro. (see story here)
JULY 28 WINDS OF CHANGE BLOW ON NORTH COAST--More reaction and information regarding the approval of wind power projects for the North Coast. (see story here)
JULY 27 TRIO IN COURT FOLLOWING LONG ABALONE STAKE-OUT-- Illegal Harvesters of abalone find themselves arrested in the largest seizure of Northern Abalone in B. C. History.
JULY 26 FISH DERBY WILL LAND AREA HUGE BENEFITS--The organizers of the Great Northern Salmon Classic begin the process of selling their six week extravaganza to the locals. The Daily News carries the story on the front page.
JULY 18 ----???? The Podunkian is on a vacation, recaps of the headlines will re-commence upon my return...
JULY 17 NORTHERN ECONOMY FINALLY TURNS THE CORNER--The Credit Union of BC releases a report on the upcoming fortunes of the Northwest. (see story here)
JULY 14 MUSEUM SLEUTH HUNTS FOR LOST HAIDA VILLAGE-- A University of Washington professor is searching the world for artifacts representing a turn of the century Haida village (see story here)
JULY 13 B. C. COMMITS $4 MILLION TO HAIDA CENTRE--The Provincial Government contributes 4 million dollars towards the cost of creating a cultural centre on Haida Gwaii. (see story here)
JULY 12 TEACHERS SAY NOT ENOUGH HELP FOR KIDS-- Deputy Premier and Education Minister Shirley Bond met with local educators to discuss education needs in Prince Rupert (see story here)
JULY 11 PREMIER SAYS PORT KEY TO NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT-- The Premier shares his vision of better days for the North coast at a Liberal party fundraiser (see story here)
JULY 10 PREMIER OPENS $2.4 MILLION HOSPITAL WING-- Premier Gordon Campbell spent the weekend in Prince Rupert attending a number of functions, the main one being the ribbon cutting on the Hospital renovation project. (see story here)
JULY 7 FAMILY GLAD 1989 MURDER VICTIM NOT ON TEARS LIST-- The stil unsolved 1989 murder of Alberta Williams makes headlines, as the family once again explains the circumstances around her death (see story here)
JULY 6 BUS NOT UP TO SNUFF, SAY CRITICS-- The Bus Transportatin plan unveiled by Northern Health finds more than a few critics in the Northwest. (see story here)
JULY 5 PLANS TO HERD TOURISTS TO THE NORTH UNVEILED--Tourism organizers across the Northwest release their ideas on how to bring more tourists up to the North coast despite our ferry woes. (see story here)
JULY 4 'CITY TO HOST 2020 NORTHERN WINTER GAMES'--Prince Rupert gets the nod for the third time to host the BC Northern Winter Games in February of 2010. (see story here)
Rupert to Welcome the North in 2010
Prince Rupert has been chose once again to host the B. C. Northern Winter Games in February of 2010, the third time that the city has been tapped to put on the Northern Show.
Selecting Rupert for 2010 will tie the event in with the 100th anniversary of the city’s incorporation and should make for a rather busy year for the city.
The Daily News had all the details on its front page of the Tuesday edition.
CITY TO HOST THE 2010 NORTHERN WINTER GAMES
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Page One
In celebration of Prince Rupert’s 100th birthday, the city will host the 2010 Northern
B. C. Winter Games.
“The 2010 Northern B. C. Winter Games are coming to Prince Rupert,” said Minister Olga Illich, Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts, to thunderous applause this morning at the Museum of Northern B. C.
“I want to congratulate the people of Prince Rupert because they are the ones that are going to be putting this on.”
It was a vote of confidence in Prince Rupert from the games committee that the city has been selected yet again to run the event – Rupert hosted in 1999 for the 25th anniversary of the games as well as in 1981 and 1989.
“You’ve had the games and over the years show people the Northern Spirit,” she said.
Illich added that the games can also have a significant economic and social impact on a community, as the 1999 event contributed $850,000 to the local economy.
“It has a bit of an impact on the community, and obviously I think it will be even more in 2010,” she said.
“And that doesn’t include spin-offs … I’ve been blown away since I came here yesterday with the beauty of the area, all those people coming will be talking about what a great spot this is.”
The games also encourages volunteerism, build community spirit and encourage physical activity.
“As the minister responsible for the games, we’re very interested in making sure people are fit and active,” said Illich.
“It’s one of the goals of the Liberals to have the fittest province by 2010.
“Kids that participate in the games, not only are they the ones who may one day stand on an Olympic podium representing Canada, but it will also allow them to participate in sports and activities that are healthy for them.”
The initiative was spearheaded by Coun. Kathy Bedard and John Mullin, local curler.
“Prince Rupert (will) lead the charge, we’re going to start in the North and just spread out the enthusiasm and the challenges to the rest of the world,” said Bedard.
“It’s about partnerships .. We’ve reached out to neighbouring communities and they’ve said “we’ll help you” – it’s all about putting something together for the value of our young people and our older citizens.
In particular, city officials said the bid could not have gone forward without the willingness of the All-Native Basketball Tournament to work around the B. C. Northern Winter Games Schedule, and the support of the District of Port Edward.
“It’s important to me that we recognize, that while it’s Prince Rupert’s name on the games, it’s going to be Prince Rupert and Port Edward and the region that are going to benefit and share in this,” said Mayor Herb Pond.
The year 2010 is set to be one full of celebrations as it includes B. C.’s first Olympics, and local the 100th anniversary of the city, a number of local service clubs and businesses. It also represents the 50th year of the All-Native Basketball Tournament.
“It is our 100th birthday and we’re just going to make everything 10 times as large as it normally would be,” said Pond.
Minister Illich also announced that Dawson Creek would hold the 2008 games and the District of Mackenzie would hold the 2009 event. Rupert’s games take place Feb 4 to 7, 2010.
Selecting Rupert for 2010 will tie the event in with the 100th anniversary of the city’s incorporation and should make for a rather busy year for the city.
The Daily News had all the details on its front page of the Tuesday edition.
CITY TO HOST THE 2010 NORTHERN WINTER GAMES
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Page One
In celebration of Prince Rupert’s 100th birthday, the city will host the 2010 Northern
B. C. Winter Games.
“The 2010 Northern B. C. Winter Games are coming to Prince Rupert,” said Minister Olga Illich, Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts, to thunderous applause this morning at the Museum of Northern B. C.
“I want to congratulate the people of Prince Rupert because they are the ones that are going to be putting this on.”
It was a vote of confidence in Prince Rupert from the games committee that the city has been selected yet again to run the event – Rupert hosted in 1999 for the 25th anniversary of the games as well as in 1981 and 1989.
“You’ve had the games and over the years show people the Northern Spirit,” she said.
Illich added that the games can also have a significant economic and social impact on a community, as the 1999 event contributed $850,000 to the local economy.
“It has a bit of an impact on the community, and obviously I think it will be even more in 2010,” she said.
“And that doesn’t include spin-offs … I’ve been blown away since I came here yesterday with the beauty of the area, all those people coming will be talking about what a great spot this is.”
The games also encourages volunteerism, build community spirit and encourage physical activity.
“As the minister responsible for the games, we’re very interested in making sure people are fit and active,” said Illich.
“It’s one of the goals of the Liberals to have the fittest province by 2010.
“Kids that participate in the games, not only are they the ones who may one day stand on an Olympic podium representing Canada, but it will also allow them to participate in sports and activities that are healthy for them.”
The initiative was spearheaded by Coun. Kathy Bedard and John Mullin, local curler.
“Prince Rupert (will) lead the charge, we’re going to start in the North and just spread out the enthusiasm and the challenges to the rest of the world,” said Bedard.
“It’s about partnerships .. We’ve reached out to neighbouring communities and they’ve said “we’ll help you” – it’s all about putting something together for the value of our young people and our older citizens.
In particular, city officials said the bid could not have gone forward without the willingness of the All-Native Basketball Tournament to work around the B. C. Northern Winter Games Schedule, and the support of the District of Port Edward.
“It’s important to me that we recognize, that while it’s Prince Rupert’s name on the games, it’s going to be Prince Rupert and Port Edward and the region that are going to benefit and share in this,” said Mayor Herb Pond.
The year 2010 is set to be one full of celebrations as it includes B. C.’s first Olympics, and local the 100th anniversary of the city, a number of local service clubs and businesses. It also represents the 50th year of the All-Native Basketball Tournament.
“It is our 100th birthday and we’re just going to make everything 10 times as large as it normally would be,” said Pond.
Minister Illich also announced that Dawson Creek would hold the 2008 games and the District of Mackenzie would hold the 2009 event. Rupert’s games take place Feb 4 to 7, 2010.
Catching up on the Boom story
Oh the Perils of using ink and typeface in the era of instantaneous bytes of information. With a three day weekend and four day lag in the news cycle to deal with, the Daily News finally caught up to the Rupert is going to boom story from Saturday’s edition of the National Post.
With the story reported here, near and far in the digital world, from the Post’s own website to the folks at hackingthemainframe it made a quick round of the city, fodder for talk at Tim Horton’s, the star of the Top ten survey this weekend.
The Daily chose to cover the story from an angle of getting a quote or two from the locals, who offered up their thoughts on why we may be on the cusp of a boom.
Declaring that Rupert was named Canada’s next boom town, the Daily proclaimed that Rupert was named number one, which is its numerical order on the list, but not an indication that the other nine are schleppers in the boomtown sweeps. While it’s nice to be in the top ten, Rupert wasn’t exactly pegged as number the one spot to dump your cash and wait for the profits to roll in.
A careful reading of the top ten list, would show that the towns selected as about to boom, went from west to east, thus we were number one but only by way of geographical listing. Not trying to be a nay sayer here about any bounty of riches soon to come our way, just trying to be factual by pointing out the way the folks at the Post compiled their list.
For the record here’s the Daily News’ version of the Boom she be a comin’.
RUPERT NAMED CANADA’S NEXT ‘BOOM TOWN’
The Daily News
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Page One
Out of all the towns across Canada, Prince Rupert was named number one on a list of top10 future boom towns in the National Post on Saturday.
The list was put together by the Financial Post’s Emily Mathieu and intended to give entrepreneurs a heads up on communities where they can get in on the ground floor.
“To me, it’s just one more affirmation of what we have all been talking about and working on for a number of years,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.
“For us to become the port community we are talking about, we are going to see a significant amount of growth.”
The list pointed to the Fairview Container Terminal as one of the economic drivers, with the Prince Rupert Port Authority moving to overtake the Port of Vancouver by 2010 through the construction of two container terminals.
“Everything that we do at the port authority has a big and very profound impact on the community,” said its president, Don Krusel in the Post.
Terminal One will have room for 250 jobs on site. Phase Two of the terminal, scheduled for completion by 2010, will add an additional 600 to 700 jobs. Canadian National Railway Co. will also be building a new line to transport goods from the new terminals, which will add $193 million to the economy. There is also the Prince Rupert cruise ship terminal, which brought a total of $10 million into the local economy last year.
Listed second on the list of future boom towns was Prince George, with the mountain pine beetle and mining driving that future economy. The government has given locals the go ahead to cut down and sell the blue wood before it rots. Mining, specifically copper, gold and coal, as well as technology companies dedicating their services to the mining and resource sector, are also bringing people to the area.
With the story reported here, near and far in the digital world, from the Post’s own website to the folks at hackingthemainframe it made a quick round of the city, fodder for talk at Tim Horton’s, the star of the Top ten survey this weekend.
The Daily chose to cover the story from an angle of getting a quote or two from the locals, who offered up their thoughts on why we may be on the cusp of a boom.
Declaring that Rupert was named Canada’s next boom town, the Daily proclaimed that Rupert was named number one, which is its numerical order on the list, but not an indication that the other nine are schleppers in the boomtown sweeps. While it’s nice to be in the top ten, Rupert wasn’t exactly pegged as number the one spot to dump your cash and wait for the profits to roll in.
A careful reading of the top ten list, would show that the towns selected as about to boom, went from west to east, thus we were number one but only by way of geographical listing. Not trying to be a nay sayer here about any bounty of riches soon to come our way, just trying to be factual by pointing out the way the folks at the Post compiled their list.
For the record here’s the Daily News’ version of the Boom she be a comin’.
RUPERT NAMED CANADA’S NEXT ‘BOOM TOWN’
The Daily News
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Page One
Out of all the towns across Canada, Prince Rupert was named number one on a list of top10 future boom towns in the National Post on Saturday.
The list was put together by the Financial Post’s Emily Mathieu and intended to give entrepreneurs a heads up on communities where they can get in on the ground floor.
“To me, it’s just one more affirmation of what we have all been talking about and working on for a number of years,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.
“For us to become the port community we are talking about, we are going to see a significant amount of growth.”
The list pointed to the Fairview Container Terminal as one of the economic drivers, with the Prince Rupert Port Authority moving to overtake the Port of Vancouver by 2010 through the construction of two container terminals.
“Everything that we do at the port authority has a big and very profound impact on the community,” said its president, Don Krusel in the Post.
Terminal One will have room for 250 jobs on site. Phase Two of the terminal, scheduled for completion by 2010, will add an additional 600 to 700 jobs. Canadian National Railway Co. will also be building a new line to transport goods from the new terminals, which will add $193 million to the economy. There is also the Prince Rupert cruise ship terminal, which brought a total of $10 million into the local economy last year.
Listed second on the list of future boom towns was Prince George, with the mountain pine beetle and mining driving that future economy. The government has given locals the go ahead to cut down and sell the blue wood before it rots. Mining, specifically copper, gold and coal, as well as technology companies dedicating their services to the mining and resource sector, are also bringing people to the area.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Dis-respectful Jerks!
You would think that some things would be considered sacred, but apparently when it comes to beer sodden jerks, nothing is beyond utter dis-regard.
CTV.ca features the picture of one particular jack ass, who was caught urinating on the National War Memorial on Canada Day evening. He was among a group of several hooligans who chose to use the national monument as a urinal.
This particularly dis-respectful, not to mention disgusting act, has also been splashed across the Ottawa newspapers and television stations in hopes that local citizens will rise to the occasion and identify the moron (and his friends) for future punishment. It even caught the attention of the Prime Minister who expressed his dismay at the dis-respectful nature of the incident.
The Ottawa Police have re-assured the veterans who were there and obviously offended by the act, that they will find try to the perpetrators and press charges to the full extent of the law.
The incident has rekindled the debate about security around the monument and the tomb of the unknown soldier also on the site, with many veterans demanding that the government provide much better security around the nation's monument to the fallen. The suggestion is drawing mixed reactions in Ottawa, some agree that something needs to be done while others are concerned about ever increasing security systems already in place in the Capitol.
But if we may tongue in cheek suggest, that perhaps a small change is not a bad idea, maybe task a crack group of snipers on each corner of the square, we can guarantee that the crack shots of the Canadian Army would pretty well take care of any urinating or defacing of the monument in the future.
Then again judging by the quality of the people that would do such a disgusting act, there probably isn't much of a target to shoot at after all!
CTV.ca features the picture of one particular jack ass, who was caught urinating on the National War Memorial on Canada Day evening. He was among a group of several hooligans who chose to use the national monument as a urinal.
This particularly dis-respectful, not to mention disgusting act, has also been splashed across the Ottawa newspapers and television stations in hopes that local citizens will rise to the occasion and identify the moron (and his friends) for future punishment. It even caught the attention of the Prime Minister who expressed his dismay at the dis-respectful nature of the incident.
The Ottawa Police have re-assured the veterans who were there and obviously offended by the act, that they will find try to the perpetrators and press charges to the full extent of the law.
The incident has rekindled the debate about security around the monument and the tomb of the unknown soldier also on the site, with many veterans demanding that the government provide much better security around the nation's monument to the fallen. The suggestion is drawing mixed reactions in Ottawa, some agree that something needs to be done while others are concerned about ever increasing security systems already in place in the Capitol.
But if we may tongue in cheek suggest, that perhaps a small change is not a bad idea, maybe task a crack group of snipers on each corner of the square, we can guarantee that the crack shots of the Canadian Army would pretty well take care of any urinating or defacing of the monument in the future.
Then again judging by the quality of the people that would do such a disgusting act, there probably isn't much of a target to shoot at after all!
iPod rotation for July
Songs on the Podunkian iPod for the month of July
July 17 Tom Cochrane-Life is a Highway
July 4 John Mellencamp-Little Pink Houses
July 3 Bruce Springsteen-Further On (up the Road)
July 17 Tom Cochrane-Life is a Highway
July 4 John Mellencamp-Little Pink Houses
July 3 Bruce Springsteen-Further On (up the Road)
Are we a bit overly suspicious on the border?
An interesting take on the issue of border security from the Seattle PI. The leading newspaper in Seattle examined the current climate on both sides of the border and found that perhaps Canada is taking on too much of an American psyche when it comes to crossing the line.
Joel Connelly one of the PI’s columnists, recounted a recent attempt by a Seattle gardening expert who seemed to arouse suspicion among the cautious members on Canada’s side of the border. In an article titled, “Leaders cultivate fear here and in Canada”, Connelly provided the almost comical story of Dan Hinkley, the gardening expert who was on his way to Victoria for a meeting of the North American Rock Gardening Society.
His declaration of intent at the border, led to his being asked to step aside for further investigation, as the Border officials apparently mistook A Rock for Iraq and ran up the red flags.
It’s almost worthy of an Abbott and Costello routine of who’s on first as poor Hinkley tried to explain just what rock gardening is, eventually resorting to a closed fist rendition of rocks upon each other, which only seemed to alarm the border folks further.
You sense that it was more of a mis-understanding rather than incompetence, but surely they can handle these things a little bit better, a gardening expert is probably not high on the jihadist list of those wishing to do us harm. Surely some common sense would have solved this particular incident before it got to such silly lengths.
It’s a cautionary article about the politics of fear and how it is changing our every day handling of simple tasks such as crossing the border for business or pleasure. Connelly traces some past incidents; some recent and some historical. He sounds the alarm that manipulation of fear can cause great repercussions for individual freedoms and our sense of democracy.
It’s well worth a read, if only for the visual of a rock expert trying to convince a border guard that he comes in peace and means no ill will. Check it out below!
Leaders cultivate fear here and in Canada
By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST
Monday July 3, 2006
Against a backdrop of Fourth of July and Canada Day celebrations, easygoing homegrown events bespeaking the charm of free societies, a funny but sad e-mail arrived recently.
Its sender was Dan Hinkley, the gardening expert whose world-renowned Heronswood Nursery was recently shut down by the Philadelphia-based Burpee seed company.
"I was heading to Victoria the other day to give a talk at a conference of the North American Rock Gardening Society," Hinkley wrote. "I was questioned at the border as to what I was going to do in Canada, and I told the guard I was going to a rock-gardening conference.
"At that time, he asked me to step aside and brought out his supervisor, and they chatted. Then, the supervisor came over and asked the nature of the gardening conference on Iraq.
"I said, 'a rock.' He said, 'Whatever,' but what kind of 'a rock?' It was not all that easy to answer. Like, how big do you make your rocks look with your hand? So, I put my fists together and said, 'You know, a rock.'
"He actually backed away for a moment and then I asked if I could get out my promotion material. He let me go, but I'm sure with a little embarrassment.
"Not until later did I realize what had gone on. I chuckled to myself the rest of the trip, thinking how insane this world had become."
An Iraq gardening conference? Well, Saddam Hussein did once scheme to rebuild the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He settled for tacky palaces.
The point is that officialdom, in the U.S. but also north of the border, is cultivating a climate of suspicion and fear.
What for? The obvious goals are threefold: a) to dampen growing public unrest at what seems to be a quagmire in Iraq, b) to expand state powers to intrude into citizens' lives and c) to pare back citizens' insistence on openness and accountability.
In Canada, there was the recent high-profile arrest of seven Muslim men, who stand charged with plotting to detonate truck bombs at the Toronto Stock Exchange and an office of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and even to invade Parliament and behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
It was a massive story -- Canada's loss of innocence, said some pundits -- coming just as Harper's new conservative government moves to tighter ties with the Bush administration.
U.S.-style security measures had delegates backed up when Harper headlined last month's United Nations urban forum in Vancouver, B.C.
What's unclear is whether these men, whatever their hatred of Canada, ever got beyond talk and how far they moved to acquire tools to do the deed.
Similarly, after a group of young Black Muslims in Miami was busted, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced with fanfare that a major plot aimed at blowing up the Sears Tower in Chicago had been broken. It seems, however, that the government's informant had a key role in obtaining the fertilizer essential to bomb making.
The announcement came amid dissent over terrorism-fighting tactics of the Bush administration and on the eve of a major Supreme Court decision on legal rights of those imprisoned at Guantanamo.
The administration holds people (even American citizens) without trial. It has told us it can eavesdrop on overseas calls with no court order. It has hinted at treason when The New York Times disclosed the surveillance of suspects' bank records.
If scared, citizens in democratic societies go along with suspensions of civil liberties -- even internment of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians during World War II.
Only later, do they ask: What purpose was served in sending future U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to a camp, or the boyhood internment of the great Vancouver scientist-ecologist David Suzuki?
Was the U.S. made safer in the Cold War for turning back leftist Vancouver Alderman Harry Rankin at the border? What was gained by blocking Canadian author Farley Mowat from a California speaking gig because of his "security file?"
What purpose will it achieve if shoppers and people transporting goods across the world's longest peaceful border must produce passports?
Heightened measures against terrorism are necessary: We learned that when a vehicle filled with bomb ingredients, driven by a man named Ahmed Ressam, was stopped coming off a ferry in Port Angeles, a month before the new millennium.
It took 9/11 to expand policing and staffing at the U.S.-Canada border and at last to put a dent in lucrative drug- and people-smuggling operations.
Still, the Bush and Harper regimes seem intent on using border drug busts to discredit Vancouver's widely watched effort to move from a punishment to a treatment-based drug policy.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It goes both ways, a readiness to resist those who would do us physical harm and to realize that those in power manipulate our fears to achieve their political ends.
"The tragedy of Sept. 11 shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism," U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said in sentencing Ressam.
"Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete ... If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won."
P-I columnist Joel Connelly can be reached at 206-448-8160 or joelconnelly@seattlepi.com.
Joel Connelly one of the PI’s columnists, recounted a recent attempt by a Seattle gardening expert who seemed to arouse suspicion among the cautious members on Canada’s side of the border. In an article titled, “Leaders cultivate fear here and in Canada”, Connelly provided the almost comical story of Dan Hinkley, the gardening expert who was on his way to Victoria for a meeting of the North American Rock Gardening Society.
His declaration of intent at the border, led to his being asked to step aside for further investigation, as the Border officials apparently mistook A Rock for Iraq and ran up the red flags.
It’s almost worthy of an Abbott and Costello routine of who’s on first as poor Hinkley tried to explain just what rock gardening is, eventually resorting to a closed fist rendition of rocks upon each other, which only seemed to alarm the border folks further.
You sense that it was more of a mis-understanding rather than incompetence, but surely they can handle these things a little bit better, a gardening expert is probably not high on the jihadist list of those wishing to do us harm. Surely some common sense would have solved this particular incident before it got to such silly lengths.
It’s a cautionary article about the politics of fear and how it is changing our every day handling of simple tasks such as crossing the border for business or pleasure. Connelly traces some past incidents; some recent and some historical. He sounds the alarm that manipulation of fear can cause great repercussions for individual freedoms and our sense of democracy.
It’s well worth a read, if only for the visual of a rock expert trying to convince a border guard that he comes in peace and means no ill will. Check it out below!
Leaders cultivate fear here and in Canada
By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST
Monday July 3, 2006
Against a backdrop of Fourth of July and Canada Day celebrations, easygoing homegrown events bespeaking the charm of free societies, a funny but sad e-mail arrived recently.
Its sender was Dan Hinkley, the gardening expert whose world-renowned Heronswood Nursery was recently shut down by the Philadelphia-based Burpee seed company.
"I was heading to Victoria the other day to give a talk at a conference of the North American Rock Gardening Society," Hinkley wrote. "I was questioned at the border as to what I was going to do in Canada, and I told the guard I was going to a rock-gardening conference.
"At that time, he asked me to step aside and brought out his supervisor, and they chatted. Then, the supervisor came over and asked the nature of the gardening conference on Iraq.
"I said, 'a rock.' He said, 'Whatever,' but what kind of 'a rock?' It was not all that easy to answer. Like, how big do you make your rocks look with your hand? So, I put my fists together and said, 'You know, a rock.'
"He actually backed away for a moment and then I asked if I could get out my promotion material. He let me go, but I'm sure with a little embarrassment.
"Not until later did I realize what had gone on. I chuckled to myself the rest of the trip, thinking how insane this world had become."
An Iraq gardening conference? Well, Saddam Hussein did once scheme to rebuild the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He settled for tacky palaces.
The point is that officialdom, in the U.S. but also north of the border, is cultivating a climate of suspicion and fear.
What for? The obvious goals are threefold: a) to dampen growing public unrest at what seems to be a quagmire in Iraq, b) to expand state powers to intrude into citizens' lives and c) to pare back citizens' insistence on openness and accountability.
In Canada, there was the recent high-profile arrest of seven Muslim men, who stand charged with plotting to detonate truck bombs at the Toronto Stock Exchange and an office of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and even to invade Parliament and behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
It was a massive story -- Canada's loss of innocence, said some pundits -- coming just as Harper's new conservative government moves to tighter ties with the Bush administration.
U.S.-style security measures had delegates backed up when Harper headlined last month's United Nations urban forum in Vancouver, B.C.
What's unclear is whether these men, whatever their hatred of Canada, ever got beyond talk and how far they moved to acquire tools to do the deed.
Similarly, after a group of young Black Muslims in Miami was busted, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced with fanfare that a major plot aimed at blowing up the Sears Tower in Chicago had been broken. It seems, however, that the government's informant had a key role in obtaining the fertilizer essential to bomb making.
The announcement came amid dissent over terrorism-fighting tactics of the Bush administration and on the eve of a major Supreme Court decision on legal rights of those imprisoned at Guantanamo.
The administration holds people (even American citizens) without trial. It has told us it can eavesdrop on overseas calls with no court order. It has hinted at treason when The New York Times disclosed the surveillance of suspects' bank records.
If scared, citizens in democratic societies go along with suspensions of civil liberties -- even internment of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians during World War II.
Only later, do they ask: What purpose was served in sending future U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to a camp, or the boyhood internment of the great Vancouver scientist-ecologist David Suzuki?
Was the U.S. made safer in the Cold War for turning back leftist Vancouver Alderman Harry Rankin at the border? What was gained by blocking Canadian author Farley Mowat from a California speaking gig because of his "security file?"
What purpose will it achieve if shoppers and people transporting goods across the world's longest peaceful border must produce passports?
Heightened measures against terrorism are necessary: We learned that when a vehicle filled with bomb ingredients, driven by a man named Ahmed Ressam, was stopped coming off a ferry in Port Angeles, a month before the new millennium.
It took 9/11 to expand policing and staffing at the U.S.-Canada border and at last to put a dent in lucrative drug- and people-smuggling operations.
Still, the Bush and Harper regimes seem intent on using border drug busts to discredit Vancouver's widely watched effort to move from a punishment to a treatment-based drug policy.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It goes both ways, a readiness to resist those who would do us physical harm and to realize that those in power manipulate our fears to achieve their political ends.
"The tragedy of Sept. 11 shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism," U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said in sentencing Ressam.
"Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete ... If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won."
P-I columnist Joel Connelly can be reached at 206-448-8160 or joelconnelly@seattlepi.com.
Hockeytown Hails its departing hero!
Twenty two years seemed enough, the player who joined a moribund Red Wings (or Dead Wings) franchise as they were called in the day back in 1984, held a news conference today to explain that he would not be pulling on the skates in September.
Steve Yzerman, one of the leagues true greats will take a collection of records and achievements with him, but more importantly he takes the respect and admiration from many of those that played the game with him. From his Red Wing team mates and management on through the league it seems that nobody has a bad thing to say about the guy simply known as Stevie Y.
His presence went beyond the NHL, a long time fixture with Team Canada, he was one of the great leaders who understood the honour of pulling on a jersey with a Maple Leaf on the front and playing for his country. Part of the magical squad of Salt Lake City that brought home the Gold for a hockey mad nation.
Picked fourth in the 1983 draft, Yzerman joined a Red Wing team in dire straits, they had crashed to the bottom of the NHL standings, their attendance woes were legendary, with more than a half empty building greeting the once proud franchise night after night.
Yzerman was not the brash loud athlete of the era, instead he took a much different track as he simply let his playing do the talking. Yzerman was the definition of the word class. He provided a display of leadership that brought the Red Wings back from the dead and onto NHL greatness, the model franchise for those looking at how to run and win with a hockey club.
He benefited from generous ownership with the Ilitch’s and a steady hand in upper management with Jimmy Devellano and Ken Holland. But it was Yzerman’s magic on the ice that truly turned a franchise around. His numbers speak for themselves, 1,514 regular season games, 1,755 points over those twenty two years. Statistics that placed him sixth in all time NHL history.
He was a ten time all league star and multiple award winner. Named captain two years after joining the Red Wings he held the position until today, one of the rare breed of players who stayed with the team that drafted him, providing for the most stable of franchises in the league.
But it was his presence in the Stanley Cup playoffs that made him the toast of the Motor City. Yzerman’s leadership led to three Stanley Cup championships and a constant presence in the Stanley Cup chase year after year. For a city that longed for a return to the NHL heights, his name would soon be mentioned in the same breath as Sawchuk, Howe and Lindsay.
In fact Yzerman received the ultimate compliment from Lindsay, who described Yzerman as great Red Wing, one who while a humble Red Wing, was a leader by example.
That seems like a pretty good way to put a wrap on a most amazing career. Somebody call the Hall of Fame, there's a bust to be made and some space to create, a first ballot arrival is on the way!
Below the tributes flow for one of the greats of the game!
Stevie Y says Goodbye
Stevie Y showed why success, stardom rarely co-exist
Emotional Yzerman steps away
Classy Yzerman helped turn Detroit into Hockeytown
Yzerman belongs on Detroit's Mount Rushmre
Yzerman retires!
Yzerman synonymous with captain title
The Captain's new course
We'll always remember the Captain
Steve Yzerman retires!
The above post first appeared on my HockeyNation blog, for more items about hockey check it out!
Mindless Blog Surfing July 2006
From time to time we stumble across an interesting blog that catches our fancy(you never know what you'll find when you hit that next blog button on blogger!), we'll track those that we find here and on the right hand column section.
July 13 Smile of the Day
July 8 Cartography
July 4 Catholicgauze
July 3 mundial2006
July 13 Smile of the Day
July 8 Cartography
July 4 Catholicgauze
July 3 mundial2006
Reviews Archives July-August 2006
We track our reviews here for the months of July and August
August 27 CD Review-Bob Dylan-Modern Times
August 27 Movie Review-Empire Falls
August 27 Book Review-Craig Unger-House of Bush, House of Saud
August 20 CD Review-U2-The Joshua Tree
August 20 Movie Review-Snakes on a plane
August 20 Book Review-Robin Neillands-The Dieppe Raid
August 14 CD Review-Great Big Sea-Play
August 14 Movie Review-World Trade Centre
August 14 Book Review-John Updike-Terrorist
August 7 CD Review--Bruce Springsteen-The River
August 7 Movie Review-Miami Vice
August 7 Book Review-Maureen Dowd-Bushworld
July 16 CD Review- Steve Earle- Jerusalem
July 16 Movie Review- Devil wears Prada
July 16 Book Review- Leon Uris-Exodus
July 9 CD Review-The Tragically Hip-Hipeponymous
July 9 Movie Review-Pirates of the Caribbean
July 9 Book Review- Al Franken- Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
July 3 CD Review-Tom Petty-Damn the Torpedoes
July 3 Movie Review-Superman
July 3 Book Review-Paul Roberts-The End of Oil
August 27 CD Review-Bob Dylan-Modern Times
August 27 Movie Review-Empire Falls
August 27 Book Review-Craig Unger-House of Bush, House of Saud
August 20 CD Review-U2-The Joshua Tree
August 20 Movie Review-Snakes on a plane
August 20 Book Review-Robin Neillands-The Dieppe Raid
August 14 CD Review-Great Big Sea-Play
August 14 Movie Review-World Trade Centre
August 14 Book Review-John Updike-Terrorist
August 7 CD Review--Bruce Springsteen-The River
August 7 Movie Review-Miami Vice
August 7 Book Review-Maureen Dowd-Bushworld
July 16 CD Review- Steve Earle- Jerusalem
July 16 Movie Review- Devil wears Prada
July 16 Book Review- Leon Uris-Exodus
July 9 CD Review-The Tragically Hip-Hipeponymous
July 9 Movie Review-Pirates of the Caribbean
July 9 Book Review- Al Franken- Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
July 3 CD Review-Tom Petty-Damn the Torpedoes
July 3 Movie Review-Superman
July 3 Book Review-Paul Roberts-The End of Oil
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Patrons of the Arts receive their long overdue due
It‘s probably a back door way of doing things, but finally after oh so many years the City of Prince Rupert is getting around to naming something after the iconic Peter Lester. And their choice probably couldn’t have been a better selection.
Focusing in on the love of the arts by Mary Lester, the Performing Arts Centre will undergo a name change on July 19th, when it becomes the Lester Centre of the Arts. During his lengthy tenure as mayor of Prince Rupert, Lester championed the need for a dedicated building for the arts in Prince Rupert, from the Capitol Theatre debate of old to the sparkling gem of a building on McBride of today, the issue of the Arts was always on the front burner when it came to the former mayor.
Mary Lester’s long involved in community activities justifies her inclusion and indeed provided the impetus for the renaming process and it’s without a doubt probably one of the easiest decisions ever made by a City Council in Prince Rupert.
The move was presented by Peggy Davenport of Volunteer Connections and championed at the Council level by Councilor Nelson Kinney. Noting that former mayor Lester never wanted to have anything local named after him, they found that by including Mrs. Lester in the naming process put him in the position of being unable to say no.
Sneaky, but effective and more power to the committee for their approach to honouring a couple that have given countless hours of devotion to the city. Many can argue about his politics while he was mayor, but without a doubt he was a major player on the local scene and should be recognized for his long standing contributions.
It just seems like the right thing to do and gives the credit due squarely where it belongs.
Below is the Daily News article on the celebration of the Arts and a most unique family in Prince Rupert.
PAC TO BE NAMED AFTER PETER AND MARY LESTER
By Sarah Fox
The Daily News
Friday, June 30, 2006
Page One
In honour of devoted Rupertites Peter and Mary Lester, the Prince Rupert Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is to be renamed the Lester Centre of the Arts.
A public celebration of the name change will be held at the PAC from 7 to 8:30 p. m., Wednesday, July 19.
“The celebration will be a dedication to Peter and Mary Lester, in their honour for what they’ve done for the City and all these years for the arts,” said Coun. Nelson Kinney who spearheaded the initiative to change the name of the PAC.
“They’re just wonderful and their whole lives have been devoted to the city, in the arts and everything.”
Peggy Davenport of Volunteer Connections first presented the idea to council. She said that after all these years nothing had been named after the Lester’s in recognition of their hard work and for Peter Lester being such an effective mayor for 36 years.
“He never wanted anything named after him in all these years as mayor so we got around it by having it named the Lester Centre of the Arts because May (his wife) was so involved, so he couldn’t say no,” she said.
Council voted unanimously on the decision to rename the PAC.
Both Peter and Mary have left their mark on the city of Prince Rupert in different ways.
“We’re naming the Centre after two individuals with the same last name that have both made a significant contribution to this community over the years,” said Davenport.
According to former North Coast MLA Bill Belsey, who was quoted in the Daily News September 17, 2003, during Peter’s time in public life, he was involved in building three important Prince Rupert structures: the Prince Rupert Hospital, the Performing Arts Centre and the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre.
He was also an integral part of making Prince Rupert the southern terminal of the Yellowhead Highway.
Peter was first elected mayor in 1957 after serving on City Council for two years. During his time as mayor Peter often lobbied the provincial government for funds to improve the quality of life in Prince Rupert.
In 1965, he successfully lobbied for the expansion of the Prince Rupert city limits to include the then new Watson Island Pulp Mill and once again in 1985 to include Ridley Island Coal Terminal.
Both of these industries brought in millions of dollars to the City allowing the long time mayor to spend money on building amenities such as parks; recreation facilities and the PAC.
In 2003, he received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal for his service to Prince Rupert and in 2004, he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia for his many years of service to the community.
Although he won awards and acclamations, Peter Lester will be remembered as the people’s mayor.
Never having owned a vehicle, Peter used to walk the one-kilometre stretch from his blue and white bungalow to City Hall, then to his business, Quadra Travel.
People would stop him in the streets, tell him their concerns and complaints and he’d write all of them down in his black book.
Mary Lester, who said she was “very honoured” to be having the PAC named after her and her husband, has also touched the city in various ways.
Her contribution to the arts has been significant, although she modestly wants to accept the honour of having the PAC renamed the Lester Centre on behalf of all the dedicated volunteers that help run the Centre.
“I’m very touched, but there area so many other people that should be recognized,” she said.
“The PAC is an expensive place to run and it relies on so many volunteers, but it’s an honour and we’re very touched.”
Mary was an active member of the Harbour Theatre board of directors since its beginning in 1981. She always found time to help with props and costumes in addition to her duties as a local actress.
She was the recipient of the Theatre B. C. Zone Award and, in the 1990’s helped start the Prince Rupert Children’s Acting Camp. She has also been a supportive patron of the Harbour Theatre for the last ten years.
For over 20 years, Mary helped provide Christmas entertainment for the residents of Acropolis Manor. With the help of the Hospital Auxiliary, May helped the Acropolis residents celebrate their birthdays with monthly parties. She spent time with the seniors, leading sing-alongs, calling bingo, telling jokes and visiting.
An active member of the Sons of Norway for over 30 years, she helped raise funds for the hospital and charitable organizations for the benefit of Prince Rupert.
She has also judged floats in the Seafest parades, and was on the board of the Prince Rupert Special Events Society.
Focusing in on the love of the arts by Mary Lester, the Performing Arts Centre will undergo a name change on July 19th, when it becomes the Lester Centre of the Arts. During his lengthy tenure as mayor of Prince Rupert, Lester championed the need for a dedicated building for the arts in Prince Rupert, from the Capitol Theatre debate of old to the sparkling gem of a building on McBride of today, the issue of the Arts was always on the front burner when it came to the former mayor.
Mary Lester’s long involved in community activities justifies her inclusion and indeed provided the impetus for the renaming process and it’s without a doubt probably one of the easiest decisions ever made by a City Council in Prince Rupert.
The move was presented by Peggy Davenport of Volunteer Connections and championed at the Council level by Councilor Nelson Kinney. Noting that former mayor Lester never wanted to have anything local named after him, they found that by including Mrs. Lester in the naming process put him in the position of being unable to say no.
Sneaky, but effective and more power to the committee for their approach to honouring a couple that have given countless hours of devotion to the city. Many can argue about his politics while he was mayor, but without a doubt he was a major player on the local scene and should be recognized for his long standing contributions.
It just seems like the right thing to do and gives the credit due squarely where it belongs.
Below is the Daily News article on the celebration of the Arts and a most unique family in Prince Rupert.
PAC TO BE NAMED AFTER PETER AND MARY LESTER
By Sarah Fox
The Daily News
Friday, June 30, 2006
Page One
In honour of devoted Rupertites Peter and Mary Lester, the Prince Rupert Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is to be renamed the Lester Centre of the Arts.
A public celebration of the name change will be held at the PAC from 7 to 8:30 p. m., Wednesday, July 19.
“The celebration will be a dedication to Peter and Mary Lester, in their honour for what they’ve done for the City and all these years for the arts,” said Coun. Nelson Kinney who spearheaded the initiative to change the name of the PAC.
“They’re just wonderful and their whole lives have been devoted to the city, in the arts and everything.”
Peggy Davenport of Volunteer Connections first presented the idea to council. She said that after all these years nothing had been named after the Lester’s in recognition of their hard work and for Peter Lester being such an effective mayor for 36 years.
“He never wanted anything named after him in all these years as mayor so we got around it by having it named the Lester Centre of the Arts because May (his wife) was so involved, so he couldn’t say no,” she said.
Council voted unanimously on the decision to rename the PAC.
Both Peter and Mary have left their mark on the city of Prince Rupert in different ways.
“We’re naming the Centre after two individuals with the same last name that have both made a significant contribution to this community over the years,” said Davenport.
According to former North Coast MLA Bill Belsey, who was quoted in the Daily News September 17, 2003, during Peter’s time in public life, he was involved in building three important Prince Rupert structures: the Prince Rupert Hospital, the Performing Arts Centre and the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre.
He was also an integral part of making Prince Rupert the southern terminal of the Yellowhead Highway.
Peter was first elected mayor in 1957 after serving on City Council for two years. During his time as mayor Peter often lobbied the provincial government for funds to improve the quality of life in Prince Rupert.
In 1965, he successfully lobbied for the expansion of the Prince Rupert city limits to include the then new Watson Island Pulp Mill and once again in 1985 to include Ridley Island Coal Terminal.
Both of these industries brought in millions of dollars to the City allowing the long time mayor to spend money on building amenities such as parks; recreation facilities and the PAC.
In 2003, he received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal for his service to Prince Rupert and in 2004, he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia for his many years of service to the community.
Although he won awards and acclamations, Peter Lester will be remembered as the people’s mayor.
Never having owned a vehicle, Peter used to walk the one-kilometre stretch from his blue and white bungalow to City Hall, then to his business, Quadra Travel.
People would stop him in the streets, tell him their concerns and complaints and he’d write all of them down in his black book.
Mary Lester, who said she was “very honoured” to be having the PAC named after her and her husband, has also touched the city in various ways.
Her contribution to the arts has been significant, although she modestly wants to accept the honour of having the PAC renamed the Lester Centre on behalf of all the dedicated volunteers that help run the Centre.
“I’m very touched, but there area so many other people that should be recognized,” she said.
“The PAC is an expensive place to run and it relies on so many volunteers, but it’s an honour and we’re very touched.”
Mary was an active member of the Harbour Theatre board of directors since its beginning in 1981. She always found time to help with props and costumes in addition to her duties as a local actress.
She was the recipient of the Theatre B. C. Zone Award and, in the 1990’s helped start the Prince Rupert Children’s Acting Camp. She has also been a supportive patron of the Harbour Theatre for the last ten years.
For over 20 years, Mary helped provide Christmas entertainment for the residents of Acropolis Manor. With the help of the Hospital Auxiliary, May helped the Acropolis residents celebrate their birthdays with monthly parties. She spent time with the seniors, leading sing-alongs, calling bingo, telling jokes and visiting.
An active member of the Sons of Norway for over 30 years, she helped raise funds for the hospital and charitable organizations for the benefit of Prince Rupert.
She has also judged floats in the Seafest parades, and was on the board of the Prince Rupert Special Events Society.
Coons keeps critics’ position
Bad news for David Hahn at BC Ferries, the stone in his shoe known as Gary Coons, will remain ensconced there for a while yet. The Provincial NDP shuffled the decks of its Governmental critics this past week and when Carole James had finished the dance, the MLA for Prince Rupert was still in charge of keeping an eye on the governments handling of all things Ferries and Ports.
Coon‘s has been very public and very dedicated to his position in the last six months, starting with the issues surrounding the sinking of the Queen of the North and more recently with the concerns of North Coast residents over the reduction in service, combined with the ever spiraling cost of sailing.
He has occasionally appeared to get under the skin of the CEO for the BC Ferry Corporation, who has described him as politically motivated at times. Which is probably why James has kept Coons in the high profile position, he’s kept the issues of the day public and in the news, much to the dismay of the Ferry Corporation and the Liberals. In other words, he’s probably been doing his job about as effectively as most these days.
Below is the story from the Queen Charlotte Observer describing the renewal of Coon’s position with the NDP forces at the Legislature.
Coons continues as ferry critic
qciobserver.com
Friday, June 30, 2006
North Coast MLA Gary Coons has held onto his position as the opposition critic for Ferries and Ports after NDP leader Carole James announced new assignments last week for many of the opposition MLAs.
Ms James said the opposition will continue to hold the Campbell government to account “on the issues that matter to ordinary families” and praised the team's work over the past year bringing forward problems with at-risk children, seniors living in care homes and patients waiting in overcrowded emergency rooms.
“Despite a growing economy, many British Columbians are falling further behind,” Ms James said. “BC leads the country with the highest number of children and families living in poverty, patient care in hospitals has declined, interior communities are facing a very uncertain future, and British Columbians are growing frustrated with an increasingly secretive and arrogant Liberal government.”
Coon‘s has been very public and very dedicated to his position in the last six months, starting with the issues surrounding the sinking of the Queen of the North and more recently with the concerns of North Coast residents over the reduction in service, combined with the ever spiraling cost of sailing.
He has occasionally appeared to get under the skin of the CEO for the BC Ferry Corporation, who has described him as politically motivated at times. Which is probably why James has kept Coons in the high profile position, he’s kept the issues of the day public and in the news, much to the dismay of the Ferry Corporation and the Liberals. In other words, he’s probably been doing his job about as effectively as most these days.
Below is the story from the Queen Charlotte Observer describing the renewal of Coon’s position with the NDP forces at the Legislature.
Coons continues as ferry critic
qciobserver.com
Friday, June 30, 2006
North Coast MLA Gary Coons has held onto his position as the opposition critic for Ferries and Ports after NDP leader Carole James announced new assignments last week for many of the opposition MLAs.
Ms James said the opposition will continue to hold the Campbell government to account “on the issues that matter to ordinary families” and praised the team's work over the past year bringing forward problems with at-risk children, seniors living in care homes and patients waiting in overcrowded emergency rooms.
“Despite a growing economy, many British Columbians are falling further behind,” Ms James said. “BC leads the country with the highest number of children and families living in poverty, patient care in hospitals has declined, interior communities are facing a very uncertain future, and British Columbians are growing frustrated with an increasingly secretive and arrogant Liberal government.”
Pictures of Podunk: Along the Skeena at Kasiks
One of the great views along Highway 16, this one taken where the Kasiks meets the Skeena. Saturday, July 01, 2006
Are things going to get worse at PRRH, before they get better?
The folks at Northern Health find themselves on the front page of the Daily News for yet another day, this time with a front page story that isn’t going to make people feel particularly content with the status of health care in Prince Rupert.
With a headline blaring that an OR nursing crisis looms at PRRH, the perception of a hospital at the breaking point, is one that most Prince Rupert residents might be on the cusp of pondering.
With the many concerns reported over the maternity ward and radiology departments in previous articles this week, the state of the local hospital’s staffing requirements seems to be something that should be immediately addressed by Northern Health, which at the moment seems to only be able to offer up the advice that they’re working on the situation, but have yet to find a way out of the hole they are in at this time.
The full Daily News article is provided below.
OR NURSING CRISIS LOOMS AT PRRH
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Friday, June 30, 2006
Page One
The nursing shortage at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital may get worse before it gets better as five operating room nurses are due to leave over the next six months. Northern Health is short 45 operating room nurses across the region.
“The questions we’ve heard lately are ‘am I going to be able to deliver my baby in Prince Rupert’ and ‘what’s happening with surgery, will I be able to get my surgery done here’,” said Sue Beckermann, Health Services Administrator for Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Islands. “We’re doing everything we can to maintain that locally. We do have a plan to bring in new nurses and keep the ones we have.”
Several new mothers were recently impacted by a lack of maternity care after three maternity nurses left town. While that issue is in the process of being addressed – two floor nurses with maternity certificates have been moved over to fill part of the shortage – the looming local OR nurse crisis has Northern Health looking for innovative solutions to the problem.
”The only operating room course in B. C. is at BCIT and it’s a one-year to an 18-month course and people have to be down there the whole time,” she said. “You can imagine there aren’t very many takers (locally).
“What Northern Health is doing is working to establishing alternate programming to support us in the North, to allow our staff to get the certification without having to go to that extent.”
The health authority is currently looking at an on-line program out of Grande Prairie that provides the theoretical basis for an operating room nurse.
“We’ll provide ... the hands on experience if necessary, and we may be able to provide it in our home communities.” said Beckermann.
“We’re looking at whether we can develop that. At this time across Northern Health we have 45 vacancies in our ORs. Right now despite the crisis that we’re in, we’re far from being alone.”
With a new surgeon in town making better use of the operating room facilities, NH has also sunk $650,000 into surgical services at the hospital. Half a million of the funds are going to provide 24-hour around the clock additional nursing for the intensive care unit, beginning in July.
NH is also actively recruiting now in the hopes of providing flexibility and addressing some of the coming nursing moves before they happen over the next half year.
With a headline blaring that an OR nursing crisis looms at PRRH, the perception of a hospital at the breaking point, is one that most Prince Rupert residents might be on the cusp of pondering.
With the many concerns reported over the maternity ward and radiology departments in previous articles this week, the state of the local hospital’s staffing requirements seems to be something that should be immediately addressed by Northern Health, which at the moment seems to only be able to offer up the advice that they’re working on the situation, but have yet to find a way out of the hole they are in at this time.
The full Daily News article is provided below.
OR NURSING CRISIS LOOMS AT PRRH
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Friday, June 30, 2006
Page One
The nursing shortage at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital may get worse before it gets better as five operating room nurses are due to leave over the next six months. Northern Health is short 45 operating room nurses across the region.
“The questions we’ve heard lately are ‘am I going to be able to deliver my baby in Prince Rupert’ and ‘what’s happening with surgery, will I be able to get my surgery done here’,” said Sue Beckermann, Health Services Administrator for Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Islands. “We’re doing everything we can to maintain that locally. We do have a plan to bring in new nurses and keep the ones we have.”
Several new mothers were recently impacted by a lack of maternity care after three maternity nurses left town. While that issue is in the process of being addressed – two floor nurses with maternity certificates have been moved over to fill part of the shortage – the looming local OR nurse crisis has Northern Health looking for innovative solutions to the problem.
”The only operating room course in B. C. is at BCIT and it’s a one-year to an 18-month course and people have to be down there the whole time,” she said. “You can imagine there aren’t very many takers (locally).
“What Northern Health is doing is working to establishing alternate programming to support us in the North, to allow our staff to get the certification without having to go to that extent.”
The health authority is currently looking at an on-line program out of Grande Prairie that provides the theoretical basis for an operating room nurse.
“We’ll provide ... the hands on experience if necessary, and we may be able to provide it in our home communities.” said Beckermann.
“We’re looking at whether we can develop that. At this time across Northern Health we have 45 vacancies in our ORs. Right now despite the crisis that we’re in, we’re far from being alone.”
With a new surgeon in town making better use of the operating room facilities, NH has also sunk $650,000 into surgical services at the hospital. Half a million of the funds are going to provide 24-hour around the clock additional nursing for the intensive care unit, beginning in July.
NH is also actively recruiting now in the hopes of providing flexibility and addressing some of the coming nursing moves before they happen over the next half year.
Prince Rupert among the top ten possible places to invest your business dollar!
The National Post celebrated Canada Day in an different style, from its Financial Post website comes this interesting look at where the boom is going to be and where an investor may wish to place their money to earn the highest possible return.
Using that ubiquitous Canadian icon the Tim Horton’s donut shop, the Post highlighted how if an investor had put his or her money into a Tim’s location in Fort McMurray before its boom you would be sitting on a pretty pile of cash today. The top ten list also uses the donut chain as a bell weather indication of boom times (it points out that those cities that are on the cusp of a boom tend to attract quite a few of the donut store locations in a quick period of time)
Not sure exactly how that translates into big financial gains for Podunk, (other than a sudden surge in Tim’s locations to come our way we assume) but its an interesting view of where the financial press thinks the next big thing may come from.
The future is now article, like many of the same in the past, turns to Don Krusel to explain the indicators that are going to make the city boom (poor Herb, suddenly the always willing to talk guy isn’t on speed dial anymore), Krusel of course speaks of the container port and the engine to the local economy that it will soon become.
Of course all of this wild speculation is still missing one key ingredient for folks hanging around Podunk for the better days to come, Jobs! While everyone keeps telling us that the boom is just around the corner, at the moment there’s little actual improvement in the jobs sector.
Perhaps that’s to come in a future report..
For now here’s the National Post report section that dealt with the genesis of the article and the portion pertaining to Podunk.
Coast to coast to cash
Canada's Top 10: Anyone with the foresight to set up a Tim Horton’s in Fort McMurray, Alta., before the oil sands bonanza could have raised enough cash to trade in their Timbits for a time share in the Bahamas. Indeed, for small business owners, one key to making a killing in Canada's booming economy is to get in on the ground floor. Here the Financial Post's Emily Mathieu provides a west-to-east look at 10 towns and cities on the cusp of a boom where an entrepreneur might want to set up shop -- sooner rather than later.
Emily Mathieu, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, July 01, 2006
- - -
1 PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. Population: 13,707; Average home price $152,610; Tim Hortons: 1; Business behind the boom: New container terminal at seaport.
The Prince Rupert Port Authority is moving to overtake the Port of Vancouver by 2010 through the construction of two container terminals. "Everything that we do at the port authority has a big and very profound impact on the community," said its president, Don Krusel. Terminal One will have room for 250 jobs on site.
Phase Two of the terminal, scheduled for completion by 2010, will add an additional 600 to 700 jobs. Canadian National Railway Co. will also be building a new rail line to transport goods from the new terminals, which will add $193-million to the economy.
There is also the Prince Rupert cruise ship terminal. It was built in 2003, and by last year 54 ships stuffed with tourists had brought a total of $10-million into the local economy.
Using that ubiquitous Canadian icon the Tim Horton’s donut shop, the Post highlighted how if an investor had put his or her money into a Tim’s location in Fort McMurray before its boom you would be sitting on a pretty pile of cash today. The top ten list also uses the donut chain as a bell weather indication of boom times (it points out that those cities that are on the cusp of a boom tend to attract quite a few of the donut store locations in a quick period of time)
Not sure exactly how that translates into big financial gains for Podunk, (other than a sudden surge in Tim’s locations to come our way we assume) but its an interesting view of where the financial press thinks the next big thing may come from.
The future is now article, like many of the same in the past, turns to Don Krusel to explain the indicators that are going to make the city boom (poor Herb, suddenly the always willing to talk guy isn’t on speed dial anymore), Krusel of course speaks of the container port and the engine to the local economy that it will soon become.
Of course all of this wild speculation is still missing one key ingredient for folks hanging around Podunk for the better days to come, Jobs! While everyone keeps telling us that the boom is just around the corner, at the moment there’s little actual improvement in the jobs sector.
Perhaps that’s to come in a future report..
For now here’s the National Post report section that dealt with the genesis of the article and the portion pertaining to Podunk.
Coast to coast to cash
Canada's Top 10: Anyone with the foresight to set up a Tim Horton’s in Fort McMurray, Alta., before the oil sands bonanza could have raised enough cash to trade in their Timbits for a time share in the Bahamas. Indeed, for small business owners, one key to making a killing in Canada's booming economy is to get in on the ground floor. Here the Financial Post's Emily Mathieu provides a west-to-east look at 10 towns and cities on the cusp of a boom where an entrepreneur might want to set up shop -- sooner rather than later.
Emily Mathieu, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, July 01, 2006
- - -
1 PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. Population: 13,707; Average home price $152,610; Tim Hortons: 1; Business behind the boom: New container terminal at seaport.
The Prince Rupert Port Authority is moving to overtake the Port of Vancouver by 2010 through the construction of two container terminals. "Everything that we do at the port authority has a big and very profound impact on the community," said its president, Don Krusel. Terminal One will have room for 250 jobs on site.
Phase Two of the terminal, scheduled for completion by 2010, will add an additional 600 to 700 jobs. Canadian National Railway Co. will also be building a new rail line to transport goods from the new terminals, which will add $193-million to the economy.
There is also the Prince Rupert cruise ship terminal. It was built in 2003, and by last year 54 ships stuffed with tourists had brought a total of $10-million into the local economy.
Podunkian Googles of July
We continue our mission to monitor the Google news ticker and report on those breaking items of interest to Podunk. Below those news worthy items for the month of July.
July 31 Fourty year old Rupert meteor identified
July 31 Abalone harvesters face charges
July 30 Ferries seek black box data
July 29 More bookings, but visits still down
July 28 Prince Rupert gets $98,725 from Feds
July 28 Northern Exposure run heads for Rupert
July 28 Mount Hays wind farm wins approval
July 27 Tsmishian mark 120th anniversary of move to Alaska
July 27 Ray Castelli named president of NaiKun
July 26 PNG joins in on Kitimat pipeline project
July 26 Terrace Lumber Company in trouble
July 26 Terrace wants to be detox central
July 25 Prepping for the boom
July 21 Premier predicts big things for the North
July 21 Muscle Run heads for Rupert
July 20 Canada's LNG deals roll on
July 20 A Kiwi look at the Pacific Northwest
July 20 Campbell excited about Pacific Gateway
July 20 Rupert Terminal taking shape
July 20 Fishing Derby has its critics on the QC Islands
July 19 VIA Rail flogs the Skeena route
July 19 Councilor Bedard gets federal government appointment
July 19 Fort St. John Company gets pipeline repair contract
July 18 New video of Queen of North released
July 18 UNBC Prof takes study coast to coast
July 17 Reduced Ferry schedule still OK
July 17 Pacific Northern Gas strikes pipeline project deal
July 14 Manager talks about Borough's Positive Developments
July 14 Vandals damage MLA's office in Rupert
July 13 Terrace looks at Rupert for re-invention
July 13 Queen of the North bailout skips Bulkley Valley
July 9 It's full speed ahead for sunken ferry report
July 8 Renovated Prince Rupert Hospital opens
July 8 The Grand ships of the Alaska Marine Highway
July 8 Aquaculture mis-understood
July 8 Police still hopeful for missing woman
July 7 Specialist visits to the Islands reduced
July 6 Ledcor awarded 7.5 million dollar Port contract
July 5 Health Crackdown may mean end to potlucks
July 5 The Corridor
July 4 Community profile: Metlakatla, AK
July 4 Muscle run starts from here
July 2 Alaska Marine Highway System has transportation problems
July 1 Prince Rupert ranked among top place for potential business ops
July 1 Highway of tears continues to baffle Police
July 1 A Heritage B and B in the heart of Prince Rupert
July 31 Fourty year old Rupert meteor identified
July 31 Abalone harvesters face charges
July 30 Ferries seek black box data
July 29 More bookings, but visits still down
July 28 Prince Rupert gets $98,725 from Feds
July 28 Northern Exposure run heads for Rupert
July 28 Mount Hays wind farm wins approval
July 27 Tsmishian mark 120th anniversary of move to Alaska
July 27 Ray Castelli named president of NaiKun
July 26 PNG joins in on Kitimat pipeline project
July 26 Terrace Lumber Company in trouble
July 26 Terrace wants to be detox central
July 25 Prepping for the boom
July 21 Premier predicts big things for the North
July 21 Muscle Run heads for Rupert
July 20 Canada's LNG deals roll on
July 20 A Kiwi look at the Pacific Northwest
July 20 Campbell excited about Pacific Gateway
July 20 Rupert Terminal taking shape
July 20 Fishing Derby has its critics on the QC Islands
July 19 VIA Rail flogs the Skeena route
July 19 Councilor Bedard gets federal government appointment
July 19 Fort St. John Company gets pipeline repair contract
July 18 New video of Queen of North released
July 18 UNBC Prof takes study coast to coast
July 17 Reduced Ferry schedule still OK
July 17 Pacific Northern Gas strikes pipeline project deal
July 14 Manager talks about Borough's Positive Developments
July 14 Vandals damage MLA's office in Rupert
July 13 Terrace looks at Rupert for re-invention
July 13 Queen of the North bailout skips Bulkley Valley
July 9 It's full speed ahead for sunken ferry report
July 8 Renovated Prince Rupert Hospital opens
July 8 The Grand ships of the Alaska Marine Highway
July 8 Aquaculture mis-understood
July 8 Police still hopeful for missing woman
July 7 Specialist visits to the Islands reduced
July 6 Ledcor awarded 7.5 million dollar Port contract
July 5 Health Crackdown may mean end to potlucks
July 5 The Corridor
July 4 Community profile: Metlakatla, AK
July 4 Muscle run starts from here
July 2 Alaska Marine Highway System has transportation problems
July 1 Prince Rupert ranked among top place for potential business ops
July 1 Highway of tears continues to baffle Police
July 1 A Heritage B and B in the heart of Prince Rupert
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