September
• Large destructive waves are a problem that most would think should only concern those who live on the ocean. But in a recent study, SFU professor John Clague noted lake communities should be concerned as well – including Salmon Arm.
“I did mention Shuswap Lake (in the study), not because there’s an obviously threatening slope there, but because there are large rock faces that border the lake. If there ever were to be a landslide there, then you’d have a big problem in a place like Salmon Arm,” Clague said.
• A rainy start to the summer didn’t stop the Shuswap from enjoying a busy tourist season. Salmon Arm Chamber of Commerce general manager Corryn Grayston said preliminary statistics, gathered through the chamber’s Visitor Information Centre, indicated the city saw an increase in visitor numbers for July and August compared to last year.
• The agricultural advisory committee and the city’s planning committee reached opposite conclusions on whether to support the city’s application to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) for non-farm use of the former South Canoe school property. City council approved funds for the purchase of the property at their Aug. 8 meeting with the stated goal of relocating the city’s public works yard there in the future. The city’s purchase of the property from School District #83 was contingent on non-farm use being granted by the ALC.
• Turnout was up for the 119th Salmon Arm Fair. More than 10,000 people attended the Sept. 9 to 11 event, with the $5 admission until 5 p.m. Friday promotion proving to be a huge success.
“(We had) double the number of people coming through the gates on Friday,” said Salmon Arm and Shuswap Agricultural Association’s associate secretary Star MacGregor, who noted numbers were up for both Friday and Saturday, with Sunday’s similar to previous years.
• Despite a viewing gallery full of residents opposed to the move, Salmon Arm council voted to send an application for non-farm use of the old South Canoe school property to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC). The city plans to purchase the unused school and its accompanying five acres of land from School District #83 and retain it as a possible option for the relocation of the city’s public works yard.
• The recently named fastest-growing company in Canada has a connection to Salmon Arm. Cody Green, who grew up in Salmon Arm, founded Canada Drives, a financial service company which specializes in facilitating car loans, in 2010.
• Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo announced he will be running for a second term. The first-term MLA made the announcement at a Trans-Canada Highway upgrade presentation Sept. 20, saying he believes there’s still work to be done in the Shuswap, and he’s enjoyed his time with the Liberal party.
He said being president of his company, Twin Anchors, has meant being in government has been a bit of an adjustment, as things happen more slowly.
• The governments of Canada and British Columbia announced $162.7 million in funding to improve the Trans-Canada Highway through Salmon Arm. While residents knew previously about the project, the initial estimate was around $120 million in June 2015.
October
• Darrel Davis struck gold. Literally. The Trout Lake miner from Salmon Arm, who runs his own exploration company, Davis Mining & Exploration Corporation, made what he called a “staggering” find from his mining claims on Silvercup Ridge. Results from Activation Laboratories in Kamloops showed samples with up to 200 grams of gold per ton (g/t), or 6.2 ounces per ton.
“To find an ounce per ton of gold in hard rock is almost unheard of these days,” he said. “To find one at 6.2 ounces is staggering at best. I still don’t know what to do and I’ve been in this all my life.”
• City council took steps to protect Salmon Arm from natural disasters by voting to apply for a government grant which will fund a study of the Salmon River floodplain west of the city. Council voted to hire an outside consultant to draft an application for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Program, a $200 million fund approved by the federal government in 2014 to address rising flood risks.
• The stories of residential schools aren’t going away. Ethel Thomas, a residential school survivor, gave an empowering speech to the students and staff of Salmon Arm Secondary’s Jackson campus on Oct. 7. The Enderby resident was taken from her home for the first time, she estimated, in 1951 and was shipped to a residential school in Cranbrook. She was also treated poorly, separated from her brother, and forced to eat food off the ground.
• Salmon Arm fire crews successfully extinguished a blaze in Gleneden on Sunday afternoon. At approximately 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 9, crews were called to the Gleneden property after reports of a structural fire on Partridge Road. Crews from Halls 1, 3 and 4 were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the trees and adjacent residence.
• He goes to the mall, he hangs out with friends, and his favourite subject is geography. Only this 14-year- old is studying ballet at one of Canada’s finest schools, the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto. Up until a few months ago, Josh Williams was a resident of Salmon Arm, dancing for the Shuswap Dance Centre.
• Family members of a Shuswap man shot to death more than five years ago wept in a packed courtroom Monday as a 29-year-old man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Jordan Larry Barnes made the guilty plea in Courtroom 5B of the Kamloops Law Courts after the hearing was delayed so court staff could bring in temporary seating to accommodate spectators. Details of the shooting, which were read in court, cannot be published pending a jury trial for Jeremy Wayne Davis, expected to get underway in late November. Nicholas Larsen, 24, was shot dead on June 1, 2011 in what police described as a targeted attack.
• Property crime was a major issue for the Salmon Arm RCMP in the second quarter of 2016, but several major investigations resulted in charges being laid. Staff Sgt. Scott West presented his quarterly report for the period from July 1 to Sept. 30 to Salmon Arm council on Oct. 24.