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Shuswap Market News May 2017 in review

Shuswap residents went to the polls and more in the May 2017 issues of the Shuswap Market News
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• B.C. residents were making their mark in the advanced polls for the provincial elections. The Shuswap proved to be busy with 2,642 ballots cast at voting stations in Desert Cove, Armstrong, Salmon Arm and Scotch Creek. There are 40,978 registered voters in the Shuswap whose choices are: Green Kevin Babcock, Liberal Greg Kyllo, NDP Sylvia Lindgren and Libertarian Kyle McCormack.

• A Shuswap man agreed to abide by strict conditions for a year in exchange for the Crown dropping charges relating to alleged threats he made against Canadian Pacific Railway employees and property.

Paul Poirier entered into a $1,000 peace bond in Kamloops provincial court. Court heard the 53-year-old lives on property in Notch Hill, near Sorrento, with 3,000 feet bordering a CPR rail line. He had been facing two charges – one count of uttering threats and uttering threats to burn, destroy or damage property – dating to May 25, 2016.

Crown prosecutor Adrienne Murphy said Poirier threatened to use his backhoe to “tear up track” and threatened to harm employees. The dispute had to do with fencing, the court heard. CPR upgraded its fencing bordering Poirier’s property, but left some of its old fence standing.

• It’s expected to soon be smooth sailing on Eagle Bay Road. Darcy Mooney, the Shuswap Emergency Program’s emergency operations centre director, reports that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure informed him the Eagle Bay Road is expected to be restored to a two-lane, paved roadway by the end of the week.

As of Sunday, April 30, the equivalent of about 160 tandem truckloads of materials had been hauled to replace the hole gouged in the road by water and debris flow on Thursday afternoon, April 27. The washout in the 6,000 block of Eagle Bay Road was reported about 3 p.m., when a torrent of water rushed down the hillside, taking out the road and carrying trees, rocks and a culvert with it.

• The Neskonlith Band, in collaboration with Community Futures and Okanagan College, sponsored a job and career fair at the SASCU Recreation Centre in Salmon Arm. The fair attracted about 500 people.

• Construction of Chase Skate Park has been moving along recently, but behind the scenes. Organizers said the steel had been undergoing bending in Vancouver and, if it’s ready, could be installed the upcoming weekend. Kelsey Snelgrove, president of the Chase & District Skate Park, said since the beginning of April, organizers raised $10,830, making them only $19,170 from their goal.

• More than 800 Chase area residences were out of power on Wednesday, May 3 from 3:27 a.m. to 6:33 a.m. The outage, caused by trees on the lines, was in the area southeast of Shuswap Road, west of the Trans-Canada Highway and north of Barnhartvale Road.

• Incumbent MLA Greg Kyllo won the riding with more than 50 per cent of the vote. A minority government may be the story provincially, but in the Shuswap, Liberal MLA Greg Kyllo will be heading back to the legislature with 56 per cent of the vote.

• A Sunnybrae man remained missing and presumed dead following a May 6 mudslide in the 5900 block of Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road.

After days of fruitless searching, Salmon Arm RCMP said Monday that Roy Frederick Sharp, 76, is presumed deceased and the search effort has become a recovery mission.

“We have not located Mr. Sharp in or around the residence at this time, but we believe he has perished as a result of this natural disaster,” said RCMP Staff Sgt. Scott West, referring to the landslide at Robinson Creek Road.

• A boil-water advisory for the Sorrento water system was issued by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District on Wednesday, May 3. High turbidity levels, which is cloudiness due to suspended sediment, have been detected in the Sorrento Water System’s drinking water supply.

• Responding to numerous 911 calls, Tappen-Sunnybrae firefighters had no trouble finding a fire at 1560 Vella Rd. in Tappen on Thursday, May 11. Thick, black acrid smoke laced with ash was clearly visible from the Trans-Canada Highway and surrounding area, drawing complaints of sore throats and burning eyes.

Tappen-Sunnybrae Fire Chief Kyle Schneider said the department was called out at 7:49 a.m. and discovered a large, fully engulfed pile of debris. He said a contractor had demolished an old house and set it on fire and was confused about where he got permission to do so.

• The Shuswap Lake Culture Crawl kicked off with an art exhibition that included works by Justin Maas, and works by Lynn Erin and Melissa Nasby.

• Some smaller, softer wheels will soon be taking to the streets of Chase. On June 5, Chase will be the only town in B.C. where golf carts will travel on its roads in the company of cars and trucks, with provincial and municipal blessing.

• Construction crews were on the job for the expansion of the Larch Hills Ski Area chalet. The Larch Hills Nordic Society has been planning a 2,400 sq. ft expansion of its chalet for the past few years. A crew of volunteers removed the deck to make way for excavation of the new foundation. The Larch Hills Nordic Society hopes to have the chalet expansion completed to lock-up stage before next winter.

• Silverbacks head coach, Misko Antisin, stepped down to pursue professional opportunities in the United States.

• Two local boxers win medals at national championships in Quebec. Dominic Barbosa brought home a gold in the 60 kg junior division without ever throwing a punch because his only competitor moved down a weight class leaving him the unchallenged champion of his division. However, he was determined to get in a match and ended up in the ring with a three-time national champion in an older age division, where he held his own. Emma Morrison-Turley brought home a bronze medal in the 51 kg youth division.

• The Roots and Blues announced the confirmation of five more international arts joining the 2017 line-up: Alex Cuba, Talking Dreads, Asani, Altameda, and Andy Hillhouse.

• What began as a fun family experiment took Teena Gudjonson’s Winebox Sweets to first place in the fourth season of Launch-a-Preneur. Winebox Sweets was the recipient of more than $15,000 worth of prizes and services. They also won the People’s Choice Award. Shuswap Event took second, On Point Concrete - third, and Elderberry Grove came in fourth.

• This year the migration of Adams River Sockeye took a detour, a magical stop in Vancouver thanks to internationally acclaimed documentary film maker Nettie Wild. Wild and her Canada Wild Productions documented the salmon run and used high-tech projection of the footage onto the legs and underbelly of Vancouver’s Cambie Street bridge. Her hope for the cinematic spectacle is to imbue the kind of wonder that the sockeye run itself does.

• Salmon Arm council was on board with the quest for a new brand for the city. Council committed $14,000 to an estimated $95,000 community brand development project spearheaded by the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society (SAEDS). Lana Fitt, SAEDS economic development manager, outlined the goals for the project: to find one message that could be used and supported by all residents, businesses, community organizations, and local government.

“It’s all about managing Salmon Arm’s reputation, more specifically, it tends to build name awareness for our community. It would be developing a distinctive, believable, memorable, co-creative, but most importantly, an authentic image of Salmon Arm.”

• The Salmon Arm Secondary (SAS) Jr Boys rugby team capped off their season with a victory in the Okanagan Championships. The SAS Junior Girls soccer team finished second place in the Okanagan after a series of hard-fought games from their rivals from Kamloops.

• Joyce Henderson gave the week long Theatre BC Okanagan Zone Drama Festival rave reviews - the plays and the people involved. Shuswap Theatre hosted the successful festival with the theme Canada 150.



Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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