The Eagle Valley News takes a look back at what made headlines from July to December 2018.
July
A U.S. court handed convicted Shuswap drug smuggler Colin Martin a seven-year prison sentence on June 29 in relation to a drug ring that flew marijuana and other drugs into Washington State and returned with cocaine to sell in B.C.
Martin, a married father of six, has already served time in jail on drug charges in Canada.
• Shuswap Volunteer Search and Rescue assisted Sicamous RCMP with locating a man suspected of an assault.
On June 29 at 9:30 p.m. the RCMP were told that a 60-year-old Sicamous man was assaulted in his home on Cambie-Solsqua Road by a 52-year-old friend. Sicamous RCMP officers learned that the suspect, who had been drinking, had fled the residence into a rural area. He had his four-year-old daughter with him.
Shuswap Search and Rescue were called because the RCMP were concerned for the well-being of the child and wanted to locate the suspect as soon as possible, who they believed was actively trying to evade them.
At 5 a.m. the following morning, search and rescue team members located the suspect with his daughter in a wooded area.
• The Sicamous and District Museum and Historical Society is looking for memorabilia and stories related to internment camps that housed Japanese Canadians in the area during the Second World War.
The camps were located at Solsqua, Yard Creek, Griffin Lake, Taft and Three Valley Gap.
• Sicamous is beginning to look its best as the Community in Bloom judging date approaches. The judges for the nationwide community beautification program will be in Sicamous July 15 to 17.
A great deal of work has gone into sprucing up Sicamous for the judges. One of the centrepieces of Communities in Bloom’s 2018 effort to improve the look of Sicamous’ downtown is the mural on the west-facing wall of the Sicamous branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
• Soon, Sicamous residents suffering from chronic pain, recovering from an injury or trying to prevent one will not have to travel to Salmon Arm or Revelstoke to get the physiotherapy treatment they need.
Megan Sapinski will be bringing physiotherapy treatments she learned at the University of Manitoba and while travelling to far-away countries to Sicamous within the next few weeks.
• The District of Sicamous is making its views known on the Main Street Bridge option for the replacement of the aging Bruhn Bridge, but Mayor Terry Rysz says the decision about the bridge replacement is largely out of council’s hands.
A resolution made by council states that council will support the Main Street Bridge option if several conditions are met by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Conditions include: maintenance and replacement costs are to remain the ministry’s responsibility, adherence to federal and provincial environmental regulations and guaranteed protection for Splatsin cultural heritage and replacement of any boat slips lost during construction. As well, council urges the ministry to include a connection from the bridge pathway to the Sicamous-to-Armstrong rail trail.
• New floating play structures will be installed in the Sicamous Beach Park. District of Sicamous council voted to award the contract for the construction and installation of three 10-by-30-foot play floats to Nexus Dock and Marina, a Kelowna-based firm.
The Eagle Valley News took top prize in its circulation category for both Best All Around Newspaper and Best Front Page in a national-newspaper competition.
Some colour will be aded to the lives of the Eagle Senior Citizen’s Housing Society residents thanks to a donation from the Christian Labour Association of Canada.
The $2,500 grant has funded the painting of several white plastic chairs and tables.
• Sicamous was humming with the droning noise of motorcycle engines and the roar of satisfied crowds as high-octane entertainment and fun community events closed down Main Street for a celebration of two-wheeled travel, coinciding with the Summer Stomp and Burnout going on at the Dog Park.
@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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