March 1
Teacher strike to start Monday
The B.C. Teachers’ Association has served strike notice for Monday through Wednesday after teachers across the province endorsed the option in a province-wide vote.
The union was required to give two school days’ notice before being in a legal strike position, under a Labour Relations Board ruling on essential services that allows for up to three consecutive days of full strike action next week.
Education Minister George Abbott said Thursday that schools will be open, and it’s up to parents if they want to send children to school.
The LRB ruling prohibits picket lines, allowing unionized support staff to go to work. Administrators will supervise students, but normal instruction will not take place.
April 11
Spruce Grove Cafe founder Margaret Williams turns 100
Margaret Williams turned 100 on March 30 this year, with the celebratory shindig being held at the Rotary Villa. Relatives came from all over southern B.C. to ring in the turn of her century.
Although born in a small house in Nakusp, Margaret grew up in Burton. The two-storey log house built there is still in the family, being looked after by younger generations.
Her marriage to husband Alf saw her move to Edgewood. Even though he had lost an eye in an accident as a boy, Alf was and excellent marksman, serving as a sharp-shooter. Both Margaret and Alf enjoyed hunting and fishing in the Kootenays, as a photo on display at the party of Margaret with a bear she’d shot proved.
Lively and sharp, Williams recalled clearing the land, building and running the Spruce Grove Cafe. The restaurant saw a lot of business, too much for Margaret’s heart condition, so she moved on in life.
April 26
Smart meter critic comes to Nakusp
The Coalition to Stop “Smart” Meters’ presentation at the Bonnington Friday, April 20 was the one-man show of Werner Hoffelinck and a series of slides and short videos. Even with sound difficulties, the audience of 45 Nakusp citizens sat captivated by the information Hoffelinck put forward.
Originally an electromechanical engineer from Belgium, Hoffelinck now lives in Vernon and is volunteering with the Coalition spreading the word about smart meters.
The talk started with a description of electrohypersensitivity, a condition Hoffelinck himself claimed to suffer from. The human body, the brain in particular, has a fine electrical balance, one that can be upset by wireless transmissions from devices like cell phones and smart meters, he said.
June 16
Happyface unhappy with contract
Local bottle depot Happyface recycling may be closing its doors as of June 30, if the little company that could and product stewardship corporation Encorp don’t see eye to eye.
At the moment, Happyface’s contract with the company has lapsed, and a new one has yet to be signed. Encorp Regional Operations Manager Doug Merrier has told depot owner/operator Wendyle Jones that unless Happyface accepts the agreement as it stands, Encorp’s third party transporters will cease pickups from the Nakusp-based depot.
For Jones, who has serious reservations about the contract, this could very well mean the end of what was an increasingly successful business.
July 5
Casseroles’ clang heard in New Denver
In one corner of the Hidden Garden Gallery, a small party of New Denver residents quietly unwrapped the pots and pans they had brought with them and took to the streets on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. The small parade was a show of solidarity with Les Casseroles in Montréal, the movement that started as a student protest against increased tuition fees, which quickly turned into a demonstration against the current economic inequity in our society and has now bloomed into a much larger statement against measures taken by the government to quell social protest.
Most readers, I’m sure, are well aware of this. But, if folks have been in the back woods or focusing on local news only, the small troupe in New Denver banged their way down the main street for their benefit, to let them know they feel the issues at stake in Montréal are also relevant here in our Kootenay home.
July 13
Arrow Lakes Reservoir expected to rise until Sunday; debris choked
BC Hydro is continuing to limit discharge at the Hugh Keenleyside Dam in order to mitigate flood damage below the dam, which is located just west of Castlegar.
As a result, water levels on the Arrow Lakes Reservoir will continue to rise until an expected peak on Sunday, July 15.
As of July 13, the reservoir was at 440.486 metres (1,445.16 feet), 0.386 metres (1.16 feet) above normal full pool. It is rising at about 0.2 feet per day.
The water level is expected to reach 440.588 metres (1,445.5 feet) by as early as Saturday July 15, 2012.
This year recorded inflows to Arrow Lakes Reservoir from February to July 3 are the fourth highest when compared to inflows recorded in other years since 1970.
“Without the operation of upstream Treaty dams, the peak flow in the Columbia River at Castlegar [and] Trail would have been approximately double the current flow and within 5 per cent of the historic maximum flows seen in the major pre-dam flood years of 1948 and 1961,” said Revelstoke-based BC Hydro spokesperson Jennifer Walker-Larsen in a statement.
The high reservoir levels across the region are freeing and floating beached debris such as logs and stumps, creating a hazard for boaters.
The Shelter Bay/Galena Bay ferry has been forced to weave and detour through concentrations of stumps and logs in the past week.
Walker-Larsen said Hydro is taking steps to have contractors in place to deal with the debris. “Debris removal work is already underway with contracting crews and equipment mobilized on Arrow Lakes Reservoir. Currently we have a debris contractor en route to the Shelter Bay/Galena Bay area,” she said. “We expect the contractor to arrive and start work as early as Sunday July 15, the first priority being debris removal on the ferry route.”
Aug. 17
Internet disruption interferes with meter installation
After running into problems with interference in Silverton between BC Hydro’s new meters and local wireless internet service, Hydro has put a hold on installing meters in Fauquier, Burton and Arrow Park. All three communities rely on fixed wireless broadband for their internet access, and broadcast at 900 MHz.
“About a third of our people are on the 900 band,” said Fauquier Internet Society president Frank Poirier.
When Poirier received notice in the mail at the beginning of July that BC Hydro contractor Corix would be installing meters in town, he called the utility with his concerns about potential interference. He was told that the meter transmission would be at 928 MHz, and interference wasn’t likely.
Transmission of messages between the provincial utility and the small internet society seems to be an issue. Hydro representative Cindy Verschoor claims that Hydro “sent a direct email to the internet service provider in Fauquier to make them aware of possible interference issues.” According to Verschoor, Hydro is still awaiting a response from Fauquier.
“They made no effort to get in touch with us,” said Pat Kula from the Fauquier Internet Society.
Kula agreed that the meter transmissions shouldn’t cause a problem in theory, “but you’ve got to know about the technology,” she qualified. “If [the meters] stayed to 928, then the theory is that they should be ok. But what seems to happen is that they’re broadcasting across the whole 900 spectrum.”
“BC Hydro had an open competitive procurement process to select our new metering system and did not specify the use of 900 MHz unlicensed frequency band,” said Verschoor in an email to the Arrow Lakes News, who also added that the majority of smart metering vendors around the world operate in the 900 MHz frequency band.
“While the 900 MHz frequency band is not normally used by ISPs, we are reaching out in an effort to work more collaboratively to ensure mutual coexistence of our equipment. We are fully compliant with Industry Canada regulation,” read the email.
Kula pointed out that 900 MHz is the only frequency that can transmit through dense brush and trees, a necessity for getting the signal to homes in our heavily treed region.
Hydro, the newbies to the frequency, says they won’t install the new meters until a solution to the interference issue is found.
“We are still working with internet service providers to find a mutually agreeable solution,” wrote Verschoor, “In the meantime, we have temporarily stopped installing meters in areas where we are aware of possible wireless interference issues until the situation is resolved.”
Sept. 23
Milton Parent posthumously awarded Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal
Milton Parent was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal posthumously by Senator Nancy Greene on Sept. 11, 2012, in a ceremony held at the Emergency Services Building.
The senator expressed her pleasure at being part of the medal-awarding process, being able to honour individuals who make a difference in their communities. She was aware that Milton was part of a team along with his wife Rosemarie, who was happy she was able to receive the award on behalf of Milton.
Senator Greene then pinned the medal over Rosemarie’s heart, after a few moments admiring the design with its recipient.
Rosemary then remembered the efforts she and Milton had made, and enlightened everyone why they had moved away for three decades before retiring back in Nakusp.
“Milton didn’t want to be a logger,” Rosemary explained, simply because “he was five-foot-one and was afraid he’d get hurt.”
After accepting the honour, Rosemary invited everyone in the room for a tour of the new archive addition to the Centennial Building which is now to lock up, and for which “there is also a little money to do a bit more,” according to Rosemary.
An invitation to cake and tea marked the end of the formal ceremony.
Nov. 2
Everyone is welcome to help build the Burton Community Learning Centre
The Burton Community Learning Centre (BCLC) now has a board, as of August 2012, Isabelle Bergeron announced at the community meeting held at the Burton School.
“Just because there are six of us on paper, everyone is welcome to the meetings,” she made clear, inviting the community to be part of the changes taking place at the school.
In a quick presentation, Bergeron outlined the board’s vision, values and principles and partnerships, the foundation of what would keep the school open to the community.
Learning and wellness, fitness, arts and culture, knowledge and skills, and food security were the values of the board, and their values focus on community ownership and responsibility of the centre, an eye to maintaining sustainable and affordable access to creative programming while being environmentally responsible.
School District 10 and the BCLC are developing a shared use agreement for the building, and programs like NSS’s Outdoor Education are already making use of the Burton School. The school district is responsible for all school-based programs, and according to the agreement will have priority access to the building.