merritt herald, april 08, 2014
DESCRIPTION
April 08, 2014 edition of the Merritt HeraldTRANSCRIPT
NOW PLAYING: SHANAPAGE 3
RUGBY TOUR TO U.K.PAGE 9
ART FOR SCHOLARSHIPPAGE 5
Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
MERRITT HERALDmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS FREE
Home hardware building centre
Locally Owned & Operated
1701 Voght St., Merritt, B.C. www.merritthomehardware.ca
Spring has sprung at Home Hardware
Come check out our new items!
Flying objects identifi ed as sky lanterns
Consider the mystery of the bright orange lights floating over Mer-ritt on March 31 solved by the Merritt Fire Res-cue Department.
As it turns out, they were flying lanterns.
These lanterns are essentially little hot air balloons made of paper and powered by flames from candles or fuel-soaked wax paper.
They catch in the wind and drift until their flames burn out. However, in this case, the lanterns kept burn-ing once they hit the ground — at a local lumber yard.
An employee spotted them coming down at Aspen Planers’ site two on Houston Street and was able to extinguish the flames.
The lanterns are popular in several parts of the world, where people let them fly in large quantities as part of celebrations and fes-tivals. In this case, the release appeared to be a memorial.
But where they land-ed has prompted the city’s fire department to warn Merrittonians of the fire hazard these sky lanterns really are.
Fire prevention offi-cer Sky McKeown said the sight of the lanterns probably causes people
to forget that they’re sending an open flame up in the air, which can’t be controlled once it takes off.
Sky lanterns are simply prohibited under the City of Merritt’s fire and safety regulations, McKeown said.
“It was probably
quite beautiful at the time, but it definitely could’ve had some ‘un-beautiful’ consequenc-es,” McKeown said.
About six to eight of the lanterns drifted over the city and eventu-ally came down to the ground at the lumber yard. Although they’re
supposed to extinguish before they come down, in this case, the lanterns kept burning once on the ground.
“When it landed, it actually started to burn the rice paper that it’s built from,” McKeown said of one of the lan-terns. “Luckily, it didn’t
cause major damage and it was caught soon enough.”
McKeown said the lanterns pose a differ-ent risk than fireworks because fireworks aren’t nearly as likely to drift as these lanterns.
“Different from fireworks, these things
can be several kilome-tres away from where they’re lit when they go up into the breeze,” McKeown said. “In this case, that’s what hap-pened.”
The lanterns have been banned in other parts of Canada includ-ing P.E.I. and Nova
Scotia, and in parts of Spain, Germany, Brazil and Austria.
McKeown said besides a fire risk, the lanterns pose risks to wildlife and other ani-mals because the wire frames and waxy fuel sources aren’t biode-gradable.
Kamloops Fire Cen-tre fire information offi-cer Kayla Pepper said the Wildfire Manage-ment Branch has a par-tial prohibition on sky lanterns, which means they can’t be lit up and sent off in the Merritt Fire Zone between May 15 and Oct. 15 as per provincial fire bans. That restriction applies to areas outside of municipalities.
“When we do open burning restrictions, it’s not only for piled wood in your back-yard. It also includes fireworks, burning bar-rels, and as of last year, sky lanterns,” Pepper said. “That’s due to the unpredictable nature of sky lanterns. When you release them, you can’t always control where they land. They are identified as a wildfire risk.”
The dates of the prohibition can be altered depending on how dry the season is, Pepper said.
Pepper said there’s already a risk for grass fires in the area.
By Emily WesselTHE HERALD
Fire department warns of dangers after lanterns land at mill
Merritt Fire Rescue Department fire prevention officer Sky McKeown (left) and Chief Dave Tomkinson are asking Merritt residents not to use flying lanterns after several, including the one McKeown is holding, landed at a local lumber yard (background) where they continued to burn. The fires were caught and put out by a mill employee.
Emily Wessel/Herald
www.merrittherald.com 2 • TUESDAY, April 8, 2014
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Site Location: Airport Road, next to Valley Helicopters
For sales at other times phone: 250-378-9674 or 250-936-8363
www.goodearthcompany.ca
Fine Screen Compost Excellent top dressing for lawns & mixing into existing soil.Regular Screen CompostWork into all existing soils, adding nutrients & organic matter increasing soil porosity.Fertilizing MulchExcellent of mulching shrubs, trees & to top dress fl ower beds.Top SoilBlended dirt that is “ready to grow.”
Open To Public:
Mon., Wed. & Fri: 10 am - NoonSaturdays: 9 am - 1 pm
COMPOST & TOP SOILWe have a variety of proucts to help you grow...
Texting is the new drunk driving
VICTORIA – More people are dying from distracted driving than drinking and driving, and that has caused Attorney Gen-eral Suzanne Anton to reconsider whether B.C.’s penalties for using smart phones behind the wheel are tough enough.
Anton said the lat-est statistics from 2012 show 81 deaths from distracted driving in the year, compared to 55 related to impaired driving.
“People seem to know that they must not drink and drive, but distracted driving, people don’t seem to have the same level of awareness,” Anton said last Wednesday.
B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act currently sets a $167 fine for talking on a hand-held mobile phone, and $167 plus three demerit points for emailing or texting while driving. Ontario recently raised its fine from $155 to $280, with a maximum of $500 for those who contest the fine and are convicted.
A few weeks ago Anton wasn’t convinced higher penalties would help change driver behaviour, but she said
Wednesday she was disturbed to discover that B.C. has more dis-tracted driving deaths than Ontario, which has three times the population.
“Should there be points attached to hold-ing the handheld device and talking? Probably,” Anton said. “Should the fines be higher? Prob-ably, so I’m having a look at both of those.”
Another statistic that caught Anton’s atten-tion was the 51,000 distracted driving tick-ets handed out in B.C. in 2013. She said that’s a “huge number” that suggests the message of distracted driving is not getting through, and a reminder that seatbelt use and impaired driv-ing also took time to impress on the public.
The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles is analyzing B.C. driving habits and will report to Anton, who is consider-ing changing penalties later this year.
By Tom FletcherBLACK PRESStfl [email protected]
Attorney General Suzanne Anton.
SHINE ONCourthouse Art Gallery curator Meriel Barber (left) and local artist Fran McMurchy straighten a painting by local artist Gale Simpson at the reception for the Show and Shine exhibit and sale on April 4. The show features an eclectic array of offerings from arts council members’ collections and an art supply sale, which includes frames and art books. Barber said some proceeds from the sales will go toward repainting the gallery’s walls.
The show and sale runs until April 26, and the gallery is open Thursday evenings and Friday and Saturday afternoons.
Emily Wessel/Herald
799 799 649
599 $5 149
399
999 499 179
ea ea ea
ea
4for ea
ea
ea ea ea
20 lb
2.5 Lb
10 lb
20 lb
900 mL
No. 1 Grade, USA, 20 lb Bag
Plus deposit, recycling fees where applicable. All prices shown are in Canadian Dollars. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Item selection and availabilty at select locations only. Photos are for illustrative purposes only. Promotions exclude reduced to clear items. April 4, 2014 - April 17, 2014.
15 Lb
144’s, 454g
500g
No. 1 Grade, USA, Cello Wrapped
Golden Temple
Duram Atta Flour
Verka Vegetarian Cookies
Harris Orange Pekoe Tea
Sher Duram Atta
SunRype Juice
Qilla Basmati Rice Russet Potatoes
Verka Cane Sugar
Santosh Naan
Cauliflower
Vaisakhi SavingsvYswKI dIAW b~cqW
coopersfoods.com1700 Garcia Street250-378-5564
Sales Prices effective April 4 - 17, 2014
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 • 3
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Follow us on Twitter:twitter.com/MerrittHerald
Find us on Facebook:facebook.com/merrittherald
GOOD MORNING!
Friends & Neighbours
The Merritt Herald is looking forCOMMUNITY-SUBMITTED STORIES
about your Friends & Neighbours.Ph: 250.378.4241 Fax: [email protected] www.merrittherald.com2090 Granite Avenue, P.O. Box 9, Merritt, B.C.
MERRITT HERALDPlease bring them in to:
Opinion ----------------------- 6Sports ------------------------- 9 Classifi ed ------------------- 10
From the Herald archives: April 1978
Legion celebrates
50th anniversary
The Merritt Legion Branch No. 96 celebrated its 50th anniversary last Saturday, April 8, 1978, opening the doors at 12 noon for a reception for members and well-wishers that lasted all afternoon and on into the evening for a steady stream of people.
In a report car-ried in the April 1928 Merritt Herald, the Mer-ritt Branch was organized by the B.C. Provincial Command and the “aims and objects of the Legion, which is affiliated with the British Empire Service League, of which the late Field Marshall Earl Haig was chief, are to promote the advancement and betterment of all returned men and their immediate dependents, and the honouring of those who have ‘gone before.’”
REMEMBERWHEN?
BLUEGRASS AND BOOGIE
Randy Goulding and Kate Main of Backspin strummin’ their bluegrass style of music at Merritt’s Culture Club Saturday night. The Vancouver band played its first show in Merritt on the weekend.
Michael Potestio/Herald
It’s premiered in Switzer-land and had its Canadian premiere last weekend at Vancouver’s Reel 2 Reel film festival, and now it’s Mer-ritt’s turn.
The film Shana: The Wolf ’s Music, which was filmed in and stars locals from the Nicola Valley, will be shown at the Nicola Val-ley Institute of Technology from Thursday to Saturday.
Shana herself plans to attend all three show-ings. Played by Sunshine O’Donovan, the film fol-lows young Shana as she discovers herself through the power of music with the help of her violin teacher.
O’Donovan and her co-star, Delilah Dick, spent two weeks in Switzerland attending eight premieres of the film in various cities, such as Berne, Zurich and Solothurn.
The showing in
Solothurn was sold out, O’Donovan told the Herald, noting she had a lot of auto-graphing to do afterwards.
Between Switzerland and the Reel 2 Reel festi-val, O’Donovan has had multiple interviews and has attended even more show-ings of the movie.
She said she was sur-prised by the amount of media attention she’s received from the film.
“I’m kind of surprised that I’m being interviewed by all these people. It’s really cool and I hope it spreads the word for Shana, to say what a great film it is and what a good time we had during the film,” O’Donovan said.
“I never really thought that I’d have this much attention on me,” she said.
The film’s director, Nino Jacusso, will also attend the Merritt premiere.
Jacusso told the Herald he could not describe in words why he chose to shoot his
film in the Nicola Valley, chalking up his reasoning to a feeling rather than a thought.
“I don’t know why, but we dropped in in Lower Nicola, in the Nicola Valley, and we were just touched in our heart from the people, from the landscape ... maybe from the spirits who are living there,” Jacusso said.
The movie is an adapta-tion of the book of the same name by author Frederica de Cesco.
Jacusso said about 80 or 90 per cent of the film ver-sion had been changed from the book version to make it more reflective of the Scw’exmx culture.
“Film for me is made like a mirror of all life, so for me it’s important to make it real,” Jacusso said.
Jacusso said he uses non-actors instead of profession-al actors because they add to the realism of a film in that they play a role where
they can be themselves.Jacusso said the roles in
the movie adapted to each person’s personality.
“Shana is a part of Sun-shine in the movie, and it’s not an actress who makes Shana possible,” Jacusso said.
Jacusso said when he first met O’Donovan, he knew she was the right fit for the lead role.
O’Donovan told the Her-ald it was easy to play Shana because she was told to be herself.
She said she heard that Jacusso was looking for a girl who could play violin and applied for the role not knowing it was the lead. O’Donovan said she knows how to play violin, although she’s still a beginner.
As far as why she decided to apply, O’Donovan said she never knew if she’d have the opportunity to be in a movie again so she decided she should take the chance while she had it.
The movie is now playing in 40 theatres in Switzer-land, Jacusso said.
NVIT instructor and fellow actor in the film Mil Juricic said he hopes School District 58 will incorporate the film into its curriculum.
“It’s a unique piece that makes a big contribution to the bridging between native culture and mainstream, dominant culture,” Juricic said of the film, noting Sha-na’s playing of the violin – a non-native instrument.
“You suddenly realize that the violin become part of this native culture,” Juri-cic said. “It doesn’t matter what instrument it would be it doesn’t have to be a drum; it can be anything … instruments are just made to speak. What they speak is a whole different story.”
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. each night from April 10 to 12 and tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and students. The film plays at NVIT’s lecture theatre.
By Michael PotestioTHE HERALD
Locally-shot fi lm showing in Merritt
www.merrittherald.com 4 • TUESDAY, April 8, 2014
Next council meeting: Tuesday, April 15, 2014Council agendas and minutes at www.merritt.ca
City of Merritt ★ 2185 Voght Street, Box 189Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 ★ Phone: 250-378-4224
Part-Time Bylaw Enforcement Offi cer
The City of Merritt is seeking an individual to serve as Bylaw Enforcement Offi cer on a part time basis. The position is for a twenty (20) hour work week including shifts on weekends from May 1st to September 30th.
For complete details, visit the City website at www.merritt.ca
Applications will be received by the undersigned until 4:00 p.m. Thursday, April 17, 2014
Carole FraserDeputy Clerk/Human Resources Manager
City of Merritt2185 Voght Street, Box 189
Merritt, B.C. V1K [email protected]
As only those candidates short-listed will be contacted, we thank you in advance for your interest in this position.
CITY OF MERRITTEMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITY
SANITARY SEWER FLUSHING The City of Merritt Public Works Department would like to remind residents that it is that time of year again for our annual maintenance program for sewer fl ushing and camera work. We apologize for any inconvenience and your patience is greatly appreciated. If you have had any problems with your toilet bubbling up in the past it is recommended that you place a towel or saran wrap over your bowl and put the lid down. Also, if you experience any foul smelling odour it is advised to run a little water through the household’s sinks and bathtubs.
This is scheduled to begin on April 14 and run until about May 30th
approximately.
POSITION: Summer Student
Employment Opportunity
Position SummaryThe position will be required to perform general labour duties.
SalaryThe 2014 pay rate as per the CUPE Collective Agreement is $13.25 per hour, plus 16% in lieu of benefi ts.
Hours of WorkThis is a full time seasonal position.
Please see our website at www.merritt.ca for full details
Current resumes refl ecting applicants’ knowledge, skills and abilities relevant to the position and detailing education, qualifi cations and proof of required licenses/certifi cates/degrees will be accepted prior to 4:00 p.m., April 11, 2014 by:
Carole Fraser,Human Resources Manager
City of MerrittPO Box 189, 2185 Voght Street
Merritt, BC V1K 1B8Or by email: [email protected]
We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Come down and meet the Mayor. This is your opportunity to bring forth ideas on how we
can make Merritt a better place to live and do business, ask questions about something you don’t understand or if
something has transpired that you have not received a proper resolution with.
Mayor’s DROP IN SESSION
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 911 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Community Room Downstairs at City Hall.
National Volunteer WeekIf you would like to
live in a community in which you may have pride, then dedicate yourself in the spirit of humility to your responsibilities in that community. — Herbert Victor Prochnow
National Volunteer Week is set aside each year to honour and thank volunteers for the time and energy they contribute to causes that benefit our community. It is a time to recognize, celebrate and thank volunteers who strengthen our society and inspire others to seek out ways to engage in their communities.
In recognition of National Volunteer Week, the City of Merritt would like to extend a very warm
thank you to all volun-teers who give count-less hours to causes they hold near to them and for their com-mitment, dedication, and passion for our city. Without them, we would not have the determination to face our challenges and accomplish our goals. By working together, the City of Merritt continues to prove that collective power can foster positive changes.
Why volunteer? Here are some of the many benefits!
To enhance social • awarenessLearn through ser-• viceEnjoy better health• Gain self-confidence• Discover/share your • strengths and talentsBuild a sense of •
independenceExpand your social • circleDevelop work skills• Gain work experi-• enceFind out about the • working worldLearn to market • yourselfExplore career • optionsNetwork for success • by volunteeringBecause someone • asked!
There are many meaningful volunteer opportunities in our community. If you have a passion, seek it out! Everyone, includ-ing you, will benefit from your knowledge, skills, and time.
City of Merritt proclamation
Whereas: 13.3 mil-lion Canadian volun-teers given their time to help others, con-tributing 2.1 billion volunteer hours per year; and
Whereas: volunteers in the City of Merritt mentor our children, feed our hungry, com-fort our lonely, beau-tify our green spaces, and fundraise for our charitable organiza-tions; and
Whereas: the City of Merritt’s volunteers are young, old, fami-lies, workers, retirees, men and women of all
ages and backgrounds; and
Whereas: the col-lective result of the work done by our city’s volunteers is that Merritt is a more desirable place to live; and
Whereas: organiza-tions in the City of Merritt rely on volun-teers
Now, therefore, I, Susan Roline, Mayor of the City of Merritt, do hereby proclaim April 6 to 12, 2014 as National Volunteer Week, and urge my fellow citizens to rec-ognize the crucial role played by volunteers in our community.
Smart Step fi nalizes summer plans
The youth asso-ciation is starting to finalize summer plans. Grant applications for youth employment and event sponsorship have been completed and Smart Step is await-ing notification. Smart Step will be partnering with PacificSport this summer to offer weekly
games and activities in community and school parks to neighbour-hood kids. As well, Smart Step was suc-cessful in its application to United Way TNC for youth initiative funding that will cover costs and provide train-ing for the community clean up week.
Celebrate volunteers April 6-12
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 • 5
Reclamation work is underway at the Craigmont Mill site about 10 kilometres west of Merritt.
Owner Huldra Sil-ver started planting on March 28 at two areas of the mill to mitigate dust issues.
The geography of the area meant wind would funnel into the site, pick up dust and loose dirt and carry it out into the Nicola Valley.
Huldra Silver CEO Peter Espig said the two areas the company is planting now are responsible for spread-ing about the majority of the dust.
“I had actually been at the mine one time when I had seen the dust. I can say first-hand that I understand it was an issue,” he said.
One of the spots is along the southern
side of the tailings banks, where the com-pany did some recla-mation work last year.
Although there was no vegetation in that area, loose dirt and gravel on a steep slope
would get caught by the wind.
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
This message brought to you by
2151 Coutlee Ave., Merritt 250-378-5104
COPPER VALLEYMECHANICAL CONTRACTORS LTD.
STOP BY AND SEE OUR NEW SELECTION OF
beachcomberHOT TUBS
Merritt & Nicola Valley Crime Stoppers
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGApril 23, 2014 at 1:00
at the Community Policing Office
MERRITT HERALDAdvertising: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]
Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
MASSAGE PROGRAM SUCCESS PAGE 5 BOWLERS NATIONAL CHAMPSPAGE 25
S’morethe Merrier
Smoothies
REAL ESTATE LISTINGS INSIDE
FREE
City facing staff shortage for summer
MERRITT HERALD
FALL FAIR CATALOGUE INSIDE
D-DAY MEMORIES
PAGE 3
ON TOP DOWN UNDER
PAGE 9
ORGANIZERS TALK ART WALK
PAGE 4
Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
MERRITT HERALD
Helping you is
what we do.
M E R R I T T
Family of Darcie Clarke defends NCR Reform Act
Mother of triple murder victims says Bill C-54 protects victims’ rights
Runners convene for Merritt race
Donations desperately needed for spay and neuter services.
Donations can be to made to The Angel’s Animal Rescue Society at The Interior Savings Credit Union, Account #1193739.
Adopt a Pet“Breaking the Chain of Abuse”
Please make an appointment to visitPh: (250) 378-5223
E: [email protected] other future best friends @ www.angelsanimalrescue.ca
TikaaniWillow is approx 2 yr old female Sharpei cross. She is med. sized and house trained. She would do best on an acreage with a canine friend.
Willow ScarletteTikaani is approx 1 year old, spayed female, Husky / Malamute cross. She is kind, sweet, gentle, slightly timid and loyal and loves her people and children.
Scarlette is approximately 1 year old, spayed female, Husky / Mala-mute cross. She weighs approxi-mately 50 lbs. She is very sweet, slightly timid but very loyal.
How’s your hearing?Ask an
Audiologist.Carolyn Palaga, MSc, Aud (C)
Authorized by:WCB
First Canadian HealthVeterans AffairsRegistered under
the Hearing Aid Act (B.C.)
Call Monday - Friday
315-96882076A Granite Avenue, Merritt(Located at Nicola Valley Chiropractic)
A division of Carolyn Palaga Audiology Services Ltd.
Merritt Hearing Clinic
★ Earn extra money, tax-free★ Get exercise while getting paid★ Job experience with references★ Ideal starter job for kids
For more info please phone: 250-378-4241 Email: [email protected]
CARRIERS WANTED!Need More
EXERCISE?
Reclamation at Craigmont mill site underway
Art adoption fees support studentsA new piece of art-
work will be officially unveiled at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology tomorrow, but it won’t just hang on the wall.
The wood sculpture, titled “Forever,” will collect donations for a new scholarship or bur-sary at the school.
The sculpture is a large circular puzzle made from 100 differ-ent pieces of carved wood.
To contribute to the scholarship, people can donate $50 to adopt a piece of it. A map numbering each piece and identifying the type of wood it is made of will be posted alongside the sculpture, NVIT instructor Mil Juricic said.
Some of the wood pieces come from types of wood that can no longer be harvested and there is even one type of wood that has not been identified.
That wood, how-ever, has already been purchased.
“My wife bought it,” Juricic said with a laugh.
Two of these sculp-tures were purchased by NVIT: one for the Merritt campus and the
other for the Burnaby campus.
The artwork in Merritt has one puzzle piece missing, which is meant to symbolize 100 of 10,000 species of bird that have gone extinct.
Juricic told the Her-
ald that the meaning of the missing piece can have a local perspective to it too.
He said the piece that is separated from the rest of the puzzle could be interpreted as the piece of NVIT that is their Burnaby
campus.The artwork in
Burnaby has no miss-ing piece and is titled “Treasure,” Juricic said.
Some of the wood pieces have already been adopted, but oth-ers remain unclaimed.
All proceeds col-lected from adopting a piece of the puzzle go toward the bursary or scholarship, Juricic said.
The two sculptures purchased by NVIT cost $9,000 total.
The unveiling of Merritt’s artwork will be at noon at NVIT on April 9.
Peregrine O’Gormley, the artist who created the pieces, will be present for the ceremony.
By Michael PotestioTHE [email protected]
NVIT instructor Mil Juricic and artist Peregrine O’Gormley admire the newest piece of artwork at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. The artwork will be unveiled at its permanent location tomorrow at noon. Michael Potestio/Herald
By Emily WesselTHE HERALD
See ‘Local’ Page 8
www.merrittherald.com 6 • TUESDAY, April 8, 2014
HERALD OPINION
2090 GRANITE AVE., PO BOX 9, MERRITT, B.C. PHONE (250) 378-4241 FAX (250) 378-6818MERRITT HERALDCopyright subsists in all display advertising in this edition of the Merritt Herald. Permission to reproduce in any form, must be obtained in writing from the publisher. We acknowledge the fi nancial support of the Government of Canada, through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
This Merritt Herald is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org
EditorEmily Wesselnewsroom@
merrittherald.com
PublisherTheresa Arnold
Sports writerIan Webster
Office managerCarol Soamesclassifieds@
merrittherald.com
ReporterMichael Potestio
Advertising Sales Katie Ottenbreit
ProductionDan Swedbergproduction2@
merrittherald.com
“Gone are the days when all you want to see are sprawling countryside vistas.”
More like gone are the days when you can trick anybody with an April Fool’s Day story featuring a caricature of an arrogant condo tycoon.
Last Tuesday, the Merritt Herald published a phoney
story that a Vancouver developer was planning to build a 12-storey highrise in downtown Merritt. The bogus story featured the bogus quote that leads this column.
In dreaming up this April Fool’s Day story, I had to think of one where there wouldn’t be any col-lateral damage. It had to quote fake sources who, for obvious reasons, couldn’t be from real companies. I also didn’t want to report something that would be awesome if it were real and then shatter people’s hopes with the final paragraph outing the story as a joke.
So, enter Stu Sherman, a completely out-of-touch jerk, and his plans for a gaudy highrise in the
middle of a quaint country city. Here’s a little bit of his background.
Sherman is the former owner and operator of a horse and buggy taxi company, which although he admitted was a “gener-ally inconvenient way to travel,” he still peddled as a viable, everyday taxi service. He went so far as to pitch horse and buggy lanes to the provincial government, although even he had to admit that their support seemed unlikely.
Sherman made his first fortune selling counterfeit art, which he sunk entirely into a terribly-written self-help book detailing his many get-rich-quick schemes and an accom-panying speaking circuit,
which was really an excuse to jet around the world in luxury. The book sales were abysmal and the speaker series was a complete loss.
Though he lost his for-tune, Sherman didn’t lose his taste for luxury. On his last dime, it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time for Sherman. That place was a gaudy casino in Las Vegas, which would introduce him to a high-flyin’ poker player-turned-business partner, and would serve as the inspiration for his newfound condominium development plans.
Of course, there are so many red flags in the story that you probably didn’t need to read to the end to decide it was an April Fool’s
Day joke. (Better yet, if it took you to the end to real-ize, nobody needs to know.)
Before the advent of Google at our fingertips, people weren’t always too savvy for such pranks.
In the 1950s, the BBC reported on a family spa-ghetti tree farm in Switzer-land, and was inundated with calls and requests for spaghetti gardening tips.
In 1977, the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. ran a seven-page travel spread celebrating the island nation of San Serriffe, which any self-respecting design nerd would have a nice chuckle at. (For those who aren’t, it’s a typeface reference.)
Afghanistan mission not accomplished
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron rambled a bit on his visit to Afghanistan last December, but ended up sounding just as deluded as former U.S. president George W. Bush had been when he proclaimed “Mission accomplished” six weeks after the invasion of Iraq.
British troops were sent to Afghanistan, Cameron said, “so it doesn’t become a haven for terror. That is the mission . . . and I think we will have accomplished that mis-sion.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was equally upbeat when address-ing Canadian troops just before they pulled out in 2011.
Afghanistan no longer represents a “geostrategic risk to the world [and] is no longer a source of global terrorism,” he said.
Both men are technically cor-rect, since Afghanistan never was a “geostrategic risk to the world” or “a haven for terror,” but they must both know the whole war was really a pointless waste of lives.
Obviously, neither man can afford to say the soldiers who died in obedi-ence to the orders of their govern-ment (448 British troops, 158 Cana-dians) died in vain, but U.S. President Barack Obama has found a better way to address the dilemma: He just doesn’t offer any assessment of the campaign’s success.
“I never doubted Obama’s sup-port for the troops, only his support for their mission,” wrote former defence secretary Robert Gates — and he was right.
So was Obama, in the sense he realized the mission, whatever its purpose (the definitions kept chang-ing), was neither doable nor worth doing.
Good, wholesome April Fool’s Day fun
Emily WesselMerrittMUSINGS
By Gwynne Dyergwynnedyer.com
See ‘Façade will fall’ Page 7 See ‘Media’ Page 7
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 • 7
The Merritt Herald welcomes your letters, on any subject, addressed to the editor.
Letters must be signed and include the writer’s name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
Letters may be edited for length, taste and clar-ity. Please keep letters to 300 words or less. Email letters to: [email protected].
Open
103 - 2102 Nicola Avenue Merritt BC
?HERALD QUESTION OF THE WEEK
To vote, go online to
merrittherald.com
PREVIOUSQUESTION
LETTERS POLICY
Speak upYou can comment on any
story you read @ merrittherald.com
Did you turn off your lights on
Friday, March 29 for Earth Hour?
YES:12%NO:88%
But, in fact, he did support it, at least to the extent of not pulling the plug on it — and 1,685 of the 2,315 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan died on his watch.
Could do better.Now there’s another “election”
coming up in Afghanistan on Sat-urday, April 5, and at least three-quarters of the remaining foreign troops (perhaps all of them) will be gone from the country by the end of this year, and the whole thing is getting ready to fall apart.
This will pose no threat to the rest of the world, but it’s going to be deeply embarrassing for the Western leaders who nailed their flags to this particular mast.
The election is to replace President Hamid Karzai, who has served two full terms and cannot run again.
It will be at least as crooked as the last one in 2009 — 20.7-million voters cards have already been dis-tributed in a country where there are only 13.5-million people over the age of 18.
Karzai is so confident of remaining the power behind the throne he is building his “retire-ment” residence next to the presi-dential palace — but he’s probably wrong.
His confidence is based on his skill as a manipulator of tribal politics.
Indeed, his insistence the U.S. hand over control of Bagram jail and his subsequent release of 72 hard-core Taliban prisoners was designed to rebuild ties with the prisoners’ families and clans before the election.
But, it is that same Taliban organization that will probably make all Karzai’s plans and plots irrelevant.
It’s not that the Taliban will sweep back to power all over Afghanistan once Western troops leave.
It really only controlled the Pashtun-majority areas of the east and south and the area around the capital even when it was “in power” in 1996-2001, while the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras of the “Northern Alliance” ruled the rest.
That pattern is likely to reap-pear, with the Taliban and the northern warlords pushing politi-cians like Karzai aside — probably not at once, when most or all of the Western troops go home at the end of this year, but a while later, when the flow of aid (which accounts for 97 per cent of Afghan government spending) finally stops.
The U.S.-backed government of South Vietnam did not collapse when American troops went home in 1973, but two years later, when Congress cut the aid to Saigon.
The Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan did not collapse when Soviet troops withdrew in 1989, but three years later, after the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia cut the aid.
It will happen that way again.The new part-Taliban Afghani-
stan that emerges will be no more a source of international terrorism than the old part-Taliban Afghani-stan was.
It was Osama bin Laden and his merry men, mostly Arabs and a few Pakistanis, who plotted and carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, ter-rorist attacks, not the Taliban.
True, bin Laden et al were guests on Afghan soil at the time, but it is highly unlikely they told the Taliban about the attacks in advance.
After all, they were probably going to get their hosts’ country invaded by the United States; best not to bring it up.
And there have been no inter-national terrorist attacks coming out of Afghanistan in the past eight years, although the Taliban already control a fair chunk of the country.
The election will unfold as Karzai wishes and his preferred candidate (exactly whom is still not clear) will probably emerge as the new president, but this truly is a case of rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic.
The second long foreign occu-pation of Afghanistan in half a century is drawing to a close, and Afghanistan’s own politics and his-tory are about to resume.
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist based in London, England, whose articles are published in 45 countries.
On April 1, 1981, the Merritt Herald ran a story about hot springs discovered at the bottom of Nicola Lake, and a Califor-nia developer’s plans to build a million-dollar resort there.
The hijinks contin-ued into this century, getting more and more sneaky and closer to that edge between believable and ridiculous.
In 2008, the CBC Radio show “As It Happens” reported the $5 bill would be
replaced by a $3 coin called the “threenie.” The show, which typically features one-on-one, in-depth interviews with news-makers of the day, sure heard about the “threenie” from lis-teners.
In 2012, WestJet poked fun at its own customers and intro-duced Kargo Kids, a program that seats children in a special VIP area of the plane to leave the cabin in peace and quiet in their absence.
Just before this April Fool’s Day,
Lululemon got in on Jimmy Kimmel’s joke at the exercise appar-el company’s expense. On his late-night show, Kimmel showed a spoof commercial for a can of spray-on yoga pants.
The company featured its own real-looking ad on its website and listed the product as sold out. Each can costs $1,200 and contains 1,200 pairs of pants, the fit of which is described as “next to naked.”
I hope everyone found a laugh on April Fool’s Day.
From Page 6
Media pranks verge on believable
Façade will fall when foreign aid stops
NEW AT THE LIBRARYFiction
Mary Behre SpiritedKate Brady Where Evil WaitsJudi Fennell What a Woman WantsDebbie Macomber Blossom Street Brides James Patterson NYPD Red 2 Anne Perry Death on Blackheath Gina Robinson Love Another Day Susan Wiggs The Apple Orchard
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
From Page 6
Dear Editor,
We often contribute to the well-being of people in the underdevel-oped world. This is true with fair-trade coffee and is increasingly the case with other fair-trade consumer goods, such as chocolate.
The purchase of fair-trade-certi-fied products has important conse-quences. It allows many producers to receive reasonable prices for their products, and numerous workers to climb out of poverty. It also has pos-itive impacts on the environment.
Thousands of children work on farms and cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast, which supplies 35
per cent of the world’s cocoa. In Western Africa, there are thousands more children under 14 working on such plantations, doing hard and dangerous labour. Overall, millions of workers live from cocoa planta-tions, some earning only hundreds of U.S. dollars per year for their work and production.
Young and old, we should all work toward a world where soli-darity is at the heart of economic development. A fair trade Easter would be an immense step in this direction.
Bruno MarquisGatineau, Que.
Plan for a fair trade Easter this year
Will you go see the locally-shot film Shana: The Wolf’s Music at NVIT this week?
www.merrittherald.com 8 • TUESDAY, April 8, 2014
NICOLA VALLEY NEWSON
NOW
AT YO
UR BC
CHEV
ROLE
T DEA
LERS
. Che
vrol
et.ca
1-80
0-GM
-DRI
VE. C
hevr
olet
is a
bran
d of G
ener
al M
otor
s of C
anad
a. ¥¥
/‡/¥
/ * Of
fers
appl
y to t
he le
ase o
f a ne
w or
dem
onst
rato
r 201
4 Che
vrole
t Silv
erad
o 150
0 Dou
ble C
ab 4X
4 1W
T (G8
0/B3
0/H2
R). F
reig
ht ($
1,695
) and
PDI in
clude
d. Lic
ense
, insu
ranc
e, re
gist
ratio
n, PP
SA, a
dmin
istra
tion f
ees a
nd ta
xes n
ot in
clude
d. De
aler
s ar
e fre
e to s
et in
divid
ual p
rices
. Offe
rs ap
ply t
o qua
lifi e
d ret
ail c
usto
mer
s in B
C Che
vrole
t Dea
ler M
arke
ting A
ssoc
iation
area
only.
Deal
er or
der o
r tra
de m
ay be
requ
ired.
‡‡20
14 Si
lvera
do 15
00 w
ith th
e ava
ilabl
e 5.3L
EcoT
ec3 V
8 eng
ine e
quip
ped w
ith a
6-sp
eed a
utom
atic
trans
miss
ion ha
s a fu
el-co
nsum
ption
ratin
g of 1
3.0L/
100 k
m ci
ty an
d 8.7L
/100 k
m hw
y 2W
D and
13.3L
/100 k
m
city a
nd 9.
0L/10
0 km
hwy 4
WD.
Ford
F-15
0 with
the 3
.5L Ec
oBoo
st V6
engi
ne ha
s a fu
el-co
nsum
ption
ratin
g of 1
2.9L/
100 k
m ci
ty an
d 9.0
L/10
0 km
hwy 2
WD a
nd 14
.1L/10
0 km
city
and 9
.6L/
100 k
m hw
y 4W
D. Fu
el co
nsum
ption
base
d on G
M te
stin
g in a
ccor
danc
e with
appr
oved
Tran
spor
t Can
ada t
est m
etho
ds. Y
our a
ctua
l fuel
cons
umpt
ion m
ay va
ry. C
ompa
rison
base
d on w
ards
auto
.co
m. 2
013 L
arge
Pick
up se
gmen
t and
late
st co
mpe
titive
data
avai
labl
e. Ex
clude
s oth
er G
M ve
hicle
s. ^*
Base
d on W
ards
auto
.com
2013
Larg
e Pick
up se
gmen
t and
last
avai
labl
e inf
orm
ation
at th
e tim
e of p
ostin
g. Ma
ximum
trai
ler w
eight
ratin
gs ar
e cal
culat
ed as
sum
ing b
ase v
ehicl
e, ex
cept
for a
ny op
tion(
s) ne
cess
ary t
o ach
ieve t
he ra
ting,
plus
drive
r. The
weig
ht of
othe
r opt
ional
eq
uipm
ent, p
asse
nger
s and
carg
o will
redu
ce th
e max
imum
trai
ler w
eight
your
vehi
cle ca
n tow
. See
your
deal
er fo
r add
ition
al de
tails
. ̂^ W
hich
ever
com
es fi r
st. L
imit
of fo
ur AC
Delco
Lube
-Oil-
Filte
r ser
vices
in to
tal. F
luid
top-
offs
, insp
ectio
ns, ti
re ro
tatio
ns, w
heel
align
men
ts an
d bala
ncin
g, et
c., ar
e not
cove
red.
Addi
tiona
l con
ditio
ns an
d lim
itatio
ns ap
ply.
See d
ealer
for d
etail
s. ¥
0% fo
r 36 m
onth
leas
e ava
ilabl
e on a
ll 201
4 Silv
erad
o 150
0 Reg
ular
/Dou
ble/
Crew
Cabs
. Sam
ple l
ease
paym
ents
base
d on 3
6-m
onth
leas
e of 2
014 C
hevr
olet S
ilver
ado 1
500 C
rew
Cab 4
X4 1W
T (G8
0/B3
0/H2
R) on
appr
oved
cred
it by G
M Fi
nanc
ial. T
ax, li
cens
e, in
sura
nce,
regi
stra
tion,
appl
icabl
e pro
vincia
l fees
, and
optio
nal e
quip
men
t ext
ra. A
nnua
l kilo
met
re lim
it of 2
0,00
0 km
, $0.
16 pe
r ex
cess
kilom
etre
. Mon
thly
paym
ents
may
vary
depe
ndin
g on d
own p
aym
ent/t
rade
. Exa
mpl
e: Si
lvera
do Cr
ew Ca
b 4x4
1WT (
G80/
B30/
H2R)
inclu
ding
Freig
ht an
d Air
Tax i
s $29
,888 a
t 0%
APR,
$1,10
0 Dow
n pay
men
t, Bi-W
eekly
paym
ent i
s $13
5 for
36 m
onth
s. To
tal o
blig
ation
is $1
1,636
, plu
s app
licab
le ta
xes.
Optio
n to p
urch
ase a
t lea
se en
d is $
18,25
3. ≠ 0
% pu
rcha
se fi n
ancin
g offe
red o
n ap
prov
ed cr
edit b
y TD A
uto F
inan
ce Se
rvice
s, Sc
otia
bank
or RB
C Roy
al Ba
nk fo
r 48 m
onth
s on n
ew or
dem
onst
rato
r 201
4 Che
vrole
t Silv
erad
o 150
0 Reg
ular
/Dou
ble/
Crew
Cabs
. Rat
es fr
om ot
her l
ende
rs w
ill va
ry. D
own p
aym
ent, t
rade
and/
or se
curit
y dep
osit m
ay be
requ
ired.
Mont
hly p
aym
ent a
nd co
st of
borr
owin
g will
vary
depe
ndin
g on a
mou
nt bo
rrow
ed an
d dow
n pay
men
t/tra
de.
Exam
ple:
$10,
000 a
t 0%
APR,
the m
onth
ly pa
ymen
t is $
208 f
or 48
mon
ths.
Cost
of bo
rrow
ing i
s $0,
tota
l obl
igat
ion is
$10,
000.
0% fi n
ancin
g offe
r is u
ncon
ditio
nally
inte
rest
-free
. Fre
ight
inclu
ded.
Licen
se, in
sura
nce,
regi
stra
tion,
PPSA
, app
licab
le ta
xes a
nd de
aler f
ees n
ot in
clude
d. De
alers
are f
ree t
o set
indi
vidua
l pric
es. O
ffers
appl
y to q
ualifi
ed r
etail
cust
omer
s onl
y. Lim
ited t
ime
offe
r whi
ch m
ay no
t be c
ombi
ned w
ith ce
rtai
n oth
er of
fers
. GMC
L may
mod
ify, e
xten
d or t
erm
inat
e offe
rs in
who
le or
in pa
rt at
any t
ime w
ithou
t not
ice. C
ondi
tions
and l
imita
tions
appl
y. Se
e dea
ler fo
r det
ails.
†^ Th
e 201
4 Silv
erad
o has
been
awar
ded t
he 20
14 N
orth
Amer
ican T
ruck
of th
e Yea
r. For
mor
e inf
orm
ation
plea
se vi
sit w
ww.n
orth
amer
icanc
arof
they
ear.o
rg ^
Whi
chev
er
com
es fi r
st. S
ee de
aler
for c
ondi
tions
and l
imite
d war
rant
y det
ails.
¥¥ Re
tail a
nd ba
sic fl e
et cu
stom
ers w
ho pu
rcha
se or
leas
e an e
ligib
le Ch
evro
let, B
uick
or GM
C deli
vere
d fro
m de
aler
stoc
k bet
ween
Mar
ch 1,
2014
and A
pril 3
0, 20
14 w
ill re
ceive
one 4
0¢ sa
vings
per l
itre f
uel c
ard (
fuel
savin
gs ca
rd) u
pon p
aym
ent o
f an a
dditi
onal
$.01
. Car
ds va
lid as
of 72
hour
s afte
r deli
very
. Fue
l sa
vings
card
valid
for 8
00 lit
res o
f fue
l pur
chas
ed fr
om pa
rtici
patin
g Pet
ro-C
anad
a ret
ail lo
catio
ns (a
nd ot
her a
ppro
ved N
orth
Atla
ntic
Petro
leum
loca
tions
in N
ewfo
undl
and)
and n
ot re
deem
able
for c
ash e
xcep
t whe
re re
quire
d by l
aw. G
M is
not r
espo
nsib
le fo
r car
ds th
at ar
e los
t, sto
len or
dam
aged
. GM
rese
rves
the r
ight
to am
end o
r ter
min
ate t
his o
ffer a
nd/o
r the
prog
ram
for a
ny
reas
on in
who
le or
in pa
rt at
any t
ime w
ithou
t not
ice. P
etro
-Can
ada i
s a Su
ncor
Ener
gy bu
sines
s™ Tr
adem
ark o
f Sun
cor E
nerg
y Inc
. Use
d und
er lic
ense
. Car
ds ar
e pro
pert
y of S
unco
r Ene
rgy.
To pr
otec
t you
r car
d bal
ance
, reg
ister
onlin
e at w
ww.pe
tro-c
anad
a.ca/
pref
erre
d tod
ay. ‡
$4,25
0 man
ufac
ture
r to d
ealer
deliv
ery c
redi
t has
been
appl
ied t
o the
purc
hase
, fi na
nce a
nd le
ase
offe
rs of
2014
Silve
rado
1500
Doub
le 4x
4 1W
T, an
d is a
pplic
able
to re
tail c
usto
mer
s onl
y. $5
00 pa
ckag
e cre
dits
for n
on-P
DU m
odels
. Oth
er cr
edits
avai
labl
e on s
elect
Silve
rado
mod
els. O
ffer e
nds A
pril 3
0, 20
14. †
Offe
r val
id fr
om Ap
ril 1,
2014
to Ap
ril 30
, 201
4 (th
e ‘Pr
ogra
m Pe
riod’)
to re
tail c
usto
mer
s res
iden
t in Ca
nada
who
own o
r are
curr
ently
leas
ing a
1999
or ne
wer e
ligib
le ve
hicle
th
at ha
s bee
n reg
ister
ed an
d ins
ured
in Ca
nada
in th
e cus
tom
er’s
nam
e for
the p
revio
us co
nsec
utive
six m
onth
s, wi
ll rec
eive a
$750
Sprin
g Bon
us cr
edit
towa
rds t
he le
ase,
purc
hase
or fi n
ance
of an
elig
ible
new
2013
/201
4 Che
vrole
t mod
el de
liver
ed du
ring t
he Pr
ogra
m Pe
riod.
Reta
il cus
tom
ers r
esid
ent i
n Can
ada w
ho ow
n or a
re cu
rren
tly le
asin
g a 19
99 or
newe
r elig
ible
pick
up
truck
that
has b
een r
egist
ered
and i
nsur
ed in
Cana
da in
the c
usto
mer
’s na
me f
or th
e pre
vious
cons
ecut
ive si
x mon
ths,
will r
eceiv
e a $1
000 S
prin
g Bon
us cr
edit
towa
rds t
he le
ase o
r fi n
ance
of an
elig
ible
2013
/201
4 Che
vrole
t Silv
erad
o, Av
alan
che;
or a
$200
0 Spr
ing B
onus
cred
it to
ward
s the
cash
purc
hase
of an
elig
ible
2013
/201
4 Che
vrole
t Silv
erad
o, Av
alan
che d
elive
red d
urin
g th
e Pro
gram
Perio
d. On
ly on
e (1)
cred
it m
ay be
appl
ied p
er el
igib
le ve
hicle
sale.
Offe
r is t
rans
fera
ble t
o a fa
mily
mem
ber l
iving
in th
e sam
e hou
seho
ld (p
roof
of ad
dres
s req
uire
d). T
his o
ffer m
ay no
t be r
edee
med
for c
ash a
nd m
ay no
t be c
ombi
ned w
ith ce
rtai
n oth
er co
nsum
er in
cent
ives a
vaila
ble o
n GM
vehi
cles.
The $
750/
$1,0
00/$
2000
cred
it in
clude
s HST
/GST
/PST
as ap
plica
ble
by pr
ovin
ce. A
s par
t of t
he tr
ansa
ction
, dea
ler w
ill re
ques
t cur
rent
vehi
cle re
gist
ratio
n and
/or i
nsur
ance
to pr
ove o
wner
ship
for t
he pr
eviou
s con
secu
tive s
ix m
onth
s. GM
CL re
serv
es th
e rig
ht to
amen
d or t
erm
inat
e thi
s offe
r, in w
hole
or in
part
, at a
ny ti
me w
ithou
t prio
r not
ice. V
oid w
here
proh
ibite
d by l
aw. A
dditi
onal
cond
ition
s and
limita
tions
appl
y. Se
e you
r GM
deal
er fo
r det
ails.
OR
CASH PRICE FROM
OFFER INCLUDES $4,750 IN CASH CREDITS ‡, $2,000 IN SPRING BONUSFOR ELIGIBLE OWNERS ON CASH PURCHASES †, FREIGHT & PDI
$28,995* AT FOR
LEASE FROM
BI-WEEKLY MONTHSWITH $1,100 DOWN. BASED ON A PURCHASE PRICE OF $29,888.*OFFER INCLUDES $4,750 IN CREDITS‡, $1,000 SPRING BONUS FOR ELIGIBLE OWNERS†, FREIGHT & PDI.
$135¥ 0% 362014 SILVERADO 1500 DOUBLE CAB 4X4 (1WT MODEL)
36MONTHS¥0%
UP TOLEASING
48MONTHS≠0%
UP TOPURCHASE FINANCING 40¢
OFF/LITREGAS CARD¥¥
OFFERS END APRIL 30TH CHEVROLET.CA
2 YEARS/40,000 KMCOMPLIMENTARYOIL CHANGES^^ 5 YEARS/160,000 KM
P O W E R T R A I NW A R R A N T Y^ 5 YEARS/160,000 KM
R O A D S I D EASSISTANCE^
BEST-IN-CLASS TOWING: UP TO 12,000 LBS^*
BEST V8 FUEL EFFICIENCY.BETTER THAN F-150’S ECOBOOST V6‡‡
2014 NORTH AMERICAN
TRUCK OF THE YEAR†^
ELIGIBLE OWNERS RECEIVE UP TO $2,000ELIGIBLE OWNERS RECEIVE UP TO $2,000†
NEW SPRING BONUS
ENDS APRIL 30THTRUCK MONTH
ENDS APRIL 30THTRUCK MONTH
Call Murray Chevrolet Buick GMC at 250-378-9255, or visit us at 2049 Nicola Avenue, Merritt. [License #30482]
“The wind would hit that, and it would just — poof. It would carry it upward because it hits the slope,” Espig said. “You can think of it like a wave when it hits some-thing underneath; it just pushes it straight up.”
Huldra reduced that slope from a 2:1 ratio to a 3:1 ratio.
The other area that produced lots of dust were dune-like sand
piles, which will be flattened and seeded.
“[Those are] our immediate two priority sections and that’s where 95 per cent of the dust comes from,” he said.
He said the company reached out to ranchers with neighbouring properties before establishing a seed mixture that would be used.
“It’s fine if grass grows, but if you don’t know really the effect of that organic material and how that
affects the ranchers’ water beside us — it’s fine for us, it looks green — but without getting the local people there and understanding the effects... in the end, we actu-ally brought in the local ranchers and made them aware,” he said.
“Essentially, the amount of cleanliness you need for a mine is much less than somebody who has cattle in that area,” Espig said.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines originally recommended
crested wheatgrass along the banks. After consultation with local ranchers, Purity Feed, and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Espig said the company settled on a seed mixture that satisfied everyone.
That mixture includes two types of wheatgrass, climax Timothy, creeping red fescue and sainfoin.
The talks took about a week,
and the company wants to get the seeds in while the ground is wet, Espig said.
He said it was important to connect with locals because they are the ones who live beside the site.
“As a mining company based in Vancouver, it’s very often you forget about who your neighbours are,” he said, adding that as the new CEO, he is working to change that.
From Page 5
Local ranchers give input on seed mixture
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, April 10, 2014 • 9
HERALD SPORTSmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
Have a sports story tip? Tell us about it by calling 250-378-4241 or emailing [email protected]
Young rugby players tour England and WalesBy Ian WebsterTHE HERALD
For two Merritt teen-agers, a recent 15-day visit to the United Kingdom will be an experience they will savour for a lifetime.
The pair — Michael Peterson and Paz Morrison-Rainville — were part of a rugby tour to England and Wales organized by the Kamloops Rugby Club for its Raiders junior team.
The two-week trip in March of this year included four games against British club and school sides as well as a host of sightseeing and cultural opportunities.
“It’s something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said 17-year-old Peterson, a Grade 12 student at Merritt Secondary School and a member of the school’s senior boys rugby team.
“It was my first time travelling overseas,” added Panther teammate Morrison-Rainville, 16 years old and in Grade 11 at MSS. “It was the most amazing trip.”
Both Peterson and Morrison-Rainville have been part of the KRC’s junior program for more than a year now.
Morrison-Rainville was one of four Merritt players who joined the Kamloops Raiders junior rugby team last spring on a YMCA exchange trip to Ottawa.
Both trips were orga-
nized by Raiders coach Trevor Johnston, who welcomes the involve-ment of Merritt players.
“The boys we’ve had come up from Merritt have been terrific,” said Johnston. “They’re fine young men.”
The rest of the Raiders’ junior team is comprised of athletes from four different Kamloops school. The majority of the players are 16 to 17 years of age, with one 18-year-old and two 15-year-olds.
The head coach of the junior program at KRC said planning for the trip to England and Wales started quite late — not until this past November.
“It all came together rather quickly. We trained indoors twice a week right through the winter at different Kamloops schools. We didn’t get on a field outside at all until we landed in England.”
After busing to Vancouver and flying directly to London, the 30-member Raiders squad made their way to Birmingham for their first game — against the Sutton Coldfield Greens, a club side. Amazingly, the Kamloops team pulled off a victory, 15-14.
“It was a great start for our team,” said Johnston. “The boys’ sheer enthusiasm is what did it. The whole group always wants success and they just feed off each other. They aren’t satis-
fied with being second best.”
“We came out hard, and just kept pushing throughout the game,” said Morrison-Rainville who played flanker in the forward group through-out the tour.
The Kamloops team made their way to Pontypool, Wales for their second match — against another club team, New Panteg. They were blanked 10-0.
“They were a last-minute replacement when our original hosts pulled out,” said Johnston. “They were a big squad with four or five boys who were 19 years old. They were the difference in the game. They were stronger and had more rugby sense.”
“They were tough to play,” said Peterson. “It blew our minds that we couldn’t score against them. Every time we broke through their line, there was always some-one else there to make a tackle.”
The visit to Wales was made all the more mem-orable by the last-minute accommodation that was arranged for the visiting Kamloops team.
“They didn’t have time to organize billets, so our entire group ended up staying in one room of their clubhouse – all 29 of us. It was interest-ing to say the least,” said Johnston.
The visitors from Canada returned to England for two memo-rable games against prominent school teams. The first was Bancroft’s School, an independent co-ed institution located in Woodford Green (Greater London).
Founded in 1737, Bancroft’s beautiful grounds, venerable build-ings and hallowed halls were actually considered for the setting of the Harry Potter films.
“We ended up los-ing to them 19-7,” said Johnston. “The Bancroft’s coach held a training ses-sion with our boys in the morning and really sold them on how good they were, and how they were
going to steamroll over his lads. I think our play-ers got the feeling that all they had to do was show up and they’d win. Well, they didn’t. It was a good lesson for our play-ers in rugby strategy and gamesmanship.”
The Raiders’ final match was against Campion, another Greater London school and the number-one state side in England.
“Their rugby pro-gram is very good,” said Johnston. “Last year, they toured Singapore and New Zealand. Next year, they’re going to South Africa.”
Johnston went on to say that the Kamloops-Campion contest was constructed to be an “exhibition-friendly” in every sense of the word.
“It was our last game, and I wanted all our team to get plenty of playing time. So, as coaches, we decided to basically break the match into two separate games with lots of substitutions. They ended up beating us 19-5 and then 21-5. It was a good result for us when you consider that they toured Canada two years ago and beat an Alberta rep team by over 80 points.”
Despite a 1-3 record, the Merritt boys were more than happy with their team’s effort in all
the games.“The competition was
really stiff, but I think that we held our ground,” said Peterson, who will move in from his fullback position with the Raiders to play either scrum half or fly half with his MSS team.
The Raiders’ time in England wasn’t all com-prised of “punishment on the pitch.” The Canadian contingent took in plenty of sights, includ-ing Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Piccadilly Square and the British Parliament Buildings. In Wales, they toured Caerphilly Castle and the Big Pit Coal Mine.
“It was awesome,” said Peterson. “I think my favorite thing was St. Paul’s Cathedral, with all the incredible artwork.”
Peterson also enjoyed the London Eye — a humongous enclosed ferris wheel built for the Millenium celebrations in 2000.
“It was cool,” he said. “It gave you an amazing view of London from a different perspective.”
The boys also took in a pair of high-level rugby matches. First was Scotland versus Wales in an international friendly, followed by the Harlequins against the Saracens in an elite-level club contest in front of 83,000 people at the world-famous Wembley Stadium.
Morrison-Rainville
found the billeting with families to be incredibly meaningful and reward-ing.
“I think it was the best part of the trip,” he said. “You really got to learn a lot about their culture.”
Food was a real eye-opener for both Merritt boys.
“Lots of beans,” Morrison-Rainville said with a laugh, “even for breakfast!”
By the end of the tour, Johnston conceded that his young crew was exhausted.
“I don’t think that the boys were prepared for the amount of walk-ing that we did, and the amount of travelling by planes, trains and auto-mobiles. It really wore them out. And, of course, they wanted to have their fun, too. It all took its toll. By the end, I think they were all glad they were coming home…for a rest.”
Peterson and Morrison-Rainville’s involvement in Raiders’ rugby is not finished just yet.
“In July, Bancroft’s School is paying a return visit to play us,” said Johnston, “and a Scottish touring team has also contacted me about play-ing a game in August.”
Johnston welcomes the Merritt boys’ contin-ued participation.
“Both boys couldn’t be better ambassadors for Merritt. They’re wonder-ful lads. I’d take those kids anywhere.”
DEADLY DUO Merritt Secondary School rugby players Paz Morrison-Rainville (left) and Michael Peterson travelled to England and Wales with the Kamloops Raiders junior rugby team for a series of exhibition games. Ian Webster/Herald
Paz Morrison-Rainville received a $1,000 bursary from the Chris McGoon Memorial Fund to help with the expenses of his trip.
The CMMF has been set up to honour the former Merritt Secondary School student and athlete who passed away suddenly in 2004.
Each year, Chris’s friends and classmates from MSS, along with family members, get together for the John Wayne Classic golf tournament to raise funds for the educational needs of Chris’s daughter, Neveah, and to provide financial assistance to worthy student-athletes at Merritt Secondary.
“It was a real miracle to be able to go, and experi-ence a trip that I will never forget. My family and I thank the Chris McGoon Fund and everyone else for their tremendous support and help.”
- Paz Morrison-RainvilleHALLOWED GROUNDS The Kamloops Raiders junior rugby team takes time out for a pic-ture at historic Bancroft’s School in Greater London. Photo submitted
www.merrittherald.com 10 • TUESDAY, April 8, 2014
6447144
Black Press has a very
unique opportunity for the right person.
We currently have an opening for a sales person to help us with our paid distribution newspapers across B.C. This position means getting out in the community and talking to subscribers about our newspapers and working to build stronger relationships with existing readers of our newspapers. It also includes finding new subscribers for our newspapers and helping introduce them our award winning host of community newspapers. This is not a year-around position and will run from March to October each year. We offer a spectacular compensation package and bonus incentives. Your own vehicle is required, but we cover all travel expenses. This is really a great opportunity for the right person. It is a different type of job, but definitely has different types of rewards. If you feel this position would be the perfect fit for you, then we would love to hear from you. Please email all enquiries to Michelle Bedford at [email protected].
Unique Opportunity
Help Wanted
Announcements
Coming EventsDon’t miss the
Celebration of Rural LivingExpo & Trade Show
April 26-27, 20149am-5pm daily
NT Agriplex & Fall Fair Facility4872 Dunn Lake Rd., Barriere
Over 100 booths & displays to peruse. Music, concessions, giveaways. A full lineup of fea-ture speakers. Free draws every hour. $5/adult, $3/stud. or senior, children 12 & under Free.
Vendor and Expo info at:www.ruralexpobarriere.com
250-319-8023
Information
ADVERTISE in the LARGEST OUTDOOR PUBLICATION IN BC
The 2014-2016 BC Hunting Regulations
SynopsisThe most effective way to
reach an incredible number of BC Sportsmen & women.
Two year edition- terrifi c presence for your business.Please call Annemarie
1.800.661.6335 email:
PersonalsMEET SINGLES right now! No paid operators, just real peo-ple like you. Browse greetings, exchange messages and con-nect live. Try it free. Call now: 1-800-712-9851.
Travel
TimeshareCANCEL YOUR TIME-SHARE. NO Risk Program STOP Mortgage & Mainte-nance Payments Today. 100% Money Back Guarantee. FREE Consultation. Call Us NOW. We Can Help! 1-888-356-5248
Employment
Business Opportunities
GET FREE vending machines. Can earn $100,000 + per year. All cash-retire in just 3 years. Protected Territories. Full de-tails call now 1-866-668-6629. Website: www.tcvend.com
Help WantedCLUXEWE RESORT MAN-AGER needed at Kwakiutl Band in Port Hardy. Competi-tive salary and free accommo-dations. Deadline midnight April 15. Email [email protected] for job description and to apply.
In Memoriam
TRY A CLASSIFIED AD
Employment
Help WantedWANTED: SERVICE TECHNICIAN - SUNNY THOMPSON REGION. Kamloops dealership is currently accepting applications for full-time Journeyman & Apprentice RV Technicians. All applicants must have direct RV experience, possess own tools, have a positive attitude, strong work ethic, and take great pride in the work they perform. It is our goal to provide an exceptional customer experience for all our cli-ents. We place great emphasis on customer satisfaction and quality workmanship and need people who will help us maintain this goal. We truly care about our employees and provide a positive, happy work envi-ronment with competitive wages and benefi ts. Requirements: - Pos-sess Own Tools - Be Journey-man/Red Seal or period 1, 2, 3 Registered Apprentice RV Techni-cian - Possess Valid Class 5 BCDL (Air/51 Endorsement an asset) - Ex-cellent attendance - Self-motivated team player - Keen attention to de-tail - Maintain a positive attitude un-der pressure - Committed to lifelong learning If this sounds like a good fi t and you possess the above men-tioned qualifi cations we want to hear from you. How to Apply: With resume and references to: Atten-tion: Service Manager By Email: [email protected] By Fax: (250) 851-9775 NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE
Trades, Technical
LICENSED PLUMBER/GAS FITTER
Req. at Canuck Mechanical in Prince George. Must have exp. doing service work & be profi cient with trouble shoot-ing heating systems & plumbing problems.
Top wages & benefi tsEmail resume to:
Services
Financial ServicesDROWNING IN debt? Cut debts more than 60% & debt free in half the time! Avoid bankruptcy! Free consultation. www.mydebtsolution.com or Toll Free 1-877-556-3500 BBB Rated A+
GET BACK ON TRACK! Bad credit? Bills? Unemployed? Need Money? We Lend! If you own your own home - you qualify. Pioneer Acceptance Corp. Member BBB.
1-877-987-1420 www.pioneerwest.com
IF YOU own a home or real estate, Alpine Credits can lend you money: It’s that simple. your credit / age / income is not an issue. 1.800.587.2161.
UNFILED TAX Returns? Un-reported Income? Avoid Prosecution and Penalties. Call a Tax Attorney First! 1-855-668-8089 (Monday-Friday 9-6 ET).
Legal ServicesCRIMINAL RECORD? Don’t let it block employment, travel, education, professional, certifi -cation, adoption property ren-tal opportunities. For peace of mind & a free consultation call 1-800-347-2540.
In Memoriam
Services
Legal ServicesCRIMINAL RECORD? PardonServices Canada. Established
1989. Confi dential, Fast, &Affordable. A+BBB Rating. RCMP Accredited. Employment & Travel Freedom. Free Consultation 1-8-
NOW-PARDON (1-866-972-7366)RemoveYourRecord.com
FramingREDUCE energy use 50-90% with a super-insulated & airtight new home for the same price as a stan-dard build. E. Olofsson Construc-tion Inc., Licensed Builders. 604-761-3499 [email protected]
Merchandise for Sale
Misc. for SaleSAWMILLS FROM only $4,897 - Make money & save money with your own bandmill - Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship. Free Info & DVD: www.NorwoodSaw mills.com/400OT 1-800-566-6899 Ext:400OT.
STEEL BUILDINGS. Hot sav-ings - Spring sale! 20x24 $4,348. 25x24 $4,539. 30x30 $6,197. 32x36 $7,746. 40x46 $12,116. 47x72 $17,779. One End wall included. Pioneer Steel 1-800-668-5422. Or on-line: www.pioneersteel.ca
STEEL BUILDINGS/metal buildings 60% off! 20x28, 30x40, 40x62, 45x90, 50x120, 60x150, 80x100 sell for bal-ance owed! Call 1-800-457-2206 or visit us online: www.crownsteelbuildings.ca.
Misc. WantedCoin Collector Looking to Buy Collections, Estates, Gold & Silver Coins + 778-281-0030
Real Estate
Houses For Sale
Home and Land PackagesSpringbank Ave, MerrittCompletely Serviced
City ServicesTurn Key
STARTING FROM
$249,900.00
Call 250-573-2278Toll Free 1-866-573-1288
7510 Dallas Drive, Kamloops
www.eaglehomes.ca
Other Areas20 ACRES $0 Down, Only $119/mo. Owner Financing, NO CREDIT CHECKS! Near El Paso, Texas. Beautiful Mountain Views! Money Back Guarantee. Call 1-866-882-5263, Ext. 81.www.sunsetranches.net
Rentals
Apt/Condo for Rent2 bedroom Sandpiper apartment for rent. 5 appliances. $750.00 Available May 1st. Phone Tim at 315-8571.
Avail Mar. 1/14 One bdrm for one adult only. N/S, N/P, heat & cable incl. $525/mon. Ref’s. 250-378-2954Sandpiper Unit 109 2 bdrm w/laundry. $700/mon + Hydro Avail immed. 250-378-8104
Help Wanted
TRY A CLASSIFIED AD
Rentals
Apt/Condo for Rent
FOR RENT 2 BEDROOM APARTMENT1 unit available,
1st oor unit ideal for seniors
Available Jan. 1, 2014
$750/month incl. heat & laundry.$100 OFF 1ST
MONTHS RENTNewly renovated units“Clapperton Manor”
2775 Clapperton Ave.250-315-8340
Mobile Homes & Pads
Available immediately, 2 bed-room mobile home with mud room, small deck and large yard. Washer, dryer, fridge, stove and utilities included. $950 month. 250-378-0887
Rentals
Homes for Rent2000’sqft rancher, 2 bdrm +den, 1 1/2 bath, w/d incl., pri-vate courtyard, pool, n/s, no pets, $1200/mon. Avail Mar.15th or Apr. 1st. 250-378-5519
Rooms for RentFurnished room avail. Apr 15. $465/mon. Incl. util. Call 250-378-5128
Shared Accommodation
Roommate wanted. Furnishedbedroom with own bath,shared laundry, kitchen, inter-net included. Non smoker, non drinker, no parties, no pets. $500 per month. Responsibleperson only apply. Call 250-378-6020 or cell 250-280-2264
Suites, Upper2 bdrm suite, laminate fl rs, re-cently reno’d, shared laundry $650 incl. util. Available. im-mediately. N/s, N/p, ref. and credit check req. 778-228-6378 or 250-378-0303
SHOP LOCALLY
Your community. Your classifieds.
250.378.4241
fax 250.378.6818 email classi [email protected]
WORD CLASSIFIEDS
Tuesday issuenoon the preceding Friday
Thursday issuenoon the preceding Tuesday
DISPLAY ADVERTISING
Tuesday issuenoon the preceding Friday
Thursday issuenoon the preceding Tuesday
INDEX IN BRIEFFamily Announcements
Community AnnouncementsEmployment
Business ServicesPets & Livestock
Merchandise For SaleReal Estate
RentalsAutomotive
Legals
AGREEMENTIt is agreed by any display or
classi ed advertiser requesting space that the liability of the
paper in the event to failure to publish an advertisement shall be limited to the amount paid by the
advertiser for the portion of the advertising space occupied by the incorrect item only, and that there shall be no liability in any
event beyond the amount paid for such advertisement.
The publisher shall not beliable for slight changes or
typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an
advertisement. bcclassi eds.com
cannot be responsible for errorsafter the rst day of publication of
any advertisement. Notice of errors after the rst day of
publication of any advertisement. Notice or errors on the rst day should immediately be called
to the attention of the classi ed department to be corrected for
the following edition.
bcclassi eds.comreserves the right to revise, edit, classify or reject any
advertisement and to retain any answers directed to the
bcclassi ed.com Box ReplayService and to repay the
customer the sum paid for the advertisement and box rental.
DISCRIMINATORYLEGISLATION
Advertisers are reminded thatProvincial legislation forbids the
publication of any advertisementwhich discriminates against any
person because of race, religion,sex, colour, nationality, ancestry or place of origin, or age, unless
the condition is justi ed by a bona de requirement for the
work involved.
COPYRIGHTCopyright and/or properties
subsist in all advertisements andin all other material appearing inthis edition of bcclassi ed.com.
Permission to reproduce wholly orin part and in any form
whatsoever, particularly by a photographic or offset process in a publication must be obtained in writing from the publisher. Any
unauthorized reproduction will be subject to recourse in law.
MERRITTHERALD
Ph: 378-4241Fax: 378-6818
Advertising: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]
Production: [email protected] Granite Avenue,P.O. Box 9, Merritt, B.C.
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
If you see a wildfi re, report it to
1-800-663-5555 or *5555
on most cellular networks.
In loving remembrance
Winona (Noni)Opal Wickens
26 Oct. 1917 - 9 Apr. 2013
Remembrance is a golden chainDeath tries to break
but all in vain; The years may wipe out many
things, But this they wipe out never
The Memory of those happy times
When we were all together.
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 • 11
Guaranteed Approvals
IF YOU WORK,YOU DRIVECall Steve Today
1.855.740.4112 murraygmmerritt.com
Need a Vehicle? Call the
Available 24/7 • mycreditmedic.ca
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND OTHERS
Re: Estate of Elmer Abram Reimer, deceased, formerly of 1902 Eastwood Avenue, Merritt, B.C.
Creditors and other having claims against the estate of Elmer Abram Reimer, deceased, are hereby noti ed under section 38 of the Trustee Act that particulars of their claims should be sent to the Executor at Morelli Chertkow LLP, 300 – 180 Seymour Street, Kamloops, British Columbia, V2C 2E3, on or before May 5, 2014 after which date the Executor will distribute the estate among the parties entitled to it, having regard to the claims of which the Executor then has notice.
Signed:
Janice Lillian ReimerExecutor of the Estate of Elmer Abram Reimer
Solicitor: MORELLI CHERTKOW LLP
Legal Notices
Auto Financing
Transportation
Auto Financing
Recreational/Sale2003 22’ NASH Travel trailer, electric lift, solar panel, 2 new batteries, air conditioning, full bath, fridge, 3 burner stove, microwave, sleeps six, easy towing, sway bars and hitch. Excellent condition. $9,999 obo Call 250-378-3569
Utility Trailers13’ by 8’4” high two horse trail-er. Includes 6’ tack area, dual axle, 120 lbs. tires. Paid $1650 will sell for $1500 obo. Call Clarence Oppenheim at 378-1819 or 315-4842
Boats
Legal Notices
Legal
Legal NoticesAttention Mr. Mervin Fedor-chuk, your 1994 Lincoln vin# 1LNLM9744RY792758 will be sold to cover the repair bill of $1416.67 plus storage fees, unless payment is received by April 22, 2014. Chez Trans-mission, 136 Wilson St. Kam-loops, BC V2B 2M6
Auto Financing
FightBack.Volunteeryour time,energy andskills today.
www.merrittherald.com 12 • TUESDAY, April 8, 2014
WISHING A
HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE
Black’s PharmacyFriendly, professional service, from people who care.
Railyard Mall (Garcia St.) 250-378-5564
HHHOOOUURRRSSS: 8 am - 9 pm
DAILYEEAEAAASSTTEEERR
SUUNNNNDDAAAYY::8 am - 6 pm
COOOME SSEE UUS FFOOR AAALL YYOOURRR
ENNNTERTRTTAAINNINNG, PPARTTTY TRRAAYSS,,
DEESSERRT ANNND FLLLORAAAL NEEEEDS!!
250-378-92412676 Nicola Avenue www.marios-towing.com
TF: 1-888-292-1581
HAPPY
EASTERFROM
KENNEDY’S APPLIANCESIN HOME SERVICE
FULL LINE ON PARTSRECONDITIONED APPLIANCES
FULL LINE OF VACUUM BELTS & BAGS
1926 VOGHT ST. 250-378-9600
Wishing Merritt aHAPPY EASTER
from Ron at
2760 Forksdale Rd. 250-378-1841
Extra Foods MerrittStore Hours
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM7 Days a week
FFFrFrFrFrrommmomom
Youurr ooonnenee h hhhhoooppp tt tttoo o TRTRTRTRTREAEAEAEE TSTSTSSTT &&&& & FFF EEAAAE SSTS S
Vision Quest Optical & GiftsAuthentic Native Art Gallery
Phone: 250-378-2022 2001 Quilchena Avenue, Merritt, BC
BARRETTE’SAVAILABLE
HERE! Bring in Your Colouring Entry!
MERRITT LIBRARY
Hours: Thursday/Friday/Saturday:
10 am to 5 pmTuesday/Wednesday:
10 am to 8 pmCLOSED Sundays & Mondays
1999 Voght Street (next to the Credit Union)
PO Box 3090, Merritt, BC V1K 1B8250-378-5877
Call Today to Book Your Appointment.
Monday - Friday8 AM - 4:30 PM
STOYOMA DENTAL CLINIC
1301 Nicola Ave., Merritt, BC 250-378-5121
HAPPY EASTER
FROM ALL OF US AT
A Great Place for all your
Office Supplies
8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday
Print it right, print it with Merritt Printing 250 378 6808 • 1951 Garcia St.
BRING YOUR ENTRY TO ONE OF THESE PARTICIPATING MERCHANTS BY APRIL 16thfor your chance to win an easter basket from the MERRITT HERALD ($25 value)Entry Deadline: April 16 @ 4 pm • Open to children under 12
Contestant Name: ______________________________Parent/Guardian Name: ______________________________
Contact# ____________________
Easter C0louring contest
Have a chance
to win an EASTER BASKET.