THURSDAY, august 17 2017 Vol. 74, No. 33
Serving Fort St. John, B.C. and Surrounding Communities
$1.50 inc. gst.
alaskahighwaynews.ca
“The Only Newspaper in the World That Gives a Tinker’s Dam About the North Peace.”
petrowest troubles piling up
dc rodeo returns
the highway’s influence
BUSINESS A9
SPORTS B3
music b5
raising the roof
Taylor clinches clinic deal Details to be unveiled Aug. 21 matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
When You Are Out in the Field, Time IS Money. QUALITY PARTS, EXPERT SERVICE!
matt preprost Photo
HoursMon-Fri: 8am - 5pm Sat: 8am - Noon
9224 100 Street, Fort St. John, BC (250) 785-0463
Two dozen helping hands were on hand at New Day in the Peace Ministries Aug. 12 to build an eight room residence for women battling addictions in the community to lock-up stage. Under budget and ahead of schedule thanks to community donations and support, executive director Anita McKnight hopes to open this coming winter.
After Hours - Leave Message
Fall Fair celebrating 70 years matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
CONTACT US
phone 250-785-5631 fax 250-785-3522 email circulation@ahnfsj.ca online alaskahighwaynews.ca facebook AlaskaHighwayNews twitter @AHNnewspaper
Seven decades of fall fair and agricultural traditions will be celebrated in the North Peace this weekend. The North Peace Fall Fair is celebrating its 70th anniversary Aug. 18 to 20, with another weekend of horse shows, tractor pulls, log sawing, spike driving, dancing, camping, and more. “I just love seeing the kids, and the older people, it’s just matt preprost Photo like it was 50 years ago, the vis- Gerry Giesbrecht lends a helping hand at a recent fall fair working bee. itng, and sharing, and promoting agriculture,” said organizer fore shuttering during the war 33 acres added in 1981. The fair remains there today Lorna Penner, who was a casu- years. In 1947, the North Peace Fall and draws up to 6,000 visitors al visitor with her family before becoming involved 12 years Fair Association was formed, every year. Annual campers rotating fairs between North alone have grown from a couple ago. The first agricultural fair in Pine, Pineview, Montney, and dozen in numbers to 250, Penthe North Peace took place Rose Prairie. In 1954, Albert ner said. “Our community is so supin 1929, where Robert Ogilvie and Sophie Germaine leased school is today. In 1931, the 10 acres to the group to use in portive and behind everything North Pine Farmers Institute North Pine, before the land was with the fair,” Penner said. Agricultural Fair started be- bought outright in 1978, with See FAIR on A3
Condill customers raise glass to old haunt matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
The Condill’s date with demolition remains a question mark over the historic hotel, but long-time customers and residents joke they’re willing to jump on the wrecking ball to save their old, favourite haunt. All joking aside, news of the hotel’s sale to the city of Fort St. John and its pending demolition has folks raising a glass to its memory. “I hate it,” said Marlene Munch during a recent lunch hour. “This is my home. It’s
my office.” The sale of the building will be complete in September. Around 10 long-term residents will have to move out, and current owner Elaine Budnick says it will take about a month to clean up before handing over the keys to the city. The city, which bought the hotel for $867,000, plans to demolish it and sell the vacant lot in the future to a developer as part of its downtown revitalization plan. Still, the purchase has renewed discussion over the city’s role in identifying heritage buildings and ensuring their protection and
preservation. Con Hergot and Joe Dill built the hotel in 1942 as a place for American soldiers to stay during the construction of the Alaska Highway. However, the city says the building is at the end of its life cycle. “It’s been here for so many years,” said Sharon Belcourt, another Condill regular. “I understand the city’s position. The cost would be quite a bit, but it’s worth restoring.” “I can’t see anything else standing here besides the Dill,” Belcourt added. See CONDILL on A15
PAVING 100 Canadian
Residential • Commercial • Industrial Roads • Driveways • Parking Lots
The District of Taylor has reached a one-year deal with the North Peace Primary Care Clinic that will continue operations at the municipality’s medical clinic. The district announced the deal Tuesday afternoon, which will see the NPPCC send doctors to work in Taylor four days a week starting in September. The district will provide the facilities, support staffing, and operational needs for the clinic. Details of the detail will be announced at a public meeting in council chambers on Aug. 21. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. “Our council heard loud and clear from residents of Taylor and the region that medical services are a priority,” Mayor Rob Fraser said in a statement. The district has committed roughly $141,000 since March to keep the clinic open after Vancouver-based telemedicine company Livecare announced it would end its operations at the district-owned clinic—a decision that has left 2,100 patients in limbo and potentially without a doctor. The company had helped helped reopen the Taylor Medical Clinic amid a doctor shortage in June 2014, providing medical services through a hybrid model of telemedicine as well as face-to-face visits by a visiting doctor. However, the clinic posted an estimated $136,908 loss in 2016, despite the district injecting roughly $125,000 into its operations. Livecare said it could no longer afford to keep the clinic open unless a new funding model for telemedicine services was offered by the province or health authority. The district brought in $49,650 in MSP and non-MSP revenue between April and June. The North Peace Primary Care Clinic is the former “unattached patient” clinic established by Northern Heath in summer 2014. It is now privately operated.
Q&A NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER DOUG DONALDSON Softwood lumber, wildfire management, processing timber where it’s harvested—we asked the minister those questions and more. Read our interview online at
alaskahighwaynews.ca
FREE ESTIMATES
250.719.0686
% COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL GRAVEL SALES AND DELIVERY
Owned
Serving Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St. John & Surrounding Areas
33490