THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22 2016 VOL. 73, NO. 98
SERVING FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
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Century 21 looked more like Santa’s workshop this month as the real estate company was the drop off point for collecting toys and pyjamas for the Fort St. John Salvation Army. The toy drive brought in nearly 400 toys and 109 pairs of pyjamas that will be included in the Salvation Army’s Christmas hampers.
Salvation Army prepared for cold winter ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca
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Grappling with the cold weather can appear to be a rather suburban problem, with needing to scrape off the frost on the car, finding a pair of gloves and making sure that old coat still fits—but for many in the Peace Region it’s a matter of life or death. When the mercury drops below -5 C, the Salvation Army opens its extreme cold weather shelter, which consists of emergency cots set up so people in need can have a warm place to sleep. In Fort St. John, 28 beds are set up at the Centre of Hope, and they are all in use every night from November to March. Sheldon Feener of the Fort St. John Salvation Army says centre staff have been
Frigid start saw emergency beds in FSJ open in October, while DC chapter seeks warm clothing kept busy with temperature plunge. “We’re at capacity most nights, we’re seeing more use of our drop-in services, so people are in throughout the day and staying warm,� he said. The organization has a drop-in centre that normally closes for a period in the afternoon for cleaning, but Feener says they’ve been reducing those hours so people can stay inside longer. The shelter’s extreme cold weather beds were open much earlier this year, Feener noted, the first week of October in fact, due to the weather. South of the river, Lt. Ian Rabourn of
the Dawson Creek Salvation Army has seen an increase in the amount of winter clothing requests, but also an increase in requests for something many might not think of: socks. “Socks, of all things,� said Rabourn. “The reality is that a lot of these people don’t wash their clothes so they wear their socks until they can’t wear them anymore, so they’ll come in wearing some form of footwear and they won’t have socks on. “It’s a little thing for the average person, but it’s a big deal for them.� See SALVATION on A3
No deaths, just damaged railing in bridge crash
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Repairs to a damaged section of railing on the Taylor Bridge is expected to be completed Friday. Yellow Head Road & Bridge has been working on the repairs since Monday, after a motorist crashed into them last Saturday. Despite rampant rumours on social media sites, police have confirmed the crash did not cause any fatalities and the vehicle involved did not fall over the bridge. Insp. Mike Kurvers, detachment commander for the Fort St. John RCMP, told Alaska Highway News that driver error was to blame for the Dec. 17 accident.
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Officers were called to the scene of a single vehicle accident the south side of the bridge around 4 a.m., Kurvers said. There were no fatalities or serious injuries, Kurvers said. When asked if road conditions or impaired driving were a factor in the crash, Kurvers said “driver error� was to blame. There were never any official reports of any vehicles driving off the bridge—beyond social media speculation. “There were car pieces and wreckage still on the bridge hours later,� said one motorist on scene. —Staff
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