THURSDAY, november 8, 2018 Vol. 75, No. 45
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.”
electoral reform primer
murdock makes U.S. splash
horror film a trick and a treat
news A3
sports B1
arts A16
Landslide evacuees go home
in like a lion
Dillon giancola sports@ahnfsj.ca
When You Are Out in the Field, Time IS Money. QUALITY PARTS, EXPERT SERVICE!
HoursMon-Fri: 8am - 5pm Sat: 8am - Noon
9224 100 Street, Fort St. John, BC (250) 785-0463
matt preprost Photo
After Hours - Leave Message
Snow plows cross 100 Avenue in Fort St. John, Nov. 5, 2018.
Bail denied for man arrested in bomb scare 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
A man arrested after a bomb scare at Totem Mall remains in custody. Benjamin Kelvin Neil, 23, made his first court appearance on a charge of common nuisance Oct. 30, where Judge Trudy Macdonald denied his release. “I have concerns with respect to public safety and also to the safety of Mr. Neil himself,” Macdonald said. Neil was arrested in the mall’s parking lot shortly after 12 p.m. on Oct. 29, after he allegedly told a mall security guard twice that he was carrying a bomb intended for the Winners store. Officers discovered that Neil was only carrying food, water, and hunting knife in his duffel bag, but say he was behaving erratically, talking to himself, and slow to follow orders when they arrived. At one point, he yelled at officers to shoot him,
court heard. In a statement to police, Neil said he was only joking. Sigrid Thompson, Neil’s defence lawyer, argued that he had stopped for a drink of water in the mall’s parking lot, and had struck up a casual conversation with the mall security guard and joked back and forth before the guard left and police arrived “fast and furious” talking about a bomb. When an officer asked what Neil had in his bag, “he says back with a question: ‘A bomb?’” Thompson said. “And then goes on to say, ‘No, there’s just food in my bag,’ and that’s what turned out to be the case.” Neil is from Progress and has been in Fort St. John for two months working for various companies in the area. He was wanted on an arrest warrant at the time of the incident, for a charge of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm toward a police officer
after he was found sleeping in his car in McLeod Lake in May. A warrant was issued July 19 when he failed to appear in court in Mackenzie. Thompson had been seeking Neil’s release on both matters, with conditions to avoid the mall and those involved in his arrest, and said he had strong family ties to the area. Neil spoke briefly to the judge, saying he was not a threat, grew up in a good Christian family, and was well known in the community and active with a local mountain biking club. He declined an opportunity for his hearing to be held over so family or friends could also come to speak on his behalf. Macdonald called his charges “troubling concerns,” and said she lacked information about a better plan for his release that ensured the safety of the public. No publication ban was ordered or imposed on the hearing.
November snow quickly piles up In other news, it’s been a snowy start to November. So snowy in fact that the first four days have already tallied up a new daily snowfall record and more snow than Fort St. John usually sees on average for the month. The city recorded 36.2 centimetres of snowfall between Nov. 1 and 4. That’s above the average 32.5 cm the city sees for the month of November. “This is definitely a pretty good dump of snow to start off
the month,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon. Most the snow came Sunday, Nov.4, with 24.4 centimetres dropped, and what a new record from the 11.4 cm that fell on the same day in 1975. While October’s weather was dominated by a ridge of high pressure, colder arctic air is settling in over the Peace Region and will bring colder, wetter weather. Skies are scheduled to be
sunny for the week, but temperatures will continue to be below normal, with highs reaching -1 C on Thursday before falling to -10 C on the weekend. The City of Fort St. John says its crews are clearing priority one roads and sidewalks on school routes. Sand is available for residents at the public works building at 10303 Cree Road, or at the corner of 96 Avenue and 100 Street next to the pool. Bring a pail or two along with a shovel.
PAVING % 100 Canadian Owned
Residential • Commercial • Industrial Roads • Driveways • Parking Lots
After nearly a month, most Old Fort landslide evacuees were finally told they were able to go home last weekend. The Peace River Regional District board lifted the evacuation order for most of the community at a special meeting on Sunday, Nov. 4. “This has been really difficult for everyone involved and we’re very happy to be able to move forward,” said board chair Brad Sperling after the meeting. Some homes, however, stil remain on evacuation order or alert. That includes 7605 Old Fort Road (order), and 6975 Old Fort Road, 9820 River Drive, and 7583 Old Fort Road, which remain on alert. Properties at 9909 240 Road and 9911 240 Road, which are gravel pits and have no residents, remain under evacuation order. Properties at 6963 265 Road, 6933 265 Road, and 9819 240 Road also remain under evacuation alert at this time. There will be a future analysis to come on the properties that remain under evacuation order or alert. More than 150 residents were ordered to evacuate on Oct 7, one week after the landslide cut off power and road access to the community. The board was acting on the findings of a preliminary geotechnical study of the landslide and the risk of it continuing to move and spread. Both Westrek Geotechnical Services and BGC Engineering agreed that most homes in Old Fort were not at imminent risk of being impacted by the landslide. However, both caution that the slide is still active and expected to move and shift, with a warning for spring. Both recommended continued monitoring of the slide. “The latest results show minimal movement in more than one week, indicating that large scale movement has ceased; however, the landslide is not considered inactive,” Westrek said. “Conditions on the landslide can change with little to no warning; therefore, the entire landslide mass, including the rockslide, earth flow, and both adjacent landslides, should be considered to be at imminent likelihood of movement.” See LANDSLIDE on A4
FREE ESTIMATES
250.719.0686
COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL GRAVEL SALES AND DELIVERY Serving Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St. John & Surrounding Areas
33490