TUESDAY
S I N C E
1 8 9 5
Season’s best saluted
MARCH 27, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 61
110
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Page 11
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
New affordable housing initiative for Columbia Basin Project offers $10 million to help solve housing crunch in Kootenays BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
VALERIE ROSSI PHOTO
Young filmmaker Jordan Strobel practiced his camera technique at the Crowe library with fellow Grade 9 students Chris Tremblay and Tim Baldwin.
Deadline looms for aspiring filmmakers Original work will be showcased at the U19 film fest in Trail next month BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
The Royal Theatre will soon draw back the curtains on West Kootenay youth with a flare for videography. But those between nine and 19 years old still have until the end of the week to submit an original film to be showcased at an Under 19 Film Festival at the Trail theatre April 14. The festival that is put on by the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology
(KAST) in conjunction with the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture will offer a snapshot of local youths’ perspective from behind the lens. Grade 9 Crowe students Tim Baldwin and Chris Tremblay from Fruitvale and Warfield’s Jordan Strobel are gearing up for their work to hit the big screen. The friends sharpened their skills when they participated in a filmmaking workshop last fall. This was prior to submitting a collaborated short film based on a zombie apocalypse to the REEL Youth Film Festival, an under-19 portion of the Rossland Mountain Film
Festival held last November. “I like picturing how it’s going to be, going out and filming it and seeing how it all turns out,” said Strobel. “The final product is very satisfying.” He has submitted a look at his ski season and collaborated with Tremblay on an environmental piece. Meanwhile Baldwin and Tremblay tell the story of a kidnapping, flashing back to a friendship shared in a dream sequence, before a rescue prevails. They also documented what people think about the 2012 phenomenon marking the end of the world.
The film fest offers $200 cash prizes in six categories – drama, documentary, sports/ adventure, animation, original music and the environment. There will also be $200 awarded to an audience choice submission and $100 plus a camera for the judge’s pick. Those who wish to participate have until Saturday to submit original work to the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture. For more information, visit www.kast.com and select “Glows” and then “Digital Media for Youth” to download an entry form.
Affordable housing projects could be cropping up across the Columbia Basin this summer after a joint announcement earmarking $10 million for rental housing ventures was made recently. Called the Affordable Rental Housing initiative (ARHi), the new program will be available throughout the Columbia Basin, including the Greater Trail region, to help solve the housing crunch afflicting most corners of the Kootenays. Using a combined $5 million in investment over three years from the federal and provincial governments, a further $5 million has been added to that sum by the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) through a separate funding agreement with the province. CBT created the program to leverage extra federal and provincial dollars into the basin, said Delphi Hoodicoff, director of communications with the CBT. “Our objective is to ensure we can build as many units as possible with those dollars,” she said. “Whatever proposals can come forward to make these units happen, we welcome those submissions.” With some organizations already working on trying to resolve the issue and address some of the shortcomings, there was a need for a program to fund the work that was already going on out there, she noted, and create opportunities for new developments. “What we have heard from most communities in the basin is that there is a need for affordable rental housing,” Hoodicoff said. “Whatever may be causing that, whether it is high real estate or lack space and buildings, there is a wide range of reasons.” The procurement process for the ARHi will be revealed later this week and is expected to answer questions of how the program will work on the ground, how it will accept applications for project funding, who can apply, and how much will be given out. A request for proposals process will also be announced at the end of the week, giving the information necessary for communities and organizations in the region on how ARHi will work on the ground. As well, the CBT has not yet released where the greatest need may be in the Columbia Basin for affordable housing, said Hoodicoff, although affordable rental housing is an issue across the region.
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