Kamloops This Week February 8, 2023

CLLÉMENTEM IS ‘AS GOOD AS IT GETS’

Those who store their belongings are allowed to access their bins for 15 minutes each visit.

“Now, I might be on the streets and I might be homeless, but I’ve not lost my mind,” said Rick Greenstone, a 53-yearold man who has been homeless off-and-on since 2015.

At 48 West Victoria St., where First Avenue and Lansdowne Street meet next to Riverside Park, a small building roughly 800 square feet in size serves the city’s homeless community, people who need access to a mini-storage unit to keep their belongings safe. It is also a place for mail services, complimentary snacks and clothing donations, laundry machines, showers and washrooms.

The city-owned building is known as Cllémentem and it is operated by the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society.

Since Dec. 1, the hours of operation have expanded to run six days a week, Mondays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., with closures on statutory holidays.

Greenstone, who is a Kamloops transplant from Rossendale in England, visits Cllémentem daily as a part of his routine to practise hygiene, socialize with the community and safely store his belongings.

Prior to that, his belongings were turfed in other circumstances throughout the city.

“They used to call me Rick of Rossendale,” Greenstone explained with a chuckle. “Rossendale is near Lancashire, in northern England, but say it’s outside of Liverpool. I’m a Liverpool fan and they need all the support they can get.”

Prior to relying on access to Cllémentem, Greenstone utilized services at the nearby Mustard Seed after his departure from the Emerald Centre hostel in 2015, where he spent time after being released from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.

He was incarcerated for assault and breach of probation.

Lawyer

Rick Greenstone is one of many in the homeless community who use Cllémentem, the city-owned building at 48 Victoria St. W. that is a ministorage facility and more for those on the street. It is operated by the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society. Activity at and around Cllémentem, including open drug use and jaywalking, led Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson to put forward a motion that city staff review operations at the site.

DAVE EAGLES PHOTOS/KTW

While the city reviews how its storage facility for the homeless operates, KTW spoke to some who use the site

BREANNE MASSEY STAFF REPORTER breanne@kamloopsthisweek.com

C I T Y PAG E

Feb 8, 2023

Council Calendar

The public, media, delegations, and staff are encouraged to par ticipate in meetings vir tually through Zoom or to observe through the City YouTube channel

Februar y 9, 2023

1:30 pm - Community and Protective Ser vice Committee

Februar y 14, 2023

10:00 am - Committee of the Whole

Februar y 22, 2023

1:30 pm - Development and Sustainability Committee

Februar y 27, 2023

1:30 pm - Civic Operations Committee

Februar y 28, 2023

1:30 pm - Regular Council Meeting

The complete 2023 Council Calendars is available online at:

Kamloops.ca/CouncilPor tal

Council Meeting Recap

Sign up for the Council Highlights e -newsletter at:

Kamloops.ca/Subscribe

Yard Waste Site Closures

The Bunker Road and Barnhar tvale Yard Waste Sites are now closed for the season. Cinnamon Ridge remains open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm daily

Indoor Walking Track

The Sandman Centre concourse is available for walk ing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm until April 2023. Due to K amloops Blazers home games and concer t schedules, some designated walk ing dates may not be available

Pothole Season

With the current warm weather trend, you may notice more potholes popping up on our streets If you see a pothole, please slow down and proceed with caution. We can only fill the ones we are aware of, so help us by repor ting a pothole with the MyK amloops app at: Kamloops.ca/MyKamloops

C A L L F O R A P P L I C AT I O N S F O R T H E 2023 C O M M U N I T Y

A R T G R A N T S

The City is now accepting applications from non-profit organizations for 2023 Community Ar t Grants These grants are available for projects that will promote development and awareness of the ar ts in our community The City awards Community Ar t Grants once per year

The Community Art Grant program supports Council’s strategic priority of livability by cultivating a vibrant and diverse arts, culture, and heritage environment throughout the city All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of individuals active in the local ar ts community Project applications will be assessed in the following areas:

• the ar tistic merit of the project

• the expressed benefit of the project to the promotion of ar ts and ar ts awareness within the community

• the ability of the applicant to see the project to completion

• the collaboration between ar tists and organizations not usually involved in ar tistic production

• samples of previous work produced by the ar tists - slides, photographs, tapes, film, videos, etc

• the abilities of the applicant(s) to carr y out the project within budget Applications must be received on or before 4:00 pm on Friday, April 7, 2023. Apply now at: Kamloops.ca/Grants

B U D G E T I N F O R M AT I O N S E S S I O N 2023

The City would like to consult and engage with residents about the 2023 budget as we plan for the next five -year budget c ycle (2023–2027). Join staff and Council on Wednesday, Februar y 15, 2023, at 7:00 pm in the Spor ts Centre Lounge at McAr thur Island Spor t & Event Centre for an update and discussion on the provisional budget

Par ticipants will also learn about and discuss a number of business cases brought for ward by City staff and community groups, which Council will consider as additional budget items this year

This will be the first budget approved by the newly elected City Council Let them k now your perspective on how it will affect you and your community.

For up -to - date event information and to subscribe for updates, visit:

LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca/Budget2023

C L I M AT E AC T I O N G R A N T

A new Climate Action Grant from the City of Kamloops aims to inspire and enable residents, non-profit organizations, and charities to undertake community-based climate action projects that advance priority actions in the Community Climate Action Plan Eligible applicants are encouraged to propose creative, equitable, and community- driven projects that have the potential to:

• provide a direct benefit to the community

• suppor t the implementation of the Community Climate Action Plan

• improve resilienc y to climate change and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions

• foster neighbourhood pride and/or community wellness

• respect the principles of equity and climate justice Applicants can apply for up to $2,000 in funding Apply until Februar y 28, 2023, at:

Kamloops.ca/Grants

Let's Talk K amloops is our engagement website where you can share your voice and shape our city Please subscribe to the project of interest to receive updates

Repor t an issue: 250-828-3461

For after-hours emergencies, press 1.

Sign up and speak up at: LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca

KTW’s two-page photo spread of the Special Olympics Winter Games

SALUTING A SPECIAL WEEKEND A26-A27

TODAY’S FLYERS

Your Independent Grocer*, Walmart*, Shoppers*, Sun Peaks Independent News*, Safeway*, Rexall*, Princess Auto*, M&M Meats*, London Drugs*, Home Hardware*, Freshco*, Canadian Tire* * Selected distribution

WEATHER FORECAST

Feb. 8: Sunny, then flurries 5/-2 (hi/low)

Feb. 9: Showers 9/-1 (hi/low)

Feb. 10: Sun/clouds 5/-2 (hi/low)

Feb. 11: Cloudy 7/-1 (hi/low)

Feb. 12: Flurries 5/-1 (hi/low)

ONLINE

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REGION’S FORMER TOP DOC GUILTY A6

Dr. Albert de Villliers has been convicted of child sex crimes

Stolen French bulldog has been returned to her Cherry Creek abode

SHOUT IT OUT — WHISPER IS HOME A15

BEVY OF BIRDS AT THE BEACH

Brittany Strebchuk’s photo was the winner of Kamloops This Week’s photo contest for January, triumphing by a mere two votes over the secondplace photo, as voted on by KTW readers at our Instagram page.

If you would like to enter KTW’s monthly photo contest, go online to kamloopsthisweek.com/ photo-contest.

Seeking update on a sobering centre

MICHAEL POTESTIO STAFF REPORTER michael@kamloopsthisweek.com

Kamloops council wants an update on its desire to have a sobering centre located in the city.

Sobering centres provide short-term shelter, assessment and monitoring of inebriated people and may include referral by police or a hospital. For years, a city-created business case for such a facility has been in the hands of the provincial government.

During its Jan. 31 meeting, council voted unanimously to direct its community and protective services committee to have follow-up discussions with the province, staff and community members on the establishment of a sobering centre in Kamloops.

Council has had similar discussions in recent years following the death in 2019 of an inebriated man in an RCMP cell.

The motion was put forward by Coun. Nancy Bepple after hearing the latest from Coun. Dale Bass about the city’s business case and a presentation from the Day One Society, which operates the Phoenix Centre drug and alcohol recovery centre.

Bass said the business case had been sent to the Ministry of Health, but at last September’s Union of BC Municipalities convention in Whistler, council learned it needed to go to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, which didn’t exist at the time the business case was submitted.

“It now has to be updated to go to the new ministry,” Bass said.

Day One Society executive director Sian Lewis said her organization wants to host such a facility within its Phoenix Centre, located behind Royal Inland Hospital. Lewis described that as the most cost-efficient option and one that makes sense in terms of the flow of service.

Lewis said Day One foresees the service operating with medical supports 12 hours overnight — opening at 7 p.m. and closing at 7 a.m. the next morning — with people given an opportunity to move to a detox bed if they so choose.

“Potentially, we’d be saving lives,” Lewis said.

She noted situations involving aggressive intoxicated people being held in RCMP cells and charged would still occur, but said

the centre would serve people who have not been involved with police and simply need a safe place to spend the night.

Lewis said she feels a sobering centre is a way to get people into detox as the admitting process is more lax. Once within the centre, staff can encourage them to enter the detox program and complete the paperwork to do so.

She said while people can be immediately admitted to a sobering centre, there is a triage process in place for detox that is more intense, one that involves gathering plenty of medical information.

Lewis said up to 85 per cent of people who participate in Day One’s detox program complete it within five to nine days. The program has 20 beds and is adding another five beds for youth.

Lewis told council people who use the program do so voluntary, noting they are free to discharge themselves. She said people are not held against their will, even if they have been ordered by the court to attend.

“They may be court-ordered, but we’re not enforcing that,” Lewis said.

Region’s former top doc guilty of child sex crimes

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

Dr. Albert de Villiers, the former chief medical health officer for Interior Health and a former top doctor in Alberta, has been convicted of sex crimes involving a child.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Shania

Leonard announced De Villiers’ verdict on Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Grande Prairie, Alta., following a trial that ran from Jan. 10 to Jan. 12.

Leonard found De Villiers guilty of one count of sexual assault and guilty of one count of sexual interference related to his interactions with the child, whose identity is protected under a publication ban.

Due to the age of the victim, the trial was held under several publication bans.

The offence occurred between 2018 and 2020, while De Villiers was the lead medical health officer for Alberta’s Northern Zone. De Villiers was serving as Interior Health’s chief medical health officer when he was arrested in Kelowna in June 2021.

De Villiers still faces three other charges — voyeurism, making explicit material available to a child and invitation to sexual touching — related to unrelated alleged incidents that police say occurred between January 2017 and December 2019. The trial for those charges is scheduled to begin on Aug. 22.

Porsche impounded after driver clocked at 130 km/h on Summit Drive

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

A driver’s lead foot left him at the side of the road with a hefty fine and his high-end sports car being taken off the street.

Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said an officer clocked the driver of a Porsche travelling at more than twice the speed limit on Saturday, Feb. 4.

At about 4 p.m., Evelyn said, the officer used

radar equipment to record the driver going south (uphill) in the 700-block of Summit Drive at more than 130 km/h. The speed limit in that area is 60 km/h.

As a result, the driver was stopped, issued

a ticket for excessive speeding and had their Porsche impounded for seven days. Under the Motor Vehicle Act in B.C., a driver exceeding the speed limit by more than 60 km/h faces a fine of $483 and three penalty points.

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing will be held on TUESDAY, February 21, 2023 at 6:30 p m in the COUNCIL CHAMBERS, #1 Opal Drive, Logan Lake in order to afford all persons who believe that their interest in property is affected by the following amendments to Zoning Bylaw 675, an opportunity to be heard or to present written submissions respecting matters contained in this amendment

ZONING AMENDMENT BYLAW 901, 2023

The intent of this bylaw is to rezone the property legally described as Lot 1 DL 2217 and 6485 Kamloops Division Yale District Plan KAP92176 except plans Epp18100 Epp29259 EPP52140 Epp75956, EPP103240 and Epp115365 and located at Poplar Drive, Logan Lake, BC from Single Family Residential (R1) zone to Two Family Residential (R2) as shown on the map below in bold

ZONING AMENDMENT BYLAW 902, 2023

The intent of this bylaw is to amend Zoning Bylaw 675, 2010 by adding “SHIPPING CONTAINERS” as a permitted use in the following locations:

a) DISTRICT LOT 2213 KAMLOOPS DIV OF YALE LAND DISTRICT PID: 013-187-040 6880 HWY 97D

accination prevent ser us illness and hospitalization. Designed systems, pediatric a smaller dose than dose. are safe

Vaccination helps illness and hospitalizati for children’s immune vaccines deliver the adult dose. They tested and fe

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b) PLAN KAP40458, District Lot 26, Kamloops Division Yale District PID: 007-297-271 Campground Road

Campground Property 6880

Dr. Danièle Behn Deputy Provincial Indigenous He

The benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks. That ’s why my children are va inated

“

Smith Provincial Health Officer, Health

s my children vaccinated.”

LOCAL NEWS

Storage facility user suggests fence would help

From A1 Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson cited jaywalking and open drug use as reasons for his suggested review of how Cllémentem is being operated. The city-owned building at 48 Victoria St. W. serves as a mini-storage facility for the homeless population. The facility opened in 2018 as a free space where the city’s marginalized can store their belongings, use the washroom, take a shower and co-ordinate other supports and programming. It is operated for the city by the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society.

With a brief stint in Maple Ridge in 2016, Greenstone remains on the streets and he has chosen Kamloops to be his home.

Greenstone said he would like to create a calendar featuring homeless women in Kamloops, with a series of candid photographs. He would like to sell it so the proceeds could be used to help women on the streets in Kamloops.

Greenstone believes Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson might be on board for a cause of this nature and hopes to see some positive changes from city council moving forward.

While Greenstone does not utilize mail services at Cllémentem, he does value the storage bins assigned to visitors, as well as the showers, washrooms and laundry service. Without access to Cllémentem, Greenstone believes there would be an increasing number of complaints about the homeless population, since they would not have a place in which to clean up.

He said the reality is that nobody on the street wants to be viewed as anything other than homeless, especially not as vio-

lent offenders.

“Being homeless is bad enough,” Greenstone said, acknowledging altercations can occur on the street, but adding it’s typically not an issue that occurs with the general public, in his experience. Greenstone said always being on alert leads many people on the street to feel hypervigilant, which often results in a lack of sleep at times. That, Greenstone said, ultimately leads to mental-health issues being

formed due to trauma or existing mental-health issues worsening for others.

“It’s all about relationships and how you treat people,” he said.

When asked if the services could be improved at Cllémentem, Greenstone said the program does more than meet his needs on a regular basis.

“The mini-storage is now part of me routine,” he said with a smile.

DAVE EAGLES/KTW

“Their attitude is open arms.”

Greenstone said he is considered a “normal human being” at Cllémentem.

“When you can walk into a place where people greet you with open arms, it’s a break,” he said. “They’ve never judged me or criticized me. It’s a true family.”

KTW also spoke to some of Greenstone’s peers who are accessing services at Cllémentem. They wished to remain anonymous, but spoke about the facility.

They feel the existing location is “as good as it gets” since they are aware many residents in the city do not want to see

Taylor Bachand | Associate

such buildings and programs in residential areas, close to their homes.

Some of the people who access Cllémentem have trailers, while others remain on the street. However, Cllémentem is viewed as the one-stop shop at which everyone from the community can access services without judgment or criticism.

A man in his 40s suggested a fence surrounding the property would conceal activities raised by the mayor and which the public do not like to see, such as drug use, which is not allowed on site.

Another man in his 50s said the public needs to hold other non-profit organizations and doctors accountable for providing mental-health support and training to staff, as well as for creating an awareness that use of prescription drugs can lead to addiction. He said prescribed drugs are traded for street drugs by those who depend on substances to endure the elements.

A handful of people KTW spoke with at Cllémentem said the homeless population wants to avoid people who are not homeless due to the ongoing stigma that exists when one is down on their luck.

We are pleased to welcome Taylor Bachand as an associate with our firm Called to the bar on Feb 1/23, before joining our firm Taylor completed her Bachelor of Laws with Honours at the University of Tasmania, Australia (2019), and her B achelor of Ar ts with Dis tinc tion at UV ic (2016) Planning to focus her practice in wills and estates, business, and real estate, Taylor's inherent curiosit y, logical adaptabilit y, and limitless energy result in personalized, cohesive legal solutions for her clients

After sp ending over a de cade tra ve ling the world , Tay lor returne d to hometown Kamloops , to make her life around family and friends . Outside of the office, Taylor enjoys finding creative projec ts that bring together like -minded people, exploring B C and beyond, and reading the occasional good book .

Congratulations Taylor, from all of us at Fulton!

Democracy at city hall, warts and all OPINION

Despite what some pundits have alleged, last week’s marathon Kamloops council meeting was not a gong show, nor was it a mess.

It was messy, granted, but democracy often is. Democracy can also be frustrating and prone to lengthy debate with verbose participants. Last week’s council meeting was a textbook example of democracy at the local level in action.

Critics of the meeting’s length — and of council’s decision to spend much of the five hours on Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s notice of motion regarding the storage facility used by the city’s homeless population — are likely peeved because they are impatient.

Democracy is not for the impatient.

True, council could have cut down on some debate by sticking to the

focus of the mayor’s notice of motion (a review of the storage facility) and forgoing discussion about reviewing the whole of Victoria Street West.

And the ongoing issue of whether the mayor is in conflict added to the length of the meeting.

But in the end, there was deep

discussion on issues that defined the civic election campaign a few months ago. And that discussion was not confined to those at the council table.

We heard plenty from city staff — explanations from community and protective services director Byron McCorkell on the city’s limitations with respect to provincial oversight were especially instructive, as was the frustration evident in his cadence, a weariness likely born from having to repeatedly explain to the masses why the social disorder on the street is an incredibly complex problem that has no quick-fix solution.

We also heard from those working for social agencies that have direct contact with the homeless population and the insight from Cal Albright of the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society and Kelly Thomson from The Mustard Seed was illuminating and a reminder why these agencies are so crucial.

email:

The statistics rolled out were interesting, with about 25 per cent of those using the storage facility being connected to much-needed services. There are indeed success stories in the street.

And, yes, we also heard from Victoria Street West business owners who have been severely impacted by those on the street who have no desire to respect others. Crime, vandalism, threats and a laundry list of detritus have the business owners once again asking for help, much like they have for the past few years.

While city hall can only do so much, as explained by McCorkell, even if the municipality could do more, the fortunes of those business owners would not likely change any time soon.

Time and again we have heard from politicians and city staffers that addressing the street disorder issue is a long process.

That’s true — and until the upper levels of government get serious with a comprehensive (and extremely expensive) recovery plan for those suffering from addiction and mentalhealth issues, incremental measures (such as the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of hard drugs and a shelter here and there) won’t do anything to change the streetscape we see now.

We are in this for the long haul. It is a bleak outlook, but I fear this is the new normal for the forseeable future. The long discussion last week was an example of city council giving its citizens as much time as they needed to vent and allowing the elected representatives to weigh in on the matter, sometimes with opinions that met like two angry bighorns. It was democracy in action, warts and all.

editor@kamloopsthisweek.com

Twitter: @ChrisJFoulds

There’s a fly in the ointment, but that’s OK

First, let me say that although this task is on my list of responsibilities as this month’s deputy mayor, I’m writing simply as Katie Neustaeter, Kamloops city councillor.

All opinions expressed here are my own. Just me.

Because, the thing is, if you hand a writer a blank page and say, “Publish a column on anything you want” during the most fascinating, complicated, locally gossiped-about and daily changing professional landscape imaginable, you never know what she might say.

So, being confined to 550 words and after much internal debate, I’ll just tell you this:

While it would be absurd to say that

KTW

General manager: Ray Jolicoeur

EDITORIAL

Editor:

Christopher Foulds

Newsroom staff:

Dave Eagles

Marty Hastings

Jessica Wallace

Sean Brady

Michael Potestio

Breanne Massey

CIRCULATION

Manager:

Serena Platzer

there’s nothing extremely unusual happening at city hall these days, I also want to reassure you that the business of the City of Kamloops is still steadfastly happening despite the racket.

The online haters are going to be all up in the comments section when I say this, but you should know how impressed I’ve been with city staff.

I would have been lost without their support these past three months and, whether you know it or not, you would be, too.

Publishing

Particularly as most of council is new (and a tad bit complicated), we not only need their steady expertise, dedication and experience to keep the work going, we also require their considerable institutional knowledge.

They’re not perfect, and that’s what accountability is for, but from what I’ve witnessed (up close and under constant metaphorical fire), they’re pretty impressive.

As for council, while things are obviously very weird, they’re not as bad as you probably think (mostly).

In fact, in many ways, they’re great.

I’d say we unilaterally agree on the needed direction for most major issues: crime, safety, development, public engagement,

transportation, recreation and more. And not every council can say that.

I count many of the people at that table (strangers to me mere months ago) amongst the most capable, fair-minded and qualified professionals with whom I’ve ever had the honour to work.

It’s a strong horseshoe.

Singularly, though, there is a very different set of values, ethics and rationale when considering how successful implementation can (or should) be achieved when addressing issues through a corporate structure.

And that is undeniably causing some discord.

ADVERTISING

Manager:

Liz Spivey

Linda Skelly

Jodi Lawrence

Paul De Luca

Rylan Willoughby

Jack Bell

DIGITAL SALES:

Manager:

Chris Wilson

DIGITAL DESIGNERS

Jackson Vander Wal

PRODUCTION Manager: Lee Malbeuf

Production staff:

Fernanda Fisher

Dayana Rescigno

Moneca Jantzen

Kaitlin Vander Wal

FRONT OFFICE

Front office staff:

Lorraine Dickinson

Angela Wilson

Marilyn Emery

Rosalynn Bartella

CHRISTOPHER FOULDS

KATIE NEUSTAETER VIEW FROM CITY HALL

Robert W. Doull President Aberdeen Publishing Inc.

Robert W. Doull President/Publisher Aberdeen

OPINION

PERFECT EXAMPLE OF IMPERFECT DEMOCRACY

So, overall, it’s kind of a mixed bag, but that might also make us the perfect example of our imperfect democracy at work.

While I couldn’t have predicted the road from the election to now, no matter what you see through the tiny window of news stories, speculative online comments sections, unusual meetings, opinion pieces or any other method of peeking in, the 900-plus employees of the City of Kamloops and your council remain solidly here, doing the job on your behalf every day.

I will never stop being grateful that you elected me to do this job at this time. I remain stunned that almost half of people who cast their ballots in the October municipal election put their mark beside my name and I’ll never stop feeling the weight of that responsibility. It’s an honour that so many of you trusted me to stand in this humbling space.

So, stand I will — strong back, soft heart and forward mind.

FOCUS ON HIGHWAY SAFETY REQUIRED

Editor:

As we approach the end of another winter, the carnage on the B.C. highways continues.

Drivers must pay attention at all times and in all conditions. Sadly, recent fatalities on our local highways most certainly could have been prevented, but instead have left a trail of broken hearts.

Several of these accidents have involved semi-trailers and buses trying to meet unrealistic deadlines, placed on the driver by the clientele.

How many times have we heard that an accident was caused by weather conditions? Other factors could include improper road maintenance, driving too fast for road conditions and lack of traffic enforcement.

The latter reason would be at the bottom of my list but one cannot rule it out.

I get nervous when I am faced with passing a semi-trailer regardless of existing road conditions at the time. Can you blame me when a fair number of these recent crashes have

involved this type of commercial transport?

I believe the answer lies in two words: slow down.

As always, a number of other factors also come into play, including inexperienced drivers, insufficient training, fatigue and driver deadlines.

I believe the provincial government needs to assess all avenues of the general safety of our highways.

George Buttuls Kamloops

MANY AGREE WITH MAYOR’S STANCE

Editor:

Because no matter how messy it gets, Kamloops, I know I was made to do this for you.

Katie Neustaeter is a Kamloops councillor. She can be contacted by email at kneustaeter@ kamloops.ca. Kamloops council columns appear monthly in KTW and online at kamloopsthisweek.com.

I have read all of the articles about our new mayor, Reid HamerJackson, and I hear far too many complaints that he is not doing this, he is not doing that, he has to do this and he has to do that. Can we please give him a break?

I am not going to argue the fact Hamer-Jackson is

new to the political scene and does have things to learn, but people have to give him a chance.

He has his way, as well, and change is a good thing. The problem is, people don’t like change. Trust me. I know. I run a company.

When I opened last week’s edtion of Kamloops This Week, I read the

results of the just concluded online poll.

The question — What should the city do with the downtown storage facility for the homeless population? — was based on a motion from the mayor to review operations of the facility, due to open drug use, vandalism and jaywalking.

Of those taking part

in the survey, 64 per cent agreed with a review and relocation of the facility. The majority of the 900-plus readers taking part in KTW’s question of the week supported the mayor’s position.

Hamer-Jackson will make changes for the good of our beautiful city.

Dan Valiquette Kamloops

Kamloops This Week is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please email  editor@kamloopsthisweek.com or call 250-374-7467

If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at  mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163

Katie Neustaeter topped the polls in the Oct. 15, 2022, civic election, her first foray into politics.

DAVE EAGLES/KTW

Accused says cost of health care led to trafficking drugs

FALKLAND MAN WAS ARRESTED AS PART OF POLICE CRACKDOWN ON THROTTLE LOCKERS BIKER GANG

BREANNE MASSEY STAFF REPORTER breanne@kamloopsthisweek.com

A Falkland man who pleaded guilty to selling cocaine and marijuana, the latter to an undercover police officer, said he got involved in the illicit activity to cover soaring medical costs for two of his children, both of whom have cystic fibrosis.

Shawn Carlisle, 49, was one of three men arrested in 2022 in connection with a years-long RCMP investigation into a biker gang in Kamloops, a Hells Angels support club known as the Throttle Lockers. Charges were laid against Carlisle and two others — Zale Coty, 53, and Jacob Cavanaugh, 29, of Kamloops.

On Nov. 10, 2022, Carlisle

pleaded guilty to the above two charges.

On Tuesday (Feb. 7) in Kamloops Law Courts, Carlisle was sentenced by Judge Marianne Ruth Armstrong to 30 months in prison for the cocaine trafficking charge, with a concurrent 12-month sentence added for the marijuana trafficking count.

The sentence was part of a joint submission from defence lawyer John Gustafson and Crown counsel Devin Singhal.

Carlisle told court the monthly cost of cystic fibrosis medication is $25,000 per child.

“I acknowledge the harm I have caused to my community and I apologize for that. I never did any of this for fancy cars or big houses,” Carlisle said while reading his

statement and weeping. “I simply wanted to make my children’s lives better.”

Carlisle and his wife of 22 years have three children, ages 19, 16 and 13. He said the two eldest children suffer from cystic fibrosis and require ongoing financial support for medications to improve their quality of life.

Carlisle said his family went into debt with several trips to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver and he lost benefits from his longtime employer after the cystic fibrosis diagnosis in December 2012. He said the family owned a restaurant and re-mortgaged it a second time, but struggled to make ends meet amidst the wildfires and the pandemic.

Carlisle said the family tried

to access private insurance, but was denied. He told court that his daughter approached him one night, crying, as she asked if she was going to die from the disease.

“It was a hard night and I didn’t see a way out,” Carlisle said as he wept. “It was all very overwhelming.”

Judge Armstrong reviewed several letters of support from Carlisle’s family and friends, noting that he appeared to be a civically minded “good man” who “worked hard” and spent plenty of time volunteering at his children’s schools.

“There is one thing that troubles me,” Armstrong said. “It is clear that Mr. Carlisle is loved by his friends and family… but these children look up to you and I feel

the pressure of their eyes at this moment.”

Armstrong urged Carlisle to communicate the error of his ways with families from the community upon his rehabilitation.

“As much as your decisions were motivated by love, there is a dark side to that love as well,” Armstrong said, noting victim surcharges will be waived due to financial hardship. “I accept that your motives were to alleviate the suffering of your children… I don’t think you’re too far gone, if you don’t mind me putting it that way.”

Carlisle will be also be required to submit a same to the national DNA crime database and will be prohibited from owning and accessing firearms for 10 years upon his release from prison.

Kamloops police seek drive-by BB gun shooter

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

Kamloops Mounties are asking for the public’s help in finding a drive-by-shooter who fired a BB gun at a pedestrian in Brocklehurst.

Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said the reported assault took place in the area of Windbreak Street and Parkcrest Avenue on Monday, Feb. 6, at

City of Kamloops

N O T I C E O F D I S P O S I T I O N

about 9:15 p.m.

Evelyn said the suspect vehicle is a dark, four-door model with blue headlights and a loud exhaust system. The vehicle was last seen

travelling toward Tranquille Road.

The victim’s aunt posted about the incident on social media, noting her nephew was shot at six times, with

one pellet hitting him in the chest.

Thankfully, she said, he was not seriously injured. The aunt said the vehicle may be blue in colour and

had two white males inside. Anybody with information is asked to call Kamloops RCMP at 250828-3000 and reference file 2023-4411.

Pursuant to Sec tions 26(3) and 94 of the Community Char ter, SBC 2003, c 26, the City of K amloops (the “City ”) is disposing of 210 m2 of surplus road adjacent to 876 Vic toria Street and of the eastern por tion of 330 9th Avenue adjacent to 852 and 876 Vic toria Street and being approximately 579 m2 in size, legally described as:

Road to be closed shown on Bylaw Plan EPP124120, dedicated on Plan 193 DL 234 KDYD and That Par t of Parcel A Bl 79 DL 234 KDYD Plan 193 shown within Lot B Plan EPP124121 (collec tively, the “Proper ty ”).

The City is transferring fee simple title of the Proper ty to 625515 B.C. Ltd., to be consolidated with 852 and 876 Vic toria Street, for consideration in the amount of $217,200

For more information, please contac t David W Freeman, RI(BC ), Assistant Development, Engineering, and Sustainability Direc tor/Real Estate Manager, at 250-828-3548

LOCAL NEWS

Canary Lofts off to public hearing

MICHAEL POTESTIO STAFF REPORTER michael@kamloopsthisweek.com

A development permit and rezoning application that could change the face of Columbia Street is off to a public hearing.

Kamloops council has unanimously approved giving two reading to the rezoning application to change property at the corner of Columbia Street and First Avenue from medium to high-density housing.

The next two public hearings are set for Feb. 28 and March 28 at city hall, starting each night at 7 p.m.

Total Concept Developments, the company behind the redevelopment application, is seeking to rezone a number of properties, including the parcel at the northeast corner of Columbia and First that now holds the boarded-up Upland Apartments.

The ultimate goal is to create Canary Lofts, a 171-unit strata-titled and rental apartment development in two buildings — an existing, renovated 30-unit structure and a new, 141-unit addition — with an underground parking structure containing 178 parking spaces.

The proposed development involves properties that cur-

Canary Lofts off to public hearing

MICHAEL POTESTIO STAFF REPORTER michael@kamloopsthisweek.com

A development permit and rezoning application that could change the face of Columbia Street is off to a public hearing.

Kamloops council has unanimously approved giving two reading to the rezoning application to change property at the corner of Columbia Street and First Avenue from medium to high-density housing.

The next two public hearings are set for Feb. 28 and March 28 at city hall, starting each night at 7 p.m.

rently hold two multi-family buildings (including the aforementioned Uplands) and three houses.

Plans are to remove one house and keep two others that have suites in them.

The development site has street frontages on First Avenue and Columbia Street and is accessible from the lane running east-west to the north of the property.

Total Concept Developments, the company behind the redevelopment application, is seeking to rezone a number of properties, including the parcel at the northeast corner of Columbia and First that now holds the boarded-up Upland Apartments.

The ultimate goal is to create Canary Lofts, a 171-unit strata-titled and rental apartment development in two buildings — an existing, renovated 30-unit structure and a new, 141-unit addition — with an underground parking structure containing 178 parking spaces.

Staff also noted a second area of concern, that being the scale of the development, given its height of eight storeys (higher than other buildings in the area) and its proposed density of 373 units per hectare, which are eight units per hectare more than the City Gardens development now under construction a few blocks to the east.

rently hold two multi-family buildings (including the aforementioned Uplands) and three houses.

Plans are to remove one house and keep two others that have suites in them.

St., remove the single-family dwelling at 128 Columbia St., incorporate a portion of the rear yard of the single-family home at 136 Columbia St. and provide a three-level parking structure and at-grade parking containing 178 parking spaces.

The development site has street frontages on First Avenue and Columbia Street and is accessible from the lane running east-west to the north of the property.

City staff noted concerns with traffic accessing the lane between First and Second avenues, suggesting the entire lane be widened for two-way traffic and to avoid vehicles backing up on First or Second avenues.

The proposed development involves properties that cur-

The proposed consolidated development will incorporate the existing 11 units at 116 Columbia St., retain the existing 30-unit multi-family development at 683 First Ave., retain the existing single-family dwellings with suites at 653 First Ave., and 136 Columbia

City staff noted concerns with traffic accessing the lane between First and Second avenues, suggesting the entire lane be widened for two-way traffic and to avoid vehicles backing up on First or Second avenues.

The consolidated development will include a total of 171 multi-family units, with 56 studio units, 98 one-bedroom units and 17 two-bedroom units.

Staff also noted a second area of concern, that being the scale of the development, given its height of eight storeys (higher than other buildings in the area) and its proposed density of 373 units per hectare, which are eight units per hectare more than the City Gardens development now under construction a few blocks to the east.

The proposal comes with a bold, multi-colour design, with the concept adopted from Dutch artist Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, a pioneer of 20thcentury abstract art.

The proposed consolidated development will incorporate the existing 11 units at 116 Columbia St., retain the existing 30-unit multi-family development at 683 First Ave., retain the existing single-family dwellings with suites at 653 First Ave., and 136 Columbia

St., remove the single-family dwelling at 128 Columbia St., incorporate a portion of the rear yard of the single-family home at 136 Columbia St. and provide a three-level parking structure and at-grade parking containing 178 parking spaces.

The consolidated development will include a total of 171 multi-family units, with 56 studio units, 98 one-bedroom units and 17 two-bedroom units.

The proposal comes with a bold, multi-colour design, with the concept adopted from Dutch artist Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, a pioneer of 20thcentury abstract art.

The Canary Lofts proposal, downtown at Columbia Street and First Avenue, comes with a bold, multi-colour design, with the concept adopted from Dutch artist Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, a pioneer of 20th-century abstract art.

The Canary Lofts proposal, downtown at Columbia Street and First Avenue, comes with a bold, multi-colour design, with the concept adopted from Dutch artist Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, a pioneer of 20th-century abstract art.

Kamloops council to discuss deputy mayor role

Kamloops council’s plans to shape the deputy mayor role and formalize, in writing, its parameters is moving forward.

At its Jan. 31 meeting, council approved Coun. Dale Bass’ motion to have a working group struck, consisting of the first four deputy mayors of the term, to examine that role’s duties and codify the deputy mayor’s job description.

Those four councillors are Mike O’Reilly, Bill Sarai, Bass and Katie Neustaeter. Bass said the group won’t meet until Neustaeter, who is deputy mayor for February, has completed her month in that role.

City corporate officer Maria Mazzotta said there is currently nothing codified about the responsibilities expected of deputy mayors.

The group won’t involve Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, Bass told KTW. She said its members intend to draft a basic job description of the deputy mayor role, get feedback from the remaining councillors and bring it back to a council meeting for consideration.

“It’s tidying up a procedure that’s sort of been ad hoc for a while,” Bass said, noting the motion stemmed from council’s Jan. 10 discussion regarding the deputy mayor’s role.

Following that meeting — a team building meeting that

7

Hamer-Jackson skipped — Bass told KTW, on behalf of council, of the group’s concerns with the mayor’s lack of teamwork and absence from numerous public events.

At the time, Bass said the councillors intended to draft new terms of reference for deputy mayors to take on more duties.

Now, however, it will be up to the group of four to decide if the job should involve more duties.

Bass said the working group’s discussions will aim to address questions councillors have raised with the role and how best to refine its expectations.

She said new councillors, including herself as a rookie last term, have had questions about

what the job entails. Bass said she didn’t initially realize it involved signing documents, noting the job changed during the pandemic and wildfire season. And the role of deputy mayor was first placed into a monthly rotation under previous mayor Ken Christian, Bass said, noting that aspect wasn’t added to the city’s procedure bylaw.

“There’s lots of little nuances and minutia that we need to just write down in a list,” she said.

Bass also brought forward a notice of motion on Jan. 31 that administration prepare an amendment to the council procedure bylaw, allowing for councillors to decide the designation and schedule for deputy mayors to act in the place of the mayor when

Ways to Diversi f y Your Por tfolio

My youngest son would eat the same thing every day if we would let him Like many kids, he is resistant to stepping outside his comfort zone and does not realize, despite mom and dad's best efforts, that eating different foods provides numerous health benefits

Humans are creatures of habit We often gravitate to what we know and avoid what we don’t This often is the case when it comes to investing As of January 2022, according Statista com, the S&P/TSX Composite Index currently accounts for only 2 5% of the world stock market, however the average Canadian investor has 60% of their portfolio in Canada This is referred to as "home bias " By contrast, according to the Canada Pension Plan website, they currently invest only 14% in Canada

Diversification aims to maximize return by investing in different areas that would each react differently to the same event Many investment professionals agree that diversification is the most important component of reaching long-range financial goals while minimizing risk

Below are seven strategies that we employ to diversify and help reduce risk in our clients' portfolios:

1. Asset Class: Number one for a reason Asset class, also referred to as asset allocation, can account for up to 90% of an investor's return It refers to the portion of a portfolio that is allocated between stocks, bonds, and cash Everyone's asset allocation will differ based on his or her investment objectives, risk tolerance and unique circumstances

2 Geography: We believe that investing only in Canada leaves your portfolio under-represented in the world market. Most of the things we own in our home and driveway are made globally Over 97% of investment opportunities lie outside of Canada The U S stock market is the largest by far, accounting for nearly 60% of the world market

3. Style: There are several investment styles, but the two most common are value and growth A value approach tends to focus on price, fundamental strength of the company and if it is over/under valued Banks, pipelines and railroads tend to be value investments A growth investor tends to focus on the growth prospects of the company and competitive advantages The tech sector is a growth industry some notable names include be Amazon, Tesla and Google's parent company Alphabet

4 Size: Different sized companies can have significantly different returns in various market conditions Smaller companies tend to see more growth when the economy is doing well and expanding Mature and larger companies tend to hold up better when the economy slows or drops

the mayor is absent or unable to perform duties as per section 130 of the Community Charter.

Bass said the amendment would save councillors from having to wait for the mayor to decide on the deputy mayor rotation. The amendment would also consider their schedules, preferences and availabilities.

“It gives all councillors input into making those decisions,” Bass said, adding that in the case of Hamer-Jackson, who is new to the role of mayor, it took a few months after the election for that to be set and it didn’t reflect potential scheduling conflicts of councillors. The motion will come up for consideration at the next council meeting, set for Feb. 28.

5 Sector: Markets are typically broken down into 11 sectors

As of January 31st, 2023, according to TSX com, Canada's market is dominated by three sectors: Financials, Energy and Materials accounting for 60% Investing only in Canada could leave you disproportionately exposed to financials and energy, while very light in info tech, and health care and consumer sectors

6 Currency: Investing outside of Canada adds a layer of risk dealing with currency exposure Large swings in currency can either add or detract from a portfolio. The options are to hedge out currency in part, all together, or let it ride Many investment vehicles offer a hedged version that removes the currency component to international investing

7 Non-Traditional Assets: With increased globalization, we are seeing increased instances of different stock markets moving in the same direction, also called positive correlation The goal of non-traditional assets is to find investments that act independently of the main markets Hedge funds, private debt, and commodities are a few examples

These are some of the most common and effective ways to diversify your portfolio and help you achieve your investing goals

As always, we encourage you to consult with a professional before making any changes to your portfolio

Until next time

Invest Well. Live Well.

Written by Keith Davis

Eric Davis

Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor eric.davis@td.com 250-314-5120

Keith Davis Associate Investment Advisor keith davis@td.com 250-314-5124

MICHAEL POTESTIO STAFF REPORTER michael@kamloopsthisweek.com

A new statutory holiday

SEPT. 30 NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION BRINGS THE NUMBER OF STATUTORY HOLIDAYS IN B.C. TO 11

The latest federal statutory holiday will become a provincial statutory holiday this year.

The provincial NDP government has added the Sept. 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday for all B.C. employees beginning this year.

Labour Minister Harry Bains introduced the legislation in the Legislature on Tuesday (Feb. 7) — the second day back for MLAs in the current sitting — with the first reading receiving unanimous consent.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in 2021 deemed Sept. 30 to be the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a statutory holiday for federal employees. Sept. 30 is also known as Orange Shirt Day, which marks the impacts of Canada’s residential school system on Indigenous people.

The Liberals announced creation of the statutory holiday just days after the May 2021 announcement by Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc that a ground-penetrating radar scan of land near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School had found indications of 200 probable graves.

Exhumation to confirm if the probable graves are actual graves has yet to be done.

While the holiday was introduced federally, it has been left to provinces and private businesses as to whether it will be included in their roster of statutory holidays.

In addition to B.C., Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut recognize the holiday.

FEDERAL TIME OFF:

There are 11 statutory holidays for federal employees:

• New Year’s Day

• Good Friday

• Easter Monday

• Victoria Day

• Canada Day

• Labour Day

• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

• Thanksgiving

• Remembrance Day

• Christmas Day

• Boxing Day

PROVINCIAL TIME OFF: With the addition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, B.C. also has 11 statutory holidays:

• New Year’s Day

• Family Day

• Good Friday

• Victoria Day

• Canada Day

• B.C. Day

• Labour Day

• Thanksgiving Day

• Remembrance Day

• Christmas Day

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

BC Assessment says it is an average year for appeals

THE AVERAGE PROPERTY VALUE INCREASE IN VALUE IN KAMLOOPS IS 11 PER CENT

SEAN BRADY STAFF REPORTER sbrady@kamloopsthisweek.com

The deadline has passed for residents to appeal the assessed value of their properties.

Despite an average increase in value in Kamloops of 11 per cent, BC Assessment said it is an average year for appeals.

“We’re tracking at a pretty typical five-year average rate,” said Tracy Shymko, deputy assessor for the Thompson-Okanagan region.

The average five-year rate for appeals is 1.5 per cent, Shymko told KTW. That amounts to about 2,000 appeals in the region each year.

Last year, when assessed property values for single-family homes increased by average of 27 per cent, the Crown corporation reported an appeal rate closer to two per cent.

The agency was anticipating another year with more appeals, but didn’t see that materialize as of the Jan. 31 deadline to fine appeals.

“Last year. we had some pretty substantial increases throughout the region, with some property owners seeing upwards of 40 per cent increases in assessed value, so last year was a busy year for us,” Shymko said. She said it’s important for people to understand how the assessment process works and the importance of evaluation deadlines.

Properties are assessed based on their market value as of July 1 each year. Shymko said appeals should include sales in and around that month to support a different valuation.

“If they want a reduction in their assessment, their best evidence is comparable sales that support a reduced value,” she said.

One such appeal was made by Ray

Jolicoeur, who appealed the $730,000 figure he was given in his 2022 assessment.

Jolicoeur, general manager at Kamloops This Week, said he simply wants a fair assessment. He started the appeal process in late January.

“There’s no way my house went up 27 per cent in a matter of six months,” he said.

Jolicoeur’s property, a strata townhouse in Lower Sahali, was assessed this year at $730,000. His 2021 assessment was $575,000 and he purchased the property in 2020 for $497,828.

“That’s just way, way, way too much, especially based on the units that sold in the trailing 12 months,” he said.

Jolicoeur is hoping his appeal will result in a lower valuation. He said he wants to explain his reasoning, noting lower sales of similar units nearby. He said he is facing another $1,000 in property taxes if the assessment stands.

Shymko said those who filed an appeal will receive a response from the Property Assessment Review Panel by April 7 and, if they are not satisfied with the result, can further appeal to the Property Assessment Appeal Board before April 30.

Stolen French bulldog reunited with owner

A Cherry Creek dog breeder is enjoying reunion time with Whisper, her French bulldog that was stolen from her property overnight on Jan. 11/12.

Someone entered the rural property and stole the dog, which had just given birth to a litter of pups.

Jennifer De Lisi had offered a reward of $5,000 for Whisper’s return, then increased the reward to $10,000 as the days went by with no word on Whisper’s whereabouts.

However, on the 20th day of the abduction, Jan. 31, De Lisi was reunited with her dog when somebody dropped Whisper off at a veterinarian’s office after contacting police.

“She was scared and skinny, but is doing way better now,” De Lisi told Kamloops This Week.

Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said someone contacted police to say they found a dog they believed to have been Whisper.

Evelyn said arrangements were made for that person to bring the dog to a vet, where identification of Whisper was confirmed.

When asked, Evelyn could not comment on whether the person who contacted police is considered a suspect in the dog’s theft, noting the investigation is ongoing.

De Lis celebrated the news by alerting people to the situation on Facebook.

“Prayers have been answered. I am in utter and total disbelief,” De Lisi said in post. “Miracles do happen? There are no words for the gratitude we feel for every single person who messaged and shared and prayed for Whisper’s safe return.”

BC Housing mulling options for Genesis Place

MICHAEL POTESTIO STAFF REPORTER michael@kamloopsthisweek.com

BC Housing has torn down a portion of its Genesis Place supportive housing complex and is now exploring options for construction of something new on the property.

The former Fortune Motel in North Kamloops opened last September as housing for the homeless or those at risk of being homeless. The portion of the motel that was demolished was extensively damaged by water when pipes burst in the winter of 2021-2022.

“Given the extent of the damage and the cost of the repairs that would be required, the building was slated for removal and redevelopment,”

BC Housing spokesperson Sophie Gray told KTW via email.

She said BC Housing is still in the “early stages of exploring redevelopment opportunities for the site and will share details with the community once they are available.”

The provincial government purchased the motel in June 2021 for $3.6 million and had originally planned to open in the fall of 2021, with 40 living units in the two buildings on the property.

However, delays — including water damage from the burst pipes — led to the opening being postponed until this September 2022.

The originally planned 40 units have been reduced to 28 in the larger building on the lot.

Valentine ’s Tea

February

complete a tour before February 20th will be entered into the draw The winning ticket will be drawn at noon Feb. 20th, 2023.

*First time attendees to the Shores will be automatically entered into the draw

Your Senior Living Expert

How ’s the food?

Q) I hear different opinions on food services at Retirement Communities. What are your thoughts on this?

A) Berwick on the Park always offers delicious meals designed to tempt nutrition. Berwick’s Red Seal chefs serve a choice of mains and sides to please everyone from fine dining to comfort food. Residents are welcome to eat in the main dining room or in the Bistro, or take a to-go meal to their suite, depending on their schedule, appetite and social calendar Berwick is a small community with a family atmosphere and the chef ’s get to know the residents One of our Sous Chef ’s favourite food forums for feedback is to ‘work the floor ’ while guests are dining.

Berwick on the Park also has a Food Committee with representatives from each floor that gather feedback from other residents They take this feedback to our monthly Food Committee Meeting with our Chef ’s, Director of Hospitality and General Manager, where feedback is welcomed. By offering over five options at each meal, residents with varying palettes are sure to find something to their liking and every meal comes with a spectacular dessert option from our in-house baker If this beats cooking at home, give me a call and I will drop off a sample!

Jennifer De Lisi has been reunited with her French bulldog Whisper.

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Plans underway to memorialize Ryan Shtuka

THE 20-YEAR-OLD FROM ALBERTA VANISHED FROM SUN PEAKS FIVE YEARS AGO

BREANNE MASSEY STAFF REPORTER breanne@kamloopsthisweek.com

In an effort to commemorate the memory of Ryan Shtuka, a family friend recently started an online petition to name a ski run at Sun Peaks after him.

However, the family and the ski resort are already discussing another way in which to memorialize the missing man.

Nearly five years ago, Ryan Shtuka vanished in Sun Peaks after attending a house party on Burfield Drive. The 20-year-old Beaumont, Alta., man disappeared in the early-morning hours of Feb. 17, 2018. Mounties have not ruled out foul play, but have not reported finding any -

thing suspicious and Ryan’s disappearance remains a mystery.

According to mom Heather Shtuka, the virtual petition came to the family’s attention after it

had been circulated online. She said the family was happy to see community support for their son.

Heather said the family is heartened to know there are so many supportive and engaged members that surround them and want to continue to spread her son’s story.

“For me, as much as I’d like to see that run for Ryan, they’re going down [the hill] so quickly that it doesn’t really create that awareness,” Heather said. “We want something that actually tells the story about Ryan and has a different impact if that makes sense.”

Family friend London Cramer started the petition, which has gathered more than 2,600 signatures on change.org to date.

Online, Cramer wrote that Shtuka loved to snowboard and wanted to get in as much as he could the winter he went missing.

“Ryan is a truly amazing person and I believe he deserves his legacy to continue,” Cramer wrote.

Heather told KTW she contacted Cramer to let her know that Ryan’s family has plans with the resort to memorialize him, with discussions continuing.

Heather lauded Cramer for her efforts to see Ryan memorialized, regardless.

“I think it came from a very great place in her heart,” she said.

Heather said she is eager to see Sun Peaks announce the

project when details have been finalized, but asked that the community remain kind and supportive to Cramer and her ongoing petition efforts online.

“Sun Peaks Resort continues to work with Ryan’s family on a variety of initiatives and these efforts will continue,” Aidan Kelly, Sun Peaks Resort’s chief marketing officer, told KTW via email.

“For a number of months now, we have been discussing a project to recognize Ryan in Sun Peaks. We look forward to finalizing plans in conjunction with the family for something meaningful and respectful on the mountain. We appreciate the efforts of our guests and community to tell Ryan’s story.”

Heather Shtuka to hold book signing at Chapters on Feb. 18

Heather Shtuka will be at the Chapters bookstore in Kamloops next month to sign copies of her book , Missing From Me , which chronicles the first year after son Ryan vanished while at Sun Peaks.

Heather will be at the bookstore in Aberdeen Village — at Hillside Drive and Pacific Way in Dufferin — on Saturday, Feb. 18, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The book signing will occur one day after the five-year anniversary of Ryan’s disappearance.

The  20-year-old Beaumont, Alta., man disappeared in the early-morning hours of Feb. 17, 2018.

Mounties have not ruled out foul play, but have not reported finding anything suspicious and Ryan’s disappearance remains a mystery.

Parents Heather and Scott have made continual trips to Sun Peaks over the years to conduct searches in the resort municipality, trying to find signs of their son — all to no avail.

Heather told KTW last month that part of the reason she decided to write the book was to ensure Ryan’s legacy is left behind, not only for his family, but for many others whose lives he touched. She began writing the book in March 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions forced people inside their homes.

“I sat down, my husband encouraged me to put pen to paper and I started writing,” Heather said.

“I thought it was going to be hard and, when you’re in it, the memories start flooding back.”

Missing from Me is available online from Chapters, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

RYAN SHTUKA

Heather told KTW last month that part of the reason she decided to write the book was to ensure Ryan’s legacy is left behind, not only for his family, but for many others whose lives he touched. She began writing the book in March 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions forced people inside their homes.

How to honour your love on Valentine’s Day

BREANNE MASSEY STAFF REPORTER breanne@kamloopsthisweek.com

Valentine’s Day is less than a week away and Viviane Wingerak, a clinical counsellor from Synergy Counselling Kamloops, is sharing insights about how to use the five love languages to strengthen romantic relationships.

Wingerak encourages couples to read Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, to practise self-love and to strengthen intimacy for couples — both new and existing relationships alike.

“The five love languages are most helpful when they enhance couples’ understanding of each other, but also when it improves a couples’ ability to meet each other’s needs as it would have felt instinctually,” Wingerak said.

“We have to understand

each other’s love languages. It makes us more love-bilingual. It’s our job to communicate better and to understand each other.”

The five love languages are words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. However, Wingerak urges couples to continuously ask one another questions to develop deep mutual understanding and accepting about what is important to the other person by honouring their needs.

“It’s about speaking each other’s languages and understanding,” she said. “The consensus and compromise is not always achievable. It’s not always about compromise. It’s sometimes about shared logic.”

While the potential for conflict can increase on Valentine’s Day, due to unspoken expectations about how to spend the day,

Wingerak urges couples to stop and talk about how best to celebrate together.

Wingerak said respecting your significant other, and making them feel seen, does not have to cost money.

Some of Wingerak’s suggestions for each love language:

• Words of affirmation: Write a letter for your partner, outlining why they’re special to you, or make them a card to express your gratitude for your partnership;

• Quality time: Pick up the ingredients to cook a meal together;

• Receiving gifts: Bake your partner’s favourite food to express edible love;

• Acts of service: If you live together, you can clean the house with extra care or wash your partner’s car for them;

• Physical touch: Hold hands in public places, cuddle or give a head scratch.

Viviane Wingerak, a clinical counsellor at Synergy Counselling Kamloops, shares insights about how to use the love languages to strengthen romantic relationships for Valentine’s Day.

WINNING LOTTO NUMBERS

Guest Conductor Jennifer Tung conducts In The Time of Our Disbelieving during the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra’s Feb. 4 concert at Sagebrush Theatre, Mozart’s Dark Side. ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW

Concert review: Mozart’s Dark Side

strated in the encore, a Schubert Impromptu.

has been a long time coming.

A near-record audience for classical music attended Saturday’s (Feb. 4) Kamloops Symphony Orchestra concert — Mozart’s Dark Side — at Sagebrush Theatre.

The number of spectators was exceeded in the past five years only by the performance of Carmina Burana.

Guest pianist Maxim Bernard, here for the third time, was certainly a draw this past weekend.

His lyrical style was beautifully demon-

The program itself was a mixed bag. The themes jumped from a musical interpretation of the coronavirus pandemic, to a musical interpretation of a late 19th-century play, to Mozart’s experimental use of a minor key in a composition for piano and orchestra.

I say experimental as this was the first of six written in a single year and the one which followed a month later “could hardly be more different in character” (notes on Phillips’ Digital Classics).

This was an odd choice for the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra as a big Mozart work

The two evocative” works — Kelly-Marie Murphy’s In the Time of Our Disbelieving and Sibelius’ Pelléas and Mélisandre were certainly that as both were thoughtprovoking. Kudos to the wind section for its portrayal of the conflicting emotions of Mélisandre.

The Kamloops Symphony Orchestra will switch to pops on March 10 and March 11 with guest soloist Sarah Slean, an incredibly talented gal with a beautiful voice.

Tickets are available online at kamloopslive.ca or by calling 250-374-5483.

Meet the library’s community support worker

A community support worker will be available at both libraries in Kamloops to listen and advocate for people struggling with substance use and mental health issues, housing and employment challenges and more.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library system has created the role as a way to reduce barriers to social services and help patrons access and navigate community resources.

Karlie Ferland has been hired as a community support worker intern and will help patrons navigate the agencies in their community and provides referrals.

Appointments are available in-person at the Kamloops Library downtown at Victoria Street and Fifth Avenue and at the

North Kamloops Library at 693 Tranquille Rd. Sessions can be booked by contacting the downtown library at 250-372-5145 or the North Kamloops Library at 250-554-1124.

The community support worker will also be running a free drop-in program called Coffee

and Conversations, alternating between the Kamloops and North Kamloops Libraries.

The Coffee and Conversations program is a safe space where people can connect with each other and learn about resources available in the community.

The program will take place

from 10:30 a.m to noon on Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 18 and March 25.

“I am so happy to be able to help library patrons one-on-one and through group conversations in our Coffee and Conversations program,” Ferland said.

“Whether it’s navigating application processes and paperwork for income or disability assistance or just offering a listening ear, I am honoured to support our vulnerable patrons.”

Ferland has been serving as the TNRL’s community support worker intern since the fall of 2022. Ferland is scheduled to be in the position until March 31 through a program funded by the federal government.

For more information on this program, visit tnrl.ca/community-support.

LESLIE HALL SPECIAL TO KTW

Karlie Ferland is a community support worker at Kamloops libraries.

TNRD PHOTO

Dig It: To dig or not to dig

whether the development activities will impact buried archaeological sites.

Field archaeology is often synonymous with digging, with the common public perception of archaeologists painstakingly exposing buried artifacts in the ground with brushes and picks.

Although a large part of an archaeologist’s work, especially in the southern interior of B.C., consists of various digging activities (shovel testing, hand excavation and sifting sediments), this is not universally the case on every project.

There are many circumstances in which archaeologists try to avoid or limit digging in the ground to search for buried artifacts while still completing the necessary work.

This is because the act of digging in the ground is such a destructive endeavour in itself. Digging through buried archaeological deposits irreparably impacts, and essentially destroys, archaeological sites.

The act of excavating through an archaeological site is most commonly undertaken in concert with development activities that are slated to disturb the ground surface, such as highway construction, pipeline installation or other infrastructure projects.

In these cases, the proposed development will disturb a specific area of ground and archaeologists assess (usually through digging)

If an archaeological site is planned to be destroyed or irreversibly altered by the impending development, then the site is excavated in advance by archaeology crews to gather as much data as possible about the site’s occupants before the opportunity is lost forever.

There is a rich and deep history of sites dating to 11,000 years or older in this area, with much more to learn about how people were living millennia ago.

On the other hand, if proposed developments are only in the early planning stages, then archaeology crews take the path of least destruction while looking for ancient sites. This usually involves systematic pedestrian surveys through proposed project areas, with crews searching for evidence of archaeological sites visible on the ground surface.

Many archaeological sites can be identified through this technique, such as scatters of stone artifacts on the ground, the remains of pithouses, hunting blinds, trails or culturally modified trees.

The preference is always to observe and record, then leave the archaeological site in place. Artifacts are always left where they are found unless under threat of development.

In 2022, I was involved in a research project in Secwepemcúlecw (Secwépemc lands). With no imminent develop-

ment guiding the field work, we were able to instead select survey areas based on terrain features on the landscape in order to gain a more regional perspective of land use. We identified more than a dozen new archaeological sites through surface observation only — with no digging needed. These sites consisted of lengthy trail corridors and stone tool artifact scatters identified in remote, high-elevation environments. In these instances, we would document the site, record the location and types of artifacts present, take photographs and leave the site undisturbed. These archaeological sites are thousands of years old

and unnecessary collection of artifacts or unnecessary digging through the site sediments to search for additional artifacts would only destroy this nonrenewable resource.

When in doubt, the default recommendation for archaeologists and the general public alike is to always leave an archaeological site where it is found.

Phoebe Murphy is a Kamloops-based archeologist. Interested in more? Go online to republicofarchaeology.ca. Dig It is KTW’s regularly published column on the history beneath our feet in the Kamloops region. A group of professional archaeologists living and working in the area contribute columns to KTW’s print edition and online at kamloopsthisweek.com.

PHOEBE MURPHY SPECIAL TO KTW

RIGHT: Artifacts on the ground surface are marked by orange tape. ABOVE: A piece of stone tool artifact.

PHOEBE MURPHY PHOTOS

TRAVEL

250-374-7467 or email editor@kamloopsthisweek.com

Santiago: Feeling the heart and soul of Chile

point, that must-see neighbourhood is Bellavista.

Imagine visiting Paris and ignoring Montmartre.

Would you miss Chinatown when visiting San Francisco, pass on New York’s Greenwich Village, Boston’s North End or London’s West End?

It is no different when visiting South American cities. Like me, many visitors to the major cities on this varied and complex continent arrive on a cruise — or will be after the COVID-19 pandemic is finally over.

Yes, every city has individual highlights.

In Buenos Aries it’s Eva Peron’s gravesite and a visit to La Boca, a working-class barrio where the Tango was born. In Rio de Janeiro, take the tram up Corcovado and photograph the Christ The Redeemer statue.

In Lima, a must-see site is the pre-Inca temple Hauca Pucllana, about 900 years older than the more famous Temple of the Sun at Machu Piccu.

But, for a glimpse into the heart and soul of a city, there are must-see neighbourhoods that make each city visit memorable.

In Santiago, Chile’s capital, financial centre, and a major South American cruise embarkation

Santiago offers a wide range of cultural attractions that will keep you busy for days. It has two symphony orchestras, one of South America’s finest opera companies, contemporary and tradition art galleries, 16 major museums and 33 public and private universities.

But with a just a day or two before your cruise ship leaves from nearby Valparaiso — a 90-minute bus ride from downtown Santiago — using your time to explore is precious.

The barrio may be a relatively small enclave in a city of six million-plus inhabitants, yet it defines the character and heart of Santiago itself. It’s just below the funicular to Cerro San Cristobal (San Cristobal Hill), a major tourist site that is home to the statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, the city’s landmark.

This bohemian-like neighbourhood with its French influences in architecture, culture and feel, has streets lined with trees and a variety of colourful vintage homes, many of which have been converted into restaurants and studios used by artists and musicians.

It is where you want to be day or evening, eating inside or out at one of the many cozy bistros. Nighttime

fun begins around 10 p.m., lasting well into the early morning, as pubs and nightclubs close at 4 a.m.

Usually, the only people dining between 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. are North American and European tourists.

Between Calle Constitucion and Pio

Nono is Patio Bellavista, an enclosed, modern plaza — it’s the common drop-off point for taxis. Locals eat, shop and explore stores selling everything from clothing to wine shops stocking Chilean whites, reds and champagne-method wines you won’t find

back home.

Along Calle Dardignac, the area’s trendiest street, dozens of restaurants and bars stand side-by-side.

One of my favourites is the Cava de Dardignac, located at Dardignac 0191. It is renowned for having pioneered the “tabla” — a

local version of smorgasbord that makes ideal nibbling while sipping your Cabernet Sauvignon.

When you have tired of eating and shopping, explore La Chascona, the home once owned by Chile’s Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda. The home was built to resemble a ship and its unusually shaped rooms wind around a compact courtyard. It is headquarters for the Fundación Pablo Neruda, the organization that provides guided tours. There is no end to the possibilities in exploring Santiago. The shopping is superb, with major malls scattered throughout the city and unique places, like Alto las Condes, arguably the most modern shopping centre in South America, located near the Grand Hyatt Santiago.

Don’t miss the Pueblo Los Dominicos, at the end of Avenue Apoquindo with its 180 handicraft shops offering Chilean traditional and contemporary crafts from all regions of the country. Don’t worry about getting around the city. Most taxi drivers, hotel and restaurant employees speak and understand basic English — and the subway is so easy to use.

Travel Writers’ Tales is an independent newspaper column syndicate. For more, go online to travelwriterstales.com.

Photo: Harrison Hot Springs

The Plaza de Armas in Santiago, Cusco’s main square, is a busy and vibrant space that marks the colonial centre of the city. The plaza features stone pathways and colourful gardens and is home to the Cusco Cathedral and the Church La Compañía de Jesús — the most iconic buildings in Santiago.

YOSHI PHOTO

Helpers may also qualify for tax refund

Are you helping a family member? You may qualify for a tax refund.  I have heard from so many people about how they are helping someone in their family, be it parents or an adult child.

They don’t think they qualify for a tax refund as that family lives on their own and have their own money.

Not so. If you are paying income tax and are helping a family member who is in the low-income bracket, you may qualify for up to 10 years’ funding retroactively.

I am helping many people who have aging par-

Throne Speech 2023

It’s time to spend money now because it won’t be there next year.

That was the overarching message of the first Throne Speech delivered by Premier David Eby’s government on Monday (Feb. 6).

B.C.’s Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin told the Legislature that the BC NDP’s government’s budget surplus of $5.7 billion

ents. They purchase groceries, arrange transportation, accompany them to appointments, pick up medications and so much more. Many aging parents live on their own and need some help.

If the person with the impairment is in the lower income demographic, they may transfer some or all of their disability amount to the supporting family member.

It is worth a phone call to discuss your situation. If we don’t think you will qualify, we will tell you. SOS Supportive Options & Solutions is located locally, but serves all of Canada. To learn more, call 250-674-2416 or email sosdtc123@gmail.com. Our website is at disabilitycreditsos.ca.

won’t be there next year as economists are predicting a global slowdown in the face of inflation and other forces.

By law, surplus money not spent by March 31 must go toward B.C.’s debt.

“Some say we should respond to a downturn by pulling back, reducing services or by making people pay out of pocket for health care,” Austin said,

arguing that would only reduce support for people who are only now finding their footing after the pandemic’s impacts.

The speech promised “record new investments” in public health care, housing for middle-class families and public transit.

The speech also noted money will

be spent on public safety, while helping to reduce the cost of living for ordinary British Columbians. While the speech painted a broad picture by design, many sections of it lacked specific timelines and often repeated already announced measures, which so far have totalled $1 billion.

NELLIE KROMBACH ON TAXES

SPORTS: MARTY HASTINGS

Phone: 250-374-7467

Email: sports@kamloopsthisweek.com

Twitter: @MarTheReporter

Streaking Stankoven on a tear

scoring string in one season, with a 56-game stretch that saw him tally 108 points in the 1990-1991 campaign.

Logan Stankoven is putting together another otherworldly season and boasts a Western Hockey League-leading active point streak that has reached 32 games.

“I don’t know how it’s come this far,” said 19-year-old Stankoven, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound Dallas Stars’ prospect from Kamloops,

“I’m just taking it game by game. I’m really not too focused on the point streak. When the team is having success, it makes it a lot easier for players like myself and the rest of the team as individuals to have success, as well.”

Stankoven has 71 points, including 27 goals, in 32 games this season and is chasing 17-year-old Regina Pats’ phenom Connor Bedard, who pushed his point string to 35 games before a scoreless outing against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Feb. 3 ended the incredible run — and created a target for the Kamloops dynamo.

“It’s been brought up a few times just among people around me,” said Stankoven, whose Eastern Conference counterpart Bedard compiled 44 goals and 46 assists in his 35-game spree. “It would be nice to beat his point streak. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.”

Stankoven’s tear was nearly shredded on Jan. 13 in Everett, where his empty-net goal at 18:39 of the third period marked his first point of the game and iced a 6-3 victory over the Silvertips.

“I had a couple of really Grade A scoring chances against Everett and the goalie just made some incredible saves on me, so it was definitely nice to get that empty-netter,” said Stankoven, the reigning Canadian Hockey League player of the year. “[Fraser] Minten could have just iced it into the net, but he gave it right back to me. Definitely unselfish. Otherwise, the streak would have been over.”

Stankoven’s linemates — Minnesota

Wild prospect Caedan Bankier and Stars’

draft pick Matthew Seminoff — are also invested in the streak.

“The Prince Albert game, our line hadn’t gotten a goal yet,” Stankoven said, recalling a 6-4 triumph over the Raiders on Feb. 3 at Sandman Centre.

“The sixth goal that Banks scored [at

14:36 of the third period], I kind of just threw it off the pads and it went right to him and he scored. The first thing he said to me was, ‘We kept your point streak alive.‘”

Jeff Nelson of the Prince Albert Raiders holds the WHL record for longest point-

“That’s insane,” said Stankoven, who is averaging 2.22 points per game this season, second only to Bedard (2.39 points per game) in the category. “I don’t know how you can go that many games getting a point.”

Stankoven cannot catch Nelson.

Training camp and pre-season action with the Stars and national team duty during the World Junior Hockey Championship took considerable chunks out of the Kamloopsian’s WHL campaign.

Stankoven would push his scoring streak to 53 games if he tallied at least one point in each of the Blazers’ remaining 21 regular-season contests.

That would be good for second on the league’s all-time point string list, a spot currently shared by former Pats’ teammates Wally Schreiber and Jock Callander.

They both embarked on 47-game point streaks in 1981-1982. Former Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning holds down the third spot, with a 45-game heater in 1980-1981.

Stankoven was slapped with a onegame suspension for a check from behind against the Vancouver Giants on Feb. 4 in Langley.

The Blazers (31-10-4-2) pushed their winning streak to four games in their captain’s absence, posting a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals on Feb. 5 to clinch a playoff spot.

Fans will see if the hometown hero’s rampage continues on Friday, Feb. 10, when Stankoven returns to the lineup for a tilt against the Saskatoon Blades (32-12-31). Game time is 7 p.m. at Sandman Centre.

The Blazers, with 68 points, are closing in on the Western Conference-leading Portland Winterhawks, who have 74 points.

Stankoven is inching closer to their former D-man Benning for a top-three spot in the WHL record book.

“That’d be really humbling,” Stankoven said. “It’s going to take a lot of luck and hard work, but you never know.”

MARTY HASTINGS STAFF REPORTER sports@kamloopsthisweek.com

Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers is riding a 32-game point streak.

ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW

Storm get standings boost from Eagles’mistake

The Kamloops Storm earned a point in their 3-2 overtime loss at home on Saturday (Feb. 4) to the Doug Birks Division-leading Revelstoke Grizzlies.

But Kamloops also benefited in the standings indirectly from a league decision off the ice.

The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League has reversed a Jan. 20 result between the Sicamous Eagles and the 100 Mile House Wranglers. Sicamous won that game 6-2, but because the Eagles dressed an ineligible player, the win has been stripped, with the Wranglers awarded a 2-0 victory.

As a result, 100 Mile House has been awarded two points in the standings, with two points being stripped from Sicamous.

The decision impacts Kamloops because all the teams play in the Doug Birks Division of the KIJHL’s Okanagan Conference.

With the league decision, as of Feb. 6, Revelstoke led the division with 63 points and has wrapped up first place. The Grizzlies will play fourth-place 100 Mile House in the opening round of the playoffs (first versus fourth).

The other opening-round playoff series will feature the second- and third-place teams, with the second-place squad earning home-ice advantage. Kamloops was in second with 53 points and Sicamous was in third with 49 points as of KTW’s press deadline on Tuesday, after which the Storm squared off against the hometown Wranglers.

In addition to having two points shaved from the standings, the league suspended Eagles’ head coach Nick Deschenes for one game.

Against Revelstoke on Saturday on McArthur Island, 815 fans were in attendance to see Ryan Larsen and Jacob Hufty score for Kamloops in the 3-2 loss. The Grizzlies were led with goals from Colton McLeod, Owen Chamberland and Carter Bettenson’s overtime winner at the 1:37 mark.

Kamloops goaltender Colton Phillips-Watts stopped 28 of 31 shots.

ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW

Ronik

since

thank

Pack aiming for playoffs

blue-chip recruit, Jonas Van Huizen, transferred to other schools.

Feb. 18 at the TCC.

Head coach Pat Hennelly and his TRU WolfPack men’s volleyball team are in Year 2 of a rebuild and chasing a post-season spot with four matches remaining on their Canada West schedule.

“We’ve been clear with our guys,” Hennelly said. “I think rebuilds take three years. We’ve got some pieces in place.”

Odds of reaching the playoffs this season — which is the team’s goal — took a hit this past weekend in Edmonton, where the Grant MacEwan Griffins (3-17) posted a pair of 3-1 victories over TRU.

The WolfPack dropped to 8-12 in league standings and are tied with the Winnipeg Wesmen (8-12) for the eighth and final playoff spot.

“We’re right where I wanted us to be,” Hennelly said. “You want to be in it at the end of the season with a young team.”

An unexpected exodus rocked the Pack in the fall of 2020.

The 2019-2020 Canada West rookie of the year, Nimo Benne, a national team-calibre libero, Landon Currie, and a

“We’ve got a lot of young guys on our team who are working their way in,” said WolfPack middle Corbin Ockerman, whose club’s 2020-2021 campaign was nixed amid the pandemic.

“We are in a rebuild, for sure. We definitely still have a lot of things to work on. Our serve receive and blocking could definitely use some work.”

The Trinity Western Spartans (15-5) will play host to a pair of matches against TRU this weekend in Langley.

“We’re just learning how to work through adversity and play with the big dogs,” said WolfPack outside hitter Sam Flowerday, who had 18 kills and three blocks on Saturday.

“We’re in a bit of a rebuild as of last year. We are going a bit better than expected. Next year will be some pretty good stuff from us, with only a couple of guys graduating.”

Winnipeg has four matches remaining on its schedule — two each against UBC (11-9) and Saskatchewan (13-7).

TRU will wrap its regular-season slate with matches against UBC (11-9) on Feb. 17 and

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure, but at the same time, it’s a little freeing to know there aren’t that many expectations,” Ockerman said. “We are the underdogs. We can just go out there and play our best.”

Meanwhile, the WolfPack women’s volleyball team will square off against the Spartans this weekend in Langley.

TRU (7-13) is aiming to keep playoff hopes alive against league-leading Trinity (18-2).

IN THE DEN

The WolfPack basketball teams, neither of which will qualify for the Canada West post-season, will conclude their campaigns with home games against the Manitoba Bisons this weekend at the TCC.

Women’s action will tip off at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with men’s games to follow both nights.

The TRU women, 2-16 on the season, will toil against a 4-14 Manitoba squad.

On the men’s side, the Bisons are among the top teams in the country, with a 16-2 record.

The WolfPack men are 5-13.

Juggling for soccer trip on Super Bowl weekend

Sasha Ryga of the Thompson Okanagan Football Club will be juggling a soccer ball to raise funds for his team this weekend outside of the B.C. Liquor Store in the Westsyde Shopping Centre.

Ryga, 15, will be showing off his skills

and collecting cash from those preparing to imbibe on Super Bowl Sunday.

TOFC, which toils in the B.C. Soccer Premier League, is raising money to compete in a showcase tournament this spring in Toronto.

Ltd. has been serving

and

during this pandemic

Our employees are proud to serve for your safety and security.

MARTY HASTINGS STAFF REPORTER sports@kamloopsthisweek.com

Corbin Ockerman (from left), Matthew Hamilton, Sam Flowerday and Sam Elgert of the TRU WolfPack celebrate a point earlier this month in Canada West men’s volleyball action at the TCC.

ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW

A SPECIAL THREE DAYS IN KAMLOOPS

The 2023 Special Olympics BC Winter Games were held in Kamloops this past weekend, with the Feb. 2 opening ceremony at the Tournament Capital Centre followed by two days of action in eight sports at various venues in Kamloops and Sun Peaks and at Stake Lake. KTW’s Allen Douglas had his camera in focus

2 0 2 3 B O O

The flame is lit at the Feb. 2 opening ceremony at the Tournament Capital Centre, an action that officially started the 2023 Special Olympics BC Winter Games; Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson leads Kamloops athletes into the TCC during the opening ceremony; a bowler is congratulated by a volunteer at Falcon Lanes; Kamloops bowlers take a moment to say cheese for a KTW photo.

Star ts: Sunday, March 5 - 8 AM | Tuesday, March 7 - 6 PM

Location: Sandman Signature Hotel

All levels: Walking program / Learn to Run / 10K training/ Half marathon training

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

ALLEN DOUGLAS PHOTOS/KTW

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD FOUND ON A35

City of Kamloops

AC T I V I T Y P RO G R A M S

Programs

Local History Lecture 1/$10

Join local history enthusiast Hugh Fallis at the KMA to hear about his local history passion project and research

Kamloops Museum and Archives

Sat Feb 25 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Macramé WorkshopPlant Hanger 1/$85

In this workshop, you will be introduced to a variety of basic knots and patterns while creating your own medium sized plant hanger All supplies are provided Parkview Activity Centre

Sun Feb 12 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Pre Natal Yoga 4/$37 32

This 60-minute class will offer poses and sequences designed to support you during any stage of your pregnancy Creating a safe space for expecting Moms to explore and expand Weekly handouts for home practices

TCC

Tues Feb 21 - March 14

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Arthur Stevenson Elementary

Thurs Feb 23 - March 16 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Try it! Cross Country Skiing $10

Join us for cross country skiing! This program is in partnership with Kamloops Immigrant Services and PLAYKamloops Please only register one person per family Childminding available Sign up for the session and you will be placed in a time slot to ensure we have enough equipment

If you have your own equipment, please bring it If there is snow it’s a go!

West Highlands Community Centre/ Trails

Sat Feb 25 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM or 11:00 AM

HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE

Recently, another contributor to this page mentioned “the cult of Mary.”

The many variations of Christianity certainly treat Mary, the mother of Jesus, in very different ways.

In my 53 years as a Protestant, Mary was regarded primarily for her role as the virginal young woman chosen to bear Jesus, but other than that, was mostly a peripheral figure in the stories of Jesus’ life and death.

That is not the case with Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, who together form the majority of Christian believers in the world. Neither of them worship Mary as some kind of goddess.

That is obvious idolatry and a violation of the First Commandment. But Mary is venerated as the Mother of God (the Theotokos in Greek). The term arises from the belief that all true Christians have — that Jesus was both God and man. He had two natures and was born of a human mother.

There was no other person in the entire history of humanity chosen for this great honour. It was Mary alone.

The Archangel Gabriel says to her, “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you;

CHRIS KEMPLING

You Gotta Have FAITH

blessed are you among women … you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son …” Mary is confused and troubled by this and responds, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

According to Christian tradition, Mary had made a vow of perpetual virginity to God. It was likely for this reason that she was chosen by God for such a holy purpose.

Gabriel says, “With God, nothing is impossible,” and Mary responds in complete obedience, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me

according to your word.”

Most Christians believe Jesus was not born in the traditional way. They believe he was miraculously delivered and that Mary never once had her virginity compromised.

This “freedom from labour pains” blessing was a sign that Mary was specifically spared the curse of Eve. After Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, God said, “I will greatly multiply your pain and your groaning, and in pain you shall bring forth children.”

The entire tradition of the early church was that Mary remained a virgin her whole life. Protestants like to point to Matthew 1:25, which says, “[Joseph] did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son.”

Well, I don’t think anyone would presume to know the exact nature of Joseph and Mary’s physical intimacy.

Nevertheless, they assert their point by citing verses that say that Jesus had siblings, (which they assume are younger siblings born to Joseph and Mary). But there are problems with this point of view.

Joseph was most likely a widower who had other children, Jesus’ older stepsiblings. It’s probably why he was betrothed to Mary in the first place — he needed help with his family.

These siblings thought Jesus was crazy and tried to get him to stop his preaching (to keep him from being killed by the Jewish leaders of the day). But when he refused, they abandoned him to his fate.

Mary didn’t leave him, though. Jesus made a point of commending his mother to his disciple John, who took her into his household from that day forward.

If Jesus had younger siblings, he would not have had to do that because the obligation to one’s parents is a commandment of God. Mary’s stepchildren did not feel any such obligation because they didn’t regard her as their mother.

The other issue Protestants have with Catholic/Orthodox regard for Mary is that they pray to her, asking for her intercession.

Christians often ask pastors and other Godly people to pray for them — because we believe they are closer to God than we are.

Christians also believe people who die and become saints are “alive in Christ.”

The 12 elders around the throne of God hold bowls full of “the prayers of the saints” — all the saints, past and present.

And who better to intercede for us than the one who, with a mere look, persuaded Jesus to change his mind to perform a miracle at Cana? Mary is deserving of our respect and veneration.

Kamloops.ca

KTW welcomes submissions to its Faith page. Columns should be a maximum of 700 words in length and include a headshot of the author, along with a short bio on the writer. Email editor@kamloopsthisweek.com.

POOCHES SEEKING PERMANENT PALS

White Cane Week organizers seek to educate

AMONG THE EVENTS IS A FEB. 10 BOWLING MATCH BETWEEN LOCAL POLITICIANS AND THE KAMLOOPS BLIND BOWLING TEAM AT FALCON LANES

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

This week is White Cane Week when, from Feb. 5 to Feb. 11, the challenges facing people with vision loss are highlighted through education and public awareness.

Vern Short, director of the Kamloops White Cane Club and director with the B.C. and Yukon division of the Canadian Council of the Blind, noted that each year, 836,000 Canadians live with vision loss,

with that number expected to double by 2031.

Short appeared before Kamloops council last week to talk about White Cane Week and to invite some local politicians to take part in a Friday, Feb. 10, event at the Falcon Lanes bowling alley in Valleyview. There, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., city council members and staff will battle the Kamloops Blind Bowling Team in the lanes. Also taking part will be representatives

The Zoo Story takes to Pavilion theatre stage

THE ACCLAIMED ONE-ACT PLAY WILL BE PERFORMED FROM FEB. 9 TO FEB. 11

KAMLOOPS THISWEEK

A classic one-act play will be performed over three days this week at Pavilion Theatre.

Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story will run from Thursday, Feb. 9, to Saturday, Feb. 11, at the theatre at Lorne Street and 10th Avenue, just east of downtown.

The play saw offBroadway success in the early 1960s.

The one-act production follows Jerry and Peter, two men of different backgrounds who meet one day in New York City’s Central Park, with the encounter changing their lives forever.

Albee was a Pulitzer prize-winning author who

also penned Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Kamloops actors Brandon Reid (who plays Jerry ) and Derek Rein (who portrays Peter) will be directed by Dusan Magdolen.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are available online at kamloopslive.ca or by phone at 250-374-5483.

from People In Motion, the Kamloops Brain Injury, the Kamloops Stroke Recovery Association and the Kamloops branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The white cane symbol got its start in England in 1921 after photographer James Biggs suffered an accident, resulting in losing his vision. He then painted his walking stick white.

In 1944, White Cane Week was created in Canada through the Canadian National

GOBYBIKE WEEK HAS RETURNED

BREANNE

breanne@kamloopsthisweek.com

Registration is open for Winter GoByBike Week 2023, which runs from Feb. 6 and 12. The event is being held in conjunction with International Winter Bike Day, slated for Feb. 10.

According to the GoByBikeBC movement, 55,382 participants from the winter, spring and fall GoByBike weeks in 2022 logged 2,256,176 kilometres, which saved 489,140 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions — equivalent to 105 gasoline-powered passenger cars driven in one year.

Institute for the Blind as Second World War veterans returned home, many with eye injuries. In 2007, the Canadian Council of the Blind assumed responsibility of White Cane Week

Short noted that White Cane Week events focus on the abilities, rather than on disabilities, of people with vision loss.

For more information on the Kamloops White Cane Club, check out its Facebook page.

After completing registration online, participants can log the kilometres they have ridden online through the provincial program. The purpose of the week-long event is to encourage British Columbians to cycle as much as possible — whether it’s commuting to work or school, for fun or simply to relieve stress.

Those who log their rides online will be entered on draws for prizes.

For more information or to register for free, visit GoByBikeBC.ca.

The Kamloops Ruff Start Rescue Society held a meet and greet session at Total Pet in North Kamloops this past weekend. Greeting prospective owners were the above six pack of pooches looking for a loving home. For more information on the Kamloops Ruff Start Rescue Society, go online to kamloopsruffstartrescue.com.

ALLEN DOUGLAS PHOTOS/KTW

JUDITH

ZEKE

JORDYN JACEY JEFFRIE JETHRO

MASSEY STAFF REPORTER

WEDNESDAY, February 8, 2023 A35 www.kamloopsthisweek.com

WITH EASE

By Garrett Chalfin

69. ‘‘Geaux Tigers!’’ sch.

70. Be an agent for 71. Feature of Sylvester ’s speech

72. Comedian Rudolph

73. Taiwanese president Ing-wen

DOWN

1. Trio with the 1995 No

1 hit ‘‘ Water falls

2. Jolly laugh

3. Passionate

4. Fragrant medicinal plant also called colicroot

5. Most snark y

6. Finish second

7. Something to hang your hat on

8. Elect

9. Plains tribe

10. Not to go

11. Bugging people perhaps

12. Displays of shock

13. Star t to play?

14. Put on no pretensions

15. ‘Fine by me

16. Sin city

17. Commits pirac y

18. Avant- garde

24. ‘‘My name is Prince and I am ____’’ (Prince lyric)

26. Proficient

29. Sauces made with basil and pine nuts

31. Songs to be played at a concer t

32. Slink y e.g

34. Sales-promotion acronym

35. Hoot

36. Downfall

37. Shifty

38. ‘‘ The O ffice’’ role

39. Gives a grand speech

41. I t s up for debate

43. Alternative to spark ling

44. Turk ish money

45. Letters found in a so- called super vocalic ’’ word

48. ‘‘ Yuck!’

49. Spots on a Rorschach card 50. They don’t require much study 52. Stahl of ‘60 Minutes 54. I m toast!

59. British sailor, in slang

One who’s rolling in money

Is exultant

7-10, e.g., in bowling

Plants used in wicker work furniture

CROSSWORD ANSWERS FOUND ON A28

ANSWERS SUDOKU

FUN BY THE NUMBERS Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes To solve a sudoku the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

ANSWER: NTANFI

WEEKLY COMICS

WEEKLY HOROSCOPES

Excessive spending in recent days may have you feeling ner vous about your finances, Aries In addition to bills, you could be waiting to be reimbursed Be patient

Taurus, you may have been working so hard you haven’t had time to spend with family and friends lately Clear your calendar and make some time for recreation

This week you may lock yourself behind closed doors and enjoy some alone time for a change, Gemini Relax with a good book or binge watch some television

A friendship could be tested when you get into a quarrel over money, Cancer You each have different philosophies on spending Tr y to see both sides

Philosophy and religious principles are of interest to you lately, Leo Explore the metaphysical and dive into these subjects with all of your energy

Virgo, you could be longing for a vacation, so why not make it happen?

If you’ve socked away some cash, put it towards a trip to recharge and relax

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 - FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Make an effor t to reconnect with someone you have known a long time who has become absent from your life Resolve to maintain this connection in the years ahead

Honest communication can take you through a rough patch you might be having with your romantic par tner, Scorpio Speak openly and honestly to resolve the issue

Keep your eyes focused on the future, Sagittarius It’s easy to dwell on what happened in the past, but that won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things

A miscommunication could find you spending money you just don’t have right now, Capricorn This may be an instance when you need to seek a professional to sor t it all out

Aquarius, a project that has been on the calendar for some time finally gets completed It has been a long time coming, but the results are better than you expected

Go through some old photos and reminisce, Pisces It can be a quiet way to spend a day or two and enjoy the memories

ZITS by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

SHOE by Gary Brookins & Susie Macnelly

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne

PARDON MY PLANET by Vic Lee

ARCTIC CIRCLE by Alex Hallatt

BABY BLUES by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott

long haired tuxedo cat in the West St Paul Street area Call 250-374-5703

BUYING & SELLING: Vintage & mid-centur y metal, teak, wood fur niture; or iginal signed paintings, pr ints; antique paper items, local histor y ephemera; BC potter y ceramics 4th Mer idian

Moder n solid oak diningroom table with 6 chairs Great shape $695 250-851-1193

JA ENTERPRISES 778-257-4943 Fur niture Moving, Rubbish Removal Cedar tree removal Nail Removed from boards and 2x4 s, Hand Digging 2nd Kings 5:15, Jeremiah 10:11 Micah 5:2

Peter Smiths Renovations Free Estimates: Kitchens, Basements

Jr T-Shirts/Hats/Jackets, Various Posters & Photographs, Plus More!!

ENTERTAINMENT - MOVIE/TV/MUSIC - Action Hero Figurines (various sizes) incl. Deadpool, Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, Guardians of the Galaxy Rocket Raccoon, Star Wars - Darth Vader/Ewok, Yoda/Jawas/Scrappers, TV & Music Memorabilia, Funko Pop Figurines, Beanie Babies, Plus More!! OFFICE/SHOWROOM - Display Cases, Office Furniture/Electronics, Cabinets, Filing Cabinets

POWER

Notice of Proposed Rogers Communication Inc. T elecommunications Facility

Description: As part of the public consultation proc ess required by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), Rogers Communication Inc is inviting the public to comment on a proposed telecommunications facility consisting of 30 0 metre tripole tower and ancillary radio equipment in order to provide dependable wireless data and voice communication services to the Monte Lake area

Tower Location: Ad dress: 3834 Monte Lake Rd , Monte Lake, BC (PID: 012-982-946)

Coordinates: 50 526794° N, -119 841442° W

For More Information: Contact Rogers Communications Inc. at: Tawny Verigin

c/o Cypress Land Services

Agents to Rogers Communications Inc

Suite 1051, 409 Granville Street

Vancouver, BC V6C 1T 2

Tel: 1 855 301 1520

Email:

publicconsultation@cypres slandservices com

The public is welcome to comment on the proposal by the end of the day on March 10, 2023 to this matter.

ROGERS Site: W3975 – Monte Lake

Residential Tenancy Act Legal notice to any claims re goods left at 845 Woodhaven Drive Kamloops BC by Michael Adam Ray Marshall Goods include kitchen, Christmas, fishing and camping items, pictures, memorabilia, bankers boxes, paperwork, household items, assor ted work items and boat cover The items will be disposed of after 30 days of the notice being ser ved or posted, March 11, 2023 unless the person being notified takes the items, or establishes a right to the items, or makes a dispute resolution application with the Residential Tenancy Branch, or makes an application in Supreme Cour t to establish their rights to the items Contact Wilfred or Judy Sankey, 845 Woodhaven Drive, Kamloops, BC 250-554-1154

Looking for a meat cutter / wrapper to join our team

Some experience needed, along with a great work ethic and attitude We are a provincially inspected Class A Abattoir with a far m to plate concept and are located nor th of Kamloops BC Valid

Driver ’s licence and reliable transpor tation a must Benefits available after three months Par t time and full-time positions currently available Please send resume to: rangelandjob@ hotmail com

Looking for a meat cutter / wrapper to join our team

Some experience needed along with a great work ethic and attitude We are a provincially inspected Class A Abattoir with a far m to plate concept and are located nor th of Kamloops BC Valid

Driver ’s licence and reliable transpor tation a must Benefits available after three months Par t time and full-time positions currently available Please send resume to: rangelandjob @hotmail com

SCHOOL DISTRICT NO 58 (NICOLA-SIMILKAMEEN)

COMPUTER TECHNICIAN I / II

School District No 58 is accepting applications for Computer Technician I / II in Merritt

This is a unionized position that offers a 37 5 hour work week plus a comprehensive benefit package including Municipal Pension, health, vacation, and sick benefits An eligibility list will be kept for up to one (1) year Qualified candidates are invited to apply online at www.sd58.bc.ca, click on Jobs, Suppor t Positions, and Current Job Oppor tunities (Job Code 3353563) complete with cover letter and resume outlining relevant background and work experience and three (3) professional references Please include all relevant cer tifications during the application process

For fur ther information please contact Jody McGifford – Executive Assistant at 250 315 1108

Only those applicants selected for an inter view will be contacted

Business Oportunities

CAUTION

While we tr y to ensure all adver tisements appearing in Kamloops This Week are placed by reputable businesses with legitimate offers we do caution our readers to under take due diligence when answering any adver tisement,

GIVE LAVISHLY LIVE ABUNDANTLY

By Helen Steiner Rice

Each Loss

Each loss is very different, The pain is so severe. Will I ever stop missing This one I loved so dear? Good times we had together, The moments that we shared We didn’t have to tell each other How much we really cared.

you’d go away, Never thought of sorrow. So sure you’d always be here Took for granted each tomorrow.

Now my life is all confused Since you went away. You took a part of me And for help I daily pray.

But when God sent you to me He never said that you were mine, That I could keep you always –Only borrowed for a time.

Now, He’s called you home, I’m sad and I shed tears. Yet I’m glad He loaned you to me And we had these many years.

Doris Garbe

January 16, 1983 - January 26, 2023

With deep sorrow and sadness, the family of Doris Garbe announces her sudden passing at the age of 40.

She is survived by her children Gerda and Richard, her spouse Anselm, her sister Sunnhild Able of Erdmannhausen, Germany, and her parents Karl and Annemarie Zillmann of Marbach, Germany

Doris grew up in Germany and moved to Canada with her family in 2017. She used to be a medical office assistant, but changed her career into IT administration recently She planned to start working as an IT security specialist.

Besides work, she loved spending time outdoors with her children, travelling to different countries, learning different languages and keeping up her German heritage.

She will be greatly missed and thought of often.

The Funeral Service will take place at 11:00 am on Friday, February 10, 2023 in the Kamloops Funeral Home, 285 Fortune Dr., with Reverend Jane Gingrich officiating.

Condolences may be sent to the family from www.kamloopsfuneralhome.com

250-554-2577

Dorothy Daniels

1943 - 2023

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Dorothy Daniels passed away on January 29th, 2023, with her family by her side.

Dorothy was born in Barrhead, Alberta on the 14th of August 1943.

She is survived by her husband Irwin Daniels, daughter Judy, granddaughters Crystal and Allison, great-grandchildren Julianna, Makayla, and Miranda. Predeceased by great-granddaughter Samantha.

Dorothy loved her country music and playing bridge. She will be missed by all that knew her

She will be in our hearts forever.

A memorial will be held at a later date.

Condolences may be sent to the family from www.kamloopsfuneralhome.com

250-554-2577

The more you give, The more you get, The more you laugh, The less you fret, The more you do unselfishly, The more you live abundantly, The more of everything you share, The more you’ll always have to spare, The more you love, The more you’ll find, That life is good, And friends are kind, For only what we give away, Enriches us from day to day.

Love’s greatest gift is remembrance.

Ingo Leonhart Meierhofer

October 10, 1944 - January 27, 2023

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Ingo Leonhart Meierhofer on January 27th, at the age of 78, following a lengthy struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. For over 20 years he managed very well, however the last 4 years became very difficult for him.

Ingo leaves behind his loving wife, Teresa, of 50 years; his sons Dustin (Christine) and Donnavan; grandchildren Wesley, Leah, Victoria, Emma and Ellianna; his sister (and best friend) Sigrun (Richard), many wonderful nieces and nephews, and also cousins in Austria. He will also be missed by all of Teresa's family, and many close friends and neighbours.

He was predeceased by his parents Johann (Hans) and Antonia Meierhofer, his sister Erika and his brother Gerhard. Ingo was born in Austria and his family immigrated to Canada in 1951 eventually settling in Summerland, BC.

Ingo began his career with the BC Telephone Company (1966) in the Trail area and then moved to Terrace, Prince George and finally to Kamloops (Engineering Technician) where, after many years, he accepted an early retirement. The company was relocating their main office and employees to Kelowna and he did not want to move from our private and peaceful home on 52 acres.

Ingo was a very active man who enjoyed the outdoors hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting with his close friend, Graham. He thoroughly enjoyed his annual salmon fishing trip with his brother-in-law Dieter, nephew Trevor and friend Kevin; and fly fishing with friend Ken. In the winter months Ingo loved ice fishing and spent a lot of time on the ice with his friend Olav Ingo was also very passionate about his many sportscars. He was very proud of his last one, a beautiful Porsche 911 Turbo.

Fortunately, Ingo and Teresa were able to experience many wonderful and memorable trips over the years. He was always open for an adventure! Ingo will be remembered as being an avid outdoorsman with an incredible love and respect of nature, for being a great storyteller; and for having a great sense of humour, even to the end.

A very special thanks and sincere appreciation to Dr A. Wynne, to Dr J. Takahashi and to the wonderful and caring staff, who soon became friends, at Ridgeview Lodge.

There will be no service as per his request. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Parkinson’s Society of BC or to the charity of choice.

Condolences may be expressed at DrakeCremation.com

Jacob Mathew Rommann

April 28, 1995 - January 17, 2023

It is with great sadness that we announce Jacob’s sudden passing at the age of 27, Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

He leaves behind mother Patricia Hallam and father Shane Rommann (Taylor), brothers Dakota Garner and Zayden Rommann, sister Farrah Rommann, grandparents Bob Fraser and Linda Hallam, his great grandma Shirley Morin and girlfriend Rhaea Peterhans. He also leaves behind many aunties, uncles, cousins and friends, near and far

Jacob will always be remembered for his enormous heart and free spirit.

The Celebration of Life for Jacob will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2023 in the Kamloops Funeral Home, 285 Fortune Drive.

Condolences may be sent to the family from www.kamloopsfuneralhome.com 250-554-2577

Richard (Rick) Ian Geier

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of loving Husband, Father and Brother, Richard (Rick) Ian Geier Richard passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on January 29, 2023 at Kamloops Hospice.

Richard is survived by his loving wife Linda Geier, children Richard Geier and Natasha (Rommel) Directo as well as his three grandchildren Maya, Javier, and Tia Directo. He also leaves behind his three younger siblings Robert (Norma) Geier, Judy (Wayne) Becker, and Patsy (Bill) Lockwood as well as his wonderful nieces and nephews. He was a devoted husband, father and Papa, head of the family and loved by all.

Born on December 20, 1947 in Vancouver, B.C, the family soon moved to Kamloops, the city that he would consider his home. There he met his wife Linda at the early age of 19 and began to work for Petro-Canada (Gulf Oil). His career took him away to Alberta for many years, but his heart was always in B.C.

Richard will be remembered for his kindness and caring, humour and knowledge. He had the ability to talk to anyone (and we mean anyone) and make them feel as comfortable as if they were close friends. This served him well on his and Linda’s travels across Canada and down to the USA. His friendliness ensured he had many interesting, and entertaining stories about his adventures. He always had an anecdote about any situation, whether it be from his time as a Scout Leader, to their more recent adventure travels.

His passions for golf, fishing, canoeing and B.C. history were well known. As well as his enjoyment of a good meal. His greatest passion, however, was his grandchildren. As anyone who talked to him would know how proud he was of them. It was his favourite topic of discussion.

Our heartfelt thanks to the staff at the Cancer Clinic, Community Health and Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice for the care Richard received.

In lieu of flowers, we ask for donations to Hospice. There will be no formal ceremony by his request, but a Celebration of Life to be held at a later date.

Mona Anne Endean (née Heath)

July 31, 1935 - December 30, 2022

After a life well lived, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mona Anne Endean at 87 years of age. Mona succumbed to a sudden illness in hospice with loving family at her side.

Mona was predeceased by Norman, her husband of 49 years, parents Edwin and Eleanor Heath, and infant siblings Roland and Muriel.

Mona is survived by her daughter Donna, sons Gregory (Tahira), Donald (Cynthia), Steven (Paula), James (Robyn), nine grandchildren; Kevin, Shawna, Nicholas, Julia, Carter, Logan, Samantha, Riley, Cassandra.

Missing her dearly is sister Sherann (Eugene) Broder, niece Andrea, nephew Darren, and many others of her large extended family

Mona had many interests outside the home. Her love of life, family, and friends was evident to all who knew her She was a loving and trusted friend who took the time to listen and support others. Mona was always the first to volunteer and spent many years fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society With great enjoyment of people, Mona spent 25 years as a server at the Kamloops Golf and Country Club, where she made friends for life Mona was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She will be deeply missed!

A family celebration of life will take place later this summer As per Monas' wishes, she will be laid to rest with her late husband in the Kamloops Cemetery

Condolences may be sent to the family at DrakeCremation.com

Lovingly remembered by her family, Rose passed peacefully away in Royal Inland Hospital, Kamloops on January 27, 2023.

Rose Lillian Kingston was born to Clifford Eldridge Kingston and Stella Isabelle Joan Peterson on February 19, 1933.

Rose grew up with her sister Louise, in Richmond and Vancouver, B.C. until the family moved to the Kamloops region in the 1950's.

She went to Lord Kitchener Elementary school and later to Point Grey Junior High until 1948. There she grew up with horses, a milk cow and chickens. They hunted as a family every fall in the Cariboo and she learned to use a rifle. At age 16 Rose became the Dairy Queen for Sea Island Rose graduated from Richmond High in 1951.

After moving to Kamloops, she met the love of her life, Robert White, of the Whitecroft Ranch. They were married November 10,1956. Rose quickly took on the many roles of ranch wife, from being a more than capable hand and horsewoman, to the running of the guest ranch, as well as becoming a mother to three. Rose loved to travel with Rob, and together they visited Hawaii, Tahiti, Mexico, Colombia and Desert Hot Springs where they greatly enjoyed the adventures they had. Also, closer to home they camped in Osoyoos and together they attended and worked at many Fall Fairs the annual Vancouver PNE, as well as spending time on their speedboat and waterskiing on Heffley Lake. After the sale of the main ranch in the 1970's, Rob and Rose continued their country lives in the Heffley area on satellite ranch properties. Rose worked at the Bank of Montreal for 10 years starting in1969. Eventually they moved away from long winters, to Rayleigh, and then finally Kamloops.

Rose Lillian White 1933 - 2023

Rose loved the adventures of her grandchildren, especially when they involved horses, dogs, 4H or history, and she attended many of their events at both Heffley Creek Elementary and Brocklehurst Secondary as well many Fall Fair functions.

Rose spent a very happy sixty-six years married to Rob, and they were never apart. Rob wrote a beautiful poem about his wife, “My Lady Rose”, which shows the great love he had for her The family is fortunate to have so many pictures and memories of her life.

Predeceased by her parents, her motherin-law and father-in-law Rhoda and Frank White, her sister-in-law and brother-inlaw Velma and Jack Brady, her brother-inlaw, Stan Oakes, niece Sandy Oakes, great nephew Daren Brady Rose is remembered by her sister Louise Oakes; children Frank White (Candise), Rosemary Kanigan (Don), Shannon McIlquham (Brian) as well as her adult grandchildren, David White (Beckay Dusenbury), Derek White, Sarah White (Jimmy Broomfield), Jacey Stanley (Pete Ludwick), Darcy Wilk (Tyler), Erin Brady (Matt), Brianna McIlquham (Devon Jones) and nine great-grandchildren, all of whom were fortunate enough to have met their great-grandmother Nana White. Also remembered by nephew Barry Brady (Maureen), niece Brenda Steiner (Ueli), nieces Diana Wren (Bob), Christina Oakes (Morgan) and their families. Many other extended members of the family: cousins, nieces and nephews are left to remember Rose with love, as are many friends.

The family would like to thank Chartwell Ridgepoint Retirement Residence, RIH staff and Doctors for their excellent care of Rose in her last days, and their compassion.

No service by request, a memorial will be held at a later date, to allow distant family members and friends to attend.

Lynda Marie Yalowega

Lynda Marie Yalowega passed away peacefully on February 4, 2023 at Sunpointe Village, Kelowna, BC. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan and moved to BC when she was four

Lynda was a beloved mother, wife, aunt, and grandma, she loved gardening, cooking, reading and her dog Buddy She is predeceased by her husband Terry and her parents Rita and Len Leibel. Survived by her son Greg (Patsy), daughter Michelle, brother Fred (Susan) and sister Barb (Scott) as well as grandson Adam and many nieces and nephews.

A Graveside Service will be held on Saturday, February 11th, 2023 at 1:00 pm at Hillside Cemetery, 750 Notre Dame Drive, Kamloops, BC.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.valleyviewfuneralhome.com for the Yalowega family

My Lady Rose

My Lady Rose my wife

A blossom so true and dear Together through life we shared Our hopes and dreams and fears

A blossom so fresh

When she came to the ranch

Our love grew rich and deep

The girl of my dreams

The one I would keep My Lady Rose

Three blooms did come From my Lady Rose

She gave them life and love Only a mother knows And they grew to an image of My Lady Rose

Our many years together Through times both bad and good Few men could be so lucky To pick a bloom of such beauty As My Lady Rose

Ronnie Gerald Ned Jr. January 19, 1982 - January 4, 2023

Condolences may be sent to the family from www kamloopsfuneralhome com 250-554-2577

Sorrow in our hearts Ron-e!

“your wings were ready but our hearts were not.”

Ronnie graduated from Sahali Secondary school in Kamloops and attended First Nations Access to University/trades and technology He worked at various jobs on short term basis and move on to work at Tk’emlu’ps te Secwepemc Petro Canada for 12 years.

Gratitude to family, friends and community members, helped make Ron-e journey pleasant.

Sincere thank you from the Machell / Ned family

Remembering Darcy Scott Morrow

On Friday, February 17th. at the Holiday Inn Salon B, 675 Tranquille Rd. Kamloops, BC from 4:00-6:00 pm. Please feel free to drop in and share your stories and/or memories of Darcy

A sk DR AK E

Drake Smith, MSW Funeral Director

Ever y Wednesday in K T W!

Q. Mom pre-paid but the f uneral home wants more. W hy?

A. W hen Mom bought the polic y years ago they probably didn’t explain all the det ails. Did you ever look at the fine pr int on a f uneral pre -payment contract? You need a power f ul magnif ying gla ss and a Philadelphia law yer. My advice to most of you: don’t prepay. Plea se call and we’ll explain.

Drake Cremation & Funeral Services

210 Lansdowne • 425 Tranquille Rd 250-37 7-8225 • Drake Cremation.com

AFFORDABLE & NO BL ACK SUITS

“Love you mom”

Louise Teresa De Monte passed away peacefully at the age of 85, surrounded by family on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023, reuniting her with the love of her life, Gerry, who predeceased her in 1994.

Louise was born on September 5, 1937 in Borgo Faiti, Latina, Italy and immigrated to Canada at the young age of 12. Mom had a beautiful smile and infectious laugh which will be dearly missed by her son John (Kristine) De Monte and family Amanda De Monte (fiancé Connor Gehring), Rachelle (Derek) Simpson, Nicolas (Rebecca) De Monte and Sydney De Monte. Daughter Lidia (Glen) Kowalski and family Ryan Kowalski (Alexandra Friedrichs), Brianna Kowalski and Larissa Kowalski (Vincenzo Soave). Also missing their bisnonna are her adoring 5 great-grandchildren, Nevaeh, Dominic, Theodore, Laila and Lennox. She leaves behind her brother Ben (Donna) De Marni, sisters Teresa Klarich, Joanne Uliana, Rosanne (Aldo) Guglielmini, sister-in-law Luisa De Marni and many numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was predeceased by her son “Baby Robbi” Robert De Monte, parents Batista and Maria De Marni, sister Natalina Bertoncini, brothers Severino and Mario De Marni. Brothers-in-law Joe Klarich, Bruno Uliana, Armando Bertoncini and sister-inlaw Jean De Marni.

As one of the founding members of the Can-ital Ladies, she loved spending numerous hours cooking Italian meals for many weddings and other functions at the Colombo Lodge.

Mom’s greatest love was spending time with all her family which filled her heart with pride and joy She had an unbelievable green thumb spending hours tending to her vegetable and flower garden.

The Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on Saturday, February 11, 2023 at 12pm. Following the service the family would like to invite family and friends to the Parish Center for refreshments. Interment to follow for immediate and extended family

The family would like to thank Dr Howie and all the caregivers at Pine Grove Care Center for all their support, kindness and care mom received during her time there.

In lieu of flowers, in honour of our mom, we ask you light a candle in her memory

Raymond Lewis Peter Volpatti

It is with great heartache, that we announce the sudden passing of Raymond Volpatti on January 15, 2023 at the age of 54, in Kamloops, BC.

Raymond was born March 18, 1968 in Hope, BC, where he later graduated high school. He had also spent several years in Coquitlam, Revelstoke, and other areas, before settling in Kamloops.

Music played an important role in Raymond’s life. It was an outlet and a therapy He loved listening to music, singing, dancing and playing his acoustic guitar for the enjoyment of any audience. He was proud to speak of his time as a logger Raymond enjoyed socializing and spending time with his wife, family, friends and all. He was very kind, caring, and compassionate. He was eager to help others in any way he was able. He was full of humor and had a special way of spreading cheer, and love with all. Raymond was one of a kind and there will be no other like him. Raymond was very loved and will be greatly missed by many

Raymond is predeceased by his father John Volpatti as well as his brother Jason Volpatti. He leaves behind his loving wife Tricia, his beloved parents June (Mike), his cherished children Randal (Nicole) and Mars, step-daughters Sarah and Rebecca, his sisters Lacy, her father Barry, and Kelly (Jared), along with numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the memories that take our breath away

Cecil Gibson

It is with immense heartache that we announce the passing of Cecil Gibson, aka Crampa the Great. A jokester, brother, uncle, cousin, father, husband, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend, and favourite stranger - he will be missed by so many He is survived by his children, Barry and Karen, his grandchildren Jodi (Aiden), Jaylene (Chandler), Jaryn, and Jordan, and his great- grandchildren Kayah, Rowan, Caius, and Bay He is predeceased by his wife Diane and his ten siblings.

He will be remembered for the laughs and joy he spread, the strength and compassion he inspired in others, and the love he fiercely shared. We will always remember his laugh, and the lessons he taught us.

Cecil served in the Air Force for 25 years, where he met the love of his life (and eternal pain in his booty, whom he adored). Together, he and Diane built a life together, bringing Barry and Karen into the world. Despite challenges and hardships, they persevered and after their last posting in Kamloops, they started their own ceramics business. They served the Kamloops community for many years, providing a safe creative space for many

He was imperfectly perfect and oh so cherished and loved. All we have left to say is...FINE!! To which he would laugh and take solace in. Rest easy old man, you are loved and we are better for having your presence in our lives.

The memorial service will be held at Heffley Creek Hall on Saturday, February 18th from 1-3pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kamloops Hospice Association.

Condolences may be expressed to the family at kamloops@cypressfuneral.ca

Louise Teresa De Monte

WIN A TRIP TO MEXICO!

Dearborn’s marketing team is on the move

Spearheaded by general manager Justin Grover, the Dearborn Ford marketing team is taking steps to meet Kamloops out in the community and community and media marketing managers Maddie Bedard and Alex Beckett couldn’t be more thrilled.

“We get to go to all kinds of amazing Kamloops events and meet the amazing people in our community,” said Maddie.

A native of North Vancouver who later moved to Kamloops and attended South Kamloops secondary, Maddie said she noticed immediately how giving the Kamloops community was after her move from the big city. Her early experiences continue to drive her passion to give back to the community only she gets to do it as a career.

“I am often at local events, from golf tournaments to NorthPaws games, handing out swag and giving people chances to win great prizes” Maddie noted.

Dearborn Ford is giving away a chance to win two tickets to Mexico following its big EcoSport car giveaway at the end of 2022. Visiting Dearborn’s community cruiser is a great way to win fantastic gifts and be entered in draws to win myriad prizes, such as the trip to Mexico.

Dearborn has another gigantic giveaway planned, with details to come soon.

“I have really started to appreciate the community feedback from Kamloops,” said Alex. “People are genuinely happy with the efforts we at Dearborn Ford have put in to engage with and support our community.”

Alex is a graduate of Thompson Rivers University’s marketing program and his work can often be found in Dearborn’s online marketing efforts through his passion for creating top-notch visuals to represent the brand across all social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. One of Alex’s lighter videos (Pump Up The Jam) recently garnered national attention on TikTok.

Make sure you give Dearborn a follow on social media so you can keep up to date with where the team will be in the community Dearborn’s Community Cruiser will be on location at many local events this year, so make sure you take some time to say hi to Alex and Maddie.

You’ll be glad you did as you will make some new friends and, perhaps, walk away with a prize

ALEX BECKETT Community & Marketing Manager

MADDIE BEDARD Community & Marketing Manager