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FEBRUARY 26, 26 2015 | Volume 28 No No. 25
SD73 wants separate reviews DALE BASS STAFF REPORTER dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
I
f Premier Christy Clark is looking for ways for school district to cut more costs, Kelvin Stretch has a suggestion. The secretary-treasurer of the Kamloops-Thompson school district would like to see the Ministry of Education review each district separately and identify those that could do more and those that have already made many hard financial decisions. “We’ve closed schools,” Stretch said. “There are districts out there that haven’t closed any schools.” During the budget speech earlier this month, the B.C. Liberal government included a mandate that all school districts find ways to, collectively, cut $29 million from administration
Secretary-treasurer says SD73 has already made plenty of tough budget decisions — which can’t be said for every district in B.C. and related services in the 2015-2016 school year and another $25 million the following year. Stretch said other than the general statement, no specifics have been given to districts about how the requirement will affect them. He said he’s expecting to learn more on March 12, when the government will release preliminary funding information for the coming school year. Education Minister Peter Fassbender said last week he hasn’t looked at imposing specific dollar-figure savings on each district. He said they could come in many ways; one district,
for example, identified a $7,000 saving by changing the way it processed its payroll, while other neighbouring districts have found savings by working together on projects. Fassbender noted the savings amount to one-half of one per cent of the $5.4billion education budget. Board of education vicechairwoman Meghan Wade said any more cuts to the budget would be difficult. “We have always been a financially prudent district, and we have always kept as much of our money as we can in the classroom,” Wade said.
A WHUNDAFUL WIN
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Not even the flowing locks of South Kam Titan Liam Applegath (right) could stop Tanner Koroluk of the Westsyde Whundas as he drove to the hoop in the Grade 8 high school basketball city final on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Westsyde won 50-36.
See SD73, page A14
Jury delivers guilty verdict for Cory Bird CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
A man convicted of second-degree murder for the second time hung his head and shook briefly with sobbing following a jury decision yesterday afternoon (Feb. 25).
Four women and eight men deliberated for two days behind closed doors whether Cory Bird, 27, was guilty of second-degree murder, the lesser charge of manslaughter or whether he acted in self-defence after admitting to stabbing Albert Michell to death in 2008. It was Bird’s second
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trial after the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled evidence introduced by the Crown that he was an experienced drinker should not have been used during the first trial in 2011. This trial lasted five weeks, culminating in the jury’s verdict. At the first trial, Bird was found guilty
“
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We were hoping for manslaughter.
— Fennalies Riemersma, Bird’s adoptive mother
by a judge alone. He was given a life sentence, with no chance of parole for 12 years. Crown and defence will argue a new sentence at a hearing later this year.
Bird’s parents and sister attended part of the trial from their home in Armstrong. “We were hoping for manslaughter,” said Fennalies Riemersma, origi-
nally a Fraser Valley farmer who raised her adopted son along with husband Pierre. Fennalies said her son is hoping to upgrade his Grade 12 so he can attend college or university when he is eventually released on parole. See NO, page A14