TODAY’S WEATHER Showers High 13 C Low 3 C
EYES ARE ON THE SKIES
FIGHTING TO STAY ALIVE
Ranchers and the need for water
Kamloops Venom want more bodies
A2
A15
KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK THURSDAY
kamloopsthisweek.com kamloopsthisweek kamthisweek
30 CENTS AT NEWSSTANDS
|
APRIL 23, 2015 | Volume 28 No. 49
ACCUSED IN HILLSIDE ASSAULTS IN COURT TIM PETRUK
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
DAVE EAGLES/KTW
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
Kay Bingham elementary students Marcus Beattie (left), Cooper Felkee and Zech Montgomery wait in anticipation of the revealed answers, hoping they’ve got it correct in the Battle of the Books zone competition. The Kamloops reading motivational program for students in grades 3 to 7 started in 1988 and has since been adopted in other districts around the province. This year, 28 schools are participating. The goals of the program are to encourage students to read and to broaden their reading interests. District finals are being held today at the Henry Grube Education Centre.
The woman accused of violently assaulting a nurse last week at Hillside Psychiatric Centre has been sent for an in-custody assessment to determine if she’s fit to stand trial. Four deputy sheriffs escorted Heather Harris into a Kamloops courtroom yesterday, where a judge ordered she be sent to Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in the Lower Mainland for a fitness assessment. Harris is facing two separate assault charges stemming from incidents this month — one on April 2 and the other on April 15. In both cases, court heard, the victims were staff members at Hillside. Court heard Harris spends almost all of her time at Hillside locked in a confinement cell. On April 2, she was let out of her cell for one hour and is alleged to
have lashed out physically when staff members told her the hour was up. On April 15, she was let out for another hour and allegedly punched a female nurse in the head. While in custody in the cellblock of the Kamloops Law Courts yesterday, Harris allegedly became involved in an altercation with a female deputy sheriff. The investigation into that incident is ongoing and it’s not known if charges will be laid. Harris was previously charged after a pair of assaults at Hillside in 2013. Those charges were stayed after doctors at Forensic Psychiatric Hospital found her unfit to stand trial and she was later transferred back to Hillside. If Harris is found unfit to stand trial on the latest charges, her file will be sent to the B.C. Review Board for disposition She’s due back in court on May 21.
Councillor wants Kamloops to nix additional drive-thrus ANDREA KLASSEN STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
A Kamloops city councillor thinks it’s time the city nixed any more drive-thrus. During an update on the city’s sustainability efforts at a council workshop Tuesday, Coun. Ken Christian said he wants to see more attention paid to anti-idling efforts. “We continue to approve development-permit options that allow for drive-thrus and I think it’s getting a bit ridiculous,” Christian said.
“Maybe for fast food, but now you have drive-thru banks.” He wasn’t the only councillor to raise the issue. Coun. Denis Walsh called for an anti-idling bylaw and public-education campaign that extends beyond the city’s own fleet. Walsh said he’s concerned the city’s greenhouse-gas numbers don’t appear to be decreasing and believes fewer engines running could help. “Idling to me seems like low-hanging fruit,” he said. Coun. Pat Wallace, however, cautioned that a bylaw might not accomplish much if the city can’t enforce it equally across the city. She said if malls and big-box stores allow idling in their
J.WALSH & SONS Serving Kamloops
2321 E.T.C. Hwy. Kamloops
A SABER® GRILL IS JUICIER!
for 57 proud years!
250.372.5115
www.jwalshandsons.com Member of the FortisBC contractor program
private parking lots, a bylaw could become a new reason for shoppers to avoid downtown. “If it’s cold or if it’s hot, people are going to run their cars if their wife or spouse is shopping,” she said. Council would need a staff report at a regular meeting, as well as a public hearing, if it were to move forward with a bylaw. In 2011, Subway failed in its bid to add a drive-thru to its location at Fortune Drive and Seventh Street. The city doesn’t allow drive-thrus in what is considered the North Shore Towne Centre, instead encouraging a pedestrianfriendly environment.
AT TTAARRTTIINNGG0A00T0 S S
1829999
$$
SABER® grills’ patented infrared technology keeps food juicier. The SABER® grill dispenses heat evenly across the entire cooking surface helping to cook evenly and the patented grate/ emi emitter plate design vaporizes drippings and adds natural smoke flavour without drying out food.