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Volume 7 Issue 25
Vandals target local homes and property by EVAN MATTHEWS
A man sitting in his living room at 3:30 AM had his sense of security shattered, as a rock came flying through his window early Sunday morning. Hamza Razak is fasting for Ramadan, which is the
ninth month of the Muslim year and where strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset. “We eat and drink in the morning around 2:30 or 3 AM,” says Razak. “That’s what I was doing.” Razak was playing PlayStation 3 in his home on
Mudda Mia!
7th Avenue, when the rock flew through his living room window and into his kitchen, he says. Razak ran downstairs to get his keys, and wake up his roommate. Then he ran outside, but Razak says he didn’t hear a vehicle or anything. There was no
one visible, nothing, he says. “I freaked out, I was like, ‘what the hell?’” says Razak. “The glass was all over my clothes, the kitchen — it was everywhere.” Razak called the RCMP and made a report with
them, he says, however an increased presence would help him to feel safe. On the same night, two other homes were hit as well, according to Jen Applebaum, a property manager in Valemount. Mountainview Apartments Cont’d on A06
New gas bars & fast food A03&6 Listings on P19!
Prince George
Pull-out summer events feature! Local MMA fighter overcomes tumour to
Photo: Evan Matthews Students from McBride & Valemount got down and dirty at the Otway Nordic Ski Club in Prince George last week. Kylie Ilnicki worms her way through the first obstacle with a smile on her face, but she says her favourite portion was swimming at the end. More photos A2.
A08 fight at Worlds by EVAN MATTHEWS
McBride Grad Issue
A09-12
A man who grew up in Valemount will soon have his chance to fight on the biggest stage in amateur mixed martial arts (MMA). Kyle Francotti, now a Grand Prairie resident, will head to Las Vegas to compete on July 6, but the path he’s been on to get here has been an unusual one, and not without obstacles. In order to qualify for the IMMAF World Championships,
the number one ranked amateur heavyweight champion, Francotti, had to beat two opponents at the end of May in Lethbridge, AB, but both opponents backed out, he says. “Normally you would have to fight to qualify, but I have a 5-2 record,” says Francotti. “I was vouched for by one of the committee members. I was passed through and qualified for Worlds.” Because the committee pays for half the trip, Francotti says they
won’t sponsor a person if they’re not expected to do well. One might ask, how could the highest-ranking amateur fighter in Canada not do well? In November of 2014, Francotti was on his way to a title fight in Calgary. He says the fight was supposed to be his last amateur fight before he turned pro. “I already had so many fights, and the Calgary commission required an MRI before my fight to make sure everything was okay,” says Francotti. “I did the MRI,
and went home, and everything was fine.” Shortly after, Francotti says he received a call asking him to redo the scan, as the original had complications. He was told there was nothing to worry about. After his second MRI, Francotti says he went back to his hotel to get ready for weigh-ins. The commission was happy, and Francotti says he had to see one more doctor for a quick check-in before his fight. Cont’d on A06
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