On Thursday the Fraser-Fort George Regional District board of directors gave final approval to a 20-year deal with FortisBC to harvest methane gas from the landfill site, after the proposal cleared the alternative approval process.
Regional district approves landfill gas deal
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
A tentative deal to make the Foothills landfill a source of fuel for FortisBC has been advanced a step.
Fraser-Fort George Regional District directors gave final approval on Thursday after it cleared the elector approval stage. Because it entails entering a 20-year agreement, it had been subject to voters’ consent via an alternative approval process. Less than 10 per cent of the electorate express opposition through the process, allowing directors to ratify the deal which remains subject to approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission.
Under the terms, FortisBC will extract methane gas from the landfill and inject it into its natural gas distribution system.
FortisBC would pay the FFGRD $75,000 to $145,000 per year and be responsible for financing, constructing and operating a processing plant on the landfill to purify the gas before it’s pumped into the system. Building the plant will cost an estimated $8.5 million and cost a further $500,000 per year to operate, according to a FortisBC presentation to directors.
The FFGRD will remain responsible for upgrades and maintenance to the landfill’s gas collection system and would be obligated to supply 75,000 to
125,000 gigagoules of gas per year. The deal includes a base rate of $1.25 per gigagoule to cover the FFGRD’s costs with annual increases to account for inflation. On that basis, delivering 75,000 gigagoules would reap $93,750 per year, according to a staff report.
FortisBC is working to reach a provincially-mandated goal of securing 15 per cent of its supply from renewable sources by 2030. Diverting gas from Foothills into the FortisBC system would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3,500 to 5,700 tonnes per year, according to the company. The target date for getting the plant up and running is December 2020.
Suspects from highway takedown charged
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
Charges have been approved against the two men apprehended during the takedown Wednesday that forced the closure of Highway 97 North.
Jamie Hal Hammerstrom, 41, and John Robert Barton Craig, 33, each face five counts, including breaking and entering and stealing a firearm and disguising their faces with intent to commit and offence. Hammerstrom also faces three counts of possessing a firearm contrary to an order and one count each of possessing stolen property under $5,000 and possessing a controlled substance.
The two were arrested late Wednesday morning when a vehicle linked to a theft of a gun and ammunition from a Chief Lake home earlier in the day was spotted by police. An RCMP officer fired off a round in the act although no one was injured.
A stretch of Highway 97 in the vicinity of Noranda Road was subsequently closed for several hours to allow investigators to gather evidence.
Hammerstrom, in particular, has long been regarded as a prolific offender by police.
In 2013, he had been found not guilty of stealing a pickup truck, dangerous driving and fleeing police after a B.C. Supreme Court Justice found Crown prosecution was unable to prove the thief’s identity beyond a reasonable doubt.
That same year, charges against Hammerstrom from an alleged home invasion were stayed.
Perhaps most notable, in 2014 he was sentenced to a further 18 months in jail for attempting to sell stolen firearms through accomplices while he was in custody as a way to raise money for bail. The plan backfired in more ways than one because Hammerstrom was eventually acquitted on the charges that first put him in custody, only to find himself remaining behind bars facing the new charges.
As for Craig, in January 2018, he was sentenced to 162 days in jail for attempting to flee police in a stolen pickup truck.
There’s much ado about lots of things when it comes to youth performing a Shakespearean play after 10 days of intense rehearsal.
Shooting Stars Theatre presents Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Northwest Tuesday to Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Melissa Glover of Shooting Stars said there are nine youth who are between 10 and 17 years old working hard during rehearsal to make it all come together at theatre camp.
The group started with a modern-day version of the play and a copy of the original prose side-by-side so the actors could get used to the language and make sense of it.
After all the hard work Glover said she’d like the children’s efforts to be rewarded to a greater degree.
“So this year we’re going to be presenting four performances of the show as opposed to two that I’ve done in the past,” Glover said.
“The kids worked so hard to put on this play and to just have two performances it doesn’t give them a chance to get into their stride. I’ve noticed working with professional actors, even their opening can be a bit shaky and then once they’ve done a few more performances they really hit their stride and then they grow as a company. This is my first year experimenting with that and seeing how that goes.”
The play rehearsals are going really well, Glover added. Because it’s a comedy, high energy is required and it seems this group of young actors can carry it through.
“And some of the women in the theatre camp are playing male roles and that’s a really hard challenge,” she said. In Shakespeare’s time only men were allowed on the stage, she noted.
The play is set in Shakespearean times so Glover said modern mannerisms need to be
diminished, presenting more obstacles for the young thesbians to overcome.
“The kids have done a great job and have a really great command of the text,” she said, who started Shooting Stars seven years ago.
“A lot of themes in Shakespeare and especially in Much Ado About Nothing are revenge, love, betrayal – you know – the stuff that makes a really good story. When the students understand what’s at stake for their characters it gets them that much more invested in the words they’re saying
and makes it easier to understand Shakespeare.”
In professional theatre, a 10-day lead before the play goes in front of an audience seems typical so Glover was confident the children would succeed.
“They’ve done extremely well with it because they want to put together a great production,” she said.
“They’ve all done a really great job of jumping right in and creating a true ensemble because that’s what theatre is, it’s working as a team and knowing that one
actor is no more important than any other and they’ve really adjusted to that. I think Prince George is ready for Shakespeare and my next goal is having adults perform Shakespeare and doing more productions throughout the year.”
Much Ado About Nothing is a lighthearted comedy that Glover said she knows audiences will enjoy.
Performances are held Tuesday to Friday at Theatre Northwest. Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is by donation.
Fort Nelson gets a bump to annual allowable cut
The annual allowable cut for the Fort Nelson timber supply region will be increased by one million cubic metres.
It may be the only region of the province to actually see its AAC increase.
The AAC for interior region timber supply areas is on the decline, due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic, and the coastal region is under unrelenting pressure to protect old growth forests from logging through parks and protected areas.
The Fort Nelson region was largely untouched by the Mountain pine beetle infestation, and does not have the same conservation concerns over caribou that could take 300,000 cubic metres out of the AAC for the Peace region.
Mills that once operated there have been idle for years, which has resulted in an undercut.
Because there has been so little logging for more than a decade in the area, a restarted mill could burn through several years’ worth of timber without even touching the AAC, Mike Gilbert, regional development officer for the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM), told Business in Vancouver in May.
The regional government has
The Fort Nelson TSA contains a vast area of mature deciduous stands.
I am confident that my decision will encourage forestry opportunities...
— Shane Berg, deputy chief forester
been lobbying for an increase in the AAC to lure new sawmills to the area.
Following a timber supply review, the region is now getting the bump it was asking for. B.C.’s deputy chief forester is increasing the region’s AAC from 1.6 million cubic metres – set in 2006 – to 2.6 million cubic metres.
“The Fort Nelson TSA contains a vast area of mature deciduous stands,” Shane Berg, deputy chief forester, said in a press release.
“I am confident that my decision will encourage forestry opportunities for First Nations and other operators, while maintaining responsible management of biodiversity objectives.”
Students rehearse for Much Ado About Nothing on Friday morning at Theatre Northwest.
Nelson BENNETT Glacier Media
NEWS IN BRIEF
Piano pro named grand piano master
Piano professional Peter Stevenson has attained a rare distinction in the music industry. The local entrepreneur is a musician, but he is best known as an instrument technician and that reputation just grew a few octaves. Stevenson was bestowed with a certificate for completion of the Grand Piano Action Master course conducted by the international piano assembly specialist Renner Academy. The course was a week-long intensive held in Scottsdale, Ariz. It centred on the repair and maintenance of grand pianos. The instructors included some of the top names in the world of piano building and repair: Rick Baldassin, Nicholas Gravagne, Michael Spreeman, and Carl Teel.
“Only 15 piano technicians from around the world are accepted for each spring and fall session, which provides greater opportunities for studentinstructor interaction as well as peer-to-peer learning,” said Lloyd Meyer, president of Renner USA. Stevenson operates P.S. Pianos, headquartered in Prince George and servicing a number of surrounding communities for the full spectrum of piano services.
RD joins city against common tansy
The Fraser-Fort George Regional District will join the city in asking the provincial government to add the common tansy to its list of noxious weeds. Directors approved the move on Thursday, about a month after city council directed staff to work with the regional district on submitting a request to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. The designation is needed to give the bodies the authority to remove the plant from private property. Native to Europe and Asia, they have no natural predators and can crowd out native vegetation.
There are more than 900 sites within the regional district where the plant has been found, ranging from one plant to a field nearly eight hectares in size. Within the city, 270 sites have been found of which 140 are on private property and 130 are city owned. The plant has been declared a noxious weed within five regional districts around the province, including the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District.
Citizen staff
RD to seek funding for charging stations
The Fraser-Fort George Regional District will be part of two applications seeking a total of $800,000 for electric vehicle charging stations in northern B.C. The FFGRD is among six regional districts who are members of Charge North, which supports development on electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the region. Applications will be going forward to the B.C. Rural Dividend Fund and Northern Development’s strategic initiatives fund. Securing the funding comes without a financial commitment from the FFGRD, staff said in a report to directors.
As part of its CleanBC plan, launched in December 2019, all vehicles sold in B.C. must be zero-emission by 2040.
— Citizen staff
Car alarms, dog, prompt vandalism
DELTA (CP) — Police are investigating a report of alleged vandalism at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal that’s possibly linked to concern for a pet. On July 9 Delta police were told about a suspected vandal on the deck of an arriving ferry. Investigators found fresh, key-like paint damage on two vehicles and arrested a man on suspicion of mischief. Police spokeswoman Chris Leykauf said the man threatened to damage any vehicles with activated car alarms because they were upsetting his dog.
Secret weather forecast saved Apollo 11
Jeremy DEATON The Washington Post
Fifty years ago this week, Apollo 11 came to a triumphant conclusion after astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean. Once aboard the USS Hornet, they smiled cheerfully for reporters and joked around with President Richard M. Nixon, who said, “This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation.”
Though almost no one knew it at the time, the mission had nearly ended in disaster. It was only spared at the last minute by two canny meteorologists with access to a top-secret weather satellite.
In the years leading up to Apollo 11, intelligence officials had deployed a network of spy satellites to take pictures of potential missile sites in the Soviet Union, China and Cuba. After taking photos, the satellites would discharge the film in a canister outfitted with parachutes, which would be collected by a cargo plane on its descent to Earth.
Weather was a big factor in that effort. Intelligence officials didn’t want to waste valuable film taking pictures of clouds, nor did they want the canisters to parachute into the middle of a storm. So they deployed sophisticated weather satellites to make sure that didn’t happen.
“It was so top secret that I wasn’t allowed to show anybody,” Air Force meteorologist
Hank Brandli told the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance in 2005. “The vice commander wasn’t even briefed. It was wicked hush-hush.”
Brandli, who was based at Hickam Air Force base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, issued weather forecasts for the spy program. And while he had no official role in Apollo 11, he would come to play a key role in the success of the mission.
Just three days before the astronauts returned to Earth, he noticed that the command module was set to splash down in the middle of a “screaming eagle,” a term Brandli coined to describe thunderstorms that look like an eagle in satellite images. In this case, there were “all the signs of a major tropical storm forming over the splashdown site,” Brandli said.
The storm, with its towering clouds and powerful winds, threatened to tear apart the parachutes on the lunar module on its descent into the Pacific. “Without parachutes, they’d have crashed into the ocean with a force that would have killed them instantly,” Brandli told DOMAIN Magazine in 2004.
Brandli was uniquely positioned to forecast the storm, as the weather satellite he used was more advanced than any in NASA’s arsenal.
But he wasn’t allowed to talk about what he had seen.
“I knew that the Apollo 11 would come back and they would get killed because I had this
classified information,” he told Weather-wise magazine in 2003. “A screaming eagle would be moving westward and would hit this area. I know this is going to happen. Nobody is allowed to see my pictures.”
After Brandli discovered the storm, he reached out to Navy meteorologist Willard “Sam” Houston, who handled weather forecasts for the fleet of ships tasked with recovering Apollo 11.
Brandli asked Houston, who was also stationed at Pearl Harbor, to meet him in a parking lot so he could tell him about the impending thunderstorm. In an unlikely turn of events, Houston also knew about the spy program and had clearance to see the images from the weather satellite.
After reviewing the images, Houston went to Rear Adm. Donald Davis, who was in charge of the recovery fleet, to tell him about the thunderstorm. “But Houston had to convince Admiral Davis without the photos, which were from a satellite that wasn’t supposed to exist,” Brandli told DOMAIN. “He couldn’t tell him how he knew what he knew.”
With only Houston’s word to go on, Davis redirected the USS Hornet to a new splashdown site more than 200 miles away. Given the time it would take for the ship to reach the area, Davis had to issue the order before conferring with NASA. Had Houston been wrong about the forecast, it would have ended both of their careers.
After speaking with Davis, Houston urged
intelligence officials to share the top-secret weather forecast with NASA, which redirected the command module to the new splashdown site at the last minute.
On July 24, 1969, the astronauts finally returned to Earth, where they were met with sunny skies and placid seas. Skeptical of the top-secret weather forecast, NASA sent planes to the original landing site “just to see if I had been crying wolf,” Houston told students at the Navy Postgraduate School in 2009. Pilots found the “screaming eagle” tearing through the area just as Brandli had predicted. Official records from the time note that poor weather forced NASA to change the splashdown site, but they make no mention of Brandli, Houston or the satellite. It was not until President Bill Clinton declassified the spy satellite program in 1995 that the meteorologists could talk about what happened. What is publicly known of their heroics largely comes from interviews they gave before they died, many of which Brandli collected on his personal website. Brandli died in 2007.
Reflecting on the event in 2005, Brandli said how glad he was to have worked with Houston, who received a Navy Commendation Medal for his role in the mission.
“It was a huge undertaking to move the carrier recovery fleet and convince the ‘powers that be’ to change the landing site,” Brandli said. “Capt. Houston did a hell of a job. I often wonder: if it had been anyone else, would it have happened the same way?”
Judge denies B.C.’s bid to block ‘Turn Off the Taps’ bill
The Canadian Press
CALGARY — A Calgary judge has denied British Columbia’s attempt to block Alberta legislation that would allow that province to stop oil shipments to the coast.
In a decision released Friday on the so-called Turn Off the Taps bill, Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Hall said that B.C. doesn’t have the right to take Alberta to court in Alberta over legislation passed by the Alberta legislature.
“The only parties with standing to bring this action in this court are the (Attorney General of Alberta) and the (Attorney General of Canada),” Hall wrote in his decision.
Hall said neither province could find a single previous example of such a case going ahead.
“Neither party could direct me to any cases in which one province has sued another province seeking a declaration of constitutional invalidity of legislation enacted by the defendant province.”
Hall said the proper venue for the disagreement is Federal Court, which was specifically created to adjudicate between governments.
“Federal court is the proper forum for this interprovincial dispute.”
B.C. Attorney General David
Eby said the province is reviewing Hall’s decision. He said B.C. has already filed a similar case in Federal Court, although that body hasn’t said yet whether it will accept it.
“The Province has been clear that we will defend the interests of British Columbians,” Eby said in an email.
“We... look forward to the day that this legislation, which is unconstitutional and designed to punish people in B.C., is heard in court.”
The legal battle is part of the fallout over the TransMountain
pipeline expansion.
In response to B.C.’s legal measures against the pipeline, Alberta passed legislation that would allow it to shut off oil shipments to the coast.
B.C. had asked the Alberta court to both declare the law unconstitutional and grant an injunction preventing its implementation.
The TransMountain expansion, first approved in 2016, would triple the amount of oil flowing from the oilsands to B.C.’s Lower Mainland and from there to lucrative new markets across the Pacific.
The federal government bought the existing pipeline last year for $4.5 billion after its original builder, Texas-based Kinder Morgan, threatened to walk away from the project because of B.C.’s resistance.
The Federal Court of Appeal quashed the approval months later on the grounds that there hadn’t been enough consultation with First Nations or consideration of the pipeline’s potential impact on marine wildlife.
The project has been approved for a second time by the federal cabinet.
U.S. ARMY ARCHIVE PHOTO
An Air Force cargo plane recovers a film canister ejected by a spy satellite.
Australian man, U.S. woman killed in northeastern B.C.
Alaska Highway News
B.C. RCMP say there is no indications of any heightened risk to public safety nor any confirmed links to a serial killer after two international tourists were found murdered near Liard Hot Springs this week.
In a press conference Friday afternoon, RCMP officials said their investigation in the killings of Lucas Robertson Fowler, 23, of Australia and Chynna Noelle Deese, 24, of North Carolina, sometime between July 14 and 15 is in its early stages, and again pleaded to the public for information to help their investigation.
“We recognize this news is troubling for the entire community and absolutely appreciate there are concerns for safety, in an area that is popular with nature enthusiasts and tourists,” Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said.
“This investigation is in it’s very infancy and it is not yet clear whether Lucas and Chynna were targeted or if this was a crime of opportunity. At this point, we have nothing to indicate that their deaths are linked to any other active and ongoing investigations in the area, or if there is a heightened risk to public safety. Our investigators will consider any and all information carefully as the investigation progresses.”
Shoihet said there is no evidence to link the killings to a serial killer in the region, noting reports by some international media outlets. She called the killings a “unique circumstance.”
“There’s some indications from international media that they may be related to other crimes
that occurred in different parts of the province. We’re talking about completely different geographical areas,” Shoihet said. “There’s nothing to link those two at this point.”
RCMP say a blue 1986 Chevrolet van with Alberta plates was found at the crime scene, 20 kilometres south of the hot springs.
Police are looking to speak with anyone who may have seen the
Man guilty in snakebite death
VANCOUVER (CP) — A B.C. man has pleaded guilty to one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life for the death by snake venom of a two-year-old girl.
Henry Thomas made the plea in North Vancouver provincial court on Thursday. Police said Aleka Gonzales was left in the care of Thomas the day before her death and he returned her to her mother in North Vancouver that day. The next morning, on May 19, 2014, Gonzales died and snake venom was ruled to be the cause. Police said officers searched Thomas’ home where snakes and related equipment were seized.
van or tried to help Fowler or Deese. Police are trying to determine whether they or someone else were driving the van.
Police are looking to speak with anyone who drove the stretch of highway between Sunday, July 14 at 4 p.m. and Monday, July 15 at 8 a.m. Police want to speak with anybody who has dashcam video of their travels through the area as they narrow down the timeline of
the killings.
“If you were witness and you did see this particular van or you were witness to either Chynna or Lucas travelling in the area, contact us,” Shoihet said.
“We recognize the fact people may be travelling there and have now arrived at their destination points. There’s access to Alberta, Yukon, into Alaska … and there may be people who weren’t aware
(of the murders) until now in seeing that we’re looking for these details.”
Investigators are still on site, Shoihet said. Additional policing resources will be brought in as necessary, she said.
Fowler was the son of New South Wales Police Chief Inspector Stephen Fowler, and was living in B.C. His family is travelling with Australian police to Canada to bring Fowler’s body back to Australia.
Australian police are not assisting in the RCMP investigation, contrary to reports from Australia media. The FBI helped RCMP contact Deese’s family in the U.S. Deese was a graduate of Appalachian State University in North Carolina, with degrees in business and psychology, according to her Couchsurfing page, , where Deese wrote she was “traveling the world and looking to meet new people and experience new places from a local’s point of view.”
In a Facebook post, Deese’s brother, British Dwayne, said his younger sister had been visiting Fowler to help brand cows at the ranch he worked at, and to travel. The two had just begun a road trip, he said.
“24 hrs ago I found out why my little sis didn’t text me back. Chynna and Lucas’ lives were abruptly taken from a random act of violence while starting their road trip through Canada,” he wrote.
“She’s is so deeply woven as a piece of my childhood and everyday life. I am forever indebted to her for being such an amazing life companion and giving me SO many reasons to smile.”
RCMP news conference video hacked
Jeremy HAINSWORTH Glacier Media
An RCMP constable giving a double homicide news conference wound up wearing cat ears and whiskers when persons unknown hacked the police force’s Facebook feed Friday.
Sgt. Janelle Shoihet was speaking to reporters at the force’s Surrey E Division headquarters with a feed going live via the social network when the hack occurred.
Shoihet was reporting to media about the double homicide of Lucas Fowler of Australia and Chynna Deese of the United States sometime between July 14 and 15 is in its early stages, and again pleaded to the public with information to help their investigation.
The audio on the feed was working poorly and close-up shots were blurred.
The feed soon ended.
Commenters clearly thought the hack was the cat’s meow.
“What’s up the audio and cat ears??”asked one.
“Love the cart ears,” said another.
“You better hide when she finds out you did this!! Lol,” said a third.
E Division media relations said they were looking into the hack and that the full news conference would be reposted.
B.C., feds working to save Fraser River fish stocks after rock slide
The Canadian Press
VICTORIA — The federal and British Columbia governments have made a joint commitment to do everything possible to make sure chinook, steelhead, coho and sockeye are able to reach their spawning grounds past a rock slide in the Fraser River.
The province says in a news release that Premier John Horgan briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the slide that threatens to block millions of returning salmon.
B.C. Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Doug Donaldson says the team has developed a multi-pronged plan to save the salmon, some of which are already listed as species of concern.
The massive rock slide northwest of Kamloops narrowed the river and created a five-metre waterfall, holding back many fish that are swimming against the fast-flowing river in an effort to get back to spawn.
Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the governments, along with First Nations communities, are working around the clock to do everything possible to see the fish pass safety through the site.
He says collaborative efforts that also involve Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the coast guard are crucial to give the salmon stocks the best chance of survival.
The province says challenges facing any remediation work include rapid flow conditions, acces-
DONALDSON
sibility to the remote site, unstable water levels and heavy river debris and silt.
The Fisheries Department says the overall team is constructing a temporary aluminum fishway, testing options for transporting the fish by helicopter and truck and assessing the feasibility of new fish transport systems.
“As a result of these parallel planning efforts, the team will be able to escalate their response to changing conditions as they get better information on how successfully the salmon are passing the slide site.”
Work to drop massive boulders into the water directly under a cliff was to begin this week, with the hope the boulders will form a series of pools that fish can use as resting places while hopscotching their way up the side of the waterfall.
American citizen Chynna Deese and Austrialian Lucas Robertson Fowler were found dead along the Alaska Highway near Liard Hot Springs, south of the B.C. and Yukon boundary.
Whether the ears and whiskers will be part of the repost remains to be seen.
SCREENSHOT IMAGE
Sgt. Janelle Shoihet was speaking to reporters at the force’s Surrey E Division headquarters with a feed going live via the social network when a hack occurred, creating the illusion of cat ears and whiskers.
Trampoline park denies wrongdoing in B.C. man’s death
Laura KANE The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — A trampoline park has denied wrongdoing in a British Columbia man’s death, saying he failed to follow warning signs and instructions and may have been impaired by alcohol or drugs.
It comes as Technical Safety BC, the provincial regulator of amusement devices, calls on the provincial government to ensure oversight of such parks due to the potential public safety risk.
Jason Greenwood’s wife Tanya Hayes and his three young stepchildren are named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Extreme Air Park Inc. filed last summer in B.C. Supreme Court.
The statement of claim says the 46-year-old man visited an Extreme Air Park in Richmond, B.C., in January 2018 with two of the children and died after he jumped in a somersault-like motion into a foam pit.
Extreme Air Park has filed its response to the civil claim and it denies any negligence, breach of duty of care or failure to warn, and says if the incident occurred as alleged, Greenwood caused or contributed to it.
The statement of claim says the 46-year-old man visited an Extreme Air Park in Richmond, B.C., in January 2018 with two of the children and died after he jumped in a somersault-like motion into a foam pit.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and the park says notices about using the facility at one’s own risk are posted throughout the location.
Its response says employees gave Greenwood an oral warning and instructions and he signed a release acknowledging the dangers he faced.
It says Greenwood failed to take care for his safety, failed to use the trampoline and foam pit in a proper manner and used the facility when he was impaired by fatigue, alcohol or drugs.
“The alleged incident occurred when Mr. Greenwood, with full knowledge of the characteristics and features of the facility and premises, misused the facility and the premises,” the statement says.
The lawsuit filed by Greenwood’s wife alleges the Richmond facility failed to supervise him,
did not provide Greenwood with any safety instructions or prevent him from participating in activities that were outside of his physical abilities.
It also alleges the park failed to warn Greenwood of the dangers of diving into the foam pit head first or to ensure the pit was wide or deep enough and had enough foam.
Extreme Air says that under the terms and conditions of its signed release, it owed no duty of care to the plaintiffs and they’re precluded from recovering any damages from the park.
Alternatively, it suggests that Greenwood’s death was caused by “previous or subsequent incidents” or by “congenital defects or preexisting conditions or injuries.”
The response is filed by the company, several locations, an employee known as John Doe and
the owner of the Richmond property. The property owner has also filed a separate response in which it says it’s not involved in the business or operations of the park.
Technical Safety BC says since Greenwood’s death and other serious injuries at various trampoline parks, it is recommendation to the government that the parks be included under its scope.
“Our team works hard on behalf of all British Columbians to provide government with impartial advice on how to enhance the safety system and ensure these very unfortunate and tragic events are prevented,” says President and CEO Catherine Roome in a news release.
“As technologies change and new devices come onto the market, safety regulation needs to thoughtfully adapt to reduce hazards and make the public safer.”
The organization says it consulted with more than 400 members of the public, health professionals, experts, owners, operators and patrons of trampoline parks before reaching its recommendation.
It will submit final recommendations to the province on broader regulatory changes by the end of the year.
Feds simplify child benefit forms
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The federal government is rolling out a simplified application form for the Canada Child Benefit so payments get to the people the program is supposed to help the most.
The decision comes months after the minister in charge, Jean-Yves Duclos, was briefed about mounting concerns that eligibility rules and the application itself for the Trudeau government’s signature child benefit may be acting as a barrier for some “at-risk” families. While take-up rates are high, there are potentially thousands of eligible recipients who don’t receive the benefit because they are informal caregivers who aren’t recognized as legal guardians, or live on reserves and haven’t filed tax returns.
On Saturday when the new benefit year begins, the maximum annual payment will increase to $6,639 for every child under age six, and $5,602 per child aged six to 17.
Politicians have failed forest communities
Appurtenancy, under the NDP government in the 1990s, meant that wood for mills was tied to the local communities from which that wood was harvested.
This quickly disappeared under the timber tenure reform policies brought in by the B.C. Liberals under Gordon Campbell. His tenure reform “would entail a policy of individual transferrable quotas.”
It would also allow the tenure holders to close the community-adjacent mills and sell the raw logs to another mill or to ship raw logs out of the province or to sell their licenced tenure to a buyer who could legally do the same.
According to Michele Young’s 2009 article on the evolution of forest policy, apurtenancy clauses in forest licences, tying timber harvesl to local processing, were removed in the early days of the current Liberal government.
That clause was put in place by the Social Credit government to induce capital invest-
ments in communities and to allow timberprocessing efficiencies to evolve. She also credited the only real resistance to the consolidation of timber cutting licences in the hands of the few came from First Nations.
In 2009, Steve Hunt, a senior steel worker union director, said “corporate control of public forests under he B.C. Liberal government is pitting communities against one another.”
From Fort St. James comes this quote: “One of the biggest concerns of people in Fort St. James and other communities is the need to re-institute legislation requiring forestry companies to process the logs in the communities where they are harvested, i.e. the ‘appurtenancy’ clause.”
In panning raw log exports in 2012, MLA Kevin Falcon stated: “If instead (of exporting raw logs), we exported processed products, we’d keep the jobs here where they are needed to boost our economy. Every job lost is money not being spent in B.C., therefore that money is not being returned to the economy in the form of taxes.”
Prior to the 2017 election, NDP Leader
John Horgan spoke about forestry issues in Kamloops. He noted that 30,000 jobs were lost in B.C.’s forest sector since 2001, the advent of the Campbell Liberal era. He noted that under the NDP government of the 1990s, mills were still tied to local communities under the social contract called appurtenancy. The Liberals stripped those rules in 2003, “allowing companies to build centralized super mills, get rid of local operations and have the ability to ship timber to mills of their choice.”
Apparently he was aware of ramifications caused by revoking the rules of appurtenancy, but made no commitment to them being re-instated under a NDP administration.
One of those ramifications was especially noticeable in the NDP held Skeena area, where – over time – forestry companies had been able to close their mills while at the same time they exclusively logged their tenured areas and shipped the raw logs overseas.
Aside from the usual partisan snipping made by the B.C. NDP and the B.C. Liberals, both sides mouthing platitudes in pursuit
Chamber chief wants better politics TO
When I arrived in Ottawa as a reporter in the Parliamentary Press Gallery at 23, Perrin Beatty was already an ancient 31. He was by then a long-serving Progressive Conservative MP, elected at the ripe age of 22, and had served as the youngest cabinet minister in our history before Justin Trudeau’s father reclaimed power.
He was also, if I may betray a confidence latterly, a great source. He was the opposition critic in communications and culture, fields I was covering, and it would be no surprise years later with his studiousness that he was appointed CBC president.
If I reveal him as a source, though, it is important to be clearer: he wasn’t the brown-envelope-providing, rumour-mongering, self-promoting source of Ottawa’s garden variety.
He was, rather, a provider of relevant currency on what was happening behind the curtain. His motive, as far as I could ever tell, was to advance the discussion. That was it. As a new reporter, finding my way to the bus stop most days, he was a remarkable tour guide of the inner Parliament.
Unfailingly mannered, a teensy bit of a young fogey, so earnest he would stop you from swearing for a few hours after you had talked to him, Beatty made his way through politics to lead an association representing manufacturers and exporters, then in
THE POINT
KIRK LAPOINTE
2007 into the role as one of the country’s most prominent speakers for business as president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
He is still there a dozen years later, quite a tenure among tumult, and in catching up in conversation with him in recent weeks, there is an unmistakable quality of concern now when he again advances the discussion. Upbeat is tempered with uncertainty.
Despite seemingly positive economic data – low unemployment and inflation, in particular – there is “uneasiness, a sense of fragility” in the business community, as he puts it, and a qualm that “some other countries are performing better.”
He doesn’t hear the necessary attention by our leaders on what kind of 21st-century workforce is needed, how the West Coast economy can be strengthened and what infrastructure is required to support our country’s prosperity.
The single most important issue he sees as the election looms is “the question of Canada’s role in the world,” given that “the postWorld War II world order has disappeared.”
In our relationship with America, there has been “an attempt to do damage” to Canada in such
sectors as softwood lumber, autos, aluminum and steel, and “we don’t have the capacity to take for granted” the stability of our neighbourly ways.
In the case of China, the “very strained” relationship “has the potential of getting worse.” He worries about the country’s indifference to rule of law and he summarizes the fears of Canadian business leaders of capricious China as: “Are they safe?”
The times call for diversification of trading patterns, “and it’s not simply a matter of good business. It’s a matter of national security.”
While Beatty has been a Tory, he doesn’t spare criticism across party lines.
He bluntly argues neither Conservatives nor Liberals have a feasible plan on climate change that will meet our declared targets under the Paris accord, “and yet neither will be prepared to admit that” in the campaign to come. Instead, the sanctimonious positions will be used “as a club” in an acrimonious campaign of neck-and-neck parties. Beatty is sanguine and conciliatory as a business leader: changes to mitigate climate change “will not come without cost, but there is an enormous cost of doing nothing, as well.” What he seeks are effective measures that will not impede our competitiveness, and even though there are reasons to doubt him, it is a needle he thinks we can thread.
“The real challenge for us is to stop shouting at each other and actually have,” as he advances, “a discussion.”
of a soundbite or a published photo-op, the only noteworthy result reported was John Rustad’s statement that “laid-off forestry workers are not a political issue.” I take it that he doesn’t have to work for a living. We are sorely in need of a government that is committed to the citizens and their communities instead of remaining toadies to the multinationals that own our forests. They could start by re-instating the appurtenancy clauses in forest licences.
There is a Supreme Court of Canada ruling which held that the province has sovereign power under jurisdictions granted within the Constitution, which means that the province can enact legislation to prevent that from occurring.
The provincial government shouldn’t worry about a NAFTA challenge under the investor state provisions clause, because any financial penalties would become the responsibility of the federal government – as they unilaterally surrendered our provincial sovereignty in order to obtain a “free trade” treaty.
— Abe Bourdon lives in Clinton
Hi-tech won’t end work
Today, economists and policy analysts interested in the future of work are confronted with a mix of conflicting evidence and forecasts.
On the one hand, projections point to large-scale occupational obsolescence as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, the internet of things and big data reshape production processes and the nature of work in one sector after another.
According to the McKinsey Global Institute and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, as these technologies become more pervasive many current job types will disappear and the way work is performed will change fundamentally. Some prognosticators go further, conjuring a dystopian future in which an ever-diminishing fraction of the working-age population is able to sustain gainful employment. This latter view is sparking interest in the idea of some kind of “guaranteed annual income.”
Yet a review of recent labour market indicators provides little support for those who spy a massive hemorrhaging of jobs driven by technology. In Canada, job growth has been impressive for several years, with the unemployment rate dropping to record lows. The same story holds for the United States.
Closer to home, last month employment in B.C. was 4.4 per cent higher than a year earlier, and the unemployment rate was 4.5 per cent (the lowest in the country, and almost an all-time low for the province). Perhaps most telling is that the share of B.C.’s population that’s employed sits near a record high, at 63 per cent. This statistic is hardly consistent with the wholesale displacement of workers via new technologies. And plenty of B.C. employers remain hungry for warm bodies – the province’s job vacancy rate is 4.4 per cent, the highest in Canada.
Two industries thought to be especially vulnerable to technologyenabled job destruction are retail trade and transportation. Yet in many North American cities, there is no shortage of retail outlets, restaurants and hotels looking for staff. And while the era of driverless vehicles may indeed beckon, in the here and now trucking companies in the U.S. and Canada are scrambling to fill more than 50,000 vacancies. The job vacancy rate in B.C.’s trucking industry is now in the double digits. Some taxi companies and public transit providers are also in hiring mode.
So rather than a surplus of labour linked to the deployment of innovative technologies, today’s economic environment is characterized by labour scarcity (at least at prevailing wage rates). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers justify their plan to ramp up immigration targets by citing skill and broader labour shortages, which, the government insists, exist across swaths of the Canadian
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Even though the labour market looks drum tight, might we nonetheless be on the cusp of an unprecedented upsurge in occupational obsolescence, as digital technologies spread rapidly throughout the economy? To be sure, such a scenario cannot be ruled out.
Last year, our colleague David Williams examined the “automation potential” of the B.C. labour market, drawing on the methodologies used in previous U.S. academic studies. Based on the composition of employment and the international literature on the prospects for automation by job type, he found that 42 per cent of B.C. jobs have high potential for automation from a “technical capabilities perspective” in the coming 10 to 20 years. Throughout history, technologies have been developed to economize on the use of labour and improve production processes. Whether the technology is equipment used in construction, manufacturing assembly lines or computers, the goal is to substitute machine consistency for errorprone human handiwork. Evidence from the past confirms that technological innovation makes some occupations obsolete and restructures many others, but also that it fuels the emergence and growth of new occupations and leads to different roles for labour in the economy. And, as Williams’ report makes clear, nontechnical factors will influence the pace and extent of automation. These include changes in labour supply and demand; the relative prices and costs of labour, capital and technology; the evolving regulatory environment; how quickly smaller firms make use of new technologies; and the effect of societal values and norms. Add it all up, and we are hard pressed to see digital and other technologies causing a big decline in overall employment levels in Canada in the near-to-medium term, although they will certainly lead to some labour market dislocation and gradual shifts in the composition of employment. After all, even as new technologies are adopted, population aging will be putting downward pressure on labour force participation, at a time when many employers will be looking to replace the swelling ranks of retiring baby boomers. Looking ahead, we worry more about skill and labour supply constraints facing B.C. employers than the risk of technology-induced mass unemployment. — Jock Finlayson is the Business Council of British Columbia’s executive vice-president and chief policy officer; Ken Peacock is the council’s chief economist.
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JOCK FINLAYSON AND KEN PEACOCK
Church calls for reinstatement of first female minister
Hannah NATANSON
The Washington Post
A group of congregants at Riverside Church are calling on the historic Manhattan pulpit to reinstate its first female minister, days after the church chose not to renew Amy Butler’s contract following a visit she took to a sex shop with church employees and a congregant.
The 11 congregants introduced a petition at an all-congregation meeting Sunday - convened after morning services in part to discuss Butler’s dismissal - and asked the church to schedule a vote to bring back Butler as senior minister, according to three people familiar with the matter, including current and former church members.
The congregation “should be the ones to decide whether Pastor Amy continues as our Sr. Minister, and we should be able to make that decision based on facts and information,” reads a copy of the petition obtained by The Washington Post. “Through Pastor Amy’s leadership and our work together, our beloved Congregation is vibrant and growing.”
The petition is now before the Church Council, which is supposed to hold a special, all-congregation meeting to vote on it because more than 10 congregants signed it, per Riverside’s bylaws. It’s unclear whether or when a vote would take place. A church spokeswoman declined to comment.
The turmoil comes after backand-forth allegations of sexual harassment centered around Butler, which have roiled the more than 80-year-old interdenominational church known for its devotion to social justice and notable guest speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Desmond Tutu.
The church’s contract negotiations with Butler over the past few months stalled in part over her desire for a roughly $100,000 compensation increase to match what her male predecessor made, according to the three sources and one other individual familiar with the proceedings.
Another sticking point was Butler’s request that the church adopt a policy mandating stricter discipline of laypeople who committed misconduct such as sexual harassment, according to the four people, who spoke to a Post reporter on the condition of anonymity because they were concerned about repercussions for speaking publicly about the matter. The Sunday meeting was closed to media.
But revelations that Butler took two church employees and a congregant on a visit to a Min-
nesota sex shop in May ultimately derailed the negotiations, according to the four Post sources. Butler and the others were in Minnesota for a conference when, during a break, Butler and the congregant proposed visiting the Smitten Kitten, which labels itself “a progressive sex toy store,” partly as a way to celebrate the birthday of one of the clergy members, the congregant said.
The foursome spent about a half-hour inside the shop, and Butler purchased a few toys as gifts for herself and others present with her own money, according to the congregant.
The two clergy members were having a difficult time at work, and Butler hoped the Minnesota trip - with the chance it afforded for personal connection - would cheer them up, according to two of the four people interviewed by The Post.
Butler, who before leaving for Riverside, was a highly popular progressive pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, has long been an advocate for “sexpositive” behavior as a healthy approach to human relationships, inviting to church speakers such as Nadia Bolz-Weber, a Lutheran pastor who recently came out with “Shameless,” a book calling for more openness and diversity from the church in supporting people’s sexual and reproductive lives.
The congregant on the trip spoke out in defense of Butler’s conduct in Minnesota during the Sunday meeting. Reading from a prepared statement, the congre-
gant delivered an account of her experience of the trip, noting that everyone agreed to go and appeared at the time to enjoy it.
“No one indicated otherwise to me for the duration of the trip to the conference or at any time after,” reads the statement, a copy of which she gave to The Washington Post. “If anyone had indicated discomfort, the trip simply would not have continued.”
In her remarks, the congregant, who spoke to The Post after the meeting on condition of anonymity because she was concerned about broader exposure, also castigated Riverside leadership for what she called its “incomplete investigation” into the sex shop visit. The inquiry was launched after one of the two church employees filed a formal complaint about the trip, according to the four sources.
The congregant told the church audience that no investigator from the church contacted or questioned her about the trip.
“It’s important that you hear this directly from someone who was there, instead of via rumors or the papers,” the statement read. “I am speaking to you today because this is what I want for us: a community where we tell each other the truth of our experiences.”
The two church employees on the trip could not be reached for comment.
Butler also did not respond to requests for comment. Riverside Church declined to comment Sunday beyond a statement on its website.
“We are proud of the work of
the church during the five years that Pastor Amy has been with the Riverside Church,” the statement reads. “The Council thanks Pastor Amy for her leadership and asks all congregants to pray for her continued ministry as a leader in the progressive Christian world.”
The investigation into Butler’s conduct is the second such probe Riverside has commissioned in the past few years. Its senior minister committee launched an investigation into Ed Lowe, a powerful former member of the church’s governing council, after Butler and other women at Riverside raised concerns about his conduct - particularly his suggestive emails and texts to female church staffers.
Lowe, 70, left a bottle of wine and a shirt reading “Sweet B----” on Butler’s desk in October 2016, according to a copy of the investigative report obtained by The Washington Post.
“Enjoy the wine and wear the T-shirt at your discretion,” Lowe wrote of the gift in an email to Butler, adding a smiley face next to his words. In a separate email, sent in May 2016 and captioned “Thought you’d like this,” he sent Butler a photo of a female toddler and wrote that he “still (had) a way with the young girls... :-).”
The investigation ultimately found that Lowe had engaged in “multiple violations” of the church’s antiharassment and antibullying policies. Based on its results, the senior minister committee decided to remove Lowe from all Church Council committees and to restrict his access to
staff.
Lowe declined to comment Sunday. When questioned by church officials about his conduct during the investigation, he freely admitted to “virtually . . . all of the incidents” but said “he felt that his actions were harmless and not inappropriate,” according to internal church documents obtained by The Post.
Butler in May 2018 went public with her allegations against Lowe, writing in a post titled “From #MeToo to #ChurchToo to #NeverAtChurch” that her interactions with Lowe left her “deeply uncomfortable.”
Butler joined Riverside in 2014 after serving for over a decade as senior minister of Calvary Baptist Church in the District of Columbia, where she quickly raised the profile of the church for a range of tasks, from racial justice work to incorporating Spanish into services.
She had been raised in a conservative evangelical home in Hawaii and attended the Baptist school Baylor University in Texas. She felt called to be a pastor, but the theology of her background forbade female pastors. That’s when she made the shift to more liberal Baptist institutions, most prominently in D.C. at Calvary.
While in Washington, Butler built an activist congregation and led it to formally break from the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2014, Butler became the first female minister at the historic Riverside, which is associated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ.
Butler also forged a reputation as a charismatic leader whose power rested in part in her willingness to preach and write on personal issues, often in a humorous, revealing way. She is known as an extrovert who puts everyone on her level.
In a letter sent to the Church Council and the senior minister committee June 22, a few days before her dismissal, Butler wrote that she was aware the pay increase she wanted was “significant” but that “holding to a high standard of excellence” requires “treating women and minorities justly.” She also wrote that Riverside badly needs “clear standards of behavior and policies” for lay leaders to ensure a “safe and non-hostile” environment for staff, according to the letter, obtained by The Post. And Butler looked to the future. “ love being your pastor, and I want to continue our journey together,” she wrote. “Imagine what could come to be in the next five years.”
As storm moved in, couple move up wedding ceremony
The
NEW ORLEANS — As New Orleans hunkered down ahead of Tropical Storm Barry last week, news photographers from across the city could be found together in a church, witnessing the wedding of one of their own.
Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert and Lucy Sikes weren’t supposed to get married Friday night. Invitations sent out months ago were for a Saturday night wedding at the Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church, followed by a reception at the art-deco-style restaurant at the city’s Lakefront Airport.
The location was an homage to how Herbert had learned to fly so he could commute to Shreveport in northern Louisiana to visit his
now-wife, an attorney. But the airport was also outside the city’s floodwalls.
With Barry approaching the Louisiana coast, the restaurant called to say it would be closed Saturday.
The storm also was making it difficult for other wedding vendors, Herbert said, and he and Sikes were worried about guests being able to travel Saturday.
After a little soul-searching, Herbert said, they decided to get married Friday night.
“We realized we had a marriage license, two rings... and we didn’t really want to wait any longer,” he said.
So that’s how Sikes, wearing an elegant white dress with silvery beading down the back, found herself walking down the aisle Friday evening toward Herbert, who wore a blue suit and a huge smile.
The Rev. Herbert Kiff Jr., who’s known the groom for years, officiated. Looking out over the crowd of family and friends who had quickly gathered to celebrate, he said: “It goes to show how much you all love Gerald and Lucy.”
New Orleans rhythm and blues musician Deacon John Moore had been scheduled to sing during the Saturday ceremony.
He made it to Friday’s ceremony, but the regular church musicians couldn’t.
He ended up bringing his brother to play guitar and another musician to play piano.
Sikes had worried her dress would get wet or her guests would be stuck in the rain. Neither happened, and she was happy everything came together.
“My friends rock!” she said.
“They scrambled out at the last
minute.”
The church’s wedding co-ordinator, Pam Eshleman, said that when the city flooded Wednesday she suspected that bad weather might end up affecting Saturday’s plans.
Sikes texted her Friday morning asking if they could hold the wedding at the church that evening. In the end, she said, it was “meant to happen today.”
“I said, ‘For whatever reason, God didn’t want y’all to get married tomorrow,”’ she said.
“‘He wanted you to all be here today, and this just all worked out so well.”’
AP FILE PHOTO
Associated Press staff photographer Gerald Herbert and Lucy Sikes smile after being wed at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church ahead of Tropical Storm Barry in New Orleans last Friday.
WASHINGTON POST FILE PHOTO
The Rev. Amy Butler, shown in 2014, was senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington before joining Riverside Church in New York.
Rebecca SANTANA
Associated Press
Worst of mill cuts done: West Fraser CEO
The Canadian Press
Mill cutbacks in British Columbia are still happening, but West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. said Friday that the worst of the pullback is behind it.
The company, like many in B.C.’s lumber industry, has cut back and closed mills in recent months in response to limited log supplies and a plunge in lumber prices from record highs last year.
Canfor, for example, announced late Thursday it was indefinitely suspending operations at its Mackenzie sawmill and permanently cutting a shift at its Isle Pierre mill to reduce output For its part, West Fraser CEO Ray Ferris said the company’s already announced cuts should put it on a more stable footing in the province going forward.
“From a strategic standpoint, much of our heavy lifting in British Columbia is now behind us,” Ferris told a conference call Friday to discuss the company’s latest financial results. West Fraser announced plans late last year to cut shifts at its mills in Quesnel, Fraser Lake, and in the last quarter announced it would also cut a shift at 100 Mile House and close its mill in Chasm in response to the squeeze on margins. The permanent reductions totalled about 614 million board feet.
“These permanent reductions, coupled with the impact of the temporary curtailments in the first half of 2019 by approximately 250 million board feet, have been disruptive, costly, and extremely difficult for our employees, our log contractors, our suppliers and our communities,” said Ferris, who stepped into the chief executive role July 1.
The shift in fortunes compared with last year were clear in West Fraser’s results, which showed it lost $17 million, or 25 cents per share for the quarter ending June 30, compared with earnings $397 million or $5.19 a share last year. The results were also well below analyst expectations of adjusted earnings of nine cents per share according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Quinn, characterizing the second quarter as a “ferris wheel of issues, said lumber earnings were
below his expectations, made worse by worsethan-expected export duties of $51 million.
While there is no quick recovery expected in B.C., West Fraser said its fortunes are looking brighter in the U.S. south that it started expanding into 15 years ago in the height of B.C.’s mountain pine beetle outbreak. The region now accounts for over 70 per cent of its lumber production.
“Going forward, we expect a less disruptive half across many of our businesses, particularly in the U.S. south,” said Ferris.
Residency rights hanging in Brexit limbo
The Associated Press
British lawmakers met the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator on Friday, seeking an iron-clad guarantee that the 1.3 million U.K. citizens in the bloc won’t have their rights removed and their lives disrupted if Britain leaves the EU without a deal.
The rights of U.K. citizens living in the 27 other EU nations, and those of the more than 3 million EU citizens in Britain, are one of the thorniest issues of the Brexit negotiations.
Their rights to live, work and study are protected under an agreement struck between the two sides – but the divorce agreement has been rejected by Britain’s Parliament, raising the prospect of
a no-deal Brexit. The U.K. is due to leave the bloc on Oct. 31, and both men vying to take over as prime minister next week, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, say it’s imperative that Brexit happens, with or without a deal.
Conservative lawmaker Alberto Costa, who led the cross-party delegation that met EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, said “if there’s no agreement, there’s no protection.”
“British nationals will potentially lose access to pension entitlement, lose access to health care entitlement, lose access to welfare entitlement and a whole gamut of other issues,” he said.
Talks between the British government and the EU on
guaranteeing citizens’ rights if the U.K. crashes out of the bloc have failed to produce a breakthrough. EU leaders insist the withdrawal agreement can’t be chopped into chunks – Britain must accept all of it or none.
Some EU members have said they will preserve Britons’ rights, but only if the U.K. reciprocates. Britain says all EU citizens living in the country can stay, but has not enshrined that right in law.
“People assume it’s fine, everything’s dandy – citizens’ rights, of course they’re going to protect them, that goes without saying,” Costa said. “But we have no extraterritorial powers to pass legislation to protect British citizens in the EU. That can only be done with an agreement with the EU.”
The winner of the contest to become Britain’s next prime minister – widely expected to be Johnson –is due to be announced Tuesday. Costa said whoever wins must ensure citizens’ rights are upheld even if there is no Brexit deal.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday reiterated the EU’s long-held stance that it will not renegotiate the divorce agreement it struck with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“The withdrawal agreement is the withdrawal agreement,” she said.
“I trust very firmly that Britain will find its way,” May said in Berlin. “It is a proud, great nation and it will remain our partner even if Britain is no longer a member of the European Union.”
Divorces hurt finances, health for people over 50
Bloomberg
In one sense, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, are nothing special.
By finalizing their divorce this month, they join the millions now splitting up in middle age. The rate of divorce after age 50 has doubled in the U.S. since 1990.
The billionaire exes are unique, though, in escaping divorce with their finances relatively unscathed. He’s still the world’s richest person, worth $123.1 billion, and she has a $39.7 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Amazon shares climbed 19 per cent since they announced the end of their 25-year marriage in January. There are few things more devastating than divorce. Even the very wealthy can find it financially draining, emotionally harrowing and just plain messy. Academic studies document serious health effects. A 2009 paper noted that recently separated or divorced adults have higher resting blood pressure. Last year, a German study found “divorce led to considerable weight gain over time, especially in men.”
Splitting up after age 50 – often called “gray divorce” – may be particularly hazardous to your emotional and financial health, far worse than doing so at younger ages. A wave of new research is quantifying the damage.
“It’s a grim picture,” said Susan Brown, a Bowling Green State University sociology professor and co-director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research, which has generated many of the new findings. According to one study, people who’ve gone through a gray divorce report higher levels of depression than those whose spouses died.
The economic effects are even more stark. As more and more Baby Boomers end marriages, sometimes for the second or third time, they’re wrecking their finances on an unprecedented scale.
“Getting a gray divorce is a major financial shock,” Brown said.
If you get divorced after age 50, expect your wealth to drop by about 50 per cent, Brown and her colleagues found in yetto-be-published research that analyzed a long-running longitudinal survey of 20,000 Americans born before 1960. That’s not really a surprise: after all, any divorce involves dividing a family’s resources.
But incomes also collapse after a gray divorce, particularly for women. The researchers looked at standard of living – income adjusted for household size –reflecting the fact that a solo adult needs less income than a single parent with two children still at home. They found that when women divorce after age 50, standard of living plunges 45 per cent. That’s about double the decline found in previous research on younger divorced women.
Older men see their standard of living drop 21 per cent after a divorce. Previous studies have found a small or negligible effect of divorce on younger men’s incomes. Even more troubling is that older people aren’t bouncing back from these financial shocks. Brown and her colleagues were able to follow survey respondents’ finances for up to a decade post-divorce.
“There is no appreciable recovery on the wealth front,” she said. “There’s no appreciable recovery in standard of living.”
Late in their careers, older people simply don’t have time to undo the financial destruction that a divorce causes. Women who spent years at home caring for children find it difficult to re-enter the workforce.
“I think everybody’s just focused on the earnings season and trying to assess all the Fed commentary in the last few weeks,” said Patrick Blais, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 8.29 points to 16,485.94, just 2.18 points lower for the week.
Eight of the 11 major sectors the index decreased, led by industrials and telecommunications, with BRP Inc. shares falling 4.8 per cent and both national railways dipping.
The energy and materials sectors rose on the day, with Encana Corp. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. both gaining strongly, as the price of crude oil increased due to some geopolitical issues in the Middle East and miner’s shares gained despite a lower gold price.
The September crude contract was up 34 cents at US$55.76 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 3.6 cents at US$2.25 per mmBTU.
The August gold contract was down US$1.40 at US$1,426.70 an ounce and the September copper contract was up 4.25 cents at US$2.75 a pound.
Crude prices increased Friday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it seized a British oil tanker that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 68.77 points at 27,154.20. The S&P 500 index was down 18.50 points at 2,976.61, while the Nasdaq composite was down 60.75 points at 8,146.49.
U.S. markets dropped as the New York Federal Reserve walked back comments from president John Williams that were interpreted as confirmation of large interest rate cuts.
The Dow ended the day slightly lower despite a 4.5-percent gain by Boeing Company.
The jet maker said it will take a US$4.9-billion charge to pay for compensation for airlines because of the ground of its 737 Max.
As a result of a strengthening U.S. dollar, the loonie traded for an average of 76.51 cents US compared with an average of 76.52 cents US on Thursday. Markets were fairly flat after the first week of quarterly results as investors wait for more direction with the bulk of U.S. companies reporting over the next two weeks, said Blais.
CP PHOTO
Logs are piled up at West Fraser Timber in Quesnel in this 2009 photo.
Fine form
Adam Veenstra of Smithers tees off on the first hole Friday in the opening round of the Aberdeen Glen Men’s Open. Veenstra, the defending champion, shot 65, bettering his best round last year when he shot 67-69-72 for a 218 total. The three-round tournament, which has 102 competitors, resumes today at 9 a.m.
Kings’ coach Maglio jumps to Spokane
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca
Adam Maglio has used his time behind the Prince George Spruce Kings’ bench as his booster rocket to the Western Hockey League.
Two months after leading the Spruce Kings to the final game of the National Junior A Hockey Championship as head coach, Maglio has been hired as an assistant coach with the Spokane Chiefs.
Alex Evin will replace Maglio as head coach of the Spruce Kings, promoted after serving the past two years as an associate coach.
“I’m very happy for Adam,” said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
“I’m glad that we were able to play a role in moving him along and getting him closer to his goal as a hockey coach. We are in the business of developing players and moving them on in the hockey world. We are also in the business of doing the same for our coaches.
“We have done some very special things as a team in the four seasons that Adam was with us, especially the last two seasons with him as our head coach. He is one of the best young progressive coaches in the game and I’m not surprised that he was sought after by many teams. We will miss him and he will be hard to replace but at the same time we are extremely excited for him and wish him nothing but the best in Spokane.” Maglio, a 33-year-old native of Nelson, spent five seasons behind the Kings’ bench, the last two as head coach. Prior to joining the Kings, Maglio spent two years with the UBC Thunderbirds as an assistant, after one year as a minor hockey coach in Hong Kong. A former junior B defenceman, he went on to play for State University New York-Morrisville and the UBC Thunderbirds.
“Adam has shown a very
natural ability to teach the game and connect with players,” said Chiefs’ head coach Manny Viveiros, in a Chiefs’ team release.
“I think he’ll be an excellent addition and look forward to working with him.”
“Adam did a terrific job with (Prince George), almost winning a national title,” added Chiefs general manager Scott Carter.
“He is an up-and-coming coach who will be a good complement to Manny and the rest of our staff.”
Hawes wasn’t surprised Maglio jumped to the WHL after the Kings re-signed him this summer to a new two-year contract.
“If I would have got one more year out of that contract I would have been happy,” said Hawes.
“People around the hockey world who have watched our team play the last couple seasons saw a team that was incredibly well-coached and guys like that usually move up the ladder fairly quickly.”
Before the Kings hired Evin as an associate coach in 2017, he was a BCHL assistant for two seasons with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and he served one season as head coach of Selkirk College in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League. — see ‘HE’S REALLY, page 11
Bayliss brothers close in on PGSLA title
Ted CLARKE Citizen staff
Throughout their lives as brothers growing up in Vancouver, Patrick and Nolan Bayliss have played lacrosse at a high level. Born six years apart, they both suited up for the Burnaby Lakers junior A team at different stages in their careers, but until they made the move to Prince George they’d never played on the same team together, and never have they won a championship. That long wait could be over as early as Monday night, when the Bayliss brothers get back in action for the Westwood Pub Devils in the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association championship series against the Northland Nissan Assault. A Devils’ win Game 3 of the best-of-five series Monday (8 p.m.) at Kin 1 will complete the sweep, giving the Westwood its third straight PGSLA playoff title.
“It feels great, this is the first time I’ve ever been this close to a championship, we’ve got a good team here,” said Patrick.
“It’s really fun playing with (Nolan). We call each other on a lot of things, it’s a nice competitive edge between brothers. He plays really well defensively and he’s quick. He’s got a good breakout, and between me and him we make a lot of breakouts and that’s (crucial) to get that ball down the floor.” Patrick, 28, rediscovered his ability to make saves as a lacrosse goalie when he joined the Devils this season, ending a sixyear hiatus from Canada’s national summer sport. After several years of playing junior A
with Burnaby and the Langley Thunder, he got as far as a Western Lacrosse Association training camp with the Coquitlam Adanacs and he shows that senior A seasoning night after night playing for the Devils, who went 15-1 in the season and are 4-1 in the play-
offs. The older Bayliss played in six regular season games this season and compiled a sparkling 4.13 goals-against average and .844 save percentage as winner of the Ted Conway Award that goes to the league’s top goalie.
“We have such a good team and that’s huge for winning that award, it’s based off of save percentage and when I’m stopping shots I have to face from outside, it’s a team award,” he said. Patrick played in all five playoff games and has the Devils in good position to take aim at winning the Fred Doig Memorial Cup that goes to the provincial senior C champions. That tournament will be played next weekend at Kin 1.
“Jamie (Devils manager/goalie Bellamy) and Scotty (Devils defenceman Anderson) said right at the beginning that we’re going to take a shot at provincials so we focused on that,” said Patrick. “We’ve got one more win in this league (to strive for) and then provincials, and hopefully we can make run there.” Nolan, 22, also joined the Devils this year and quickly became one of the Devils’ go-to guys on offence, collecting 14 goals and 28 points in just 14 games. Sharing the floor with his older brother, he’s maintained his point production in the playoffs with a goal and six assists in five games.
“We’ve never had the opportunity to play together and this year has been unreal, it’s been a great time,” said Nolan. “I wouldn’t say I’m a goal scorer but I do my best.
“This is too good to be true, I’ve never been part of a successful team like this so it’s going to taste even better. If we keep this group together we’re going to be tough to beat. We’re going to close it out on Monday, for sure.”
— see ‘WE JUST HAVE, page 11
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
CITIZEN STAFF PHOTO
Brothers Patrick and Nolan Bayliss will be in action together on Monday night with the Westwood Pub Devils.
MAGLIO
Thurman, Pacquiao showdown today
Greg BEACHAM The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Keith Thurman certainly seems like more than the modern Manny Pacquiao should be able to handle.
Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) is a decade younger, certainly more powerful and maybe even a bit faster than his famously speedy opponent. Thurman is a tough, voluble welterweight champion in his prime competitive years, and Pacquiao represents the biggest fight of his career – a once-in-alifetime chance to pound a boxing great into retirement.
“It’s been a build up and a progression my whole career toward this moment on Saturday night,” Thurman said.
“This really is the outcome of an individual living out their dream.”
So why are the 40-year-old Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) and trainer Freddie Roach so confident heading into the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas? And why is the older eight-division champion actually a slight betting favourite against one of the best 147-pounders in the world?
After 18 years together, Pacquiao and Roach believe Thurman is just another challenge to be overcome by hard work, smart planning and the psychological edge of experience.
Thurman looks daunting on paper, but Pacquiao and Roach are virtuosos on canvas.
“Tomorrow night, class is in session,” Pacquiao said Friday after the weigh-in. “I hope Keith Thurman studied hard, because Professor Pacquiao gives very hard tests.” Pacquiao and Thurman both hold versions of the WBA 147-pound title heading into this Fox Sports pay-per-view showdown. In Roach’s educated mind, the vaunted Thurman has far more questions to answer than Pacquiao, who is coming into this fight off back-to-back victories over Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner.
Can Thurman recapture his prime fighting form after two years of relative inactivity caused by a 22-month injury layoff? Can he match Pacquiao’s legendary speed while showing the stamina to fight effectively for 12 rounds against Manny’s famed pace?
“I hope Thurman brings his best, because that’s when Manny will be at his best,” Roach said. “Thurman is a good fighter, but Manny beats good fighters all the time. And I don’t think Keith Thurman is a great fighter. I think Broner is a better fighter, and Manny took care of him (easily).”
While Thurman is in the biggest bout of his career, the Filipino senator’s late-career resurgence also reaches a vital point Saturday. Despite what Roach says, Thurman
seems certain to be a big step up in competition from Matthysse and Broner, and the cumulative effects of a boxing career rarely wear well after 40.
“Manny isn’t going to do anything with those little T-Rex arms,” Thurman said. “He’s about to get beat up. I get to punch a senator in the face, and he’s going to feel it.”
Thurman earned the nickname “One Time” with his one-punch knockout power, yet he has stopped just one of his seven opponents since December 2013. And though Thurman is still in his ostensible prime, he has shown a few signs of weariness with his sport.
Tomorrow night, class is in session. I hope Keith Thurman studied hard, because Professor Pacquiao gives very hard tests.
a professional than he did in his comeback victory last January over tough veteran Josesito Lopez, who rocked Thurman repeatedly and even won a 10-8 round without a knockdown.
— Manny Pacquiao
More recently, Thurman has repeatedly spoken about how he’s eager to get a few big paydays and then get out of boxing – a sensible mentality that nonetheless could indicate a fighter’s focus isn’t completely on competition anymore. Thurman has been totally focused in public appearances for this bigmoney bout, however.
referring to Pacquiao’s landmark victory over the Golden Boy in 2008. While Thurman would love to retire his opponent, Pacquiao plans to keep competing indefinitely, and he doesn’t dismiss the notion of fighting to 50 and beyond, as Bernard Hopkins did.
He has openly looked beyond Thurman to his hopes of a second fight with the retired Floyd Mayweather, or a unification bout with champion Errol Spence.
But just in case anybody believes he isn’t focused on Thurman, Pacquiao said that even his mother took offence at Thurman’s pre-fight trash talk , including his vow to “crucify” the vocally evangelical Pacquiao.
“I’m just always smiling, no matter what Keith says,” Pacquiao said.
He has never looked more vulnerable as
“I’m going to do to Manny Pacquiao what he did to Oscar De La Hoya,” Thurman said,
“It’s easy to say things, but it’s not easy to do it in the ring. I’ve been in this sport longer than Keith Thurman, so my experience will be the difference.”
Roughriders ready for Lions after bye week
Jeff DeDEKKER The Canadian Press
REGINA — It appears the bye week came at the right time for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
After a disappointing 37-10 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on July 6, the Riders had Week 6 of the CFL schedule off before beginning preparations for today’s game against the B.C. Lions at Mosaic Stadium.
While some players might prefer quickly returning to the field in an effort to put the loss behind them, many Riders liked the timing of the bye week.
“We were on a short week, we’d played two quick games and guys were a little beat up,” said Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo. “Body wise, I really think we needed that bye. And also mentally, I think it was good for us to get away a little bit, especially after a tough loss like that... Being able to get away, you come back energized.
“Now that loss is buried and that’s a better
take. It was a perfect time for us to have a bye.”
The Riders struggled in all areas against the Stampeders. Fajardo, filling in for the injured Zach Collaros, was 9-for-15 passing for 89 yards and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Tre Roberson.
And despite facing backup quarterback Nick Arbuckle, who was making his first career start in place of the injured Bo Levi Mitchell, the Riders defence allowed 402 total yards of offence. Arbuckle shined, completing 19-of-22 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns.
The Lions are also struggling, entering the game with a 1-4 record and having allowed a league-high 17 sacks of franchise quarterback Mike Reilly.
Today’s game is the first in a home-andhome series for the teams and a sweep of the set could have major implications going forward.
AP PHOTO
Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman eye each other up during a weigh-in Friday in Las Vegas. The two are scheduled to fight in a welterweight championship boxing match today.
Close shave
Noah TRISTER
The Associated Press
DETROIT — Danny Jansen was hitless in his first three at-bats when he tried to change his luck –by shaving his moustache.
“Got a hit right after,” the Toronto catcher said. “Maybe I’m a little superstitious.”
Jansen’s two-run single in the sixth inning was just a small part of an offensive onslaught by the Blue Jays, who batted around in the both the fourth and the sixth on their way to a 12-1 rout of the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
Marcus Stroman breezed through seven scoreless innings for Toronto, and Teoscar Hernandez homered.
Stroman (6-10) allowed six hits.
The All-Star right-hander struck out five with no walks in what was his first career start at Detroit - but it was his battery mate who stole
Jansen shaves mustache in dugout, hits two-run single
at least some of the spotlight with his unusual midgame grooming decision. Jansen said he shaved in the dugout, prior to his fourth plate appearance of the night. That turned out to be a single that gave the Blue Jays an 11-0 lead.
Jansen said he did something similar last year, and it worked then too.
“I was DHing, and I did it,” Jansen said. “I struck out my first time, and I went in and shaved and got like a couple hits after, so I gave it another shot tonight.”
Stroman understood.
“Whatever to get knocks, man,” Stroman said. “He shaved it off, and double-RBI single. Whatever for knocks.” Hernandez, who has a beard, wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t believe in that stuff,” he said. “Even if I go 0 for 100.” Toronto scored four runs in the fourth and five in the sixth,
sending 10 batters to the plate in each inning. The Tigers lost for the 26th time in their last 29 home games. That does not include a May 19 game in which Detroit was also losing when the contest was suspended.
“We probably played one of our worst games of the season, and our fans deserve a lot better than what we are giving them right now,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It isn’t a matter of not caring – these guys are still getting after it – but we’re making too many silly mistakes. We’re overmatched on a lot of nights, which is why we have to at least make the routine plays. That’s what I’m upset about right now.” Jordan Zimmermann (0-7) is now winless in his last 16 starts. He allowed six runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, and the righthander has yielded 20 runs in his last three starts.
‘We just have to find that extra gear’
— from page 9
Nolan works as a welder and Patrick is a heavy-duty mechanic and their trades experience led to job offers that convinced them to make the move to Prince George. Patrick has been in the city for 3 1/2 years and Nolan escaped the big-city rush and came to P.G. last year.
“It’s been a good change of pace coming up here,” said Nolan.
The Devils won Game 1 of the final 21-6 and were 10-5 winners over the Assault Thursday night.
Assault forward Doug Porter, 21, scored three of his team’s five goals in Game 2.
The netminder Bayliss prevented him from scoring a fourth when he made him miss the net on a penalty shot in the third period, after the Devils were called for too many men.
Northland was without Matt Rochon and Clarke Anderson, two of their better offensive players, both out with injuries. Rochon admitted that while his team was much better in the second game, they were still overmatched by the Devils, who had more bodies and fresher legs and used that to their advantage.
“It really hurts missing those two guys, maybe give them the weekend and they’ll be back,” said Porter. “We’re playing well with the guys we have but it comes down to a lack of bodies.
I know we can play like them, it wasn’t that much of a deficit.
“The last five minutes kind of got away from us and it just comes down to the guys wanting to show up and play. A few of us can only do so much when we’re out there five minutes at a time. We just have to find that extra gear and try and get it done on Monday.”
If the series does get extended beyond Monday’s game, Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday,
It really hurts missing those two guys, maybe give them the weekend and they’ll be back.
— Doug Porter
with Game 5, if needed, on Thursday.
• The Treasure Cove Casino Senior Invitational Tournament and senior C championship, July 26-28, will feature four teams – the Devils, Assault, Port Coquitlam Express and Wsanec Arrows of Victoria.
• Anderson and his Devils teammate Danton Nicholson are in Saanich this weekend coaching the Prince George Posse in the A2 bantam provincial championship. After opening with a 10-7 loss Friday to Peninsula, the Posse evened its record to 1-1 with an epic thirdperiod comeback on the way to a 12-11 overtime win over Ridge Meadows, the Lower Mainland champions.
Down 9-3 heading into the third period the Posse scored eight goals to take a one-goal lead.
Ridge Meadows tied it with 20 seconds left to force overtime.
Prince George lost its top player Dylan Illett, to a five-minute high-sticking penalty with one second left in the third period and the Posse was killing the penalty on the first possession in OT when Keaton Nicholson fired off a pass to Brady McKay, who fought off his check and scored the winner. The Posse, without Illett, who will serve a one-game suspension, will be back on the floor today at 9 a.m. to face Saanich.
‘He’s really deserving of his new opportunity’
— from page 9
He and Maglio became good friends during their two years working together with one of the league’s most successful teams and that taught Evin what works and what doesn’t. Now that he’s calling the shots as the head coach after signing a two-year contract he plans to maintain that continuity.
“First, I’m really excited and happy for Mags, he’s really deserving of his new opportunity and I’m grateful to work alongside him for two years,” said Evin.
“Those last two years have been really great and I’m excited to keep moving forward with our program. As the main man back there, a lot falls on your shoulders and you get to shape the lives of young hockey players to reach their goals every day and that’s something that motivates me every day. I love making a difference and being a positive influence on someone’s life.
“I’m not going to be Adam, but at the same time I’ve learned a lot and had success playing that style of hockey. I don’t think there any reason to really rewrite the chalkboard, I think we’ll be OK just how we’re doing.”
The 2018-19 season was the most successful in the Spruce Kings’ 23-year BCHL history.
They finished one point shy of first-overall with a 39-13-0-6 record, which established a club record for wins. The Kings went 16-1 in the league playoffs and captured their first Fred Page Cup championship.
They went on to defeat the Brooks Bandits in a six-game Doyle Cup Pacific regional championship and advanced to the junior A national final in Brooks, which they lost 4-3 to the Bandits. In 2017-18, the Kings won their first regular-season division title and advanced
to the league final, losing a five-series to Wenatchee.
“Obviously, winning our first championship in Prince George is going to be hard to beat,” said Evin. “That was a great moment for our franchise and we’ve established ourselves as a very good program in the league, a program that should contend every year. We will have a lot of new faces (next season) but that’s OK, we feel like we’ve brought in the right people to get us back there.”
Evin, a 32-year-old Castlegar native, played five years in the league as a goalie with the Powell River Kings, Williams Lake Timberwolves and Penticton Vees, and was the league’s top goaltender in 2007-08 while helping the Vees to the league title. He went on to play four seasons in the NCAA at Colgate University.
“He was a great player in our league for
years and he checks a lot of boxes for us,” said Hawes. “The fact he worked as closely as he did with Adam, we can continue down the path we were on and that’s been successful. Alex and Adam think the game very similarly and I don’t see much change in how we structure things, on or off the ice, with Alex. We’re fortunate Alex was here and able to transition into the role.
“I know that Alex will take a lot of what he learned from Adam into his new role. Alex’s relationship with the players is outstanding and he has a lot of passion for our team and for the community.”
Hawes and Evin hope to have an assistant in place before training camp starts Aug. 22. • Kings forward Nick Poisson committed this week to Providence College for the 2020-21 season. The soon-to-be 18-year-old is the 15th player from last year’s team to secure an NCAA scholarship.
AP PHOTO
Toronto Blue Jay Danny Jansen singles to drive in two runs against the Detroit Tigers during a game on Friday in Detroit.
Woman questions father’s suspicious death
Michele Langevine LEIBY
Special To The Washington Post
The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz Ecco. 304 pp. $26.99
Can a debut novel be a masterpiece of cultural criticism? Chanelle Benz makes an earnest effort to answer that question in the affirmative.
The Gone Dead is a startling work that will set your skin tingling and interrupt your sleep. It explores racial issues – old, new and forever unsettled – but to define a novel this sweeping by those terms alone seems too reductionist.
After her grandmother dies, Billie James, a grant writer, returns to the Mississippi Delta for the first time in 30 years to claim her inheritance – $5,000 and a half-dilapidated house that was once her father’s.
Billie’s late parents were Clifton James, a renowned black poet, and Pia, a white medievalist. Complete with a rusting tin roof and a calendar featuring images of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, the house is foreign to city-girl Billie but also familiar: “she remembers it or feels like she does.”
She was there, and just four years old, the night her father died.
It was a tragic accident, the locals say: He fell and hit his head. But as Billie learns more about that time, this town and its people, she unravels a tangled story involving her parents’ interracial marriage, their wealthy white neighbours, the McGees, and the weighty legacy of Jim Crow. She learns what it means to belong to a place where, if you are black, life can turn sideways at any moment; anything can happen to you.
Nothing is straightforward in Greendale. Here, the past is as twisted and murky as the Atchafalaya River that’s constantly trying to swallow up the Mississippi. This place, Billie’s cousin Lola allows, “is all longing and water and ghosts.”
Reading Benz is exciting and unnerving. She excels at capturing the moods and subtle gradations of her characters who can be upstanding but also shady at times, playing fast and loose with morality. For example, Harlan McGee, the easygoing but rudderless son of rich landowner Jim McGee, is the quintessential good ol’ boy who, on his way to the bar, will slow and comply with a billboard instructing drivers to “HONK IF U LOVE JESUS.”
As children, Jim and Cliff were best friends, as close as brothers.
“There was a time I knew Cliff like I knew my own body. His walk. The way he breathed, the length of the air he took into his chest,” Jimmy recollects.
“I loved Cliff, loved him. But our bond was nothing spoken. We ourselves wouldn’t have known what to call it. It was just there like the trees, the birds, the fields – a naturally occurring thing.”
Then they hit adolescence and, as was dictated by the rules back then, each withdrew to his designated side of the colour line.
Adult Cliff dies young.
Adult Jim goes to church twice a week. He is a good husband and a good father – but he’s also keeping secrets about what happened to Cliff leading up to his death.
Dr. Melvin Hurley, a poetry scholar, is Cliff James’ biographer, writing a tome that he hopes will place the poet on “the pantheon of black genius.”
Hurley is an intellectual with the sensitivity and savvy to recognize and elevate the significance of Cliff’s work. But he also is self-servingly ambitious and blithely publishes his work with little thought to how it affects Cliff’s own family.
The first third of Benz’s novel is beautifully lyrical. It calls to mind the rolling, almost musical style of James Baldwin’s prose and mirrors his way of eloquently capturing the ugliest stories. The mystery creates urgency during the second third, when reading feels like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it. It’s not going fast enough. You want to know more – now
But the ending feels unsatisfyingly ambiguous given the current context of racial affairs.
Have things really changed all that much since the days of Jim Crow and the night riders?
Then as now, injustices go unpunished.
Clifton James died in 1972.
Philando Castile died in 2016.
There, too, a four-year-old bore witness to how unbearable America can be.
Even so, Benz could become one of the most prominent voices of her generation based on how good this book is. There is magnificent promise here, awaiting full realization.
Leiby is a Washington-based freelance writer who has contributed to The Washington Post Style and Arts sections and the Sunday Magazine.
HANDOUT PHOTO
The cover of The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz.
With Turbulence, a BBC radio show finds new life
David Szalay
147 pp. Scribner. $25
David Szalay’s Turbulence began life in 2018 as a series on the BBC’s Radio 4.
The resulting book, first published last year in the United Kingdom, shares the radio program’s episodic nature, relaying 12 stories about characters whose lives are linked via air travel and whose in-flight anxieties have nothing on the troubles awaiting them on the ground.
Turbulence has much in common with Szalay’s previous novel, 2016s All That Man Is. That book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and, like the new work, strains the traditional definition of a novel, with loosely related stories populated by characters undergoing existential crises across Europe.
The connections between the characters in Turbulence are more overt than those in All That Man Is.
A person who is introduced in one chapter becomes the protagonist of the next, and the book starts and ends in London, touching down in Madrid, Dakar, Senegal, Seattle and elsewhere in between.
While some characters within each story are strangers to one another, meeting on a plane, in a taxi or through a hookup app, many are related by blood or marriage. Few are happy. No one’s trip goes as planned.
At a slim 145 pages, Turbulence is a fast read. Szalay begins each chapter with a clear throat and a determined gaze, and the stories jump from their opening lines: “Cheikh knew something was wrong when Mohammed wouldn’t look him in the eye”; “The next morning she had to lose the pilot before she could leave”; “They said the boy was dead.” Szalay is not, however, a breathless storyteller. While he’s masterful at quickly establishing a mood and a character, he creates humid, uncomfortable tales, their air thick with worry and the threat of tragedy.
A Hong Kong doctor on vacation in Ho Chi Minh City looks out from the back seat of a taxi “at the noisy, energetic poverty of modern Vietnam.” He’s there to play golf with his brother, who lives in their native India and who owes him a modest amount of money that grows in significance the more the doctor thinks about it. The expected confrontation arrives, but its intensity is surprising.
In another chapter, a Sao Paulo journalist in a hurry to be rid of a one-night stand and make her flight to Toronto is stopped by “one of those moments when the presence of a large stranger in her apartment suddenly seemed surreal, and for a few seconds even slightly threatening.”
The stranger is a pilot from the book’s previous story, which concerned the man nearly missing his flight to Brazil after witnessing a deadly traffic accident that, of course, involved a character from the chapter before.
Much of the fun of Turbulence – and yes, there is joy to be had in reading this cheerless but clever book – is discovering how Szalay will upend the reader’s perspective of a character from one chapter to the next. The pilot in “DSS-GRU” – each title draws from its chapter’s corresponding airport codes – is sympathetic as he shares with an indifferent flight captain that his sister drowned when they were children. In the next chapter, GRU-YYZ, the pilot is flat-out pitiful as he fails to read the journalist’s signals and reveals something that would have been better left unsaid.
“People were able to live multiple lives,” one character notes.
It’s a prosaic observation that Szalay turns over to reveal an infected underbelly: Learning that her daughter is engaged to a Muslim, an English woman wonders if the man has been truthful about his past.
“Ursula wanted to ask her daughter how she could be sure that he didn’t have a family back in Syria – a wife, kids, whatever,” Szalay writes.
“There was no way of knowing.”
But ignorance, Szalay reminds us, does not have to be a permanent condition, and the mother’s eventual change in attitude feels earned, stemming as it does from an actual human interaction rather than her imagined ones.
Szalay understands that how people respond to one another during life-changing events can be just as important as the events themselves.
In one story, a woman learns that her grandson has been born blind, and she struggles to provide her daughter with the support she so clearly needs.
“It was one of those events, she thought, that make us what we are, for ourselves and for other people,” Szalay writes.
“They just seem to happen, and then they’re there forever, and slowly we understand that we’re stuck with them, that nothing will ever be the same again.” Turbulence suggests that such events might shape us, but they don’t define us.
Take a good look, Szalay is saying, and do something about it.
Jake CLINE Special To The Washington Post Turbulence by
SCRIBNER — HANDOUT
The cover of the novel Turbulence by David Szalay.
At Home
Gardeners, let’s praise the hoe
Lee REICH The Associated Press
Hopefully, I’ve caught you in time, before your weeds have grown lusty. I want you to consider the much maligned hoe. Wait! Don’t stop reading.
I know hoeing is the activity that (perhaps because they had to do it when they were young) makes too many adults give up gardening altogether. Hoeing was undoubtedly in Charles Dudley Warner’s mind when he wrote, over a hundred years ago in “My Summer in the Garden,” that what a gardener needs is “a cast-iron back with a hinge in it.”
But the bad rap that hoeing has among many people comes from using the wrong hoe in the wrong way at the wrong time. Gasolineand electric-powered tillers have further eroded the art of the hoe. In fact, hoeing can be a pleasant activity that does a better job of weed control than a tiller and leaves garden plants in better condition.
Save this one for concrete
The garden hoe that most people have hanging in their garages, and generally do not use, has a heavy rectangular blade that is roughly 6 inches square and is mounted roughly perpendicularly to the handle.
This undated photo shows garden hoes in New Paltz, N.Y. The winged weeder, right, and the wire hoe are two of a few styles of hoe that are a pleasure to use as their sharp edges run along just beneath the surface of the ground.
I also own one of these rough hoes, but I do use mine - only for mixing concrete, a job for which this hoe is ideally suited. In the garden, people use this concrete hoe, as I’ll call it, with a chopping motion on large weeds. But we all know what happens when you chop the tops off dandelions or thistles: They grow right back and you get an achy back.
Better hoes
To keep the garden weeded and the soil surface loose enough to let rainwater seep in, you want a more delicate hoe. The hoes I have in mind have small, sharp blades that are parallel to the soil surface when you grip the handle in a comfortable, upright stance. These hoes are relative newcomers to the garden scene, and include the scuffle hoe, colinear hoe, diamond hoe and - one of my favouritesthe winged weeder.
None of these hoes that I am recommending requires a chopping motion or a cast-iron, hinged back. With blades that are sharp on both sides, these hoes cut through the soil on both the push and the pull strokes. Use them just this way, with the blade a hair beneath the soil surface, as you walk backward as if you were using a sponge mop.
Newer on the scene is the “wire weeder.” This one works best in loose soil that has been weeded by hand or hoe regularly. Under these conditions, the wire weeder is a joy to use; it’s like a stroll along your garden paths. Just walk along comfortably dragging the horizontal wire just beneath the soil surface. Sprouting weeds that you see and don’t see are uprooted to dry in the sun.
Use them correctly
Using these hoes is so easy because you’re not moving a lot of soil. You’re cutting a slice just below the surface, and doing so with a sharp blade or a wire. Not disrupting the soil also has future benefits. It leaves the roots of nearby garden plants unscathed.
And buried within every soil are myriad dormant weed seeds just waiting to be awakened by light and air, which is what happens when rototilling or vigorous chopping with a concrete hoe brings buried weed seeds to the surface. The hoes I’m recommending hardly disturb the soil. Timing is important.
Any of these dainty hoes could slice the top off a large dandelion plant, but what you’re really trying to do is attack young weeds. Small weeds do die when decapitated because their roots have not accumulated food reserves to re-sprout. But you must hoe before weeds grow too lusty, and keep at it on a regular basis. That said, the activity is quick and pleasant.
How to turn chickpea fritters into a delicious burger
America’s Test Kitchen
The Associated Press
Falafel are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, packed with seasoning, and utterly irresistible. Here we essentially supersize these chickpea fritters to make a uniquely delicious burger.
We started by soaking dried chickpeas overnight to soften before grinding them into coarse bits along with onion, herbs, garlic, and spices. Traditional falafel recipes use flour and chickpeas for a dough-like texture, but uncooked flour yielded patties that were dry and bready; instead, we used a microwaved flour paste to add moisture and create a soft interior.
To ensure burger-size falafel, we used a dry measuring cup and dropped scoops of the falafel mixture into a heated skillet and then used the back of a spoon to press each portion into a 3/4-inch-thick patty.
To top off our burgers, we created a sauce -featuring tahini, Greek yogurt, and lemon juice and also added sliced cucumber and quick pickled red onions for a burger so flavourful we may never go back to falafel wrapped in pita bread.
Falafel burgers with tahini-yogurt sauce
Servings: 4
Start to finish: 1 hour
8 ounces dried chickpeas, picked over and rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems
3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra as needed
4 hamburger buns, toasted if desired
1/4 English cucumber, sliced thin
1/2 cup Quick Pickled Red Onions (recipe follows)
Place chickpeas in large container and cover with water by 2 to 3 inches. Soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Drain well.
Whisk tahini, yogurt, and lemon juice in medium bowl until smooth. Season with salt
and extra lemon juice to taste; set aside. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days; let come to room temperature and stir to recombine before serving.) Process cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt, and cayenne in food processor until mixture is finely ground, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add chickpeas and pulse 6 times. Continue to pulse until chickpeas are coarsely chopped and resemble sesame seeds, about 6 more pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl and set aside. Whisk flour and 1/3 cup water in bowl until no lumps remain.
Microwave, whisking every 10 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency that forms mound when dropped from end of whisk into bowl, 40 to 80 seconds. Stir baking powder into flour paste. Add flour paste to chickpea mixture and, using rubber spatula, mix until fully incorporated. (Falafel mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours.) Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Using 1 cup measure, drop 4 even portions (about 3/4 cup each) into skillet, then press each portion into 3/4-inch-thick patty with back of spoon. Cook
until golden brown and crisp on first side, 4 to 6 minutes. Using 2 spatulas, gently flip patties and cook until well browned and crisp on second side, 4 to 6 minutes, adding extra oil as needed if skillet looks dry. Serve burgers on buns, topped with cucumber, pickled onions, and tahini-yogurt sauce.
Quick Pickled Red Onion
Makes about 1 cup
Pickled onions are an absolute breeze to make-just a few minutes of hands-on preparation plus a 30-minute brine bath transform simple slices of red onion into a vibrant topping for burgers. Look for a firm, dry onion with thin, shiny skin and a deep purple colour.
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 red onion, halved and sliced thin through root end
Bring vinegar, sugar, and salt to simmer in small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved. Off heat, stir in onion, cover, and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Serve. (Pickled onions can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 1 week.)
Nutrition information per serving of burger: 592 calories; 222 calories from fat; 25 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 3 mg cholesterol; 812 mg sodium; 74 g carbohydrate; 11 g fiber; 11 g sugar; 23 g protein.
Nutrition information per serving of pickled onion: 60 calories; 0 calories from fat; 0 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 149 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 13 g sugar; 0 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Falafel Burgers in “The Ultimate Burger .”
This undated photo provided by America’s Test Kitchen in July 2019 shows Falafel Burgers with Tahini-Yogurt Sauce in Brookline, Mass.
Ivan Patrick McKnight March 17, 1935July 15, 2019
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Ivan. He is survived by his children: Brenda Roland (Mark), Dennis McKnight, Sheila Stensrud (Lyle), Leisa Kreiter (Chuck), Maureen Hall (Malcolm), numerous grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Ivan is survived by his two sisters Jean and Shirley, and sister in-law Hazel; many amazing nieces and nephews.
Special thanks to Sid McKnight (nephew) for his ongoing support.
Always In Our Hearts
A celebration of Ivan’s life will be held on Wednesday July 24 at the Bon Voyage from 6:30-8:30pm.
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of Glenn MacKenzie on his 63rd birthday. Predeceased by his parents Glen and Joan (Quigley) MacKenzie and brother in law Dennis Laurin, he leaves behind his partner Eileen Ulrich, daughter Morgan (Bobbie), brothers Greg, Bruce (Terry), Garth, sister Joanne, nephews Graeme (Cassidy), Trevor and in laws Phillip and Maddie Ulrich. Born in Vancouver, but moving often due to his father being an engineer with the railway. Glenn’s family finally settled in Prince George when he was 10. Glenn attended Austin Road, Kelly Road and PGSS schools. Before being summoned by his true calling and passion, logging. Glenn’s first job was at Shoppers Food Mart and then he moved on to Polar Refrigeration. He also did a short stint framing homes in Edmonton. At age 18 Glenn started driving logging trucks, and by age 20 he bought his first Kenworth. In 1985 Glenn and his sister Joanne had the opportunity to purchase Mackye Kennels, and this is where he made his home. In 1997 Glenn decided to take his driving skills to a whole new level by building a killer 1955 Chevy drag race car. Glenn had a great head for business and was very successful at his occupation. He loved his family was their biggest supporter and strongest defender. Glenn had a big heart, was very kind and generous to a fault with those he
Cunin, Jeffrey Ryan
December 31, 1987July 15, 2019
It is with deep regret and heavy hearts that the Cunin family is announcing the sudden passing of Jeffrey Ryan Cunin. Jeffrey’s life ended the way he enjoyed living it with selflessness and thinking of others. Jeffrey is survived by his mother (Pamela, Kelowna). Father (Maurice, Quesnel), brothers (Dennis, Ft St John and Kevin, Prince George, Chris, Victoria and Dan, Cochrane, Alberta) as well as other family members. There will be a viewing at 1:00pm with a celebration of life to honour Jeffrey at 2:00pm on Saturday, July 20, 2019 at Prince George Funeral Service, 1014 Douglas St. In lieu of flowers, donations to Prince George Rotary Hospice would be appreciated in his memory. Prince George Funeral Service in care of arrangements 250 564 - 3880.
Ian W. Wood April 3, 1930-July 14, 2019
It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Ian Wood on July 14, 2019. Ian was born In Edinburgh, Scotland and although Canada was his chosen home, Scotland held his heart. Ian is now with his wife, Judy and his son, Rob. Ian was always a gentleman, a kind person who will be deeply missed. Ian is survived by his daughters: Nancy, Lynn (Morris), grandchildren; Tyler (Jaime), Nicole, Matthew and great grandchildren; Ciaran, Caia and Lincoln.
The family would like to thank Dr. Khan for his care and support through the years. We would also like to thank the wonderful caregivers at UHNBC ER and the Rotary Hospice Society for their care, compassion and respect. If you would like, in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Rotary Hospice Society, Red Cross or a charity of your choice in Ian’s name. There will be no service as per Ian’s request.
Lockhart
Brittany Michelle January 7, 1988 to July 10, 2019
Brittany passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on July 10,2019. Brittany leaves behind her parents Kathy and Howard Lockhart, her beloved 2 1/2 year old son
Braylon, her brother Michael (Rukhsana) her partner Robin Skinner and loving aunts, uncles, cousins. Brittany grew up in Prince George, thriving on 4-H and hockey. After graduation in French Immersion from Duchess Park Secondary, she moved to Vancouver Island to get her degree in Interior Design through VIU. She met her partner Robin and together they had their wonderful son Braylon. Brittany will be remembered as a fun loving, always cheerful person and the absolute loving caring daughter, sister, cousin, niece and friend. A Celebration of Life is being held on Sunday July 21 from 1 pm to 8 pm at 180 Malta Road, Shawnigan Lake, BC.
