Prince George Citizen February 20, 2025

Never too cold for a mail run

Dog sledders brave the Arctic weather for Quesnel-to-Barkerville trek

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

She’s an international masters speed skating champion turned dog sled musher.

Ann Douglas, 74, and her seven-dog team were at the Gold Rush Trail Dog Sled Mail Run, which took mushers from Troll Resort in Quesnel to Barkerville during a three-day frozen adventure from February 7 to 9.

The 33rd annual Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run sees dog team mushers become official mail carriers as they transport Canada Post mail in their sleds across the Gold Rush Trail.

This celebration of historically significant Canadian culture honors the heritage and resilience of the region while showcasing the role dog sledding played in the country’s cultural and economic development.

One of the few mail run events carrying official Canada Post mail, the mail is marked with a stamp, “Carried by Dog Team,” to signify its journey. Once delivered to Barkerville, it enters the regular mail system for delivery anywhere in the world.

It was 20 below at Troll, where the run started, when The Citizen caught up with dog sledder Douglas, who was about to start her adventure.

The cold that takes a person’s breath away is perfect for the dogs, who won’t get overheated at that temperature. But for the handlers, it’s a bit on the breezy

side as the wind whistles past their ears while they stand on the back of their sleds.

In anticipation of the event, the cacophony of barking dogs is deafening and continues throughout the harnessing process, during which the dogs are attached to the leads ahead of the sled. Those continuous sounds echoing through the little valley come to an abrupt end as soon as the eager dogs are allowed to start their joyous run into the wilderness. Then the only sounds are the shushing of the sled runners against the crisp snow and the whoop of joy Douglas gave as she headed out on her adventure.

“I’ve been dog sledding for about 20 years,” Douglas said. “And I’ve been coming here to the Gold Rush Sled Dog Mail Run for about 15.”

What got her started as a musher was her husband, who said he wanted sled dogs.

Ann Douglas, 74, is seen here during the first part of the Gold Rush Trail Dog Sled Mail Run at Troll Resort near Quesnel on Friday, Feb. 7.

Mushers are sworn in as mail carriers before heading out

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“So I told him, as long as they don’t have to come into the house, I’m good – get whatever you want,” Douglas laughed. “And then I fell in love with them.”

The breed of her 15 dogs is Alaskan husky, and the team of seven at the mail run included Kit and Wizard as the lead dogs, Red and Fred, Salt & Pepper, and Lightning.

“The trail is gorgeous here,” Douglas said as she took in the beautiful scenery.

“We climb up the mountain, and the view is fantastic. The snow is nice, and the weather is nice and cold. I prefer it not so cold, but the dogs love the cold, so we’re good. The reason I keep coming back is the camaraderie. When we’re up on the trail, we meet other teams, and it’s so nice to see everyone again. It’s wonderful. Here, it’s about the people, and that’s why I come here to see all the people I might only see once a year.”

Part of the Mail Run is the swearing-in of the mushers as official Canada Post carriers. Each person is assigned a bib number that matches the bag of mail they will carry, but not so for Ann. She took charge of mail bag 13, and her bib number is 10. Rumor has it that a past participant kept the No. 13 bib as a souvenir.

“I am going to be so confused,” Douglas laughed. “I thought, don’t do this to me!”

With some foreboding, Douglas explained she wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible because, two years ago, she received the Hard Luck Award after she took a spill and completed her journey with a bloody face – she hadn’t realized she had been cut during her tumble.

“When I came back, my face was full of blood, but I was smiling because I didn’t know,” Douglas laughed. “So they gave me the Hard Luck Award, and I’m just hoping I don’t get it this year. I don’t want that one! But it’s all in fun.”

Douglas lives north of Fort Fraser on Dog River, so it took her five hours to

get to Troll.

“My dogs are here, all happy to get going,” Douglas said.

Unfortunately, Douglas did indeed earn the Hard Luck Award once again when her team failed to successfully navigate a corner.

One of her dogs, Wizard, was injured early on, and Douglas chose not to continue the run.

It was a relatively minor injury that required only a few stitches at the veterinary hospital in Quesnel. Wizard is recovering nicely at home and will soon see another day of sledding.

“You can’t keep an old dog down –they just love it,” Douglas said.

Douglas started her winter sporting adventures when she was in her 40s. She decided she would not remain on the sidelines while taking her teenagers to speed skating practice.

“I would have to get up early in the morning to drive them, and I thought, I’m not going to sit there and look at them, I’m going to skate myself,”

Douglas said. “I really loved it, and I competed in the province and got a Canadian record.”

Douglas started as a sprinter and set the record for the 400m race.

“I was so excited about doing that, and I said, ‘OK, I’m going for it,’” Douglas explained.

After settling in another town where there was no speed skating club, Douglas said she didn’t skate for a while.

“And then I had grandchildren, and I joined some other people, and we started a speed skating club.”

The group founded the Vanderhoof Clippers Speed Skating Club, and this time, Douglas was in her 60s.

“I knew my grandchildren needed to speed skate, so I coached for quite a long time,” Douglas said.

“That’s when I started thinking about competing again, so I did.”

Douglas said she loves the sport for its sheer speed and the skill level at which people compete.

Douglas competed across Canada and

I prefer it not so cold, but the dogs love the cold, so we’re good.’

then went on to compete at the World Championships in Austria in 2020, where she took bronze in the 3000m long track.

Now, Douglas competes indoors and took gold in the 1000m and 1500m at an international competition in Calgary in 2020. In Amsterdam in 2023, she took bronze in the 1000m.

“What I really like about skating is that I can leave all my troubles behind and just hang on to that corner,” Douglas said.

“Every corner is an adventure.”

Check out Douglas at the start of the Gold Rush Trail Dog Sled Mail Run at www.youtube.com/ MastersinMotionAnnDouglas.

Ann Douglas, 74, takes possession of mail bag No. 13 right after the swearing-in of the dog sledders to be official mail carriers, legally permitted to get the mail to Barkerville. This took place Tat roll Resort ahead of the first part of the Gold Rush Trail Dog Sled Mail Run on Friday, Feb. 7.

WEAVER AUCTIONS

Northern Health taking over second floor of The Bay

Pending demolition of Northern Interior Health Unit prompts the move, which also includes China Cup space

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Northern Health is making plans to vacate the Northern Interior Health Unit as part of the plan that will lead to the eventual construction of a $1.6 billion hospital acute care tower addition at University Hospital of Northern BC.

The health authority has secured two commercial properties close to the hospital and will take over the second floor of the Hudson’s Bay department store at Parkwood Place as well as the China Cup Buffet restaurant space at the front of the mall.

Those two spaces will be renovated this year and the adult community health services will be relocated from the Northern Interior Health Unit in the spring of 2026.

The China Cup site will house adult specialized services, including addictions treatment and overdose prevention services, with the remainder of services, including the vaccination clinic and other community health services, housed at the Bay site.

Demolition of the Northern Interior Health Unit (east of the hospital at 1444 Edmonton St.) will happen in the summer of 2026, with construction of the new seven-story tower to begin in the fall of 2026.

“Right now we are in procurement for getting the spaces renovated and we’re looking at being fully in there in the spring of 2026,” said Mark Hendricks, Northern Health’s communications lead, capital projects.

“One thing with construction is that timelines can always be affected by so many things, especially with some of the (construction) trade issues, but that shouldn’t really affect us too much on this.

Hendricks said once the renovations are complete at the two Parkwood sites the actual move of the offices will take only a couple of days.

Completion of the new tower, which will include a surgical suite with five operating rooms and 47 new beds, is

The second floor of the Bay department store in Parkwood Place will become the new home of some

operations.

projected for the winter of 2031, nearly five years after construction begins.

The building will feature a six-bed cardiac care unit to centralize the hospital’s cardiac services and a 20-bed cardiac step-down unit. Once operational, it will provide relief for patients and their families now required to travel to Kelowna, Vancouver or Victoria for intensive cardiac care.

The addition will boost overall hospital capacity for cardiac, mental health and surgical services by 109 beds, from 102 to 211. It will also add 36 treatment beds for UHNBC’s mental health and substance use services, bringing capacity to 83.

Hendricks said Northern Health and designers of the new tower will be gathering input from the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation to plan the building’s aesthetic design, which he said will reflect the region’s Indigenous community.

“We will be working with them on look, finish, feel, how it’s going to be reflective of the local community and the local Indigenous community,” said

The Northern Interior Health Unit on Edmonton Street adjacent to UHNBC will be demolished in the summer of 2026 to clear the way for construction of a new six-storey surgical tower.

Hendricks. “At the new hospital in Fort St. James there was some really cool work that went on in that building as far as cultural recognition, cultural incorporation. We actually have Dakelh translations and English on a bunch of way-finding signs throughout the facility.

“One of the things we have been doing at some of our sites is mural paintings on the exteriors of our hospitals and we did one in Smithers just recently.”

The acute care tower project includes construction of a new 471-stall parkade currently underway near the hospital. Northern Health opened two new hospitals in the past three months. In Terrace, the Ksyen Regional Hospital opened Nov. 27, replacing Mills Memorial Hospital.

The new Stuart Lake Hospital and Health Centre opened Jan. 14 in Fort St. James, with 18 long-term care and nine acute care beds.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

Northern Health

CITIZEN

Prince George may bid for 2030 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games

The city is hosting the BC Games this July, with 1,700 athletes expected

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George city council will vote on whether to submit a bid for the 2030 Special Olympics Summer Games at its next meeting, a spokesperson tells The Citizen.

Prince George is already set to host this summer’s 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games on July 10, 11 and 12, but city council voted at its Dec. 17, 2024 meeting to submit a letter of intent to organizers that it is interested in bidding on either the 2028 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games or the 2030 Canada Summer Games.

Since then, a spokesperson said, the city has decided which event it would prefer to bid on.

They said in an email that it was decided summer games would be a better fit than the winter games “for a few reasons including the lack of ski hills in the nearby vicinity but also due to the fact we’re hosting the Special Olympics BC Summer games this July, which hopefully gives assurance to the organizing bodies around our facilities and volunteer groups, etc.”

The vote on whether to approve the bid will take place at the Monday, Feb. 24 council meeting.

Prince George’s bid won’t be uncontested. The radio station 989 XFM in Antigonish, N.S. reported on Wednesday, Feb. 12 that St. Francis Xavier University is submitting a bid backed up by the local county council.

At its Tuesday, Feb. 11 meeting, the board of education for School District 57 voted unanimously to lend its support to Prince George’s bid.

The board received a letter from Lindsay Timmermans, the city’s event co-ordinator, asking for its support.

“We would like to request a letter of support from School District 57 for our bid and are also looking for suggestions and/or input on how we can engage our local school district with the 2030 Games if we are successful bidders,” Timmermans wrote.

“Below is some information on what Special Olympics Canada is looking for regarding community partnerships, and I think our elementary and secondary schools would be great part of this.”

The quote Timmermans referred to from Special Olympics asks applicants to “describe how inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility will be embedded into all aspects of your games and promoted/influenced throughout the community and partnership.”

The letter asks that the school division provide its letter of support by Monday, Feb. 24 if it decides to grant its support to the bid. The city’s bid is due by March 1.

During the discussion, Trustee Sarah Holland asked what it would cost the school division should school gyms be used as venues and school buses be used to transport athletes for the games.

Secretary-treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet said that the district is assisting with this summer’s BC games by offering the use of schools as accommo dations for visiting athletes. To make that possible, she said, there’s a lot of staff in-kind work being done to get the schools ready.

The bulk of actual expenses relating to these games will be in additional utilities and custodial costs. By comparison, she said, the 2030 games are proposing to house athletes in hotels, meaning that any costs to the district would likely be the cost of utilities.

THESE INCENTIVES WON’T LAST FOREVER

Start your solar project this winter to avoid delays and ensure your system is ready for peak production by spring!

School board’s $1.2M surplus tied to staffing shortages

Education trustees approves an amended 2024-25 budget at their meeting on Feb. 5

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

School District 57’s projected surplus of about $1.2 million for the 2024-25 school year is largely due to unfilled staff positions, the chair of the board of education said after its Wednesday, Feb. 11 meeting.

At the meeting, district administration presented an amended budget for the current school year that projects a surplus of $1,195,152, up from the $11,934 surplus projected when the budget was originally approved by the board.

Director of finance Hannah Brown told trustees that the figures in the original budget were determined based on preliminary estimates for student enrolment, funding and expenses like salaries, transportation, utilities and insurance.

Under BC law, the education minister can require school districts to amend their budgets if their operating grants are different than originally expected.

Enrolment numbers and operating grants are typically revised from their initial projections each December and a revised budget accounting for those changes is due by the end of February. However, Brown said it’s due by March 28 this year due to delays to the ministry’s recalculation of those operating grants.

Initial operating grant figures are determined by a per-student funding amount multiplied by estimated enrolment numbers.

This makes up the bulk of the school district’s funding.

While total expenses ended up being $7,439,660 more than originally estimated, revenues were $6,559,552 more than expected.

There ended up being 89 more school-age students than originally estimated for 2024-25, leading to $1.6 million increase to the district’s operating grant. Another $1.6 million boost to the district’s operating grant came

from additional labour settlement funds provided by the province.

The cost of instructing students, which includes staffing and supply expenses, is projected to be $3.78 million more than initially expected.

The largest factors in that increase are a $1.25 million increase to the amount of funding needed for substitute teachers and a $2.5 million increase in services and supplies stemming from costs paid for by previous years’ surpluses being returned to school budgets.

The district’s administration costs, which include labour relations, continuing education and labour relations expenses, is $938,154 higher in the revised budget.

Salaries are about $1.7 million higher in the revised budget, an increase of 1.1 per cent.

When you look solely at the salaries of teachers, the costs are $82,249 lower than the initial budget.

That, Brown said, is the net result of the addition of 10 school-based teachers of $960,000 to hire 10 additional school-based teachers due to enrolment increases, a $130,000 decrease in costs due to the hiring of uncertified

teachers who are paid at a lower rate and a $880,000 decrease in costs due to classroom enhancement funding being higher than expected.

Another factor in the projected surplus is the use of around $3.8 million from a surplus from the 2023-24 school year.

Of those funds, the school division initially used around $1.67 million to balance this year’s operating budget. Brown said that was because the ministry didn’t approve labour settlement funding until after the 2024-25 budget was passed.

Now that those funds have arrived, they are no longer needed to balance out the amended budget.

After the meeting, board chair Craig Brennan told reporters that when you dig into the math, the surplus is “mostly from positions that weren’t filled.”

“That means jobs that we posted and were not able to find someone to fill that job,” Brennan said. “It sounds like a good-news story, but it’s just a fact that we’re not able to fill all the positions that we would like.”

Because of that, he said the conditions that led to the surplus aren’t

sustainable. Ideally, Brennan said, that means the extra funds would be used to pay for one-time expenses and not continuing ones.

The board’s meetings in April and May will focus on the 2025-26 budget and include discussion over how those surplus funds should be used.

“If it’s a bigger-ticket item, it will be coming to the board table for deliberations,” Brennan said.

“We do want to make sure that we’re spending that money wisely, because again, we’re hoping it’s just a one-time thing.”

The difficulty in filling positions isn’t restricted to Prince George, Brennan said, but some of the district’s outlying areas as well.

The positions not being filled include teachers, educational assistance and specialists.

“It remains one of the top things we talk about at this table and at the British Columbia School Trustees Association.”

The addition of another administrator to the district’s human resources department was discussed at the Feb. 11 meeting to help in its recruitment efforts.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY COLIN SLARK

School District 57’s board of education receives a report on an amended budget for the 2024-25 school year at its regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The amended budget features a projected surplus of almost $1.2 million.

SD57 votes to consider closing Giscome Elementary

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

School District 57’s board of education voted at its Tuesday, Feb. 11 meeting to officially start considering the closure of Giscome Elementary School at the end of the current school year.

This kicks off a public consultation process of at least 60 days before the board can make a final decision.

A long-range facilities report prepared by administration staff and discussed at a Jan. 28 committee of the whole meeting recommended the closure of Giscome, the Central Interior Distance Education School, Van Bien Elementary School, McBride Centennial Elementary, Valemount Elementary and Morfee Elementary sometime between this school year and the 2033-34 school year.

Supt. Jameel Aziz said at the meeting that the closure is being proposed not due to budgetary concerns, but due to concerns over equity and access to programming for students.

He said that due to the small size of the student population — 10 this year and an expected seven students at best next year — children are missing out on extracurricular activities and programming available to students at other schools.

The proposal would see the remaining students move to Blackburn Elementary School for the 2025-26 school year.

The superintendent said that the farthest commute for any of the remaining students next year would be 20 minutes at most.

Trustee Cory Antrim asked about busing opportunities for students while Trustee Sarah Holland asked how the public consultation meetings over the closure would work. Chair Craig Brennan said those discussions would be better served once the conversation has begun.

Holland stressed after seconding the motion to consider closure of the school that closure is not assured at this point, but is the beginning of a public conversation with the affected community.

The motion to consider the closure of the school passed unanimously, beginning the consultation process of at least 60 days.

Briefly addressing administration’s recommendation that the Central Interior Distance Education School close, Aziz said that administration believes that the quality of the program does not match the same level of quality as other similar programs available in BC and it is their opinion that those resources would be better utilized elsewhere in the district.

The program runs out of the John McInnis Centre, a former high school. As CIDES is not considered a school by definition, its closure does not require a public consultation period.

After the meeting, board chair Craig Brennan said the board will now follow its school closure policy. District staff will begin discussing the ramifications of the closure as well as reaching out to those affected. What happens to the teachers working at Giscome will be part of those discussions.

“You heard from trustees starting to ask questions already around distance and timing and busing, things like that,” Brennan said.

Brennan said the other potential closures identified by the facilities report will take place over the medium

Aziz’s comment about the program’s quality, Brennan said it was his understanding that it was in reference to a low completion rate of enrolled students. That policy states that the public consultation must include “A fair consideration of the input from the affected community and provision of opportunities for that community to respond to the Board’s proposal to close a school permanently,” as well as consideration of potential future enrolment growth at the school in question and the potential alternative community uses for the building.

to long term.

As for CIDES, he said the superintendent would lead the work on winding those operations down. Asked about

All people who could be affected by the closure “should be made aware of the board’s proposal to close the school” and the board must hold a public forum as part of the process. If the board does eventually decide the close the school, it must pass a bylaw ordering the closure and notify the Minister of Education of the decision.

“Honest

CITIZEN PHOTO BY COLIN SLARK

Chair Craig Brennan votes on a motion during the School District 57 board of education meeting in Prince George on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

OPINION

Education is about far more than the bottom line

KENNEDY GORDON Citizen Managing Editor

The people who make decisions about education in Prince George had a lot to talk about last week.

At School District 57, the conversation was about the potential closure of several local schools, with a focus on the immediate future of Giscome Elementary and the Central Interior Distance Education School.

Meanwhile, the College of New Caledonia is planning to end its English-language classes, and its faculty and students aren’t happy. The closures aren’t just about finances or low enrollment; they involve real people with life challenges who rely on these institutions to build (or rebuild) their lives and contribute to society.

Closing the small, rural Giscome Elementary does make financial sense. The school has just 10 students this academic year, with even fewer expected next year.

There’s no sensible explanation for keeping a school that small open. The proposal to consolidate these students at Blackburn Elementary, with a relatively short commute, is understandable from an operational standpoint.

However, the decision to close a school with such deep ties to a rural community must consider more than just the numbers.

However, people living in the rural community fear that closing the school

may result in further isolation and disruption, especially for children who may struggle with a larger school environment.

As School District 57 proceeds with its 60-day consultation process, it is crucial that the board fully understands the broader emotional and social impact of such a decision.

Similarly, the proposal to eliminate CNC’s English as a Second Language (ENLA) program presents a stark picture of the risks involved in solely prioritizing financial concerns.

As voiced by instructor Nazgul Stringer and echoed by international students, refugees, and even a residential school survivor from the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, the ENLA program is not just an academic course. It is a lifeline.

The program provides essential language skills to newcomers who face immense challenges, many of whom are fleeing war, poverty, and persecution. For them, mastering English is not just about securing a job — it’s about

integrating into society, finding a sense of belonging, and building a future. There are troubling questions around the funding and justification for the closure.

The ENLA program has seen a 60 per cent increase in credentials awarded in developmental programs, indicating a growing demand. If anything, this is an indication that the program is meeting an important need within the community.

A funding shortfall stemming from the federal government’s cap on international student admissions is affecting many post-secondary institutions, but it should not come at the expense of essential programs that serve marginalized populations.

Finally, the situation at CIDES, the Central Interior Distance Education School, must be addressed with equal urgency.

As the SD57 program runs out of the John McInnis Centre, a former high school, it does not meet the formal definition of a school and isn’t subject

to the same consultation processes as other schools. This could lead to a hasty decision without considering the true value of the program.

For many, CIDES is the last resort, offering an essential lifeline to students facing life challenges such as disabilities, trauma or financial hardship and who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

The administration argues that the program’s quality does not meet BC standards. That’s fixable. The board should find ways to improve and expand it, rather than hastily shut it down.

As both Giscome Elementary and the ENLA program face potential closures, it is vital that School District 57 and CNC not only consider the financial factors but also the social and human costs. Fiscal responsibility is important, but in some cases it shouldn’t overshadow the key role education plays in building a strong, compassionate Prince George. Have your say with a letter to the editor: editor@pgcitizen.ca.

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Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.

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GOOGLE STREET VIEW IMAGE

Giscome Elementary School has just 10 students this academic year, with fewer predicted for 2025-26. SD57 is considering closing it.

Cameron

Terresa

OPINION

Raise a glass! Here’s to buying local, buying Canadian

As I See It

Joke: A Canadian and an American walk into a bar.

The American orders a “Bud” – the “King of Beers.”

The Canadian orders water.

The American asks, “Why didn’t you order a beer?” and the Canadian replies, “Well, if you’re not going to have one, why should I?”

Canadians have a lot to be proud of, and it’s not just beer. But among many other things, we make excellent beer, which is perhaps why some of our big brands have been bought by American companies.

In Prince George, we have some excellent microbreweries.

Whether it’s a Viking from Trench, an award-winning brew from Deadfall, or Crossroads’ Sexy Beast, there’s something for every taste.

We also have Pacific Western, still going strong and producing very good suds.

And we have cideries and a winery for those with a penchant for something different.

When we think about buying Canadian, maybe we should also think about buying local.

LETTERS

EDITOR to the

No need to buy American beer when we have local options

One of the pleasures in my life is drinking beer. Over the years I have enjoyed a number of international brands, including Coors, Budweiser and Old Milwaukee.

In light of the recent political events, I thought I’d check out the beer produced at the Pacific Western brewery. To my delight, not only is it less costly, but I actually like it.

As Canadians react to proposed U.S. tariffs by rejecting American products, there are local alternatives that are actually better, Todd Whitcombe writes today.

This applies to more than just beer sales. Our economy is intrinsically linked to the United States. We produce and sell them raw materials, and they send us back manufactured goods, fruits, and vegetables.

But perhaps a little self-sufficiency and sustainability might be a better approach. Buying Canadian and buying local should be our priority.

The Donald has proclaimed in a royal manner that “we [the United States] don’t need anything from Canada.”

This statement couldn’t be further from the truth.

If we were to stop all cross-border traffic in goods and services today, it would cripple the American economy. Sure, we would suffer as well, because trade with the United States is a twoway street.

For the foreseeable future I will exclusively be purchasing this local product, thereby helping to support jobs and the economy in Prince George.

Martin Meyer

Prince George

Thanks for keeping Cottonwood Park accessible in winter

I would like to send a shoutout to the city parks branch for keeping the trails around Cottonwood Park in such good winter condition.

They plowed so well it can

But they need us, despite what The Donald has to say.

However, he has learned from figures like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Mao that if you repeat a lie often enough, eventually people believe it. For example, the claim that the United States subsidizes Canada to the tune of $200 billion per year has been thoroughly debunked.

If anything, Canada is subsidizing the American economy by providing energy at well below market value. Oil, gas, and electricity flow over the border and keep their country running.

The fallacy of his claim is obvious in his rhetoric about wanting Canada to become the 51st state.

If we really are the poor and failing nation he keeps saying we are, why would he be so desperate to annex

accommodate mobility carts and wheel chairs, so people do not have to choose indoor locations to get fresh air.

We are regular daily users and we love what you are doing.

With all the negativity out there I thought it would be be nice to share something positive.

Robert Rosin

Prince George

Will Northern Health have

enough

doctors and nurses?

I see that Northern Health has built new hospitals in the region, and there is

Canada? You don’t pursue something that has no value. You don’t buy things that will make you worse off. And you don’t engage in an active campaign to convince Canadians they would be better off as a state if you didn’t recognize how great Canada is.

The United States’ national debt stands at $31.5 trillion. Canada’s is $1.2 trillion. Using the 10:1 metric resulting from the population differences, we are well below half of the per capita debt that Americans carry.

In other words, the American economy is a “dead man walking.” They have made bad political and economic policy decisions and are unwilling to face the tax and fiscal burden their economy requires. Eventually, it will collapse.

Adding Canada to the United States would give their economy a boost by providing them unfettered access to our natural resources, including the world’s third-largest supply of crude oil, critical minerals, high-quality wood, vast amounts of hydroelectric power, and — let’s not forget — some pretty fantastic beers.

All of The Donald’s posturing is about getting access to Canada’s bounty without having to pay for it. And maybe some Prince George beer!

Todd Whitcombe is a professor of chemistry at the University of Northern British Columbia.

going to be a large addition to the hospital, seven storeys tall as a surgical unit. It would appear that there won’t be any problem staffing these new facilities, so my question is: Where are the staff going to come from, and if there isn’t going to be a problem, why is it such a problem now to find doctors, nurses, and the other necessary staff to look after the public in need of services?

Is this a valid question? Does it deserve a reply? I guess we’ll see!

Tim Nelin

Quesnel

TODD WHITCOMBE

OPINION

Casino comes up aces (published July 27, 2012)

I worked for John and Shelly when the Bingo was in the basement of the old MacLeod building.

They were new to Prince George and I have to say if I knew they were going to create such a prosperous business in PG I would of invested.

Both Shelly and John were doing great being a part of the Prince George community and helped it grow.

They were the best bosses anyone could ask for. Generous in every way. I was treated with the utmost respect.

I’m so glad I was an employee in there earlier years.

They’ve helped Prince George in more ways than can be counted.

Jacqueline

O’Connor

Northern Health taking over second floor of Prince George Bay store

This is long overdue, I hope they remember to ensure parking for staff on-site.

I’ve heard stories about how many have to park at far away as Johnson St.

Can’t imagine that being a bonus for working at our hospital. I look forward to a new improved facility for our healthcare facilitators to work in.

Traveling down south doesn’t work for many surgeries as the return trip destroys the work that was done.

VeryWellThx

Northern Health taking over second floor of Prince George Bay store

Why not knock down the smaller clinics/buildings behind the Cancer Clinic instead of the Health Unit which is still in great condition?

Put in underground parking (less snow clearing required) and it will be even easier to join up the hospital with the surgical tower.

Or what about using the parking area in front of the hospital to build the tower? It has to be cheaper than all the costs involved in knocking down a perfectly good building and remodelling an old mall to provide alternate offices?!

If you move the ambulance station down to the old bus depot a new space for the additional addiction and overdose treatment.

With all the new surgical patients arriving from across the Northern Health area, they are going to need more room for ambulances.

And find the money for a helipad. Demolishing perfectly good buildings seems ridiculous when we have so many derelict buildings in our downtown!

Evelyn

Lee

Amanda Asay to be inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

This is a great honour and it is well deserved.

Letter to the editor: The U.S. is violating its trade partnerships with Canada

The photo of the raw logs is interesting. We have had 13 mills close down, yet we see logging trucks passing through the city every day, and on Sunday we saw train cars , loaded with lumber and raw logs, all nice and neat going some place, maybe the U.S.

James Steidle: Our elected officials seem to be out of the OCP loop

James, I agree with you. However, this is a bit like telling us that Elvis is dead.

We have a council that gives the appearance of avoiding the hard work to look at the OCP critically.

They seem to be more interested in raising matters of little importance (e.g. citizenship awards, library funding, missing gravel).

To be fair, one might ask: is administration not getting the information in sufficient time for council to review it?

If this is so, then administration should be taken to task, be given firm deadlines (without having to work and claim overtime), and should held accountable.

Failing this, we need to ask if our councillors are under qualified for their roles.

Oldfatguy

Board votes to consider closing Giscome Elementary School

The school closure discussions must include a plan for the facility itself and how long it would be kept in inventory and the ongoing expense of having an empty facility and also the land as the people who live out east would expect the site to be maintained.

These costs need to be part of the discussion otherwise it will still be costing the district monies and facility services department resources which could be better spent on open Schools.

We do not want a repeat of the previously closed schools which still today stand out in neighbourhoods and facility services spends its resources to keep them from looking shabby and to meet the bylaws that require facility owners to keep up appearances.

Please establish a timeline that a facility would be retained or revisited and would funding be requested from the Ministry at some point for the removal and site restoration. Otherwise it is an incompletre plan and would only meet a short term goal of school closure.

Nino Maletta

FHR

Local housing starts almost triple from 2023 to 2024

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The number of housing starts in the Prince George metropolitan area almost tripled from 2023 to 2024, according to figures released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in January.

On. Jan. 16, the CMHC released housing starts data for 2024. Across the whole country, housing starts were up by about two per cent from 2023 and Canada’s six-largest metropolitan areas saw their combined starts drop by three per cent.

In British Columbia, there were 43,575 housing starts in communities with a population of 10,000 or more people, down from 47,895 in 2023.

The number of starts for both the City of Prince George and the Prince George metropolitan census agglomeration, which includes electoral areas A, C, D and F of the Fraser-Fort George Regional District, far exceed the national trend.

The metropolitan area had 559

Here’s

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Housing starts are up across the country, but down overall in British Colunbia. However, Prince George followed the national trend with a significant increase last year.

housing starts in 2024, comprised of 105 single-family dwellings, 14 semi-detached dwellings, 13 row dwellings and 426 apartment units.

There were just 202 starts in PG’s metropolitan area in 2023, 94 single-family dwellings, 16 semi-detached dwellings, 42 row houses and 50 apartment units.

The 2024 totals for the metropolitan area are also higher than the 451 in 2022.

However, they’re below the 665 starts in 2021. The 2024 figures are the second-highest in the last 10 years.

The City of Prince George by itself saw 530 housing starts in 2024, comprised of

77 single-detached homes, 14 semi-detached dwellings, 13 row houses and 426 apartment units.

The city had just 178 starts in 2023, made up of 70 single-detached homes, 16 semi-detached homes, 42 row houses and 50 apartment units.

There were 400 total housing starts in 2022 and 606 in 2021.

In 2023, the CMHC stopped providing information on housing completions.

In August 2024, the provincial government issued the City of Prince George a housing target order requiring 1,803 net dwelling units to be built over the next five years. That figure was said to be 75 per cent of the estimated housing need for Prince George.

The CMHC’s data does not track the demolition of existing units, meaning it does not show the net number of dwellings added to Prince George’s stock.

An interim housing needs report prepared by the city late last year stated that Prince George needs 5,218 housing units between 2021 and 2026 and 12,503 between 2021 and 2041.

what to do if you see a sick bat with a white

Omineca Bats is a Prince Georgebased program that operates under the Community Bats Program of BC.

The group is asking locals for help in preventing a deadly disease that has affected bats all over the country.

White nose syndrome (WNS) has been ravaging multiple species of bats all across North America, Europe and Asia.

The disease spreads fungus which attacks bats while they are hibernating. It then grows on their faces to give the appearance of a white nose. Bats often wake to clean the fungus from their skin. This uses valuable energy, and eventually, the bats can die from starvation.

“Across North America, millions of bats have been killed, and seven of our 15 BC species could be severely

affected by the disease,” says Tina Watters, Omineca co-ordinator for the BC Community Bat Program. “The little brown myotis and the northern myotis are both listed as endangered in Canada due to WNS. Though there is not yet a proven cure for WNS, several promising treatment options are being developed, and it may be possible to mitigate the effects of this wildlife health crisis.”

While the disease has yet to impact BC, the disease was reported in the boundary region, in 2022. However, the BC Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship released results from 413 samples taken last winter and spring, and they all came back as negative.

“This was surprising, but great news, as bats with WNS have been confirmed in Alberta and in northern Washington State, just south of the border,” says Watters.

This disease was first detected in 2006 in New York state. It is not transmittable to humans or other animals, only bats. Despite this, humans will certainly feel the effects of this disease as bats are an essential part of the local ecosystem, Watters says.

“The bats of BC are key predators of many night-flying insects. They provide a huge economic benefit by helping control agricultural, forest, and urban pests,” says Watters.

If you find a dead bat or have a winter bat sighting, Community Bat Progarms urges you to leave the bat alone and keep your distance. However, if you must move the bat it is advised you wear gloves and keep the bat away from pets or other wildlife

In addition, report any winter sighting or bat carcass to the BC Community Bat Programs online at www.bcbats.ca, via email at omineca@bcbats.ca or by calling 1-855-922-2287 ext.26

nose

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Judge denies request for supervised home access to his children for local farther accused of sex assault

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A BC Supreme Court judge has dismissed a mother’s appeal aimed at allowing her spouse, who is charged with sexual assault, to have supervised access to their teenagers in the family home.

The appellant, identified in McDonald’s verdict as M.P.S., and spouse, identified as S.M., are parents of 14- and 16-year-old children.

S.M. was arrested in April 2024 and charged with sexual offences against two female minors. At the time, M.P.S. agreed to safety plans with the director of child, family and community services, which prohibited S.M. from being in the family home. But she later appealed that provincial August 2024 court ruling.

In a Friday, Feb. 7 verdict in Prince George, Justice Elizabeth McDonald said the judge who heard the application “chose to accept the (director’s) proposal as the appropriate one and in my view, he was entitled to do so.”

“During the director’s investigation, there was no disclosure by the children of abuse by S.M.,” McDonald said. “On July 21, 2024, the director filed an amended report to court seeking an interim supervision order that the children remain with M.P.S. under terms and conditions.”

The mother wanted a new arrangement, court heard.

“The appellant’s proposal was that S.M. be permitted to reside in a separate suite in the family home and that he have access to the children in the family home during specified hours seven days per week, provided that the appellant is directly supervised,” McDonald said.

“Notwithstanding the appellant’s proposal, the interim order was made on the terms and conditions sought by the director.”

McDonald, who heard the appeal on Feb. 3 in Prince George, decided that the original decision was sound.

“I do not agree that the reasons clearly show that the application judge erred in law, acted on some wrong principle, or is otherwise clearly wrong,” McDonald concluded. “Accordingly, I am not satisfied that the application judge erred in law.”

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CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

A father accused of sexually assaulting two female minors wants to have supervised visits with his teenaged children.

March brings attention to missing and murdered women

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Supporters from Prince George and local First Nations gathered on Valentine’s Day to raise awareness and show support for Indigenous missing and murdered women, girls, and TwoSpirit people.

The march took place from Friday, Feb. 14 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. Supporters gathered outside The Native Friendship Centre and headed to the Prince George Courthouse, where they shared their stories.

Prince George was just one of several locations across BC where people gathered to bring attention to this ongoing issue affecting Indigenous communities nationwide.

“This event has been happening since 1992 in Vancouver,” said Mary Teegee, executive director at Carrier Sekani Family Services. “We have to hold these marches to ensure that people never forget that the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people, along with gender-based violence, is still very real. As a country, we need to keep reminding everyone that this ongoing problem persists. Marches like this also give hope — not just to Canadians, but to our people, to First Nations communities, to our Indigenous people, and to Indigenous young women and girls, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. We want them to know that we

care and that we hear them.”

Teegee, who attended the march, told The Citizen that this issue is not going away anytime soon, and that events like this are essential for bringing humanity to this nationwide crisis.

“It’s still ongoing,” said Teegee. “Look at Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and here in BC. There’s still a lack of awareness, or maybe a lack of empathy in some cases, or people don’t realize how real

it is until they lose someone themselves or know someone who goes missing. It’s not just about changing minds—it’s about changing hearts. It’s about getting these stories out there and humanizing the statistics.”

To date, there are 160 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in British Columbia. Of those, 80 cases occurred along Highway 16, known as the Highway of Tears, making

this issue even more personal for Indigenous communities in and around Prince George.

“The event is so important in Prince George because we have a large urban Indigenous population,” said Julie Daum, executive director of justice at Carrier Sekani Family Service. “Prince George serves all of the communities along Highway 16 and is a major hub for Indigenous people in the north.”

Daum told The Citizen that while raising awareness is important, real change is needed at both the national and local levels.

“Awareness is important, but what I would like to see is more action,” said Daum. “We need more people showing up, more people lending their voices and actions to the message that we need change — change in systems, attitudes, values, and stereotypes. There are many opportunities for people to learn about Indigenous issues, to lobby politicians, mayors, MPs, and MLAs to allocate funding to help address this crisis.”

Daum also spoke about the significance of holding the event on Valentine’s Day.

“I love that it happens on this day,” said Daum. “It reminds us that love isn’t enough. We can say it as a noun, but it needs to be a verb. We need to take action. We need to lend our voices, our feet, and our lobbying power to governments to help stop this.”

Engineer’s registration cancelled over retaining wall job

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A former member of the organization that regulates engineers in British Columbia has admitted to unprofessional conduct and had his registration cancelled.

A Feb. 4 consent order between Kenneth John Maddox and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC (EGBC) said Maddox would pay $2,000 toward legal and investigative costs and would not reapply for

membership.

Maddox resigned from EGBC in January 2023, almost seven years after he was hired to design a lock block retaining wall at a Prince George residential property. The address was not disclosed in the consent order.

Maddox did so without obtaining or reviewing any applicable geotechnical load data relevant to the design and without performing design calculations.

“He assured the City of Prince George that his structural design of the retaining wall substantially complied with the

British Columbia Building Code 2012,” said the consent order.

Maddox also admitted to assuring the City of Prince George in April 2017 that he fulfilled obligations for a field review and claimed the wall’s structural components substantially complied with the design submitted to support the building permit application.

The lock block was not built according to Maddox’s specifications. It used unsuitable native fill which was not free-draining and did not include a clay seal.

Maddox originally registered in 1991 as a professional engineer, according to the EGBC website. He was suspended in October 2022 for failure to comply with reporting requirements. The suspension was lifted in December and he became a non-practising member, but did not renew his registration in January 2023. Since the unprofessional conduct occurred before the Professional Governance Act replaced the Engineers and Geoscientists Act in February 2021, EGBC considered the matter under the old law.

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY MATTHEW HILLIER

Supporters and marchers at the Women’s Memorial March make their way to the courthouse, as seen below, on Friday, Feb. 14.

CRIME NOTES

Police stop alleged drug deal outside pharmacy

Two people who appeared to be actively dealing drugs outside a local pharmacy were stopped by RCMP on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

“As part on an ongoing investigation, our police officers were actively engaged in watching for any type of drug trafficking-related activity outside of local pharmacies when they observed the male and female complete what appeared to be hand-to-hand transactions,” stated Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, media relations officer with the Prince George RCMP. “The pair was stopped and a search incidental to their arrest revealed an assortment of suspected pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs.”

Among the items seized were 10 grams of suspected fentanyl, 10 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 10 grams of suspected cocaine, two bottles of suspected methadone, 50 bags of suspected pharmaceuticals (more than 700 individual pills), 11 packages of illegal cigarettes and weapons.

The two suspects were released pending the full results of the investigation, which is ongoing.

Valuable equipment stolen from job site trailer

Prince George RCMP investigators are asking for the public’s help in finding items stolen from a trailer on the 12000

block of the Willow Cale Forest Service Road between Jan. 13 and Jan. 24.

The items, including fall restraints, a crane anchor, pipe fittings and assemblies and a spool of cable to link generators, were taken from a work trailer at the site.

“The stolen items are worth a substantial amount of money and we would like to see them returned to their rightful owner,” states Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP. “If you see these items or items matching their description, we ask that you call your local police to report it.”

If you have any information about this or any other criminal offence, contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www. northernbccrimestoppers.ca (English only).

You do not have to reveal your identity to Crime Stoppers.

If you provide information that leads to an arrest or recovery of stolen property, you could be eligible for a cash reward.

RCMP warn of new scam affecting local job seekers

There’s a scam happening in Prince George that targets people looking for work.

The Prince George RCMP issued a notice Friday, Feb. 7 explaining how it

works. A person needing a job answers an advertisement, only to have the potential employer send them a cheque and ask the job-seeker to cash it and send some of the money back to the “employer,” usually with a fake reason for the transaction.

“The cheques are fraudulent, but this isn’t always caught until after you have already sent the fraudsters the funds,” warns Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP. “This means you are out all of that money, which can sometimes be in the thousands of dollars.”

Police recommend that people never agree to be a “money mule” by receiving funds into a personal bank account to forward elsewhere, warning that this is a tactic used in money laundering.

Anyone who has been approached or exposed to this or another scam can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to make a report.

If you have lost money to a fraudster, report it to local police.

Prince George RCMP looking for owner of tools

Prince George RCMP investigators would like to reconnect stolen power tools to their owners.

The tools were found during a recent investigation.

“While investigating an unrelated matter, police officers came across several items that appeared to be stolen”

stated Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP. “Among them were a Milwaukee carry-on power supply, a Husqvarna rail cutter and two Stihl chainsaws. We would like to reunite these items with their rightful owners are asking for anyone who thinks these belong to them to come to the PGRCMP detachment with proof of ownership to claim them.”

Anyone who thinks the tools may be theirs can bring proof of ownership to the Prince George RCMP detachment at Fourth Avenue and Victoria Street between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to speak to

PHOTO

Prince George RCMP seized weapons, suspected drugs and counterfeit cigarettes on Tuesday, Feb. 11 after interrupting what appeared to be a drug deal outside a city pharmacy.

RCMP PHOTO

A portable fall arrest with davit arm and a portable fall arrest that resembles this stock image were taken from a project site in January.

RCMP PHOTO

This Milwaukee carry-on power supply and these two Stihl chainsaws were among the tools, believed to be stolen, recovered by Prince George RCMP.

Three vehicles involved in 20th Avenue collision

City firefighters and RCMP officers work at the scene of a collision on 20th Avenue at Spruce Street at midday on Friday, Feb. 7. The headon crash involved a pickup truck and an SUV, which were left noseto-nose in the middle lane. A third vehicle, a car, came to rest farther west on 20th. Traffic was routed around the vehicles while emergency crews worked.

Officer supports conditional discharge in assault case

A local woman grabbed him in a sensitive area during a domestic case

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A 20-year-old woman was sentenced Feb. 10 to a 12-month conditional discharge after she pleaded guilty to grabbing a police officer by the testicles.

Prince George provincial court Judge Cassandra Malfair agreed with a joint submission from lawyers for the Crown and defendant, Alyssa Hope Parsons. The submission also had the support of the officer involved.

Parsons was originally charged with assaulting a peace officer and wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer after a Sept. 20, 2023 incident at a residence on Nicholson Street.

The latter charge was stayed after the guilty plea.

Should Parsons obey the law, have no contact with the police officer outside of his duties and successfully complete probation during the next year, she will have no criminal record.

The court heard that two RCMP officers were dispatched to an alleged

domestic assault in progress. Nobody answered the door, so an officer tried kicking it in. A male opened the door, with Parsons standing beside him. Both were sweating and their faces flushed.

Parsons identified herself, was initially evasive and denied anything was wrong. She eventually admitted to being in an argument with her boyfriend, but was uninjured.

Parsons continued yelling and screaming and one of the officers unsuccessfully attempted to calm her down.

He told her she was under arrest and, as he attempted to place her in handcuffs, she grabbed his testicles.

Crown prosecutor Anne Baines told Malfair that the officer shouted “do not grab my nuts!”

“She was kicking and screaming. They had a difficulty getting her down the stairs and into the police car,” Baines said.

Defence lawyer David Jenkins said that Parsons, who has Indigenous heritage, has no criminal record. Her supply

of mental health medication had lapsed around the time of the offence.

“She had spoken with her pharmacy and she was just waiting for them to have her medication ready for pickup, but that hadn’t quite occurred at the time of this incident,” Jenkins said.

Malfair said it was “very aggravating” that Parsons assaulted an officer who answered the call for a female in distress.

“You ended up assaulting him in a way that was very demeaning,” Malfair said. “Some would say it has the hallmarks of a sexual assault, and it’s very disgraceful.”

Malfair said the courts have made it clear that assaults against police officers usually warrant a sentence in jail or house arrest. In this case, she said that the officer supported the proposed sentence, “otherwise there may be an issue, because the court has been very clear about what principles ought to apply.”

Malfair said that she hopes Parsons, who has two young children and is apologetic, can manage her emotions.

“I’ve been working really heavily on counselling and with my psychiatrist, and getting myself to a much better place,” Parsons told the judge.

A woman who resisted arrest by assaulting an RCMP officer received a conditional discharge after the officer let the court know he supported the sentence.

‘Stalker’ guilty in threats, weapons case

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A 44-year-old man was sentenced Thursdaym, Feb. 13 in Prince George provincial court to time served after pleading guilty to six charges.

Darren Russell Wiens had been in custody since June 3, 2024 after a Prince George RCMP officer found him running on Dominion Street with a tire iron in one hand and can of bear spray in the other.

Court heard that Wiens appeared to be high on drugs and sweating. He made no sense, except he repeatedly referred to a car accident.

Another officer found a Dodge Ram pickup owned by Wiens smashed into the front of a building in the 1200 block of First Avenue. During a search of the vehicle, the officer found a homemade sword and folding saw.

The victim, who had been leaving work and walking to his car, identified Wiens as the driver of the truck that tried to run him over twice. The man said Wiens chased him, attempted to use the bear spray on him and threatened to kill him.

The victim ran into the Black Clover pub and stayed there until the police arrived.

Court heard a verbal statement from the victim, who said Wiens, a former acquaintance, stalked him all day and the incident was “worrying for my family and my children.”

Wiens pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, uttering threats, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, refusal to comply with a demand and breach of a bail order.

He also pleaded guilty to assault on a separate incident that took place two weeks later.

On June 17, 2024, while in custody at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, Wiens spat in the face of a correctional officer, grabbed a meal cart and threw food on the floor. He threatened to kill the man, swore at him and called him by a racial slur.

Judge David Simpkin said Wiens’s guilty plea saved court time “which is that precious.”

“You’ve indicated as early as November last year your intention to try and negotiate a resolution to the matter,” Simpkin said.

Simpkin also sentenced Wiens to pay a $2,000 fine, $7,042 in restitution, serve a 12-month driving ban and 12-month probation, and is prohibited from possessing firearms or other restricted weapons for 10 years.

He must also have no direct or indirect contact or communication with the victim.

Charges dropped after case takes too long

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

All drug and gun charges against a man found guilty last March were stayed Wednesday, Feb. 12 when a provincial court judge in Prince George decided the case exceeded the Supreme Court of Canada-mandated time limit.

Mitchell Ryan Wayne Lamothe, 31, was originally charged June 24, 2020 with five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of careless use or storage of a firearm. His trial ended 1,301 days later, on Jan. 15, 2024.

“The Jordan timeline for this case in provincial court is 18 months or 547 days. This case is 754 days over that time limit,” said Judge Martin Nadon. Nadon was referring to the Supreme Court of Canada precedent set in the case of Barrett Richard Jordan, a B.C. man accused of drug trafficking in 2008. Jordan’s lawyers successfully argued their client’s right to a timely trial was violated.

In 2016, the high court set 18 months as the “presumptive ceiling” for a provincial court case. A delay attributable to or waived by the defence does not count towards the time limit.

Prince George RCMP arrested Lamothe and two others after search warrants on June 27, 2019 led to seizure of three shotguns, cash and a total 1 kilogram of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin-fentanyl.

In his ruling, Nadon listed the numerous types of delays that affected this file: “Applications during the trial requiring rulings for the next step, intervening events such as limited availability of defence counsel, especially on short notice, unavailability of witnesses, other trial pressures on a busy court, days cancelled by the court once the matter is underway, defence adjournments, sickness of counsel and a woefully inadequate time estimate requiring ongoing adjustments to the calendars of Crown, defence and the court.”

In addition, Nadon noted the matter lagged because it had to compete with others in a pandemic-related scheduling backlog.

“The above categories are not watertight silos,” he said. “Each factor leaked into and affected the next.”

Nadon blamed the Crown for 492 days of the delay, leaving 754 days at issue.

“However, I cannot attribute (the time) solely to defence delay and extraordinary events to remain under Jordan ceiling. The approach must be more nuanced than that.”

Nadon said that, on four occasions, the court caused delays. In October 2021, the court cancelled two days and gave priority to another case. Similarly, days were cancelled by the court in June and August 2022.

“I will not parse each and every appearance. While I am of the view that the delay after the first dates lies primarily at the feet of defence for the reasons said above, it still exceeds the Jordan timeline, primarily because the initial 492 days lies at the feet of the Crown. After that time, there was very little room to manoeuvre,” Nadon said.

“For those reasons, I direct a stay of proceedings.”

81 more days in jail for dangerous offender

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A provincial court judge in Prince George sentenced a dangerous offender to 15 months for breaching a long-term supervision order plus three years of probation.

Kevin Roy Grunerud, 48, however, qualified for 375 days enhanced credit for time served in jail since last March, meaning he has 81 days remaining. Judge Robert Brown said Grunerud’s risk to re-offend remains significant and he requires monitoring.

“There remains a real risk to public safety,” Brown said.

Grunerud pleaded guilty last August to breaching his 10-year, long-term supervision order by possessing alcohol in Prince George in January 2022 and failing to travel directly to his residence and report directly to his parole supervisor in Chilliwack in September 2023. The 15-month sentence is for the Chilliwack offence. Brown also gave him a six-month concurrent sentence for the Prince George offence.

Crown counsel Gregory Furmaniuk wanted 18 months total plus three years probation, while defence lawyer Conor Muldoon sought time served and fewer than three years probation.

Grunerud was declared a dangerous offender in 2014 by a judge in the Territorial Court of Yukon. Grunerud pleaded guilty to assault, unlawful confinement and disobeying a court order, for which he was sentenced to 30 months in jail and a long-term supervision order of 10 years.

The Whitehorse court heard from a forensic psychiatric expert who said in order for Grunerud to succeed, he must “never consume alcohol again,”

Grunerud

Williams Lake museum member fails in tribunal bid

She wanted a special meeting to address her concerns about how the collection was being managed

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A member of the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin Society was ordered to reimburse the society for $25 in filing fees after the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) dismissed her claim on Monday, Feb. 10.

Laura Zimmerman had accused the board of failing to fulfill its fiduciary duty to protect and care for the museum’s collection.

She asked the CRT to order a special general meeting after the society did not hear or respond to member complaints.

The crux of Zimmerman’s complaint, CRT member Maria Montgomery wrote, was that the society did not adhere to its obligation to manage the museum’s collection and did not follow the Societies Act section that requires directors to act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the society.

“She notes that its collection includes faded tags and torn tarps. She provided photos of wood stoves, saws, metal equipment, as well as many other items,” Montgomery wrote.

“Some items are covered by ripped tarps and the metal equipment shows rust.”

Montgomery said the society admitted storage of the items is not ideal, but is trying to address the issue after funding shortfalls in 2022 and 2023. It is applying for grants to fund a covered storage area and is discussing storage options with the City of Williams Lake.

“The applicant does not dispute that the society has taken these steps and does not suggest what the other steps the society should take, given the state of its finances,” Montgomery wrote.

The Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin, located in

“There is no indication that the society has refused to take action to conserve the artifacts. So, I dismiss this part of the applicant’s claim.”

Zimmerman did not provide evidence of complaints to the society and neither party provided a copy of the society’s complaints protocol.

Since Zimmerman did not prove her claims, Montgomery said there was no need to consider her request to order a special general meeting.

She noted that Zimmerman has the option, under the “requisition of general meeting” section of the Societies Act, to petition the directors to call a general meeting.

The museum is the home of the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame and promotes itself as the only facility in BC that focuses on ranching and rodeo.

She notes that its collection includes faded tags and worn tarps.”

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MUSEUM OF THE CARIBOO CHILCOTIN/FACEBOOK PHOTO

Williams Lake, is home to the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame.

One dog and 25 cats rescued from home east of PG

Dog’s matted fur was called the worst seen in 45 years by a member of the BC SPCA team

CITIZEN STAFF

BC SPCA animal protection officers rescued a severely matted Labrador retriever-poodle mix and 25 cats from a property between Prince George and Terrace after the animals’ owner requested assistance recently.

“The strong smell of ammonia and feces was overwhelming. The home was unsuitable for both animals and humans,” said Eileen Drever, senior officer of protection and stakeholder relations at the BC SPCA. “Many of the kittens were underweight, and one cat had an untreated leg injury. The dog, struggling to move due to severe matting, was found lying on a mattress in the living room. We’re thankful the owner reached out for help, recognizing he could no longer provide the proper care for his animals.”

Drever noted that the extent of the dog’s matting was one of the worst cases she’s encountered in her 45 years with the organization.

“The dog’s fur was caked with urine and feces, impairing his vision and preventing his mouth from fully closing,” Drever said. “When he arrived at the animal centre, he was trembling, panting, and pacing, clearly frightened. It was heartbreaking to watch him try to lie down, as you could see the pain the matting caused.”

The dog was immediately rushed to a veterinary clinic for an emergency sedated grooming to remove the thick mats, which had caused hot spots and infections. “The mats were so severe that they caused nail deformities and overgrown nails, which will require prolonged care,” Drever explained. “He was also suffering from an ear infection and dental issues.”

The 25 cats and kittens, some with urine-soaked fur, were terrified upon arrival at the BC SPCA animal centre. Staff allowed them time to settle, and after a few days, many began responding to care, with some even leaning in for back scratches and purring during

their exams. “It took three staff members six hours just to clean their coats and provide initial care,” Drever said. The cats and kittens require spaying and neutering, and several have dental issues. One kitten is suffering from a tennis ball-sized abdominal hernia, which will require surgery, while another cat was in critical distress and had to be euthanized.

Despite the grim start, there is hope for the rescued animals. “After the grooming, the dog’s transformation was remarkable,” Drever said. “He went from being fearful of any human contact to seeking affection and comfort. After enduring the weight and discomfort of his matted fur for so long, it must have been a relief to feel air on his skin.”

All of the rescued animals are currently in quarantine, and while their recovery is underway, the timeline for adoption is still uncertain.

BC SPCA PHOTOS

The dog’s condition, which included severely matted and filthy fur, was called the worst one BC SPCA worker had seen in 45 years. Below, the dog after being groomed and treated medically.

BC SPCA PHOTO

One of the 25 rescued cats is seen being treated after SPCA workers took them, along with a dog, from a home when their owner called to surrender them.

Northern BC RV and Outdoor Expo goes Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CN Centre. This is the third annual expo that bring all your favourite outdoor activities in one place to showcase what’s new for 2025 to help you get ready for more unforgettable adventures. Admission is free.

Brahms Horn Trio goes Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave, in downtown Prince George. Experience Brahms’ powerful Horn Trio in E-flat Major with core members of the PGSO. Listen to the music by candlelight with two different seating options: table seating with appetizers, or balcony seating for a more traditional concert experience. For tickets visit https://tickets.pgso.com/tickets/ brahms-horn-trio-284972#buy.

The Perfect Date Nite goes Saturday, Feb. 22 from 8 to 11 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. Not a hoax, not a joke. Improv Shmimprov is back with a brand new show. In the intimate surroundings of the Omineca Arts Centre the team will work out some romantic and some not-so-romantic sketches. There’s some fun games and sketches the audience can take home with them. As always there’s snacks and drinks so bring a date and have some laughs. Doors open at 7p.m. and show starts at 8. Tickets are $20 at the door but to avoid disappointment get them early at www.shmimprovimprov.ca/ the-perfect-date-night.

Food Frolic 2025 goes Saturday, Feb.

22 at 6 p.m.at the Hart Highlands Winter Club (Hart Ski Hill). This is a fundraiser to support Spinal Cord Injury BC local programs and services and the Hart Ski Hill Universal upgrades. The event features Food Celebration Stations, live country music by Crazy Spur and there’s a dance, too. There is a silent auction and 50/50 raffle. Tickets are $50 at the club.

Drag Brunch @ Nancy O’s goes Sunday, Feb. 23 from noon to 2 p.m. at 1261 Third Ave. Northern Belle Entertainment presents this event including drag themes trivia, prizes, live performanceas, audience interactive games cohosted by Wilma Knickersfit & @ sarajonescomedy, join @xsparrowvalentinex, @irisdoesdrag , @prvyingmantis , & @diickdiamond for an all Drag showcase at Nancy O’s. Tickets are sold per table, reservations are made upon purchase. Tables for two are $50, tables of four are $100 and tables of six are $150. Limited tickets available and are always 19+. Stop by Nancy O’s in person to reserve a table.

Elders Game Night goes Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. Join in the fun for a variety of engaging games with prizes, browse the silent auction for unique treasures, and indulge in delicious refreshments and baked goods. Proceeds support the ‘Atsoo ‘ink’e ‘Atsiyan Elders Society. Whether you stop by to bid in the auction, try your luck with the games, or simply connect with others, there’s something for everyone. To donate contact Noella at 778-884-4805 or Mary at 250-617-9144.

What’s happening in PG Steel Magnolias

Prince George Hiring and Post-Secondary Education Expo 2025 goes Thursday, Feb. 27 at the Ramada. This is geared for anyone looking for a new career or education option. For a free ticket visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/freeprince-george-hiring-and-post-secondary-education-expo.

Dots on a Page goes Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6:45 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. Play an orchestral instrument and want to play some chamber music and eat pizza? PGSO concertmaster takes the lead partnering with Omineca Arts Centre to celebrate amateur music-making for a program created with a grant from the City of Prince George. Upon registration at Thea@ pgso.com musicians will be sorted into groups, matching up playing levels. Everyone is welcome to share music with the group. Solo musicians or groups are welcome. Feel free to bring an instrument to hang out and socialize even if you’re not ready to play. $10 registration fee will help cover some tasty food for everyone. For all the details visit www.facebook. com/events/594782473184102.

PEAK Boulder Competition goes Saturday, March 8 from 8:30 am to 7:30 p.m. at 2601 Recplace Drive. OVERhang is hosting this annual event for all climbers. There are two levels of competition – recreational or competitive and spectators are welcome. For more information visit www.overhang.ca/ climbing-gym/peak-2025.

Prince George Mixed 55+ Slopitch League 2025 with practice going every

by Robert Harling

February 13th - March 5th

Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon from about May 13 to Aug. 12. A group of players is looking to put together a team for the 55+ BC Games this year. Format is seven men and at least three women 55+. Registration is April 28, 29 & 30 at the Prince George Golf & Curling Club from 1 to 4 p.m. $75 per player, cash only. For more information call Jackie Burns at 250-962-9230.

BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Jams and Lessons go every Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 483 Gillett St. Everyone is welcome to attend. Drop-in fee is $5 at the door.

Games Night goes every Thursday at 7 p.m at Spruce Capital Seniors Centre, 3701 Rainbow Drive. Come on down and join in a game of backgammon, checkers, crib or better yet try out the pool table or dart board, please bring your own darts. Open to everyone for a $5 drop in fee.

Craft & Chat at the main branch of the Prince George Public Library goes every Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the magazine corner, second floor, where fibre artists are invited to bring their latest projects to share, vent frustrations, brag about successes, get and give help and join in lively discussions. Snacks provided. This event is in partnership with Great Northwest Fibre Fest.

If you’ve got an event coming up email us at news@pgcitizen.ca to offer details including name of the event, the date, time and location, ticket price and where to get them and a little bit about what’s happening, too. LOCF

Kyle Renick, Artistic Director

Local family giving something back after spending 172 days at Ronald McDonald House with sick daughter

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Getting the worst news parents can hear, a Prince George family stayed at Ronald McDonald House for 172 days in 2021 when their child was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkins lymphoma.

A blended family of six, the Kerr and Heppner families came together to create the ‘Kerpners’.

It’s well past their time of crisis and daughter Jocelyn Kerr is in her third year of ‘no detection of disease’, as they say, as people are only designated cancer free after the five-year mark.

Mom Carlene Heppner said they are hopeful even though with Hodgkins there is a high risk of recurrence.

“We got the diagnosis on Dec. 31 and by Jan. 4 we were down there and the first week was a whirlwind,” Heppner recalled. “They were great but it was a lot. They checked us in and of course it was during Covid and we didn’t know if we were there for a week or what. Until she was assessed at BC Children’s Hospital no one had an answer. You just don’t know so we packed for two weeks and then we were down there for almost nine months.”

Taking us back to when the family was in the middle of this health crisis, Heppner got emotional recalling how amazing the support was at Ronald McDonald House (RMH).

“You don’t know you need it until you need it and it’s the best place to be in the worst situation,” Heppner explained.

“Being among all the other people going through the same thing and going down to the community kitchen and eating with other people and talking to parents going through the same experience - that made the biggest difference because otherwise you’d think you were alone. You’d think you were the only one going through this and I imagine if you were going through this alone you could get really depressed but when you are down there and you see kids

Jocelyn Kerr, third from the left, was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. She and her family spent 172 days at Ronald McDonald House during her treatment at BC Children’s Hospital. From left is Geoff Heppner, Carlene Heppner and on the right is Jocelyn’s sister Mackenzie Kerr. This was taken during a celebration for St. Patrick’s Day in 2021.

recovering and getting better it gives you hope. And the most important part of being at Ronald McDonald House is that sense of community and knowing you’re not alone because cancer can be a lonely battle.”

Heppner said the programs they have in place at RMH were very helpful. There is an art room and a music room at the house and both were therapeutic for Jocelyn during her stay.

Fast forwarding to the present sees Jocelyn graduating in May as a certified sign language interpreter, having gone back to school right after her treatment, Heppner added.

“We’re so proud of her,” Heppner said.

Jocelyn’s ultimate goal is to be an elementary school teacher at the BC School for the Deaf in Burnaby so she will continue her education to attain that goal.

“Jocelyn is a fighter – she’s a redhead – so you know,” Heppner laughed.

As Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon launches its latest fundraiser

called the Fort a Thon, Heppner is asking the Prince George community to help fundraise for this very good cause as every year the charity provides a home away from home for up to 2,000 families from more than 200 communities, including 24 per cent from Northern BC.

People from across the province will come together to build pillow forts and raise vital funds to help families stay close during their toughest times. This light-hearted and fun-filled initiative designed to create an engaging activity for families, children and supporters alike will raise much needed funds to continue supporting the families of RMH BC & Y.

Every fort built will help RMH BC & Y continue its life-changing work, including expanding services through new Family Rooms in Prince George and Kamloops and bring vital care closer to home for more families.

Opening in spring/summer of 2025, the Ronald McDonald House Family Room at University Hospital of Northern BC is made possible through a

partnership between Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon, Spirit of the North Foundation, and Northern Health, with generous funding from local community support.

The Ronald McDonald Family Rooms are designed as a welcoming space where multiple families can gather, connect, and support one another while staying close to their child’s care. It provides a comfortable environment at no cost for parents to take a break, share a meal, and find moments of rest - all while building a sense of community with others facing similar experiences.

Every fort tells a story - of resilience, love, and connection. Just like the cozy forts you build, RMH BC & Yukon offers comfort, care, and strength to families navigating medical crises.

Heppner and her family have built a fort to boost fundraising efforts locally and she encourages others to take part by either building their own fort or donating to the cause by visiting www. fortathon.com.

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE PHOTO

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library seeks local support

The music legend founded a literacy organization that makes sure kids have books to read

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is looking for local support to bring its program to Prince George.

The literacy program was founded by the popular American singer as a tribute to her father who could not read or write.

This experience stuck with her and she worked to bring the program to her hometown.

Since then it has grown into a worldwide organization that provides more than three million books to children every month.

Currently, the program provides 7,363 children in BC with one book a month with a total of 537,339 gifted to date through 69 programs.

“It is an amazing program because it touches absolutely everybody that signs up,” said Imagination Library regional lead Joanne Saunders. “I don’t know many other programs that can reach, say, two, or three thousand families a month. It puts the physical book into children’s houses. It lets them read that book over and over. They get the pride of picking it up from the mailbox and they also start building their library.”

This library has been popular in Northern BC, with program partners in towns like Fraser Valley, the Stollow Nation, Abbotsford, Delta South Surrey and Victoria.

Now the program is looking to set up shop in Prince George with local help and support, as Saunders outlined during a public engagement session on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Books and Co.

“We need to find a local program partner that is somebody to take care of the fundraising,” said Saunders. “It

is $3.85 per child per book. That is the first step, finding a local program partner, who’s going to do the fundraising piece and also manage our book order system … then we need community awareness once we launch the program to start getting people signed up and the kids getting their free books in their hands.”

Program partners can include any organization or non-profit that is looking to provide local children with literacy support during their foundational years.

One of the most important aspects of the Imagination Library is its support of Canadian authors and illustrators with more than 80 per cent of its books being by and for Canadians.

“They are chosen by a panel of Blue Ribbon Canadians,” said Saunders.“We call it the Blue Ribbon Selection Committee. They’re a group of Canadians that get together and look over hundreds of books and pick the best ones for our children at their age and their development levels. Yeah, 83 per cent of Canadian authors and illustrators. A big goal of ours is to have more Indigenous books. This year we have eight books from Indigenous authors and illustrators.”

Former Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond was in attendance at the engagement session and told The Citizen how important programs like this are to the community.

“Having the opportunity to ensure that children have exposure to great books is important,” said Bond. “We want to make sure that it’s equitable in our region where families have books in their homes. Literacy is essential to student success, so the opportunity for a family to have books in their homes helps prepare children also for the school system and what lies ahead. I’ve always been very passionate about improving literacy and it was a really interesting presentation so hopefully we’ll see some interest sparked in our community.”

If you are interested in supporting the program reach out to Saunders at jsaunders@imaginationlibary.com .

CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

Joanne Saunders holds some of the books provided to kids by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Books and Co.

Exploration Place partners with BC Bob on new merch

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Exploration Place is now partnered with “BC Bob” Kronbauer, one of the province’s most popular content creators.

BC Bob is known for his engaging method of storytelling and for sharing fun facts about BC. He has a following of 150,000 on TikTok and 85,000 subscribers on YouTube, where he shares fun stories about the province’s past and present.

He is also the host of Now You Know BC on CHEK. His show highlights the unexpected, iconic, and sometimes uniquely strange and interesting elements of the province.

The new partnership involves the sale of hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, T-shirts, toques, tote bags and a limited-edition Mr. P.G. neon sign, complete with a great backstory. All merchandise is from BC companies. Proceeds go to the museum.

Kronbauer’s partnership with The Exploration Place started with a little bit of accidental copyright infringement.

“I started selling Mr. P.G. merch about a year ago,” said Kronbauer. “We made T-shirts and we made some mugs. But I didn’t realize that it was trademarked by the city. So I got a cease and desist letter. It said you have to destroy all this stuff. You can’t use our trademark, It was pretty stern language, which I’m used to … The city said that we don’t license it out to anybody that’s not a charity.

“So I said hey, do you guys want to do some stuff? Do you guys want to make some designs and sell them because they have the license to do it? ... I

figured that people love the design. So I reached out to the museum and asked them to partner with me.”

Kronbauer has a strong connection to Prince George which drove the partnership with The Exploration Place.

“My grandma lived there,” said Kronbauer. “‘I hung out with her most summers.. I go there and I go picking blueberries. My grandma takes the bucket of them and if we’re not there, she’ll send us tons and tons of wild blueberries.”

He also mentioned that his favourite

monument is Mr. P.G. with his close second being a sculpture of the Ogopogo in Kelowna.

“One of the exhibits at The Exploration Place has an episode of my TV show that runs on a loop, said Kronbauer. “It’s about the lost Mr. P.G. that they have on display there. He’s this sort of miniature steel version of it that the Rotary Club took around the world and that disappeared. He came back with a beer tap under his kilt, which he didn’t have when he left, and then somebody had drilled a hole in his mouth

where they could put a cigarette.” Kronbauer told The Citizen that The Exploration Place is his favourite charity in Prince George and he wanted to do something to help support the museum. Funds from the new merchandise will go to Exploration Place to fund its efforts to promote science, education, community engagement and the preservation of Northern BC history.

Items are currently on pre-sale until Feb. 19 and will be shipped out after this date. More details, including how to purchase, can be found at https://bcbob.ca.

BC

EXPLORATION PLACE PHOTO

One of the items available through B.C. Bob’s partnership with The Exploration Place is this neon Mr. P.G. wall sign.

Juno nomination for singer-songwriter Kym Gouchie

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Acclaimed Indigenous singer-songwriter Kym Gouchie has just been nominated for a 2025 JUNO Award in the Children’s Album of the Year category for her latest album, Shun Beh Nats’ujeh/We Are Healing Through Songs.

“I can’t believe this is real,” Gouchie said about the announcement.

“This album is really special because I feel this one is not about me. It’s really truly about everyone who has gone before me and those who are still yet to be because it’s so connected to language and culture and history. I would never profess to be a language speaker – I’m probably at a Grade 1 level or less because it’s something I did not grow up speaking. It was only as an adult that I learned the importance of language preservation.”

Gouchie, a proud member of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation with Secwépemc and Cree roots, has long been known for her powerful storytelling and soulful voice and knows there is a risk of losing the Lheidli (Dakelh) language.

“I have the opportunity to preserve language in my music, in my art and so that’s what I’m doing,” Gouchie said.

“I was able to get a grant from the Canada Council to record an album of children’s music in my ancestral languages and that’s what this album is about. It’s about me going into my past, it’s about a lot of research to uncover stories and history that I never would have known before and having those conversations with my community members and family members around language and its importance.”

Gouchie is granddaughter to language keeper Mary Gouchie, who passed away Jan. 24, 2019.

“When she left this earthly plane, I felt even more of a calling to do something with the words that she had helped me craft into music,” Gouchie said. “And that’s where Atsoo Shun, a song on the album, comes from.”

Gouchie wrote the song in 2008, kept

it from another project that just didn’t seem the right fit for it at the time, kept a recording of her grandmother’s voice on a CD and unearthed the long-kept treasure in time to make it a piece of the song on her children’s album recorded last year in Smithers.

“And it didn’t even matter that it sounded rustic because we wanted that,” Gouchie said. “That part for me and the fact that my grandmother has been gone for a lot of years and that the language is being heard by people around the world and her voice is there is such an incredible legacy and just knowing that the potential to win an award which will open it up to the world even more makes it that much more special.”

Gouchie’s children’s album reflects her deep commitment to fostering connection between young listeners and Indigenous culture. Through joyful melodies, traditional teachings, and the inclusion of Indigenous languages, Gouchie invites children and families of all backgrounds to engage with stories rooted in the land and community.

The album holds a deeply personal connection for Gouchie, intertwining

her family’s voices and her community’s wisdom as listeners hear the echoes of her grandmother’s voice, the steady rhythm of her mother’s heartbeat, and the infectious laughter of her grandchildren.

Created over a span of four years in consultation with language holders and Elders, the album is both a joyful celebration and a powerful tool for preserving Indigenous language and cultural teachings. E

ach song captures a different lesson or teaching, presented in a musically engaging and playful way that resonates with children while honouring deeprooted traditions.

In addition to her musical achievements, Gouchie is a tireless advocate for Indigenous representation in the arts. She is widely respected for her efforts to Indigenize touring practices — favouring deep, meaningful engagements with communities over fast-paced performances.

Her approach emphasizes sustainability, respect for the land, and the creation of lasting relationships with audiences and collaborators alike.

Over the years, Gouchie has graced

stages from intimate community gatherings to major festivals, captivating audiences with songs that blend folk, roots, and Indigenous traditions. Her children’s album is a continuation of this work, offering young listeners a playful yet profound introduction to the richness of Indigenous cultures.

As the JUNO Awards approach, set for March 30 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver,Gouchie’s nomination serves as a testament to the power of authentic storytelling and the importance of amplifying Indigenous voices in Canadian music.

Gouchie will be at the JUNO Awards to see it all unfold.

This is the full list of nominees in the Children’s Album of the Year category:

• Shun Beh Nats’ujeh: We Are Healing Through Songs, Kym Gouchie

• Penny Penguin, Raffi & Good Lovelies

• Riley Rocket: Songs from Season One, Riley Rocket and Megablast

• Buon Appetito, Walk off the Earth, Romeo Eats

• Maestro Fresh Wes Presents: Young Maestro Rhyme Travellers, Young Maestro

Indigenous singer-songwriter Kym Gouchie has been nominated for a 2025 Juno Award in the Children’s Album of the Year category.

Downtown celebrates winter

LEFT Eva Gillis (left) and Tamara Waite were happy to share a hug with any who wanted one at the Foundry across from City Hall.

MIDDLE: Dennis Kuebler of Epic Pavement prepares another round of free hot chocolate.

RIGHT: Cariboo Cougars goalie Jaxson Dikur jumps to avoid the swinging stick of Tyler Lizotte during a Winterfest ball hockey game.

After several weeks of Arctic conditions, Prince George enjoyed somewhat milder weather for the Family Day long weekend ... just in time for Winterfest

LEFT: Myra Ylireusi (left) and Hadley Leier, both 10-years-old, wrestle ice blocks on top of each other during Winterfest Saturday, Feb. 15 at Veteran’s Square.

RIGHT Zayn Merghani, 3, watches his brothers Kareem, 12, (left) and Ayman, 8, tuck themselves into shapes cut into a block of compacted snow.

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY CHUCK NISBETT

Local papers, radio most trusted news sources: Study

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Local newspapers and radio stations are the country’s most trusted sources of news, according to a new study into local media outlets in Canada.

Titled The Lost Estate: How to Put the Local Back in Local News, the Public Policy Forum, Rideau Hall Foundation and the Michener Awards Foundation commissioned polling firm Ipsos to study the perceived importance of local news to “community knowledge, connections and democracy in small and mid-sized Canadian communities.”

The report indicates that local news helps knit local communities together.

“It builds connection through ephemera such as marriage announcements, obituaries and little league soccer scores, as well as delivering accountability to the very foundation of healthy, functioning democracies — school board meetings, courtroom trials, municipal councils,” the report states.

“Done well, local news lets people know what their neighbours are doing, what they’re thinking, who they are. It gives a community the language to understand itself.”

Data from communities in the United States who have lost their local newspaper, the report said, has seen resident retreat into partisan corners and more likely to fill the news vacuum by turning to more divisive national news and inaccurate social media posts.

Despite the importance of local news, the report asserts that “existing corporate models have been devastating for local news.” This has led to both large corporations and independent news providers shutting down, but the report says that local providers tend to stay in the fight longer because they have more skin in the game.

The report cites information from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Local News Research Project, which has said that Canada has lost a net 252 local news outlets since 2008, including 24 net closures in the last two years. There were 526 outlets in 2008, there were 347 as of last year.

Though government subsidies helped keep some local operations afloat over the COVID-19 pandemic, 37 outlets closed in 2023. In the first 11 months of 2024, another five shut down though nine more opened their doors.

Some of the factors in this collapse that the report lists are the failure of non-local corporate ownership models, a collapse of traditional advertising revenues (a 44 per cent drop from 2018 to 2022) and Meta’s decision to block Canadian news outlets on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Online News Act.

Listed in the report are several examples of both news startups that have seen success despite the state of the industry as well as outlets formerly part of larger chains that have gone independent.

A survey held between Jan. 9 and 20 got the thoughts of 489 people from communities with a population of fewer than 10,000 residents and 512 people in communities with a population of 10,000 to 99,999 residents. The survey has a margin of error of 3.5 per cent.

When it comes to trust in news

sources, 85 per cent of respondents said they either have a great deal of trust in or somewhat trust newspapers compared to 15 per cent who either don’t really trust or don’t trust them at all as sources of news.

There was a similar level of trust in local radio stations, at 85 per cent total support. National newspapers and local online news sites also had similar levels of total support at 71 per cent each.

National TV and radio news each had 69 per cent total support, national online news sites had 62 per cent support, international news sites had 55 per cent support, local social media groups had 46 per cent support and news on social media channels ranked last at 26 per cent total support.

Respondents also said which news sources were available in their community:

• 69 per cent of respondents had access to a local radio station

• 67 per cent had a local newspaper

• 54 per cent had local social media groups

• 49 per cent had a local media website

• 38 per cent had a local television station

• 10 per cent had other kinds of local media and

• Four per cent had no local media of any sort

In the split between communities with fewer than 10,000 residents and those with a greater population, those in larger communities were much more likely to have available media sources.

For example, 62 per cent of respondents in smaller communities had local radio stations or newspapers while 72 per cent of respondents in larger communities had local newspapers and 75 per cent had local radio stations.

Asked to rank how important local news was to them, 36 per cent of respondents said it was very important, 41 per cent said it was somewhat important, 16 per cent said it was not very important and seven per cent said it was not at all important.

This photograph of Larry Franklin driving his replica 1927 Bugatti through Prince George ran on the front page of The Citizen 50 years ago, on Feb. 20, 1975. At that point, the paper had been publishing here for 59 years, and is still going strong today, a half-century later.

Radio, newspapers tied for most relied-on news source

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

On how much they relied on local news, 36 per cent they relied on it a great deal, 43 per cent said they somewhat relied on it, 16 per cent said they didn’t rely on it very much and six per cent said they didn’t rely on it at all.

Here’s how respondents ranked their most relied-on news source:

• Local radio, 22 per cent

• Local newspaper, 22 per cent

• Local social media group, 20 per cent

• Local TV station, 17 per cent

• Local website, 15 per cent

• Other local media, three per cent

Another question was what impact a lack of local news coverage has on respondents.

61 per cent said they knew less about how local government, schools and hospitals worked, 58 per cent said they had fewer ties to their community, 57 per cent said there was decreased participation in local events, 54 per cent said created less of a sense of caring for one another, 36 per cent said it led to less demand for local small businesses, 34 per cent said it lowered turnout in municipal elections, 34 per cent said it led to people having less in common with each other, 15 per cent listed other impacts and five per cent said there was no impact.

In communities with a population of less than 10,000 people, 40 per cent of respondents said a lack of local news led to less turnout for municipal elections compared to 28 per cent in larger communities.

Respondents were asked several questions about the importance of local news when it comes to politics.

A total of 87 per cent indicated strong or somewhat strong support for the statement that local news is important to a properly functioning democracy. Another 80 per cent said local news reporting keeps local politicians accountable.

If governments provide financial support to news organizations, 76 per cent said they were worried it might introduce bias. A further 71 per cent said

they were worried that if government provided financial support to news organizations, it might compromise their independence.

Three-quarters, 75 per cent, of respondents said democracy would be threatened by a lack of local news. In BC, respondents were more likely to assert that democracy would be threatened by a lack of news, with 81 per cent support.

One section of questions was devoted to how much respondents consume news from the CBC.

More than half, 57 per cent, of respondents said they consume news from the CBC. In Atlantic Canada, 75 per cent of respondents indicated they consume news from the CBC.

Asked to rank how often they use various CBC services, a total of 82 per cent of people said they checked the website at least once a month, 68 per cent said they watched CBC TV news once a month, 64 per cent said they listened to CBC Radio or Radio-Canada and 31 per cent said they used CBC Gem, the Crown corporation’s streaming app.

When it comes to respondents’ level of involvement in their community over the last five years, 62 per cent said there was no change, 28 per cent said they

were more involved and 10 per cent said they were less involved.

The final questions were on respondents’ willingness to donate to local news sources. 32 per cent said they were somewhat likely to donate, eight per cent it was very likely, 33 per cent said it was not very likely and 27 per cent said it was not at all likely.

Looking to the future

The report makes recommendations to help revitalize local media in Canada, including the creation of a non-profit “Report for Canada” organization similar to a model that has been successful in the United States, matching Local Journalism Initiative funds with donations controlled by an independent board for three-year terms, the introduction of a tax credit to incentivize local business to advertise with independent local media and a plan to direct a portion of government advertising funds towards local publishers and broadcasters, similar to what Ontario did recently.

The Citizen carried extensive coverage of the launch of CKPG Radio in the Feb. 7, 1946 edition. This is one part of it.

CITIZEN ARCHIVES

Shoresy star coming home to Prince George this spring

In addition to film roles, she appears on the hit Crave TV hockey comedy

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Hockey was never a big deal to Keilani Elizabeth Rose when she was growing up in Prince George.

It wasn’t until she took on the role in the Crave comedy series Shoresy, as Miiguan (Miig), one of the three female managers for the Sudbury Bulldogs senior team, that hockey became Rose’s business.

Not only that, it made her a TV star.

“This job was my first introduction to the hockey world,” said Rose, from her home in Hawaii. “I’ve learned a lot about the sport itself.”

Shoresy is a spin-off of the Letterkenny series, both created by Jared Keeso, who stars as the Bulldogs’ foul-mouthed captain, “Shoresy” Shore.

Shoresy takes over a perennial losing team in the Northern Ontario Senior Hockey Organization and hires a new coach and a bunch of veteran players to try to make the team competitive.

Miig, her sister Ziig (Blair Lamora) and Nat (Tasya Teles), the three team managers, are there to promote the underdog Bulldogs and get more fans in the seats and save the team from financial ruin.

Shoresy’s ratings went through the roof as the most popular series on Crave and it’s been renewed for a fifth season, with another six episodes to be filmed in Sudbury, Ont., starting in March.

“I had no clue what to expect when I received the job offer,” said Rose. “It was my first time in the comedy world, my first big gig, and I wasn’t familiar with Letterkenny, the big-brother show, so it was a beautiful surprise and it’s definitely gone past my wildest dreams.”

While some kids grow up wanting to be hockey players, Rose was an

aspiring dancer, and in one episode in Season 4, Shoresy’s producers gave her free reign to put her dance background to work, choreographing a scene in which one of the Bulldog players tries to learn how to dance to impress a woman he’s wooing.

The Duchess Park Secondary School graduate sees parallels between sports and the arts and why they are so vital to the community, driving youth to focus their attentions, channel aggression and learn life skills. Her character on Shoresy makes that point perfectly clear.

“Kids in sports stay off the streets,” said Rose.

“I got to feel the positive effects of that through the dance studio when I was growing up because I know having that outlet through the arts really helped me get to where I am today.”

Rose is coming home to Prince

George as one of the featured guests at the 11th annual Northern FanCon, May 2-4 at CN Centre. She’s never attended the event and is looking forward to connecting with a hometown crowd.

“I’m so super-stoked that I got the invitation and it’s so cool that it’s going to be in Lheidli territory,” said Rose.

“I’ve known friends who have done it before and they talked about how much fun it is. It’s really meaningful to be invited back to my home territory to explore a role at this part of my career.

“I got some messaging from my cousins after the announcement and it means so much to the Indigenous community to have this kind of contemporary representation in the character I get to play. It’s not a stereotype, it’s not dehumanized as a lazy Indian or dirty Indian or sexualized native woman. We’ve seen how harmful these stereotypes that have been perpetuated in the

past can be.”

Rose says Shoresy’s set designers and costume makers collaborate with actors to include clothing, art pieces or signs that represent their Indigenous backgrounds.

She got permission from the Lheidli T’enneh band council to display the nation’s logo on the show and has received positive feedback, especially from her younger cousins, one of whom happened to say:

“’She’s like us, she’s Lheidli.’ That’s something I never saw when I was growing up,” said Rose. “I never thought that being an actor in the entertainment world in film and television in this capacity was possible because I never saw anybody like me on TV. Now we’ve opened up this whole perspective of what’s possible for our people.” CONTINUED

Keilani Elizabeth Rose of Prince George (right), who plays the role of Miigwan, stands next to Shoresy co-star Blair Lamora (left) who plays Ziigwan in the Crave series.

Keilani Elizabeth Rose will appear at Northern FanCon

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Rose connected through social media to Toronto artist Jori Hannon, whose Indigenous beadwork costume was featured in a Shoresy episode. In a heartfelt message to Rose he talked about the time he spent learning his craft during the pandemic and how that helped him stay mentally healthy and carried him through times of isolation and how good it made him feel to see her character wearing his handiwork on national television.

“It just got me because there’s people in my life that struggle with mental health and what we can do as creators has ripple effects that are so much wider than we know when we connect with other creators in our human journeys and what good medicine it is to be an artist,” said Rose.

Rose lives in Hawaii on the big island Kona, where she’s studying the native Polynesian language and Hawaiian cultural life ways as part of her Travelling Knowledges undergraduate program at UNBC.

She has a mixed family ethnicity - part Indigenous Canadian (Lheidli T’enneh), part Native Hawaiian (Knaka Maoli), with a bit of Irish, Chinese and Afro-American ancestry as well.

Her mom’s roots are in Maui, scene of the August 2023 wildfire that destroyed the town of Lahaina. Rose lived in Los Angeles in 2022 and her apartment near Hollywood was on the borderline of the evacuation zone during the fires that swept through the city this past January.

“When I think of the name of our reservation up in so-called Prince George in the Lheidli T’enneh territory the Canadian government called that Reservation No. 1, but the name that our ancestors gave that land was Khast’an Lhe Gulgh, which translates to ‘bundle of fireweed,’” said Rose.

“Thinking about all this devastation and loss (in Maui and L.A.), fireweed is actually one the native plants from our territory that’s really respected because it’s such a symbol of regrowth, the first plant that grows back after a fire.”

Rose had been living in Los Angeles for less than a year on July 4, 2022 when she was shot in the chest by a stranger while sitting in the passenger seat of friend’s vehicle.

“It was just a random act of gun violence, the cops said it matched the description of a robbery that night,” said Rose.

The bullet just missed her heart and broke through ribs as it punctured her lung, breaking her ribs, and splintered. Her friend started driving her to the hospital until he was able to flag down an ambulance.

“It was two months before my lung was back on line from the collapse,” she said. “My rib broke the bullet, so half of it went through the back and half of it went out from where it came.”

After eight days in bed recovering in a Los Angeles hospital, Rose came back to Prince George and for the next two years lived with her godparents, Roger and Carol Vadnais, at their home near Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park while she attended school at UNBC.

excellence which led to a full scholarship at UNBC.

The opportunity to dance on a Disney cruise ship catapulted Rose into the entertainment industry and that led to film opportunities as an actress. Her film debut was the 2020 short Within the Silence and Rose had a starring role as Pixie and did her own choreography. In 2021 it won Cannes Film Festival awards for Best Fantasy and Best Choreography.

“The two years I spent at Lheidli recovering at my godparents’ house, that was a whole hibernation period of healing of going back to the beginning of rebirth and it was really special,” she said. “It really did feel like a second chance.

“I didn’t get to grow up with a strong connection to community because of all the racial violence up there when I was growing up. So now to come home and walk in my home territory and utter my first words of rebirth to come from Dakelh language, it was so healing and continues to be so healing. It tracks back to that moment of a huge reset.”

Raised with her two sisters by a single mother in Prince George (Nani Browne), Rose started dancing ballet and jazz at Judy Russell’s Enchainment Dance Centre in Prince George. As a direct descendant of Granny Seymour, the legendary Lheidli Matriarch of the North, Rose was taught cultural dances based on her family lineages and while she was still at Duchess Park she won the Governor-General’s Award for academic

That led to a contract on a Disney cruise ship and several other professional dance roles. Rose’s film credits include a role in the horror movie The Sinners and she also starred in Flimsy, which she produced and directed. Rose is coming back to Canada in March and for the BC Assembly of Fort Nations Water Forum in Richmond, March 2-3. The two-day conference will focus on Indigenous water rights, governance and stewardship, the future of watersheds in the face of climate change, and the necessity of safe drinking water supplies and implementation of the federal First Nations Clean Water Act.

In September 2022, Rose came out with her Lheidli Too campaign to draw attention to the high levels of iron and manganese and the outdated drinking water system on the Lheidli reserve at Shelley, northeast of Prince George.

“I’m working with my nation to launch this awareness campaign because we’ve had so many boil water advisories at home and we need a new water treatment system and we’ve been waiting on the Canadian government to get this started and it’s been years,” said Rose.

Keeso found out about Rose’s activist role on her territory and was inspired in Season 3 to write into the Shoresy script Miig’s desire to spearhead a fundraising campaign to have the Bulldogs play host to the national senior A hockey championship.

Rose returns to UNBC on March 5, where she’ll speak at the Weaving Words Indigenous literature storytelling event, reflecting on her time spent learning the Dakelh language from the late Lheidli elder Edie Frederick.

HANDOUT PHOTO

Shoresy star Keilani Elizabeth Rose learned how to dance at Judy Russell’s Enchainment Dance Centre in Prince George.

Coldest Night of the Year brings hope to the streets

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Coldest Night of the Year is set to host its 8th annual walkathon on Saturday, Feb. 22 to raise funds for The Association for Women and Community (AWAC).

The event looks to bring support and awareness about homelessness and the cycle of addiction that affects so many in Prince George.

The program was brought to the attention of AWAC by Elda Egan after she visited her son at Brinadee Burnaby Community Mental Health and Substance Use Centre while Vancouver was hosting its own Coldest Night of the Year walkathon.

Egan’s son passed away in 2022 due to fentanyl poisoning after dealing with mental health issues, addiction and homelessness. His story has inspired Edgan to help unhoused people across the city.

“Luke’s story is so much like many other people’s stories,” said Edgan. “AWAC has seen it many times before. People are just caught in that cycle of addictions and having mental illness, getting addictions, not getting treatment, and being unhoused …

“Again this is not unusual. Staff at AWAC have had several people close to them die of fentanyl poisoning. Our root captain this year, Kim. I’ve known

every night.

him for years because he worked with my son since he was 13. This is very important to him and he has worked with many young people, one of whom died just a couple of weeks ago. He said this was just become so much more important because of that.”

The walkathon will begin at St. Giles Church, which has partnered with AWAC, and will head down past Parkwood, along Victoria Street and then over to AWAC on George Street for a

rest stop before the return to St. Giles on Edmonton Street.

“There are two parts to Coldest Night,” said Egan. “There’s the raising money for AWAC, and then there’s also making it more visible that we are reaching out, raising money by having to walk, and having enough of a presence during our time that people notice and think that this is a good thing to be doing.”

Kayla Derkatch, the community

support manager at AWAC, spoke with The Citizen about why AWAC is so essential to the support of unhoused people in Prince George.

“There are people dying every day out there from frostbite,” said Derkatch. “They are just freezing to death out there and we’ve done everything we can. Normally we have one vehicle out there at night driving around to serve hot chocolate and stuff, but we’ve actually doubled up and have we have two vans out there now and we’re doing as much transport and finding people anywhere possible to help keep these people alive. I’ve gone out most of the time and I’m working the day shift and night. It’s absolutely crazy, but we’ll do anything to help them. They’re so vulnerable. They’re they’re going to die out there and they’re people with kids and sisters and brothers.”

The walkathon currently has 74 walkers signed up so far with 13 teams and has raised $13,431 of their $33,000 goal. AWAC is currently looking for more volunteers and walkers to help with the event and welcomes donations of any amount to support their cause. They are also looking for local volunteers to help with the event itself.

If you are interested in signing up for the event or are looking to donate or volunteer visit Coldest Night of the Year’s PG website, cnoy.org/location/ princegeorge.

AWAC using United Way grant to keep people warm

CITIZEN STAFF

Prince George’s Association Advocating for Women and Community (AWAC) is one of 19 community organizations to receive funding through the United Way BC Cold Weather Preparedness Grant, supported by the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

This funding is aimed at supporting communities facing extreme weather emergencies, with a focus on helping vulnerable populations prepare for and respond to the challenges of extreme

cold, the United Way states in a press release.

The city has been gripped by extreme cold for weeks.

“We know extreme weather events like wildfires, heat domes, and the dangerously low temperatures we’re seeing now disproportionately affect our most vulnerable community members,” stated Kristi Rintoul, director of community impact and investment at United Way BC, emphasized the importance of the initiative: Youth, seniors, and individuals experiencing precarious or no housing are at the greatest risk. Thanks

to this funding and the partnership with trusted local organizations, we’re able to offer relief and support to those in urgent need.”

The grants primarily fund initiatives to prepare communities for winter and assist those most impacted by extreme weather. These efforts include free preparedness workshops, enhanced emergency response systems, strengthened relationships with vulnerable individuals and the creation and distribution of cold weather kits to communities in need.

In Prince George, AWAC has

expanded its Emergency Weather Response outreach program with support from the grant.

As the only service of its kind in the area, AWAC’s team travels the streets from 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. every night, offering supplies, food and transportation to shelters, warming centres and other safe spaces for people without a place to stay.

With the additional resources provided by the grant, AWAC is able to broaden its reach and assist more individuals, including those in more remote areas.

AWAC has expanded its Emergency Weather Response outreach program to provide support for homeless people in Prince George from 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Throwback Thursday: Week of February 20

Feb. 20, 1998: Edgewood Elementary school principal Craig Brennan shares a colourful moment with some of the students who sold $1,500 worth of chocolate. He made a deal with them that if they sold all the chocolates for a computer fundraiser he would dye his hair. The colour of his hair in this black-andwhite photo has been lost to time, unless some of the kids in the photo remember.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MILNE

Feb. 20, 1981: Prince George toymaker Bob Siska holds a ‘pet’ he picked up at the Toy Manufacturer’s Fair in Montreal. Siska brought back the Alberta-made puppet toy, called a Minkey, and said it was the hit of the fair.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DOUG WELLER

Feb. 23, 1965: Scouts Dennis Curle and Brian Buck, in the foreground, are joined by 600 Prince George-area Scouts, Cubs, Guides and Brownies (and their families) for a celebration of the organization’s founder, Sir Robert BadenPowell. There’s no mention of the location in the original full-page photo feature of this event. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Feb. 20, 2006: Aisha Karidio, centre, gets help from Gail Marong, left, Anthonnette Egyir, Anita Egyir and Jennifer Migabo as she prepares to go onstage at the Black History Month Cultural Show at the College of New Caledonia. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MILNE

Staff testimonials: The importance of our volunteers

Northern Health pays tribute to the people who bring assistance and comfort

SANJA KNEZEVIC Northern Health

Volunteers are an incredible support to Northern Health facilities, providing invaluable assistance and comfort to patients, residents, and staff alike. Their dedication and compassion create a welcoming and secure environment, fostering a sense of community and normalcy.

Through heartfelt testimonials, staff members share their gratitude and highlight the profound impact volunteers have on daily operations and the well-being of everyone they touch.

From wayfinding to specialized programs like the volunteer cuddling program, these selfless individuals truly embody the Northern way of caring.

“I truly believe having volunteers at the info desk has not only brought comfort to our patients, but also played a crucial role in maintaining a safe and secure environment.

The public and patients are extremely comfortable seeking help because they feel a connection to volunteers. Thank you for being our trusted eyes and ears.”

-- Palvinder Binda, co-ordinator, relational security operations, UHNBC, Prince George

“I believe volunteers help make Peace Villa feel more like a community. With so many age groups interacting with our residents, they bring a type of normality to everyday life back when their children went to school.”

-- Jennifer MacPhee, program co-ordinator, Peace Villa, Fort St. John

“Our volunteers at Rotary Manor are PRICELESS! The difference they make in our programs are never underestimated. They positively impact our residents’ lives and relieve stress on our staff. This group of volunteers are so

thoughtful, hardworking, and compassionate. Whenever we need a hand, they go the extra mile! They bring joy and happiness and special moments that warm the heart! Honestly, our facility is a better place because we have such great volunteers – we couldn’t do what we do without them!”

-- Marcia Day, program co-ordinator, Rotary Manor, Dawson Creek

“The Volunteer Cuddling program has been a wonderful addition back to our unit. It’s one of those ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’ scenarios. Now that volunteers are back in the unit, all our NICU babies have the opportunity to receive optimal human connection and love, while allowing families to share in some of the caregiver responsibility. Having the volunteers takes pressure off parents who maybe feel they can’t leave or get a break while staying in hospital. It

really is a great way to help caregivers practice self-care while in the NICU so they can be their best selves for their babies. The volunteers have also been a great asset to the nursing staff. As a nurse, not having time to comfort a baby who needs consoling because there are other, sicker little ones to care for is such a stressful situation to be in.

Knowing there are volunteers coming to help in these scenarios has definitely helped improve the overall post-pandemic morale of the unit.”

-- Lauren Apps, clinical nurse educator, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), UHNBC, Prince George

Thank you to our volunteers for their continuous generosity and commitment!

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering at NH, email volunteers@ northernhealth.ca or apply at nhvolunteer.ca.

Becoming a volunteer

We have limited volunteer positions. Our greatest need is within elder care, especially for entertainers and activity volunteers in our care homes.

Please contact volunteers@northernhealth.ca or call 250-645-8520 if you have any questions or to learn what opportunities may be available.

Requirements to become a Northern Health volunteer:

• Apply – Complete an application

• Interview – Qualifying candidates will be invited to an in-person, phone or virtual interview

• Screening – We will coordinate the required screenings (criminal record check, reference checks, driver’s abstract etc.)

• Orientation – Volunteers must complete an online general orientation and site orientation (please reach out if you are unable to complete online training)

NORTHERN HEALTH PHOTO

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible volunteers, who bring compassion, dedication, and support to our health care teams across the North. Your contributions make a world of difference!

New hospital equipment gives families time to grieve

ANDIE MOLLINS Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During a recent visit to the Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH), Tammy Tugnum had the opportunity to view the maternity ward’s new CuddleCot, donated to help families grieve the loss of their baby.

As president of the Cariboo Memorial Hospital Foundation (CMHF), Tugnum said the CuddleCot was donated by a mother who knew all too well how important it is to have this equipment.

“She knew this was something we needed in this facility, and she graciously donated it,” Tugnum said.

The mother gave the CuddleCot to the hospital in memory of her own son, Oliver, whom she lost before relocating to Williams Lake.

CuddleCots are an in-room cooling bassinet, giving families the time and space they need to grieve at their bedside following the loss of their baby.

“For families it means uninterrupted time to spend with their baby; to give them a chance to say goodbye and have family members meet and say goodbye in the safety of the hospital and supported by staff,” said Victoria Dean, a maternity registered nurse at CMH.

Ramona Laffer, also a CMH maternity RN, said it’s critical to give families the

care and time they need during the loss of a baby.

“For a really long time, it’s just something that’s not been spoken of openly, and we’re trying to change that,” Ramona said.

Though a simple piece of equipment, the CuddleCot has been a valuable addition to the maternity ward at CMH.

“We have been using it, unfortunately more than we’d like to,” said Tina Pole, clinical operations manager for the

ambulatory care/oncology unit and cardiology at CMH.

When babies are born at CMH, families can ring a bell to announce the child’s arrival. Pole said purple butterflies are placed on the door of a room where a family has lost their baby to let staff know.

Tugnum was accompanied by several other members of the CMHF for a tour of the maternity ward, where they saw the results of the foundation’s

donations in the form of other equipment in use at the ward.

The CMHF is a non-profit group which raises funds to purchase new equipment for the hospital based in Williams Lake, British Columbia. To date, the organization has purchased nearly $4 million worth of equipment for the emergency department and surgical theatre.

This article originally appeared in the Williams Lake Tribune.

Northern Health is now hiring laboratory technologists

People trained in this profession perform lab tests on blood and tissue samples in medical settings

GoHealth BC model!

Following a thorough review of vacancy rates, it was decided that medical laboratory technologists (MLTs) would be the first HSPBA profession to be integrated into the GoHealth BC program.

Northern Health and the Health Sciences Association (HSA) have established a memorandum of agreement that will enable professions within the Health Sciences Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) to be employed within the

An MLT program lead has been hired, and specific guidelines have been developed to support this expansion. We are pleased to announce that the MLT positions have been posted, with the first deployments expected in early spring 2025.

Adding these professions into the

GoHealth BC program is a positive step forward for the communities we serve, ensuring that residents in rural and remote areas have access to essential healthcare services.

By joining GoHealth BC, MLTs will play a crucial role in enhancing patient care and supporting the health and well-being of our communities.

There are three currently open positions, all permanent part time.

To apply, visit jobs.northernhealth.ca.

NOTE: A medical laboratory technologist (MLT) performs tests and analyzes samples, including blood, tissue and

body fluids, to help diagnose, treat, and prevent disease.

They are able to work in a variety of facilities, including hospitals, research centers, and public health laboratories.

The College of New Caledonia offers a full-time 2 1/2-year program that trains medical laboratory technologists.

“In this program, you will learn to perform a variety of specialized tests using high-tech equipment that assists physicians in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease in patient,” states a description of the program on the college’s website.

ANDIE MOLLINS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Members of the Cariboo Memorial Hospital Foundation visit the maternity ward in Williams Lake and learn about the CuddleCot which was donated for families needing to grieve the loss of their babies.

MIYA FAST Northern Health

Local Sports

Medal trifecta for UNBC ski team at Teck BC Cup

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Ben Gadd might want to think about investing in a better alarm clock.

The one he was depending on to wake him from his slumber for Day 2 of the Teck BC Cup No. 2 cross-country ski races failed miserably and the 23-yearold UNBC varsity ski team member just about missed his race on Sunday.

Gadd got to Otway Nordic Centre only a few minutes before he was due to get lined up for the senior men’s 15-kilometre interval start event and his lack of warmup time didn’t seem to hurt him.

“I didn’t get here until 8:55 and 9:03 was my start time,” said Gadd. “I screwed that up a bit and it went better than it should have.”

Gadd was one of three UNBC skiers to grab a spot on the medal podium Sunday in the skate technique event, finishing second behind Kayden Sim of Hollyburn Ski Club (Vancouver). Gadd, a native of Golden who used to race for Kimberley Ski Club, completed the course in 42:56.2, a minute behind senior men’s pace-setter Sim (41:57.3).

“On a 15K you’ve got to pace it and I took it easy on the first lap,” said Gadd. “Home course advantage was huge. We’ve practiced all these hills, so having that is really helpful.

“We have a great wax team with Caledonia and my skis were amazing. Today, Graeme Moore was doing the waxing and (coaches) Ali (Cadell) and Tuppy (Hoehn) were great.”

Gadd was out of racing for four years while he completed the environmental and sustainability studies program at UNBC. The rebirth of the club this season got him going again as a ski racer.

In the U20 race, Jasper Kohut was feeling the muscle fatigue of Saturday’s mass start 10 km classic technique race. He’d been training all week on his classic skis expecting a sprint race but the cold weather forecast and wind chill

that made it feel close to -20 C at noon Saturday forced organizers to switch to a mass-start event to reduce the time on the course Saturday for everyone.

Kohut just missed the podium on Saturday but climbed into bronze position in Sunday’s race.

“I was happy with my race, I was pretty sore from yesterday and I did better than I thought,” said Kohut, an 18-year-old who learned to ski in Whitehorse, is now in his first year studying fisheries and wildlife at UNBC.

Nick Veeken, a 21-year-old second-year chemistry student from Prince George, completed the UNBC medal trifecta when he won the U23 men’s interval start in 43:51.6.

“I was just trying to finish around the same time as Tanner McConkey (the fastest of the 15 km skiers) ,” said Veeken. “I crossed the finish at the same time as Tanner because he started about six minutes behind me. He passed me in the last lap, he’s really fast and I kind of tried to chase him down on the last 500 metres.”

Veeken entered just one race last season and he had no prior experience racing a 15-km course, but his training on the slopes over the past three months gave him the fitness he needed to get through it without incident.

“It felt pretty good, it felt a lot easier on some of the uphills than I imagined it would,” Veeken said. “I had to stay upright on the downhills and the corners and luckily did that. It was really nice skiing the trails here again. I’ve skied them a lot over the last 10 years and it’s nice to get back to racing.”

He took three years off racing before the UNBC Nordic team program got him going again and he feeds off his teammates and their shared motivation to train regularly for races.

UNBC revived its varsity Nordic ski team (cross-country skiing and biathlon) in 2024. The program is a partnership between UNBC and the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club.

UNBC skiers receive training plans as well as coaching/waxing support from the Caledonia club and compete

in races wearing UNBC’s green and gold colours.

The athletes pay their own trails fees and racing memberships at Otway Nordic Centre and have to cover their own travel expenses during races.

The UNBC ski club was initially formed by UNBC students Chris Paulson and Sean Rowell in the late 1990s. Former Olympic biathlete Tuppy Hoehn elevated the program when she was the head coach from 2003-05 and convinced the UNBC athletics department to sanction it. The club represented UNBC at Western Canadian and national championships and that college-university category still exists. The program went into dormancy shortly after Hoehn stepped down as coach.

Gadd was second in the senior men’s 10 km classic on Saturday and Veeken was the U23 classic race winner.

The three skiers will represent UNBC at the Teck BC Cup championships in Kelowna, Feb. 28-March 2 and the Nordiq Canada national championships in Canmore, Alta., Feb. 17-23.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

UNBC Timberwolves varsity cross-country ski team members, from left, Nick Veeken, Ben Gadd and Jasper Kohut all won medals in Sunday’s Teck BC Cup interval start race at Otway Nordic Centre.

Caledonia skier McConkey makes up for costly wipeout

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

After a crash on a steep downhill the previous day violent enough to break his ski binding and force him out of the race, Tanner McConkey was out for redemption when he got back on his skis for Sunday’s Teck BC Cup No. 2 interval start race at Otway Nordic Centre.

Seeing the gold medal slip through his hands in Saturday’s mass start event made the 17-year-old Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member from Prince George know he had the engine to take him to the top of the podium in his hometown race.

He’s been running with fast company all season on race tours in Western Canada and the United States as he takes aim at provincial and national championships on his racing horizon.

But the chance to win on Sunday on his home trails brought out the animal in McConkey and he was unstoppable in the 15-kilometre race, clocking the fastest time of the day - 37 minutes 49.7 seconds.

“I just went hard on that first lap and made sure I had a good position to go into the second and third lap and it felt good, I had good technique and a lot of energy and kept crushing all those hills, so it was awesome,” said McConkey, a Grade 12 student at Prince George Secondary School.

“The snow was fast and the skis were fast.”

His longtime racing companion Axel Hostyn of Black Jack Ski Club in Rossland put up the best fight, finishing second overall in 38:42.0, just ahead of Riley Hobbs of Hollyburn Ski Club (Vancouver).

An interval start means skiers leave the starting gate at 15-second intervals. McConkey wasn’t sure where he stacked up against the rest of the field until he got the word from a spotter standing in the woods just off the trail.

“I had a couple people yelling splits at me and when I started passing all the kids in front of me I realized I was doing really well,” said McConkey. “Axel

Tanner McConkey of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club (centre) stands tall on the medal podium at Otway Nordic Centre after he won U18 men B-2 category in Sunday’s Teck BC Cup interval start freestyle race. Standing next to McConkey at right is silver medalist Axel Hostyn of Black Jack Ski Club (Rossland) and at left is bronze medalist Lucas Gitt of Hollyburn Ski Club (Vancouver).

started behind me and I was scared the whole time, so I didn’t know where he was, but it ended up going well.”

Hostyn finished second overall in Saturday’s mass start race but that took a lot out of him and he didn’t have the energy to take a serious run and McConkey on Day 2.

“I pushed the pace too much yesterday and I paid for it today,” said the 17-year-old Hostyn. “The first lap I didn’t feel good and coming into the stadium I was 40 seconds down on Tanner. My goal was not to go out too hard and maybe I went out too easy but I made up for it in the second and third lap. I only lost about five seconds to him in the next to laps and overall it was pretty good race and I’m pretty happy about it.”

McConkey’s climb to the podium at Otway was a far cry from the end of his race Saturday, when he had to walk back down to the stadium carrying his skis.

“I had a five- or six-second lead and

I’m primed for it.”

Hobbs is in his first year at the U-18 level and won the U18B-1 class, while McConkey and Hostyn are both in their second seasons of U18 competition and finished 1-2 respectively in the U18B-2 class.

Madeleine Wilkie of Larch Hills Ski Club (Salmon Arm) won the overall women’s 15 km interval start in 44:31.9 and shared the U18G-2 podium with Prince George native Kiara Pighin of Telemark Nordic (Kelowna) who finished second in 44:47.1. Nadia Wallin of Williams Lake Ski Club was third overall (45:23.8), racing in the U18G-1 class.

Caledonia’s Aliah Turner was fourth overall (47:09.7) and captured the U20 women’s class.

Other winners by class

was going down the big hill and got too greedy and went into the corner too fast and washed out and the binding broke and I couldn’t finish the race,” he said. “Today was the redemption.”

McConkey was sick for the first BC Cup event a few weeks ago in Revelstoke and didn’t get the results he was hoping for. But he raced in the US Super Tour event Jan. 24-26 in Bozeman, Mont., and earned some FIS points, finishing 45th overall in the sprint, 48th in the 7.5 km classic and 55th in the 20km freestyle.

Then at the Western Canadian championships in Kimberley on Feb. 1 he placed 31st overall in the sprint.

The Prince George races were the final tuneup for many of the racers who will gather in Kelowna for BC Cup championships Feb. 28-March 2, followed by the Nordiq Canada national championships in Canmore, Feb. 17-23.

“Canmore is brutal, it’s all hills and high altitude and it’s going to be rough,” said McConkey. “But I’m excited, I think

U23 women – Anna Chatterton, Strathcona Nordics (50:46.2); 60-plus masters men – Scott Forrest, Caledonia (37:28.0); 40-49 masters men – Ryan Chapman, Bulkley Valley (23:03.5); 50-59 masters men – Glenn Bond, Larch Hills 28:20.3; Senior men – Kaden Sim, Hollyburn (41:57.3); U23 men – Nick Veeken, Caledonia 43:51.6); U20 men – Oliver Bell, Black Jack (39:38.7); U16 girls 2 – Eula Palmer Bird, Sovereign Lake (31:26.6); U16 girls 1 – Amelia Moore, Strathcona Nordics (31:55.9); U16 boys 2 -Luc Austin, Black Jack (26:46.8); U16 boys 1 – Chase Pighin, Telemark (29:29.2); U14 girls 2 – Maise Hoehn, Caledonia (16:50.7);U14 girls 1 – Annika Heale, Black Jack (16:33.2); U14 boys 2 – Revelstoke Nordic (14:49.8); Harry Isaacs – Caledonia (17:11.4); U12 girls 1 –Annika Bell, Caledonia (7:35.6); U12 girls 2 – Callie Washbrook, Telemark Nordic (7:01.0); U12 boys 2 – Ryker Ulansky, Telemark (6:09.3); U12 boys 1 – Myles Rodenberger, Bulkley Valley (7:13.3); U10 girls 2 – Kar Gill, Sovereign Lake (4:12.0); U10 girls 1 – Isa Hersee, Bulkley Valley (5:01.0); U10 boys 2 – Henry Bollans (Larch Hills) (3:54.4); U10 boys 1 – Soren Jakobsen, Strathcona Nordics (4:23.1); U8 girls 3 – Olly Lilgert, Bulkley Valley (6:00.9); U8 girls 1 – Saranya Saxena, Caledonia (11:49.7); U8 boys 3 –Ansel Johnson, Bulkley Valley (4:50.9).

CITIZEN PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

Asay to be inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Prince George baseball legend Amanda Asay will be inducted this spring into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 15-year national team member, who played pivotal roles in helping Canada win five Women’s World Cup medals, was named Wednesday to the class of 2025 and on June 7 she will be inducted posthumously in a ceremony in St. Mary’s, Ont.

Asay, who died Jan. 7, 2022 at age 33 in a skiing accident, will be represented by Loris and George Asay, her parents from Prince George.

“I think of Amanda everyday so it was with tremendous pride to learn that she will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Loris Asay, in a post on the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame website. “She would be, as I am, thrilled to know of this recognition of her commitment to the sport of baseball.”

Joining Asay among this year’s inductees is longtime Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, former Baltimore Orioles/Seattle Mariners pitcher Érik Bédard (a native of Navan, Ont.), junior national head coach Greg Hamilton (Toronto).

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Arleene Noga (Ogema, Sask.) and former Montreal city councilor Gerry Snyder, who helped bring Major League Baseball to Canada, were elected by the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee and will also be inducted posthumously in the June ceremony.

“We found out two weeks ago but we were sworn to secrecy, and that was pretty hard,” said George Asay. “I can tell you this, there were some high-fives and I got some airtime when we found out. She’s had some accolades, but this is on a national scale.

“Amanda’s induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is an incredible honour. Baseball Canada and the Hall have done Amanda so proud, much as she has, and continues to, make us

her proud parents,” he said.

“It is truly hard at this point to process it all. To be included with baseball legends the likes of Russell Martin, Wayne Norton, Rusty Staub, Fergie Jenkins, Dave Stieb, Andre Dawson, Justin Morneau and Ashley Stephenson – one just can’t list all the baseball giants enshrined. It is, and will continue to be, a source of pride for the entire Asay family.

Asay’s national team number 19 was retired on May 7, 2023 when the Blue Jays and Baseball Canada visited Nelson, her home at the time of her death. In 2024 Asay was inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame and was selected for the BC Sports Hall of Fame later that same year.

Asay joined the national women’s team in 2005 and became one of the longest tenured players. She was a tournament all-star at first base in her first Women’s World Cup in 2006 and was the team MVP.

In 2016, she pitched a complete game in a 2-1 semifinal win over Chinese

Taipei and also hit .333 on the way to the silver medal.

At the 2018 World Cup, Asay pitched two wins while compiling a 1.58 earned run average and also hit .500 in the tournament to lead Canada to the bronze medal.

She also played 2015 Pan Am Games team that won the silver medal in Toronto, which Asay ranked as the highlight of her career. That year, the Canadian men’s baseball team won gold and men’s and women’s fastball teams each won Pan Am gold.

Asay was a catcher throughout most of her baseball career but played mostly at first base and pitcher while with the national team.

“She threw from the ear, which is what a catcher does,” said George. “She fired the ball to the plate like a catcher would throw. Even though she knew the difference she’d get up on the mound and that would go away. She was very effective mixing up pitches and she had a great breaking ball and she could spot her fastball.”

Asay, a multisport athlete, attended Brown University (2006-09) where she played varsity hockey and softball. She went on to earn a master’s degree in science and PhD in forestry at UBC and was based in Nelson at the time of her death.

She loved sharing the secrets of the game with young players and in her later years with the national team she was like an on-field coach for her teammates, most of whom were in their early ‘20s. George said his daughter had the qualities that make a good coach.

“For her, baseball was never about her, it was about the team and the sport as a whole, that’s just the way she was and that’s why she gave back so much,” said George.

“She went to Cuba and put on camps there with Baseball Canada and she did that in Nelson, Toronto and Prince George and that’s part of it too, I think, how much she gave back and how good she was at that too.

“I think she would have been a great national team coach.”

ALEXIS BRUDNICKI PHOTO

Amanda Asay of Prince George celebrates with her Team Canada teammates after scoring a run at an international tournament in Mexico in 2019. The late Prince George athlete will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Definitive win, two losses over Family Day weekend

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

KC and the Sunshine Band had the last word in the celebration song Saturday as the Prince George Cougars left the ice at CN Centre after a confidence-building 5-1 win over the league-leading Everett Silvertips.

“That’s the way, uh-huh, un-huh, I like it.”

The Cats’ performance certainly met the approval of the Cougars fans in the crowd of 4,460 who showed up for the weekend rematch to watch their team avenge Friday’s 3-1 loss to Everett.

Josh Ravensbergen came one shot away from posting his first shutout of the season, stopping 33 of 34 shots for his 27th win, tied with Spokane’s Dawson Cowan for the league lead.

The Cougars took control in the second period, scoring four unanswered goals to shock the WHL-leading Silvertips.

“It’s great, obviously they’ve been on a roll this season and been an unreal team and it was great our guys could get four in the second and put us ahead and finish it out,” said Ravensbergen. “It was a great win for our group.

“The guys put a good effort for it, we were battling and working hard and it paid off. We’re super-pumped.”

Ravensbergen set the tone early with three excellent saves when the Silvertips looked extremely dangerous on their first power play three minutes in.

“They were moving the puck really well and I was fortunate to make a couple saves and it feels great to make a couple big ones early in the game,” said Ravensbergen. “You just feel more into and it builds more confidence.”

The game was still scoreless when the Silvertips were on a delayed penalty call with the puck in the Cougars’ possession and just as Ravensbergen sprinted for the bench to get the sixth skater on the ice one of his teammates inadvertently shot the puck back into their own zone and it was heading into the net, forcing Ravensbergen to make a diving save.

The Cougars were outshot 34-23. Cats wingers Koehn Ziemmer and

Borya Valis each contributed a goal and two assists, playing a line centred by Ben Riche.

“We came in after the first period and knew what we had to do in the second and we picked up our game and got rewarded with some goals there and just grinded it out in the third,” said Ziemmer.

Ziemmer ended a four-game goal-scoring drought in record-tying fashion to open the scoring four minutes into the second period. Valis went behind the Silvertips’ net and forced a turnover that sent the puck out to Riche, who made a wise decision to pass to an open Ziemmer, and he tucked it into the open side behind goalie Jesse Sanche.

That was Ziemmer’s 120th WHL career goal and he tied the all-time Prince George franchise record that dates back to 1994, held by forward Chase Witala, a Cougar from 2011-2016.

“It’s an honour for sure, you look at a long list of a lot of names and a great organization for a lot of years and to be up there with (Witala) now is an honour,” said Ziemmer.

The Silvertips had 15-year-old Landon DuPont, the second player ever to be granted exceptional status to play a full season in the Western Hockey League, in the lineup for the PG double-header.

He not only proved he belongs playing against players as much as five years his senior but he’s an absolute standout who is on the fast track to the NHL.

“Every game I’m finding my feet more and I feel comfortable every game now,” DuPont said after Friday’s game.

The Cougars won’t be returning to PG until Sunday.

They played the Vancouver Giants in Langley in a Family Day matinee Mon day, losing 7-2.

Ben Riche and Terik Parascak scored for the Cougars.

After Monday’s game the Cougars headed to Victoria early to get set for a weekend doubleheader Friday and Saturday against the Royals.

They’re back at CN Centre on Tues day, Feb. 25 to take on the Kelowna Rockets.

’87 Centennial Cup: When fists flew as fast as pucks

Jim Gunn of Prince George looks back at his Sockeyes as the team joins the BC Hockey Hall of Fame

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Back when it a bit of a blood sport and most junior hockey teams had a selection of goons who did their talking with their fists, the Richmond Sockeyes found the perfect blend of skull-denting intimidation and high-octane veteran skill.

Bitter rivalries spilled into fistfights and line brawls, on the ice and in the stands, and at its worst it was the movie Slap Shot brought to life.

Much like the Hanson brothers and Ogie Oglethorpe, acts of unrestrained violence against an opponent were not only condoned but encouraged, whether it was to punish an opponent, or in the Sockeyes’ case, beat up on a fish-throwing fan.

But these Sockeyes were nothing like the fictional Charlestown Chiefs and their going-nowhere future. They established a winning habit in Richmond early in the 1986-87 season and took it all the way to the top as Centennial Cup national junior A hockey champions – the reason they are being inducted this summer into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame.

“It was special year and that was a different time for hockey,” said former Sockeyes defenceman Jim Gunn, the Prince George connection from that 1987 championship, who says he’ll never forget that seven-game Doyle Cup series against the Red Deer Rustlers.

“We hosted them first and they had guys going into the stands (to fight Sockeyes’ fans), and when we went out there it was the same thing, violent fans throwing eggs and fish at us,” said the 58-year-old Gunn.

“(In Red Deer) we were in the stands like three games in a row, it

was just crazy.

“It was the constant stuff being thrown at the bench. This was pre-visors days and they were throwing coins and marbles at us, stuff you couldn’t see coming. It was violent.

I thought I’d seen it all because I’d played major junior in the dark ages of hockey, and it was stepped up there. It was brutal.”

It got so bad Hockey Canada decided the on-ice officials were too one-sided and incapable of keeping a lid on the brawling and for the series-deciding Game 7 in Red Deer they were replaced with a new crew brought in from another province.

“We had to have police outside of our hotel to make sure we weren’t attacked, it was mayhem,” said Gunn. “It was a one-fight rule (a second fight meant an early shower) but we had so many guys that could step up. We had three of four guys who could put the puck in better than anybody, we had the tough guys and the solid stay-at-home d-man, so we could play any game with anybody and

come out on top.”

The Sockeyes breezed through the BCHL playoffs to win the Fred Page Cup, took out the Quesnel Millionaires in two straight Mowat Cup games, beat Red Deer in seven for the Doyle Cup, then advanced to the Abbott Cup finals against the Humboldt Broncos, who had in automatic berth in the Centennial Cup as the host team. That series went to seven games as well with Richmond defeating the Saskatchewan champions 5-4 in Game 7.

Gunn had put his hockey career on ice as a 19-year-old and was contemplating his educational future when he got the call from Sockeyes head coach Orland Kurtenbach, who was assembling an all-star cast of overage juniors at a time when the B.C. Junior Hockey League teams had no restrictions on 20-year-olds.

“A lot of those guys went on to play pro, I’d say eight of them were drafted and lots of guys played NCAA,” said Gunn. “We were put together for one, purpose, to win. Orland and the owner,

Bruce Taylor, went out and recruited at least a dozen of us former Western League veterans.

“Orland was an incredible coach, the guy just had that authority. He never needed to raise his voice and honestly, the team was so good I don’t think he had to do a lot of coaching. He just had to handle a lot of personalities.”

The Sockeyes lost 6-1 to Humboldt in their Centennial Cup opener but won their next two and eliminated the Pembroke Lumber Kings 9-2 in the semifinal. They capped their first-ever national title with a 5-2 win over the Broncos.

“The first (loss) was kind of a wakeup call because I don’t remember the (tournament) being that difficult, although it was violent,” said Gunn.

“It was super exciting, a lot of fond memories and a lot of good guys who went on to have good careers. The team was just very talented and well put together.”

CONTINUED ON NEXT

The 1987 Centennial Cup-champion Richmond Sockeyes included 20-year-old defenceman Jim Gunn of Prince George. Gunn is seated in the front row, third from the left.

Team set to reunite for Hall of Fame induction in July

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

In the Sockeyes’ championship season, Gunn, a six-foot, 185-pound defenceman, had four goals and 22 points in 46 regular season games and he led the team with 363 penalty minutes, averaging nearly eight minutes per game. Looking beyond his penalty time, Gunn was a solid defenceman cut from the same cloth as Scott Stevens – an aggressive stay-at-home type with above average skating skills who loved to catch forwards with an open-ice hit. Gunn graduated from midget hockey in Prince George with the Toyota Kings and played two seasons in the WHL with the Victoria Cougars and Lethbridge Broncos before he ended up in Richmond.

In Lethbridge, he was reluctantly cast into an enforcer’s role during a time in the mid-‘80s when every team had at least one or two legendary tough guys who went on to long NHL careers, including the likes of Craig Berube, Ken Baumgartner, Tony Twist, Dave Manson, Shane Churla and Mick Vukota. Practices would end with the Broncos coach John Chapman bringing out boxing gloves and he’d pick two players to go at it with the gloves on. If a player had a beef with a teammate that didn’t get worked out in practice he’d put the gloves in that player’s stall and they would settle their score in the dressing room after the coaches left.

Gunn had a tryout with the Seattle Thunderbirds and in a 1985-86 preseason game against the Spokane Chiefs, Gunn took over for a teammate who was being picked on by Vukota. When the officials stepped in, Vukota told Gunn he wasn’t done with him and the next game he tracked him down.

“He got a hold of me and beat the crap out of me and I just said that’s it, I’m done, this isn’t how I want to play, so I came home and took a few months to gather my thoughts and get a plan together for my future,” Gunn said “Then Richmond called and I could work on my prerequisites to be a firefighter and they helped me out financially with that and that’s the

Jim Gunn gets ready for a game with the Prince George firefighters Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Kin 2 arena. Gunn, 58, played defence for the Centennial Cup-champion Richmond Sockeyes in 1987. That team will be inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame in Penticton in July.

reason I went. I took a bunch of courses that year.”

The Sockeyes will join Prince George Cougars defenceman Dan Hamhuis and ex-NHL centre Shawn Horcoff, among others being inducted in the BC Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2025.

The festivities in Penticton, July 11-12 will be the first time the Sockeyes have been reunited since they won their Centennial Cup title. That was 39 years ago.

“Almost as big as the honour of getting into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame is the chance to get to see everybody again,” said Gunn. “We’re all reconnecting, mostly off of Facebook, and it’s an

often. He started playing minor hockey in Prince Rupert and played bantam in Quesnel before he moved to Prince George when he was 15. After his 20-year-old season with the Sockeyes he went to Mount Royal College in Calgary and played there for two years, helping the Cougars win the 1988 national collegiate championship.

That second year at Mount Royal he had 111 penalty minutes in just 14 games and Gunn was picked for the university all-star team that faced Canada’s world junior team in exhibition series in December 1987, but he was unable to play because he was suspended.

Gunn wanted to be a teacher but Leroy Manning, his friend from Prince George, had just been hired on with the Prince George fire department and convinced him to apply. Gunn joined the firefighters when he was 24 and retired four years ago after 30 years with Prince George Fire Rescue.

“I decided enough of this school stuff and came back here and became a firefighter, which was no-brainer. It was an awesome career and I worked with a lot of super-good guys and you do a lot of good for the community,” he said. Gunn chose not to pursue any minor pro offers and he has no regrets. He got out of the game missing a few teeth but he body was intact and he’s been able to maintain a high level of fitness for the past four decades.

exciting time for sure.”

All the players are still alive and well, living in Canada and the U.S., and they’re expecting a big turnout. Kurtenbach, 88, the first captain in the Vancouver Canucks’ NHL history and a former Canucks head coach, is still in Vancouver and Gunn is hopeful he’ll make the trip to Penticton.

“I’m super happy Orland is still with us,” said Gunn. “We had so much respect for him. He didn’t need to say anything. He just looked at you and you were like, “’OK, I got it.’”

Born in Calgary, Gunn had parents worked in government and they moved

He knows that’s not the case for a few of his Sockeyes teammate now in their 60s and dealing with hockey-related chronic aches and pains.

“Those guys that went to the minors, which was part of the reason I decided to come home and see what was coming next in my life, they are beat up - bad knees, shoulders, back - and there was no bank account full of money for those guys, there was just years of getting beat up,” said Gunn.

After he was done with competitive hockey, Gunn got into running ultramarathons with his wife Kelly and they live on a horse farm east of Prince George Airport. He still laces up the blades with the firefighters Tuesday and Friday mornings at Kin 2.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

Life Events

Joan Lorraine Flynn (Maisonneuve) Speckeen

June 7, 1935 - January 22, 2025

Hours after an accidental fall while feeding birds, our beloved, admired, selfless, beautiful Joan passed away. Joan was born in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, a daughter to Alma and Tom Flynn and an older sister to Patricia. The family moved to an orchard in Kaleden, near Penticton, BC, when Joan was young.

Following elementary school, Joan graduated from the Penticton high school where her eager participation in school activities and athletics was limited by the school bus schedule. As a child she was paid to pick fruit and to work in the packing house as an underage kid who had to leave the building when any government inspector arrived. She admitted in her later years that she had feared being alone when selling fruit on the highway. Joan often commented on how her mother struggled successfully to care for her and Patricia during the war years when their father was in the army overseas.

Joan inherited and learned from her mother’s example to work hard and succeed despite obstacles. This led Joan to become a Registered Nurse and on to being an Administrator of a Hospital Nursing Services Program, a Vocational School Nursing Instructor, and to earning a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Education, and a Nursing Diploma (Theory and Practice). Her career and achievements attest to her perseverance, acceptance of challenges, future thinking, and to her always seeking to assist others regardless of their background or position. Varied, rich and international in scope, her roles spanned Hospital Supervisor and Nursing Director; Hospital Director of Inservice Education; College Director of Health Services; Community Health Nurse Educator;

Quality Consultant-Clinical Services; Instructor of foreign Trained Nurses; and conducting research in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Caribbean. Joan’s successful consulting business focused on Seniors’ Care, and she volunteered on projects Bulgaria, St. Lucia, Thailand, Central America, Dominica (Commonwealth), Armenia, and the Philippines.

Joan was proud of her son Jay Pierre, born 1961 to her and husband Charles Maisonneuve, and a loving and supportive mother to Fred Speckeen Jr. She was an aunt to Lynda (Gordon), Deborah (Kenneth), Thomas (Melissa) and a great aunt to Hilary, Tarah, Thomas, Leigh,Tanner, Colin, Kenna, and Fraser. Joan was a grandmother (Namma) to Jillian Maisonneuve (Brandon Atherton), a grandmother to Ella Speckeen, and a great grandmother to Isla and Chloe, and a loving mother-inlaw to Cindy Tollefson (Jay Maisonneuve) and Brenda Quance (Fred Speckeen, Jr.).

Joan married Fred Speckeen in 1978. They were colleagues at the College of New Caledonia, Prince George, BC. Together they performed volunteer work internationally, and travelled in over 50 countries. Fred is forever grateful for her love, support, and devotion.

Joan’s many friends and colleagues speak of her inspiration, impact, professionalism, empathy, leadership, kindness, meticulous dress, her home with its art and everything in place, fine meals, and her impressive flower gardens. A family memorial is being planned for a later date. Donations in Joan’s memory may be made to the Sheaf Espiga Foundation www.sheafespiga.org that fights poverty in Central America.

Ingrid Pankonin 1935 - 2025

Born in Insterburg/Konigsberg East Prussia. Lived mainly in Bad Schwartau, Germany until immigrating to Prince George July 1958.

Died at age 90 in Kelowna B.C. Feb 9, 2025. Ingrid and husband Werner Pankonin were active members of the Prince George community, Bethel Baptist and Hartland Baptist Churches. Ingrid volunteered in many women’s ministries as well as a Youth for Christ board member for 29 years. They retired to Kelowna May 2006 where Werner Pankonin passed in July 2010. Attended Grace Baptist Church.

Married Harold Schultz spring of 2011 and he passed 2017.

Predeceased 2019 brother Manfred (Renate) Christine & Melanie, Prince George.

Ingrid is survived by her sister Erika Domning of Germany, brother Walter Domning (Elaine) Edmonton. Daughter Maggie (Greg Kern) Calgary, Omi to Nicholas, Alanna. Son Bernie (Norma Love) Kelowna, Omi to Luke, Jonah. Daughter Esther (Alan Schaefer) Kelowna, Omi to David (Sonja) Kelowna & great Omi to Scout, Danny Schaefer (Sarah) Surrey, Adam Schaefer of Kelowna, Desiree (Jarrod Reimer) Kelowna. Daughter Vera Pankonin, Edmonton. Daughter Crystal (Mike Carmel), Omi to Caya. Ingrid will be missed by 5 children and spouses, 9 Grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild, as well as extended family and friends.

Funeral Service at First Memorial Funeral Services, 1211 Sutherland Ave., Kelowna, BC on Friday, February 28, 2025 @ 10:30.

Alexandra Sutton (née Henderson)

September 2, 1931 - February 8, 2025

Alexandra Sutton (née Henderson) passed away peacefully, February 8, 2025, in Picton, ON. Alexandra (Sandra) was born September 2, 1931, in Montreal and spent her formative years there before moving to St. Catharines, Ontario in 1961 to raise her young family. That was followed by stints in Prince Rupert, BC (1981-1991), Prince George, BC (1991-2016) and finally in Wellington, ON for the last nine years of her life.

Sandra was the oldest of the four children of William Henderson of Shotts, Scotland and Mary Henderson (née Murray) of Stornoway, Scotland. She is survived by husband John; son Robert Murray O’Doherty (Cathy Sproul); son Ross Henderson O’Doherty (Heather Mouldey); daughter, Cindy Mary O’Doherty; granddaughters Meghan and Erin O’Doherty (Braeden Lattanzi); grandsons Luke and Reg O’Doherty; great grandson Rowan and great granddaughter Mila; brothers Joe Henderson (Wendy) and William Henderson (Gisela); sister, Mary Skillings (Balfour); and many nieces and nephews.

Sandra was an exceptional multi-sport athlete who from an early age established herself as one of the best female athletes in the Montreal area while at Montreal West High School and as a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) and Montreal Mercury Athletic Club (MMAC). Although racquet sports eventually became her forte, initially she was also a top Track & Field athlete, competing in the 1948 Olympic Trials and racing against some of the world’s best sprinters in individual and 440 relay events (as it was known then, 4x100m now).

However, Track & Field took a back seat as racquet sports made their way into Sandra’s life. First it was badminton, then squash and finally tennis. With no formal instruction at the root of Sandra’s groundstrokes and having picked up the sport of tennis at the ‘late’ age of 30, Sandra quickly grasped the fundamentals and strategy of this life-long sport. Opponents soon found their ‘foe’ to be quick,

rolled on, championship after championship (sometimes 4 in one day!) were being won. In total, Sandra won over 100 titles not only at the local St. Catharines Tennis Club but in cities throughout Ontario and Canada. Her dominance at the local level only fuelled her appetite for greater competition. Soon Sandra was rising to the top of the ranks in Senior tennis winning numerous National singles and doubles titles. Tennis Canada took note during this time and invited Sandra to represent her country at the ITF World Team Event on numerous occasions including being part of the very first Veteran’s Team Canada ever sent overseas. Her crowning achievement in tennis was receiving the Award of Excellence from Tennis Canada in 2009 for her representation of Canada and for her success worldwide. That was followed by Sandra’s induction into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Throughout Sandra’s sporting career that spanned seven decades, she epitomized the true meaning of sportsmanship. Not one to take defeat easily, she did so with a smile and a ready handshake. Opponents from around Canada and the world could easily call Sandra their friend and several remained in close contact until her final days. Her legacy of accomplishments is really truly appreciated when you know that Sandra did this while being a wife, mother, mentor and athlete. Her husband John and children, Bob, Ross and Cindy, will be forever indebted.

The family extends a special thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff at Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital in Picton, and particularly Cathy Steenburgh, who cared for Sandra and supported her family with such professionalism, kindness, and compassion. There will be no funeral or memorial service held by request. Cremation will be followed by internment with Sandra’s father and mother at the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, QC. Donations may be made, in lieu of flowers, to the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation. (https://www.pecmhf.ca/)

Mike Werstiuk

June12, 1937 - February 7, 2025

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Mike who was surrounded by his family on February 7, 2025 at the age of 87 in Prince George.

Mike is survived by his children Dean (Debby), Bob (Karen), Leanne, Kelly (Tina). Grandchildren Michael (Kim), Garrett, Marcus (Stefanie), Amanda (John). Great grandchildren Jadyn, Abrielle and Hunter. Sisters Lena Skwarchuk & Gloria Avery (Ken) and several Nieces and Nephews.

Predeceased by his Loving wife Laura, Father Bill Werstiuk, Stepfather George Hamelin, Mother Ann Hamelin, Sisters Mary Laboucane and Alice Sanregret, Brothers Ernie Hamelin and Lyn Hamelin.

Mike was born in St Albert Alberta. He was raised in several small farming communities and settled in Prince George where he met and married his loving wife of 44 years Laura. He worked for the Pas Lumber Co where he was employed for 10 years.

Mike built his first home in Pineview where he began raising his four wonderful children. He tried his hand at Tartan (Pacific} Brewery in Prince George and finally at School District 57 where he worked along side Laura for many years until he retired in 1999.

Mike loved to tell his family many stories about growing up on the farm and how it was in those days. He was a tinkerer and could fix almost anything in his own unique way. Mike and Laura always welcomed family and friends to their home often sitting by the pond that Mike built in the back yard on Carney Street. So many great memories. He loved cars, (classics especially) playing the guitar, harmonica & violin. In his retirement years he enjoyed long walks in his neighbourhood around Asher Place.

He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and many acquaintances, but never forgotten. We would like to thank Dr. Tower, Dr Geddes and the staff of Prince George Hospice House and UHNBC for their care.

There will be no service by request.

A Celebration of Life Tea to Be held on March 2, 2025 1:00pm to 4:00pm at 2959 Christopher Cresent Prince George BC

Steve Walker

July 5, 1960 - November 17, 2018

When we talk about how you would view the world now, my mind goes to the words of one of your favourite songs

Just a world we must all share, It’s not enough just to stand and stare Is it only a dream that there’ll be No more turning away?

(Pink Floyd- On theTurningAway)

We miss you.

The recipient of the Stephen Walker Memorial Bursary (2024) is Nolan Cousins. Nolan stood out as a hardworking, direct and kind young man. We were especially touched by his humble attitude towards earning a Memorial Bursary. You will go far in life Nolan and we wish you the best of luck.

The Taylor and Walker Families

José Homem Silva

June 16, 1934 - February 3, 2025

With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of our beloved father who left us after a courageous fight, always smiling and humming until the very end.

Joe was born on June 16th, 1934, in San Antonio, on the island of Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal.

Joe leaves behind a legacy of hard work, laughter, love and resilience. His spirit will live on in the memories of his family, friends, and all whose lives he touched.

A prayer service will be held at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday, February 18th at 7pm. The Funeral service will take place at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Wednesday, February 19th, at 10:00am followed by burial at the cemetery.

A lunch reception will be held back at the church following the burial.

In Loving Memory

Barbara Cousins

April 11, 1936 - February 8, 2025

1947 2021

“Wherever a beautiful soul has been there is a trail of beautiful memories.”

September 16, 1939 - February 5, 2025

It is with heavy hearts, we share the news of Edmond Girard’s passing on February 5, 2025, at the age of 85. He left this world quietly, enveloped by the love of his family.

Survived by his children Dean (Rhonda), Kevin (Karmen), and Cindy (Robin), along with his cherished grandchildren Nickolas and Brendan, Foster children Jade and Shane.

Edmond was predeceased by his beloved wife Huguette, who departed in 2012, leaving a void that never truly healed.

A devoted father, grandfather, and foster parent, Edmond found joy in simple pleasures like camping, fishing, and playing card games with his loved ones. His passion for woodworking was a testament to his creative spirit.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Ahmed, the nursing staff at UHNBC, and the compassionate team at PG Hospice House for their unwavering support during his final days.

In lieu of flowers, donations to PG Hospice House

Our family is saddened to announce the passing of Irene after a long battle with cancer. She was a loving mother, grandmother and great-gramma. Irene was a long time Legion member and loved her dancing. She also was a school bus driver for many years.

Irene was predeceased by her son Garry. Survived by her children Ellen, Lyle (Donna), Dale (Judy), Lorna (Ken), seven grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and her best friend Buddy. There will be no service by request.

Irene will be greatly missed by many.

“ Don“ Michael Pryzsieny

August 21, 1944 – January 26, 2025

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Donald Michael Pryzsieny on January 26, 2025 at the age of 80.

Don is survived by his cherished partner of 38 years, Vicki Bryant, his son Derrick Przysieny (Sandy), stepdaughter Cindy Williams (Ben), stepson Paul Bryant(Cathy), his twin sister Diane (Keith) Munro, grandchildren; Kelly & Mitchell Williams, Katelyn & Abby Bryant, Mikey & Mila Przysieny, and great-granddaughter Blayke Mayhew.

Don will be deeply missed by all who knew him. His kindness, generosity, and sense of humor touched the lives of everyone around him. He was an avid card player who enjoyed many hours of cribbage with friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, February 15, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Black Clover Pub, 1165 5th Ave, Prince George BC

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Don’s memory to Spruce Capital Seniors Recreation Centre, 3701 Rainbow Dr. Prince George BC

Donald

Edmond Girard

Irene Bernice Fisher (Jardine)

Classifieds

The Village of Fraser Lake is amending their Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP) for their Community Forest K5E.

The FSP amendment is to update retention around Riparian Areas, the Cultural Heritage Resources Result and Strategy as well as Stocking Standards to include commercial thinning.

The Community Forest is located in the Fraser Lake area. The review and comment period ends on March 17th.

Any written comments can be emailed to melissa@dragonflymanagement.ca or to discuss, view or receive a copy contact Melissa Steidle, RPF at (778)675-6616.

WAREHOUSEMAN’S LIEN ACT

Monica

Stephanie

Brenda Mtchell

Robert Umpherville

* On March 3, 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as the 19th president of the United States in the Red Room of the White House. Two days later, he was again inaugurated, but this time in a public ceremony.

• On Nov. 11, 1831, Nat Turner, an American slave and educated minister who believed that he’d been chosen by God to lead his people into freedom, was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, for leading a revolt with 75 followers through Southampton County, killing about 60 white people.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Try to say as little as possible about the work you’re doing through the end of the month. Then you can make your announcement and accept your welldeserved plaudits.

* On March 4, 2004, Mianne Bagger, a golfer from Denmark, earned a place in sports history at the Women’s Australian Open as the first transgender athlete to compete in a professional golf tournament, noting to reporters that it took a while to overcome the anxiety associated with the feat: “I don’t know where my swing was. ... I was pretty numb the first seven holes. I couldn’t really feel much below my shoulders.”

* On March 5, 1839, “Jane Eyre” author

• On Nov. 12, 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed the extent of the U.S. Army’s charges against 1st Lt. William L. Calley at My Lai, Vietnam, in a cable picked up by more than 30 newspapers, saying that “The Army says he [Calley] deliberately murdered at least 109 Vietnamese civilians during a searchand-destroy mission in March 1968, in a Viet Cong stronghold known as ‘Pinkville.’”

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) A more difficult challenge than you expected emerges early in the week. But with your strong Taurean determination, you should be able to deal with it successfully by week’s end.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Before you act on your “feelings” about an upcoming decision, it might be wise to do a little fact-checking first. You could be very much surprised by what you don’t find.

Charlotte Bronte declined a marriage proposal from the Reverend Henry Nussey, informing him that he would find her “romantic and eccentric” and not practical enough to be a clergyman’s wife.

* On March 6, 1475, Michelangelo Buonarroti, considered by many the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists, was born in Caprese. The son of a government administrator, he became an artist’s apprentice at age 13. He would go on to master painting, sculpture and

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A recent workplace success can open some doors that were previously closed to you. On a personal level, expect to receive some important news from a longtime friend and colleague.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Put your wounded pride aside and do what you must to heal a misunderstanding, before it can take a potentially irreversible turn and leave you regretting the loss of a good friend.

• On Nov. 13, 1979, Philadelphia 76ers center Darryl Dawkins leaped over Kansas City Kings forward Bill Robinzine for a memorable slam dunk that shattered the fiberglass backboard. His equally memorable comment on the move, which was not his last and the sound of which spectators likened to a bomb going off: “It wasn’t really a safe thing to do, but it was a Darryl Dawkins thing to do.”

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22)

One way to kick a less-than-active social life into high gear or rebuild an outdated Rolodex file is to throw one of your well-organized get-togethers for friends and associates.

• On Nov. 14, 1882, outlaw Frank “Buckskin” Leslie shot and killed Billy “The Kid” Claiborne, who had publicly challenged him, in Tombstone, Arizona.

• On Nov. 15, 1984, Baby Fae, a month old infant who received the world’s first baboon heart transplant, died at California’s Loma Linda University 20 days after the operation. Three other people had received animal heart transplants, but none survived longer than a few days.

• On Nov. 16, 2001, British author J.K. Rowling’s most famous and beloved creation, the bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role), made his silver-screen debut in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which went on to become one of the highestgrossing movies in history.

architecture, becoming best known for masterpieces like “David” and his ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

* On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, lost contact with air traffic control less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, then veered off course and disappeared. Most of the plane and all on board were never recovered.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22)

Getting out of an obligation you didn’t really want to take on can be tricky. An honest explanation of the circumstances can help. Next time, pay more attention to your usually keen instincts.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21)

Use your Scorpion logic to push for a no-nonsense approach to a perplexing situation. This could help keep present and potential problems from creating more confusion.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A friend’s problem might take more time than you wish to give. But staying with it once again proves the depth of your Sagittarian friendship and loyalty.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The Sea Goat can benefit from an extra dose of self-confidence to unsettle your detractors, giving you the advantage of putting on a strong presentation of your position.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You might want to ask a friend or relative for advice on an ongoing personal matter. But be careful not to give away information that you might later wish you had kept secret.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Use the weekend for a creativity break to help restore your spiritual energy. Once this is done, you’ll be back and more than ready to tackle whatever challenge you need to face.

Homes & Living

How to determine your home’s R-value

Determining the R-value of your home is essential for assessing its insulation efficiency and overall energy performance. The R-value measures thermal resistance, indicating how well a material insulates against heat transfer. A higher R-value means better insulation, which can lead to lower energy bills and a more comfortable living environment. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to determine the R-value of your home.

First, it’s important to understand what R-value represents. The “R” in R-value stands for resistance, specifically thermal resistance. This value quantifies how effectively insulation material can resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the better the insulation performance. R-values vary depending on the type of insulation and its intended use, with values typically ranging from R-13 to R-60 for different parts of a home.

To determine the R-value of your home’s existing insulation, you need to identify the type of insulation and measure its thickness. Common types of insulation

dream door starts here

include fiberglass, cellulose, and spray foam. Each type has a specific R-value per inch of thickness. For example, fiberglass batt insulation typically has an R-value of about 3.1 per inch, while cellulose insulation has an R-value of approximately 3.5 per inch. Begin by inspecting the insulation in various parts of your home, such as the attic, walls, and floors. In the attic, you can usually see the insulation material directly. Measure its thickness using a ruler or tape measure. If you have 10 inches of fiberglass batt insulation, you would multiply the thickness (10 inches) by the R-value per inch (3.1) to get a total R-value of 31 for that section of the attic.

For walls and floors, determining the R-value can be more challenging since the insulation is often hidden behind drywall or flooring. One method is to check for any accessible areas, such as unfinished basements or crawl spaces, where you can see and measure the insulation. If you cannot access these areas, you might need to rely on construction records or consult a professional to assess the insulation.

In addition to measuring the thickness of the insulation, it’s crucial to consider the overall condition of the material. Insulation can degrade over time due to factors like moisture, pests, or settling. Degraded insulation may have a lower R-value than when it was first installed. If you notice any signs of damage or wear, it might be necessary to replace or supplement the existing insulation to maintain optimal thermal resistance.

Another important aspect of determining your home’s R-value is understanding the recommended R-values for different climate zones. The U.S. Department of Energy provides guidelines for the ideal R-values based on your location. For example, in colder climates, higher R-values are recommended for attics and walls to ensure adequate insulation against the cold. Conversely, milder climates may require lower R-values.

To calculate the overall R-value of a multi-layered insulation system, you need to sum the R-values of each individual layer. For instance, if your wall has a layer

of fiberglass batt insulation (R-13) and a layer of foam board insulation (R-5), the total R-value for the wall would be 18. This cumulative approach helps you understand the combined thermal resistance of all the materials used in your home’s construction. It’s also worth noting that some areas of your home may have different insulation requirements. For example, basements and crawl spaces might need insulation with moisture-resistant properties, while attics benefit from insulation that can withstand higher temperatures. Understanding these specific needs can help you choose the right insulation materials and achieve the desired R-value for each part of your home.