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Merritt Herald - March 25, 2014
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UPPER NICOLA REBRANDPAGE 2
BCHL PLAYOFF UPDATEPAGE 10
SPENDING SCANDALPAGE 5
Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
MERRITT HERALDmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS FREE
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Locally Owned & Operated
1701 Voght St., Merritt, B.C. www.merritt
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FIRE AWAY Elizabeth and Derek Clare visit with fire prevention officer Sky McKeown at the Merritt fire hall for an open house last Thursday. The Clares were two of about 25 people who dropped in to take a look around and learn a little more about two capital projects that will cost the city $1 million. For the full story, see page 3. Michael Potestio/Herald
Sturgis Canada announces music lineupCanadian classic rock legend
Burton Cummings will headline the 2014 Sturgis Canada festival for its inaugural event in Merritt.
The concert lineup for the Aug. 21 to 24 weekend also includes The Stampeders, Moxy and Teenage Head.
Festival organizer Ray Sasseville called the lineup a “Canadian clas-sic rock ‘n’ roll revival.”
Woodstock alumni Canned Heat will play their boogie-blues on the main stage, as will English-Canadian glam rocker Nick Gilder with Sweeney Todd. Singer-song-
writer Jerry Doucette will play a more laid-back set one afternoon during the festival.
“It’s a really cool, eclectic group of bands we’ve got together,” Stur-gis Canada president Joan Han-sen said, adding it’s not the usual casino tour crowd.
The main stage opens up at 7 p.m. and the last act is booked for 11 p.m.
In addition to the main stage concerts, the beer gardens — which organizers are calling the Iron Mountain Saloon — will host live entertainment daily on its stage.
That beer garden stage will also host B.C.-based country band Me and Mae on the Sunday night,
when organizers will announce the dates and location for a country music festival they’re planning as well.
Hansen and Sasseville said they think Merritt’s location and acces-sibility from the Lower Mainland will benefit the festival, and are aiming to bring in between 3,500 to 7,500 people per day that week-end.
“It’s like being at a club in North Van and living in Abbots-ford,” Sasseville said of the com-mute from the Lower Mainland to the site for a concert.
Also on the agenda are daily motorcycle rides, including one down to the Coast to go whale
watching, and another to tour win-eries.
The organizers said riding a motorcycle isn’t a requirement for enjoying the festival.
“You don’t need a motorcycle to come; you can have an RV and come to enjoy four days of great music and still go on the tours,” Sasseville said.
For those who don’t ride motor-cycles, buses will also make the day trips.
A portion of the proceeds from the rides will benefit charities, which Hansen will have a local element — although which local charities will be the recipients is to be determined.
The festival will also include show and shines, rodeo games, bike games, burnout competitions at festival grounds, a cabbage patch wrestling match and a Miss Sturgis Canada pageant.
The Freedom Biker Church and the Gospel Riders will host a daily mass at 8 a.m.
With the entertainment lineup rounded out, organizers are looking for volunteers for everything from attending parking to working in the beer gardens.
Hansen said they’re also look-ing for vendors for everything from food to merchandise.
For more information, visit stur-giscanada.com.
By Emily WesselTHE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
www.merrittherald.com 2 • TUESDAY, March 25, 2014
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Gifts Jewelry Native Art Glasses Contacts
Jeanine GustafsonOptician/Contact Lens Fitter/ABO/NCLE
Vision Quest Optical & GiftsGiftsQAuthentic Native Art Gallery
visionquestoptical@gmail.com
Phone: 250-378-2022 2001 Quilchena Avenue, Merritt, BC
Adopt a Pet“Breaking the Chain of Abuse”
Please make an appointment to visitPh: (250) 378-5223
E: gwc.9@hotmail.comView other future best friends @ www.angelsanimalrescue.ca
Donations desperately needed for spay and neuter services. Donations can be to made to The Angel’s Animal Rescue Society at The Interior Savings Credit Union, Account #1193739.
BuffetKeeper is an adult, neutered male, Coonhound. Keeper is good with other dogs and children. He needs basic training and would do best in a rural environment.
isss anananan an dddddadadadad adultltltltultultultultultultultultul nnnnn, n, n, nn ttteuteuteuteuteuteeererereKeeper Cutie Pie
Buffet is a spayed female Corgi mix. She is housetrained, up to date with shots and good with dogs and cats. Buffet travels well and is house trained.
Cutie Pie is available for adop-tion to the right home. She is well mannered, house-trained, likes car rides and belly rubs. She likes to be inside, warm and cozyr.
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
When: Sunday, March 30, 2014
Where: Logan Lake and outlying areas, including Lac La Jeune,
Meadow Creek Road, Tunkwa Road and Hwy 97C
We will be making electrical system improvements in Logan Lake and outlying areas on March 30, 2014. To ensure the safety of our work crews, it will be necessary to interrupt electrical service for approximately 8 hours.
To prepare for this interruption and protect your equipment from damage, turn off all lights, electric heaters, major appliances and unplug all electronics.
For the first hour after the power comes back on, please only plug in or turn on those electronics and appliances that you really need. This will help ensure the electrical system does not get overloaded.
We are sorry for the inconvenience. We will restore your power as soon as we can. Prepare for outages and stay informed by visiting bchydro.com/outages or bchydro.com/mobile from your handheld device. Please call 1 888 POWERON (1 888 769 3766) for more information.
4166
POWER INTERRUPTIONFOR LOGAN LAKEAND OUTLYING AREAS
NOTICE OF SCHEDULED
How’s your hearing?Ask an
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Call Monday - Friday
315-96882076A Granite Avenue, Merritt(Located at Nicola Valley Chiropractic)
A division of Carolyn Palaga Audiology Services Ltd.
Merritt Hearing Clinic
Custom welding and bending.On radiators and muffl ers.
894 Coldwater Road, Merritt, B.C.
378-0999
PO Box 98Merritt, BC
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Upper Nicola launches new brandWith the goal of
improving communica-tion, the Upper Nicola Band has taken on a new look.
Former Chief Dan Manuel (who was chief during the rebrand) said the new brand-ing is part of sweeping changes to their com-munications overhaul.
A new logo has been adopted, and a new website recently launched.
The new brand-ing was done by First Nations communica-tions company Cop-perMoon Communica-tions.
Senior manager of communications for CopperMoon Richard Truman said the com-pany developed the new logo and website in addition to devel-oping a brand guide book, template materi-als and giving band staff a training session.
Manuel said the band had difficul-ties reproducing and imprinting the former logo due to the amount of detail it had.
“We just felt it was time for a change,” Manuel said.
The new logo is a dark red and white red-tailed hawk with its wings spread open, while the former logo featured a galloping horse and an eagle’s head on a backdrop of the sun.
The red-tailed hawk is a common bird of prey in the Upper Nicola area, and it is also one of cultural sig-nificance, Manuel said.
Manuel said the band wanted colours that were attractive and represented the Upper Nicola com-munity.
He said the colours used, such as the reds and yellows, reflect the area’s landscape and were present in their old logo, but were brighter.
“We softened the colours up, but also maintained some con-sistency and continu-ity in those colours,” Manuel said.
Truman said it was interesting to see how the sandy shades and reds used in the web-site and logo are suited to the Upper Nicola community.
The new website has a cleaner look to it than the old one, Manuel said.
“The website has been totally revamped,” he said.
Manuel said the band administration wanted a website that was accessible and easy for visitors to the site to use, including band members.
He said there is better website man-agement now as Cop-perMoon provided training to staff to help keep the site up to date.
“If you’re logging in as a member and noth-ing changes, there’s no new information, [and] you’re going to stop logging in after three or four times,” Manuel said.
Truman said the training session showed staff how to use the website and add con-tent.
Manuel said the band has also taken on a simpler name as part of their communica-
tions strategy, referring to themselves as simply Upper Nicola, and dropping the word ‘band’ from its name.
“We were Upper Nicola Indian Band, then we were Upper Nicola Band, now we’re Upper Nicola,” Manuel said.
That change was made to show that the community is more than just a band.
He said the name
Upper Nicola Band had sometimes brought about confu-sion amongst people outside the commu-nity.
“I’ve been asked what kind of music we play,” Manuel said, regarding people con-fusing the band for a group of musicians.
The website comes with a new, shorter web address as well: uppernicola.com.
Manuel said being more user-friendly was a goal in the commu-nity’s communications strategy.
“We’re making it easier for people to know who we are,” Manuel said.
Development of the new branding began back in October.
By Michael PotestioTHE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
“The website h b t t ll ti t t f i
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, March 25, 2014 • 3
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
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GOOD MORNING!
From the Herald archives: March 1978
French language questionnaire upsets some local parents
A survey to deter-mine the parent interest in a French language education program for schools in B.C. at the elemen-tary level has not been well received by Merritt residents, according to school board chairman Elea-nor Norgaard, com-menting during last Thursday’s meeting.
“Most of the calls I have received on the survey are from par-ents who are unhappy because the ques-tionnaire didn’t ask whether they want the French language program to begin with,” explained Mrs. Norgaard.
“It simply asks a number of questions to determine how much in favour par-ents are of a partial or total French pro-gram. The general feeling was that the survey was useless since it didn’t ask the most important ques-tion.”
The provincial government recently commissioned Cana-dian Facts Co. Ltd. to conduct a province-wide survey to deter-mine the interest in and need for a French language elementary program.
REMEMBERWHEN?
The Merritt Fire Rescue Department (MFRD) held an open house on Thursday to educate the public on how $1 million from the City of Merritt will be spent.
At the last council meet-ing on March 11, city coun-cil approved borrowing $1 million to fund the building of a new truck bay and acquisition of a new pumper truck for MFRD.
About 25 people walked through the fire hall on Thursday as fire prevention officer Sky McKeown, train-ing office Carl Johnston and chief Dave Tomkinson met with visitors in the truck bay.
Tomkinson told the Her-ald that this year, fire engine two is being degraded by 10 per cent, which will put MFRD under its required pumping capacity.
In order to maintain its rating with Fire Underwrit-ers, Merritt’s fire trucks are required to have a collective pumping capacity of 3,300
imperial gallons per minute.“For the next five years,
it’ll decrease 10 per cent per year until in the fifth year, Fire Underwriters won’t give the pump a rating at all,” Tomkinson said. “And it’s so that municipalities or cities don’t have antiquated equip-ment.”
Reduced gradings could result in higher insurance premiums for residential and commercial buildings, Tom-kinson said.
In 2012, residential dwellings in Merritt went from a grade of 3A to a grade of two in fire protec-tion, which is the highest level of grading the city can have without career fire-fighters.
Commercial buildings that year went from a grade of six to five, meaning those buildings are considered semi-protected.
Merritt’s fire grading for both residential and com-mercial buildings improved between 2008 and 2012 thanks in part to improve-ments, such as acquiring
its ladder truck, building a reservoir, improving fire hydrants and the creation of its work experience pro-gram.
“I think we’re about as good as we can be at this present time until there’s more development and then we kind of have to roll with the punches,” Tomkinson said.
Tomkinson said they hope the new truck bay and pumper truck buys them another 10 to 20 years of stability before having to make any other changes. However, if there is an influx of development and demand on fire services, more upgrades could be needed sooner in Merritt.
Merritt’s next Fire Underwriters survey will be in 2017.
The replacement for fire engine two is expected to cost about $600,000 and have a 20-year lifespan. The current engine two will be moved into reserve.
Fire engine one isn’t expected to be replaced until
2025 and the ladder truck will not need to be until 2028.
The new addition to the truck bay will be a 2,000-square-foot, single appara-tus, double-depth truck bay with a sanitary air room, storage room, mezzanine storage and work bench area. The new bay will be 100 feet long and 20 feet wide, Tomkinson said, and it will be built on the west side of the fire hall.
The new bay will add much-needed space to the hall.
“These aren’t wants, these are things that we’re told by Fire Underwriters. It’s part of having a healthy community and having a fire service that meets a stan-dard,” Tomkinson said.
The firetrucks are cur-rently parked within inches of the doors. Tomkinson said many of the people they met with noticed how cramped the current truck bay is, and he said storage is an issue.
The new bay will have
a wood frame with exterior metal cladding and will not be designed to leadership in energy and environmental design standards.
The sanitary air room, where firefighters will fill their breathing apparatuses, will be separated from the hall, which is contrary to their current setup, he said.
“The fire station’s 42 years old and has never had a major renovation, so this will be the first time,” Tom-kinson said.
The new pumper truck won’t be servicing the Mer-ritt area until about 2015 as it takes a year to build.
A second phase to make changes to the administra-tive side of the building is in the works, but is still a few years off, Tomkinson said.
The borrowing bylaw must now go through the alternative approval process, which means if fewer than 550 residents sign a peti-tion against borrowing that money for the fire depart-ment projects, it will have public assent.
By Michael PotestioTHE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Fire hall opens doors ahead of major renos
Little critters fi nd outlet in MerrittSue Anderson has
always loved animals. About a year ago, the
born-and-raised Mer-rittonian found a way to parlay that love for critters into a living: by opening Blooming Pets in downtown Merritt.
While Anderson has what she describes as “the usual” for pets — dogs, cats and fish — she has turned her store into a haven for little critters, and some of them are somewhat unusual.
Among them, axo-lotls — freshwater amphibians native to Mexico that live under-water but have lizard-like feet.
Almost an entire wall is dedicated to fish.
The salt water tank houses some more rec-ognizable fish, including clownfish and royal blue tang — species made famous by Nemo and Dory from the 2003 Disney-Pixar blockbuster Finding Nemo.
Their tank-mates
include soft corals, tiny starfish, snails and a formidable-looking spiky black sea urchin.
“When I feed, the whole thing comes to life. Stuff just starts
crawling out of the sand,” she said, and sure enough, tiny crabs emerge for food.
Anderson said fish are among her more popular offerings. Of
the furry critters, ham-sters are a big draw, she said.
She said hamsters tend to make good pets for children because they typically live four
to five years — a much smaller commitment than the 15 of a rabbit or 25 for a turtle.
As well as offering a smattering of little critters for people in
Merritt, Anderson also works with a local cat and kitten rescue and Newbark Canine Rescue and Rehoming Society, a local small dog rescue. She supports them when she can and fosters dogs for Newbark, which get plenty of exposure at the store.
Anderson also has the help of four volun-teers, who are all girls in their mid-teens.
“They’re a huge help to me. All kinds of stuff, from cleaning the betta bowls, one will do the turtle tank, I give them different tasks and dif-ferent times,” she said, adding she also parlays her love of animals into lessons for her volun-teers.
“That’s one thing my volunteers like too, I kind of quiz them a little bit. I teach them things. I don’t want them to just hang around and do nothing.”
Anderson will be offering cake to cele-brate the one-year anni-versary of her store on March 29 during regular store hours.
Blooming Pets owner Sue Anderson holds Miley, a Newbark puppy who’s up for adoption, in front of her store’s salt water fish tank. Emily Wessel/Herald
By Emily WesselTHE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
www.merrittherald.com 4 • TUESDAY, March 25, 2014
After school programs play an important positive role in the academ-ic and personal development of children, especially in an era when many parents work full time. Upon arrival, children will learn how to make healthy snacks. While eating their snacks, kids will have the op-portunity to listen to stories and play games such as cards and board games. The rest of the day will be a mix of physical activities such as sports, hiking, swimming, etc and community projects.
Ages: Kindergarten to Grade 7When: Mondays and TuesdaysMarch 31 to June 17, 2014Time: 3:00 to 6:00pmCost: 6 weeks $19012 weeks $360 (works out to $15 a day)Payment plan options availableTransportation: Provided from the 5 public schools at 3pm.
Register @ the Civic Centre 250-315-1050 or the Aquatic Centre 250-378-6662
For more information, contact Josée at250-315-1075 or jwarren@pacifi csport.com
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
TUESDAYSAPRIL 1 - JUNE 35:30 - 6:30 PM
Meet @ Civic Centre, Room 2$80
Registration cost covers a 10 wk run program, country run
registraion & t-shirt.
This is an introductory running program for all levels of ability. The course will consist of walk/run intervals with the running times
slowly increasing. The ultimate goal is to run 5km.
10km option is also available, prerequisite must be able to run 5km.
Movies at the Civic CentreTHE HOBBIT:
THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
Admission $5 CASH ONLY
Concession $1 CASH ONLY
CITY OF MERRITTLeisure Services Department
1950 Mamette AvenueFor more information call:
Civic Centre: 250-315-1050Aquatic Centre: 250-378-6662
Friday, April 4 - 6 pmSunday, April 6 - 2 pm
Rated: PG13
Next council meeting: Tuesday, Jan. ??, 2013Council agendas and minutes at www.merritt.ca
City of Merritt ★ 2185 Voght Street, Box 189Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 ★ Phone: 250-378-4224
Alternate billing cycle for garbage, sewer, water fees proposedThe following is an excerpt from the City of Merritt regu-lar council meeting agenda from March 25, 2014.
In 2013, staff and
council updated the user fees bylaws and began billing the residential utility fees annually on April 1 of each year. The bylaw currently states that the residential fees for gar-bage, sewer and water are due and payable to
the city by May 15 of each year. The bylaw also states that any unpaid utilities at this due date will apply a five per cent penalty.
Today I would like to propose the option to divide the residential utility fees into two equal payments. The feedback received from last year’s update to the utility billing cycle was that residents wanted to see the bill divided in two. I agree with this recommendation
as splitting the invoice will alleviate the burden of the entire year’s fees due at one time. This change will increase communication and connection with tax-payers by reaching them with an invoice in the early spring and again in the fall. The first half of utilities would be invoiced on April 30 and the sec-ond half invoiced on Oct. 31.
The second change proposed for the resi-
dential user fees is the removal of the five per cent penalty. To be compliant with the Community Charter, we must remove the penalty stated in our bylaw for the residen-tial garage, water and sewer fees. To replace the penalty, we’re rec-ommending a 10 per cent discount option when the invoice is paid within 30 days. There will be no increase to the user fees when the invoice is paid on time.
Open invitation for song competitionThe Honourable Judith
Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, is pleased to present a new program to promote music and com-munity spirit across the prov-ince. “Sing Me A Song” is an opportunity for musical groups of all ages and genres to write
and sing an original song in the lead-up to Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations in 2017. Groups are encouraged to write a song about what Can-ada’s 150th birthday means to them or their community. Each entry will be previewed by a panel of musicians from
around the province and an award of $1,000 will be grant-ed annually in each of three age categories. Entries will be posted on the Lieutenant Governor’s website and You-Tube channel, Sing Me A Song BC, to be viewed by all British Columbians.
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, March 25, 2014 • 5
Embattled NDP MLA Jenny Kwan said Friday she has repaid nearly $35,000 in questionable vaca-tion expenses to the Portland Hotel Society relating to trips her family took in 2012 after the release of bombshell government audits last week.
A tearful Kwan told reporters she will take a leave of absence of undetermined length but will remain MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.
“Words cannot adequately express how shocked and sorry I am about the find-ings of these audits,” Kwan said. “I can’t tell you how upsetting this is to me.”
She said she believed the portion of costs for her and her children to go along on trips to Europe and Disneyland that sur-faced in the Portland audits had been paid by her estranged hus-band, a Portland Hotel Society manager at the time.
Citing difficulty getting Portland to verify the amounts linked to her family and in determining whether her husband would repay the money, Kwan said she was doing it herself via a cheque deliv-ered that morning for $34,922.57.
She said that’s the full amount that either her ex-husband or her family is associated with that was paid by Portland.
“I trusted that he was telling the truth,” Kwan said. “I’m taking responsibility for this because I was part of the family unit at the time.”
Kwan’s statement follows revelations in
twin audits released by the province that uncovered irregular management expenses by the non-profit soci-ety that serves people in Vancouver’s Down-town Eastside.
The money Kwan is repaying includes trips to Vienna and Bristol and a separate trip to Disneyland.
Kwan said she booked and paid for the Disneyland vaca-tion herself but her
husband then told her they had a hotel upgrade, which she believed he and not Portland had paid for.
Asked by reporters if she had consid-ered resigning, Kwan responded: “No, I haven’t.”
The Portland Hotel Society board and senior managers resigned earlier this week after the pro-vincial government threatened to cut off
funding if they didn’t. Health Minister
Terry Lake said the millions of dollars in questionable or unsub-stantiated expenses uncovered by the audits were an inap-propriate and unac-ceptable use of taxpay-ers’ money.
Large amounts were spent on vaca-tions, high-end hotels, limousines and other questionable expenses, including payments
to various affiliated companies run by PHS staff or board mem-bers.
The society oper-ates the supervised drug injection site in the Downtown East-side, as well as other services.
250-378-8183
7 kms North of Merritt on Hwy 5A
NEW CLOTHES, HATS, JEWELRY AND MUCH MORE!
Spring Items Arriving Daily!
Since 1919R
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Shawn Clough, District Program Manager Telephone: 250 371-3817 Fax: 250 371-3848
E-mail: Shawn.Clough@gov.bc.ca447 Columbia Street, Suite 127
Kamloops, B.C. V2C 2T3
Brake Check CommercialThe Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is seeking proposals for a seasonal commercial vending operation at the Zopkios Brake Check.
Proposals must be submitted before 2:00 p.m., April 1, 2014.
Proponents are asked to visit www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca under the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Category to view Zopkios Brake Check Vendor Opportunity details and submission requirements and documents.
Information is also available from the ministry contact provided below.
Vending Opportunity
PROVINCE
Kwan repays $35,000 in travel costs, takes leaveLongtime NDP MLA won’t resign
By Jeff NagelBLACK PRESSjnagel@blackpress.ca
NDP MLA Jenny Kwan fielded questions from reporters Friday after saying she would repay her family’s vacation costs linked to the Portland Hotel Society. CTV Vancouver/Twitter
www.merrittherald.com 6 • TUESDAY, March 25, 2014
In protest to the crisis in Crimea, the government of Manitoba is consider-ing hitting Russia where it hurts — right in the vodka.
Consumerism is a powerful weapon, and one that consumers and entire countries have used over history to send messages to businesses, industries and other countries.
While boycotts against specific products protect
consumers from the direct negative consequences of a product, they can be suc-cessful at changing ques-tionable business practices to varying degrees.
Consumerism is a highly political act, espe-cially on the grand stage of the global economy. Prohibitions on trade with a country or sanctions lim-iting said trade can have very damaging effects on economies. At their most successful, embargoes inspire public pressure that overwhelm corrupt politi-cal systems.
In the 1960s, the Anti-Apartheid Movement start-ed as a consumer boycott of South African products in protest to that country’s racial segregation, and it soon took off internation-ally.
Some of the effects of
the Boycott Movement, as it was called, included South Africa being removed from the Com-monwealth in 1961 and suspended from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. It would take another three decades before apartheid would be abolished, but other coun-tries took a clear stance on the issue and supported internal movements against the system of segregation.
On a smaller but none-theless history-changing scale, the U.S. civil rights movement got a huge surge from the 1955 Mont-gomery Bus Boycott, which lasted about a year from when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala. for a white person in December 1955 to December 1956 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation on
transit to be unconstitu-tional. The sheer quantity of people who refused to ride the bus during those times was enough to cause economic hardship to the transit system and bring huge attention to civil rights abuses and systemic racism.
As with just about every Olympics, boycotts were a hot topic during the recent Sochi games. Some said they’d forgo the games and everything associated with it to take a stand against Russia’s political strife, while others chose to forgo politics and root for their countries’ athletes in the name of nationalism.
Obviously, these boy-cotts and the rhetoric around them did not bring down Putin or his regime, but even if people weren’t picketing out on the streets
with homemade signs, a symbolic stand against problematic politics and the corruption and vio-lence they engender was spurred.
But boycotts don’t always change things politically or even reflect the political or economic climate of the day. Though it’s undergone some changes over the years, U.S.-Cuba embargo has seen the countries at a trade standstill for about five decades.
So while I don’t think politicizing vodka is going to settle the clash in Crimea, I do see it as a symbol for taking action. On its own, it might be weak, but in combination with international sanc-tions and pressure on the subject, it could be one piece in a powerful puzzle.
HERALD OPINION
How far will paranoia drive Putin?
Crimea is going to be part of Rus-sia, and there is nothing anybody else can do about it. The petty sanctions the United States and the European Union are currently imposing have been discounted in advance by Mos-cow, and even much more serious sanc-tions would not move it to reconsider its actions. But President Vladimir Putin still has to decide what he does next.
One option, of course, is to do nothing more. He has his little local tri-umph in Crimea, which is of consider-able emotional value to most Russians, and he has erased the loss of face he suffered when he mishandled the crisis in Kyiv so badly. If he just stops now, those sanctions will be quietly removed in a year or two, and it will be busi-ness as usual between Moscow and the West.
If it’s that easy to get past the pres-ent difficulties in Moscow’s relations with the U.S. and the EU, why would Putin consider doing anything else? Because he may genuinely believe he is the victim of a Western political offen-sive in Eastern Europe.
Paranoids sometimes have real enemies. NATO’s behaviour since the collapse of the Soviet Union, viewed from Moscow, has been treacherous and aggressive, and it doesn’t require a huge leap of the imagination to see the European Union’s recent policy in Ukraine as a continuation of that policy.
After non-violent revolutions swept the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe from power in 1989, the Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev, made a historic deal with U.S. president George H.W. Bush. It was unquestion-ably the most important diplomatic agreement of the late 20th century.
Ban on Russian vodka a weak protest
2090 GRANITE AVE., PO BOX 9, MERRITT, B.C. PHONE (250) 378-4241 FAX (250) 378-6818MERRITT HERALDCopyright subsists in all display advertising in this edition of the Merritt Herald. Permission to reproduce in any form, must be obtained in writing from the publisher. We acknowledge the fi nancial support of the Government of Canada, through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
This Merritt Herald is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org
EditorEmily Wesselnewsroom@
merrittherald.com
PublisherTheresa Arnold
production@merrittherald.com
Sports writerIan Webster
sports@merrittherald.com
Office managerCarol Soamesclassifieds@
merrittherald.com
ReporterMichael Potestio
reporter@merrittherald.com
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By Gwynne Dyergwynnedyer.com
See ‘NATO nearing’ Page 7
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, March 25, 2014 • 7
The Merritt Herald welcomes your letters, on any subject, addressed to the editor.
Letters must be signed and include the writer’s name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
Letters may be edited for length, taste and clar-ity. Please keep letters to 300 words or less. Email letters to: newsroom@merrittherald.com.
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about your Friends & Neighbours.Ph: 250.378.4241 Fax: 250.378.6818reporter@merrittherald.com www.merrittherald.com2090 Granite Avenue, P.O. Box 9, Merritt, B.C.
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You can comment on any story you read @
merrittherald.com
Dear Editor,
On Sunday, March 16 in the evening, my wife and I, while on our way out for supper, had a flat tire on High-way 8 between Merritt and Lower Nicola. While fumbling around trying to get my spare tire down, a young fellow passed and turned around and came back to assist us. Whether it was pure generosity motivated by our grey hair, we’ll never know, but he changed our tire and wished us well and was on his way after a day of snowmobiling in the high country. We offered money and he refused, saying people should want to help others out.
We have lived in Lower Nic for going on seven years and found the people down to earth and kind. We love it here.
To the young man who came to our aid, thanks again. We know the world is in good hands with young people like you.
Stan and Gladys StevensLower Nicola
Thanks for the roadside help
Gorbachev agreed to bring all the Soviet garrisons home from the former satellites and even to allow the reunification of Germany — a very difficult concession when the generation of Russians who had suffered so greatly at Germany’s hands was still alive.
In return, the elder president Bush prom-ised the countries that had previously served the Soviet Union as a buffer zone between it and Germany — Poland, Czecho-slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria — would not be swept up into an expanding NATO. They would be free, but NATO’s tanks and aircraft would not move a thousand
kilometres closer to Moscow.
It was a wise deal between two men who understood the burden of history, but they were both gone from power by the end of 1992 — and Gor-bachev had neglected to get the promise written into a binding treaty.
So it was broken, and all those countries were in NATO by 2004 — together with three other countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, that had
actually been part of the Soviet Union itself.
NATO’s eastern frontier is now only 120 kilometres from Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg.
The Russians were burned again when NATO encouraged the secession of Kosovo from Serbia (a handy precedent for Crimea’s secession from Ukraine), and once more when NATO got Moscow’s agree-ment to an emergency military intervention in Libya to stop a mas-
sacre and expanded it into a campaign to overthrow the ruler, Moammar Gadhafi.
To Russian eyes, what has been hap-pening in Ukraine is more of the same. If Putin believes that, then he thinks he is already in a new Cold War, and he might as well go ahead and improve his posi-tion for the coming struggle as much as possible.
Specifically, he should grab as much of Ukraine as he can, because otherwise the western part will be turned into a NATO base to be used against him.
Crimea is irrelevant in this context: The Russian naval bases there are nostalgic rel-ics from another era, of no real strategic
value in the 21st cen-tury.
What Putin does need, if another Cold War is coming, is control of the parts of Ukraine where Russian speakers are a majority or nearly so: not just the east, but also the Black Sea coast.
But he shouldn’t occupy western Ukraine, because he would face a pro-longed guerilla war if he did.
This is all extremely paranoid thinking, and perhaps it never passes through Putin’s mind at all. But if it does, then he knows he has just over two months to make up his mind.
If Putin allows Ukraine to hold the scheduled national election on May 25, then even the prepos-
terous pretext he has been using for the past month to justify his meddling — that he is intervening to protect Russian-speakers from a “fascist junta” in Kyiv — will vanish. So we should know fairly soon which way he is going to jump.
My money says Putin will stop with Crimea, because he’s not that paranoid and because he under-stands how weak Rus-sia is economically and how quickly it would lose a new Cold War. He has already saved his face; why run fur-ther risks?
But I have been wrong in the past, once or twice.
Gwynne Dyer is an inde-pendent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
From Page 6
NATO nearing Russia’s western frontier
‘‘‘NATO’s eastern frontier is now only 120 kilometres from Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg.’
— COLUMNISTGWYNNE DYER
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www.merrittherald.com 8 • TUESDAY, March 25, 2014
Under its new regulations, the BC Government has set up an association led by big corporations to take over the local Blue Box recycling program throughout BC. If you look closely, you’ll see that of seven board members, six are executives of Toronto-based multi-national corporations, with the seventh weighing in from Montreal.
How do you like that, British Columbia?
This means, unlike the current program run locally by BC municipalities, this new program will be managed not by people whose fi rst responsibility is our local environment, but rather, their Bay St. profi ts.
That can’t be a good thing for BC.
The most perplexing thing is that we currently have a Blue Box program that works, is effi cient, and costs BC homeowners just
$35 a year on average. The new proposed system does not guarantee to keep our local environment as its fi rst priority, nor does it guarantee that there won’t be job losses here in BC.
It doesn’t guarantee service levels, or say anything about how big business will pass along the costs to you when you go to pick up a pizza or buy groceries.
Yikes!
Perhaps this is why several of BC’s municipalities refuse to sign onto the new program, calling it a “scam.” Given that, maybe it’s time you called Premier Clark to keep BC’s environmental decisions right here in BC where they belong.
What’s going on here?
Email Christy Clark at premier@gov.bc.ca or call 250-387-1715. For more info, visit RethinkItBC.ca. #RethinkItBC.
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www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, March 25, 2014 • 9
Public Safety Notice – Winter recreationalists and snowmobilers
Winter recreationalists and snowmobilers should be aware that construction of the Interior to Lower Mainland (ILM) Transmission Line continues. On-site activities include clearing of the right-of-way; construction of access roads and tower foundations; and tower assembly and erection.
The ILM right-of-way continues to be a construction zone with restricted access. Restricted access is required for worker and public safety to avoid risks associated with such things as guy lines, partially constructed foundations, construction materials, or other potential hazards that may be hidden or partially hidden by the snow.
Please avoid using the right-of-way for your activities. If you are in the area, use extra care when traveling around the right-of-way.
The ILM project is a new 247 kilometre 500 kilovolt transmission line between Merritt and Coquitlam that will expand the electrical system so that BC Hydro can continue to deliver clean and reliable energy to homes and businesses in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
For more information on the project please visit: bchydro.com/ilm.
If you have any questions, please contact BC Hydro Stakeholder Engagement: 1 866 647 3334 or 604 623 4472 or send an email to stakeholderengagement@bchydro.com.
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LUCK OF THE DRAW Wendy Boraas (second from right) won a $1,000 gift card to Home Hardware in a joint contest held by the store and Royal LePage. Anybody who bought or sold through the agency over four months was entered into the draw. Boraas plans to put the money toward a patio furniture set. Pictured, from left: Royal LePage owner Claudette Edenoste, broker John Isaac, winner Wendy Boraas, and Home Hardware owner Peter Moyes. Emily Wessel/Herald
www.merrittherald.com 10 • TUESDAY, March 25, 2014
By Ian WebsterTHE HERALD
sports@merrittherald.com
Earlier this month, the British Columbia Hockey League announced its 20134-14 all-star teams. The win-ners were chosen from a survey of BCHL coach-es and broadcasters.
This season, all three divisions of the BCHL and 11 of the 16 mem-ber teams were repre-sented in the all-star selections.
Merritt Centennials
netminder Devin Kero was chosen to the BCHL All-Rookie Team.
The 20-year-old Kero, who hails from Hancock, Mich., played in 40 regular-season games for the Centennials, amassing a record of 19 wins, 15 losses and four ties.
Kero’s regular-season save percentage of 91.8 was third-best in the league, while his goals-against average of 2.48 was sixth-best overall.
The six-foot one-inch, 168-pound Kero has committed to play for the Michigan Tech Huskies starting in either 2014 or 2015.
HERALD SPORTSmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
Have a sports story tip? Tell us about it by calling 250-378-4241 or emailing sports@merrittherald.com
BCHL playoffs: and then there were threeBy Ian WebsterTHE HERALD
sports@merrittherald.com
Round two of the 2013-14 BCHL playoffs is now in the history books, and just three teams remain in the hunt for the Fred Page Cup.
The Interior Con-ference final went right down to the wire on the weekend, with the Vernon Vipers win-ning out, 4-3, over the Penticton Vees in dra-matic fashion.
Tied at three games apiece, it went all the way to 2:06 of the first overtime period in game seven before Michael McNicholas scored the series winner for the vic-torious Vipers.
Playing in front of a largely-hostile, sold-out crowd of 3,142 at the South Okanagan Entertainment Centre in Penticton, the Vipers needed two unanswered goals in the third period from Colton Sparrow and Brett Mulcahy to send the winner-take-all contest into extra innings and set the table for McNicholas’s OT heroics.
Mulcahy also scored the Vipers’ opening goal in the first period, while the Vees got tallies from Ben Dalpe, Cody DePourcq and Steen Cooper to build a 3-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes of regulation play.
Austin Smith stopped 23 of 26 shots in the Vernon net for the game seven win. His counter-part, Olivier Mantha, stopped all but four of 27 pucks directed his way.
Both teams had the benefit of three power-plays, but only Sparrow’s marker came with the man advantage.
Home field advan-tage meant little in the back-and-forth series between the Vipers and Vees as the two teams combined to win five times on enemy soil.
The Penticton-Vernon showdown in the Interior Conference final was the result of first-round series wins over the Merritt Centennials and the West Kelowna Warriors respectively.
In the Coast Conference final, the upstart Coquitlam Express continued to play the role of spoiler, downing the number-one ranked Langley Rivermen four games to two in their best-of-seven second-round series.
Coquitlam’s first two wins came in Langley in games one and two, while their final two victories were earned on home ice in games four and six.
The third-ranked Express got to the con-ference final thanks to another upset of sorts, as they downed the second-ranked Prince George
Spruce Kings in round one, also in six games.
Finally, in the Island Conference, the Victoria Cougars needed to win just once on the other team’s ice in knocking off the Powell River Kings in six games.
Until the final game — a 4-2 win for the Cougars in Powell River — each team had been dominant at home but unable to steal a victory on the road.
Two of the three winning teams in round two of the playoffs have a connection to the Merritt Centennials.
Playing for the Vernon Vipers is for-mer Centennial Dylan Chanter. The 19-year-old native of Armstrong toiled on the Cents’ blueline for two seasons before leaving to try his hand south of the border in the North American Hockey League.
Chanter left the
NAHL after Christmas, and Merritt traded his BCHL rights to the Vipers for 20-year-old defenceman Jason Bird.
In 19 regular-season games with Vernon, Chanter failed to register a point; however, the stay-at-home D’man has come up big in the post-season, scoring twice and adding two assists in 13 games.
The Cents’ ties to the Express are even deeper. Playing for Coquitlam are a pair of 19-year-old former Centennials — defenceman John Saunders and forward Brendan Lamont.
Saunders was released by Merritt at the beginning of the 2013-14 season. After a stop for coffee in the Alberta Junior Hockey League in the fall, the Calgarian was picked up by the Express.
After playing two seasons with the Cen-tennials, Lamont was
traded to the Trail Smoke Eaters last sum-mer for experienced defenceman Shane Poulsen.
Shortly before Christmas, Lamont was moved to the Penticton Vees. He played just 17 games for coach Fred Harbinson’s squad before being shifted once again — to the Express.
Like Chanter, Lamont has been productive in the post-season, scoring once and adding four assists in 12
playoff games for the Express.
The BCHL play-offs now move into uncharted territory. For the first time, the format for round three will see the remaining three teams play a round robin series of home-and-away games against each other, beginning March 28.
The top two teams following the six-game, round-robin series will then meet in the Fred Page Cup final — a best-of-seven game series starting April 11.
The winner of the Fred Page Cup will represent the BCHL in the Western Canada Cup, slated for April 26 to May 4 in Dauphin, Man.
In its second year of existence, the WCC brings together the
champions of the BCHL, the AJHL, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in a five-team, 13-game tournament to decide the Western Canadian champion.
The WCC winning team and the runner-up team will represent Western Canada at the RBC Cup National Junior A Championship, scheduled for May 10 to 18 in Vernon. Other teams in attendance will be from central Canada, Eastern Canada and the host Vipers.
Should Vernon qualify for the Western Canada Cup and go on to place first or second at the WCC, their qualify-ing spot for the RBC Cup will be taken by the WCC’s third-place finisher.
Dylan Chanter (Vernon) Brendan Lamont (Coquitlam) John Saunders (Coquitlam)
The Cents Connection
Merritt Centennials’ Devin Kero chosen to BCHL rookie all-star team
Devin Kero
BCHL First-Team All-Stars
GoalJayson Argue
Nanaimo Clippers
DefenceBrett BeauvaisPenticton Vees
Marc BiegaCoquitlam Express
ForwardLandon Smith
Salmon Arm SilverbacksBrad McClurePenticton Vees
Myles FitzgeraldVictoria Grizzlies
BCHL Second-Team All-Stars
GoalHunter MiskaPenticton Vees
DefenceCarter CochraneChilliwack Chiefs
Christian WeidauerP. George Spruce Kings
ForwardAdam Rockwood
Coquitlam ExpressDavid Pope
West Kelowna WarriorsGerry FitzgeraldVictoria Grizzlies
BCHL All-Rookie Team
GoalDevin Kero
Merritt Centennials
DefenceAlexandre Coulombe
Penticton VeesCarter CochraneChilliwack Chiefs
ForwardLiam Blackburn
West Kelowna WarriorsJarid LukoseviciusPowell River Kings
Danton HeinenSurrey Eagles
www.merrittherald.com TUESDAY, March 25, 2014 • 11
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Rooms for RentFurnished room avail. Apr 15. $465/mon. Incl. util. Call 250-378-5128Furnished room for rent $415/mon. Incl. util. Call 250-378-5128Room for rent in large house on golf course. Cable, internet, furnished. $450/mon. 250-378-7154
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SERVING ALL CITIZENS OF MERRITT AND
SURROUNDING AREAJust a reminder that regular dental visits are
an important part of your overall health.
CALL TODAY250-378-5877
or drop by at 1999 Voght Street, beside the Credit Union to book an appointment.
NEW PATIENTS ALWAYS WELCOME!
1999 Voght St., (next to the Credit Union)
PO Box 3090, Merritt, BC V1K 1B8Call Today to Book Your Appointment.
Ph: 250-378-5877
STOYOMA DENTAL CLINIC
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