Peace News

May Long Weekend

Fri, 18 May 2012 21:49:00 GMT

As everyone is gearing up for May Long Weekend, public is reminded of the open fire ban that will begin tomorrow, Saturday May the 19th at noon, this does not include the Fort Nelson area. Campfires are still allowed to burn at .5 by .5 meters in a secure area. Also May Long is known to have more troubles on the roads like speeding and drinking and driving.

Fort St John Corporal Shelkie wants to remind public they are out there for safety, not to ruin anyones long weekend, "it's not like we work on commission its not like every speeding ticket we get a bonus on our paycheque. We don't want to write the tickets we want people to be safe its in our best interest to keep people safe and they drive at the speed limit so that we're not going to accidents and dealing with injury or death."

Another tip she offers is to to add more time to reach your destination as traffic and weather could put a delay in your travels.

Northern Health signs 'historic' agreement on health care for natives in Northern BC

Fri, 18 May 2012 19:47:00 GMT

The Northern Regional Health Caucus, interim First Nations Health Authority, and Northern Health have signed an agreement that aims to improve the way health care is delivered to First Nations peoples in northern communities.

The First Nations Health Authority calls the Partnership Accord 'historic'. The aim is to improve health services delivery to first nations in northern BC, who do often live far away from urban centres.

Laura Webb, representative with the northern regional health caucus says the agreement is about incorporating a culturally sensitive approach to health care for Aboriginal communities. The agreement "acknowledges the right of self government for First Nations, and Northern Health's mandated right to provide services for those living within it's territory".

She says the next step for the signatories is to discuss what needs to be addressed in order to adapt health service delivery to Native groups on and off reserve by incorporating cultural elements. Webb says " the partners will work to increase understanding in First Nations traditions, customs, protocols, and the entire Northern Health system to incorporate a cultural responsiveness strategy".

They will also discuss increasing access in northern communities, and increase recruitment and retention of health care providers in the north. No timetable has been set in when to develop or implement changes

Residents Plan Rotary Lake's Future

Fri, 18 May 2012 01:38:00 GMT

Last night the Friends of Rotary Lake society had their first official meeting since being declared an official group by the city.

At the first meeting the group gathered to begin plans for the season. Friends of Rotary Lake Society member and Vice President of the Mile Zero Park Society Sharlene Weingart says the meeting was held to brainstorm ideas for the summer.

"Our goal was to come up with events for the summer that we would be able to plan and host that we would be able to bring families into enjoy the lake and picnic area through out the season," Weingart said.

According to the groups page on Facebook there are over 2600 members. While only five attended last night Weingart isn't concerned that this will be a reflection on the lakes future.

"It wasn't a formal meeting about society stuff it was more articles and vision about the future," according to Weingart

June 23rd will be the opening party. Weingart and her team are planning for a BBQ, kids games, mascots, and maybe a BMX demonstration and volleyball tournament. The planning committee also began plans for two other events, a Beat the Heat party at the end of July as well as a Pull the Plug party in September. Weingart, and her team, are feeling good moving forward.

"I feel really positive, like we have three events in the works planning that will be all inclusive, that will include activities for everyobody and they will be free or inexpensive to everybody to attend," said Weingart

volunteers will be needed for all events for planning as well as day of work. to find out more about how you can help visit the groups facebook page friends of rotary lake.

International Day Against Homophobia

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:03:00 GMT

Today is International Day Against Homophobia. In British Columbia a collaboration from the RCMP and the BC Hate Crime Team brought this cause to fruition. Locally in Fort St John there is a group called Stand Up, a formation of gay, lesbian and straight teens that want to show tolerance and acceptance in their high school. NPSS Student Jesse Gunn, says like many he just recently found out what today was and wanted to show his support, "I was looking around the room and there was a dusty old poster that said May 17th stand up against homophobia and I thought it's an International day so i thought at least I could show a little support." The group has a strong support system from founding member Mr.Lovell and other adults, they meet every Wednesday lunch hour in room 113 at North Peace Secondary.

Three Peace region students honoured at National Science Fair

Thu, 17 May 2012 21:03:00 GMT

Three students from the Peace region are coming home with scholarships and prizes from the National Science Fair competition in Charlottetown, PEI.

Rachael McPhail, a grade 9 student at South Peace Secondary and her entry "To play or not to play?" took the the bronze medal in the Western University Scholarship competition, which includes a $1000 entrance scholarship. Rachael also won bronze in the intermediate category in the Nuclear Waste Management Organization Excellence Award, which adds another $300 to her prize total.

Kevala Van Volkenberg, a grade 9 student at Bert Bowes Junior High in Fort St. John was honoured for her "Finding a better brain booster" entry. She won silver in the Western University Scholarship competition, which includes a $2000 entrance scholarship. She also won silver in the intermediate age category in the Youth Science Canada Excellence Award, which carries a $700 award.

Meagan Haugen-Koechl, a grade 9 student at Charlie Lake Elementary also won a $2000 entrance scholarship and Youth Science Canada intermediate silver for her project "Feeding the Bees: A seasonal protein analysis for Bumblebees in the Peace"

In total, the BC and Yukon delegation took home 42 medals and 49 scholarships, totalling over $145 000.

Man charged in violent home invasion

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:01:00 GMT

Charges have been laid in Tuesday morning's violent home invasion in Fort St. John.

31 year old Dylan Hamm from Fort St. John is facing two counts of assault with a weapon, along with single counts of uttering threats, break and enter, and breach of probation.

Four males broke into a residence on 96th avenue at about 1 AM and assaulted two residents inside. A third resident escaped and called 9-1-1. Hamm turned himself in later that day.

Police are still looking for the three other men in the assault. They are all described as between 5 foot 4 and 5 foot 6 inches tall, with slim builds. They were all wearing masks at the time of the attack.

Open fire ban for the Peace region

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:10:00 GMT

The BC Forest Service is imposing an open fire ban on the Peace region, starting this Saturday at noon.

The prohibition covers most of the Prince George Fire Centre, but the area north of Buckinghorse River in the Fort Nelson Fire Zone is exempt.

The ban will be in place until September 30th at the latest. The ban applies to burn piles of under two metres, including burning barrels, the use of fireworks, and grass burns of under 2000 square metres.

The good news for people planning on camping this long weekend is that the ban does not affect campfires.

Dozens of fires have popped up in the peace over the last few weeks, due to warm dry and windy conditions. BC Wildfire has most of the Peace region listed at a high risk for fire danger. Fort Nelson and areas around are listed at either moderate or low risk.

Five fires are listed as over 20 hectares and still active in the Peace. The largest fire in the province so far this season was the 140 hectare blaze that started on May 11th, near Taylor.

DARE: Drug Abuse Resistance Education

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:48:00 GMT

Fort St. John Corporal Shelkie took special training in order to teach a program known as DARE in local elemenary schools, she says DARE educates youth to better prepare them for temptations or peer pressure they may face, "DARE stands for drug abuse resistance education and it's taught at the grade five level for the basic curriculum because we found through surveys that the first time a child is offered a drug is at the age of twelve." Corporal Shelkie adds, an open conversation at home helps children better understand risks involved with drugs and alcohol. And always be honest with children, they know a lot more than you may think.

Students help introduce thousands of fish into Moberly Lake

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:01:00 GMT

About 50 elementary school students waited anxiously as the truck arrived, loaded with about a thousand lake trout. The fish are part of a project to restock and rejuvenate the fish population in Moberly Lake. The population of trout in Moberly Lake has dwindled over the last decade, and were facing extinction. The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources took trout breeding stock from the lake last year, and raised them at a fish farm on Vancouver Island.

This is the first of three phases of fish reintroduction. The fish being introduced were bred from stock taken from the lake last year. Brendan Anderson, a fish biologist with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources says "This is part of a recovery strategy to try to basically prevent what looks like pretty imminent extinction of the lake trout population in the lake here".

Anderson says Ministry estimates put trout populations as low as 300 individuals. This is part of a decade long issue in the lake, where populations have been falling because the trout in the lake are breeding at lower rates than normal.

As part of their recovery effort, Over 14 000 yearlings were introduced into the river on Wednesday morning. Children from Moberly Lake Elementary school and the Salteau First nation came out to help introduce about a thousand of these fish into their new home

Native leaders came to bless the fish, as they were introduced to their new home. Trout fishing is an important part of the community, and especially for kids growing up around the lake.

Anneli Duncan, Principal at Moberly Lake Elementary says the lake provides an important resource for her students. "A lot of the families, they fish for food. This is their winter food that helps them supplement what they're eating out here."

With this massive trout release here in Moberly Lake, the hope is that the life in the lake and the fishing culture around the community will survive for generations to come.

Dawson Creek Offers Water Treatment Plant Tours

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:34:00 GMT

They say you can't truly understand someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. Well, to truly understand where Dawson Creek gets it's water from you need to stroll a little farther.

"Our water is taken out of the Kiskatinaw River. It's actually quite turbid so quite cloudy and muddy. It has to go through several different reservoirs to settle out before we can actually bring it into the plant. It's brought about 20-25 kilometers through a series of pipes and booster stations before it actually reaches the plant so it has a long way to go. By the time it reaches the plant the turbidity is reduced anywhere from 500 to 100 down to about 2. Now as it comes into the plant the water goes through a series of filters and then a granuler activated carbon filter which is essentially a big Brita filter after that it's treated with UV and finally disenfected with chlorine before being sent out into the distribution network," Water Treatment Operator Mike Linthorn said.

Dawson Creek water is fed from two main watersheds. Linthorne says that mild winters, like the one we had this year, can negatively affect that water supply.

"The mild winter...it's more related to the snow pack right? So, depending on how much snow is in the watershed, that will provide a buffer for us over the warmer months. As the snow melts it'll refill our rivers and our source waters and allow us to continue pumping from the river. In years where we have severe droughts the level of the Kiskatinaw can be quite low and we might have to shut down the pumps to deal with the drought situation," Linthorne said.

Water is one of earth's most finite resources and Linthorne says that public needs to protect it.

'95%of the drinking water that's produced is used for uses other than drinking so, either be it showering, watering your lawn, watering your garden all those things. Those are the areas where we can reduce our water consumption the most. As far as watering your lawns, there's things you can do such a zero scaping landscape which is using plants with low water intakes, using rock gardens rather than lawns, that type of thing. it goes a long way," according to the Linthorne.

Tours of the water treatment plant are available and Linthorne encourages the public to come down for a little education.

"I think it's really important that everybody knows where their water comes from because, without it we won't last long. So, anybody who's interested should come down and we do give tours at the plant and we can explain more and hopefully shed some light on an interesting subject."