3 — A couple dozen Creston residents gathered to watch a 13,000-pound sculpture being set in place beside the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce parking lot. Spirit Bear is another in a series of bear sculptures created by local stone sculptor Stewart Steinhauer.
•Creston resident Katherine McAdam died in what police suspect was a homicide, after a forensic analysis of “suspected human remains” confirmed their identity. The 58-year-old was reported missing from her home on Aug. 18, and the remains were found Aug. 27 while Creston RCMP members were conducting an inquiry at a residence in the 2700 block of Highway 3.
•Nine-year-old Kaelyn Austin Vance raised $1,027.25 for the Southern Alberta Ronald McDonald House by selling sunflowers, dill and Swiss chard, along with her Rainbow Loom bracelets, at the Creston Valley Farmers’ Market. Alberta oil and gas company Nexen will double her donation.
10 — A rash of graffiti complaints from Riondel over a three-day span didn’t lead to a suspect. “There have been words sprayed that are quite rude — ones you wouldn’t print in the newspaper,” said Staff Sgt. Darryl Hammond.
•Creston Fire Rescue Capts. Eric Graham and Randall Fabbro, and members Shana Toale and Jack Bates headed to the Boundary region to help provide support to fire crews in the event of an interface fire, as a large wildlife in Washington approached the Canadian border.
•The second time was the charm for the Creston Irons, the Creston Fire Rescue team that placed first in the Firefighter Games hosted by the Robson Volunteer Fire Department on Sept. 5 and 6. The team finished fifth in 2014, while Nelson Fire Rescue took first; the positions were reversed this time around.
17 — Creston’s town council and mayor approved raises, based on a survey of similar-sized community’s local governments, for the first time in nearly eight years. The mayor’s annual remuneration went from $20,828 to $26,000 and the councillors’ went from $10,730 to $13,000.
•Voters in the Kootenay-Columbia federal riding were able to discuss election issues thanks to a Creston resident Robert Falconer’s non-partisan Facebook page, Just the Issues: Kootenay-Columbia Elections 2015. All of the riding’s candidates participated on the page.
•English tutor Bev Phaneuf earned the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy’s sixth annual Creston Community Literacy Award. For five years, she has been tutoring an East Shore man, who, when his car broke down, walked to Creston from his home north of Wynndel.
24 — Dustin Gerlinksy, a husband and father of two, died in a work-related accident at the J.H. Huscroft Ltd. Sawmill on Sept. 15. He was “pinned between a large stacker and the sort deck on which he was working,” according to Creston RCMP. To help the family, Brandy Dyer started a www.gofundme.com campaign that raised over $53,000.
•School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) approved funding for two new teaching positions at Prince Charles Secondary School, which would “alleviate the pressures on our students and staff,” said Supt. Jeff Jones. Parents and students had complained early in the year that they were unable to enroll students in requested elective courses.
