50 YEARS AGO:
The Board of the Clearwater Improvement District signed an agreement that would see B.C. Hydro supply street lighting. The contract had been formerly held by Central North Thompson Chamber of Commerce.
B.C. Coachways was investigating a new bus schedule between Blue River and Kamloops, a chamber of commerce meeting was told.
45 YEARS AGO:
A trailer loaded with 20 tons of pork overturned into the ditch on a curve eight miles north of Barriere. There had been six other transport accidents and many private automobile ditchings at the same corner over the previous three years.
More than 50 persons turned out to a meeting to discuss an increase in crime in the area. John Harwood, one of the panelists, said that if better policing was needed then the area had to become a municipality. RCMP Cpl. Price said drugs and alcohol may have had a part in the crime rise, but added that an increase is noticed throughout the entire province.
40 YEARS AGO:
Anti-nuclear groups in B.C. were stepping up their efforts in anticipation of the provincial government’s calling a public inquiry within the next few weeks into uranium mining. Strategy of the groups was to call for a full judicial inquiry into the whole matter of uranium mining and nuclear power production, rather than a ‘public inquiry’ intended to just set safety standards for mining uranium.
35 YEARS AGO:
Avola parents turned out in force at a School District 26 trustees’ meeting in Avola to bring home to board members their concern over a possible school closure. Trustees were considering shutting down both Avola Elementary School, 14 pupils, and Birch Island Elementary, 30 pupils, to meet budget restrictions for the next year.
30 YEARS AGO:
A Vancouver woman narrowly escaped death in a single vehicle accident about six kilometers south of Blue River. The woman’s husband had lost control on the icy road surface and rolled their vehicle. She was not wearing a seat belt and was hurled through the side-window in front of a semi heading in the opposite direction.
25 YEARS AGO:
Two Clearwater men were arrested when police cracked a Vancouver Island-based narcotics ring suspected of distributing drugs across Canada. Hashish and high quality marijuana with a street value of over $2 million were seized during an investigation that had begun 10 months earlier, headed by the Courtenay RCMP Sub/Division Drug Section and the Vancouver Island Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit.
20 YEARS AGO:
School District 73 trustees voted to cut back alternate and continuing education programs at Star Lake Campus. “… they are only going to have the rehab program there, which is usually for behavior problem kids,” said North Thompson trustee Hazel Wadlegger.
15 YEARS AGO:
Eve Aimee Labranche, born on Jan. 13, was the first baby of the year at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital. She was the daughter of Annie Martin and Jean Francois Labranche.
Close to 70 local residents met at the Skills Center to set up sub-committees to look into various economic options for the area. The gathering was one of a series of Clearwater Action meetings held in response to Weyerhaeuser’s announcement that it would close its Vavenby sawmill in March.
The IWA intended to present MLA Kevin Krueger with a petition asking that Weyerhaeuser not be allowed to truck logs out of the Clearwater area. “It’s not against Weyerhaeuser, it’s for the community,” said Local 1-417 president Doug Pocket.
A long wait for a kidney transplant ended for Vavenby resident Gerry MacDougall. He had discovered he had kidney disease about seven or eight years earlier.
10 YEARS AGO:
Police seized over 1,000 marijuana plants from a well set up machine shed on a rural property just south of Clearwater. A 53-year-old male and a 46-year-old female were arrested on the property.
An avalanche carrying a considerable amount of snow let go and blocked the road next to Dunn Lake, just south of Alpine Meadows Resort. The slide closed the road for approximately 38 hours.
5 YEARS AGO:
District of Clearwater had contributed $48.5 million in economic stimulus to the community since incorporation, according to Mayor John Harwood. Building permits in the new municipality had averaged about $2.5 million per year, for a total of $16 million.
Melody Romeo took over as manager of Victims Services for the Clearwater and Barriere RCMP detachments. She took over from Kim Stockton, who had been manager for many years.
Wells Gray Search and Rescue assisted Barriere SAR in a search for four overdue snowmobilers on Harp Mountain, which is located northeast of Barriere. The following morning the four used a cellphone to call from the top of the mountain to say they had been delayed but were safe. They had dug in, cut firewood, and stayed warm and dry in a lean-to.
1 YEAR AGO:
One of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District’s busiest libraries didn’t have a fixed location.
It traveled to communities throughout the region that do not have physical public libraries, offering books to residents on wheels.
“Our Bookmobile is our third-highest circulating library,” TNRD chief librarian Judy Moore said.
After 17 years, the 35-foot diesel Blue Bird bus, which had been serving rural communities, had been parked and put up for auction. It traveled as far as Vavenby, Green Lake Provincial Park, Loon Lake, Whitecroft and Westwold, but also spent time in Westsyde.
With about 400,000 kilometres under its belt, the vehicle needed some work, but still ran. The single-axel bus had a recently rebuilt transmission and a generator and is outfitted with maple shelving.
A new Bookmobile was being outfitted in Surrey. The capital project cost approximately $500,000 and was paid for through the TNRD’s public library service reserve fund.
