33 Years Ago (1985): Some 60 people came off welfare as part of the Forest Works Activity Program. That was considerably more than Forest District Manager Ray Ostby’s projections that only 20 would be hired. A target of hiring 300 people for a total of 20 weeks was set for the Cariboo Forest Region, with the jobs to be split between the then five districts. The goal of the program was “to put people to work doing useful work in forestry, and give them good job experience” in the field, said Ostby.
27 Years Ago (1991): Following an unsuccessful all-day search in the Dendrix Lake area for a missing hunter from the coast, RCMP were ready to organize and air search the next day. But police discovered the Burnaby man, in his 50s, was already back at home. “It was just totally inexcusable behaviour. He didn’t inform his partner he was leaving, he didn’t let anyone know,” said RCMP Staff Sgt. Cliff Lindsay. “If you’re hunting, you’ve got to let people know where you’re going.”
22 Years Ago (1996): 12 out of 24 positions at the South Cariboo Highways District office were eliminated, according to highways ministry spokesman Don Ramsay. The baker’s dozen eliminated included five engineering and four clerical positions. “This doesn’t necessarily mean that they will end up being laid off,” said Ramsay. “They now enter a process where management works with the union and tries to find vacancies in other places for those people.”
17 Years Ago (2001): A referendum brought 2,131 people out who voted 65.4 per cent in favour of increasing the taxation area and property taxes for a new facility. The next step was to accept an architect. The commission’s responsibility was to either go to a proposal call for architectural services or to waive the call and continue working with Bernard Perreten who was hired to design the arena’s conceptual stage. Then-mayor Donna Barnett and two counsellors expressed concerns in waiving the call.
4 Years Ago (2014): The enforcement of a longstanding School District 27 policy for after-hours facility use effectively shut the doors on an area community group. After a teachers’ strike ended that had left the school unavailable Bridge Lake Community School Society President Chris Lange asked if the terms of use would be the same. “I was told ‘no,’ this year they are going to require fees for custodians to be present any time an event is happening outside school hours.”
