July
An application by Pacific Northern Gas (PNG) to lower the residential rate for natural gas was accepted by the BC Utilities Commission July 1. PNG cut the rate it charges for natural gas itself by 50 cents a gigajoule from $4.06 a gigajoule to $3.56 – or 12 per cent.
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The City of Terrace re-opens the vehicle gate to its cemetery on Kalum Lake Rd. after a flood of complaints from locals.
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July 5, 26-year-old American film maker Warren Sill goes missing in northwestern BC. The New Hazelton RCMP and BC search and rescue (SAR) teams from the northwest, northeast, southwest region and Vancouver Island completed a thorough ground and air search of the area before calling off the search July 20.
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WESTJET considers Terrace as one of the destinations its new regional airline could service when it takes to the air next year, says Northwest Regional Airport manager at July’s start. The company interviewed Hendry in Calgary about passenger statistics and other information to aid its selection.
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A PROVINCIAL government plan to provide skilled workers for the region’s large industrial projects has hit an employment snag of its own – it can’t find someone to do the job. It re-opens a call to hire a local resident for the job after a June closing date turned out nobody.
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SKEENA New Democrat MLA Robin Austin has been nominated to run for his party in next May’s provincial election. Austin, who won the seat in 2005 and again in 2009, was chosen by acclamation at a meeting held by the New Democratic Party’s Skeena provincial riding association on June 23.
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THE PROVINCE announces it is spending $260,000 to help clean up two local properties affected by industrial or commercial use. Privately-owned NSD Development Corporation is getting $165,042.43 and the rest goes to the city-owned Co-op property.
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TWO pilots receive an award from the The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) for their work at a June fatal helicopter crash near Sleeping Beauty Mountain. Kief Khanlarian and Andy Ramsay with White River Helicopters first found the wreckage.
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RCMP call off their search July 20 for two boxes of dynamite which were lost on a forest service road west of Terrace a week prior. Three boxes, each containing 15 sticks of dynamite, apparently fell off a delivery truck belonging to Orica Canada. The third box was found on the road but there was no sign of the other two.
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The B.C. government demands July 23 extensive pipeline and coastal tanker safeguards as well as a bigger share of cash benefits for the province and First Nations as preconditions for considering any new oil pipelines.
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A months-long standoff between union members and a Terrace Shoppers Drug Mart owner ends July 27th. Employees at the Lakelse Ave. location walked off the job May 1st.
August
The new refurbished furniture shop and social enterprise beside George Little House on Greig Ave. the CoreStore, quietly opens its doors.
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A 13-year-old arsonist will spend 18 months on probation with conditions after pleading guilty to one count of arson at Teaching Tools and three breaches that all occurred in 2011.
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The City of Terrace puts its foot down on three local building owners with properties deemed dangerous and unsightly. Owners of three properties on Little Ave. — 4450, 4440, and Terrace’s first hospital at 4520 — each receive a letter from the city demanding they make plans to shape up their buildings and properties.
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A MAN well-known for his commitment to the community, the local legion and the game of soccer is being fondly remembered after his sudden death Aug. 4 Les Sinnott, 59, died after his vehicle went off Hwy 16 near the east entrance to the city Sinnott was said to be “in medical distress” when emergency services arrived and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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Terrace Search and Rescue and Terrace Water Rescue spent three days combing the Skeena River for Alvin Clayton Jr., after friends reported him missing and phoned police at about 7:42 p.m. Aug. 5.
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David Black, owner of Black Press Ltd., makes the rounds after announcing he wants to build a $13 billion dollar oil refinery near Kitimat to process crude from the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. He meets with both skepticism and support.
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A $17,500 report is being commissioned by Terrace and the Kitimat-Stikine regional district in the hope its recommendations will help bring a share of provincial revenues collected from resource-based industrial projects back to the northwest.
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VETERAN city councillor Lynne Christiansen battles a rare disease and is flown to a Vancouver hospital for treatment. Wegener’s disease, a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by inflamed blood vessels, has no known cure.
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A WOMAN will have to pay six figures in restitution after pleading guilty to stealing money from a northwest credit union branch during a 14-month time period. Margaret Sousa Klonarakis of Kitimat is ordered to pay restitution of $100,504.41 to Envision Financial Credit Union by Judge Calvin Struyk as part of her sentence Aug. 24.
