• Emergency responders were called to the Adams River after a group of whitewater rafters wound up in the water on Monday, June 22. Before emergency response personnel arrived on the scene, however, other rafters in the area were reported to have rescued those in the water. BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) responded with three ground paramedic crews and an air ambulance. A spokesperson with BCEHS confirmed eight people were recovered from the scene without injuries and no patients were transported to hospital. Adams River Rafting owner Clif Garcia said the rafts involved were privately owned. Garcia explained his company was not currently operating on the river because of high water.
• A proposed Sicamous medical facility will benefit from close to $6 million in federal and provincial funding. On July 3, the Government of Canada announced 25 projects in B.C. that would receive joint federal and provincial funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. Among them were the Wilson Park Footbridge project in Chase, and the Shuswap (Secwepemc) Healing Centre in Sicamous. The Village of Chase project would receive $60,000 and $49,995 in federal and B.C. government grant funding, which will be in addition to $40,005 provided by the village. For the Sicamous project, the federal government is providing $3,554,359, while the province was kicking in $2,369,572, for 100 per cent funding of the Shuswap Healing Centre.
• The driver of a speedboat that collided with a houseboat on Shuswap Lake nearly 10 years ago, killing one man and injuring others, was granted day parole despite his failure to “fully accept responsibility” for the crash. In January 2019, Leon Reinbrecht began serving a three-year sentence in a federal prison after the B.C. Court of Appeal rejected his appeal. Ken Brown died on July 3, 2010, when his houseboat was struck by Reinbrecht’s speedboat. Brown had been driving the houseboat and a number of his passengers were injured. Reinbrecht’s speedboat became fully lodged inside the houseboat.
• What appeared to be a weather event more commonly sighted in the tropics was spotted near Salmon Arm early in the morning on Saturday, July 4. Looking across Salmon Arm Bay from her home in Sunnybrae, Faye Donald spotted a tube-shaped cloud drifting perpendicular to the ground and was able to snap some photos. The formation appeared to be a waterspout, which National Geographic describes as a column of rotating, cloud-filled wind. Waterspouts descend from cumulus clouds to oceans and lakes; they are most common in tropical and sub tropical waters because they require high humidity and water that is warm compared to the air above.
• On Monday, July 13, representatives of the Rotary Club of Salmon Arm stopped by the SAFE Society women’s shelter and, later, the Second Harvest Food Bank, to drop off cheques for $11,000 at both locations. The money was raised through the club’s month-long Double Your Gift initiative, which offered to match up to $10,000 in donations with money already raised by the club.
• A warm July day for campers and swimmers at Niskonlith Lake was interrupted by dozens of dead fish washed up on the shore and floating in the shallows. On July 6, Richelle Marie was one of several campers and picnickers at the lake near Chase who noticed the dead fish. Most of the dead fish along the shore of the lake appeared to be kokanee salmon, a species known for their sensitivity to changes in water temperature. According to bcfishn.com, the fish, which are a common target for anglers, spend the warmer months of the year at depths where the warmer surface water and colder water below meet. Disruption in temperature at those depths can be harmful or even lethal to the kokanee. A Department of Fisheries and Oceans representative presented another possible explanation for the dead fish: an oxygen depletion issue.
• Being featured in two short documentaries has helped Carly Marchand-Jones raise awareness around her mission to rescue horses from being slaughtered for human consumption. Marchand-Jones operates Freedom’s Gate Equine Rescue in Salmon Arm. The nonprofit society rescues horses that are abused and/or bound for slaughter. In late May, Kootenay-based Hailey Mattson of Freeheard Visuals released on her YouTube channel, FreeherdTV, episode 3 of her For The Horse series. Called “We’re saving each other,” the five-minute film focuses entirely on the work Marchand-Jones does at Freedoms Gate. Marchand-Jones was also featured in the short film Unreined, created by New Westminster-based TV editor and independent documentary filmmaker Erin Parks.
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Second Harvest Food Bank’s Cathy Ingebrigtson (left) and Vahlleri Semeniuk (right) receive a cheque from the Salmon Arm Rotary Club’s Christina Lutterman for $11,000, half of the funds raised by the club through its recent Double Up Your Gift fundraiser for the food bank and the SAFE Society women’s shelter, on Monday, July 13.(Lachlan Labere - Salmon Arm Observer)
