Our community stands together
August 31, 2011
Tragedy strikes in threes, so the saying goes, and two days earlier the community was hit with two major accidents when a plane crashed into the lake near Nakusp killing passenger James Forrest Kienholz, and a tow-truck flipped on Highway 6 near Brouse Loop. In the downed plane, the passenger and his dog both perished; the truck rolled over Doug Courage, who later died in hospital from his injuries.
That week we were faced with the randomness and certainty of mortality, and discovered each other. Constable Mark Macaulay was deeply affected by the way the community rallied together when the plane went down that morning, and word and sympathy have spread for the families of the other victims too.
Usually, we are fortunate enough to be able to forget the risks that accompany everyday tasks like driving, we are lucky enough to be able to ignore the fact that life can be so quickly lost and altered forever, at any moment.
Appreciate and take care of each other, try not to forget how precious life is, at least for this week.
Not caught idling: outdoor Slocan grow op busted, one arrested at scene
September 28, 2011
If you’d been on Springer Creek Road in Slocan on September 21, you would have seen RCMP officers dressed in camouflage moving onto a large, rural vacant parcel of land.
Four officers took down about 120 very ‘well taken care of’ and very healthy marijuana plants all about three to four feet in height.
“Sometimes there will be lots of plants but they’re little and not healthy,” said RCMP officer Allan Van Hussen.
After spending their own time in lockup, the seized plants will be destroyed once approval is given by Health Canada.
Man resents grow op article
Editor;
It is the season of foolishness, apparently. Again this year the relentless war on marijuana is underway, with the media, always the willing sycophant of those in power, playing its expected role. Witness the front page story in the Arrow Lakes News, “Not Caught Idling.”
Gustav Schteinky
Nakusp, B.C.
Cache crops: keeping cash in the Kootenays
October 12, 2011
Even in this time of recession, B.C. Bud is big business in the province. Exactly how big is unknown, but earnings have been estimated to be over a billion dollars each year.
Here in the Kootenays, it is very likely that the marijuana economy is what keeps us going.
“If you look at Nelson, specifically, we don’t produce anything,” Philip McMillan, director of Nelson’s Cannabis Compassion Club, observed, “If we relied on tourism alone, this town wouldn’t be here anymore.”
“The income to the community is a mirage,” said Keith Pearce, an Operations Officer for the Drug Enforcement branch of the RCMP, who is responsible for the Southern Interior district that includes the Kootenay region.
All in all, the Nelson Compassion Club is generally left alone by the police, something McMillan attributes to the wide variety of people who receive medical benefit from marijuana.
“I’m not going to show up with hippies,” he said, “I’m going to show up with your grandma.”
Local officer asks what you’d do to stop violence
October 19, 2011
Editor,
It’s rare for me to comment on a person’s opinion in the newspaper; however, the recent opinions in the articles labelling marihuana busts as ‘exercises in stupidity’ and the one on ‘cache crops’ has prompted my response.
The presence of guns in grow houses is a real concern – it’s not a joke. I’ve seen houses invaded by armed and masked suspects who, after tying up the residents, found they were inside the wrong house – they mistakenly invaded the neighbour’s.
I knew when I became a police officer I’d be faced with difficult and sometimes dangerous situations. In spite of this I, like the other officers, chose to do this job and we do it day in and day out without complaining about these dangers. Rather, we focus on providing the best service we can with the resources we have to ensure the community is safe.
Part of keeping the community safe entails reducing the number of illegal activities that increase the risk of violence. Unfortunately for here what this means is so-called ‘busting’ grow ops, specifically those that are commercially-driven, in effort to not only take guns off the street, but also to make one less target for a drive-by shooting, home invasion, or break & enter. I for one don’t want anyone in my family, anyone I know, or my house struck by a stray bullet that was intended for a grow house. I certainly do not want to sit idle on the sidelines for any of the above to happen, either.
I love Canada. I do what I can to make it a better and safer place – What do you do?
Shaun Foley,
Nakusp
