• Salmon Arm learned it would not lose a bridge when the Salmon Arm West four-laning project was complete. Along with building a new, modern bridge over the Salmon River, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways also planned to upgrade the existing one. “The nice thing about keeping the bridge is the ministry is going to be throwing quite a bit of money at bringing it up to today’s standards,” said Rob Niewenhuizen, the city’s director of engineering and public works.
• Wilf Pauls, a former teacher-librarian at Bastion Elementary School, retired in 2018 but was unable to stay away from education, so he got the idea in the spring of visiting schools throughout the Shuswap and sharing his love for traditional board games. His gaming crusade has only been on the road since October, but he has already reached more than 1,000 children in the district.
• A well-attended meeting of concerned South Shuswap residents and Salmon Arm RCMP marked the renewal of the Blind Bay Crime Watch. The meeting, held Wednesday, Nov. 27, at Shuswap Lake Estates, brought in approximately 50 people to hear how they can make their community safer.
• Louis Thomas, a Secwepemc knowledge keeper from the Neskonlith First Nation, was among 18 British Columbians to receive a Medal of Good Citizenship for outstanding service and commitment to helping others in their communities. The award recipients were selected from more than 100 nominees.
• The CSRD reported after 10 years with minimal increases for the operation and maintenance of the regional district’s 10 water systems, the cost to users in eight of them would increase in 2020. The increase would range from $365.40 to $429.80.
• The 2019 Okanagan Historical Society report celebrated Salmon Arm’s history inside and out. The report’s cover showed a tulip orchard in the foreground and Shuswap Lake in the background, and inside took the reader back to 1928, the glory days of the Dilkusha House.
• It was announced Dancing with the Shuswap Stars announced the 2019 event in November raised almost $50,000 for the Shuswap Hospice Society. “All the money raised goes directly to the society, whose mission is to deliver compassionate care for the dying and bereaved in our community,” said organizer Chris Moore.
• Hillcrest Elementary’s Grade 5 students singing Wolves Don’t Live By The Rules was selected as a finalist in the CBC Music Class Challenge’s 11th category: MusiCounts Passion Prize.
