• The tale of the treble clef did not end with the community street party celebrating its installation downtown. A local video producer created an energetic video that follows the 1,265-kilogram artistic sculpture from its conception to completion. Bill Laird, who owns Shuswap Park Mall and is responsible for the creation of the musical icon, came to the city’s planning meeting Feb. 3 to show council the video and to outline some of the challenges faced in creating the 45-foot high sculpture.
• A Shuswap woman was devastated after heavy snowfall collapsed a shelter on her equine rescue, killing one of her closest friends. Christine Adderson, founder of ForTheHorse equine farm and rescue centre, discovered the collapse the morning of Jan. 17. The collapse exposed the centre’s winter hay storage to the elements and took the life of Merlin, who Adderson described as her “heart horse.”
• The Salmon Arm Skating Club came away with four gold medals from the 2020 Okanagan Regional Championships. The club played host to approximately 280 skaters who took part in the Feb. 6 to 9 event at the Shaw Centre. Top Salmon Arm finishers were Ayla de Boer, who won gold for her Showcase Individual performance, and Hannah Mackie, for her free skate routine. Also taking the top spot on the podium for Showcase Group performances were Hannah Mackie and Shayna Fowler along with Blayre Yano and Sarah Hucul.
• Snowpacks in the mountains of the Shuswap were well above normal, reaching levels that might herald spring flooding. According to a Feb. 1 report published by the B.C. River Forecast Centre, snow pack in the South Thompson basin, which includes the Shuswap, was at 130 per cent of normal levels. The Okanagan and Boundary basins to the south also had deep snowpacks, sitting at 129 and 128 per cent of normal respectively.
• For the second time in two months, Curtis Sagmoen was found guilty on a charge involving a sex worker. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the 39-year-old North Okanagan man was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm. The conviction related to an incident Aug. 10, 2017, in which Sagmoen invited an escort to his parent’s Salmon River Road property in Silver Creek. Sagmoen was scheduled to appear in court on March 2 for sentencing.
• Three men charged in connection with a home invasion in Canoe were housed in the same prison, but a judge ordered no contact between them. During proceedings in Salmon Arm provincial court, Crown counsel Alison Buchanan requested that Sheldon Storm Odd, 27, Levi Jeffrey Eden, 28, and Jesse Lee Woodsford, 39, be subject to a no-contact order with each other, as well as with the three complainants in the case. All three are in custody in the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.
• Copper Island Fine Homes added several new trophies to their already impressive collection of industry accolades. They picked up the fresh hardware at the Canadian Home Builders Association Central Interior’s 15th annual Keystone Awards Gala, held Saturday, Feb. 1, at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. Among awards won were three coveted Keystone gold awards – Most Unique Design (for a wine room in one of Copper Island’s homes), Best House between $1.5 and $3 million, and Best Customer Service.
• The Shuswap Family Centre and Cedar Axe Throwing teamed for the first Fill the Pantry event. With help from local businesses, Fill The Pantry put on a six-week food drive and finished it off with a day of fun and games on Feb. 17, which included axe throwing and road hockey with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. According to organizer Dale Coulombe, 600 pounds of donated food was collected, raising hopes the event could reach the 1,000-pound food donation mark next year.
• At an open house Thursday, Feb. 13, City of Salmon Arm staff were on hand to provide answers regarding the nine possible site options for a sewage treatment plant, one being to keep the water protection control centre, as it’s called, where it is. The other eight location options are south industrial park, north industrial park, Shuswap cemetery, light industrial park, Minion Field, Raven, Canoe west and Canoe east.
• A blockade on CP Rail tracks near Chase came to an end with the arrest of three protesters Feb. 24. The blockade, located across Highway 1 from Neskonlith Hall, went up Feb. 20. Rail lines were blocked by a van parked across the tracks. Secwepemc First Nation protesters at the tracks told the media the blockade was created in solidarity with the Unist’ot’en Camp, which was protesting construction of an LNG pipeline poised to run through Wet’suwet’en territory. Secwepemc Hereditary Chief Saw-ses, his daughter and a member of the Syilx/Okanagan First Nation were arrested. The blockade was disbanded and removed. Later in the day, Saw-ses and his daughter were released from custody.
• The Coldest Night of the Year warmed the heart of Shuswap organizer Joel Torrens. Approximately 75 people took part in the annual walk on Feb. 22 to raise funds for the community’s hungry and homeless. Torrens, a lieutenant with the Salvation Army in Salmon Arm, said the event raised more than $10,000.
Secwepemc First Nation protestors stand on rail lines across from the Neskonlith Hall in Chase on Tuesday, Feb. 24. (Contributed)
