School District 27 announces 2018 First Nations Role Models
June 1
With proud family, friends and School District 27 staff looking on, a Shuswap student from Canim Lake and a Métis student from Williams Lake were crowned 2018 First Nations Role Models.
Terrance Hubick-Archie and Denza Phung will have the honours of setting the bar for students in the school district, of which about 35 per cent are First Nations.
Hubick-Archie is a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School.
His top academic subjects are English and First Nations Art.
He is a hunter and fisher and provides meat for his family and community.
Denza Phung said she is a proud member of the Métis Nation, and is a Grade 8 student at LCSS.
She currently has 100 per cent in Social Studies and Tour Band, while being on the honour roll.
She participates with the Cariboo Chilcotin Métis Association and for the last six years has also helped with the annual Métis Jamboree.
City leases GPS monitoring anklets to track offenders
June 1
The City of Williams Lake delivered on a promise and announced the lease of 10 GPS electronic tracking anklets from SafeTracks GPS Canada Inc.
READ MORE: Williams Lake leasing 10 GPS monitoring devices
“We are tired of being in the top 10 of criminal communities,” said Coun Scott Nelson during Tuesday’s regular council meeting as council voted unanimously to sign an agreement with the company. “This is another tool that will help knock down crime in our community.”
However, the anklets have yet to be used as not one has been assigned by the courts to date.
Lakecity man’s truck splattered with falling feces near Agassiz
June 6
There is not a big enough bird in the world to have dropped that amount of crap, said a Williams Lake man whose truck was doused with brown splatters while driving along the highway, just east of Agassiz last Saturday.
“We don’t live in Jurassic Park with any big creatures, but it just blows my mind,” Ron Ackerson said as he made a four-inch circle with his hands to show the size of the plops that covered his white Chevrolet truck. “When we finally stopped and pulled over there wasn’t a plane in the sky. But it had to be from a plane or something.”
Ackerson contacted the Tribune Friday after hearing the news story about a woman who was driving in Kelowna on May 9 when feces began falling from the sky into her vehicle.
2017 wildfires attract new fire chief for Williams Lake
June 8
Williams Lake’s new fire chief will be on the job by July 3, and credits his experiences in the lakecity during last summer’s wildfires for inspiring him to apply for the job.
“I was in Williams Lake last summer working with the Cariboo Regional District’s emergency operation centre (EOC),” Erick Peterson told the Tribune. “I built some relationships and they reached out to me and said ‘watch for a posting.’ I immediately started talking with my wife and we both agreed it would be amazing for our family to move to Williams Lake.”
Peterson, 38, will be leaving his job at the Delta Fire Dept. to replace former Williams Lake Fire Chief Des Webster, who retired in March. He and his wife, Megan, have an eight-year-old daughter, Kieva, and a six-year-old son Callum.
Landmark moose hunt agreement reached in effort to bolster population
June 15
Worried about the drastically declining moose population due to hunting and the effects of wildfires Esdilagh First Nation reached out to the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service (COS), and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the law enforcement body to put ?Esdilagh members under the COS’ jurisdiction when it comes to hunting moose.
“We are signing on with the Conservation Office to help benefit population growth. That’s our ultimate goal,” said band manager Chad Stump.
READ MORE: Cariboo First nation signs landmark moose hunt agreement with Conservation Officer Service
?Esdilagh First Nation is foregoing its legal right to hunt moose in an effort to save the troubled population and pressure the government to ban the fall hunt.
Insp. for the Thompson-Cariboo region COS Len Butler said the agreement with ?Esdilagh will help the body have better control over what’s being harvested.
Station House show spans seven decades of work
June 15
When Dorothy Ingalls had her fourth child in 1965 she put her paintbrushes away. It’s only been the past couple of years that she’s picked them back up.
The hiatus has not diminished her skills in the slightest, and Ingalls’ work — from both before and after — is now on display in the main gallery of the Station House Gallery for the month of June.
Her paintings showcase local landscapes, as well as Ingalls’ travels along the Dempster Highway and through the Maritimes, and provide a glimpse into the Cariboo of the 50s.
Ingalls’ first oil painting, a tar paper shack, painted when she was 15, is also on display and shows a mastery of the medium even then.
“These are the cobwebs of my memories,” Ingalls told visitors at the opening of the show, joking that “they were also cobwebs in my basement.”
Police investigate assault at Lakeside Motel
June 20
Williams Lake RCMP inspected a suspected home invasion and assault that occurred in the early morning hours Friday at the Lakeside Motel.
RCMP Cpl. Madonna Saunderson, District Advisory NCO for the North District, said police were called to the motel at 3:54 a.m. where it was reported that two units were broken into and occupants in each unit were assaulted.
“Investigation indicates that a group of males entered two of the units, allegedly assaulted the occupants and stole property belonging to the occupants as well as property from the motel,” Saunderson said in a press release. “The suspects fled the scene in what is believed to be a black SUV.”
Scott and Twila Nelson, owners of the Lakeside Motel, said the men who were assaulted were brothers and long-term renters at the motel who were staying in town for work.
He said the police investigation so far has revealed the men were out at a local establishment and had some sort of an altercation or argument with other patrons. Upon returning to their rooms, a group of men later came to the motel and knocked on the door. When the victim opened the door, it is alleged the men jumped him and beat him.
Williams Lake Indian Band implements no-go zones for mushroom picking
June 20
The Williams Lake Indian Band closed several mushroom-picking areas within its reserve land because of devastation from last summer’s wildfires.
Chief Ann Louie stated in a notice from the band Friday the move comes because there has been an inundation of people entering the reserve land base, without permission, causing environmental and safety issues.
WLIB had implemented a review and an analysis of the environmental impacts of the fires regarding the burned timber and had concluded that quick removal of the timber was required and have established comprehensive guidelines, including safety precautions for that removal.
Flash flooding restricts trafflic flow near Lee’s Corner
June 22
Highway 20 was reduced to single lane alternating traffic near Lee’s Corner due to flash flooding caused by Wednesday afternoon’s thunderstorm.
Chilcotin resident Harvey Petal said water was running across the highway and a grader was used to clear debris off the road.
Lee’s Corner was devastated by the wildfires of 2017 which is where the flooding took place.
Williams Lake Stampede Queen and Princess crowned for 2018/19
June 27
Laurin Hurd, Miss Cariboo Spurs Apparel and Tack, was crowned Stampede Queen, while Emilie Nichols, Miss West Fraser, garnered the Princess crown Saturday evening at the Pioneer Complex during the annual Williams Lake Stampede Coronation Ceremony.
“I feel absolutely thrilled,” Hurd told the Tribune following the surprise announcement there would be both a Queen and Princess for 2018/19, and after receiving her crown from outgoing Stampede Queen Kaylee Billyboy.
“This has been something I’ve wanted for years now. It’s a dream come true. I don’t think I’ll understand it until Stampede weekend.”
Governor General’s Academic Medal awarded to Ahmad Jalil
June 29
The 2018 Governor General’s Award went to Lake City Secondary graduate Ahmad Jalil.
The award is given to the student graduating with the highest grade point average from each Canadian high school and Jalil achieved a combined 94.1 per cent average from his Grade 11 and 12 courses.
In the fall he embarked on studying for a bachelor of science degree at the University of Northern B.C.
He moved to the Cariboo with his family from the Okanagan in 2014.
Do you have a comment about this story? email: editor@wltribune.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
