WEDNESDAY
S I N C E
MAY 21, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 78
105
$
INCLUDING G.S.T.
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
CASTING A WIDE NET
SD20 teachers set to walk out next Tuesday Announcement comes on the first day school district cuts recess BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
School District 20 teachers will be on the picket lines May 27 as part of a rotating strike throughout the province, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) announced Tuesday. The closures are part of a two-stage strike plan voted on by teachers in March when 89 per cent of the 29,300 teachers who cast ballots voted in favour as a means to apply pressure to the government during contract negotiations. “We have been at the bargaining table for 16 months, and the provincial government and the BC Public School Employers' Association still refuse to offer any improvements to class size, class composition and other important learning conditions for students,” Andy Davidoff, president of the Kootenay
Columbia Teachers Union, said in a letter to the Trail Times. “The constitutional rights of teachers can't be swept under the carpet and the fundamental rights of children to a quality public education should also be respected.” Lorraine Manning, SD20 board vice chair, said the board doesn't really have much of a say on contract negotiations. She admitted it's frustrating to sit and wait for news that she simply has to accept. While word of the walkout was still fresh when the Times caught up with her Tuesday, Manning said she expects that further discussion will be planned for the board meeting Monday. News of the walkout arrived on the first day local students' break times were cut by 15 minutes. Locally this was done as a means of lessening the duty for district management staff, who were responsible for See RECESS, Page 3
Mock disaster to test local response capabilities BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
GUY BERTRAND PHOTO
Roger Bourgeois and Colin Truscott of Arrow Fence Installation are high above Butler Park hooking up a 30’ X 100’ netting on Tuesday morning. The crew, which includes Mike Truscott untangling the netting on the ground, will mount two huge nets over the outfield fence and repair the netting around the back stop.
Trail residents may be hearing more sirens next week when Teck and mutual-aid partners put on a full-scale emergency exercise in Warfield. The mock disaster from first response right through to patient care will prepare participants for their individual efforts as well as a group approach to a large disaster scenario. Not much is being said about the actual training exercise because the surprise element will really make for a “real life” situation, explained Catherine Adair, community relations leader for Teck Trail Operations. The planned disasters will be acted out, but there will be some real elements.
“We're not sharing the full details of the scenario just to maximize the training benefits and the effectiveness for the first responders so they don't know exactly what they're going to be practising on (next) Tuesday,” she said. “It will be a full-scale exercise involving all of our mutualaid partners; hosted by Teck, the Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue and the Regional District Kootenay Boundary Emergency Program.” Bingay Road from Whitman Way to Highway 22 will be closed from 8 a.m. until noon May 27 to ensure the public stays off grounds. During that time there will be an increase in emergency response vehicles in the area. See MANY, Page 3
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN250-368-8550 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242 Canada Post, Contract number 42068012
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