Trail Daily Times, August 05, 2014

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TUESDAY

S I N C E

AUGUST 5, 2014

1 8 9 5 B.C. Men’s championship wraps up

Vol. 119, Issue 120

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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO

Sizzling summer

July temperatures hottest in last seven years BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff

If you like your summers hot and dry, the news is good from the local forecaster who says more heat is on the way in Greater Trail. Summer is continuing with a big ridge of high pressure, which has been the dominant feature for the last month and will remain as such, Ron Lakeman said Monday from his Castlegar weather office. There could be a few days of reprieve by Thursday afternoon when overcast skies bring a drop of temperature into the high 20s, but by Saturday, a scorcher is expected to return to the region. “It should cool off on Thursday and Friday,” he said. “But for those enjoying the sunny weather, it will probably start trending warmer on Saturday and reach the mid 30s again by the middle of next week.” Following the hottest and driest July in seven years, a high chance of lightning predicted for the next few days prompted the regional wildland fire centre to issue a camp fire ban effective today (Tuesday) at noon.

The campfire prohibition is in place until further notice from the Southeast Fire Centre because ongoing warm and dry weather throughout the province means wildfires burn aggressively and require additional fire suppression resources. “Human-caused wildfires can divert critical resources and crews from responding to naturally occurring wildfires,” explained Fanny Bernard, the centre’s fire information officer. To date, the majority of wildfires have been sparked by lightning, she said, including 51 forest fires reported in the area since Saturday. The largest is the Clearwater Creek fire, located south of Whitewater Ski Resort, which was holding at 17 hectares Monday afternoon, with 20 personnel at the site. Additionally, two lightning-caused spot fires burning five kilometres west of Salmo had a trio of three-person initial attack crews and a helicopter on scene to contain the area establish a fire guard perimeter. The camp fire ban does not apply to cooking stoves or portable campfire apparatus with a certified rating, that use gas, propane or briquettes, as long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres.

SHERI REGNIER PHOTO

Kayden (right) and Briley Scheel were back in Trail for a visit on the weekend and celebrated BC Day with a water park party at Trail’s Gyro Park Monday afternoon.

Trail on track to be part of Trans Canada Trail BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff

Rugged terrain, private property impasses and high costs have been obstacles to the Silver City becoming a stopover on Canada’s coast-to-coast trail. But everything remains on track for Trail to be part of the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) that, when fully connected, will stretch 23,000 kilometres to connect every province and territory on a recreational pathway for walking, running, hiking and bicycling. The goal is to have the country linked from the Atlantic to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans by the world’s longest network of multi-use trails in time to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017. Connecting the Kootenays has been a windy endeavour that hit some roadblocks after routes and priorities changed after the TCT project first began 22 years ago.

Recently city council, the After exchanging correspondKootenay Columbia Trails Society ence with the TCT development (KCTS), and others involved in manager for western and northproject development, expressed ern Canada, he said keeping the concern that Trail could be city in the loop is now a priority bypassed on the TCT for the trail’s planroute. ners. “With the high The trail was ori“It sounds like turnover of TCT ginally mapped to everything is back come through the on track and counmanagers . . . city, explained David cil expressed their there was Perehudoff, adding support for the trail consideration to that securing rightand emphasized of-ways, liabilities they want the Trans bypass Trail.” and finalizing the Canada Trail coming DAVID PEREHUDOFF route through town through the city,” he put the city’s mark added. on the TCT into Another developquestion. ment in the TCT plan is the possi“With the high turnover of bility of including the pedestrian/ TCT managers . . . there was pipe bridge on the route should consideration to bypass Trail,” the initiative pass in the Aug. 23 continued the city’s chief admin- referendum. istrative officer. “There were “We would ensure this becomes plans for it to go east up towards an integral part of the trail,” Fruitvale but now this seems to Perehudoff noted. “Coming down have changed.” from Rossland through Columbia

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Thurs. & Fri. to 9pm Free kids playroom and ball pit www.wanetaplaza.com

Heights, you would link up to the pedestrian bridge and either proceed through to Gyro and on to Sunningdale or east towards Fruitvale if an alternate route is developed that would merge the two trails with the main TCT in and around the Nelson area.” The Trans Canada Trail begins its Kootenay-Boundary journey to the west of Trail in Christina Lake, follows a rail grade up and over the Paulson Summit to Castlegar, then travels from Castlegar to Trail down the east side of the Columbia River on a section called the Columbia River Trail. Unfinished sections remain between Trail and the Beaver Valley and out to Salmo, where the trail picks up on an old rail grade up to Nelson along the Great Northern Rail Trail. The network of walking and biking pathways above Miral Heights and East Trail has seen growing use since it’s inception

Come Back to School shopping at 5 min. east of Trail on Hwy 3B

in 2011 and the addition of a new section above Sunningdale last year expanded the available tracks considerably. KCTS, the local organization responsible for the planning, building, and maintenance of the extensive system, has plans to extend the existing section from Miral Heights to eventually join up with the Sunningdale trail. The combined Miral Heights/ Bluff trail currently runs six kilometres across the eastern side of the Columbia River Valley with the expectation that the extension to the Sunningdale trail will eventually total almost nine kilometres. Teck Resources donated $1 million to the TCT foundation on Canada Day 2012, to complete the Kootenay portion of the line’s unfinished section between Trail, Nelson, Salmo and Kimberley thorough to Cranbrook, Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford.

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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Trail Daily Times, August 05, 2014 by Black Press Media Group - Issuu