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P u b l i s h e d e v e r y We d n e s d a y a n d F r i d a y
Friday, January 16, 2015
Free
Vol. 7 • Issue 57
See story on: Page 14
See story on: Page 21
Bard in the Bush is back
Swim club excels at meet Traversing 55 personal bests by swimmers
Auditions on for new production
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This week’s feature:
with dogs!
drivewaycanada.ca
A ‘conscious’ choice not to get comprehensive insurance
Fire-damaged school buses lack coverage
Will Johnson Nelson Star
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The fire-damaged school buses that were found ablaze at Brent Kennedy Elementary early Friday morning did not have comprehensive insurance, according to Kootenay Lake School District operations manager Larry Brown. “This year we paid $42,488 in insurance for our buses,” he said. “If we had wanted comprehensive insurance we would’ve had to pay another $15,000 on top of that.” Brown said the choice to leave the buses without comprehensive insurance was a “conscious” cost-saving measure. Superintendent Jeff Jones said the arrangement is “fairly typical”. “One would question the amount we’d need to have to protect against these instances. It was decided that with all these past years with no instances like this, even if we have to pay we’d still come out ahead,” said Jones. Brown said buses will continue to run uninterrupted. “We don’t know what the exact cost is going to be at this time, but we’ve shuffled our buses to compensate and we have enough spares. Five buses that we ordered are now being expedited, so we’re okay for now.” Brown said the expense from the fire will come out of the repair budget, but they may potentially overspend. “It’s tough to tell. If we overspend, that’s a conversation I’ll have to have with the secretary-treasurer,” he said. Brown said they’ll either re-allocate funds from other budgets or under-spend to make sure the department doesn’t go over budget. There are also a number of contingency funds that could potentially be used to helped. “We should have an estimate before the end of the week, which will be followed by a discussion with the superintendent, probably on Monday,” he said. The decision on how to pay for the fire will be made at the senior leadership level, he said. The initial blaze was approximately 200 metres from the school. The fire resulted in significant damage to one 2008 model school bus and lesser damage to the other two, which are 2010 and 2013 models. The RCMP does not suspect arson or foul play. They have speculated the fire may have been caused by a mechanical problem.
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Home Owners helping home owners
Ready to race Elly Foster was one of the skiers from across the Kootenays who converged at Whitewater on the weekend. The local ski hill played host to the annual Kootenay Zones for U12, U14, U16, U18, Masters, GS and Slalom racing. More than 100 skiers participated in the runs. See story on Page 18. Tamara Hynd photo
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