WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2015
< The World in 2015
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Vol. 64, Issue 245
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
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The year that was The Townsman looks back on select top stories of 2015
January 2 Dalke takes on biathlon The running wasn’t Nikita’s Dalke’s forte for the biathlon, but it was a different story when she has a rifle in her hands. On the final episode of Extreme Huntress, Dalke and the rest of her competitors competed in the final challenge as part of the Extreme Huntress competition—a biathlon. Each of the ladies had to run a mile, stopping at two different points to shoot targets with a .22 calibre rifle, with a long-distance 200-yard shot at the end with a .270 calibre rifle. Dalke, of course, blew the 200-yard target away on her first shot. January 6 Local climbers win gold in new international competition Two local climbers were hoping to make it to the next level on the competitive side of their sport. And they had already begun to prove themselves in their first-ever competition. Noah Beek and Karlee Hall had returned to Cranbrook as youth champions following their efforts at the inaugural UIAA Youth Mixed Climbing International competition in Colorado. January 8 Youth in custody after ‘knife incident’ Police responded to an incident involving a student being cut by a knife just after noon on Wednesday, Jan. 7. The investigation by Cranbrook RCMP found that two students had become involved in a physical altercation in a hallway at Mount Baker Secondary School. Staff Sgt Dave Dubnyk said that during the altercation, one student removed a knife from his pocket and swung it striking the other student in the face. “The victim was taken to the East Kootenay Regional Hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries,” Dubnyk said. “The alleged suspect was located near the school and taken into custody without incident.” January 9 Fluoridation bylaw readings rescinded At the Monday meeting, city council rescinded the three readings that dealt removing fluoride from the drinking water. The Cease Fluoridation Bylaw was intended to authorize stopping the addition of fluoride to the public drinking water if the Nov. 15 referendum vote had succeeded. Since it hadn’t, the bylaw readings needed to be rescinded. January 16 200 affected in Cranbrook when Target pulls out Target went ahead with a plan to discontinue Canadian operations. The company announced the news after filing for creditor protection in Ontario Supreme Court. The company had 133 stores across the country, including a location in Cranbrook, which employed approximately 200 people.
See 2015 IN REVIEW, Page 3
CHAD ST. PIERRE PHOTO
Five people in this black Ford were injured in this crash on Steamboat Hill on Monday, December 28. The highway was closed while emergency personnel extricated the victims. Police are asking motorists to slow down and drive to conditions.
21 accidents over Christmas break, result of icy conditions ARNE PE TRYSHEN
There were 21 motor vehicle accidents over the week of Monday, Dec. 21 to Monday Dec. 28. Staff Sgt. Hector Lee said five of the accidents resulted in non-life threatening injuries. “Most of them were on the highway, out of town,” Lee said. “We can attribute most of those accidents to the weather and poor driving.” It is Lee’s first winter in the East Kootenay and he said he was surprised by how fast people are driving in the slippery conditions. “You would just think people would slow down a little bit around here, but that’s not the case,” he said. The majority of the accidents occurred on Dec. 24 and Dec. 28, when the big snowfalls occurred. On Monday, RCMP responded to eight collisions in a matter of five hours. They attributed the accidents to extreme road conditions and speed. Police noted that Highwy 3/93, Hwy 95A and Hwy 3/95 were extremely slippery and asked motorists to use cau-
tion while driving. They also suggested Monday that people only travel if absolutely necessary and instead wait until conditions improve. Mainroad, the company in charge of plow operations for East Kootenay roads, was expecting sporadic snow flurries Tuesday with low cloud and the weather is slowly moving
south east through the area. This will be followed by cold temperatures of around -15 degrees Celsius. “We have compact snow with slippery sections on all highways in the service area,” said Niki Taylor, Mainroad Group Communications. “Plowing and sanding is in progress. We will be using a
pre-wetted sand to combat these conditions.” Taylor said Mainroad would commence salting and de-icing once the road and air temperatures warm up to -6 degree Celsius or warmer for a period of four to six hours, which allows de-icing chemicals to work and resultant slush to be removed.