Prince George Citizen December 20, 2018 by Prince George Citizen

Thursday, December 20, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Food drive Ten-year-old Louise Griesbauer, a Grade 5 student at Ecole Franco-Nord poses with a pile of donations that the students and staff from the school collected during a neighbourhood food drive. All donations collected will be going to the Salvation Army.

School board chair applauds delay in Local band’s implementing new funding formula equipment stolen Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca Someone flew the coop with music gear belonging to Flying Machine. The local alt-rock group has been earning a wave of new fans lately, but they were set back this week by the theft of some important band stuff. A break-in at the band’s rehearsal space caused them the loss of an orange bass amp, some P.A. cables, a sixchannel mixing board and an entire drum kit (minus the stool and sticks, which band members found odd). The caper had the hallmarks of a rush job, small getaway vehicle and/or thieves who didn’t have much knowledge about such gear. They got in by forcing open a rear door at a detached garage the band had been using for jams and rehearsals. It was located at a home in the vicinity of Eighth Avenue and Gillett Street. The theft was discovered on Sunday, but the break-in could have occurred several days earlier before it was noticed. “It’s still a pretty special jam space and we’ll feel comfortable about practicing there again, but for sure your privacy feels violated,” said Michael Duncan, who said his bass amp was like an extension of his instrument. He can buy a new one, but he can’t buy the compatibility of sound. Likewise, Damian Meehan’s vintage snare drum was a special addition to the drum assembly that was stolen. It had the sound and feel that fit his playing style and the band’s vibe. Stores don’t sell that off the shelf. “I don’t think it will set back our plans. We’re still going to keep on moving forward,” said Duncan. “We can maybe borrow or rent what we need for the short-term. We will reevaluate once we’re all past New Year’s day.” It’s a busy time of year for everyone, so there wasn’t much gigging and rehearsing scheduled for Flying Machine over the holiday season, but they have two important concerts fast approaching. The first is Jan. 10 at Sonar where they open for The Statistics and the second is Jan. 30 when they’re on the Coldsnap Music Festival schedule. “We are part of the regional band night at the Legion,” said Duncan. “We’ve been trying to get into Coldsnap for a couple of years now. It’s going to be a blast. We have

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It’s still a pretty special jam space and we’ll feel comfortable about practicing there again, but for sure your privacy feels violated. — Michael Duncan to figure out a way to make sure we are ready for that.” The other band members are Dan Johnson on guitar and vocals, and Warren Neuvonen on fiddle/violin. They had a different bandmate until recently, keyboardist Steven Cote, but there was an amicable parting of their ways. Cote is still involved with the band as the graphic designer of their latest release, the five-song EP Of Dogs & Days. That package was launched in November at a sold-out gig at The Legion with Amy Blanding opening the night. “It was a huge success,” said Duncan. “To know people you didn’t even know were walking out the door with music you’ve made, that was a real highlight, that’s an incredible feeling. We’re getting our EPKs (electronic press kit) ready for summer festivals and other performance opportunities. We will still work that out, but the loss of the gear definitely doesn’t help us.” Of Dogs & Days is the second EP the band has released, following their self-titled debut EP released in spring of 2016. They have opened for Drum & Bell Tower; appeared at the MOM Festival in Fort St. James with acts like Wax Mannequin, Madeline Tasquin, Joey Only and many others; Jimmy Pattison was briefly a member of the band (it is unknown if the B.C. business tycoon was exactly aware of this, but there is some photographic evidence); Johnson was even the silver medalist in the 2015 Limelight Quest competition. Another recent highlight for Flying Machine was releasing their first video for the leadoff single Shirtsleeves To Shirtsleeves. It is now collecting views on YouTube and the band’s Facebook page (Flying Machine PG). If anyone has any inklings about their stolen gear, message the band on that Facebook page and/or contact the RCMP.

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Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

School board chair Tim Bennett is welcoming the provincial government’s decision to carry out further consultation before implementing a new funding formula. In releasing a report from an independent review panel, Education Minister Rob Fleming said Wednesday that the process will enter a second phase in which stakeholders will provide advice on how to move forward on the key themes raised. “We’re really with the decision of government to delay the implementation to the 2020-21 school year,” Bennett said, adding the board has written a few letters to Fleming asking him to go slow. “Between the implementation of the new Grade 11 and Grade 12 curriculum, teacher bargaining on the horizon, and without an opportunity to really provide feedback on the recommendations, we weren’t really keen on an idea of a 20192020 implementation,” he said. He said the next step will be for the board’s management and finance committee to take a closer look at the report and its 22 recommendations with an eye to providing comment when given the opportunity. At first glance, Bennett said he noticed an emphasis on accountability for performance and spending and as long as providing reports on such aspects don’t

take up too much staff time, he said that could be a good thing. “There’s only one taxpayer and we want to make sure that the money entrusted to us to run the education system here in the region is spent in the best possible way,” he said. Bennett also noticed an emphasis on providing an equitable education system and a recognition that cost pressures in rural settings differ from those in urban settings. During a teleconference with provincial media, Fleming said one of the goals will be to figure out how to increase the high school graduation rate, which stands at 85 per cent across B.C. For School District 57, it is 80 per cent, but represents a 6.5 per cent increase over the previous year, due largely to an improvement in the rate for Indigenous students. Steps to that end have included placing an Indigenous education worker in each school, establishing a district level team to work with families and “targeted interventions” to improve literacy rates starting at Grade 2. “We just came out of an election where we heard from parents that more needs to be done to support some of our special needs students so I hope there is a funding formula that enables us to ensure we’re able to meet the needs of those students that are entrusted to our district,” Bennett also said. The full report is posted with this story at www.pgcitizen.ca.

Attempted murder charge stayed as guilty pleas entered from drug house shootout Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff A Prince George man no longer faces a charge of attempted murder for his role in a shootout in the driveway of a local drug house. The count against Michael CampbellAlexander was stayed during a hearing Tuesday in provincial court. However, Campbell-Alexander pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to wound, killing an animal, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm contrary to an order. The counts stem from an Oct. 22, 2017 incident at a 2000-block Tamarack Street

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home in which he exchanged gunfire with Cody Aubrey Lorntsen, who was sentenced in November to a further 2 1/2 years in prison for possessing a prohibited loaded sawed-off shotgun. In video footage retrieved from a camera at the home and shown during a sentencing hearing, Lornsten is seen shortly before 6 a.m. entering the home via a side entrance with his dog on a leash. About two minutes later, Lorntsen is seen leaving the same way while Campbell-Alexander stations himself at one end of the driveway and opens fire with a .22-calibre rifle. — see DOG KILLED, page 3

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