Prince George Citizen January 22, 2026

PG positoned as new modular home-building hub: Yu

Mayors meet on the eve of BC Natural Resources Forum

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The federal government is looking for a hub to build modular homes for the Arctic.

Prince George, with its forestry infrastructure, industrial base and transportation networks, is being considered as a possible site for that industry.

Mayor Simon Yu told attendees of the Alliance of Resource Communities Mayors’ Reception Monday night at the Courtyard by Marriott the city has everything it needs to create a new industry for the region.

“We have to seize the moment,” said Yu. “For housing developments up in the Arctic, Prince George will be the centre of action. We have worked on this file for many years already, so this will happen. This is a key to solve our lumber problem.

“We’ve got the wood, we’ve got the technology, we have a university here, we have a research program, we have CNC here, we have the workers and we will get this modular home factory going. We need to add value to wood products to create jobs right here and build houses for our overseas markets as well as for Canada.”

Yu said modular homes built locally could alleviate shortages of affordable housing across the country and beyond.

“In order for the population to grow, we need houses,” said Yu. “We need houses up in the Arctic, in every province and every territory, and in order to do that we need to build faster, smarter. I can see Prince George become a depot for 20,000 or 30,000 houses all ready to go to the Arctic or the disaster areas of the world. I can see our product go to Ukraine, when they rebuild Ukraine.”

He plans to discuss more of his ideas to try to fix the ailing forest industry at the three-day BC Natural Resources Forum that started Tuesday at the Civic Centre. It continued Wednesday and

concluded Thursday.

Yu referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trade mission to China last week, which brought news the BC government has worked out a memorandum of understanding with China on modern wood construction as the province looks for alternative markets to the tariff-happy United States for its wood products.

The pact with China is expected to create opportunities for exchanges and joint research on using wood and manufactured mass timber to build tall wood buildings. The five-year agreement involves the federal Department of Natural Resources and Yu said that could lead to using Canadian forestry products to build wood-frame housing in China for urban renewal and rural revitalization projects.

“In China they are trying to upgrade all the infrastructure and housing in the villages,” said Yu. “They’ve built great brand-new cities, but what about all the small villages? Millions of small houses need to be built and our wood products are perfect for the trusses. We can fashion our products through our university here, UNBC, and we can turn that into a beautiful structure that has cultural value to the people, not just in China but everywhere.

“We need to do value-added

upgrading. We should not be shipping out logs. We need to look at community forests, working with First Nations to upgrade the value chain and use the wood to build more things here.”

Facing 45 per cent duties on exports to the U.S., BC forestry companies logged 32 million cubic metres of timber in 2025, significantly less than the annual allowable harvest of 45 million cubic metres. Yu said he is looking forward to meeting with Forest Minister Ravi Parmar during the forum to discuss possible solutions to stimulate more logging activity.

Yu said the lumber sector has deteriorated to the point where mills will need provincial and federal government assistance to become viable again.

“We are lucky we have mining going and we can transfer out some jobs to some other industry, but in the meantime we must protect every single mill that’s still operational and make sure they continue to stay open,” he said. “We need a future generation that believes the forest industry was, is and always will be part of Prince George. We need to give them the hope help is on the way. We need to show there is another way to do it, using our existing facilities to turn a 2x4 or 2x6 into a product everybody around the world desires.”

Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen told delegates her city in northeastern BC is still reeling from the closure of its Canfor sawmill in December 2024, resulting in the direct loss of 221 well-paying jobs as well as dozens of other indirect positions in industries that supported the mill.

“We need to have permits, we need to have certainty as to when we can go to work,” said Hansen. “So what are we doing differently? I’m meeting this week with Parmar and that’s my question. How do I get to work? How can I keep my mills open? I have one OSB (plywood) mill left. I want it to stay working and want those families to continue to work.

“We need the government to assist us. We need to get to work. We’re not seeing timely logging permits. In Fort St. John we used to get permits in 30 to 60 days and now through my OSB we’re looking at 200 or 300 days, so where’s the certainty for businesses and for investment?”

Hansen said that investment could start with convincing governments to partner on projects to upgrade the rail lines that run from Fort St. John to Fort Nelson. She said there are vast quantities of mature fibre available, but the railways have fallen into disrepair to the point where they can’t handle loads of timber and that wood has to be trucked to mills instead, at higher costs.

“We are blessed in our province to have so many different resources, everything from mining and forestry, oil and gas, electrification and agriculture, but we need to have all those pieces and we need transportation,” said Hansen.

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond was scheduled to speak at the event, but his flight was delayed.

In his first Prince George appearance since being appointed interim leader of the BC Conservatives, Trevor Halford spoke about the importance of BC’s resource sector and how some of his constituents in Greater Vancouver might not realize how much of the province’s wealth is derived from resource industries.

City council set to begin 2026 budget deliberatons

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George city council’s busiest week of the year is here: budget deliberations.

Here’s what you need to know heading into budget week.

Dates and times

There are two budget meetings scheduled: Monday, Jan. 26 and Wednesday, Jan. 28.

The first meeting has presentations from each city department, the Prince George Public Library and Tourism Prince George.

The second meeting will have council debate the agenda for each department and suggest possible amendments. Staff will be on hand to answer questions.

Both start at 1 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of city hall at 1100 Patricia Blvd. Last year, each day of budget deliberations lasted a hair longer than eight hours minus breaks.

Like regular council meetings, members of the public are welcome to attend budget meetings in person or watch them online at princegeorge.ca.

The key facts

At the Dec. 3 meeting of the city’s Standing Committee on Finance and Audit, a draft budget was presented suggesting a 5.98 per cent increase in property tax revenues.

Since then, the city has received final property assessment figures from BC Assessment.

Those showed a lower-than-expected increase in non-market value changes and now city administration is requesting a 6.15 per cent tax increase. For the representative home in Prince George, it would mean paying $179.70 more.

Here’s how that compares to the last few years of tax increases:

• 2025: 6.21 per cent

• 2024: 6.78 per cent

• 2023: 7.58 per cent

• 2022: three per cent

• 2021: zero per cent

If councillors want to reduce that amount, they’ll have to shave around

$1.5 million off the budget to lower the tax request for each percentage point.

Administration is looking at collecting an overall tax levy of $159,785,526 in 2026. That’s about $10 million more than it collected in 2025.

That levy is broken down into four major services:

• General operating ($134,357,788): funds all city services except for off street parking, snow, solid waste, sewer, water and the district energy system

• Snow control ($11,000,000): costs related to the city managing snowfall

• Road rehabilitation ($7,300,000): all costs related to maintaining the city’s road network

• General infrastructure reinvestment fund ($7,127,737): funding for maintaining city infrastructure and civic facilities

Taxes account for about 80 per cent of the city’s revenue, with the rest made up of user fees, charges, investment revenue and funding from higher levels of government.

Budget enhancements

The operating budget proposed by city administration represents the cost of maintaining existing services while accounting for inflation and selected capital projects for the year.

However, administration lists additional potential spending items called budget enhancements:

• Adding four police support services staff at a total cost of $398,476. Three of these staff would help manage evidence gathered by body-worn cameras carried by Prince George RCMP officers while the last one is a court liaison officer

• Hiring 12 new firefighters at an estimated cost of $132,354 each and a total cost of $1,588,248. This includes the cost of training and clothing

• Recruiting four new bylaw officers at a cost of $108,569 each plus another $25,000 for uniforms equipment and training for a total

cost of $459,276

• Adding a recruitment and retention advisor to the city’s human resources department at an estimated cost of $135,421

• Finally, adding an arts, culture and heritage co-ordinator at an estimated cost of $123,643

If all the enhancements were added to the budget by council, it would boost the required tax levy by 1.81 per cent to 7.96 per cent.

There’s another enhancement to add a sustainable waste co-ordinator at a cost of $124,142, a bear aware technical committee at a cost of $25,000 and launch a pilot project for bear-resistant solid waste bins at a cost of $450,000, but this would impact the solid waste utility fee rather than taxes if approved. Council can also choose to move some capital projects from the unfunded list to the funded list, like buying a new storage shelter for the Little Prince miniature train.

However, council would need to figure out how it would pay for the estimated $1.2 million cost if it wanted to add it to the budget.

What comes next?

While the budget will be mostly finalized at the Jan. 28 meeting, there are still some steps to go.

Administration will have to take its draft budget and adjust the figures to accommodate any changes approved by council. The final financial plan will be presented at a future council meeting for final approval.

Council also needs to set the tax rate for property classes. Each class — industrial, residential, utilities, supportive housing, commercial and more — will have a tax rate set for it that results in the city collecting its required amount of tax revenue.

The provincial government requires municipalities to submit financial plans by May 15 each year.

ACCESS 2026 PROPERTY VALUES

Search and compare property assessment information at bcassessment.ca

If you’re among BC’s approximately 2 million property owners, visit bcassessment.ca to fnd your updated property assessment information. The 2026 assessments are based on market value as of July 1, 2025. Have questions or want more information? Visit us online at bcassessment.ca or contact us at 1-866-valueBC. The deadline to fle an appeal for your assessment is February 2, 2026.

A show of solidarity from local Iranian community

Rally held as their loved ones back home face crisis

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Cyrus Pachie realized it was time to leave Iran last May on his wedding day, when his plans for a celebration with his wife, their families and friends were cut short by an Israeli missile attack against the Islamic regime.

He and his wife fled to Prince George, home to about 200 Iranians, where they feel safe and free, but the same cannot be said for the people he left behind.

On Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamanei, the supreme leader of the Islamic regime, admitted in the London Times that at least 5,000 people have been killed since protests began three weeks ago. Some estimates put the death toll at more than 20,000.

Pachie learned from a friend in the United States that his best friend, Amir, was among those shot by Iranian authorities while attending a peaceful protest near Tehran.

“They killed my best friend on Jan. 8, just because he was protesting the cost fluctuations and shouting for freedom,” said Pachie, who gathered Sunday at noon with a crowd of about 120 protesters in front of CN Centre to show their solidarity with the people of Iran struggling under a dictatorship responsible for the slaughter of thousands of people united in their demand for an end to the regime.

“We had many good stories and many emotional memories and now I don’t have Amir anymore and it’s really horrible for us. It is sad we don’t have one of our best friends anymore. It’s not at all fair.

“We were under attack at our wedding party by Israel, just because the Islamic regime attacked Israel and after that they attacked us. It was one of the most emotional situations in my whole life. It was horrible, so we came here five months ago.”

On Sunday, Jan. 18, Pachie learned his father had a heart attack the day before

and is in a Tehran hospital, but he can’t speak to him or any other family member because Iranian authorities have pulled the plug nationwide on internet and phone communications. Some of those ties to the outside world have been restored through Starlink satellite connections made available to Iranians.

“More than 20,000 have been killed by this brutal regime and we stand behind our people to be the voices of them,” Pachie said. “We are gathered together here to be heard by everyone, we just wanted to say to the world that we are here for peace and a free Iran.”

Sunday was the 21st day of the protests and the 10th day of the media blackout.

The communications void has left tens of thousands of Iranians with no idea if their loved ones are dead or alive. Prince George protest organizer Bruce Danesh said Iranian security forces are demanding ransoms before they release to family members the bodies of protesters identified in morgues or hospitals.

“They kill the person and then they ask you if you want the corpse you have to pay $4,000 Canadian — either give us that or they will mark this person as

part of our guard, shot by the protesters,” said Danesh. “It’s a mind game, the same game they’ve played with us for the past 47 years.”

The protests in Iran were sparked by the crumbling economy and steep devaluation of the country’s currency. The rial has lost 56 per cent of its value in the past six months, which has doubled the cost of food staples such as eggs and cooking oil.

Crowds in what started as peaceful protests were mowed down by machine gun fire. Wounded protesters were taken from hospitals and are among 24,000 people confirmed by a U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency as being held captive by the Islamic regime. Iran indicated Sunday it might go ahead with its plan to execute 800 protesters.

“We are kind of numb to this. They have been doing this for decades. It’s not the first time and we’re just so done with this regime and we want the world to hear us,” said Danesh, who grew up in Iran and moved to Prince George 10 years ago.

“Our values are based on humanity and human rights and this solidarity is a reminder for our Canadian community to

stand up for what’s important to you. We want to make this world a better place. This regime is nothing like my people are. Our values are so different from what the regime is portraying us as.

“They have brainwashed us since I was a kid that the horrible economy is because of sanctions and the U.S. and the West. It’s not true. They want to be sanctioned.”

Danesh is convinced the only way to stop the Islamic regime from hurting Iranians is external military intervention to remove them from power, as Trump has threatened.

“This mafia team uses this isolated country and they limit their money and power and everything, and because you’re not connected to the world they can do whatever they want and they will just hold the power to themselves,” he said. “It’s never about human rights. They care about power and money. We are done with them. Please, world, hear us, and don’t fall for what they are trying to portray.

“This is a reminder for us Canadians to stand up for our human rights and demand from politicians that they do not cross your line. The power is always with the people.”

Secondary graduaton rates back to pre-pandemic levels

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The overall graduation rate in School District 57 hit a six-year high in the 2024-25 school year while the graduation rate for Indigenous students hit an eight-year high according to statistics presented by Supt. Jameel Aziz at a Tuesday, Jan. 13 board of education meeting.

Aziz presented the following overall graduation rates in the district going back to the 2017-18 school year, calculated by comparing the number of Grade 12 students to the number of

Colder weather set to make its return

Miranda Valdeng takes a ride around the Outdoor Ice Oval Sunday with a push from Cameron Bache during the last stretch of warmer-than-seasonal weather. The forecast shows a very cold start on Friday, with mainly sunny skies and temperatures near -10 C by day and dropping to around -17 C at night.

The weekend will see a mix of sun and clouds and daytime highs rising from about -8 C to -3 C. Light snow and flurries are possible from Sunday night into Monday as temperatures hover near freezing and winds increase slightly. From midweek onward, conditions stabilize with mostly cloudy to partly sunny skies and daytime highs consistently between 1 C and 3 C.

graduates:

• 2024-25: 76.8 per cent

• 2023-24: 73.62 per cent

• 2022-23: 71.14 per cent

• 2021-22: 70.69 per cent

• 2020-21: 73.30 per cent

• 2019-20: 75.91 per cent

• 2018-19: 76.81 per cent

• 2017-18: 72.56 per cent

Those figures show that the graduation rate has essentially recovered to where it was before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.

Here are the Indigenous graduation rates, calculated by comparing

the number of Grade 12 Indigenous students to the number of Indigenous graduates:

• 2024-25: 64.12 per cent

• 2023-24: 59.43 per cent

• 2022-23: 57.27 per cent

• 2021-22: 57.69 per cent

• 2020-21: 62.65 per cent

• 2019-20: 55.63 per cent

• 2018-19: 58.17 per cent

• 2017-18: 53.80 per cent

The rates for Indigenous students have not only recovered to where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic but exceeded the previous high.

This, Aziz said, represents an all-time

high for Indigenous student graduations at the district since it started tracking the information.

He attributed the success to the efforts of staff in making sure students know they have the ability to graduate. However, he said while the district is pleased with the results, it is not satisfied with them and would like to see further improvements.

Going forward, Aziz said, the district would focus on students’ transition to post-secondary education and making sure they’re prepared for whatever coursework comes next, whether it’s university classes or learning a trade.

SD57 asks for report on state of high school athletcs

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

School District 57’s board of education voted to direct senior administration to prepare a report on the current state of high school athletics and what barriers prevent students from accessing them at its first meeting of the year on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.

Attached to the meeting agenda was a report from Trustee Cory Antrim, who said participating in high school athletics provides students with a lot of benefits but many face financial or logistical barriers to participating in extracurricular activities.

“Costs related to equipment, uniforms, travel, facility use, and officiating vary widely across sports and schools, creating inequities in access,” Antrim said.

“A dedicated special fund for secondary school athletics would help address these disparities by ensuring that all secondary schools have a consistent source of support for student participation. Before establishing such a fund, the district requires a thorough understanding of current needs, cost pressures, and the most equitable distribution model.”

Antrim put forward a motion asking Supt. Jameel Aziz to carry out that review in conjunction with district principals and athletic directors to see how a special athletics fund should be structured and paid for within the district’s financial framework.

With the district’s 2026-27 budget talks coming up within a few months, Antrim’s draft motion requested that a report be completed in time to be discussed during that process.

Speaking during the meeting, Antrim said he had promised not to ask for additional program funding until the district’s finances had been stabilized. That, he said, had been achieved under Aziz’s tenure in charge.

He said that high school athletics programs have had cut after cut, with the burden taken up by students, parents and volunteers. Unfortunately, he said, senior high school sports has become

a pay-to-play system that can cost families thousands of dollars a year.

Sports teaches kids how to be part of a team, how to deal with success and failure and gives kids a fighting chance against mental health pressures, Antrim said.

Over time, Antrim said he hoped the fund could grow in the understanding of the power of sport. During the last meeting he had with the District Student Advisory Council, Antrim said, something like that was at the top of its wishlist.

Responding to Antrim’s remarks, Aziz said he’s very supportive of athletics. He wanted to know what problem exactly would be solved by Antrim’s proposal as he worried that spending money for the sake of it might not get anything done in particular.

A lot of the benefits Antrim touted, Aziz said, are covered by school clubs and he worried about creating another elite system. He wanted more specificity before working with staff to establish a funding level.

The problem, Antrim said, comes from cuts made at every single provincial government over decades that have ended up cutting athletics programs to the bone.

Antrim said the burden placed on coaches and volunteers to maintain standards is back-breaking work and they need help. Antrim said he’s heard of some parents having to taken on second jobs to pay for their kids’ sports.

He stopped coaching basketball, he said, because not enough kids could afford to play. As a kid, he played high school sports because the grandmother who raised him couldn’t afford to put him in hockey.

If the province took a tenth of what it spent on safe supply drug programs on school athletics, Antrim said, it would save a lot of lives.

Trustee Sarah Holland said she didn’t have personal experience with school sports, but knew from working with parent advisory councils how much work is put into fundraising for sports. She wondered how many students are looking to access sports programming

Richmond Christian Eagles’ Ben Burns spikes past blocking Duchess Park Condors’ Santiago Gonzalaz during the Provincial AA Senior Boys Championship final at CNC Saturday, Nov. 29.

who currently cannot.

A member of the public reached out, Holland said, and said their employer had donated about $15,000 towards school sports about 15 years ago and wondered if that could be one route to accessing funding.

Trustee Shar McCrory commended Antrim’s passion on the matter. She said at one point while living in Hazelton, her son’s soccer team qualified for a tournament in Coquitlam and had to fundraise $20,000 in short order to attend.

However, she said there are already grant programs in place and she was concerned this might jeopardize local access to them. She also said she was worried about disbursing the funds equitably, like making sure that the same teams didn’t get funding every year and leave out others.

McCrory also brought up the idea of seeking corporate sponsorships.

Trustee Rachael Weber said she thought that sports should be emphasized alongside things like music and drama. She said she was worried that it might conflict with existing programs like the PAC gaming fund and work would need to be done to make sure Antrim’s proposal fit in with other previously existing projects.

She also said that it would be difficult for the district to promise that money would always be available for the athletics fund, saying that she hoped senior administration could work out some of the kinks.

Antrim said his colleagues asked a lot of good questions and that those were

the kinds of things he hoped administration could work out with principals and athletic directors at district high schools.

He asked them to approve further discussions so that the raised issues of things like equity could be addressed.

Trustee Erica McLean said she thought that athletic directors had a lot to offer in working out the details and put forward an amendment removing the fund aspect of the motion and instead calling for a report to be developed on the current state of athletics in the district as well as who might be getting left out at present.

That would be a good compromise, Antrim said.

Before voting, Aziz said he wanted to share some extra information. He said that in the previous school year, the district created a district athletics council to work out issues like how to fund travel to tournaments.

The superintendent said he wasn’t sure that the council specifically addresses equity and access issues, but that all schools have access to hardship funds. He said the district is aware of needing to avoid having some schools with the ability to fundraise while others do not.

Weber said it was her impression that the hardship policy in the district wasn’t working properly, with some parents too embarrassed to ask for assistance to fund things like football gear.

She added that if additional funds are allocated for secondary school athletics, it would eventually lead to elementary schools making similar requests.

Vote summary

The board directs Supt. Jameel Aziz to undertake a review of the current landscape of high school athletics in collaboration with senior administrators, athletic directors, principals and teachers and report back at May’s board meeting.

• In favour: Thompson, Antrim, Brennan and McLean

• Against McCrory, Holland and Weber

Lawyers-Ranch Project

Thesis Gold Inc. proposes to develop a gold and silver mine located 275 km northeast of Smithers that is anticipated to produce 5.1 million tonnes of ore per year for 14 to 20 years.

Share your thoughts

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) and B.C.’s Environmental Assessment O ce (EAO) are holding a public comment period on Thesis Gold Inc.’s initial project description from January 13 to February 12, 2026

Online Information Sessions

January 22 | 5:00-6:30 pm PST January 29 | 12:00-1:30 pm PST

To register, visit: engage.eao.gov.bc.ca/LawyersRanch-EE

French virtual information session available upon request.

Learn more about the project and tell us what is important to you:

Visit the federal assessment page at iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/90103 or visit the provincial engagement page at engage.eao.gov.bc.ca/LawyersRanch-EE

IAAC and the EAO are working cooperatively on the initial phase of the project’s review. A summary of the Initial Project Description, in English or French, as well as information on how to apply for participant funding is available on canada.ca/ciar (reference number 90103).

Comments received will support the preparation of a joint Summary of Issues and Engagement document. The proponent will provide a response which IAAC will consider in its decision on whether a federal impact assessment is required. Comments only need to be submitted once to either IAAC or the EAO to be considered by both agencies. Comments are considered public and will be published online. Feedback sent to IAAC may be submitted in English or French.

To submit a comment, you can visit either of the following websites:

• The Environmental Assessment O ce at engage.eao.gov.bc.ca/LawyersRanch-EE. You may also submit comments to EAO by mail - Lawyers-Ranch Project, PO box 9426, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, B.C. V8W 9V1.

• The Canadian Impact Assessment Registry at canada.ca/ciar (reference number 90103). Participants who wish to provide their input in a di erent format can contact IAAC by writing to LawyersRanch@iaac-aeic.gc.ca. Substitution Request

The Government of British Columbia has requested that if a federal impact assessment is warranted, the EAO conduct the project’s impact assessment on behalf of IAAC, meeting both federal and provincial legislative requirements. IAAC is seeking your comments via canada.ca/ciar.

For media inquiries on the federal process contact media@iaac-aeic.gc.ca and on the B.C. process contact ENVmedia@gov.bc.ca.

No Prince George senior should have to be homeless

KENNEDY GORDON Citizen Managing Editor

Our provincial government likes to think it’s getting a better handle on homelessness with “plans” and “investments.” There’s even a series of detailed point-in-time homelessness counts done across much of the province with both provincial and federal dollars.

But Prince George wasn’t included in the province’s 2025 counts, and a federal 2024-25 count lists us as “pending.”

That means we don’t actually know how many people in our city are homeless … or how many of them are seniors.

What we do know comes from the people on the front lines. Between April and November, Jenine Bortolon, the Prince George Council of Seniors’ housing navigator working through the SHINE BC program, assisted 207 seniors who came through the doors looking for help. Of those:

• Ninety-nine were at serious risk of losing their housing — because rents went up, family arrangements fell apart, or because aging and forgetfulness meant bills weren’t paid on time

• Twenty-seven of them were already homeless

The results were:

• Thirteen evictions were prevented

• Twenty-three of the twenty-seven homeless seniors were able to find housing

Those aren’t abstract statistics. They’re people who worked, raised

families, paid taxes and never imagined they’d be spending their later years wondering where they’d sleep.

Although the province, with some assistance from the city, has provided housing for 555 homeless as they addressed the challenges of Moccasin Flats over the past four years, none of that effort was for everyday seniors.

Rick Sandbach, who shared his story with The Citizen last week, is one of them. He’s 75 now. After losing his wife of 48 years and the home he was renting from his son, he did what he could to survive. He couch-surfed in winter. In summer, he camped, year after year, at lakes and along forestry roads around Prince George. Not for fun, but because it was all he could afford.

While out living rough, he met other seniors doing the same thing, including people living in vans and trailers. One man, over 70, lives alone in the bush with his dog because his medications eat up most of his income. Housing just wasn’t an option.

This is the part we don’t like to talk

about. We tend to think homelessness is someone else’s problem — younger, addicted, visibly struggling. But seniors are quietly falling through the cracks, and they’re often remain invisible until things get really bad.

The math alone explains why. One in five renting senior households spend nearly half their income on rent.

In northern communities, where vacancy rates are tight, rentals and utilities run $1,600 a month or more, one rent increase or one health crisis is all it takes.

Programs like SHINE BC show what actually works: housing navigation, help filling out forms, making sure seniors are getting every benefit they’re entitled to and helping them search for housing or avoid eviction in the first place. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective. And it’s a lot cheaper than dealing with homelessness after it happens.

The problem is these supports are limited and patchy, and the housing system seniors are expected to navigate is anything but simple.

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Long-term care, assisted living, seniors’ apartments, subsidized housing — each with long waitlists, different application processes, and different qualification rules. A lot of it is online which can be challenging for older adults or requires extensive and complicated paperwork.

If you’re healthy enough to live independently but too poor for the private market, you can end up stuck in limbo. That’s where people fall out of the system entirely.

BC needs to do a better job of supporting our seniors. That means expanding housing navigation services like SHINE into every community. It means Housing Minister Christine Boyle directing BC Housing to assist in the building of far more truly affordable, non-market housing for seniors — not just luxury “age-friendly” units most people can’t afford.

It also means Health Minister Josie Osborne and Parliamentary Secretary Susie Chant creating a streamlined single-point-of-access approach to seniors’ housing instead of expecting older adults to navigate a maze when they’re already vulnerable.

Prince George may still be waiting on official homelessness numbers, but the reality is already clear. Seniors are being pushed to the edge, and sometimes over it.

After a lifetime of contributing, they deserve stability, dignity and a safe place to call home.

editor@pgcitizen.ca

Prince George, B.C. V2L 3H2

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BC’s forestry industry and the myth of momentum

Back Story

It’s pretty bold to make the theme of this year’s BC Natural Resources Forum “momentum for continued growth.”

What growth are we continuing?

We’ve lost a bunch more mills here in the north and the industry is on the ropes with Donald Trump’s tariffs. If anything the momentum has been in the opposite direction. The momentum is heading towards catastrophic decline.

At least with forestry. And we can’t let that happen.

We need the pulp mills in Prince George and we need our forest industry. But we need to be honest about reality. We need to rethink what we are doing and we need to find a way to do things better — and cheaper.

What we need is not a slogan that pretends the status quo is working. We need a slogan for change.

We hear a lot of vague solutions to fixing the forest industry like reducing red tape, logging the parks, and getting roads further and further into the wilderness.

What none of this seems to understand is that the model of logging primary forests is costing more and more. Hauling logs is the most expensive part of logging. We’ve run short of easy wood close to town and we are hauling wood further and further away. These costs can one day be fatal.

One direction we can move in is we start thinning the plantations close to town.

We’ve got a load of 30-50-year-old plantations that can be thinned to mitigate fire-risk, to improve watershed function, to create better moose habitat, and can open up a lot of opportunities without that extensive haul.

Unfortunately, BC Timber Sales is not

committed to this idea. They have two small thinning sales coming up but are otherwise not committed to serious action on thinning.

Likely the reason is because of the Office of the Chief Forester. This office may burn through $131 million a year, but it doesn’t appear they are eager to use that money to seriously look into studying a new way of doing forestry. They have some old-school models that likely tell us we can’t thin unless we want to forego future forest productivity. It’s the same reason they defend spraying glyphosate on public forests.

According to the status quo, maintaining those monocrop plantations with high densities is crucial to juicing up the long-term yield predictions. As far as anyone can tell, they believe thinning will reduce the Annual Allowable Cut.

The reality is our plantations are growing much faster than government inventories predict. Thinning also has other benefits. As mentioned, thinning can reduce the fire risk substantially but that’s not all. Spreading the trees out can increase precipitation throughfall and reduce drought and disease pressure.

There are downsides to the government— the stumpage revenues won’t be as high.

But on the other hand, thinning requires no expensive tree planting or road building. And if we do reduce

wildfire risk, well that’s a benefit as well.

If anything came out of the advocacy and talks during the event this week, I sure hope it was about how to talk the chief forester and BC Timber Sales into understanding the value of thinning.

But the issue of course runs a lot deeper than that. Our collective vision as a society is to export low value products and import everything else. And this has grown worse and worse over the past several decades.

Mark Carney’s deal with China will probably worsen this.

We now have Chilean pine plywood in our big box stores. Almost all the cabinet-grade finish plywood made out of North American species says “made in China.”

Even though our local interior birch was used for half the British wartime birch plywood production including in the Mosquito bomber, all of our birch plywood is now imported from around the world. We even installed pine siding on our Canfor pool from Chile and New Zealand.

Yes, I understand they may be able to make it cheaper but it’s not just about other countries making stuff cheaper.

A lot of times we aren’t even able to make our own value-added wood products in the first place. This is due to our government having privatized our public forests.

Access to our forests is monopolized

by an increasingly small number of large multinational megacorporations who have no interest in making things like pine siding for domestic consumption. Getting permits to harvest small amounts of timber from public land is effectively impossible.

Entrepreneurs wanting to get some old pine to mill up and turn into siding or furniture cannot get the logs from the government.

We used to have programs that allowed this, but no longer. If you go to the ministry office to get a permit, they will tell you to talk to one of the big corporations and buy logs from them. It might work sometimes. But it’s not a system that creates predictability for value added manufacturers.

Let’s stop pretending the existing system has any kind of momentum behind it. Like a runaway log truck we had the momentum to make it to the top of the runaway lane but now it’s time to make it back down without jackknifing.

There may be some things that will help us back ourselves off the precipice, like starting to focus more of our attention on thinning in our plantations. And we have some harder, structural issues that need addressing. That’s a taller order, and will require political leadership, but it’s likely the more important of the two ideas I touched on here today.

James Steidle is a Prince George writer.

OPINION

Letter to the editor: Council members have shown us who they are with recent votes Everyone really needs to go back and look at how the councilors who represent them have been voting over the past term. Most votes end in similar 6-3.

A lot of these councillors show a lot with how they vote and interact with the community. Some of the councillors have made contact with the seniors groups to talk to them and explain. Then there are councillors like Kyle Sampson who realized how big of an issue this has become and tried to throw money at the problem without ever going to speak to any of the various seniors centres.

PGBornandRaised

Prince George’s fentanyl crisis put front and centre for public safety committee

Many drug users are individuals with mental health conditions that have either been not or misdiagnosed and/or poorly managed, medically.

Canada has been woefully neglectful in its management of mental health issues and support for folks with mental health conditions. This is something that was pointed out to me by a group of Scandinavian physicians two decades ago. They were actually quite disgusted with what they saw.

There is no cheap quick, easy fix for this. Solutions will take a great deal of resources.

PGArcher

Province

dropping drug decriminalization

What outcome was produced?

Thousands dead and more made mentally disabled? Who will answer for that?

Anyone with a shred of common sense would know this was only going to end one way. Even after the police reported the safe supply drugs were being found by the thousands in raids, what was done?

“She pointed to hundreds of new treatment and recovery beds opened across the province, reduced wait times for withdrawal management, and overdose-prevention measures such as Take Home Naloxone and supervised consumption services, which the province says have prevented tens of thousands of deaths.”

All of which wasn’t necessary prior to this. But now drug use and overdose death has skyrocketed, thanks to their failed program.

At least Purdue Pharma probably made a mountain of money from this twisted experiment, that cost thousands of people their lives.

If this wasn’t a catastrophic failure, I don’t know what is. And no one will ever face the music.

Zangief

School board orders report into secondary athletics

What an excellent idea! As a single parent it was hard enough to put a roof overhead and food on the table.

After school sports should be available for children whose parents can’t afford to pay for after school sports. You will never know what hockey star, baseball star or skiing whiz has fallen through the cracks due to financial issues in the family.

There is character building, socialization, interpersonal skills to developed.“ Sports teaches kids how to be part of a team, how to deal with success and failure and gives kids a fighting chance against mental health pressures,” Antrim said. This is a road to success for future members of our society and less expensive than waiting and dealing with the issues later on.

Rural Redhead

School board orders report into secondary athletics

Being a part of sports teams means kids feel capable and part of the school community for which socioeconomic status should not be a barrier. This motion is ultimately advocating for all students and it’s wonderful to see the Board considering this matter. Well done, Mr. Antrim, for bringing it forward.

Unhoused in Prince George, a senior tells his story

I have had two parents go through our seniors system in PG. It took 15 months to get my mom into a seniors home in 2007-2008. My dad was on the list for 17 months and was admitted in 2021.

A very big problem, which I have mentioned before is, there are only two professionals joining the healthcare field for every five that retire. Add the amount of retiring has increased due to baby boomers, lay offs, shutdowns etc. It’s a very bad situation and won’t be improving for a long time Jim John

Unhoused in Prince George, a senior tells his story

Well, that sounds a bit extreme. But it is true our government has and continues to squander taxpayer money outside of our country and on questionable ventures. I would feel better about this, if there were not a small village of homeless people, going unhoused in our communities. The pot of tax how we choose to spend it, can reflect poorly on our society.

I believe there is enough tax revenue in this country, that no citizen should go unhoused or hungry and that should be the highest priority for our government, but sadly, it is not. Instead they dole out millions to special interest groups, that have zero transparency with public funds, for work that will never take place, as one example. Zangief

Sampson named chair of hospital district board

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

A representative from Prince George was elected chair at the Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District’s first board meeting of 2026.

The board holds an election for the chairperson’s position during the first meeting of each calendar year.

Previous chair Joan Atkinson, the mayor of Mackenzie, nominated Director Kyle Sampson (City of Prince George) to take over the position after previously serving as vice-chair.

Sampson, a City of Prince George councillor, was elected unanimously and then nominated Atkinson to take over the vice-chair role.

Each regional district in British Columbia has a corresponding hospital district that is responsible for contributing funding towards its local health authority’s capital costs for projects within its borders, raising the funding through taxes.

After the elections, Atkinson said it wasn’t an easy decision for her, but she felt that with the University Hospital of Northern BC acute care tower project continuing to move forward, someone in Prince George should chair the hospital district board to keep an eye on it — especially so since Prince George taxpayers will make up the largest part of the hospital district’s financial contribution to the $1.579 billion project, she added.

Addressing his colleagues for the first time as chair, Sampson said he had a few clear priorities: to make sure everyone’s voices around the table are heard, to make sure the hospital district maintains a stable funding model and to advance legislative reform to remake the hospital district funding model.

He praised Atkinson for her work, saying she maintained a “thoughtful, openminded and team-centric approach” as chair and represented the region with “professionalism and credibility.”

Resource beneft agreement now on radar

City of Prince George and the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George are not members.

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Unlike some of its peers, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George does not have a resource benefit agreement, but its board of directors passed a motion looking to fix that situation at a Thursday, Jan. 15 meeting.

Resource benefit agreements are deals between local governments and the provincial government aiming at keeping some of the revenue from natural resources projects in the area from where they’re harvested.

In British Columbia, such agreements are in place in the northwest as part of the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance and in the northeast as part of the Peace River Agreement.

While discussing the board of directors’ plans to attend the 2026 BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George from Jan. 20 to 22, Director Joan Atkinson — the mayor of Mackenzie — mentioned that it was her understanding that Fraser-Fort George is the only regional district in the north that does not have a resource benefit agreement.

She added that she had heard that both Fraser-Fort George and the City of Prince George had declined the offer to establish an agreement sometime in the past.

Chief administrative officer Chris Calder said that while he has only worked for the regional district for eight years, it was his understanding

rolling and then bring in this group and the regional district to make sure that everybody benefits together,” he said.

Director Brian Skakun (City of Prince George) said that from what he’s seen, it would be complicated to arrange but that he had heard the City of Prince Rupert had received $60 million through the northwest agreement towards a new wastewater treatment plant and Prince George wants to similarly receive its fair share.

that Fraser-Fort George was not invited to take place in the northwest benefit agreement and this region does not have the kind of oil and gas projects that fund the agreement in the Peace Region.

Both Fraser-Fort George and Prince George, he said, were included in payments through the provincial government’s Northern Capital and Planning Grant program.

Calder said he had engaged in some initial conversations with his counterparts in other governments with resource benefit agreements and what it could entail to establish one in Fraser-Fort George.

“There is a lot of work to be put into that,” Calder said. “It’s not a simple advocacy piece. I do think it’s something we can take on. There may be a need for further resources to action that, I think that’s not a side of the desk type project and nor should it be to give it the attention it deserves.”

Director Kyle Sampson (City of Prince George) said the city hadn’t been invited to participate in the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance and so there was no opportunity for it to decline an invitation.

The city’s Standing Committee on intergovernmental Affairs, he said, has an interest in seeking an agreement and has been doing very high-level work on that front which might have included initial discussions with Calder.

“Then the intention would be that the city has the resources to get the ball

Director Cori Ramsay (City of Prince George) said it wasn’t the first time she had heard the rumour mentioned by Atkinson and that she doesn’t know any of her colleagues who would have declined such an offer.

“The other rumour is that the City of Prince George wasn’t asked to join because we would have gotten a large piece of the pie and other local governments didn’t want to share that … I think it would do us all well to stay out of the rumour mill and just focus on the work,” Ramsay said.

Calder said it would be beneficial to have the district board pass a resolution directing administration to start working on a report regarding highlevel considerations for establishing a resource benefit agreement.

Ramsay moved such a motion.

Director Dannielle Alan (Robson Valley-Canoe) said that she wanted to make sure that the smaller municipalities in the regional district along with rural electoral areas like hers have equal representation and equal weight in discussions over a resource benefit agreement.

Director Owen Torgerson, the mayor of Valemount, said he didn’t want to “reinvent the wheel of success” and recommended following the approach the other groups had pursued to establish an agreement.

The motion passed unanimously.

Vote summary

The board of directors directs administration to explore what is needed to establish a resource benefit agreement and report back at a future meeting.

Result: Passed unanimously

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Provincial Court judge who will sentence an RCMP officer found guilty of obstruction of justice reserved decision on Jan. 13 but did not set a date.

“I’ll need about an hour,” Judge Michael Fortino said. “I can be personally ready within the next two weeks to deliver a decision.”

The Crown wants Fortino to send Arthur Dalman, 33, to jail for six months. But Dalman’s defence lawyer proposed a conditional discharge. Lawyers for both sides will go to court schedulers on Jan. 16.

“I know that this matter has been extant for some time, and there’s a high interest in seeing a conclusion on all parts, and so I’d like to be able to give a decision in the relatively near future,” Fortino said.

Judge Adrian Brooks found Dalman guilty in July 2024 of directing a witness to delete a smartphone video after Dale Culver, a 35-year-old Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en man, was violently arrested on July 18, 2017. Prince George RCMP had received a call about someone on a bicycle casing vehicles on 10th Avenue between Central Street West and Commercial Crescent. Culver died in police custody.

“Obstruction is a serious offence deserving of serious sanction,” Crown prosecutor Cory Lo said Jan. 12.

Defence lawyer Danielle Ching McNamee said Dalman’s sentencing was not about the tragic death of Culver, a father and valued member of his community.

“Mr. Dalman arrived on scene following Mr. Culver’s placement in the back of a police cruiser,” Ching McNamee said. “So Mr. Dalman did not see any previous interaction between members

and Mr. Culver. He had no dealings at all.”

Ching McNamee said the exacerbation of Dalman’s post-traumatic stress disorder and the end of his time in the RCMP should be considered mitigating circumstances.

“The loss of that career is, in fact, a foregone conclusion in light of this disciplinary proceeding that’s being mandated following the trial verdict,”

Ching McNamee said.

Lilly Speed, Culver’s daughter, gave a victim impact statement on Jan. 12 that said her father was killed because he was an Indigenous man on a bike in the wrong place at the wrong time. She said her father’s death went largely unnoticed until after the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, which sparked mass protests and several riots across the U.S.

In early 2024, the BC Prosecution Service stayed manslaughter charges against Const. Paul Ste-Marie and Const. Jean Francois Monette and an obstruction of justice charge against Const. Clarence Alexander MacDonald.

The only other officer charged, Sgt. Bayani (Jon) Eusebio Cruz, was tried at the same time as Dalman but found not guilty of obstruction of justice.

Dalman told the court that he had been the target of threats as a result of the case and needed various security measures to protect his house, family and himself.

That included round-the-clock police protection and permission to carry his service pistol while off duty. The incident ultimately derailed his dream of being a full-time emergency response team member.

He is now pursuing a master’s degree in criminal justice.

Judge hasn’t set a date for RCMP ofcer’s sentencing Missing fsherman declared dead in Prince George court

BOB MACKIN Citizen Staff

More than six years after a 40-year-old fisherman went missing on Great Slave Lake, a B.C. Supreme Court judge in Prince George declared the man dead on Jan. 19.

Jason George Fulton went fishing on the vast Northwest Territories lake on Sept. 29, 2019 with Stacy Linington, 59, Daniel Courtoreille, 51 and Michael Courtoreille, 50. They did not make it back to shore in Hay River and the rescue mission became a recovery mission.

However, all searchers found was their partially submerged fishing boat on Oct. 1, 2019.

Tanya Terri Stump married Fulton in 2005 but they separated in 2017. They had three children together.

Stump petitioned the court last year as next of kin to declare Fulton dead under the Presumption of Death Act so that she could obtain a death certificate.

Stump, through lawyer Kyle Parker, told Justice Ronald Tindale that the couple’s 12-year-old child is seeking a passport in order to travel outside Canada.

If one of the parents is deceased, a death certificate is required in order to

complete the application.

Parker said that the Hay River RCMP did not respond to Stump, so she swore an affidavit that said her daughter, Fulton’s sister and father had never heard from Fulton since Sept. 29, 2019 nor had they any reason

to believe he is still alive.

“There’s no indication that Mr. Fulton was affiliated with any gangs or organized crime or had any enemies in that regard,” Tindale said.

Stump’s affidavit included copies of news coverage about the quartet’s disappearance and outlines her conversations with her daughter and Fulton’s closest relatives.

“None of them have heard from Mr. Fulton,” Tindale said. “It’s clear, on the facts of this case, there was a tragic accident and Mr. Fulton has not been heard of since. His body hasn’t been recovered.”

Tindale concluded that Stump’s petition was appropriate and is supported by evidence.

“So I will make an order that Jason George Fulton will be presumed to be dead, for all purposes, and that his death occurred on Sept. 29, 2019,” Tindale said.

Great Slave Lake, the world’s 10th biggest lake, is the deepest in North America at 614 metres.

First Natons man remembered outside courthouse

Friends and family gather as RCMP of cer appears in court for sentencing

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Family and friends of Dale Culver, along with drummers from the Ewk Hitah Hozdli drum group from the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, gathered in front of the courthouse Tuesday, Jan. 13 in a show of solidarity.

Culver, a member of the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Nations, died in police custody in 2017 following his arrest after a call was placed about someone on a bicycle casing vehicles on 10th Avenue between Central Street West and Commercial Crescent in Prince George.

Thirty-three-year-old Arthur Dalman is currently undergoing a sentencing hearing that began Monday, Jan. 12 and continued Tuesday, Jan. 13 on obstruction of justice charges.

Dalman was found guilty in July 2024 after court heard he took a smartphone from the hand of witness Kevin Moe following Culver’s arrest and demanded Moe erase the video footage.

Before the resumption of Dalman’s case, drummers smudged outside the courthouse to show their support for the family attending the hearing.

The drummers sang favourite songs of Culver’s, as well as songs of support for his family and the recently deceased Wesley Mitchell, whom they noted was a supporter of Culver’s case and his family.

Ramona Naziel, a member of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation and a friend of Culver’s who helped lead the Ewk Hitah Hozdli drummers in song, spoke to The Citizen about why they gathered outside the courthouse.

“Mainly for support and to support missing and murdered Indigenous women and men and boys,” said Naziel. “Everybody knows the court case about Dale. We just wanted to support the family as well, let them know they’re not

alone. Our songs are songs of prayer and they go up towards the family and to Dale and to all of the missing and murdered women and men and boys.”

Naziel said she felt strongly about the case and the length of the ongoing process.

“Dale’s one of us; he is Wet’suwet’en, we’re Wet’suwet’en,” said Naziel. “We grew up with him. Basically, from what we hear, he was just walking and he was mobbed by the cops and there was no justice, and it feels like there’s still no justice.”

Another longtime friend of Culver’s who joined the drummers outside the courthouse was Anthony Naziel, who spoke about why he believes the case is important to First Nations in the North.

“The unfortunate event that took place that took his life, most of the time cases like this, they’ll brush them off and within months or whatever, and people won’t even know about it,” said Anthony. “But we’re here. We want people to know that Dale had a family, that he lived a life and that he was a humorous person. He was really funny, and he didn’t deserve to be killed on the street like that by the RCMP.”

Anthony also shared one of his favourite memories of growing up with Culver.

“One of the funniest times, me and Dale, we were in cultural camp and

we spent a lot of time singing gospel music,” said Anthony. “Dale always had a really big smile on his face and he was always joking around. When he sang, he sang loudly and he made everybody

laugh. He brought a lot of joy to people. When I’m talking about gospel music, it was a Bible camp that we attended. One of the most memorable things about Dale is just his humour.”

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Nearly 500 more days in jail afer year-old guilty pleas

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A BC Supreme Court judge agreed Jan. 16 to the proposed three-and-a-halfyear sentence for a man who pleaded guilty more than a year ago to firearms possession and dangerous driving charges.

But Kaiden Philippe Joseph ImbeaultBachand’s net sentence is just over 16 months for unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and possession of prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition.

The 25-year-old has been in custody for 519 days since Oct. 16, 2024 and received time-and-a-half credit for 779 days, leaving 498 days left to serve.

Justice John Gibb-Carsley endorsed the Crown and defence submission for Imbeault-Bachand, who took responsibility for his crimes on Jan. 6, 2025.

On Feb. 7, 2023, two young offenders broke into the Husky gas station on the Hart Highway, which also contains a guns and ammunition department. They stole 10 firearms.

“When the guns were stolen, they remained attached to a cable to the trigger locks that could not be severed by the robbers during the robbery,” Gibb-Carsley said. “As such, they dragged all the guns together when exiting the store.”

Two hours later, Prince George RCMP chased a speeding, erratically

Kaiden Philippe Joseph Imbeault-Bachand’s net sentence is just over 16 months for crimes associated with the theft of firearms from a gas station on the Hart Highway.

driven van which eventually became stuck in the snow. The driver, ImbeaultBachand, fled to a field before his arrest. Inside the van, police found a sawedoff shotgun that had been used by the Husky gun robbers and three of the 10 guns stolen from the Husky.

Imbeault-Bachand was kept in custody for 11 days before Provincial Court Judge Peter McDermick released him on the condition that he would not possess firearms or ammunition and that he would live under an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Prince George RCMP investigated an Aug. 13, 2024 complaint about drug trafficking involving occupants of a white Mazda. Officers saw the vehicle at a red light on Highway 97 at 10th Avenue on Aug. 16, 2024 and confirmed the Mazda was owned by the same person as the van Imbeault-Bachand drove the night of the Husky robbery.

When police apprehended the Mazda and ordered the four occupants out of the car, the butt end of a wooden grip of a gun was in Imbeault-Bachand’s waistband. It was a loaded .22 calibre

sawed-off bolt action firearm with a round in the chamber. A single .22 calibre round was in Imbeault-Bachand’s front jeans pocket.

Gibb-Carsley said Imbeault-Bachand had no prior criminal record. Aggravating factors included the repeat firearms offences and bail violation.

Among the mitigating factors were his diagnosis with schizoaffective disorder and self-identification as Indigenous.

A report on how Indigenous heritage influenced his offending, called a Gladue Report, was ordered. But the writer refused the assignment because Imbeault-Bachand did not demonstrate sufficient connection to Indigenous culture.

The writer provided one about Imbeault-Bachand’s mother instead.

Gibb-Carsley decided that Indigenous heritage should still be a factor in sentencing Imbeault-Bachand, due to intergenerational trauma.

Also to his credit, Gibb-Carsley said Imbeault-Bachand is maintaining sobriety while in custody and studying for pipefitting and oil pipeline certification.

“Continue the hard work necessary to set yourself up to make a positive contribution to society upon your release,” Gibb-Carsley said to Imbeault-Bachand at the end of the hearing.

“I hope this is your last interaction with the justice system, and I hope that you take that opportunity, both for the community and for your own well-being and sake.”

Man found guilty of assaultng woman with baseball bat

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Provincial Court judge in Sechelt has found a man guilty of assaulting a woman with a baseball bat after she returned from a trip to Fort St. John. In the Dec. 19 decision, Judge Steven Merrick said Patrick Burns had known the woman for 18 years.

She had gone to Fort St. John for 17 days in July 2024 and returned to find

the house sitter had taken her pets to Burns’s house.

On July 20, 2024, the house sitter told the woman that his truck, which was parked in front of Burns’s house, had been vandalized.

The woman insisted on taking a close look at it, despite his disapproval. She opened the hood and used her phone to take a picture of the engine.

While doing so, she said Burns struck her on the elbow and back with a

baseball bat.

Merrick said the Crown proved beyond reasonable doubt that Burns struck the woman with a baseball bat on her back.

“I am not satisfied that Mr. Burns ‘wound up,’ as described by (the victim) before she was struck with the bat,” Merrick said.

“Nor am I satisfied that Mr. Burns struck the truck.”

However, he was satisfied beyond

reasonable doubt that Burns was not defending property when he struck the woman.

Court heard Burns confronted the woman while she was taking a photograph, but did not need to protect the truck nor did he need to strike the woman.

“Mr. Burns could have closed the hood. He could have told (the victim) to get away from the truck,” Merrick said.

Fentanyl crisis in focus for public safety commitee

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George’s Standing Committee on Public Safety passed a motion asking another city committee to add issues surrounding fentanyl and drug-related deaths to its advocacy work after a presentation at its Tuesday, Jan. 13 meeting.

At that meeting, Michelle Miller of local group Broken Hearts of Fentanyl spoke about the difference between legal fentanyl prescribed by medical professionals and illicit fentanyl sold on the street.

Miller told committee members about the harms caused by fentanyl appearing in other drugs where users aren’t expecting it, which has led to deaths including that of her own son Tanner.

Several statistics were cited in her presentation, such as there having been 17,000 drug poisoning deaths in BC over the last decade.

She asked the committee to help advocate for several items her organization is pushing for:

• Have the RCMP investigiate all sudden deaths from suspected substance poisonings

• Allow the RCMP to access toxicology reports from the coroner’s office

• Have the local RCMP purchase a Fourier transform infrared machine to test substances found on a deceased person

• Have the coroner’s office report drug poisoning-related deaths as homicide and not accidental

• Speed up the time it takes for the coroner’s office to publish reports

“Homicide is classified by determining if bodily harm was at the hands of another person,” Miller said. “Our kids were deceived into believing they were taking one thing and getting another. Our kids are being found by their sisters, brothers, mums, dads, grandparents and loved ones. Let that sink in. On front lawns, porches, beds, bathrooms, vehicles and slumped over their computers, deceased. My son was

put to sleep sitting on a sofa.”

After the presentation, Coun. Brian Skakun said he wondered if part of the increase in drug-related deaths was related to people using drugs unobserved in group or transitional housing settings.

At an event at city hall last year, Skakun said, one of the speakers said there had been 600 overdose or drug poisoning deaths in Prince George alone in the last nine years.

He said the city has work to do on this front and wondered whether Prince George could address it at the Union of BC Municipalities convention this September in Vancouver. With Mayor Simon Yu absent, Skakun chaired the meeting.

Present in the audience for the meeting was Prince George RCMP Sgt. Craig Douglass, who said the statistics Miller cited were “staggering.”

In 2004, Douglass said, he recalled BC’s first overdose crisis involving around 400 people, far lower than what’s being dealt with today.

In response to Miller’s request regarding RCMP investigations, Douglass said the RCMP and the BC Coroners Service are mandated to investigate any death that occurs outside of a medical care setting in the province.

“In terms of drug enforcement, we are always active,” he said.

“We did a search the other night and pretty much every day we have seizures of drugs in this community,

plants to be imported like opium-based products or cocaine, Douglass said there’s been some success in breaking up the clandestine labs that produce them.

Committee member Miranda Seymour — a councillor for Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and employee for the BC First Nations Justice Council — brought up the work done to bring an Indigenous Diversion Centre to Prince George to help the community dealt with both the justice system and challenges with substance abuse.

mostly fentanyl based. There’s different qualities and quantities and mixtures used by the drug dealers to maximize profit and minimize expenses and such, so we don’t know what’s in it until the drug tests are done, but there’s always fentanyl of some degree in it.”

As these drugs don’t require herbs or

Another member, John Zukowski, said that these engineered drugs sold on the street are traceable but it’s a matter of the RCMP having enough time and resources to investigate them.

The committee ultimately voted to refer Miller’s presentation to the Standing Committee on intergovernmental Relations to include as part of its advocacy work with higher levels of government.

$50K damage afer fre at vacant house

Fire crews battle a fire at a boarded-up home on Norwood Street on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Residents on Norwood Street told The Citizen they saw light smoke exiting the building before the arrival of fire services. Firefighters worked with chainsaws and cutters to remove boards on the derelict building to access the inside. Co-owner Sunny Kullar was on scene and spoke to The Citizen. ‘This is an unfortunate situation,’ Kullar said. ‘Our first concern is the safety of everyone in the neighbourhood. We’re very grateful that no one was injured. The home was already scheduled for demolition as part of plans to build a new house that fits the community, and we’re cooperating fully with authorities as we move forward.’ Damage is estimated at $50,000 and there were no injuries reported.

Time behind bars for local drug dealer ‘with potental’

His wife and baby were in the courtroom for his sentencing

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Maserati-driving Prince George cocaine dealer busted almost four years ago was sentenced Jan. 13 to three-anda-half years in prison.

BC Supreme Court Justice Ronald Tindale agreed to the joint Crown and defence proposal for Quinn Alexander Davidson, 34.

“It’s very sad in the case of Mr. Davidson, because he’s a young man that has significant potential,” Tindale said. “He has a young wife and a beautiful new child that he’s going to lose time with and I think that, probably more so than anything else, has driven home the wrongness of his actions.”

Cocaine, Tindale said, wreaks havoc

in the community and, as Davidson noted in a pre-sentencing report, “people are going to extreme lengths to obtain money to purchase drugs and wreaking havoc on their life.”

Last June, Davidson pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Court heard the operator of a dial-adope scheme caught the attention of police through a confidential tip about a drug-dealing Maserati owner in Prince George.

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC searched provincial records and found four Maseratis located in Prince George, but only one matched Davidson’s.

Prince George RCMP conducted surveillance on Davidson in February and March 2022 and even installed a tracker on his Dodge Ram pickup truck, which he drove to and from Vancouver in late March 2022.

Police officers arrested Davidson

on March 30, 2022 and obtained a search warrant for his house, where they found a sealed brick of cocaine weighing just over a kilogram inside a gym bag.

The cocaine was 93-96 per cent pure and estimated to be worth between $26,000 and $133,200, depending on whether it would sold by the kilogram or gram-by-gram.

They also found drug dealing paraphernalia and $10,000 in Canadian bills. Davidson’s iPhone and iPad yielded messages and photographs of cocaine and firearms.

He boasted to one client that he sold “the best coke in the city.”

Davidson’s wife and baby were both in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.

He also has three children from another relationship.

Court heard that Davidson holds a class 1 licence to drive trucks, but suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder and mental health issues and has used cocaine himself.

Tindale said the pre-sentencing report indicated Davidson was remorseful. The case underwent a preliminary inquiry and was scheduled for a 10-day trial, but Davidson decided to plead guilty, because he did not want to waste the court’s time.

While he gained a lot of money, Davidson lost his freedoms and he knows his actions were dangerous to the community.

“He is aware he profited from many victims who were heavily addicted to illicit substances, saying many of his clients used their welfare checks or child tax returns to purchase substances from him,” Tindale said.

Earlier, Davidson told Tindale that he wanted to “apologize to the community of Prince George, I know what I did was wrong.”

“I just want to come out (of jail) a better person,” Davidson said.

Record gold and silver producton at Blackwater mine

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Artemis Gold Inc. reports record quarterly production from its Blackwater gold and silver mine 160 kilometres southwest of Prince George.

Blackwater mined 68,480 ounces of gold in the three months that ended Dec. 31, which brought its inaugural full-year production for 2025 to 192,808 ounces of gold. That represents a 12 per cent increase over the previous quarter.

“Record quarterly gold production is a fitting end to an extraordinary first year of operations for Artemis Gold,” said Artemis Gold CEO Dale Andres in a media release.

“Our mining operations are performing extremely well, with ore grades being delivered to the mill as planned. Our focus remains on further improving mill throughput and availability, and we continue to target mill throughput levels at 10 per cent above design capacity on a sustainable basis in advance of the Phase 1A expansion, which we expect will increase annual design throughput by 33 per cent to eight Mtpa (million tonnes per annum) by Q4 2026.

“We are also advancing the Expanded Phase 2 project, which we expect to fund from operating cash flow and will see us further increase annual throughput to 21 Mtpa by the end of 2028, which is more than triple our current capacity. This is an exciting time for Artemis Gold as we transform Blackwater into one of the three largest single gold mines in Canada.”

The news from the Vancouver-based company comes at a time when gold and silver market prices have climbed to record highs.

Last week, gold hit US$4,600 for the first time, and major brokerages expect it will reach US$5,000 per ounce in 2026 as investors clamour for safe havens amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.

Silver prices, which increased 64 per cent in 2025, climbed an additional six per cent in the first 12 days of January and on Jan. 12 reached a record US$82.22.

Blackwater’s mill feed grade (quantity

of gold in mined ore) averaged 1.66 grams per tonne in Q4 2025, 12 per cent higher than in Q3 2025. Gold recovery in the mill improved to 88.1 per cent in the quarter, up from 84.9 per cent in Q3 2025. The increase in recovery was related to both improved ore characteristics as mining extended deeper into the deposit as well as continued optimization of the mill circuit. The mill operated at about 82 per cent capacity in October and November due to a planned four-day shutdown to complete a full reline of the ball mill and replace a ball mill motor that failed. Design and construction deficiencies were identified and fixes were implemented to improve availability of the processing plant to 93 per cent in December.

In the last three months of 2025, the mill operated at an average throughput rate of 15,446 tonnes per day, which was 94 per cent of capacity.

Artemis forecasts it will mine 265,000 to 290,000 ounces of gold in 2026. The company estimates all-in sustaining costs (what it costs to produce gold) of between US$925 and US$1,025 per ounce — one of the lowest cost structures in the industry. Based on spot prices of about US$4,500 per ounce, once production costs are factored in, that translates into revenues of US$3,500 per ounce, a 75 per cent margin.

If those same prices hold through the end of 2026, 265,000 ounces of gold at US$3,500 per ounce would bring revenues of US$927.5 million. If Blackwater produces 290,000 ounces, yearly revenue would jump to US$1.015 billion. Planned expansions of the Blackwater

operation are expected to triple mill throughput capacity by 2028. Phase 1A, announced in September with completion expected late this year, will increase nameplate capacity from six Mtpa to eight Mtpa.

The expanded Phase 2 project, announced in December, is expected to increase gold production to more than 500,000 ounces per year in 2028. Artemis says the planned expansions will make Blackwater among the world’s lowest-cost, highest-margin

gold operations and will result in one of Canada’s largest gold mines.

Blackwater estimates sustaining capital costs will be close to $5 million in 2026. Artemis will invest $15 million to $20 million in resource expansion and exploration drilling this year.

Total growth capital is expected to cost $670 million to $745 million, funded from operating cash flow. That includes $95 million to $100 million to complete the Phase 1A expansion, $385 million to $435 million to advance the planned $1.44-billion EP2 project, and $190 million to $210 million for other expansion capital, primarily associated with tailings and water expansion projects and additions to the mining fleet.

Initial work on the EP2 project will focus on detailed engineering and design, long-lead equipment and material procurement, earthworks, and worker camp construction. Major works on EP2 are expected to start before the end of the third quarter of 2026.

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Appeals court sorts out Milligan Mine royaltes dispute

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A BC Court of Appeal tribunal has overturned a lower court ruling on royalties from the Mount Milligan gold and copper mine.

In a Jan. 13 decision, written by Justice Susan Griffin, the province’s top court allowed the appeal from royalty holder H.R.S. Resources Corporation, but rejected the cross-appeal from operator and royalty payer Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. (TCM).

“The (BC Supreme Court) judge erred in his treatment of the expert accounting evidence, allowing it to overwhelm the terms of the royalty agreement,” the decision said. “The reference to generally accepted accounting principles in the agreement did not incorporate the manner in which TCM reported revenues on its financial statements for a series of transactions.”

Griffin said the judge erred by concluding that TCM could lump a series of transactions into one for the sake of paying royalties and “discount to zero”

the revenue from actual sales of mineral products.

Under the appeal court decision, TCM must pay H.R.S. royalties based on revenues from sales of mine products to the third-party Offtakers.

In 1986, TCM predecessor Lincoln Resources Inc. acquired the claims to Mount Milligan from Richard Haslinger Sr., the predecessor of H.R.S. Haslinger was promised a two per cent production royalty. Another TCM predecessor, Terrane Metals Corp., reached a streaming agreement in 2010 with Royal Gold,

which provided US$781.5 million cash in return for TCM’s promise to refine gold for Royal Gold at the below-market fixed price of $435 per ounce.

Mount Milligan Mine is 155 kilometres northwest of Prince George. Commercial production began in 2014 and royalty payments were due in 2016.

According to Centerra Gold, which acquired TCM in 2016, there are 4.4 million ounces of gold reserves and 1.7 billion pounds of copper reserves. The open pit mine is expected to remain active until 2045.

Local small business going afer BC Business Award

Wall to Wall sells used building materials, appliances and more

The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors voted at its first meeting of 2026 to lend a hand to a Prince George business owner’s award nomination package.

A letter attached to the Thursday, Jan. 15 meeting agenda was from Christina Wall, owner of Wall to Wall.

The First Avenue business opened in late 2019 with a similar business model to the old Habitat for Humanity ReStore, whose local branch closed about a decade ago after a battle with the national organization.

The business accepts various used construction and home fixtures like door knobs, lighting, bathroom pieces and appliances in good working condition and resells them rather than having those items go into the landfill.

“I am seeking a brief letter of support from the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George as part of my BC Business Award nomination,” Wall said in her letter.

The letter would speak to the environmental and community impact of Wall to Wall, particularly its role in diverting

Christina Wall shows off her then-recently opened business Wall to Wall in this 2019 Citizen file photo. On Thursday, Jan. 15, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors voted unanimously to write a letter of support for Wall’s nomination to the BC Business Awards.

reusable construction materials from landfill and supporting sustainability in the region.”

Director Brian Skakun (City of Prince George) said that Wall does amazing work and is currently working with realtors to find a larger home for her business.

“I can’t even imagine literally the tons of stuff she’s taken in that hasn’t gone to the landfill,” Skakun said.

“So, I think it’s a great letter of support.”

Wall’s request was approved unanimously.

In 2025, Wall to Wall was a finalist

in the Excellence and Environmental Impact category in the Prince George Chamber of Commerce’s 40th Annual Business Excellence Awards.

Two years earlier, Wall to Wall was a finalist in the Business Impact Award category in the 20th Annual Small Business BC Awards.

Regional district eyes 3.75% increase to tax revenues

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The board of directors for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George took the first step towards approving a 2026 budget with a 3.75 per cent increase in tax revenues at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Jan. 12.

As residents in the district are taxed only for the services that they directly benefit from, the property tax increase they’ll face depends on which community they live in.

Overall, the district is projecting $67,982,404 in expenditures in 2026, a decrease from the $70,042,346 it incurred in 2025. However, revenues are expected to drop by the same amount from last year.

The board of directors discussed the budget for district-wide services as well as those affecting all the rural electoral areas on Jan. 16.

The budget for services that only single electoral areas or just a few of them use will be discussed at a February Committee of the Whole meeting.

Then, the overall budget will be voted on by the board at its March meeting, to meet the March 31 deadline set by the provincial government.

Tax increase by community

Included in district administration’s presentation slides were tables showing how much homeowners in each of Fraser-Fort George’s municipalities and rural electoral areas can expect to pay to it in property taxes in 2026.

In some cases, the tax rate per $100,000 of assessed property value is actually lower in 2026 than 2025, but residents are likely to pay more in taxes because of increases to property assessment.

For example, the average home value in the City of Prince George went up from $458,521 in 2025 to $467,503 in 2026. District staff proposed that the tax rate per $100,000 of assessed value decrease from $44.55 in 2025 to $43.55 in 2026.

However, because of the average 1.96 per cent property value increases

in 2026, the average homeowner should expect to pay 4.3 per cent — $8.59 — more in taxes to the regional district.

Here’s the tax rate per $100,000 of assessed value proposed for 2026 in each part of Fraser-Fort George:

• City of Prince George: $43.55

• District of Mackenzie: $47.98

• Village of McBride: $309.47

• Village of Valemount: $182.49

• Electoral Area A (Salmon River-Lakes): $92.56

• Electoral Area C (Chilako River-Nechako): $102.58

• Electoral Area D (Tabor LakeStone Creek): $104.92

• Electoral Area E (Woodpecker-Hixon): $118.92

• Electoral Area F (Willow River-Upper Fraser Valley): $107.49

• Electoral Area G (Crooked River-Parsnip): $83.25

• Electoral Area H (Robson Valley-Canoe): $95.20

Here’s the projected percentage change for the average home in each of part of Fraser-Fort George in 2026:

• City of Prince George: 4.3 per cent

• District of Mackenzie: 7.83 per cent

• Village of McBride: 10.09 per cent

• Village of Valemount: 0.64 per cent decrease

• Electoral Area A (Salmon River-Lakes): 3.74 per cent

• Electoral Area C (Chilako River-Nechako): 2.6 per cent

• Electoral Area D (Tabor LakeStone Creek): 6.14 per cent

• Electoral Area E (Woodpecker-Hixon): 7.04 per cent

• Electoral Area F (Willow River-Upper Fraser Valley): 11.13 per cent

• Electoral Area G (Crooked River-Parsnip): 23.59 per cent

• Electoral Area H (Robson Valley-Canoe): 4.97 per cent

High-level budget breakdown

Here’s the percentage breakdown for how Fraser-Fort George expects to collect its $67,982,404 in projected revenue in 2026:

• Tax requisition: 37 per cent

• Fees and charges: 23 per cent

• Borrowing: 18 per cent

• Transfers from reserves: 16 per cent

• Prior year’s surplus: Six per cent

Here’s the percentage breakdown for how the district expects to spend its $67,982,404 in projected expenditures:

• Operations: 61 per cent

• Capital expenditures: 17 per cent

• Debt servicing: 13 per cent

• Transfers to reserves: 9 per cent

During the meeting, chief administrative officer Chris Calder and manager of financial services Sarah White discussed the “big three” of departments in the district: administration, 911 services and solid waste.

These departments make up 47 per cent of the district’s annual tax requisition and represent 70 per cent of its staff.

Calder and White also noted that while the consumer price index — a method of determining inflation for

individual people based on the price of certain household goods — was lower in 2025 than it was in 2024 both in BC and across the whole country, the CPI does not measure the kind of goods and services needed by governments.

“Items such as industrial commodities and construction costs tend to increase more than CPI rates,” the presentation said.

Among the budget items discussed at the January meeting, projected expenditures are projected to be $970,699 lower than in 2025.

While inflation drove up the cost of some general operating expenses, fewer one-time projects mean a net decrease of $494,569 in this category.

Under remuneration for employees, new collective agreements including the one signed by CUPE members after a strike last year are resulting in a $1,456,205 increase.

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TOYS • COMICS • GAMES

District board meets to discuss budget, capital projects

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The repatriation of emergency call-answering services represents a $1,100,205 increase to operating expenses.

Expenses relating to the Dore River mitigation project are reduced by $2,340,093 for 2026.

Debt payments will be $879,339 less than in 2025 while transfers to the district’s reserves are increasing by $186,118.

Region-wide services

Here are the services affecting the entire regional district that were discussed at the Jan. 16 meeting, the approved expenditures and the percentage increase from 2025.

• General administration:

$7,239,010, 10 per cent increase

• Regional board: $525,233, 0.8 per cent increase

• Heritage conservation:

$1,895,068, 0.7 per cent increase

• Regional grants-in-aid: $756,785, 0.4 per cent increase

• 911 emergency response: $11,898,317, 17.5 per cent increase

• Community services: $682,201, 3.9 per cent decrease

• Regional land use planning: $1,458,178, 22.3 per cent decrease

• Economic development: $221,996, 18.5 per cent decrease

• Solid waste management: $17,894,212, 1.4 per cent decrease

• Rural transfer station service: $704,007, 12 per cent increase

• Waste reduction: $150,000, no change

• Regional parks: $838,914, eight per cent increase

• Municipal debt servicing: $8,511,085, 8.5 per cent decrease

• Feasibility studies: $100,000, no change

Sub-regional services

This category includes operations that serve each of the regional district’s seven electoral areas.

Here are the approved tax requisition and corresponding funding change

Fire destroys the Nukko Lake Community Hall on Nov. 5. Emergency services in the area were on the agenda as the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board discussed the 2026 budget last week.

approved by the board for them.

• Electoral area administration: $446,649, 44.3 per cent increase

• Fire department co-ordination: $347,432, 2.2 per cent increase

• Emergency preparedness: $604,572, 79.4 per cent decrease

• Inspection services: $548,437, 41.9 per cent decrease

• Untidy and unsightly premises: $303,842, 11.1 per cent increase

• House numbering: $36,824, 2.5 per cent increase

• Special events: $5,250, no change

• Noise control: $2,000, no change

2026 capital projects

Here are some big capital and other major projects being worked on by the regional district in 2026.

Next-generation 911 and computer-aided dispatch: Across Canada, governments are being required to upgrade to next-generation 911 services that are supposed to provide additional details of emergency situations to first responders. Fraser-Fort George’s next-generation 911 is supposed to go online in early 2026 and CAD sometime in 2027.

Call answer repatriation: In January 2025, it was announced that Fraser-Fort

expected to wrap up this year.

155 George St. renovations: The regional district’s main offices in Prince George are scheduled to received office improvements, replacements to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and other work in 2026.

Robson Valley Recreation Centre improvements: The McBride recreation centre is going to get some initial improvements to its front awning, doors, roof, gutters and exterior. Other work will take place in future years when funding is available.

Board discussions

Most items relating to the budget were passed without much comment from the board of directors, but a couple of things generated discussion.

George would start handling 911 calls for itself and the regional districts of Bulkley-Nechako, Cariboo and Kitimat-Stikine. After being answered, the Prince George-based staff will redirect those calls to the relevant police, fire or ambulance dispatch services. This is expected to go online sometime this year.

Cell one expansion at the Foothills Boulevard Regional Landfill: Last year, consultants working for the regional district reported that there was a way to extend the life of the operational cell at the landfill by several years by expanding it laterally. Work is expected to begin this year and completed in fall 2027.

Fortis gas project at the Foothills Boulevard Regional Landfill: As part of the landfill expansion, natural gas provider FortisBC is looking to install a facility that will harvest natural gas from the landfill and pipe it into its larger provincial system. Engineering and prep work is expected to be carried out this year.

Valemount Landfill closure: Though the Valemount Landfill hasn’t operated for many years now, some final work is required to have the provincial government certified as closed. That work is

In August 2025, the board heard from its bylaw services department that officers were going to be equipped with pepper spray and batons among other pieces of personal protective equipment and then trained in their use.

During that discussion, Director Dannielle Alan (Robson Valley-Canoe) expressed discomfort with the message being sent by outfitting bylaw officers with weapons.

At the Jan. 16 budget talks, Alan said she believed not enough training was budgeted for to make sure bylaw officers knew how to properly handle the tools.

She pointed to a 2024 report from the Local Government Compliance and Enforcement Association of BC that recommended regularly ongoing training and said that the presence of handcuffs or zip ties can dramatically shift the dynamic of an encounter.

Blaine Harasimiuk, the manager of inspection services, said bylaw officers went through two days of force options training last year in a session attended by representatives from seven other municipalities and regional districts. That training is good for two years.

Next up, Harasimiuk said, is de-escalation and communications training at an estimated cost of $3,000.

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New administratve budget approved despite oppositon

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Director Brian Skakun (City of Prince George) echoed his thoughts from the last discussion by saying that officers are going into unpredictable situations and the tools are for the protection of district employees.

Director Jerrilyn Kirk (Crooked River-Parsnip) said she understood Alan’s concern, but in the past she has had “some issues that the City of Prince George has experienced overflowing” into her area.

In that situation, she said it is justified that people have the ability to protect themselves given the air of unpredictability.

Director Simon Yu said the City of Prince George will likely roll out bodyworn cameras to its bylaw officers and wondered if any synergy could be found in sharing training costs.

In the other contested vote of the meeting, Skakun and Alan came together to oppose what they saw as an unsustainable increase to administrative services budget in the five-year financial plan for the department.

Alan said she agreed with the 17 per cent increase in 2025 and the 10 per

cent increase in 2026, but she wondered where the need for future years’ spending increases were coming from as administration said staffing needs aren’t expected to increase.

“I also understand that we’re taking money out of reserves in order to soften the increase in staffing needs over five years, but I notice in our five-year plan, we are putting back into reserves over three-quarters of a million dollars a year and that to me seems counterintuitive,” Alan said.

Calder said that the transfers back to reserves is actually a result of external community works funding and isn’t what it seems.

As for the increase in staffing costs, Calder said that represents a smoothing-out of new hires over multiple years to flatten out the financial impact over time.

The five-year financial plan for administrative services was approved, with Alan and Skakun the only directors to vote against it.

Though it’ll be a relatively small portion of the district’s budget, a review of remuneration for directors is expected to take place at some point in 2026 before the October local elections.

Permit values drop almost 50%

The dollar value of building permits issued in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George went down by almost 50 per cent in 2025 according to statistics provided at a board of directors meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15.

A report delivered at the meeting showed that in 2025, the regional district issued 109 total building permits worth a collective $25,835,803. That included 31 permits for single-family detached homes.

That’s a slight drop from the 131 permits issued in 2024 and a huge drop

from the $47,482,000 dollar value of those permits. There were also more permits for single-family detached homes with 46.

The number of permits issued in 2023 and earlier can’t be directly compared as in August 2023, the district amalgamated plumbing and heating unit into the primary building permit. However, the dollar value can still be compared. There were $34,605,520 worth of permits issued in 2023 and $44,611,200 worth of permits issued in 2022.

There was one subdivision referral, no provincial land referrals and five development permits issued in the fourth quarter of 2025.

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN’S

What’s happening in PG

Robbie Burns Night goes Saturday, Jan. 24 at 5:39 p.m. at The Coast, 770 Brunswick Ave. Prince George’s annual celebration of Scottish culture is a fundraising dinner for the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. Highland dance, Scottish fiddling, dinner, dancing, auctions, and more! Welcoming performances by PG Old Time Fiddlers and Excalibur Theatre Arts. For more information and tickets visit www.tickets.pgso.com/tickets/ robbie-burns-night-2026

Rachel Therrien’s Latin Jazz Project goes Saturday, Jan. 24 at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Therrien’s Latin Jazz Project is the result of her postgraduate studies at the Instituto Superior de Arte, in Havana, and is also informed by her many musical experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean. With this exceptional ensemble, she offers a festive repertoire featuring original works and Afro-Latin jazz classics. From salsa to danzón and rumba to chachacha, Rachel and her band of virtuosos invite you to groove to the lively rhythms of Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Haiti. For more information and tickets visit www.knoxcentre.ca/event/ rachel-therrien

BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Dance goes Saturday, Jan. 24 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Senior Activity Centre, 425 Brunswick. Live fiddle music is featured for polkas, waltzes, two-steps, barn dances and called group dances. A great family event. Prizes and ice cream bar snacks included. Coffee, water, pop and chips available by donation. Everyone is welcome. Tickets at the door are only $10 for adults, children with parents are free.

Robbie Burns Celebration goes on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. with the toast to the Haggis at 6:30 at the Om Pizza Bar Café, 1970 Ospika Blvd S., presented by the Prince George Pipe Band. Come out for your annual dose of piping, Highland dancing and, of course, haggis, neeps and tatties. Tickets are $20 at Om and for more information email vhawke10@ gmail.com.

The Offspring: Supercharged Worldwide in 2026 goes Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at CN Centre. OFFspring invite you to Come Out and Play. Selling more than 45 million records and winning 16 different awards, The Offspring are one of the best selling and most successful punk rock bands of all time. Special guest Bad Religion will start the evening’s entertainment. For more information and tickets visit www.ticketsnorth.ca/event/ offspring-supercharged-worldwide-2026 Seeds to Start Now Mini Course goes Wednesday, Jan. 28 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Studio 2880, 2880-15th Ave. This course will cover everything from perennials to microgreens that you can start now with a simple set up. Cost is $10 per person. Pre-register to attend. Email wildflowerfarmpg@hotmail.com or text 250-961-3519.

Discover Tchaikovsky Passion and Fate goes Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at Vanier Hall, 2901 Griffiths Ave. Maestro Michael Hall’s unique multimedia experience pulls back the curtain on Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. Great for first timers and seasoned fans alike. For more information and tickets visit www.tickets.pgso.com/tickets/ discover-tchaikovsky

Live Pro Wrestling goes Friday, Jan.

30 and Saturday, Jan. 31 from 5:45 to 9:15 p.m. at the Prince George Civic Centre, 808 Canada Games Plaza. Presented by Primetime Entertainment and features many great bouts including Vance Nevada’s last match ever. For tickets and more information visit https://www. ticketseller.ca/live-pro-westling Pineview Annual Snow Frolics go from Jan. 31 to Feb 8. Sno Pitch and Pickleball tournaments will run on the first weekend. Followed by a Wednesday evening Crib Tournament, Thursday night Merchandise Bingo and Friday night Karaoke. The final weekend will be filled with the famous Pineview Snowshoe Volleyball tournament, plus a Sunday morning Pancake Breakfast and children’s games. There will be a full concession offered on both weekends plus Bingo and Karaoke nights (cash only). For more information call 250963-8214 or 587-257-2049 or visit www. facebook.com/pgpineviewhall

Out of This World – A Night of Comedy goes Saturday, Jan. 31 from 8 to 10:30 p.m at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St. Presented by Improv Shmimprov with the Out of This World theme featuring new games for a night of improv comedy. We will present live theatre, on stage, based on the audience suggestions. You bring the suggestions,

we supply the funny. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 at www.shmimprovimprov.ca/event-out-of-this-world Folky Strum Strum goes Saturday, Jan. 31 at 9 p.m. at Legion 43 PG, 1110 Sixth Ave. Coming through the Pine Pass from Peace Country to the north, Folky Strum Strum is celebrating the release of new album Little Miss Takes and is joined by Paul Jago and his new secret all-star band. Doors at 8pm. Show at 9pm. 19+ event. Tickets $20 at the door or $15 in advance at www.madloon.ca/tickets/p/folkystrumstrum

Woven in Song presented by Coldsnap Music Festival goes Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. This event features Linda McRae, Aleskie Campagne and Theo Story during an exceptional roots and folk music celebration of deep storytelling and multi-instrumental artistry. For tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/32149-woven-in-song

Cutbank Craic presented by Coldsnap Music Festival goes Thursday, Feb. 5 at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Featuring Morgan Toney and Brianna Lizotte this event kicks off with foot-stomping energy and the dynamic Juno-nominated flair of Métis fiddling which seamlessly blends classic sounds with the sophisticated verve of big band jazz. For details and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/32124-cutbank-craic

Good-Time Old-Time presented by Coldsnap Music Festival goes Thursday, Feb. 5 at 9:30 p.m. at Legion 43 PG, 1116 Sixth Ave. Get transported to a 1930s speakeasy with raw jugband blues, ragtime dance numbers, and rattling washboard rhythms. Just as you get settled, the Vipers hit the stage, steering the night into uncharted territory—a wild collision of rockabilly, western swing, and avant-country. For details and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/32143-good-time-old-time

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Coldsnap Music Festival Sonic-Subterranean goes Friday, Feb. 6 at 10 p.m. at the Legion 43 PG, 1110-Sixth Ave. The event features artists Rich Aucoin, Kayla Williams & The Yacht Daddies and special guest. Experience a high-energy journey combining multi-sensory spectacle with glitter-drenched, retro-grooves. This night promises an immersive performance where theatrical visuals meet infectious yacht-pop swagger, channeling the best of the 70s and 80s soft rock. Expect driving synths, pulsing rhythms, and slick, soulful vocals delivering irresistibly catchy hooks. It’s an interactive, feel-good party that blends modern flair with nostalgic good vibes. Tickets are $25 each and are available at www.coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/sonicsubterranean Echolocation presented by Coldsnap Music Festival goes Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. This event features Fontine, Sam Tudor and Corbin Spensley exploring indie rock that pairs gritty energy with deeply vulnerable songwriting. This show features a powerhouse voice paired with a melancholic narrator exploring genre-less sonic landscapes. For detail and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/32144-echolocation

Coldsnap for Kids: Act One goes Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1:30 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Featuring Missy D this is an inspirational and high-energy musical adventure designed for kids and families, blending infectious rap & soul rhythms with positive messaging. This bilingual performance celebrates diversity, culture, and community, encouraging young audiences to dance and sing along. For details and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/32147-coldsnap-for-kids-act-one 2026 Northern BC Rapid Chess Tournament (CFC Rated) goes Saturday, Feb. 7 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Great White Toys Comics Games,

Spruceland Shopping Centre 795 Central St. W. Format is Six Round Swiss in 1 open section. Entry fee is $25 until Jan. 31. For all the details and to register visit NorthernBCRapidChessTournament Winter Blues Burner presented by Coldsnap Music Festival goes Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Featuring Jesse Roper, Garret T. Willie and Simbiyez Wilson expect an evening of raw, down-anddirty blues rock delivered by formidable guitar-driven artists. This show offers a dynamic mixture of classic rock, soulful blues, and high-energy performances that ignite the room. Expect powerful vocals, flawless tone, and electrifying performances steeped in raw sound and cosmic storytelling. For details and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit. ca/events/32150-winter-blues-burner

Dream Waves presented by Coldsnap Music Festival goes Saturday, Feb. 7 at 9:30 p.m. at Legion 43 PG, 1116 Sixth Ave. This event features MoonRiivr, Aladean Kheroufi and Limelight during a hazy, dreamlike evening blending vintage pop psychedelia with soulful, idiosyncratic grooves. This show creates a timeless sonic landscape, mixing intricate melodies with neo-soul warmth and a touch of dark humour. For details and tickets visit https://coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ events/32153-dream-waves

Rural Roots, Coldsnap Music Festival show goes Sunday, Feb. 8 at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave at 7 p.m. includes performances from Pharis & Jason Romero, Sarah Jane Scouten and The Bentalls. Expect songs that draw on Canadiana and old-time genres, weaving stories of rural life, love and resilience with conviction and delicacy. For more information and tickets visit www.coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/ ruralroots

Ice Man Prince George goes Sunday, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. Experience winter in Prince George during the annual Prince George Iceman. This multi-sport event brings together winter pursuits, showcasing the city’s great recreation

facilities. It’s a race for everyone from beginner to elite and offers solo and relay team categories. The event is spectator-friendly, with many opportunities to cheer on participants at the Otway Nordic Centre, the Outdoor Ice Oval and the pool. Ages 16 plus do an 8km ski, 10km run, 5km skate, 5km run and 800m swim. Ages 10-15 do a 4km ski, 5km run, 3 km skate, 5km run and 400m swim. Craft & Chat at the main branch of the Prince George Public Library goes every Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the magazine corner, second floor, where fibre artists are invited to bring their latest projects to share, vent frustrations, brag about successes, get and give help and join in lively discussions. Snacks provided. This event is in partnership with Great Northwest Fibre Fest. Myeloma Support Group goes every

St. Everyone is welcome who has been diagnosed, those who are caregivers, family members and friends. Wheelchair accessible parking at the back of the building. For more information call Viv Lougheed at 250-981-2618. Trivia Night at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday at 8 p.m., 1261 Third Ave. Book a spot by calling ahead at 250-562-8066. Open Mic at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday from 8 to 11 p.m. Open mic is hosted by Danny Bell and friends. Come on down and share songs, poetry, dance, stories, and anything else you can think to do on stage. All are welcome.

If you’ve got an event coming up email us at news@pgcitizen.ca to offer details including name of the event, the date, time and location, ticket price and where

Beppie • Brianna Lizotte

Corbin Spensley • FONTINE

Garret T. Willie • Jesse Roper

John Wort Hannam • Kayla Williams & The Yacht Daddies • Limelight

Linda McRae & Northern Line

Missy D • MOONRIIVR • Morgan Toney

Petunia & the Vipers

Sam

Scott

Theo Story

Magic on the ice

Kin Centre hosts Cariboo North Central Region gure skating championships

CITIZEN PHOTOS TAKEN

SATURDAY, JAN. 17 BY CHUCK NISBETT

Small world: Rekindling a friendship afer 57 years

Former Wells residents reunite at Spruce Capital Seniors’ Centre

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen

Staff

After meeting in Wells in the late 1960s, two young mums became fast friends only to lose contact after 1968 when one of them moved away.

Fast forward 57 years when they reunited in Prince George on Dec. 30.

“My husband and I moved to Wells in 1962 with our infant son and when we were living there I had three daughters,” Linda Thideman said. “One day I was working in the yard and a woman came walking by and I walked over to her.”

They started to chat over the fence and discovered their husbands worked together.

“And that’s when our friendship started,” Thideman said.

“Annie was also a stay-home mum, so we had lots of cups of tea and lots of chats and walks.”

Life was a little different back then and Thideman said Wells was a busy place with two mines running at that time.

“It was a very good life for the kids, they could run and play — there were no worries,” Linda said. “In those days the school was full and there were all kinds of kids running around and it was a bustling community up there.”

Annie moved away in 1968 and the two lost touch.

In 1973 Thideman and her family moved from Wells to Quesnel where they had another daughter.

“I had always wondered what had happened to Annie,” she said.

And now she knows.

About a year ago Thideman’s daughter Shirley Morin, administrator for the Spruce Capital Seniors Centre, was teaching cardio drumming at the centre when Annie Fillion, a member of the group, recognized her maiden name and asked her if she was related to Linda.

Shirley then told her mom about

Fillion and sent her a photo.

Out of the cardio drumming group photo, Thideman picked Fillion out, recognizing her right away.

“When we first met we were young mums and now we’re old ladies who are grandmas and great-grandmas but I still knew who she was in that picture,” Thideman laughed.

It took about a year to find a good time to get together. They kept missing each other because of their busy lives.

“We finally got together and just sat and visited for several hours,” Thideman said.

She talked about her nine grandchildren and about double that for great-grandchildren in her extended family and Morin talked about her family, she added.

Fillion said she was happy to meet up after their time together in Wells.

“We met up at 9:30 in the morning at the centre and I left at 1:30 and we were just chatting about this and that,” she said.

She credits Morin for making the reunion happen, considering her not

only her instructor but a friend, too.

“During my time in Wells I had five or six little ones with me so I never went too far,” Fillion recalled.

“And we were busy.”

When the children were all grown Fillion became a bit of a nomad, traveling across the country, living in Nova Scotia for a couple of years, in Vancouver for a while, returning to her hometown of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, annually for several years to visit family.

“I love to drive, that’s my problem,” she laughed.

“But it was getting harder and harder, so I decided to stop travelling because of my age.”

Nowadays Fillion lives with her son just outside of Prince George and is on the waiting list for placement in a seniors’ home in town.

“I’d rather pull the trigger now while I still can,” she said.

And being a self-proclaimed social butterfly, she looks forward to it.

Right now Fillion flits from activity to activity at the Spruce Capital Seniors Centre taking advantage of everything

on offer and visits two other centres in downtown Prince George each week.

“I am at the centre five days a week and some days I will do three different exercise classes and other days I will do one or two.”

She does Tai Chi, the cardio drumming, yoga, chair exercises and she plays bingo just for fun, she added.

Fillion had eight children and unfortunately lost three of them.

“And I’ve got 20 grandchildren and just about as many great-grandchildren and most of them live in Saskatchewan,” she said.

That sweet meeting at Spruce Capital Seniors Centre 57 years later didn’t just affect the two women.

“I knew Annie Fillion when I was three years old and here I am managing a senior centre, watching the two as they see each other for the first time and they kept hugging each other and looking at each other — it was very emotional for me to see that,” Morin said.

“It was a beautiful experience.”

Thideman and Fillion plan to meet up again in the spring.

Tourism PG now ofers rides in an elevator with a view

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

The Tourism PG elevator that leads to a conference room in the atrium adjacent to the Prince George Civic Centre was painted in time for the BC Natural Resources Forum.

The interior of the elevator has gone from a funky purple to a mural of the expansive vista that can be seen from atop Teapot Mountain.

It’s a familiar site for dedicated Prince George hikers who have made the steep climb to enjoy the 360-degree views of Summit Lake, Crooked River and the surrounding forest.

Christina Watts, Tourism PG specialist in communications and engagement, is also a premier artist who specializes in speed-painting and she’s making quick work of the piece, going from white primer to finished mural in about seven days.

“The elevator had always appealed to me because I like unique spaces to discover art,” Watts explained.

“So in the elevator you are completely encompassed in art. Then it came down to what do you paint?”

Watts said she has been watching what people have been posting on social media for the Prince George Trail Challenge.

“And those images have been inspiring,” she said.

“Then I went through my old photos and it made sense to create the Teapot Mountain view in the elevator at Tourism PG because it says everything about us.”

Watts saw the value in speed-painting when she joined the Community Arts Council of Prince George and District’s Art Battles, where artists compete in three 20-minute rounds to create their masterpieces.

“Art Battle just fascinated me — pulling off art pieces in 20 minutes — and that part of the community was really intriguing and I think I need that adrenaline rush every now and then,” Watts explained, “because Art Battle is that, too, as you are surrounded by 300 people during the event who are watching

you create art.

“I quickly realized the value in speed-painting during the Art Battles because it keeps you loose as you figure out how to pull off images in different ways, using different tools, which led me down this entire art path.”

Watts had her own shop, taught art and now has a television series on Rogers TV called Just Paint It.

“It all just led me down this path where I was so challenged by art. I’ve always just been super interested in it,” Watts said.

“You find your passion and you just keep going with it.”

She said that because she’s a busy mom, she has continued to embrace her speedy art process because it’s essential to be efficient with her time.

Watts has always been a big advocate for art in Prince George, having worked at the Community Arts Council of Prince George and District for a number of years before she moved over to Tourism PG in October 2024.

“The art culture is super-important and it’s a huge draw for people,” Watts said.

Soon there will be two new art installations in Prince George that are reflections of the community, she added.

A mural will be installed in the Civic Centre and another called Colour the

elevator was made by the Tourism PG team, Watts said.

“I really appreciate the Tourism PG team trusting me with this,” Watts said.

“And I think other people will be inspired to think about where they can put art that is unexpected,” Watts said.

The elevator art was completed in time for the Natural Resources Forum that took place at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre on Tuesday through Thursday.

“When you have one of the most talented artists in the history of Prince George on the Tourism Prince George team you feel pretty blessed when she volunteers to do this,” said Scott McWalter, new Tourism PG executive director, about the project.

Core Art Installation will be located at 1260 Third Avenue to be unveiled during Winter Fest on Feb. 14.

The decision to create art in the

“One of the most iconic, legendary views in our city/region is from the summit of Teapot Mountain and what Christina is able to do with that vision in the elevator is spectacular. “

Maestro Michael Hall takes you on a multimedia journey to the heart of

Discover Tchaikovsky

Saturday, January 31st, 2026 Vanier Hall 7:30pm MAINSTAGE

Local flmmakers showcase Prince George in new pilot

Cleaner on Call was funded through a Telus StoryHive grant

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Local filmmakers and artists have finished shooting a new TV pilot intended to show off both Prince George and the creative talents of a small but dedicated team of actors and filmmakers.

Cleaner on Call was filmed at several Prince George locations, including the University Hospital of Northern BC, Deb’s Cafe and the CN Centre.

The pilot is about the first day on the job of a cleaner named Kim at “Northern Hospital.” It focuses on the comedic realities of being a hospital cleaner while providing slice-of-life drama based around a young adult starting in a new, demanding role.

The project has wrapped filming and a trailer for the pilot — a sample first episode of a proposed TV series — has been released.

The idea for the pilot was floating around in project lead James Mills’s head for a while before he successfully applied for a $25,000 grant to produce locally reflective content thanks to Telus StoryHive.

“I’d been working for Northern Health in town for several years at that point, and at some point I happened to attend an acting school in town called Story Institute,” said Mills. “My mentor, who also worked with me on the project as a producer, wanted to encourage us to make our own film, and in the back of my mind, I thought of this idea to do something based on my day job cleaning at the hospital, and it just stayed there as an idea until I happened to see on Facebook an advert for Telus Storyhive … I figured, you know what, why not?, I’ll write a script in three weeks, send it in, and just carry on with my day and then six months later, I get the phone call telling me that I’ve been approved for it.”

Mills told The Citizen about his reaction after hearing that he would be able

to make his pilot a reality.

“I think I lost my heartbeat for a few seconds,” said Mills. “I was about to go film something else with some acting students. There was a lot of shock, and then a lot of excitement and wonder, which eventually turned into anxiety and stress. Now that I’ve finally got through it all, I feel very proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish with people in town.”

For Mills, his creative career started when he was a student at UNBC after he saw a play and thought that he personally could do better. This started a passion for content creation and the creativity that helped him develop the soft skills to make Cleaner on Call a reality.

“It was the start of a lifelong love for acting and performance,” said Mills. “At that time, as well, I was also playing with a video editor. I just had all this creative energy. I come up with random, weird sketches. What I hadn’t realized at the time is I was starting to develop a lot of

soft creative skills. I’ve done some writing, I’ve done fan fiction. I have made terrible stuff, but I had fun doing it, and I was learning all the way.”

Mills also shared his next steps for the project.

“For the foreseeable moment, I’m focusing on just getting the pilot released and making sure it’s approved for broadcast,” said Mills. “It’ll go live on YouTube. It’s all been a learning process, having to do all this and keep in mind the time constraints. But I would love in the future to eventually pitch this to some film festivals in British Columbia and hoping I would love to turn it into at least a two-season series.”

For the director of Cleaner on Call, Georgia Touchett, she got the phone call to direct the pilot almost immediately after Mills got approval for his Story Hive grant.

Since then, she has been working diligently on making the project come to fruition and collaborating with actors and designers.

Touchett has had experience on film sets in Prince George and was previously a student at the Story Institute Acting School, when they had a temporary location in Prince George, where she gained experience as a director of class projects.

She told The Citizen about a highlight of her time as director of Cleaner on Call.

“My favourite memory about it was probably filming at the various locations,” said Touchett. “ It was really challenging because we filmed around town a bit. We filmed the apartment scene at Jimmy May’s apartment and then we went to the CN Centre to film the hospital interior area. Apparently, we did such a good job that StoryHive actually thought it was a real hospital!” She added that despite having a smaller crew to get the job done, their talented crew pushed through and exceeded expectations.

Video game experience plugging in at Exploraton Place

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The Exploration Place will soon showcase the evolution of video games and their technology in a new exhibit that highlights how technology, creativity and innovation have shaped the world of video games as we know it.

The new exhibit, titled Game Changers, was developed and produced by the Canada Science and Technology Museum and toured by Science North.

Game Changers will take visitors on a hands-on journey from early arcade games such as Pong to today’s modern, immersive, photorealistic worlds.

The exhibit will use motion-sensing technology, audio design and tactile interactive displays, inviting visitors to actively engage with the exhibition rather than simply observe it.

The exhibition will span approximately 3,000 square feet and feature more than 120 influential games and 16 playable experiences.

These include classic and well-known titles such as Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Guitar Hero, Tetris and Angry Birds.

Visitors will also have an opportunity to operate a supersized Nintendo controller.

As well, they will have the chance to explore original concept art, storyboards and level designs created by Canadian video game developers.

This includes interviews with Canadian developers and critics listed below.

• Mac Walters — creative director

• Maxime Durand — historian

• Kristofer Eggleston — creative director of 3D

• Maru Ferreira — assistant art director

• Antoine Routon — technical director

• Jean Guesdon — creative director

• Victor Lucas — video game critic

• Denis Talbot — video game critic

• Hugo Bastien — sound designer

• Gordon Durity — executive director of sound

The Exploration Place notes that some of the developers listed above have worked on massive gaming franchises, which include Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Designed for gamers and non-gamers alike, Game Changers examines the science and technology behind gameplay, graphics, sound and storytelling. It offers insight into how video games have helped transform the way people interact with computers and digital media.

“We’re excited to bring Game Changers to Prince George,” says Alyssa Gerwing, curator at The Exploration Place.

“This is an exhibition that bridges generations through a common interest. Adults can revisit the games they grew up playing and share those memories with their kids, while also discovering what today’s gamers are playing. It’s a hands-on experience where visitors of all ages can have a lot of fun and learn at the same time.”

Game Changers will open Jan. 26 and run until April 15. After-hours birthday party experiences will also be available while the exhibition is on display.

Cleaner on Call will have a local premiere later this year

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“I think one of the difficulties of getting the shoot done was that overall we were a very small crew,” said Touchett. “It does make sense for the budget because it is a very small-budgeted project, and at times it did feel like we didn’t have enough hands on to get stuff done. I’m very grateful, though, for the crew we did have and the people who did help.”

Touchett was also a big supporter of the pilot being down-to-earth and

focusing on an aspect of life that isn’t often noticed.

“When it comes to these types of shows where someone’s working in a hospital, you see a lot of doctors and nurses,” said Touchett.

“Which isn’t bad because those are very important people, but you never hear about janitors, you never hear about maintenance, you never hear about the cafeteria people and I feel like in a way that’s a lot when it comes to like TV shows, it’s always exaggerated.

“The Office, for example, it is an office job but it’s a very exaggerated look of what an office job is, where I feel like with Cleaner on Call, it doesn’t try to like make it like this bigger thing than it is. They’re janitors. They’re not going to go down the street to solve a crime.”

Another memorable experience during filming for Touchett was working with the people of the Prince George community.

“As small as it can be sometimes, it is nice to know that there are people

in our community that are willing to help and are eager to help and there are creative people that really want to share their voices and be a part of something, so I’m very grateful that all places it’s Prince George,” Touchett said.

Both Touchett and Mills told The Citizen that the full pilot will be available for viewing on Storyhive in December of this year.

However, they are also planning on doing a local premiere a few months before its Telus release date.

Blind and homeless, she faces challenge afer challenge

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Seen the screaming blind woman in the middle of a downtown street in Prince George?

Me, too.

Hear what’s behind her frustration and how one woman dared to make a difference.

“When I saw her walking around with a white cane in the middle of George Street at minus 30 I thought to myself, ‘well, that’s a new scam’ — using a white cane — and she obviously doesn’t know how to use it because she’s pleading for help,” Annette Savage, a downtown small business owner, said. “One of our homeless uses a wheelchair to play on people’s emotions and then just gets up and walks away, so I thought this lady pretending to be blind was just another scammer, but she’s not.”

Savage, whose businesses are in the heart of downtown Prince George, kept seeing the tall, willowy woman with the flyaway light brown hair on the downtown streets of Prince George. A lot of times the blind woman would be venting her frustration by screaming at the world — a lot, she added.

“I kept thinking, ‘oh here she goes again,’ and then one day I met her in an elevator and we started talking, and what she told me broke my heart,” Savage said.

“I knew if I reached out to The Citizen newspaper maybe we could get her some help. It might sound crazy, but she’s got all the dates and details and names in her head — she’s not crazy, she’s just frustrated because no one will help her.”

Danielle Jewett, 41, lost most of her eyesight from a combination of a side effect from prescription medication to improve her mental health and possibly from head trauma experienced during a car accident, she explained.

“There was no followup blood work done in the three years I was on the medication before I lost my vision,” Jewett explained. “There was supposed to be followup to see how my body was accepting the medication. But I

was never told about that, and it wasn’t done.”

Jewett was in the Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) Program, which, according to HealthLink BC, provides clinical services and education for individuals with early psychosis, along with support for their families. The goal of the program is to recognize the signs and symptoms of psychosis early so that effective treatment can be started as soon as possible. Services may include case management, assessment and intake, client education, family support and education, medication management and group support.

Jewett’s psychosis was triggered during an unhealthy relationship that she had “with the wrong person” from 2002 to 2004, she said.

“I came into the hospital in 2004 when I suffered a stroke from my birth control and medication,” Jewett said.

Jewett explained there are no clear pathways in her neurological makeup that are forever scarred due to the

medication prescribed to her here in Prince George, according to a specialist she sees on an annual basis in Vancouver.

At one point in her life, she was an illicit drug user, but she overcame her substance use and has been clean since April 2004 — and she’s got the test results to prove it.

Nowadays, caffeine and nicotine are her only two bad habits, she added.

“My current issues are loneliness and my sh#tty choice of guys,” Jewett grimaced.

Jewett has two children, an eight-yearold boy and a six-year-old girl who are currently in foster care.

“I got my kids taken away because I’m blind, and in turn I became homeless as BC Housing didn’t offer me anything but a subsidy. I made a big scene on downtown streets that made Global National News, and there’s still no help.”

And Jewett said she needs it.

“I am looking for an organization or agency in our community whose

purpose is to help vulnerable women who have issues like mine — like my lack of housing,” Jewett said.

“I need to be somewhere safe that’s not a shelter.”

She would also like to be assigned an effective social worker who can help her navigate the system to get the results she needs, she added.

She has been assigned a social worker in the past with no result, Jewett said.

Jewett has been a resident at UHNBC in the adult psychiatric ward for about six months now, and the process to get her housed has been slow.

“I’ve cried a lot in the first 10 years of being blind, and I have no more tears,” Jewett said, who has been legally blind since June 2007.

“She’s 41, and she’s one tough cookie,” Savage said, who has become friends with Danielle and takes her out to share a meal at least once a week.

“I know the system had failed her, and she just needs some help.”

Heading out on the Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run

The annual trek from Wells to Barkerville has been celebrating history since 1992

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

The northern tradition of transporting mail by sled dog team is alive and well.

Every year since 1992, the Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run from Quesnel to Wells and Barkerville has taken place over three days early in the year.

This year, the event takes place Feb. 6 to 8.

Sled dog use is not just part of national history; it has become part of the nation’s culture, showcasing who Canadians are as a people.

Once a race that was a qualifier for the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in 1998, the focus shifted from competition to participation.

Britta Hanks, along with her partner, Craig Houghton, who live in Fort St. James and have participated in the Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run in years past, decided to do the run again this year.

“The only reason we haven’t done the Gold Rush Trail Run in the past three years is because it conflicted with our race schedule,” Hanks said.

Hanks and Houghton have about 15 race dogs that make up their sled dog teams and 17 other dogs who are retired, semi-retired or too young to compete, she added.

Both Hanks and Houghton work full time, so their musher lifestyle has to be manageable — and that’s the maximum number of dogs they can have.

“We do each have a team, but we swap the dogs, and this year in the Mail Run we might have three teams, and we usually try to come with three or four teams. Our grown children are involved as well.”

Hanks got started in dog sledding because her brother, Holger Bauer, was involved. Bauer has since died, and to honour him there is an award given annually at the mail run to all registered

Britta Hanks, musher, will be participating in the Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run that goes from Quesnel, then Wells and Barkerville over a three day funfilled event that goes from Feb. 6 to 8.

participants aged 16 and under.

Hanks and Houghton are the organizers of the Caledonia Classic in Fort St. James taking place on Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.

They are racers participating in the event as well. The Caledonia Classic has distance and sprint races, fun activities like the politician race, kid and mutt race and a skijoring sprint.

Dog sledders from Logan Lake and as far away as Oregon will be coming to first race in the Caledonia Classic and then travel to Quesnel to participate in the Gold Rush Trail run as well, Hanks added.

“So we do the Caledonia Classic and

“To start the mail run, we all get sworn in to be mail carriers on Friday morning, and then we get our burlap bag of mail, and we are in charge of that for the whole weekend.”

The Mail Run consists of three looped trails that are run each day. While it is primarily a sled dog event, the Mail Run is open not just to dog teams but also skijorers, cross-country skiers, snowshoers, kick-sledders, runners and any other form of self-propelled transportation capable of negotiating a packed snow trail.

On Friday, Troll Resort grooms the trails for the mushers for the first loop, and that evening there’s a banquet to celebrate, Hanks added.

“On Saturday, the loop starts and ends in Wells, and that’s also where the Musher Games take place afterward, and those are a ton of fun, too,” Hanks said.

“For the Musher Games, usually we’re grouped into four to six people that make up teams, and it’s mushers, Boy Scouts and whoever wants to participate in that — and first you have to build a fire, boil water to make tea and bannock, then there is a snowshoe race with the old kind of snowshoes that are incredibly hard to keep on your feet, and then there’s trap setting, where you have to set a trap and spring it.”

And the finale is a contest to see who has the best moose call — because, well, why not?

“And then after all that, one team wins,” Hanks said.

then we go to Saskatchewan, Yellowknife and the Yukon — just all over — we try to do as many races as we can, and that’s usually about three a year,” Hanks said.

The Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run is just a really fun event, she added.

“There are all kinds of different mushers getting together — recreational mushers, race mushers — and we spend the whole weekend together, and the history of the event is just so incredible. To be part of that just takes you back in time, especially in Barkerville, where you feel like you’re in the 1800s,” Hanks said.

“In the past, there used to be a lot of cheating going on, and that was kind of fun, too, but now things have gotten a little more serious, so there’s no more cheating. It’s just really good to get together, and it’s all really a lot of fun. It’s great for spectators, too, especially in Wells when we do the Musher Games.”

If you’d like to share in this longtime tradition by mailing a letter that starts its journey by dog sled, purchase an envelope and send it anywhere in the world. For details on how to do that and for the schedule of events, visit https:// sleddogmailrun.ca/.

Throwback Thursday: Week of January 22

Jan. 23, 1995: Tommy Hunter, Canada’s Country Gentleman, performed at Vanier Hall for 400 fans. The show reminded Citizen reviewer Carl Barstead of Hunter’s TV series as the troubadour shared stories and anecdotes between traditional songs.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MILNE

Jan. 22, 2015: Hunters protested outside the Civic Centre to protest changes to BC’s wildlife allocation policy that gave a larger share of hunting permits to guide out tters. The 100 or so people were there as the Natural Resources Forum was happening inside with members of the provincial cabinet in attendance.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Jan. 26, 1959: Bill Maitland piped in the haggis carried by Jack Haughton as the Prince George Moose Lodge celebrated Robbie Burns Night at the Civic Centre. Four couples from the Prince George Scottish Country Dance Club provided the entertainment.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY HAL VANDERVOORT

Jan. 24, 1977: Don Chamberlain was at the bat with Norm Arnold pitching and Gary Carrelli (back left) and Brian Marchuk in the snowy eld at Spruceland Elementary School as they prepared to play with 99 other overthe-line ball teams during the Mardi Gras of Winter. A championship team from San Diego was making the trip up for the winter carnival, which had 75 events in all.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DOUG WELLER

University’s Stem Cell Club is asking for more donors

Student group organizes donor recruitment and provides education

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH

Citizen Staff

There’s a Stem Cell Club at the University of Northern BC that is asking those between 17 and 35 years old to join the stem cell donor registry to help patients in need of a transplant.

The student-led organization at the university is working in collaboration with Canadian Blood Services as well as the national stem cell club.

Stem cell transplants are life-saving treatments and can help more than 80 conditions including blood cancers, sickle cell anemia and immune disorders.

“We’re a group of UNBC students who organize donor recruitment and provide education around the stem cell donor registry and we’re really focusing on increasing access to match stem cell donors especially for those from ethnically diverse backgrounds,”

Zoe Younghusband, president of UNBC Stem Cell Club, said.

“We like to raise awareness and help build a culture of donation in Canada and specifically in Northern British Columbia.”

The UNBC Stem Cell Club is the most northern in the province with the next closest in Kelowna, she added.

“We offer the community the opportunity to register as potential donors with a simple cheek swab,” Younghusband said.

The club has existed for the last couple of years and have 276 people registered, she added.

They recently decided to expand into the community, hosting a donor registry event at Pine Centre Mall, with another planned for the College of New Caledonia in the coming days.

The odds of finding a match between family members sits at about 25 per cent and that’s why it’s so important for ethnically diverse donors to register,

Younghusband added.

There are more than 477,000 registered stem cell donors in Canada and more than 40 million worldwide.

“And there are still so many people who can’t find a match,” Younghusband said.

“It’s nice to provide the opportunity in the North to potentially help save a life. Sometimes I think we get a little left out of certain things so for UNBC to bring registration here is so important.”

The procedure to be a stem cell donor has been simplified over the years with 90 per cent of the procedures being done through blood apheresis, Younghusband said.

“It’s very similar to donating blood,” she said.

Before the procedure the donor is given medication to increase stem cells. Then blood is drawn and cells are collected by a machine and then returned to the donor. This procedure takes between four and six hours. The other method, bone marrow donation is a surgical procedure that collects cells from the pelvic bone under anaesthesia. The other method, which is done in larger centres, is cord blood donation, which is collected from the placenta after the birth of a baby.

Working with the Canadian Blood Services all the donor’s expenses are covered as the donor is sent to the location of the patient in need. Expenses include lost wages, travel, meals and even your recovery time is covered, Younghusband said.

“So here it just starts with a cheek swab and if you are a match Canadian Blood Services will contact you,” Younghusband said.

“A lot of people just don’t know about it here so it’s good to get the word out.”

The next national campaign is coming up on Monday, Feb. 9 at UNBC, which is called Black Donors Save Lives that encourages people of colour to register as donors, Younghusband explained.

For more information email stemcellclub@unbc.ca or check out the UNBC Stem Cell Club Facebook page to hear from some students who have already registered as donors.

Self-care maters: Finding tme for yourself afer baby

Cross-country skiing is something new mom Haylee enjoyed before having a baby. Now postpartum, she often goes with her dog and a friend to get some self-care time in without baby.

RANDI LEANNE PARSONS Northern Health

Welcoming a new baby is life changing. While we often celebrate the joy and excitement a little one brings, the fourth trimester (those first weeks and months after birth) can feel overwhelming. Parents pour so much energy into caring for their baby that it’s easy for their own needs to slip to the bottom of the priority list.

That’s where self-care comes in. Selfcare supports your mental, physical and emotional health during a major life transition. One helpful way to think about self-care is through NESTS for well-being, which highlights five key areas to support perinatal mental health:

N: Nutrition (healthy eating): Eat foods that you enjoy, in amounts that are satisfying to you. Feed yourself regularly to get enough energy and nutrition.

E: Exercise (physical activity): Move your body in ways, and amounts, that feel good to you. Exercise can help you feel happier, more energized, less stressed and sleep better.

S: Sleep and rest: Rest when you can. Even if you aren’t getting the sleep that you need right now, rest can help

improve your mood and reduce stress.

T: Time for yourself: Spend time doing things you like to do. Even a few minutes a day can help recharge mood and energy levels and add balance to your life.

S: Support: Most importantly, ask for help. All parents need support from others. It really does take a village.

This story focuses on the “T” in NESTS: Time for yourself. Even small moments — a quiet shower, a short walk or a hobby you love — can help restore balance and build resilience.

Haylee, a first-time parent, shares how she’s learning to find those moments while caring for her baby.

Haylee breastfeeds her daughter postski. “Snuggling up with my baby after getting fresh air and sunshine is one of the best feelings in the world.”

A world turned upside down

“When I had my baby, my world was rocked,” Haylee said. “In the early days, it was overwhelming trying to care for a tiny human while figuring out how to care for myself too.”

Before becoming a parent, Haylee loved being busy and active. After her baby arrived, she realized she needed to slow down.

her main food source, so I keep her close. It won’t be forever, but for now, I only get away for an hour or two at a time.”

When she does step away, Haylee uses that time to recharge — meeting friends, going for a walk or joining mom-friendly fitness classes. “Staying active helps me feel like myself,” she explained. “I love walking my dog with my baby or doing workouts with other moms. We keep the babies in the room, socialize and move our bodies.”

She also makes time for some activities without her baby when she can. “I’ve been taking classes with friends, including pottery and floral arrangements,” she said.

Having family nearby helps Haylee too. Her advice for other new parents: “Spend time doing things you enjoy. Even a few minutes a day can recharge your mood and energy.”

“It’s good to take time for yourself and do less,” she explained. Her husband often reminds her to rest, a message that became especially important after her unexpected cesarean birth (C-section).

Recovery and asking for help

“I didn’t prepare for that scenario,” Haylee shared. “I’d never had major surgery before. Suddenly, I couldn’t bend over or pick things up. It was humbling.”

This meant asking for help — a challenge for someone used to being independent. “I’m not someone who likes to rely on people,” she said. “Letting go and meeting myself where I was at — that was tough.”

In those early weeks, simple things felt like big wins: taking a shower, eating something nourishing or stepping outside for fresh air. Support from family and friends made a huge difference, especially when they brought meals.

“That helped so much,” Haylee said.

Finding time for yourself

Now that her baby is six months old, Haylee feels the fog lifting, and breastfeeding has been both wonderful and challenging.

“It’s getting easier,” she reflected. “I’m

Haylee tries to take time for things she enjoys, like getting creative with flowers. Here she makes a spooky floral arrangement during a Halloween workshop she did last fall.

Planning ahead

“I wanted to get back to being active, but I had to take it slow,” Haylee noted. Climbing stairs was difficult at first, and even short moments outside felt like progress. “Getting outside and moving — those factors were key to feeling better.”

One practical tip she shared was to book a pelvic floor physiotherapy appointment early if you can. “There’s a shortage, and waitlists can be long. Getting on a list before things become urgent was solid advice,” she said.

It’s important to note that not all communities have this service, and it may involve costs. To learn more: A guide to early postpartum pelvic floor health.

Looking forward

Haylee is excited for winter. “I’ve been doing a snow dance!” she laughed. She looks forward to ski days during maternity leave and experiencing it with her baby. “I want to experience winter through her eyes. Do things together and keep doing things I love.”

Local Sports Skaters in synch: PG Spruce Sparks wow judges

Local team wins gold on the ice with a country music theme

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The Prince George Spruce Sparks turned the ice at Kin 2 into a two-stepping country line dance.

Dancing on their blades to the sound of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Cadillac Ranch, the 12 skaters of the Prince George Figure Skating Club’s synchronized skating team turned on the charm and wowed the judges Sunday at the Cariboo North Central Region figure skating championships.

After two days of pressure-packed performances for solo and pairs skaters at the Kin Centre, the synchro event gave skaters from the two teams — Prince George and Williams Lake — a chance to let off steam in their weekend finale.

“Normally we just skate alone so it’s kind of fun to skate with other people,” said Spruce Sparks team member Myra Saunders. “It brings out that competitive vibe.

“When you’re skating alone you have more control over it, but you have to all work together when it’s all 12 of us.”

Synchro teams are judged on their ability to keep time with the music and step together in unison while skating five required elements. Each team skates a block (three separate lines in a polygon formation), a turn, a circle, a line, an intersection (where skaters pass by each other closely) and a rotating pinwheel.

Jumps are not part of the Star 4 level requirements.

Spencer Scott joined the team last year, and she knows how difficult it is to get a dozen skaters stepping together as one unit, but there are other distractions that make synchro a challenge.

Prince George Figure Skating Club’s Spruce Sparks synchro team celebrate their gold-medal achievement Sunday, Jan. 17, 20206 at the Cariboo North Central Region figure skating championships at the Kin Centre.

“Sometimes getting along with everybody is the hardest thing,” said Scott, a Grade 4 student at Heritage Elementary School.

“The pinwheel is hard to stay in a line. We can’t be like a clock, we can’t be like a piece of pie, it has to be straight.”

Saunders, who attends Grade 5 classes at Cedars Christian School, likes the pass-through (intersection) element the most, where the team divides into two groups and there’s little room for error as they approach each other from opposite sides of the ice.

“We’ve definitely had some wipeouts in practice,” said Saunders.

Coach Sarah Saunders competed for 10 years as a youth skater with the

PGFSC and was part of the synchro team. There hadn’t been a team in Prince George for several years until she revived it a year and a half ago.

“We thought it would be a great opportunity to give the kids a chance to compete in a team sport,” said Saunders. “Synchro is really cool, because they can experience the idea of a team sport together and still do the sport they love, and it’s been a real fun experience.”

Just one other team — Williams Lake Figure Skating Club — entered the Star 4 synchro regional event, one of the last events of the three-day CNCR competition.

The Williams Lake team was first in

the start order and skated virtually flawlessly to Bloom Line’s A Sky Full of Stars, making it tough for the judges to decide who would get the gold. Ultimately, it went to the Prince George team. One of the Spruce Sparks lost her balance and fell during the line element, but it was only a minor deduction from their overall score.

“It’s really fun to do something together, and they work hard. They practice individually all week, but we have one session each week where they practise together and we try to make it really fun,” said the coach.

“Having a team environment really helps keep girls in sports. We know there’s attrition with female athletes, and team sports bind them together because they get to do fun things with their friends.”

Now in her fifth season skating, the 11-year-old Saunders won gold in her Star 3 showcase competition and silver in her solo performance. She wears some of the dresses her mom used to wear when she competed. Scott also competed in Star 3 and won gold in her solo and silver in the showcase.

“It was great skating at home — a lot more pressure,” said Scott.

The PGFSC synchro team also includes Aria Roberge, Sophie Reimer, Clare McNamara, Amelia McNamara, Liam Clarkson, Aarya Chick, Brooklyn Carbonneau, Mackenzie Carbonneau, Shaelyn Buote and Alianna Buote. They range in age from seven to 12. They’ll get the chance to compete in synchro again later this season in Fort St. John at a regional meet and will also be featured entertainers between periods of the Spruce Kings-Powell River game on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Kopar Memorial Arena.

The three-day CNCR competition drew 380 entrants from northern BC and the Yukon. Results are available at skatingbcresults.com.

Cougars on a winning streak afer three-game road trip

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

How’s that for a triumphant trifecta?

All of sudden, the Prince George Cougars are on a three-game winning streak and all three wins came this past weekend on the Western Hockey League road.

The Cats were Giant-killers on Sunday, Jan. 18 as they completed their threegame trip with a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Giants Sunday in Langley.

Playing their third game in less than three days, it didn’t show. They came out with abundant energy and never let off the throttle.

Carson Carels, Jett Lajoie, Riley Ashe, Artemii Anisimov and Dmitri Yakutsenak, into an empty net, took care of the goal scoring.

Josh Ravensbergen made 31 saves and improved his record to 18-9-0-0 and 13-3 on the road.

The 19-year-old San Jose Sharks firstrounder lost the bid for his first shutout of the season with less than five minutes left. Anisimov’s clearing attempt up the middle was picked off at the blueline by Kadden Hayes and he got the puck up to Brett Olson in the slot, who beat Ravensbergen through the legs.

Prince George (25-16-2-0, second in BC Division) moved to within five points of the division-leading Penticton Vees, who have won their last 11 games. Vancouver (18-25-1-2) remained sixth in BC.

Carels stoked the offence with a wraparound goal late in the first period, the 11th goal and 38th point for the 17-yearold defenceman.

Lajoie touched off the red-light brigade in the second period with a breakaway goal. Townes Kozicky intercepted a Vancouver pass in the PG end and 20-year-old newcomer Dawson Seitz, picked up on a trade Jan. 8 from Wenatchee, chipped the puck ahead to Lajoie. It was Seitz’s first point in four games as a Cougar.

Kozicky drew his second assist on Ashe’s backhanded goal to make it 3-0 just shy of the 13-minute mark of the second period, after taking a pass from centre Koy Funk, who also recorded his first Cougar point since being traded to PG from the Calgary Hitmen. For Ashe, it was his third goal in four games.

Anisimov made it 4-0 with a floater from the point that appeared to hit

something before it found the net over Burke Hood’s blocker late in the second period.

“I’m proud of the group,” said Cougars assistant coach Carter Rigby. “Obviously crawling back here, three-inthrees are never easy, to say the least, and to do it on the road was fun. The first one was good, the second one was good and third one was even better, so it’s a happy bus (ride) home for the group.”

The Cougars totalled 151 shots on goal in the three games. On Sunday they outshot Vancouver 50-32.

Rigby was impressed by the play of 18-year-old defenceman Kaeson Fisher, a trade acquisition from Everett, who finished a plus-3 in his fifth game with

the Cats. Fisher is listed at five-foot-11, 158 pounds.

“He seems like a confident player,” said Rigby. “You don’t know what to expect, obviously an undersized D, he’s playing the right side as a leftie and you don’t see that too often. But we’ve got a few guys obviously on the back end who have to do that. But for a young kid to come to the organization to try to figure it out he’s done very well.

“He’s fun kid who fit in really well right away, he’s got a lot of life to him and his on-ice play speaks for itself. He’s getting the puck in the forwards’ hands, he’s really aggressive down on the walls and he can skate, and that’s probably his best attribute.”

For those who might have forgotten, this was a Cougar team that had lost seven straight and 10 of its last 11 games heading into the weekend. But after a couple days of practice to get their four new trade acquisitions more in tune with team strategies, given a chance to shake off a flu bug that went through the team, they’ve made that rough patch a distant memory after three wins, all against BC Division rivals.

The first two took overtime to decide.

Lajoie capped off a hat-trick performance Friday, Jan. 16 in Kamloops when he sealed a 7-6 win with his third of the night to defeat the Blazers. Then on Saturday, Jan. 17, Carels cinched a 3-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets after three minutes of OT.

The Cougars return to CN Centre Friday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 24 when they host the Giants in a two-game set.

Six Prince George Cougars make NHL midterm draf rankings list

Six Prince George Cougars are listed in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings list.

Third on the list of North American skaters available for the June NHL draft is Cougars 17-year-old defenceman Carson Carels.

Carels, who has nine goals and 25 assists in 32 games with the Cougars, is ranked behind forward Gavin McKenna (Penn State) and defenceman Keaton Verhoeff (University of North Dakota).

Other Cougars listed are RW Kayden Lemire (64th), C Dmitri Yakutsenak (148th), C Brock Souch (166th), D Phoenix Cahill (192nd) and D Arsenii Anisimov (198th).

Prince George minor hockey product LW Chase Harrington of the Spokane Chiefs is listed 32nd on the North American skaters list.

Also ranked in the top 15 are D Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert Raiders (sixth), RW JP Hurlbert, Kamloops Blazers (10th), and D Ryan Lin, Vancouver Giants (13th).

The Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince

Albert Raiders each have seven players listed, while the Cougars and Edmonton Oil Kings each have six on the NHL radar. In total, 78 WHL players are listed: 44 forwards, 25 defencemen and nine goalies. Of the 224 skaters and 37 goalies in the midterm rankings, 76.6 per cent have played for CHL teams.

The NHL draft will be held in Buffalo, N.Y., June 25-26.

Area snowboarders compete in World Cup in China

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Evan Bichon and Meryeta O’Dine know all too well how it feels to be left out of the party invitations.

They both finished in the cruel spot in their respective men’s and women’s World Cup snowboard cross races Sunday, Jan. 18 in Dongbeiya, China.

Only the top 32 men and top 16 women advance and Bichon needed at least a 32nd-place finish in Sunday’s qualifying round to move on to the race. He finished 33rd.

O’Dine, a 28-year-old Prince George native, was 17th in the women’s qualifying and like 27-year-old Mackenzie native Bichon, she just missed the cut for the race.

The two races in Dongbeiya, Saturday and Sunday, were the last events to determine the Olympic snowboard cross teams.

Bichon finished 33rd Saturday after

qualifying 25th quickest and is currently ranked 28th in the world, while O’Dine is 16th in the World Cup standings, after missing the cut for Saturday’s race.

But there is light in the tunnel

for both. The Olympic team will be announced on Thursday and O’Dine, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist in 2022, and Bichon have a chance to be part of it.

Sunday was a successful day on the slopes in Dongbeiya for Colby Graham of Prince George.

The 24-year-old qualified 18th and ended up 27th after he was eliminated in the eighth-final heats.

Adam Lambert of Australia won the men’s race, his first World Cup win, finishing just ahead of Alessandro Haemerle of Austria and bronze medalist Nathan Pare of the United States.

Eliot Grondin of Saint-Marie, Que., the top qualifier Sunday, won the small final and finished fifth as the top Canadian. Liam Moffatt of Truro, N.S. was 40th, James Savard Ferguson of Baie-St-Paul, Que., was 44th.

In the women’s race, Audrey McManiman of Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Que., finished 12th, after qualifying 16th.

In other Canadian results, Hannah Turkington of Whistler was 24th, Rose Savard-Ferguson of Baie-St-Paul, Que., was 37th and Justinen Kennedy of Rocky Mountain House, Alta., was 41st.

Point guard becomes UNBC’s all-tme assists leader

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Despite a record-setting performance from fourth-year point guard Justin Sunga the UNBC Timberwolves fell short of their plan to topple the Fraser Valley Cascades Saturday night at the Northern Sport Centre, losing 81-71 to visitors from Abbotsford.

Dario Lopez and Marcus Flores each recorded double-doubles for the Cascades (9-6) while Chris Ainsley set a new career high in points with 23 for the Timberwolves (2-12).

In the third quarter, Sunga became the program’s all-time assists leader when he recorded his 269th career assist when he set up Tony Kibonge’s three-pointer.

The opening quarter was tightly contested, with UFV edging ahead 15-13 after the first 10 minutes. Bennett O’Connor paced the Cascades early, collecting five points while adding three rebounds and two assists.

Flores anchored the defensive effort for the visitors, pulling down a teamhigh four rebounds in the opening frame. UNBC stayed within striking distance behind Ainsley, who answered with five points of his own, while Sunga dished out his first two assists of the night. Kibonge, Isaiah Bias, Miller Davies, and Danilo Gonzalez also chipped in offensively for the Timberwolves in the quarter.

The second quarter featured end-toend action, as UNBC narrowly outscored UFV 21–20. Despite the push from the hosts, the Cascades carried a slim 35-34 advantage into the halftime break. Ainsley continued to find his rhythm for UNBC, pouring in eight more points to lead his team with 13 at the half. Sunga added another assist, moving him to within two of a new UNBC program record with 20 minutes still to play. UFV leaned on a balanced offensive approach, with nine different players scoring in the first half, though O’Connor led the way with seven points while also topping the Cascades in rebounding with six.

The third quarter featured a historic

moment for the Timberwolves. Inbounding the ball from the baseline, Sunga found Tony Kibonge wide open in the left corner, and Kibonge calmly buried the three-pointer to make Sunga UNBC’s all-time assists leader, surpassing Vova Pluzhnikov’s previous mark of 268.

The milestone moment briefly energized the hosts, but UFV quickly steadied themselves and responded with a strong stretch of play. The Cascades outscored UNBC 30-18 in the quarter, repeatedly answering Timberwolves runs to maintain control heading into the final frame. Flores led the charge for UFV, erupting for 12 points in the third quarter alone to give him a team-high 18 through three. For UNBC, Ainsley continued his standout performance, sitting at 19 points and leading all scorers with 10 minutes remaining.

UNBC made one final push in the fourth quarter, outscoring UFV 19-16 over the final 10 minutes, but the earlier Cascades surge proved too much to overcome.

Having already achieved the record, Sunga continued to facilitate down the stretch, dishing out three more helpers to finish with seven points and a game-high nine assists. Despite the late

rebounds in the opening frame.

UNBC found some late first-quarter momentum behind Viktoriia Filatova, who knocked down a pair of baskets to lead the Timberwolves with five points. Phillips, Amrit Manak and Aurora Cabrera each chipped in with buckets to help keep UNBC within striking distance heading into the second.

The second quarter turned into a defensive battle, with UFV edging UNBC 11-8. Huang accounted for UNBC’s first two field goals of the quarter, converting a layup before hitting a jumper from the elbow. Huang and Manak paced the Timberwolves at halftime with six points apiece.

Timberwolves push, UFV’s frontcourt duo of Flores and Lopez provided the stability the visitors needed. Flores delivered a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Lopez added 14 points and 12 boards of his own to keep the Cascades firmly in control.

Women’s basketball

In the women’s game earlier Saturday at the NSC, veteran forward Julia Tuchscherer paced the Fraser Valley Cascaded with a dominant display, racking up 16 points and 14 rebounds in a 62-51 win over the host UNBC Timberwolves.

Claire Huang shot 10 points and Hazel Phillips finished with nine to lead the way offensively for UNBC on “Shoot For the Cure” Night, as the Timberwolves took to the floor in pink cancer-themed jerseys.

UFV controlled the tempo early on and jumped to a 24-15 lead after the opening quarter. The Cascades opened on a 10–2 run, setting the tone on both ends of the floor. Esther Allison got off to a scorching start, pouring in 10 points in the first quarter while also pulling down two rebounds. Tuchscherer provided a strong presence in the paint, adding six points and seven

Allison continued to be a force for UFV, scoring the Cascades’ first basket of the quarter and finishing the half with a game-high 12 points. On the glass, Tuchscherer led all players with eight rebounds at the break, while Avin Jahangiri and Cabrera topped UNBC with four boards each.

The game remained tightly contested coming out of the break, with UFV narrowly edging UNBC 12-11 in a defensive-minded third quarter. The Cascades continued to battle on the glass, led by Tucscherer, who added four more rebounds to push her total to 12 while also reaching double figures in scoring. Offensively, Cabrera chipped in four points for UNBC, while Summer Toor provided a momentum boost by knocking down a key three to keep the hosts within striking distance.

UNBC saved its best offensive stretch for the final frame, outscoring the Cascades 17-15 over the last 10 minutes. First-year guard Lorenn Caceres led the late push with five points, while fellow rookie Hazel Phillips added three to finish the night with nine. Tucscherer continued her strong two-way performance in the fourth, pouring in six points and grabbing two more rebounds to cap off a dominant evening on the boards.

Despite UNBC’s late surge, UFV did enough down the stretch to lock up the win and improve to 8-7 on the season. The Timberwolves (1-13) will look to regroup as they head to Victoria to face the Vikes on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Life Events

Stephen Sintch

May 24, 1939 - December 23, 2025

In Loving Memory

Karin Broessler

Loving you forever.

Untl we meet again. Franz and family

Shirley Isabella Akehurst

August 18, 1932 - December 22, 2025

it ear elt rr w we ann n e t e a ing f te e a de ted and fat er rn and rai ed in rin e e rge. l ngtme l al ine man te e er ed a a ity f rin e e rge n il r fr m t .

rede ea ed y i fat er Fran m t er nna and r t er eter and Fran r.

e i r i ed y i el ed wife l ria f year t eir tw n nald and erry and n mer in ne ew and nie e .

nat n may e made t t e i e iety in lie f wer .

ele rat n f ife will e eld ay .

Allen Brice Gurney

January 19, 1946 - January 12, 2026

Allen Brice Gurney passed away on January 12, 2026 surrounded by his family.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday January 24, 2026 at the LDS Chapel 4180 5th Ave Prince George BC

A viewing will take place at 10:30 am followed by the service at 11:00 am

Judith Marie McGillvray an ary an ary

Judith Marie Turchanak McGillivray died suddenly in her home in Nanoose Bay on January 3. She is predeceased by her parents, brother Richard, sister Anne and son Rory, whose 2020 death was a de a tatng l . dit i m rned y er l e friends, sisters-in-law Sara McGillivray and Miriam ri ner r t er in law illi ray and Edward McGovern, the Harkins family, and e illem re ry lifel ng friend.

It is with heavy hearts the family of Shirley Isabella Akehurst, announce her passing on the evening of December 22, 2025

She was 93. She is survived by her children Elmer, Allan (Elaine), Hazel, Glenn (Mona), Arlene (Bruce), Gwen (Gary), Brother Gene Roberts. The joys of her life her Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren, Nieces, Nephews and her extended family. She was predeceased by her son Dale, Grandson Jeremy, Husband Lawrence Statham In 1999, Husband Robert (Bob) Akehurst in 2015. No service by request

Always Loved Miss You Forever

f U rainian and t eritage dit grew in Edmonton, where she received her diploma in n r ing in at t e i eri rdia ital. igni ant art f er n r ing areer wa in rin e e rge w ere e f rmed er nal and r fe i nal relat n i t at a ed er life. t t e llege f ew aled nia fr m e wa a leader in t e n r ing and related ealt ien e r gram . rtly a er m letng er a ter egree in r ing at t e Uni er ity f l erta in dit relocated to the lower mainland and joined Kwantlen mm nity llege a t eir ean f mm nity and ealt t die . ring er tme at wantlen dit m leted er in ig er d at n and li y e el ment at t e Uni er ity f rit l m ia and in a e ted t e r le f i e re ident ademi and r t. n t e e r le e ad great im a t n t e a ademi mm nity and wa in tr mental in el ing wantlen m e fr m a llege t a lyte ni al ni er ity. i di tng i ed areer ntn ed int er retrement.

er t e ne t year e li ed in an e ay tra elling widely in r e and rt meri a. dit tra elling m ani n ld nt n mem ra le aref lly lanned a at n . t e in t e l al mm nity e wa an a id gardener and l ed treatng g e t t ela rate meal . dit read widely and was a member of three book clubs. She ad red ea tf l l t e and ad a rly n ealed addi t n t ierry a tn e . e l ed dit and will remem er er f r er ea ty and intelligen e and f r er friend i and gener ity. e will e mi ed ery m . n lie f wer lea e end d nat n in dit mem ry t t e F ndat n Rory McGillivray Memorial Achievement Award.

July 30, 1945- December 22, 2025

It is with great sadness that the family of Pat Jeppesen announces his passing, at the age of 80, in Prince George, BC, on December 22, 2025.

Patrick Eric Jeppesen was born on July 30, 1945 in London, Ontario, but lived most of his life in Prince George, having moved there as a young child. Pat was pre-deceased by his loving wife, Elaine on March 22, 2023 and their daughter, Teena Louise Hue-Jeppesen.

He will be deeply missed by his son, Lance, his brother Robert (Bob), Elaine’s remaining family and a large number of nieces and nephews scatered across the country.

Pat was the youngest of 5 siblings, and was predeceased by his parents, Knud and Else Jeppesen, his step-mother Dorothy Jeppesen (Harris) and by his sister Anna and his brothers Paul and Kenneth.

Pat spent many years boatng and fshing at his beloved Cluculz Lake, living there for a period of tme in a log cabin that he bought in his early adulthood, in a community built around the old Cluculz Lake Lodge. He also made this property available for his parents to build their retrement home on. Over the years, and even afer the property had changed hands, “Pat’s cabin” was a magnet for Jeppesens from far and near to gather for summer tme at the lake.

He also organized memorable weekend camping / fshing trips with his friends and his brother and son to remote lakes that teamed with Rainbow Trout.

During his later working years and his retrement, he spent many a happy hour taming a 20-acre wood-lot he owned West of Prince George. He called it his playpen.

Pat had was always willing to aggressively share his strong opinions on almost any topic, tempered by an incredible sense of humour and compassion for all things living. During his last year, knowing that the end was in sight, he weaned all the wild “pets” that he fed of his back deck, not wantng to leave them cold turkey with nothing to eat.

Pat took great pleasure in hostng friends and family visitng from distant parts of the country. He welcomed all with an open door, an open table and an open heart. His large heart and generous nature will be sorely missed.

A celebraton of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of fowers, donatons may be made to the SPCA.

The family of Walter Braaten is saddened to announce his passing at the age of 94, on January 5, 2026 in Kelowna, B.C.

Walter was born on March 14, 1931 in Ponteix, Sask., to parents Ingvald and Ingeborg Braaten. He was the 10th of 11 children.

From Ponteix, the family later moved a short distance to “The North Farm” in Neville, Sask. And it was there, at the age of 10, that Walter began his life as an entrepreneur.

The farmland in Neville was perfect for potatoes. So, young Walter started growing his own spuds and selling them to a restaurant in nearby Swif Current. y the tme he was , he was ready to head out on his own. He helped the family plant one last crop, and then, with a cardboard suitcase from one of his older brothers and $20 from his father, he travelled southwest to Yale, B.C.

rom the fatlands, to the mountains and clif sides of the Fraser Canyon, Walter quickly adjusted to his new surroundings. Before long, he got a job picking cherries. Being a prairie boy, fresh fruit was something new to him, so he probably ate the same number of cherries as he put in his bucket each day. His employers once joked that they should have weighed him before he went out picking so they would have known how much to charge him for his appette.

Afer a year in ale, alter moved to ictoria for a short stnt. hile there, he caught on with Stolberg ill Constructon and was put in charge of building dry sheds. He already had carpentry skills and an eye for precision, so he was a good ft for the positon. He contnued to learn on the job, and carpentry would become a lifelong passion. Afer three months in

Walter Braaten arch , anuary ,

Victoria, Walter went back to Saskatchewan. He moved to Swif Current and teamed up with a brother in law Colburn for some work with the local school district. The district was interested in hiring alter as a full tme carpenter but couldn’t meet his salary e pectatons. So, he was on the move again, this tme to Prince George, B.C.

By now, it was the Cold War days of the early 1950s, and one of alter’s frst obs was with Dawson and Hall Constructon, helping to build a United States Air orce radar staton at aldy Hughes, southwest of the growing city. Walter then got an opportunity to work as a foreman with Dezell Constructon and, being single and free to travel, he happily took charge of a lot of the company’s out of town pro ects.

And that’s when his life changed. While on a job building a gas staton to the north of Prince George at McLeod Lake, he met a young lady by the name of ety c ay, who hailed from arrhead, Alta. alter and ety were married in the fall of 1958. In 1967, they welcomed a son, Brent.

Walter remained with Dezell Constructon untl . Afer a short stay in Kelowna as a homebuilder, he resumed his career with Dezell in 1971, this tme as co owner with ety. alter and ety stepped up to run the company afer the passing of both Garvin Dezell and business partner Bert Braaten (one of Walter’s older brothers). alter and ety took Dezell Constructon through the boom years of the 1970s and were the faces of the operaton untl they retred in .

During his years at Dezell, Walter had a hand in several major constructon pro ects in Prince George and throughout the north of C. He was the frst contractor

in Tumbler Ridge, where he built a .C. Hydro substaton in . Walter was proud to be able to complete constructon of umbler Ridge Secondary School in under nine months.

Smart, savvy and willing to share his knowledge, Walter enjoyed partnering with others to get them started in business. One of these was NC Contractors (A division of North Caribou Building Products) with ary it.

Working and providing for his family was always important to Walter. But he also appreciated his downtme this included traveling the world with ety and en oying winters in warmer climates. Curling was another joy for Walter – both playing and watching on TV. He also loved to listen to live music, and boy, could he dance. Walter was also famous for his dry sense of humour

With his Norwegian heritage, Walter was a charter member of the Sons of Norway lodge in Prince George.

Walter will be remembered as kind, loyal, honest, caring, fair, genuine, sincere and trustworthy. He was a true gentleman.

Walter was predeceased by his parents, Ingvald and Ingeborg, and by all but one of his siblings. alter lost his wife, ety, on arch , , afer years of marriage.

Walter is survived by his son, Brent (Sandi), granddaughter Emily, brother, Vern, numerous nieces and nephews, and his partner, dear Ada.

At this tme, alter’s family has chosen to honour his memory privately To those who knew him, we invite you to raise a toast in his name, and to make a donation to the charity of your choice

Classifeds

1. Which group released “Rag Doll”?

2. Name the artist who wrote and released “Dreamy Eyes.”

1. Who wrote and released “Forever in Blue Jeans”?

2. Which group wrote and released “Catch Us if You Can”?

3. Who wrote and released “I Won’t Back Down”?

3. Which group released “GreenEyed Lady”?

4. Who wrote and released “Cracklin’ Rosie”?

4. Which artist released “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”?

5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “If I could take my pick of all the girls I’ve ever known, Then I’d come and pick you out to be my very own.”

Answers

Answers

1. The Four Seasons, in 1964. The song spent two weeks at the top of the Hot 100 chart and reached No. 1 in Canada as well.

1. Neil Diamond, in 1979. The single was rst released on his “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” album the year before. Tommy Overstreet released a country cover in 1979.

2. Johnny Tillotson, in 1958. The song was his first single and made it on to the Hot 100 chart. Tillotson penned several more hits over the years, including “Poetry in Motion.”

3. Sugarloaf, in 1970. A few years ago an old tape was found of the group’s live performance in 1975. It was remastered and turned into a vinyl album titled “Sugarloaf Live 1975.” It’s available online.

4. Neil Diamond, in 1970.

2. The Dave Clark Five, in 1965. They were the second British band to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and would eventually appear 17 more times. The Beatles only appeared on the show four times.

5. “Never Be Anyone Else But You,” by Ricky Nelson, in 1959. Nelson’s song has been covered by several artists, including internationally, over the years. The song has recently been used in a TV commercial for chicken noodle soup.

3. Tom Petty, in 1989, on his “Full Moon Fever” album. It topped the rock chart for ve weeks.

• On Nov. 11, 1831, Nat Turner, an American slave and educated minister who believed that he’d been chosen by God to lead his people into freedom, was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, for leading a revolt with 75 followers through Southampton County, killing about 60 white people.

* On Feb. 2, 1925, musher Gunnar Kaasen and his 13 dogs successfully delivered an antitoxin serum to Nome, Alaska, which was dealing with a widespread diptheria outbreak, in a relay spanning 674 miles in five and a half days and in temperatures as low as 85 degrees below zero.

* On Feb. 3, 1780, Barnett Davenport murdered Caleb Mallory, in whose house he was a boarder, along with Mallory’s wife, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, in their home. One of post-Revolution America’s most famous crimes, it contributed to a change in the way the country viewed lawbreakers.

* On Feb. 4, 1703, 47 samurai were forced to display the ultimate act of loyalty to the regional Japanese lord they had followed by committing seppuku -ritually disemboweling themselves -- for

the crime of killing the official who had ordered the forced suicide of said lord.

* On Feb. 5, 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a speech to the United Nations outlining America’s case that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and making an argument for the invasion that would take place the following month. Unfortunately, some of his talking points were either incorrect or misleading, and Powell later described the speech as a blot on his record.

* On Feb. 6, 1998, a judge reinstated schoolteacher Mary Kay Letourneau’s

suspended sentence and returned her to prison for seven years after she was caught violating a no-contact order with her former student, Vili Fualaau, when she was found in a parked car with the boy.

* On Feb. 7, 1984, Navy captain Bruce McCandless II became the first human to perform an untethered spacewalk while in orbit 170 miles above the earth, maneuvering freely with a jet pack of his own design after exiting the Challenger space shuttle.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Although you’re getng kudos and other positve reactons to your suggestons, don’t let the cheers drown out some valid critcisms. It’s beter to deal with them now rather than later.

• On Nov. 12, 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed the extent of the U.S. Army’s charges against 1st Lt. William L. Calley at My Lai, Vietnam, in a cable picked up by more than 30 newspapers, saying that “The Army says he [Calley] deliberately murdered at least 109 Vietnamese civilians during a searchand-destroy mission in March 1968, in a Viet Cong stronghold known as ‘Pinkville.’”

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your eagerness to immerse yourself in your new assignment is understandable. But be careful that you don’t forget to take care of a pressing personal situaton as well.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22)

Although you can weigh all the factors of a dispute to fnd an agreeable soluton for others, you might need the skilled input of someone you trust to help you deal with an ongoing situaton.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Like your zodiac sign, the surefooted Goat, you won’t allow obstacles in your path to keep you from reaching your goal. Don’t be surprised by who asks to tag along with you.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Following your keen Bovine intuiton pays of as you not only reassess the suggestons that some people are putng in front of you but also their agendas for doing so.

• On Nov. 13, 1979, Philadelphia 76ers center Darryl Dawkins leaped over Kansas City Kings forward Bill Robinzine for a memorable slam dunk that shattered the fiberglass backboard. His equally memorable comment on the move, which was not his last and the sound of which spectators likened to a bomb going off: “It wasn’t really a safe thing to do, but it was a Darryl Dawkins thing to do.”

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You contnue on a high-enthusiasm cycle as a new project that you’ve assumed takes shape. You’re also buoyed by the antcipaton of receiving some good news about a personal mater.

• On Nov. 14, 1882, outlaw Frank “Buckskin” Leslie shot and killed Billy “The Kid” Claiborne, who had publicly challenged him, in Tombstone, Arizona.

• On Nov. 15, 1984, Baby Fae, a month old infant who received the world’s first baboon heart transplant, died at California’s Loma Linda University 20 days after the operation. Three other people had received animal heart transplants, but none survived longer than a few days.

• On Nov. 16, 2001, British author J.K. Rowling’s most famous and beloved creation, the bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role), made his silver-screen debut in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which went on to become one of the highestgrossing movies in history.

• On Nov. 17, 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party split into two factions: the majority Bolsheviks and minority Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks went on to become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) This is a good tme to learn a new skill that could give the clever Cat an edge in an upcoming competton for workplace opportunites. On another note, enjoy the arts this weekend with someone special.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22)

You could risk creatng an impasse if you insist on expectng more from others than they’re prepared to give. Showing fexibility in what you’ll accept could prevent a stalemate.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21)

The good news is that your brief period of self-doubt turns into a positve “I can do anything” attude by midweek. The beter news is that you’ll soon be able to prove it.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) This is a good tme for Sagitarians to start making travel plans while you can stll select from a wide menu of choices and deals -- and not be forced to setle for lefovers.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18)

Let your head dominate over your heart as you consider the risks that might be involved in agreeing to be a friend’s co-signer or otherwise actng as their backup in a fnancial mater.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20)

Resolve to close the door and let your voicemail take your phone calls while you fnish up a task before the end-ofweek deadline. Then go out and enjoy a fun-flled weekend!

Homes & Living

Why Boostng Indoor Humidity Maters During Winter

When winter arrives, colder outdoor air and constant indoor heating can strip moisture from the air inside our homes. The result is often dry skin, irritated sinuses, static electricity, cracked wood furniture, and even higher heating costs. Maintaining healthy indoor humidity during the winter months isn’t just about comfort—it’s about protecting your health and your home. Ideally, indoor humidity should fall between 30 and 50 percent. Below that range, dry air can aggravate respiratory issues, worsen allergies, and increase susceptibility to colds and flu. It can also cause hardwood floors, trim, and furniture to shrink or crack over time. One of the simplest ways to boost humidity is through the use of portable humidifiers. These units are effective for individual rooms and come in

cool-mist or warm-mist options. To keep them safe and efficient, clean them regularly to prevent bacteria or mold buildup. For larger homes, a wholehouse humidifier installed directly into the heating system can provide consistent moisture throughout the space.

There are also low-tech methods that work surprisingly well. Placing bowls of water near heat sources, such as radiators or floor vents, allows moisture to slowly evaporate into the air. Similarly, air-drying laundry indoors adds humidity while reducing energy use from dryers.

Everyday household habits can make a difference. Cooking on the stovetop, especially boiling soups or stews, naturally releases moisture. Leaving the bathroom door open after a shower

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allows steam to circulate rather than escape through exhaust fans. Just be mindful not to overdo it, as excessive humidity can lead to condensation and mold.

Houseplants can help too. Many plants release moisture through a process called transpiration, gently increasing humidity while improving indoor air quality. Grouping plants together amplifies this effect and adds warmth to winter interiors.

It’s also important to prevent moisture from escaping unnecessarily. Sealing drafts around windows and doors helps retain both heat and humidity. Weather stripping and caulking are inexpensive upgrades that pay off in comfort and efficiency.

Finally, use a hygrometer—a small, affordable device—to monitor humidity

levels. Too little moisture causes discomfort, while too much can create its own problems.

Boosting indoor humidity during winter creates a healthier, more comfortable living environment. With a few simple adjustments, dry winter air doesn’t have to be something you just endure—it’s something you can fix.

How to Best Save and Manage Runof From Hard Areas Around Your Home

Rainwater runoff from hard surfaces around your home—such as roofs, driveways, patios, and walkways—is often treated as a nuisance to be diverted away as quickly as possible. In reality, this runoff is a valuable resource that, if managed properly, can reduce flooding, protect your foundation, improve landscaping, and even lower water bills. With thoughtful design and a few strategic upgrades, homeowners can capture, slow, and reuse runoff rather than letting it wash away.

Understand the Problem With Hard Surfaces

Hard or “impermeable” surfaces prevent rainwater from soaking into the ground. Instead, water flows rapidly across them, picking up dirt, fertilizers, oil, and debris before entering storm drains or pooling around your home. This fast-moving runoff contributes to soil erosion, basement leaks, overwhelmed drainage systems, and environmental pollution. The goal is

not just to move water away, but to slow it down, store it, and allow it to infiltrate naturally.

Capture Roof Runoff With Rain Barrels and Cisterns

The roof is often the largest source of runoff on a residential property. Installing rain barrels beneath downspouts is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to save this water. A single rainfall can fill a barrel quickly, providing free water for gardens, lawns, and even outdoor cleaning.

For homes with larger roofs or higher water needs, underground or above-ground cisterns offer greater storage capacity. These systems can be connected to irrigation lines and, in some cases, filtered for nonpotable household uses. Proper overflow routing is essential so excess water is directed safely away from foundations.

Disconnect and Redirect Downspouts

Many older homes send downspout water directly into storm drains or along foundation walls. Redirecting downspouts onto permeable areas like lawns, gardens, or gravel beds allows water to soak into the soil instead of rushing away. Extensions or splash blocks can guide water at least six feet from the foundation, reducing moisture problems while promoting infiltration. When redirecting water, always consider slope and soil conditions to avoid creating soggy areas or erosion.

Replace or Modify Hard Surfaces With Permeable Options

One of the most effective long-term strategies is reducing the amount of impermeable surface around your home. Permeable paving materials—such as permeable concrete, interlocking pavers, gravel, or porous asphalt—allow water to pass through gaps into a prepared base layer below. These materials work well for driveways, walkways, and patios.

If replacing surfaces isn’t feasible, partial solutions like widening gravel borders along driveways or installing permeable strips can still make a meaningful difference.

Use Rain Gardens to Absorb and Filter

Water

Rain gardens are shallow, landscaped depressions planted with water-tolerant native plants. They are designed to collect runoff from roofs, driveways, and patios, holding water temporarily while it slowly infiltrates into the soil. Beyond managing runoff, rain gardens improve curb appeal and provide habitat for pollinators. Proper placement is key: rain gardens should be located away from foundations and septic systems, and sized appropriately for the amount of runoff they receive.

Install Swales and Dry Creek Beds

Swales are gently sloped channels that guide water across your yard while slowing its movement. Lined with grass, stones, or plants, they prevent erosion and direct runoff toward gardens or infiltration zones. Dry creek beds serve a similar purpose while adding an attractive landscape feature. Both options are especially useful

for managing runoff from sloped driveways or large paved areas.

Improve Soil Health for Better Absorption

Healthy soil absorbs and holds water more effectively. Compacted soil around hard areas limits infiltration, increasing runoff. Aerating lawns, adding compost, and using mulch in garden beds all improve soil structure and waterholding capacity. Over time, these practices reduce standing water and help landscapes thrive during both wet and dry periods.

Think of Runoff as a Resource, Not Waste

Saving runoff isn’t about a single solution—it’s about combining strategies that work together. Capturing roof water, slowing flow across hard surfaces, and giving water a place to soak in creates a resilient system that benefits your home and the environment. Thoughtful runoff management protects foundations, reduces erosion, supports healthier plants, and lessens strain on municipal drainage systems. By rethinking how water moves around your home, you turn every rainfall into an opportunity rather than a problem.