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Tuesday, June 11, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916
Relay for Life beats last year’s fundraising total Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclark@pgcitizen.ca The Relay For Life returned to familiar circles over the weekend at Exhibition Park and people took advantage of some decent spring weather conditions to show their support for the Canadian Cancer Society’s 27th annual fundraiser. For 24 hours, moms, dads, sons and daughters gathered to open their hearts in a tribute to loved ones touched by the disease and they brought with them their wallets, purses and piggybanks to raise more than $325,000 for the cause. “We’re thrilled that, we just had a really great year,” said Aimee Cassie, annual giving officer for the Canadian Cancer Society’s northern regional office. “We are above last year. We announced $320,000 at the event last year and we were including money we knew was coming in. We will accept donations right up until August and typically we see quite a bit of money coming in after the event.” After 25 years in a park-like setting at Masich Place Stadium, this was the second year the site of the relay was the paved parking lot in front of CN Centre and the Kin Centre. The shock of trading soft grass and a rubberized walking track for hard concrete was made necessary by the Masich makeover to install an artificial turf field, which ruled out the possibility of hammering in spikes to anchor relay tents. The lengthy construction project meant an alternate site had to be found.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Walkers make their way around the route at Exhibition Park on Saturday night as part of the 27th annual Relay for Life. Organizers and participants welcomed the reconfiguration of the walking path back to an oval pattern, which helped bring back that sense of community that was lost somewhat on a rainy relay day last year. “We’re so thrilled with the feedback we’re
getting from participants, they really liked the adjustments we made,” said Cassie. “Last year we kind of had an H-shaped track because we tried to keep it the same distance as Masich and this year we went back to an oval and lost the distance. People
like to walk together as a community and they loved it. They got to see everybody walking and see the teams on either side of the track and we have that tent-city bond that we lacked.” — see ‘WE HAD THAT, page 3
Cannabis shops win city council’s support Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca Two proposals to establish privately-run cannabis stores unanimously won city council’s support on Monday night. Although a 25-name petition against the proposal had been submitted to council, just two people spoke during a hearing against opening a store in what was once the home of the Mai Thai restaurant in a strip mall off 484 Douglas St. Ken Simonar’s concerns revolved largely around the impact on traffic in the area although he did also note a potential for increased loitering and vagrancy, which he said has been a problem with the nearby BX Cold Beer and Wine Store. Judy Klassen suggested the shop’s name, Shire Green, would draw the eyes of young children. However, it was made clear that council can base its decision only on the land use and not on marketing.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
The proposed location for a cannabis retail store is seen at the corner of Carney Street and Fifth Avenue. Speaking in favour, Coun. Kyle Sampson suggested the impact on traffic and parking will be no worse than when it was a restaurant and noted the RCMP has indicated support for the use at the location. The store will be
operated by Justin Mousseau and Ted Brown, who have owned and operated the nearby BX Pub and BX Cold Beer and Wine Store for three years. Once up and running, they said they would host a town hall with neighbours every two
months to hear any concerns. No opposition was expressed when a hearing was held for a proposal from Ginny and Fred Burnett to sell recreational cannabis out of their Zaga’s Hemp Shop in the Redwood Mall at 1543 Victoria St.
The coast is not entirely clear for either initiative. Council limited their support to granting threeyear temporary use permits to allow the city to monitor for any trouble before deciding whether to rezone the sites for the use.
Mother dog, nine pups abandoned at dump Citizen staff
HANDOUT PHOTO
A mother dog and nine puppies were found abandoned in a sealed box at the Puntzi Lake Landfill, west of Williams Lake.
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The BC SPCA is requesting the public’s help to find the owner of an abandoned mother dog and her puppies. A Good Samaritan found the mother dog, who SPCA staff named Casey, inside a sealed box with her nine puppies at the Puntzi Lake Landfill, about 185 kilometres west of Williams Lake. “There is no excuse for simply walking away from a pet and leaving them to die,” said Lorie Chortyk, the SPCA’s general manager of communications. “Abandoning animals is against the law and individuals can be prosecuted for their crime.” The family was discovered last Wednesday and stayed overnight at a local veterinary clinic. The dogs were transferred to the Quesnel and District SPCA in the morning because there was no foster home available for them in Williams Lake. The mother is about a year old and is
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believed to be a border collie, husky mix. Her five male and four female puppies are about a week old. The mother is a bit thin and focusing on caring for her babies. Staff say she’s a timid but sweet dog. The puppies will be ready for adoption once they are old enough to leave their mother at seven weeks of age. The Quesnel and District SPCA is asking for donations of puppy pads, teething toys, sheets and small collars to help care for this little family. For donation and adoption inquiries please 250-992-7722 or visit the branch at 1000 Carson Pit Road. “There is help available for pet guardians who are struggling to care for their animals. They can reach out to a local rescue or the SPCA instead of abandoning them,” said Chortyk. Anyone with information relating to this case is asked to please call the BC SPCA’s toll-free hotline at 1-855-622-7722.
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