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Saturday, October 13, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916
Hakai Cryosphere Node opens at UNBC Citizen staff A joint $2.4-million research project between the University of Northern British Columbia and Vancouver Island University will focus on understanding the role seasonal snow cover and glaciers play in the hydrology of key watersheds along B.C.’s Central and Southern Coast. Supported by the Hakai Institute, the research will be co-ordinated at the Hakai Cryosphere Node located at UNBC and led by UNBC glaciologist Dr. Brian Menounos, a Canada Research Chair in glacial change, and Dr. Bill Floyd, a research hydrologist with the provincial government and an adjunct professor in geography from VIU. The cryosphere is one of Canada’s most important natural resources, serving as frozen reservoirs of water that produce surface runoff throughout the year. Glaciers and seasonal snowpack have a vital role along B.C.’s Central Coast contributing to freshwater fluxes that transport nutrients to the marine environment. “This Node will provide groundbreaking multi-disciplinary geospatial research opportunities for our faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students who will create local solutions with global impact,” said UNBC president Daniel Weeks. “The collaboration between UNBC, VIU and the Hakai Institute aligns with our strategic research areas, specifically around the environment and natural resources.” Research conducted at the Node will encompass the Hakai Institute research themes of geospatial-ecosystem mapping, and big data and modelling. “The Hakai Cryosphere Node is the natural completion of Hakai’s declared interest in everything from ‘icefields to ocean’ on the Pacific coastal margin,” said Eric Peterson,
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UNBC Geography Professor Dr. Brian Menounos is collaborating with research hydrologist Dr. Bill Floyd with the Province of B.C. on a $2.4-million research project that will explore the role that seasonal snow cover and glaciers play in the hydrology of key watersheds along B.C.’s Central and Southern Coasts. founder and president of the Hakai Institute. “The new Node is the natural counterpart to our existing Hakai Node at UBC’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, which is
anchored on the “ocean” end of that continuum. The new Node will greatly expand our existing collaboration with researchers from UNBC, VIU and other institutions. In addition, we are very interested in fostering
career development in this field for UNBC and VIU students. We’ve already seen the quality of UNBC and VIU graduates in our existing operations.” — see ‘IT’S AN INCREDIBLY, page 3
Man who crashed into arena Lhedli T’enneh chief calls ordered to pay fine, restitution for bridge across Fraser River Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca Lhedli T’enneh First Nation Chief Dominic Frederick is raising alarm bells in the wake of the natural gas line explosion that forced evacuation of members living on the north side of the Fraser River. Those forced out of their homes on Tuesday evening had to make their escape via a road Frederick said crosses over the very pipeline that suffered the blast. Had the explosion set off a chain reaction, lives could have been lost, he said. “We would’ve been pretty bad,” Frederick said Friday. “We have no other way out of the community except that one road.” A boat had been put at the ready to carry people across the river, but about 70 to 80 people had to be evacuated. Frederick said a bridge should be built across the river to connect the northern and southern halves of the reserve and added he said as much during a conference call with representatives of the federal and provincial governments. “It’s an important safety issue to
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FREDERICK us and we’re here, we’re not going anywhere and we’ll always be here,” he said. He estimated the Fraser is about 400 metres across at its narrowest point on the reserve northeast of the city. While the project’s cost would likely be in the millions, Frederick made note of the bridge across the Fraser at Hansard. Opened in 2007, the 295-metre span cost $6.3 million and replaced a bridge cars and trains had to share. It serves a relatively small population, Frederick maintained. He said industry, the city and regional district as well as the fed-
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eral and provincial governments need to be brought together to deal with the issue. “We want everybody at the table because they all claim to be our partners and we have done things in the past to support them,” Frederick said. “Now it’s their time to come forward and support us.” Frederick also said communication needs to be better if a similar incident breaks out in the future. He said developments in the situation were provided only at a moment’s notice. “Even the startup on the 30-inch pipe, it was on a moment’s notice in the middle of the night,” Frederick said. “Phoning me, telling me I should go knock on doors to let the community know that the pipe is going to be restarted – that kind of stuff is not acceptable after our people and our community have been traumatized by what just happened.” Meanwhile, Canfor was in the process Friday of restarting Northwood and PG Pulp under a gas restriction. “We believe we’ll be able to maintain operations if the allocated gas continues to flow,” company spokesperson Michelle Ward said.
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Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff A Kamloops man who crashed a pickup truck into the side of Rolling Mix Concrete Arena while drunk will be paying slightly more than $42,000 in damages and penalties. Of that total, Wyatt Stralak, 23, will have three years to pay $38,983.11 in restitution, with $10,000 of that total going to the city to cover the deductible and the rest to the insurer. He was also ordered to pay a further $3,175 in fines and victim surcharges within a year and was issued a one-year driving prohibition for the Aug. 31, 2017 incident. Crown prosecution had also been seeking a 30-day jail sentence or a community sentencing order, but provincial court judge George Leven decided otherwise, noting in part that he quickly took steps to confront his problem with alcohol. During submissions on sentencing, Stralak’s lawyer, Richard Hendery, said his client signed up for treatment the day after the incident, subsequently spent six months at Baldy Hughes and has not had a drink
since he was arrested. And while Stralak denied responsibility when first confronted by police, he pleaded guilty to counts of driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08 under the Criminal Code and driving while prohibited under the Motor Vehicle Act at the first opportunity. It was determined that Stralak’s blood-alcohol level ranged between .228 and .255 when, at about 1 a.m. on the morning in question, he missed the slight bend while heading northeast on Patricia Boulevard and drove across the lawn and into the arena’s southwest wall. — see TRUCK, page 3
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It was determined that Stralak’s bloodalcohol level ranged between .228 and .255 when... (he) drove across the lawn and into the arena’s southwest wall.
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