Prince George Citizen Thursday February 19, 2026

Mr. PG heads to Italy to cheer on local Olympian

Family friends bring the city’s mascot to support Carolina Hiller-Donnelly

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

When Prince George athlete Carolina Hiller-Donnelly competed Sunday in the 500-metre long-track speed skating event at the Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Mr. PG and his handlers was there in the crowd — leading her cheering section.

The city’s official mascot has been making the rounds in Italy, and he didn’t need a ticket to get into the soldout Milan Speed Skating Stadium to watch Hiller-Donnelly continue making local history as the first Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club member to compete in the Olympics.

He was in Larry Chrobot’s backpack, along with a cowbell and a few Canadian flags they brought to Milan. Larry and his wife Carolyn and two other Prince George couples, Angele and Jamie Appleby and Manuela and Michael Schneider, have known Hiller-Donnelly and her family for the better part of three decades.

They built their trip to Italy around watching her race in her best event, the 500 m.

Last summer, the three couples were with their good friend Bruce Hiller, Carolina’s dad, at a celebration of life for his wife, Ariadne Holness de Hiller, who died of uterine cancer on March 31, 2025.

They got talking about Hiller-Donnelly’s national team status and learned she was a good bet to make the Olympic team to race the 500, so their trip plans were set into motion that day.

“What a great reason to go. I feel honoured,” said Larry Chrobot.

“It all started at kindergarten at Immaculate Conception, because all the kids were going to school together. We just did everything together, whether it was tobogganing or days out at the cabin, just four families getting together.”

The four couples were known around the school as the A-Team, volunteering for the hot lunch program and sports activities and organizing the parent support group, among dozens of other volunteer initiatives.

Ariadne was heavily involved with creating Immaculate Conception School’s five-year vision document and came back long after her kids had left the school to help revise it.

“Ariadne always had a way to figure out something. If the vision was here, she’d find the path to get there and it didn’t matter what the barriers were,” said Larry Chrobot.

“She was a very intelligent woman, well-educated, in command of many languages and very inspirational. She just had that loving, positive energy and always with good intentions.”

Ariadne’s influence helped steer her daughter to international prominence

teammate Jutta Leerdam won silver (37.15) and Miho Takagi of Japan (37.27) was the bronze medalist, her ninth career Olympic medal.

Beatrice Lamarche of Quebec City was the top Canadian, finishing seventh (37.53), and Brooklyn McDougall of Calgary placed 19th (38.36).

Hiller-Donnelly is one of only three Canadian women to break the 38-second barrier for the 500m race (Catriona Le May Doan and Lamarche are the others) and while she didn’t come close to her personal-best 37.85 she was satisfied with her performance under the immense pressure of the Olympic spotlight on Sunday. She still getting used to not having her mom Ariadne — her biggest cheerleader — sending text messages to her before and after her races with words of encouragement. “It’s been a lot of emotion but it’s been a lifelong dream to be here and it feels incredible,” Hiller-Donnelly said.

“(The Games) have been incredibly emotional, but through this year I’ve just put one foot in front of the other and I made it to practice every day and finished every workout and got to each start line in each race and I’m proud of myself for fighting through.

as a two-time world champion team sprinter.

Carolina was about to quit speed skating after being left off the national team in 2021 and her mother convinced her to stick around for at least one more Olympic cycle.

Hiller-Donnelly competes

Hiller-Donnelly finished her races in her first Olympics as a long track speed skater.

The 28-year-old from Prince George finished 21st out of 29 Sunday in the women’s 500-metre event at Milano Speed Skating Stadium, finishing the course in 38.39 seconds.

‘I’m really happy with my result, I mean, I left a little out there today but that was the best I could do today, and I’m proud of myself,” Hiller-Donnelly said.

Femke Kok of the Netherlands set the bar high in that event, winning gold in 36.49, a new Olympic record. Her Dutch

“I feel her every day. I talk to her every day here and I know she was cheering me on today.”

She called her dad Bruce and the rest of her family in Prince George as soon as her race was over. They had a watch party early Sunday morning gathered around the TV screen to watch her second race of this Olympics.

“They all stayed in Prince George but I have 13 other family and friends in the stands today so I felt so much love and support,” Hiller-Donnelly said.

“They’re all a huge part of me even being able to be here and their support, especially this past year has been so important. My mom’s three best friends are here with their husbands. When my mom passed away, they were like, ‘We will be there for you to support you,’ and to see them in the stands was amazing.”

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Hiller-Donnelly grateful for show of hometown support

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Hiller-Donnelly also competed in the 1,000m event on Monday (Feb. 9) and finished 26th in 1:17.15 – her best-ever sea-level time for that event.

Canada won its first gold medal at the Games on Sunday. Mikael Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., won the men’s dual moguls event on Sunday. He also won silver in the single moguls on Thursday.

Prince George-born-and-raised Jon Cooper is off to a 3-0 start as head coach of the Canadian men’s hockey team.

Canada defeated France 10-2 late Sunday and won Group A and finished first overall with a +17 goal differential as preliminary round wrapped up.

Macklin Celebrini scored his fourth goal of the tournament on a penalty shot late in the second period. Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists. Jordan Binnington made 12 saves as Canada outshot France 46-14.

One other Prince George athlete is at the Games waiting to compete in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

Gavin Rowell, 24, is entered in the men’s ski cross competition on Saturday, Feb. 21 the second-last day of competition at the Games.

He’s part of a four-member Canadian men’s team that includes Reece Howden of Chilliwack, Kevin Drury of Toronto and Jared Schmidt of Ottawa. The men’s races start with seeding runs at 1 a.m. PT Saturday. Eighth-finals are at 3 a.m., followed by quarterfinals at 3:35 a.m., semifinals at 3:54 a.m. and the medal run at 4:10 a.m.

Team Canada’s Carolina Hiller-Donnelly competes in women’s 500m long track speed skating at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy on Sunday, Feb. 15.

Speed skater inspires students

As an international swimming referee, Larry Chrobot has been on pool decks watching Olympic-level athletes rise to the top in competitions and he says Hiller-Donnelly is wired similarly.

“I look at the work they have to do to make the Olympic team and I know the effort is all-consuming. If you want to make it you’ve got to be committed, and whether it’s speed skating or swimming, that commitment level is beyond what I can even comprehend,” he said. “It’s how you eat, how you sleep, how you train, and the psychology of it is the most important. I’ve seen great athletes just fall apart. Mental toughness. Carolina has mental toughness, and she gets that from her mom and dad.”

On Friday, the Chrobots and

Applebys presented a binder of good wishes and inspirational messages and quotes from Hiller-Donnelly clipped from Citizen articles, compiled by nearly 200 students and staff at Immaculate Conception. They all watched her race to a 26th-place result in the 1,000-m event on Monday, Feb. 9.

It’s a comfort to her knowing she’ll have her own little fan club in the crowd of 6,500 watching Sunday’s race, along with a TV audience in the millions that will include her dad Bruce, older brother Lucas and his wife Maddy, and her twin brother Nicolas.

“It means absolutely everything,” said Hiller-Donnelly. “They’ve been planning this since the summer and they’ve always wanted to come out and support me, and for them to come out for the

Olympics is incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”

Hiller-Donnelly attended Immaculate Conception for her elementary years from K-7 and all four sets of parents were heavily involved in school activities with their kids. Her photos and newspaper clippings are prominently displayed in the school.

“Not just for our school, but for our city in the north here, she’s showing that you can do it with hard work, dedication, commitment, support — it’s possible,” said former Immaculate Conception principal Donncha O’Callaghan. “The kids see Lina’s picture on the wall here and she’s come back to the school and visited with her medals and she’s always willing to connect and talk and so for the kids she’s a real person.

“There’s an energy, there’s a positivity, there’s a belief that comes from seeing one of your own at the highest level in the world. She’s such an amazing role model, she’s a champion, not just on the skating rink. She’s just such a kind, caring, dedicated person. She’s fierce when she’s skating but she’s so gentle and compassionate and always has been, part of the leadership club and all the sports teams she just has that wonderful all-around personality.”

The kids at IC have read articles about Carolina losing her mom to cancer and the challenges she’s faced over the past year dealing with the loss of her No. 1 fan and O’Callaghan says that’s inspiring to the students as well.

Hiller-Donnelly has seen the video of the kids in the school gym at a pep rally for her and she plans to come out to visit them in March.

Principal outlines SD57 Indigenous culture curriculum

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

School District 57’s Indigenous education department is using technology and spins on familiar materials to help teach students about languages and cultures, the board of education heard at its Tuesday, Feb. 10 meeting.

Indigenous education district principal L’Donna Lynds said much of her department’s focus is on building capacity and making sure that staff are primed for success.

This involves providing access to anti-racism training, translations and pronunciation guides for Indigenous languages, land-based training and more.

Pulling out a couple of boxes, she said that they had developed Dakelh-language versions of the classic board games Scrabble and Twister.

Dakelh is a language family spoken by many First Nations in BC’s Central

Interior, including Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and Nak’azdli Indian Band.

Lynds showed trustees an electronic pen that can read Dakelh words from flashcards, which helps instructors take the guesswork out of figuring out how they’re pronounced.

In partnership with UNBC, the Indigenous Education department has access to some little robots programmed to help teach Dakelh.

One of Lynds’ slides showed links to online resources that allow teachers to look up resources on teaching Dakelh and other cultural topics like Orange Shirt Day, maps and more.

There’s also a lending library for the district that teachers can borrow items from like drum-making equipment. She said all schools have Indigenous education workers.

The district also has an Indigenous language and culture teachers, two Dakelh language and culture teachers,

an Indigenous literacy and numeracy lead teacher, 7.2 full-time equivalent grad coach positions across seven high schools and 7.6 FTE Indigenous social worker positions.

The team is rounded out by two district principals for Indigenous education, two Indigenous education worker supervisors and an assistant focusing on events, communications and research.

Two schools in Prince George — Quinson and Vanway elementary — are redesigning their logos and Lynds said local Indigenous groups are being consulted during that process.

On Saturday, May 2, the district is planning an Indigenous fashion show put on by students at the Prince George Civic Centre.

At Nusdeh Yoh Elementary, Lynds said there was a request for posters showing off local Indigenous heroes.

The example shown in Lynds’ presentation was a poster for Darlene

McIntosh, a Lheidli T’enneh First Nation Elder who currently serves as chancellor for the University of Northern British Columbia and an advisor to the president of the College of New Caledonia. Lynds asked the board to reach out to her if they think of any other local Indigenous heroes who deserve to be highlighted on a poster. She said research showed that kids don’t learn if they don’t see themselves represented, so the posters are meant to demonstrate strong Indigenous people from this region.

Board vice-chair Erica McLean, a member of Gitxsan First Nation, called the work being done “mind blowing.” Lynds’ presentation was the last item on the agenda before the meeting ended early due to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School shooting that had taken place earlier that day. The meeting was rescheduled to Tuesday, Feb. 17, after this edition of The Citizen went to press.

Reliable energy for the life you live

In a changing world, the things that stay steady matter.

Natural gas helps keep homes across BC warm, lights on and energy costs more predictable— especially during long winters and peak demand. It’s the dependable energy behind everyday moments, from your first cup of co ee to evenings spent together at home.

As communities grow, we’re focused on delivering reliable, a ordable energy—safely, responsibly and ready when you need it.

> Visit enbridge.com/bc to learn more.

Area cultural tourism sites fnd strength in numbers

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

There’s strength in numbers and collaboration is essential to boosting regional tourism.

That was the impetus that kickstarted a five-year plan the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George implemented nearly three years ago to support its key eight cultural destinations and guarantee the funding needed to grow those operations.

The regional district is halfway through that plan. On Thursday, Feb. 12 the 17-member Cultural Services Advisory Committee met at regional district headquarters on George Street to discuss its progress in 2025 and what its members want to highlight on the to-do list for the rest of this year.

This is the fifth iteration of the district’s cultural plan, which grew out

The Railway and Forestry Museum brought the Cottonwood Railway to Huble Homestead so that rides were available for all at the Kids’ Carnival Sunday, July 20, 2025.

action items identified as priorities when the plan was introduced in 2023. Also discussed was the need for collaboration on joint fundraising projects

St. James Historic Site and Barkerville pay to be involved. The number of people who go to those sites and then hear about the smaller sites, its massive, you

suggested next year’s budget increase be tied to the rate of inflation.

Reconciliation and relationship building with First Nations was also discussed in the plan update as well as the efforts of Two Rivers Gallery, The Exploration Place and Huble Homestead to encourage more visitors by offering free admission and/or season memberships to those who declare they are Indigenous.

Krystal Leason, executive director of Huble Homestead, said she’s had discussions with the Lheidili T’enneh Nation about hiring a person to “spruce up” its bush camp display.

Sarah Brown, the city’s supervisor of civic initiatives and partnerships, suggested the group consider inviting First Nation representatives to join the Cultural Services Advisory committee.

Alyssa Leier, executive director of The Exploration Place, said the museum

Leason said several buildings at Huble

Two Rivers Gallery to close 3 months for HVAC repair

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Two Rivers Gallery needs its heating, ventilation and air conditioning system fixed.

After nearly 26 years of maintaining an art-friendly climate in the downtown city-owned facility, there’s a plan in place to replace that HVAC system at a cost of $2.74 million to ensure humidity and temperature variations won’t affect the art treasures the gallery displays and stores.

The problem is, from the gallery’s perspective, that what was supposed to be three-week repair will take three months.

That poses a big problem for Two Rivers executive director George Harris as the gallery will have to close in April while the work is being done.

“Twenty-six years into operation of the gallery the HVAC system has been failing terribly for probably well over a decade,” Harris told the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George’s cultural services advisory committee meeting

on Thursday, Feb. 12.

“The biggest issue is the fact we have our permanent collection of roughly 500 artworks, which is not enormous by any standard, but the cost to relocate that collection to a temporary environmentally controlled facility in Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton is cost-prohibitive,” Harris said.

“It’s significantly expensive to address the shipment of the collection to and from our facility to rental facilities for a three-month period and it would also incur considerable time and expense in terms of packing up all the artwork.”

Harris said the gallery will try to keep its collection on-site as long as it’s safe and try to mitigate any disruptions that could negatively affect the art. The city has confirmed to Harris that any costs incurred by moving pieces would be the gallery’s responsibility.

If the collection has to be shipped and stored for three months, Harris figures the cost would be $40,000.

The gallery will be closed to the public for those three months and its in-person art programs won’t be

happening, but the Community Art Days will continue uninterrupted.

Harris said he learned it would be a three-month project in November and he’s since come up empty in efforts to find funding to pay for moving the collection. Contracts were awarded in December and construction is slated to begin in April.

The city says it is working closely with the gallery to limit disruptions as much as possible.

Alyssa Leier, executive director of The Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre, attended Thursday’s meeting at the regional district boardroom and offered space in the museum’s vault for Harris to store some of the gallery’s key pieces of art.

Harris expressed his appreciation for the offer.

“The problem is that even though we might be able to identify a few high-risk objects, many of them are subject to the same risks that come from the failure of environmental controls,” Harris said.

RDFFG vice-chair Cori Ramsay

suggested to Harris that the art items could be offered on loan to private businesses. Institutions such as her employer, Integris Credit Union, could be asked to provide that temporary space to keep them safe, she also noted. Ramsay said some of those businesses might even be willing to offer a donation to help defray the cost.

Two Rivers Gallery opened in July 2000.

“When we moved from the old gallery to the new gallery our collection was hosted by the City of Prince George and was in many office buildings, but the drastic change in environment from what we had at the gallery caused several considerable problems — environmentally caused damage from humidity and there was warping and splitting — but the work was conditioned to being in that environment,” said Harris.

“So I think our first priority really has to be trying to find spaces that are environmentally controlled, unless we risk warping our collection and spend the next 10 years trying to conserve it, as we did in 2000.”

Outpouring of support afer parvo-positve puppies found

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The Prince George Humane Society (PGHS) was overwhelmed with community support following its temporary lockdown and treatment of six parvo-positive puppies.

Initially, PGHS took in puppies found as strays in a schoolyard on Upland Street on Saturday, Jan. 24, which prompted the society to pause dog walks, meet-and-greets and adoptions until further notice, with the intention of isolating the dogs to prevent further spread of the disease.

Following this, PGHS put out a call on Facebook for monetary and item donations to help support both the animals and the staff who were pushed to the limit helping and treating them. Thankfully, say society

representatives, the community of Prince George showed up in a big way, providing more than enough help to treat the animals with funds and items for their care.

Executive director of PGHS Angela McLaren expressed her gratitude to the Prince George community for supporting both the animals and her staff during a difficult and stressful time.

“It’s endless,” said McLaren. “From a monetary perspective, I mean, it costs us a thousand dollars to treat each parvo case and so from a financial perspective, we received just over three thousand for those puppies that were sick. When we reach out to this community, we always get enormous support. So I want to say it was endless and abundant, and as usual with this community, they always step forward to help. We weren’t short of supply and

donations.”

McLaren said she was not surprised by the generosity shown by animal lovers in Prince George.

“Well, I’m never surprised because that’s what we love about the city of Prince George, is that we know that people always step up for the animals and always support the organization,” said McLaren. “It’s great to see in situations like that, when we wanted to get puppies out of this environment as quickly as we could, people already stepped up and helped with fostering and so that made a huge difference for us, so we’re lucky it’s an amazing community that always comes together.”

Currently, the six dogs in the humane society’s care are parvo-free and are waiting to finish their treatment before being put up for adoption.

McLaren told The Citizen that parvo

is an extremely dangerous disease and may become more prevalent as the snow melts.

She urges all dog owners in the city to get their dogs vaccinated and be aware of the symptoms.

“Some of these symptoms that you see are lethargy, loss of appetite, high fever, bloody or foul-smelling diarrhea, and intense vomiting and when people start seeing those kinds of symptoms, we recommend that they go to the vets immediately. Very often, for unvaccinated puppies, it’s usually fatal if they don’t get immediate veterinary care,” she said.

The BC SPCA’s North Cariboo community services team and Prince George Spay/Neuter Clinic have also seen the effect this disease has had on dogs and, in response to these cases, have decided to lend a helping hand.

Baptiste Nickel

FPX Nickel Corp. proposes to develop an open-pit nickel mine located 80 km northwest of Fort St. James that is anticipated to produce 120 megatonnes of ore per year for 28 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 FPX Nickel Corp.’s initial project description from February 5 to March 9, 2026

In-Person Open House

February 18 | 2:30-6:00 pm PST

Fort St. James Community Hall

190 Stuart Dr E, Fort St. James, B.C.

Online Information Session

February 24 | 11:30 am-1:30 pm PST

To register, visit: engage.eao.gov.bc.ca/BaptisteNickel-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/90051 or visit the provincial engagement page at engage.eao.gov.bc.ca/BaptisteNickel-EE

You may also submit comments by mail: Baptiste Nickel Project, PO box 9426, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, B.C. V8W 9V1

We acknowledge the fnancial support of the government of Canada.

Nous reconnaissons l’appui fnancier du gouvernement du Canada.

Kennedy Gordon Managing Editor

OFFICE (8:30a - 4:30p) 505 Fourth Avenue Prince George, B.C. V2L 3H2

FRONT DESK & CLASSIFIED frontdesk@pgcitzen.ca 250-562-2441

NEWS AND SPORTS news@pgcitzen.ca

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR editor@pgcitzen.ca

OWNER / PUBLISHER owner@pgcitzen.ca

The old dogma of industrial forestry no longer cuts it

MIKE MORRIS Guest Columnist

The forest industry and related associations, unions and community leaders have now coalesced behind the banner “forestry is a solution.”

Their purpose, they say, is “to address the urgent challenges, from building affordable housing to reducing wildfire risks in our backyards” and to “rally British Columbians to support forestry workers and their families.”

They will roll out the old dogma that BC practices the most sustainable forestry in the world, and that only their forest professionals know how to keep us safe from wildfires, keep families employed and make housing more affordable. A noble purpose.

The real purpose, I suspect, is that the coalition wants to continue the old model of intensive industrial forestry, despite the reality that our forests can no longer support this outdated model.

In 2003, in an address to the faculty of forestry at UBC, Pedersen, the chief forester of the day, stated that the forest industries’ plan was to harvest British Columbia’s primary forests as quickly as possible and convert them into densely planted managed forests.

Today, they have achieved that vision.

There is an estimated two per cent of primary forests left scattered throughout the province. The forest industry needs access to these forests, as well as protected areas, because the millions of hectares of replanted managed forests don’t have the predicted volume necessary to satisfy the old model of intensive industrial forestry.

It’s not only that the expected volume is not available, but several other factors make it impossible to carry on with the old, volume-based intensive industrial model.

Managed forests have been planted so densely that large machines can no longer manoeuvre without having to cut large swaths — referred to as

commercial thinning.

The results are expensive and ineffective.

The diameter of much of the new wood makes it unsuitable for lumber manufacturing, but harvesting costs, coupled with transportation, also make the fibre cost prohibitive to send to pellet plants and other manufacturing processes that utilize wood chips.

But there’s a greater problem. There is a massive liability associated with decades of clearcut logging and the impacts to BC watersheds.

Decades of research conducted by the University of British Columbia’s faculty of forestry have determined that clearcut logging significantly increases the frequency, magnitude and duration of floods, landslides and drought. Increased drought leads to increased wildfire risks, amplified because of densely planted monocrops of conifer trees that make up managed forest plantations.

The intensity of industrial forestry over the past 30 years has led to millions of hectares of clearcut watersheds. The loss of the forest canopies, necessary to disperse the snow, results in greater snowpacks accumulating on the ground. Without shade, the sun’s radiation quickly melts the snow in the spring, causing creeks and rivers to overflow. In areas where significant rain falls, without the cover provided by the canopy to disperse the rain, it causes the snow to melt even faster.

The rapid melting prevents moisture from penetrating the ground, which is necessary to replenish water tables.

This leads to depleted moisture levels in the ground when it is needed most — during the summer and dry seasons. Successive seasons increase the dryness.

Over the past 30 years, and because lower elevations have already been harvested, most clearcutting took place in the higher elevations of our watersheds. The loss of these higher-elevation forest canopies synchronizes the melting of the snow with the lower elevations, which substantially increases the magnitude of spring runoffs.

Adding to this already volatile outcome is the density of logging roads carved across the hillsides and valleys, redirecting water flows through ditches and culverts into already overflowing creeks and rivers. There are more than 700,000 kilometres of resource roads in the province.

Clearcutting not only removes the mature forest canopies that disperse rain and snow but also eliminates the mature root systems that stabilize the ground. The forest can no longer accommodate the impacts of atmospheric river events.

The research also indicates that it takes 80 to 100 years for conifer trees to grow sufficiently high and develop the root structure necessary to reduce these risks.

Now consider, for a moment, that BC didn’t start clearcut logging until about 60 years ago.

That means none of BC’s managed forests have recovered enough to reduce flooding, landslides and wildfire risks. And to those who live in the

Fraser Valley, consider that the headwaters of every tributary to the entire 1,400-kilometre-long Fraser River basin have been clearcut and the only outlet is at Vancouver and Richmond.

In BC, people have died from floods, landslides and wildfires, and many more have received life-changing injuries.

People have lost their businesses, their livelihoods, their farms and ranches. Thousands of livestock have been killed, crops destroyed and our food security threatened.

Billions of dollars of public infrastructure have been destroyed, placing taxpayers on the hook for generations to come, paying for the replacement of our bridges, highways, schools and hospitals.

Railway corridors were destroyed, increasing costs to shippers, who must pay millions of dollars for repairs. Insurance premiums have increased dramatically. Some people can no longer get insurance.

In 2023, the government introduced amendments to the Forest Act that gave decision-makers the authority to cancel or not approve cutting permits if the proposed logging would create a public safety issue.

And yet clearcutting continues, and this new coalition of forest industry players continues to pursue intensive industrial forestry practices that increase public safety risks.

With the increased frequency, magnitude and duration of floods, landslides, drought and wildfires across our province every year now, one needs to wonder why the government remains silent on these ominous risks to public safety, particularly when it has the statutory ability to stop clearcut logging.

Mike Morris is the former MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie who served as parliamentary secretary to the forest minister while conducting a provincewide review in 2015 on the loss of biodiversity from resource development. He also served as minister of public safety.

OPINION

39th annual Prince George Iceman brings out the crowds

It’s too bad to keep having issues with the weather, with the time and effort these people put in to get ready for this event. It’d be nice if the weather showed up once in a while.

Congrats to all who participated, and well done to the winners.

Jim John

39th annual Prince George Iceman brings out the crowds

82 years old and completes the race! How awesome is that?

An example to all to spend less time on screens and more time enjoying the great outdoors. Expect to see you next year, Warr. You are a rock star!

Mr. Science

City releases downtown washroom survey

I would love more downtown public washrooms.

Unfortunately, we all know they will not be respected, they will be abused and ruined, and will ultimately just be a money pit for taxpayers. So that’s a big no for me on public spending downtown — at least until we can deal with the massive problem consuming our downtown.

Zangief

Letter to the editor: Water issues are a factor in Cranbrook Hill development

Guess what’s cheaper for taxpayers? Sue council and the province if you run out of water.

Bad decisions by council need consequences, IMO. Putting water up there is unaffordable.

Cranbrook Hill is prime farmland and irrigation is at risk. Yet it is cheaper to buy farmland than pay for serviced city lots. Developers have been doing this for decades.

We need to preserve farmland and stop the developers from buying farmland as investments without actually farming.

I’m hoping this gets posted by The Citizen, it’s our reality.

CC Mail

Letter to the editor: Water issues are a factor in Cranbrook Hill development

Perhaps the city should be asking the wealthy landowner to pay for the infrastructure development himself, but maybe that is the plan.

I listened to the public hearing, and I find it concerning these developments are allowed to go ahead on a potential water whim, but also clearly state pre-testing once infrastructure is placed is a requirement for them to determine the actual amount of housing that can go in here.

Really? I also understand this is privately held land, but that doesn’t mean we have to approve this development!

Tammy Lopes

Everybody poops.

As a citizen of PG, I have found myself in need of “the facilities” a time or two while trying to enjoy a walk in the park or simply getting around town on the bus system.

Having the park washrooms closed from October to May means that anyone who cannot hold back the call of nature is put in the awkward position of soiling themselves or using nature’s toilet.

Think of the kids who might be using the park and are of potty-training age, yet have nowhere to use the bathroom. You want to pack them up in the car and have them have an accident in the car seat? Which, by the way, are a pain to wash and also a couple hundred bucks to replace?

Everyone wants to be so negative and assume if we get something nice it will be ruined, but good grief — public washrooms and indoor plumbing have helped humanity move toward cleaner and more sanitary living conditions the world over.

Waqui

Prince George area hits 100,000-plus population: What it means

Automation has kept the city from growing. As a young man, I’d drive by a sawmill or pulpmill parking lot — they were full of vehicles. Now, they are over 1/2 empty. In logging, there were skidder operators, even swampers helping run chokers, buckers, hand fallers, cat skinners, truck drivers, loader operators, mechanics and grease monkeys.Now? A few skidder operators, fellerbuncher operators, processor operators and truck drivers. This crew vastly outperforms multiple crews. Our population has been stagnant since we expanded our boundaries. Any new industry jobs maintain the status quo.

Lou Maurice

Prince George area hits 100,000-plus population: What it means

There shouldn’t be any rush to grow Prince George if it’s going to push the real estate prices higher than they already are. It’s already too difficult for a younger person or couple to afford a house the purchase of a home. Even the new townhouses and condos sell for well over $400,000. Some communities are far more expensive, like Vancouver and the greater Toronto area. But they have become almost unlivable and are now the ghettos of the rich, the greedy. and the over privileged. Who needs to live like that.

Ed Prout

Tumbler Ridge mourns afer deadly school shootngs

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, the BC RCMPs commanding officer, has provided an update on the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10, 2026.

McDonald held a press conference Friday, Feb. 13 at the Tumbler Ridge Town Hall, where he confirmed that officers and Forensic Identification Services are continuing to process two scenes: the home of the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, and Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

RCMP stated that the investigation at the school will continue through the weekend and that the home of Van Rootselaar could be finished by Saturday, Feb. 14.

Police say Van Rootselaar, 18, shot and killed her mother and stepbrother at their home before going to the school, where six people — five of them students — were shot and killed. In all, nine people died.

Two more victims were airlifted to Vancouver with serious injuries and another two dozen were treated for non-gunshot injuries in Tumbler Ridge. RCMP interviewed more than 80 students, educators and first responders. Additional witness interviews are ongoing, McDonald said.

McDonald said interviews are being conducted using trauma-informed principles designed to make the process better for victims, and that there continue to be multiple supports and services available for those affected by the shooting.

RCMP continue to analyze images and videos from witnesses, as well as CCTV footage and video from body cameras worn by police during their response. In addition, a specialized team of investigators is completing an assessment of Van Rootselaar’s online activity and digital footprint. They continue to review all previous police or professional interactions with Van Rootselaar.

RCMP said they have prioritized the analysis of two rifles that were found at the school and one shotgun seized,

PGMHA U13 Hornets head coach Steven Fisher (grey hoodie) opens a candlelight vigil in the parking lot of the CN Centre, on Wednesday, Feb. 11 to coincide with a vigil held in Tumbler Ridge at the same time.

among a number of other firearms, at the residence.

The shotgun is believed to have been used in the shootings that took place at the home and had never previously been seized by police.

McDonald also stated during the press conference that the main firearm believed to have been used in the mass shooting at the school has never before been seized by RCMP and its origin is unknown.

During a question period with the media, McDonald described the chaotic scene at the school and added that the suspect shot at officers as they entered the school before committing suicide.

“Our officers arrived on scene and immediately went into the school,” said McDonald. “As you can imagine, it was chaotic — the fire alarms were going off. There was somebody who either leaned out or shouted out a window to our officers, ‘The suspect is upstairs, he’s upstairs.’ They entered the school, immediately went to the stairwell, proceeded to go up the stairwell and were met with gunfire inside the school. It was a matter of seconds after that — there was more gunfire, not, as we know now, having reviewed video, directed at any persons — and then ultimately the suspect took their life. I can say with confidence that from the moment the suspect encountered police, there were no further injuries to any other students in the school.”

He added that it is not believed at this time that any individuals in the school were specifically targeted.

“This suspect was, for lack of a better term, hunting,” said McDonald. “They were prepared and engaging anybody and everybody they could come in contact with.”

McDonald, in the press conference, asked that witnesses who have not yet spoken to police preserve relevant evidence and contact RCMP.

The RCMP also shared details of the people killed in the incident.

Police consulted with the families of the deceased to release the photos and personal statements in a press release with the intention of honouring the lives lost.

Victims from Tumbler Ridge Secondary School

• Abel Mwansa, 12

• Ezekiel Schofield, 13

• Kylie Smith, 12

• Zoey Benoit, 12

• Ticaria Lampert, 12

• Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39

Victims from residence on Fellers Avenue

• Emmett Jacobs, 11

• Jennifer Jacobs, 39

“The BC RCMP offers sincere condolences to the families who have lost loved ones, and to the entire Tumbler Ridge community that is grieving alongside them,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, BC

RCMP commanding officer, in the press release. “This is a time of deep sorrow, and many are still processing the weight of this tragedy. We will continue to support the families, respect their wishes, and walk with the community as it begins the long journey toward healing.”

RCMP has also included statements from two of the families.

Benoit family: “Our beautiful Zoey, our daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter and friend. She was so resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet. She brought so much laughter and smiles in her presence. She loved spending time with her family, where she could show her love. Our family is devastated by this loss, but we will cherish her memories, holding them close to our hearts forever. She will forever be loved and never forgotten. We miss you, beautiful girl. Zoey, we love you so much.”

Smith family: “Kylie was the light in our family. She loved her family, friends and going to school. She was a talented artist and had dreams of going to art school in the big city of Toronto. Rest in paradise, sweet girl. Our family will never be the same without you.”

The families and loved ones of those who died are requesting privacy and time to grieve, the RCMP states in the release.

The woman and boy killed on Fellers Avenue were Van Rootselaar’s mother and stepbrother, the RCMP reported.

System failure: Mother calls for change outside courthouse as daughter’s killer is sentenced

Family, friends hold vigil to remember Isabelle Thomas

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

A Prince George courtroom was filled with supporters and family members of Isabelle Thomas for the sentencing of Zain Xavier Wood on Friday, Feb. 13.

Wood was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Thomas and faces a sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

About 50 supporters held a vigil at the courthouse in honour and remembrance of Thomas and the impact she had on those around her during her life.

Leslie Thomas, Isabelle’s mother, spoke to The Citizen about the show of support during a break in the hearing.

“It means a lot,” said Leslie. “Just to have witnesses to the truth and to help hopefully spread the information correctly, it’s really hard to put into words. It gives me great comfort and it’s just too bad if they weren’t there for the whole entire process. But the support, when or whenever they can, it means a lot.”

She added that her community was diligent in its support during the trial, with a member of the community present during every court date.

Leslie also shared a story that illustrated how her daughter impacted those around her and what her family and friends lost.

“I had a chance to talk with one of the police officers who was investigating Isabelle’s case, and he said that even though he didn’t know her, one of her messages on Facebook was to a friend she had a falling out with,” she said. “Even though they weren’t on speaking terms, the woman contacted Isabelle when she was going through trouble, and he said that really brought out Isabelle’s character — to put her feelings aside and to offer help and support and

whatever she needed. So that really speaks to what we’ve truly lost because she was like that with everybody.”

Leslie said she wants her daughter’s case to inspire change in the system, as she believes it failed to protect her daughter.

“I’m still trying to calm myself down because I’m still shaking inside — it’s hard to go through, but it’s necessary to get her word out to anybody, because the system failed to protect her,” said Leslie. “He was on an ankle monitor and breached his conditions 33 times before he went to her place at least twice before he killed her. Probation failed her and I’m just wanting this to change the system to prevent this from happening in the future because everybody should feel safe.”

Leslie also provided a statement to the public on her daughter’s death and what she believes can be done to prevent similar tragedies.

A Life That Should Still Be Here

“There are no words large enough to hold the love a parent has for a daughter taken far too soon. Isabelle Opal Rose Spirit Thomas was full of life — joyful, compassionate and deeply connected to her family, her friends and her culture. She was the kind of person who gave love freely and showed respect naturally, someone whose presence made others feel safe, valued and understood.

“Above all else, Isabelle was a mother. She loved her children fiercely and without condition. One of her daughters was only six years old when she witnessed the unthinkable — the violent end of her mother’s life. Her youngest was just six months old at the time of Isabelle’s murder, robbed of the chance to grow up knowing her mother’s voice, her warmth, her guidance. These two children will now grow up in a world forever changed, carrying a loss no child

should ever have to bear.

“This was not only a personal tragedy. It was a systemic failure.

“The man responsible for the murder of Isabelle Opal Rose Spirit Thomas was out on bail.

“He wore an ankle bracelet, yet the public is rarely told the truth about what that actually means. An ankle monitor does not provide constant protection. Tracking is often not continuous and may require a police officer or bail supervisor to actively request location data. If no one is watching, no alarm is raised. Compounding this are technical failures — signal interference from tall buildings, weather conditions or connectivity issues — that further weaken an already flawed system.

“That is where the justice system failed Isabelle.

“Her life could have been spared if proper protocols had been followed. If supervision had been enforced rather than assumed. If monitoring had been proactive instead of reactive. If freedom had not effectively been bought and handed back to someone who had already demonstrated he could not be trusted with it. This is not about revenge. It is about accountability. When systems designed to protect the public fail, real people die. Children lose their mothers. Families are shattered. Communities lose bright, irreplaceable lights. Isabelle Opal Rose Spirit Thomas was one of those lights. She was love in motion. She mattered. Her story deserves to be told not only as a story of loss, but as a call for change. Bail supervision must be real, enforced and accountable. Electronic monitoring must be continuous and reliable. Personal or parental supervision cannot replace professional oversight when lives are at stake. We owe it to Isabelle. We owe it to her children. And we owe it to every family who trusts the justice system to protect the innocent — so no other child has to grow up without a mother because the system looked the other way.”

Automatc life sentence for murder Zain Xavier Wood

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A BC Supreme Court judge in Prince George said Friday, Feb. 13 that Zain Xavier Wood’s killing of Isabelle Opal Rose Spirit Thomas was “extremely aggravated, even within the confines of first-degree murder.”

Justice Michael Tammen sentenced Wood to the mandatory life in prison without parole eligibility for 25 years. Tammen found the 25-year-old guilty of the July 18, 2023 crime on Nov. 10.

“Miss Thomas was an Indigenous woman who was brutally murdered within the sanctity of her own home, indeed, in her bedroom,” Tammen said.

“Two, Mr. Wood killed Miss Thomas in the presence of her six-year-old daughter who witnessed the killing of her mother and saw her mother die from her injuries.”

Wood and Thomas had been in an intimate relationship for several months in 2019 before breaking up that year. But they maintained a casual relationship into the summer of 2023.

“For reasons known only to Mr. Wood, he decided to kill Miss Thomas,” said Crown prosecutor Tyler Bauman.

Wood cased the 22-year-old Thomas’s Alpine Village townhouse on July 12 and 13 of 2023. He arrived before 7 a.m. on July 18, 2023 wearing gloves, a mask and hood, entered Thomas’s home, went upstairs and stabbed her to death. He had no criminal record at the time, but was on bail after being charged with aggravated assault.

“Nothing in the confines of the Canadian criminal legal system can ever undo the pain, salve the wounds, or indeed make any meaningful reparations for the surviving family members of Miss Thomas,” Tammen said. “Equally, no purpose is served by this court attempting to label the offence or the offender using adjectives. The murder, as noted in my reasons for conviction, was savage, brutal, callous, premeditated, planned over a period of time.”

Earlier in the hearing, the victim’s mother, Leslie Thomas, told the court that her daughter carried kindness in her voice and strength in her spirit. Isabelle was more than a name in a report or a statistic in the system.

“She matters. She was loved and she will never be forgotten,” she said in a prepared victim impact statement.

Thomas focused on the impact of the murder on her granddaughters. Because of Wood, “grief will quietly sit beside these children every day of their lives.”

“Two innocent girls who will grow up without their mother around them, without her voice calling their names, without her guidance through life’s hardest moments,” Thomas said. “They will not know the comfort of running to her.”

Nor will they see her smile at graduations, birthdays or other life milestones that they should have shared.

“They will grow up asking questions no child should have to ask.”

Speaking directly to Wood, Thomas said: “You did not just end a life. You shattered the family. You turned a home filled with love into a broken home.”

She said accountability cannot bring comfort, but “acknowledgement matters, and responsibility matters and truth matters.”

Wood’s lawyer, Tony Lagemaat, conceded that his client’s struggles with mental health and addiction were no justification for the crime, which caused “tragedy to the community and the

family, in particular the children.”

“He has asked me to relate to the family that he is sorry for what happened,” Lagemaat said. “He’ll have a long time to reflect on this. We cannot give up on him, so he comes out of this a better man.”

Tammen imposed a lifetime ban on Wood possessing any firearms,

Natural Factors Ubiquinol Actve CoQ10 provides the actve form of CoQ10 to raise your CoQ10 levels and helping to Helps support your heart health.

*Helps support cardiovascular health

*Provides antoxidants for the maintenance of good health Now 15% of!

GarlicRich® Super Strength Garlic + Reishi from Natural Factors supports the immune system and helps maintain cardiovascular health courtesy of a 10:1 garlic concentrate and 30:1 organic reishi mushroom extract for adaptogenic support

1638 –

ammunition and explosives and ordered Wood to provide a DNA sample. He is also prohibited from communicating with the victim’s relatives. Under the so-called faint hope clause, Tammen said Wood may apply for a reduction in the number of years of his sentence after serving at least 15 years.

HerbalFactors Cayenne is a very useful stmulant, regulatng blood fow and helpful to the cardiovascular system.

*Stmulates peripheral circulaton

*Enhances blood fow helping with cardiovascular health

*Stmulates digeston

*Reduces intestnal gas

Unfortunately, some people are missing the gene lets the body create B12. Enter Natural Factors Methylcobalamin!

*Helps form red blood cells

*Helps prevent B12 defciency

*Helps in the normal functon of the immune system

*Helps in energy metabolism in the body

Delay in long-term ofender process for airport carjacker

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The case of the man who pleaded guilty last fall to a 2024 carjacking at Prince George Airport was delayed again.

Tanner Jordan Meier, 31, asked Justice Matthew Kirchner in BC Supreme Court on Feb. 9 to adjourn his case until

CRIME NOTES

Man ran after crashing vehicle into water,

then stole truck

A 36-year-old man pleaded guilty Feb. 11 in Prince George Provincial Court to robbery and wilfully resisting or obstructing a police officer.

Clinton Jay Baraniuk will be back in court on April 22, two days shy of the anniversary of his arrest.

Judge David Simpkin heard that Prince George RCMP officers were called around 7 p.m. on April 24, 2025 about a motor vehicle incident on Beaver Forest Road.

A witness reported encountering a male that had crashed a vehicle into a washed-out roadway, leaving the vehicle partially submerged underwater. Baraniuk, exhibiting signs of being on stimulants, ran to a nearby truck and brandished a yellow X-acto knife. He climbed onto the truck, broke the driver’s side window and stole the vehicle.

An officer discovered the truck stuck alongside the Fraser River, in the sandy foreshore.

When officers slowly approached and told Baraniuk that he was under arrest, he swore at them and said “you’ll have to kill me.”

Baraniuk refused to drop the knife and threatened to fight the officers. An officer approached the driver’s side door and deployed pepper spray at Baraniuk, who attempted to escape from the passenger side. He stopped when he noticed a police service dog.

Baraniuk “began gesturing wildly” and said he was not going back to prison.

his lawyer is available.

“My lawyer is suspended right now and he’ll be back in a month,” Meier said by videoconference.

Crown prosecutor Rodney Withall said he had hoped to schedule a date for an application to have Meier assessed, the first step in determining whether he should be declared a longterm offender.

Meier pleaded guilty Oct. 27, 2025 to robbery, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and assault related to the Aug. 24, 2024 theft of a car outside YXS.

Withall said there is a large amount of material about Meier’s history in Alberta that needs to be shared with the defence.

“The Crown would have no

Baraniuk was sprayed again and retreated to the back seat where he was arrested and taken to custody.

Time served for knife-wielding break-and-enter convict

A man who pleaded guilty in Prince George Provincial Court to break and enter was sentenced Feb. 3 to time served and ordered to be on probation for 18 months.

Gary David John, 23, had been in custody for 323 days and was given time-and-a-half credit for 485 days.

At 4:40 a.m. on March 27, 2025 a homeowner observed John with a large knife, trying to break into a townhouse. Court heard that the Indigenous man from near Fort St. James had been raised in Prince George.

Throughout his childhood, his parents struggled with substance abuse

opposition to Mr. Meier adjourning over to one month,” he said.

Kirchner set another fix date hearing for March 9 in Prince George. If a judge approves the long-term offender application, the court would order a minimum two-year jail sentence and an order that Meier be subjected to long-term supervision not exceeding 10 years.

pleaded guilty Feb. 11 to shoplifting, stealing patio furniture and driving while prohibited.

Chasity Michelle Reed, 44, was also banned from driving for two years under the Motor Vehicle Act.

Prince George Provincial Court heard that Reed stole goods worth less than $5,000 from Real Canadian Superstore on March 12, 2024.

Just over three months later, on June 16, 2024, she was caught with two co-accused and a stolen patio swing.

Reed was caught driving while prohibited on June 27, 2025.

which resulted in John going in and out of ministry care.

He was assessed at age seven with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, a subtype of fetal alcohol syndrome, and suffered developmental disabilities to the extent that he became eligible for Community Living B.C. programs.

Associate Chief Judge Paul Dohm told John to do himself “a favour” while on probation and complete treatment.

“That’s what you need,” Dohm said. “It’ll help you best adjust to life out of custody, since you’ve been in there for a long time now. And it’ll help you stay on the right track.”

Woman pleads guilty to theft and driving violation

A 90-day conditional sentence and 18 months probation for a woman who

The online court file shows Reed is also known as Chasity Michelle Reid, Amber Marie Reed and Shana Perry. She has a criminal record that includes a 2014 jail sentence of 3 1/2 years for possessing a loaded handgun and drugs, but received 22 months credit for time served.

Reed was also guilty of giving a false name and driving without due care and attention.

Guns and drugs trial set for June after Fort St. John arrest

A man charged in Fort St. John with drugs and firearms offences will go on trial for five days in June.

Justin Daniel DiCicco-Tite faces a BC Supreme Court trial for possession for the purpose of trafficking, firearms possession and possession of stolen property.

During a scheduling hearing on Feb. 2 in Prince George, Justice Marguerite Church set the trial to begin during the week of June 15.

Court reporting by Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Man accused of harassing staf at three courthouses

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

BC’s Ministry of Attorney General is accusing a man of interfering with operations at three courthouses.

A notice of civil claim filed Feb. 11 in Prince George asks a BC Supreme Court judge for an order to limit how Devan Lester corresponds with staff in Prince George, Mackenzie and Smithers.

“The volume of the e-mails and the large recipient list make Mr. Lester’s e-mails a large drain on several registries’ resources,” said the application. “Further, several staff members now feel threatened by the correspondence.”

The filing, which has not been tested in court, said Lester has been a party in family law disputes, ordered not to contact his children and subject to two firearms prohibition orders.

Lester also filed two actions against the Ministry of Children and Family Development, both dismissed in 2024. He then filed against a Mackenzie registry employee and the judiciary and made “various non-specific legal threats.”

No tme in jail for vehicle thef

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

One of two siblings charged after an auto theft in Prince George last March pleaded guilty Feb. 11 in Provincial Court and was sentenced to 18-month conditional discharge.

Zalyn Marie Provencal-Gibson, 22, also known as Haven Provencal-Gibson, was at the YMCA on March 18, 2025 and admitted to stealing keys that belonged to a gym patron.

The man called Prince George RCMP after discovering his keys missing and witnessing two individuals get into his vehicle and leave the property. The vehicle was located March 19, 2025. Despite the theft, he told a Crown prosecutor that he did not want a youthful accused person prosecuted too harshly. Hence the joint Crown and defence sentence proposal.

Provencal-Gibson will remain without a criminal record after successfully

completing the 18-month probation. Terms also include 60 months of community work service and restitution in the amount of $150, toward the victim’s insurance deductible.

Provencal-Gibson apologized before Judge Micah Rankin passed sentence.

“I should’ve brought the keys to the front desk and said, ‘hey, someone lost these,’ but I wasn’t thinking straight and I don’t plan on doing that again, that’s for sure,” Provencal-Gibson said.

Rankin decided that the guilty plea, lack of criminal record, Indigenous background and trauma from living intermittently in provincial foster care since age 13 were mitigating factors.

“I have no hesitation in finding that this is an appropriate disposition for a firsttime, remorseful offender with compelling personal circumstances,” Rankin said.

Kaydence Mackenzie Provencal-Gibson, 20, is scheduled to appear Feb. 17 in Provincial Court on a charge of possessing stolen property worth more than $5,000.

appearances.

Lester allegedly agreed to go through the Prince George courthouse, but resumed activity last Dec. 9 and sent over 300 aggressive emails and various non-specific legal threats to staff at the three registries.

The proposed order would stop Lester from sending any type of correspondence, except for a document under the Rules of the Court or specific direction of the court that is filed through Court Services Online or an agent.

A lawyer for the Attorney General proposed in-writing last May a communication and filing arrangement for Lester that would have meant he could not attend Mackenzie, except for court

“Mr. Lester’s e-mails are addressed generally to registry staff and occasionally also addressed to accounts linked to the Supreme Court of Canada, Ministry of Attorney General of British Columbia, International Criminal Court and individuals,” said the filing by Michael Kleisinger.

“Mr. Lester makes serious allegations and, increasingly, makes veiled threats against the recipients.”

TOYS • COMICS • GAMES

Custody for man accused of assaultng UHNBC nurses

A hearing was held at a psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A BC Review Board tribunal decided to keep a man in custody for another 12 months due to his “fragile brain and risk of impulsive violence.”

Theodore Alexandre Junior Laliberte, 42, was the subject of a hearing on Oct. 20 in the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Judges deemed him unfit to stand trial

in Prince George Provincial Court for alleged assaults against University Hospital of Northern B.C. (UHNBC) nurses.

Laliberte has been a patient at UHNBC’s primary care unit since 2019 due to a series of disabling head injuries. He was accused of punching a nurse in the jaw on Jan. 13, 2023 after she delivered the juice that he ordered.

“Mr. Laliberte cornered the nurse and would not let her leave until she bribed him with cake,” said the tribunal’s decision.

Just over a month later, on Feb. 22, 2023, Laliberte allegedly pushed a door into a nurse. After she struck her head, he was accused of putting her in a

headlock. A maintenance worker came to the nurse’s rescue.

Provincial Court Judge Martin Nadon decided Aug. 30, 2023 that Laliberte was unfit to stand trial. Same as Judge David Simpkin, on Sept. 12, 2023.

Both referred Laliberte’s cases to the Review Board.

The incidents prompted “code white” calls for UHNBC security staff to help with a violent and aggressive patient. In fact, Laliberte had been the subject of 300 such calls since his 2019 admission.

Laliberte was also allegedly violent and aggressive to his former common-law wife and her children.

“In our view, and with considerable

regret, we find that a custodial order reviewable within 12 months is the least onerous and least restrictive disposition which is both protective of the public and meets Mr. Laliberte’s needs,” said the tribunal, chaired by Brenda Edwards.

The order allows for escorted community access, depending on Laliberte’s mental condition and only with “a high level of supervision and oversight.”

Due to Laliberte’s history of “unprovoked and unpredictable violence in both domestic and hospital settings,” he is prohibited from possessing firearms or other weapons and from consuming alcohol.

Man shot in the head by RCMP sentenced for assault

He got into a sudden confrontation with police outside a former local hotel

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A 39-year-old man shot in the head by a Prince George RCMP officer during a confrontation outside the North Star Inn almost five years ago was sentenced Feb. 13 to two months of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Thomas Arthur Prince had been charged with using a vehicle to assault a police officer, but instead pleaded guilty to assault.

On March 31, 2021, a uniformed officer in a marked vehicle was outside the hotel at 6:45 a.m. Prince, who was driving a Pontiac Sunfire, pulled into a parking spot in an erratic manner outside the hotel, catching the officer’s attention.

The officer approached Prince, who was agitated. The officer attempted to subdue him.

Judge Martin Nadon said that, while the officer was placing Prince’s hands behind the back for handcuffing, Prince

resisted and took a swing at him.

The matter escalated quickly, Prince tried to leave the scene, but the officer fired at him.

One of the shots hit him in the skull and he was taken to hospital for treatment.

The officer was uninjured in the altercation, which happened in less than four minutes.

Assault of a peace officer would normally attract a jail sentence, but the Crown said Prince had already suffered consequences.

He remains on medication and

continues to undergo treatment, including surgery to repair his skull after a prior attempt failed and left him with an infection.

Prince’s defence lawyer Michael Reed, said the Carrier man from Fort St. James is a member of the Nak’azdli and is getting support from family and his community.

“He’s here today, he’s taken responsibility for his part of this interaction. I submit that it’s a fair and appropriate sentence,” Reed said.

Nadon, who accepted the jointly proposed conditional sentence order, said

that Prince was found last June to be fit for trial, but is suffering neurological problems.

“In many ways, Mr. Prince has paid the price for this offence,” Nadon said.

“In my view, sending him to actual jail would be counter-productive, given his current situation. However, there must be a sentence that demonstrates society’s disapproval of what occurred here.”

Last July, the Independent Investigations Office of BC referred the case to the BC Prosecution Service to consider whether the officer should be charged.

RCMP raids Sinclair Road property

RCMP Emergency Response Team members move around their vehicle at the back of 1820 Sinclair Road on the corner of Pierreroy and Sinclair Roads Thursday, Feb.12. RCMP officers, including a canine unit and members of the North District Emergency Response Team, used non-lethal weapons during their entry and search of a home on Sinclair Road on Thursday, Feb. 12. Eyewitnesses described seeing an armoured vehicle ram through the front of the home and officers break down doors while using flashbangs — loud distraction devices that can sound like gunshots — and bean-bag launchers, which can be used to stop suspects without causing permanent injury. There was no word on arrests.

Misplaced mobile phone, spilled drink end in assault

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A conditional discharge and one-year probation for a 33-year-old man who pleaded guilty Feb. 11 to assaulting his ex-partner.

Michael Bernd Lehmann admitted, before Prince George Provincial Court Judge David Simpkin, that he called RCMP at 10 p.m on July 22, 2025 after an altercation in his truck.

But a woman came on the line with the complaint taker and said Lehmann was the instigator.

When an officer showed up, Lehmann said that they had been drinking alcohol that day, got into an argument in his truck and the woman spilled a drink on him.

He responded by grabbing her by the shirt and pulling her towards the truck, court heard.

The woman, however, told the officer that Lehmann ripped her out of bed at 9 p.m. to start an argument, accusing her of taking his mobile phone.

She went outside with him to look for it and found it on the centre console of his truck.

Lehmann started mixing a drink and the woman tipped it, causing it to spill on Lehmann.

He grabbed her by the shirt, slammed her against the truck and hit her head on the side of the truck.

That resulted in swollen “goose egg” on her forehead.

The officer arrested Lehmann, who was released on an undertaking.

The Crown sought a suspended sentence and one-year probation, but Simpkin opted for the defence proposal, which would leave Lehmann without a record of the incident if he successfully completes probation.

NorthWorks Career Fair connects employers, students

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The College of New Caledonia (CNC) was filled with eager students and business from across the North on Wednesday, Feb. 11 as the college hosted its NorthWorks Career Fair.

Students were able to visit booths staffed by representatives from the natural resources sector, local businesses and non-profits, RCMP and even BC Corrections. This gave them the opportunity to engage with employees responsible for hiring, given the chance to explore what opportunities may be available in the future and learn more about businesses’ organizational cultures.

They were also given the opportunity to get professional headshots taken.

Caralee Larmand, project lead for the NorthWorks Career Fair, spoke to The Citizen about how impressed she was at the turnout.

“I think we had a lot of great employers this year,” she said. “They’re really looking to hire. Students came with their resumes. I think we had close to 400 students come through already ... I think the calibre of employers we have here really did help the number of students.”

She added that CNC makes it a point to bring in employers that the college feels would be a good fit for students.

“It was very insightful,” said Christine Amoh, an associate of science biology student at the college. “I learned about many different job opportunities that I didn’t know were available, like possible jobs you could actually look into applying to when you’re ready, that you probably didn’t know were there.”

Larmand added that, beyond just helping students find a job, the fair can give students a chance to practice valuable skills that will come in handy once they enter the workforce.

“Students come to college to be prepared for their future,” said Larmand. “This might be a pathway that leads to that, or a stepping stone that will help them to find their final career. But just having the opportunity to meet directly with employers, interview skills,

that’s building a block for students too. Because a lot of them probably haven’t even done interviews in their life. So they’re here. They have to promote themselves. They have to learn how to really sell themselves and try to find a job that’s going to work for them, whether it be for a summer, or a year, two years, or forever.”

Jasvir Singh, an organizer at CNC’s Student Union and a former student at CNC, has found work from the job fair. He told The Citizen what he’s seen it offer students over the years.

“We tried to promote it among students,” said Singh. “Because our students are really struggling financially right now with all the inflation.

The prices are up, the rentals are up. So, they’re always looking for options where they can work. They can earn some money. We really think it’s a good opportunity for students. They can find what their future career might look like.”

Singh also said that these fairs can help graduates find routes to meaningful work that fit their education rather than finding jobs purely to support their finances.

“There are so many diverse organizations here from different sectors,” said Singh. “Students tend to work towards getting better jobs instead of just working at food courts. I think this is a really

good thing, because some students don’t even know that these employers exist, unless they see them.”

Some of the popular booths at the career fair were hosted by natural resources companies, including Osisko Development and Skeena Gold and Silver.

Susan LeDrew, who works in human resources at Osisko, said she received approximately 20 resumes from interested trade students and was impressed by the enthusiasm of the students.

“We’ve been very busy,” said LeDrew. “We’ve had a lot of students stop by and most, they see us at Osisko and they don’t know who we are until we say ‘Barkerville gold,’ and then they’re familiar, but a lot of students are interested.”

LeDrew added that Osisko was looking to fill positions in mine engineering, geology, health and safety and finance.

Although many of these positions are not entry-level, LeDrew was more than happy to accept resumes from those looking to make their way into the industry even if it’s a few years away.

“We’re in the construction phase and we’re just beginning our project,” said LeDrew. “We’re going to need all these people. So if we can get our name out there to them now and they get to know who we are, then, you know, as when they’re ready and we’re ready, they can reach out to us and we can run

together. So the purpose of this career fair is to get our name out there, get people to know who we are, and build our resume pool.”

Skeena Gold and Silver had a similar goal, with Stacey Hanik, senior advisor of Indigenous workforce development, explaining that job fairs help generate interest in the sector and provide more information about company opportunities.

“I think just because we are currently in construction, we’re not in production yet, our mindset is getting those students in, getting them interested in the mining sector, letting them know that those jobs are available and letting them know that there are companies out there like ours that are willing to train in-house,” said Hanik. “We’re willing to support education and training. We’re willing to grow from within. And that’s really the key for our mine. There are other mines in our areas that are keen to do the same.”

Hanik added that students handed in about 50 resumes, were well-prepared for questions and asked insightful questions.

“Our main focus is to hire as many locals as possible,” said Hanik. “In Prince George North, we’re hoping to hire as many people as we possibly can from BC and Northern BC specifically. That’s really who we want.”

BC First Natons Justce Council hostng forum in city

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC) will host its first Regional Justice Forum on March 10 and 11 at the Coast Prince George Hotel.

Indigenous leadership, community members, justice partners and service providers will gather in Prince George to share knowledge, elevate community-based solutions and advance both the BC First Nations Justice Strategy and the national Justice Strategy, states a press release.

The BCFNJC represents the 204 First Nations in BC on justice-related issues, with the aim of transforming the justice system and creating better outcomes for Indigenous peoples and communities in the province.

Members of the BCFNJC stated in a press release that the event will mark the start of a new series of annual regional forums that will increase

a first-of-its-kind diversion program, and laying the groundwork for our frontline services. BCFNJC is honoured to continue serving all Indigenous people in BC and to deepen our relationships with the people and communities that we exist to serve,” Wilson said in the press release.

The forum agenda will include conversations about community-led justice approaches, pathways to reduce the harm of incarceration, and strengthening wellness, accountability and self-determination.

opportunities for First Nations across BC.

Kory Wilson, also known as Hemas Kla-Lee-Lee-Kla, chair of the BCFNJC, said the events will continue the groundwork laid in the first five years of the organization’s history.

The BCFNJC notes that in future, the forum will be held in a different area of the province, rotating between the northern, Interior and Island regions to complement BCFNJC’s Provincial Justice Forum, which is hosted in Vancouver each fall.

“We have spent the first five years as an organization establishing a network of Indigenous Justice Centres, launching

Those interested in attending the forum can visit https://airtable.com/appKtv4IC8JYpKyzG/ pagfE0lLbAdJKZbqg/form

Valemount Q&A: What to expect from water meters

ABIGAIL POPPLE Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As Valemount looks to begin water meter installation later this year — part of a pilot project funded by the Ministry of Housing — residents have raised questions about how meters will be installed, whether they will be indoors or outdoors, and if it will have a negative financial impact.

The project will require a new Water Use Bylaw to govern how the meter program works, but it has not yet come before council.

However, during the Dec. 9 regular meeting, Valemount council discussed possibly allowing residents to choose whether they want a water meter at all — and billing them a flat rate if they decline — as well as allowing residents to select an indoor or outdoor meter.

To revisit the hows and whys of the program, The Rocky Mountain Goat sat down with Valemount CAO Anne Yanciw. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Goat: Let’s start with the basics. Why did the village choose to enter the pilot project?

Anne Yanciw: The primary reason is that with the growth we’re experiencing, we anticipate not being able to meet fire flow standards by about 2030. Fire flow standards are established by the Fire Underwriters Survey, an organization that assesses a community’s ability to respond to structural fires. Once we no longer meet their standards, that information goes to all the fire underwriters and it will affect people’s insurance rates.

We have several more reasons. One is fairness in billing: I don’t expect my neighbour to pay my hydro bill if I use more electricity than they do, and the same logic applies to water. Another is the ability to detect leaks quickly — water conservation will help reduce the cost of treating water.

The Goat: So if a meter reveals there’s a leak, who is responsible for repairs?

Yanciw: It would detect leaks on the property side of the installation, so

the property owner would have to fix that. The village will maintain flat rates for a year after meters are installed, giving property owners time to review their data and repair leaks that would increase metered rates.

The Goat: Will there be an option for residents to opt out of having meters?

Yanciw: I can’t say right now because we haven’t finalized the legislation. One option is allowing residents to opt out, but if they stay on a flat rate, their

The Goat: Will meters be installed indoors or outdoors? I remember council discussing the possibility of outdoor meters, with residents covering the extra cost if it’s more expensive than an indoor one.

Yanciw: It’s unlikely that we would calculate a cost differential, but again, it’s unclear. Outdoor meters might only be an option where it’s physically impossible to install one inside. When people see the costs of outdoor meters, they may change their minds because it’s thousands of dollars more. We want to consider all questions and concerns.

The Goat: How has the village been communicating with residents about the pilot project? If residents have questions or concerns, how do they share them?

Yanciw: Communication has largely been one-way, through newsletters and our ads in The Goat. Last April, we held an open house with a table devoted to water metering, where we collected questions and concerns and provided responses. Many residents are coming into the office to talk with us, which is great — we also respond to phone calls and emails.

The Goat: Do you have anything else to add?

Yanciw: One question we get is, “Why don’t you just ask people to use less water?” For years, Columbia Basin Trust funded a water ambassador for us. All summer, the ambassador encouraged water conservation, and yet we’re still the third-highest users in Canada. Just encouraging conservation isn’t enough.

rates could increase dramatically. Most communities we’ve seen require meters under their water bylaws, and if you choose not to comply, you could be disconnected from water.

The Goat: Oh, wow.

Yanciw: I was actually surprised, but that’s been in almost every water bylaw we’ve reviewed. I’m not sure what we’ll do with ours yet. It will depend partly on what council supports and what staff research shows, but at this point it’s unknown.

The week of Jan. 12, Public Works noticed a sewage lift station running constantly. They tracked the huge increase in volume to a commercial toilet that was running non-stop — I can’t even fathom how much water that was.

To date, that toilet hasn’t been fixed. Every resident pays for some of that water. If your neighbour with electric heat left all their doors and windows open all winter, would you feel it was fair that their hydro bill be shared equally with you?

This article originally appeared in The Rocky Mountain Goat.

CLOSING SOON! now!bid

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN’S

PG AUC ION

Over $78,000

All Around Gamerz

Arctc Spas - Prince George

Ashley Homestore PG

Aubree’s Breakfast Place

Best Wester Plus

Bi-Right Furniture

Carters Jewellers

Central Door and Window

Central Mountain Air

Charles Jago Northern Sports Centre

China Taste

City Furniture Prince George

CN Centre

Coast Prince George Hotel by APA

Core Salon & Spa

Decked Out Home & Pato

Domino’s Pizza in Prince George

Forest Power Sports

Gameverse

Glacier Glass

Grama’s Inn

Homescope Decor & Flooring

Inland Spring & Axle

Jassal Physiotherapy Clinic

KG Corner Store

Mr. Mikes Steakhouse Casual

OK Tire

PG Spring & Accessories

Prince George Conservatory of Music

Prince George Motorsports

Queen of Harts

Savers Optcal

Sharp Tires

Simply Beautful Jewelry Design and Clothing

SMP RV

Special Beauty Parlor & Day Spa

Spruce Kings

Striker Plumbing & Heatng

Suntree Landscaping

The Gorilla Villa Tatoo Parlor

Theatre NorthWest

Timberline Footfters

Van Horlick’s Trophies and Gifs

What’s happening in PG

Ack Up or Shack Up Stand Up Comedy Show goes Friday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. at the House of Ancestors Conference Centre, 355 Vancouver St. Auntie Tic Comedy is presenting this event featuring Levi ‘Firefox’ Heathcliff, Sara Jones, MC Skye Wilson and Auntie Tic. Tickets are $22 at www.prince-george/ack-up-orshack-up-stand-up-comedy-show

Love, Lights & Jazz goes Friday, Feb. 13 or Saturday, Feb. 14 with seating at 5:30 p.m. at Treasure Cove Resort, 2005 Highway 97 South. Guests will enjoy an elegant atmosphere, exceptional service and a thoughtfully designed four-course menu. The smooth sounds of jazz will set the mood to celebrate the evening in style. For all the details and to purchase tickets visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ love-lights-jazz-a-valentines-dinner-toremember

Full Monty Early Valentine Show goes Friday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. at Crush Nightclub, 1192 Fifth Ave. Canada’s hottest exotic male entertainers – the men of Body Heat travel across Canada to put on the ultimate Ladies’ Night show. For more information and tickets visit www.showpass.com/ ladies-night-prince-george

Early Bedtime Club Valentine’s Day Bash goes Saturday, Feb. 14 from 6 to 11 p.m. This Valentine’s Day, bring your special someone out for an unforgettable night and help raise funds to build water wells in Africa. It will be a Valentine’s Day filled with great music and good vibes. This event is designed for you to dance to the best hits of the 1990s and 2000s that raised your generation and you can still make it home in time to tuck yourself in like the responsible adult you pretend to be. For all the details and tickets visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/ early-bedtime-club-valentines-day-bash Forest to Fork: Wild Eats & Treats Social goes Saturday, Feb. 14 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at St. Michael’s Orthodox Ukrainian Church, 2793 Range Road. Presented by Moose, Mushrooms and Mud and North Waters Wildcraft offers a social gathering featuring Yorkshire

Deadfall Brewing is hosting a screening of the comedy film Best in Show as a tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara (seen here in a scene from the 2000 dogshow comedy with frequent co-star Eugene Levy) on Feb. 25. Deadfall is located on Nicholson Street.

pudding with a smoked morel and wild mushroom gravy, with a wild berry Yorkshire pudding for dessert. The social events is geared for like-minded people to explore wild food and gain some ideas of what can be done with it. Cost is $25 per person and for all the details on how to register visit /www. facebook.com/events/ForesttoFork

Valentine’s Day Fantasy Ball Fundraiser goes Saturday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Columbus Community Centre, 7299 Domano Blvd. Royal Canadian Sea Cadets 158 Grizzly are hosting this masquerade ball fundraiser. Ticket includes delicious food, non-alcoholic drinks, a dance floor with live DJ, photo op area, free shuttle service home if needed. Cash bar on site, 50/50 draw and door prize. Tickets are $150 each,19+. For tickets email princegeorge@bcmainland.ca or call Robinlee at 236-331-5305.

Downtown Prince George Winterfest goes Saturday, Feb. 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Canada Games Plaza. This is a family-friendly celebration featuring free ice skating, face painting, street hockey, mini train rides, food trucks and music from DJ Ant. Inside the Civic Centre,

explore Exhibitor Alley, a market filled with local treasures and enjoy interactive activities in partnership with Two Rivers Gallery and the PG Library. Step back outside for the s’mores contest, where local businesses and charities team up to create one-of-a-kind s’mores. All proceeds go to the participating charity of their choice and tasters get to vote for their favourite.

Legends Live presents the Diva Show 2 goes Sunday, Feb. 15 at OM Pizza Bar Café, 1970 Ospika Blvd. Marilyn, Britney and Gaga are back and they’ve brought new friends Madonna, Sabrina and Tina out to celebrate and pay tribute the most legendary divas of all time. Incredible impersonators, fabulous costumes and amazing live vocals will be showcased at the Divas bring all their pop power. For more information and tickets visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/ legends-live-presents-the-diva-show-2

Family Day at the Hart Ski Hill goes Monday, Feb. 16 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 3740 Winslow Drive, presented by the Hart Highlands Winter Club. Lift passes are 50 per cent off and there’s a pancake breakfast.

Naloxone Training goes Thursday,

Feb. 19 at the Nechako Branch of the Prince George Public Library from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Join harm reduction staff from Northern Health and learn how to use Naloxone correctly. Kits will be available to take away after the training. This is for ages 19+ and it’s a free drop-in event.

Haywire Honky Tonk goes Friday, Feb. 20 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Hart Highlands Winter Club (Hart Ski Hill), 3740 Winslow Dr. Haywire Honky Tonk is a country rock duo from P.G. that will keep your toes tapping and have you singing along all night. Group consists of Darrel Randall and John Heroux. Admission is free and there’s a concession and drinks available.

NFT Pop-Up Studio Drop Party goes Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at The Underground Show Lounge & Bar, 1177 Third Ave. This event sees digital art meet real-world vibes. A night full of showcasing curated work from a global network of top-tier artists and minting new work discovered within the talented community of Northern BC. On February 20th, everyone is welcome to participate and be spotlighted. Expect a night of technical revedrinkslation, creative connection, music, drinks, comedy and good times. Whether you’re a seasoned collector, emerging artist, or just crypto-curious, everyone’s welcome to mint, mingle, and make history. Tickets are $10. Must be 19+.

Lunar New Year 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. Celebrate Lunar New Year on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Two Rivers Gallery, Make your own Fire Horse lantern puppet. Also make your own Chinese pencil hand drum for the legendary Nian Monster Puppet Show and learn how to write some Chinese words from our volunteer Chinese language teachers while doing all these fun things. Puppet show at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Attend before the shows to have enough time to make your own Chinese pencil hand drum to drum during the puppet show. This event is free for all ages.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Britt AM, Tarantula Hawk & Bug Riot goes Saturday, Feb. 21 at 9 p.m. at the Legion PG 43, 101-1116 Sixth Ave. Triple bill night at the PG Legion with postpunk/alt rock artist Britt AM, doomy stoner rock band Tarantula Hawk and raw folk-punk songwriter Bug Riot. It’s a stacked evening and guaranteed to be a special night. Tickets are $20 at the door or $15 advance. For all the details and tickets visit www.madloon.ca/tickets/ britthawkbug

Ladies Ice Fishing Clinic goes Saturday, Feb. 21 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Ness Lake Bible Camp is presented by Moose, Mushrooms & Mud Wildcraft. Jen will talk about the equipment needed and methods used, about local lakes, ice safety, fishing regulations, and how to find more information about fishing in Northern BC. Learn how to put your own ice fishing rig together and how to catch, clean and process a fish. Get a flasher, leader, and jig head to to keep and gain hands on experience. For all the details visit www.facebook.com/events/ ladiesicefishingclinic

Cupcake & Glam Event goes Wednesday, Feb. 25 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Northwood Plaza Hotel & Banquet Hall, 2280 John Hart Hwy. This third annual fun-filled ladies night is full of fashion, shopping, prizes and contests and is presented by Madison Avenue Fashions and Style You Up. Ticket gets you a swag bag, entry into door prizes and a trip to the cupcake bar. Must be in attendance to win prizes. Shop 12 curated local small businesses. There’s a fashion show, beauty demos, lingerie show and stiletto contest. Must be 19 to attend. Tickets available at Madison Ave Fashions or Style You Up salon.

Movie Night: Best in Show goes Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at Deadfall Brewing, 1733 Nicholson St. S. In honour of the great Catherine O’Hara, there’s no cover. Free popcorn with the purchase of a pint.

Open Stage at Books & Co. goes

COMMUNITY

Thursday, Feb. 26 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at 1685 Third Ave. Devon Flynn is hosting this event that invites people to take the stage to showcase their talent including but not limited to playing an instrument, singing, poetry reading, do some magic, test your comedy schtick and anything else you’d like to try. To sign up email devon.w.flynn@gmail.com or pop into the café. The store will be open for shopping and Cait’s Sweet Bites & Beanery will serve refreshments.

2SLGBTQIA+ Voice & Culture Summit goes Friday, Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Prince George Civic Centre. Presented by the Northern BC Queer Connection Society this is a groundbreaking, community-centred cultural gathering filled with storytelling, creativity and celebration, bringing together 2SLGBTQIA+ community members, artists, advocates, and service providers from across the region. Morning session features community arts & l and in the evening there is a gala to celebrate Northern BC’s vibrant queer community with an evening of performances, including drag, live music, and more. For all the details and tickets visit www.eventbrite. ca/e/2slgbtqia-voices-culture-summit-tickets

Patchwork of Talent Group Variety Show goes Friday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. at the Elder Citizens Recreation Association, 1692 Tenth Ave. The fun-loving group offers skits, jokes, songs and fun. Tickets are $10 each and are on sale now at ECRA.

Coldest Night of the Year fundraising event goes Saturday, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. and starts at St; Giles Presbyterian Church, 1500 Edmonton St. This annual fundraiser is presented by AWAC Association Advocating for Women and Community. This is a family-friendly two or five kilometre fundraising walk in support of local charities serving people experiencing hurt, hunger and homelessness. All net proceeds stay in the community to support charity partners. To register or donate to a team visit

https://cnoy.org/location/princegeorge BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Dance goes Saturday, Feb. 28 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.

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 third Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Commonwealth Financial, 575 Victoria 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. There are three rounds per game, each round has five themed questions and five music questions. Open Mic at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday from 8 to 11 p.m.

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 to get them and a little bit about what’s happening, too. LOCF

The Prince George

Citzen right to your inbox.

Scan the QR Code to fnd out how!

Two Asians One Mic tour is headed for the Playhouse

Comedians

Bonggun Kim and Robert Peng will bring the laughs to Prince George on March 14

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Stand-up comedy fans are in for a treat as Prince George will soon be seeing the Two Asians One Mic headlined by Bonggun Kim, a Korean-Canadian comedian from Toronto, and Robert Peng, a Chinese-Canadian comedian from Vancouver.

The show itself will take place at the Prince George Playhouse on March 14 and promises to bring a smart and unfiltered look at everyday life, stereotypes and Asian culture through the lens of stand-up comedy.

Peng has been a stand-up comedian for nine years. He told The Citizen that he got into the industry because he needed public speaking experience on his resume and needed to gain experience.

“When I graduated from engineering school, I couldn’t find a job because the market was down. So I decided, you know what, I need to differentiate myself, I’m going to start doing some stand-up comedy and put it on my resume, you know? So I could get hired more. I didn’t want to pay for Toastmaster class; it was like, a hundred dollars but doing stand-up comedy is free, so that’s what I did.”

Peng’s memorable performances, along with his unique takes on life and asian culture, quickly helped him find a place in the stand-up comedy scene, something that ironically did not help his engineering career.

“Doing stand-up comedy actually affects finding a job in a negative way,” said Peng.

“Because you’re out all night doing stand-up comedy. I got caught sleeping in a job orientation for an engineering job and I got fired from that. So I decided, you know what? I’ll start doing

stand-up comedy. I can take stand-up comedy seriously.”

So far, Peng has had a lot of stand-out moments in his nine years of stand-up, including opening for Theo Von during the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival in Vancouver. However, he said the career definitely has its ups and downs.

“The thing about stand-up comedy is it’s an arc,” said Peng. “In nine years, you’re still like, oh, should I pursue this? There are a few big moments, for sure … But even then, it’s like, is this gonna be a viable career? My mom talks about it that way, she says that to me all the time.”

He added that he feels his audience knows him better than his own family, as his style of comedy leaves no personal flaw uncovered.

his dad’s complaining, something he said has served him well as a skill in the comedy scene.

“Mostly my dad is the inspiration,” said Peng. “He loves complainers. Whenever you go to a restaurant, he just complains all the time. He says when I’m treating him to a great dinner. ‘I could have cooked it at home. I’m like, ‘That’s not a point dad!’ His complaining rubbed off on me. I am a huge complainer as well. But on the comedy side, like whatever I do something interesting, I love complaining about it. I was at a friend’s wedding and then I was complaining about it the whole time. He was like ‘are you enjoying this?’ I was like ‘I am actually enjoying this a lot.’ and he said you don’t sound like you’re having fun.’ Meanwhile, I am having the most fun ever.”

Peng also told The Citizen what it’s like to perform on stage with the talented Bonggun Kim

“Bonggun Kim is an amazing comic,” said Peng. “He’s a crazy, hard-working dude comedy-wise. Its the perfect pairing for us because I’m more energetic on stage and he’s more like reserved so it’s like a really good dynamic, like a little yin-yang there. He’s a smarter guy and he’s a smarter comic, he tells way smarter jokes and I’m more of a dumb idiot who yells at people.”

Doing standup comedy actually affects finding a job in a negative way.”

“Whatever flaw you have, you gotta say it,” said Peng. “If you watch my comedy, you sort of know everything about me. Like, this guys an engineer he couldn’t get a job. He’s a virgin at 32 years old. There’s nothing hidden. There are more people in the audience who know me more than my mom.”

Speaking of his parents, one of his biggest inspirations as a comedian is

As well, he said that performing in Prince George is a unique experience as it gives him a chance to interact with an audience that he doesn’t usually interact with in Vancouver.

“Prince George, forgive me for calling you a smaller town, but I was born in Beijing; every town is a small town,” said Peng.

“Different people have different tastes in comedy and I love Prince George because they have a more varied taste. It’s like lots of loggers or miners and I don’t usually don’t do comedy for coal miners in Vancouver, that’s why I love about Prince George, you know, there’s like just real people, unlike writing a blog for living, where here you work with your hands.”

Books & Co. brings Open Stage back to downtown PG

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Remember the good ol’ days when Books & Company’s café hosted all kinds of events that you’d never think would fit in a bookstore but really did?

Well, now that Cait’s Sweet Bites & Beanery is nestled nicely inside Books & Co.’s cozy walls, there’s an Open Stage event that will be the first on the comeback trail.

This event, set for Thursday, Feb. 26, invites everyone to come and showcase their talent.

Devon Flynn, best known for his standup comedy, will be hosting.

“Many people had communicated that they had missed that public space, that opportunity not just to perform but to be at a place where you weren’t expected to pay and it was so friendly — it was going back to that reputation Books & Company has always had — it was Prince George’s living room,” Flynn explained. He had previously hosted an open mic event at Cait’s Sweet Bites & Beanery at its former location in the Hart.

“We just want to provide an avenue for all sorts of artistic performers. You may be aware that I am a standup comedian and we don’t have a lot of consistent venues to practice those skills so I was inclined to open it up to not only standup comedians but also

poets, spoken word, musicians, singers, magicians — it’s really an opportunity for people to get up and share with the public.”

Flynn said he was aware that there were a lot of open mic events specifically for musicians.

“And since I’m not a musician, I just wanted to make it a little more accessible,” he said.

Books & Co. owner Owen Lubbers, Cait’s Sweet Bites & Beanery owner Caitlin Pedde and Flynn have talked about hosting future events and Flynn said they are open to seeing what the community wants.

“What I learned over the years is what people really missed the most when we didn’t have a coffee shop was a place for community,” Lubbers said about Books & Co.

“A gathering place. A place to hang out and experience some of the arts. Trying to get back to that after COVID19 was a challenge. Step one was trying to get the coffee shop back and step two was getting back to some of the events that we know people missed and that they’ve been asking us for, so for me it’s just one more step to becoming that community hub.”

And is there more to come?

“Without saying too much, Cait is an event planner extraordinaire and she’s got all sorts of ideas so yeah, we are planning lots of different events — all of

it is still to be determined, including the one we’ve got coming up,” he said.

“As it is right now, the Open Stage will probably be a monthly event and as long as there’s good attendance and a lot of good feedback we may increase the frequency, too. The hope is that this is the first of many different events people can expect.”

Lately something has shifted at Books & Company, Lubbers said.

“It just feels like there’s more energy in the room,” he added.

“There’s more people hanging out, more people coming back and it feels like there’s still more room to grow.”

And Pedde agrees.

“Since we opened in Books & Co. back in May at least three people a day asked when we were bringing events back,” Pedde said.

But they’ve been busy and now she said she is ready to take it on.

“We just want to bring that sense of community back,” Pedde said.

“There’s really no other cafe in downtown that’s doing this kind of thing, as far as I know. Omineca Arts Centre is doing a great job. But I’d like to bring it back again to Books & Co. It kind of pays tribute to the old days.”

Pedde said she’s hoping the Open Stage events will be well attended.

“We’d like to do them weekly and even biweekly,” she said. “I would be happy with that and there’s going to

be more events in the café and the bookstore. So there will be book-related things and paint nights, bedazzle nights, make-your-own-soaps and everything like that. So I am open to plan more or have someone come in and plan them for us.”

Pedde talked about the third space, a phrase coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg who talks about home and work being the first and second space and then cafes, bookstores, libraries, parks and the like that are places crucial for community to foster social interaction and provide a spot to relax outside of home and work obligations.

“That’s what Books & Company and Café Voltaire were before the café shut down — that third space,” Pedde said.

“We were the third space where people would just come and hang out — they weren’t expected to do anything but enjoy themselves while they supported the local business and I’d like to bring that back where Books & Co. is a really big part of this community.”

Stay tuned for more events to be offered at Books & Company.

In the meantime, Open Stage at Books & Co. goes Thursday, Feb. 26, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at 1685 Third Ave. To sign up, email devon.w.flynn@gmail.com or pop into the café. The bookstore will be open for shopping during this afterhours event and Cait’s Sweet Bites & Beanery will offer refreshments.

Much-loved animal rescue centre closing its doors

PGARS has been nding new homes for horses, dogs and cats for 23 years

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

One of the North’s most active animal rescue centres is closing its doors after more than two decades.

The Prince George Animal Rescue Society (PGARS) has been operating out of Pineview for 23 years and has helped find new homes for thousands of horses, cats and dogs in the North.

PGARS announced the closure in a Facebook post that has resulted in massive community support and wellwishes for the family and the society.

Nicole Redpath, longtime operator of PGARS, told The Citizen that it felt like it was time to focus on herself and her family after more than two decades of service.

“We’ve lost a lot of people in our lives that are around our same age and I just started thinking I’ve just been working for so long and my friends have passed away way too early and they didn’t get to enjoy their retirement,” said Redpath. “That was a big thing for me lately, is that I need to stop working 24-7 and actually take some time for myself and my family. They have really had to take the back seat a lot of times because of the animals. They say ‘it’s great, it’s fine, mom,’ but they knew they had to take the back seat, so now everybody else gets to be in the forefront and I might get to, you know, relax and enjoy my own animals.”

During her interview with The Citizen on the closure, she reminisced about the moment that started PGARS in the first place.

“I went to an auction, and it was a tack auction in Quesnel, and I went there to buy a saddle, and I ended up staying a little bit longer. They said horses were coming through, and I wanted to just check that out. I didn’t know what it was all about and then I saw the horses coming through on the auction block, and

I saw one particular person who was getting a lot of them, and I thought it was somebody who had a big ranch and the lady who just happened to be sitting beside me, I asked her about it, and she just made me feel like a fool. She says, ‘no, no, that’s not anyone with a ranch, it’s the meat buyer.’ I’d never heard that before, and I was just so horrified.

“When the horses were coming through, they were beautiful, beautiful young animals, and I thought, why is this happening? And so there was one particular one that came through, and by then I was so mad and upset about it

all that I started bidding on this horse, and I was planning on mortgaging my house. I was that determined he was not going to get that horse, and I ended up getting the horse. It was totally based on emotion, and I brought her home, and then it just went from there. I ended up getting more horses, I got a horse trailer, I filled it every auction that was up, and then eventually people just started to learn that I was this woman who would take unwanted horses, and after that, it just skyrocketed.”

Redpath also spoke about what impact she believed her rescue had on

the community and the relationships she has had with people in the animal rescue and rehabilitation community.

“I’d like to think that I’ve made a positive impact,” said Redpath. “We’ve worked with, you know, youth at risk and things like that. We’ve shown them this is what not to do and this is what to do and that is, I think, that has made a lot of kids more animal lovers. They understand what is acceptable care and what is not. I’d like to think I’ve made an impression that way and, yeah, other than that, I hope I’ve made joy in a lot of animals’ lives but I hope I’ve made a lot of joy in the humans’ lives as well.”

She noted that her rescue could not have been possible without the help of community organizations that found homes for her rescued animals and sponsors that helped keep the lights on.

“I’ve done a lot of work with the SPCA over the years,” said Redpath. “That was one of the very first things I did as a rescue is I communicated with the SPCA, and they had a constable that came out and approved our location, making sure that we’re OK to take in animals through them.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Some animals stll looking for permanent homes

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

“So that was the very first thing that I did, and I’ve had the most amazing long-term relationship with them. It’s been crazy. Then I’ve communicated with some of our big sponsors, which is like Bosley’s, John Brinks, things like that. We’ve just been really fortunate over the years to have some really, really good sponsors and supporters to keep this going, because it is not a money-making venture.”

One of the highlights of her time as a rescuer was her rehabilitation efforts for a group of German shepherds that were supposed to be put down after being considered aggressive.

“We did have a group of shepherds that came in years and years ago through a very unfortunate situation out in Valemount and the dogs came in and they were deemed as dangerous and they were meant to be euthanized,” said Redpath. “These dogs were not dangerous. I went back for them and we went to court and we showed the public that, yes, these are great dogs and I ended up keeping one personally and he was the most amazing dog that we’ve ever had. We had him for a good six or seven years and he would babysit kittens and lambs and all — that was definitely one of the highlights of my career.”

She also added what she plans on doing now that this chapter of her life

is over.

“There’s never a good time to leave rescue,” said Redpath. “It’s always busy. I just had to buckle down and make sure that I didn’t give in. I had to say no a lot of times, and I had to stick with that. We are planning on maybe opening a bed and breakfast Airbnb and offer that experience and we are hopefully going to be snowbirding, so we’re going to leave Prince George in the winter and go and enjoy our time in the Dominican.”

Although PGARS is planning on closing its doors, it still has a few animals that need homes, including Tarmigan, an 18-year-old Arabian horse and a twoyear-old Siberian husky, and King, who is a Northern Special and is also two years old.

Redpath also put out a call to animal lovers in Prince George and the surrounding area to help fill the gap left by her rescue.

“If anyone wants to start up their own rescue, we’re leaving a big void not having another rescue that does large and small animals. I am totally happy to guide anyone. I will mentor anyone who wants to take something like this on,” said Redpath.

If you are interested in taking Redpath up on her offer or want to help home the remaining animals under PGARS’ care, contact PGARS at pganimalrescue@gmail.com.

4 to 8, was a tremendous success! We are honoured to be hosted on the unceded land of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, and we are pleased to announce we have entered into a multi-year partnership agreement with the Nation! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our other generous sponsors and funders for your steadfast support. We are particularly thankful for the wisdom and generosity of time from Cultural Liaison Kym Gouchie for her guidance and assistance. Thanks to all our emcees and speakers who provided hosting duties and welcomes at all our events. Big thanks to visual artist Mercedes Minck for the design of our beautiful Coldsnap 2026 graphics. Many thanks and congrats to our amazing production team for their hard work and dedication to excellence that makes this one of Canada’s premier live music festivals. Thank you to the staff and volunteers at Knox Performance Centre, The Royal Canadian Legion, Omineca Arts Centre and at all our venues. We are eternally grateful to our team of amazing VOLUNTEERS including board members, listed below. This festival would not happen without YOU, and its success is a direct result of the time and work you provide. And fnally THANK YOU to all our patrons, members and donors who continue to show unwavering support for us and for live music in this great city! See you in February 2027 as we celebrate the 20th annual Coldsnap!

Aidyl Jago

Alan Wiensczyk

Alex Wolfe

Alex Rowan

Alison Warner

Allison Crick

Amanda Hallmark

Amanda Kai

Amanda Sostar

Andrew McFayden

Ann O’Shea

Anne Muirhead

Annette Russell

Ayla Reidy

Beth Bressette

Bob Fillier

Bonnie Watt

Bradley Charles

Carolyn Strobl

Cheryl LivingstoneLeman

Christianne Braun

Cindy Heidt

Corina Van Caeseele

Dave Read

Dave Leman

Diana Van der Zande

Donny Edbom

Donovan Unruh

Dwight Wolfe

Elias Beach

Elissa Meiklem

Elizabeth Morris

Elvie Birks

Erin Mould

Glen Goudy

Grace Hoksbergen

Greg Spiers

Hayden Doane Hilda McColl

Ian Gregg

James Doyle Janet Giles

Jenni Murray

Jessamyn Wrightson

Jessica Endress

Jim Munk

Jodi Robertson

John Orytynsky

Julie Fisher

Kaiya Hatfeld

Karen Limoges

Karen Mohr

Kathi Hughes

Kayla Young

Kerry Krishna

Kirsten Bigelow

Laurel Ross

Layna Witzke

Leah Lampert

Leone Gamache

Lorna Grant

Lyle Crick

Malcolm McColl

Marge Lachecki

Mark Goudreau

Mary Munk

Maureen Fotos

Meagan Howard-

Gibbon

Michelle Dyble

Michelle Sims

Natalie Hoodikoff

Natasha Ewing

Neil Brooks

Peter McBride

Pia Jago

Randi Janzen

Rebecca AndrewsFillier

Roanne Whitticase

Rob Watt

Ruaridh StormerFergus

Sam Lui

Sean Wood

Shannon Carson

Shannon Norum

Sharon Davalovsky

Shirley Campbell

Susan Parsons

Susan Tapp

Sylvia Foot

Tana Gowan

Thomas Davalovsky

Zenayda Baldwin

Go behind the music with duo Haywire Honky Tonk

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

When Darrel Randahl talks about himself and his art he claims he’s not a singer/songwriter.

So let’s flip the script and see if he’s a songwriter/singer because he writes then sings his original songs?

Nope, maybe not even that if you could gauge the look on his face as I put him on the spot.

Maybe he’s a songwriter/ reluctant-singer?

Perhaps even songwriter/ singer-out-of-necessity?

No matter how many times I try to get him to admit it, he insists he’s not a singer.

But he sings.

So you can weigh in on this, too. Maybe we could gang up on him a little to prove he’s wrong.

Just listen to his original songs — that he sings — on Spotify (that I had to sign up for!) and all the other platforms I don’t know about.

He emits melodious sounds while telling at times hilarious — at times poignant — stories.

Face it, Darrel, that’s called singing!

“I’m a songwriter (wait for it) … who sings,” and there’s mischief in his eyes when he finally admits it with a cheeky grin.

I think I mighta won that one. Randahl started out like a lot of people in music with a little encouragement from his dad. He tried to play guitar at a young age — like, four — but put it aside only because he was just too young to make it happen.

He finally started guitar lessons for real in school in Grade 10.

“By the time Grade 11 came around I was in six music classes,” Randahl laughed.

“It was always drums, guitar or bass.”

So when did the songwriting come in?

“I never wrote a lot of songs but then probably about eight-seven years ago (See? He’s ass-backwards on his numbers, too — not just on the songwriter/ singer thing!) after I repositioned my life, I just started writing more and more

— like a lot,” Randahl said.

As we were chatting, he told me that his ideas come from phrases that he hears in everyday conversations. In fact, as I tend to do during interviews – I shared a bit, too and there was a turn of phrase in there somewhere and sure enough he said ‘that sounds like a song’ when I spoke about a friend I’ve known since we were five.

So then I had to turn it around on him and told him that ‘repositioned my life’ was a great title for his next song.

It was probably the most perfectly ambiguous phrase I had ever heard.

“So I wrote all these songs and started recording them,” Randahl said.

“And as I said, I get my song ideas from these one liners and I would text them to myself and I have hundreds of them. Somebody will say something like when I wrote the song Add to Cart. It came from a long time ago when we were on a boat on 10-Mile Lake and my friend’s dad’s said ‘add to cart’ and we all looked at each other and said ‘that’s a song.’”

And it is. And he sang it after he wrote it = songwriter/singer.

One of his latest songs is called It’s Raining Beer on the album called It’s a Beeracle.

“So that one comes from when we were outside working and It’s Raining Men came on the playlist (a playlist he

That’s where his passion lies. But in the meantime he does perform in bands and duos.

“As an artist I am hoping the new band I am building will want to play some of my songs,” Randahl said.

“But myself I am not trying to pursue anything as a single artist. I want to be a songwriter.”

So the band that’s coming together is with David Shields, who plays drums, who Randahl has been playing with since 1981.

Greg Hoare will play bass.

shares with his wife) and at the same time I was outside drinking beer and I thought It’s Raining Beer — that’s a song and I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like or sound like but I had the title,” Randahl laughed.

“Sometimes it’s really fast — I can write a song in 10 minutes and sometimes it’s a couple months because you have to go back. Right now I’m in kind of a stall.”

Randahl has an injury that needs surgery to correct so he can’t write for long so that interrupts the flow of songwriting for him, he added.

“So I can only go 15-20 minutes a day and then you go back the next day and you’re not in the same mood so it’s not the same,” Randahl said.

“I like it when it flows — two or three hours is great and that’s what I like doing.”

A lot of Randahl’s songs are filled with light-hearted humour but then there’s others that are more reflective like Listening to Elvis on Sunday Afternoon.

The song is about his mom and his kids and his dog.

“It’s about looking back,” Randahl said. “And it came from standing looking outside on a rainy day.”

Ultimately, Randahl would like to be a songwriter. Full stop.

“And hopefully other people want to sing my songs,” he added.

“I met Greg just a couple of months ago so we’re still getting to know each other,” Randahl said. “And that band’s name is Huckleberry. Because this new band will play rock and country and we didn’t want something that was just country.”

Haywire Honky Tonk is a duo Randahl is in.

The other half is John Heroux, a country singer who plays guitar.

Heroux grew up in Smithers and there were a bunch of buddies in high school that started a band and played at the Legion as their first ever gig.

Heroux stuck around Smithers until the early ’70s and then was on the move working in sawmills and playing his music.

Heroux has lived in Prince George since 2016 and is semi-retired now.

There’s a bit of discrepancy on when Randahl and Heroux actually met — three or four years ago, or should I say four or three years ago — but there’s one thing for sure.

“There was some camping and some beers involved,” Heroux laughed.

“We were camping at 10 Mile Lake and we were jamming at the camp fire,” Randahl said.

“All of a sudden we hear clapping from the far end of the overflow camping area. I said ‘hey, come on over’ and these two come along at 100 miles an hour with their lawn chairs…”

“This was just after COVID so I thought let’s get into this party,” Heroux laughed.

Three-and-a-half-yearold Dominic Castle takes a skate around the Canada Games Plaza rink with his mom Cindy as they enjoy the warm weather during Winterfest Saturday, Feb. 14. The annual event attracted families to a day of events and activities in the downtown area.

Duo set to perform at the Hart Highlands Winter Club Families enjoy a day of winter fun

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

“I had heard him strumming a little bit in the afternoon, picking his guitar and then when his friends came to join him later that night I thought ‘man, this guy can really play.’”

“Then he started singing with us and I thought ‘this guy’s really good — better get his number!’” Randahl threw in.

“I always like being part of a team, I’m the guy in the background, never solo on stage,” Randahl said.

Randahl and Heroux were in a band that was really laid back so when they took a break Heroux was doing solos and he asked Randahl for a bit of backup.

They’re doing a bit more of an aggressive style of music now and that suits Heroux’s voice, Randahl added.

The Hart Ski Hill has become a great venue for musicians because when the parents drop off the kids to ski and want to stick around they go upstairs to the lodge area where there is a concession.

“It’s a great gig — 6 til 9 — that’s great for an old guy like me,” Heroux laughed.

Heroux loves country music, but not just any country.

“I am a big ’90s country guy,” Heroux said.

But it wasn’t always like that.

“I have been everywhere with my music,” Heroux said.

“I loved Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, moved into pop and of course in the 80s I was more into country and was on the road for five years with a band. We went up to White Horse and all around the Yukon, Yellowknife, all through Alberta and BC. Those were the good old days when you’d play six nights a week in the same bar. It’s a lot tougher now. Things have changed. You’re real lucky if you get a gig for two nights a week now.”

In 2000 Heroux thought he should start writing his own music.

“I was heading for 50 back then and I thought I was quittin,” Heroux laughed at the thought.

“So I put something together for

family and friends.”

Heroux’s been writing songs ever since, just not as much as he once did, he said,

Haywire Honky Tonk will play those ’90s country hits and some originals from Heroux and Randahl.

Check out Haywire Honky Tonk at Hart Highlands Winter Club at the Hart Ski Hill, 3740 Winslow Dr., on Friday, Feb. 20 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Admission is free and there will be a concession and refreshments available.

To hear songerwriter/singer Randahl’s music that will make you laugh hard visit https://open.spotify.com/ artist/DarrelRandahl

Soccer, party as Afro PG celebrates Black History Month

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Afro PG, a local community group that celebrates Black culture and connects people across Prince George, is celebrating Black History Month in the city.

A first for Afro PG is the upcoming Black History Month Soccer Tournament, which will take place at the Northern Sports Centre in collaboration with UNBC.

The group stage will take place from Feb. 20 to 21, with the semifinals and finals set for Feb. 27 to 28. Awards and prizes will be handed out between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Currently, the event is fully booked, with seven teams of 15 players each taking part at UNBC.

Patrick Offiah, founder of Afro PG, spoke to The Citizen about why hosting this first-of-its-kind event was so important to him and others in the group.

“There used to be events, don’t get me wrong, but at Afro PG we noticed that most of the events are not necessarily youth-based,” said Offiah. “Their attention span may not be long enough to sit down and listen to maybe one hour or two hours of a seminar or a speech. But right now it’s like we’re doing these events because people like activities. Soccer is a very big thing for youth. So they come here, they play soccer. While we are doing these events as well, we are still focusing on Black history. There’s going to be lessons here and there.”

He added that events like this can connect with and teach young people at UNBC in a way seminars often can’t.

“I always say, we are the future,” said Offiah. “The young people are the future. Last year for Black History Month here at UNBC, there was a financial literacy class. When I say that a young person might not necessarily go for financial literacy, which they still need, though, but when it’s time for soccer, they’re definitely going to come.”

Offiah and Afro PG will also host another club night to cap off February at Ignite with an event called The Night Shift.

Afro PG’s Black History month soccer tournament will be held at the indoor soccer field at UNBC

The night is billed as Prince George’s biggest Black History Month Afrobeats party and will take place Friday, Feb. 27.

The event will feature returning DJs such as DJ Vinnie Bugatti and DJ Lil Sharpe, who will be joined by DJ Ali, a Prince George local and newcomer to Afro PG club events.

The night will also feature live performances from Damask Drumz on drums and Jamiee Sax on saxophone, with hypeman Sazzy serving as host.

Offiah spoke about why he chose to cap off February with a club event.

“This is just basically an event to wrap up Black History Month,” said Offiah. “There are a series of events that are going on before the 27th. We just use this one to wrap up the month. It’s basically an event where people can come and have fun. It’s open to everybody, not just Black people. The whole night is basically African music and is a night where we celebrate our culture.”

He also emphasized that these events, beyond being unique ways to celebrate Black culture and engage with the community, are also meant to amplify the

Black community in Prince George. “It still boils down to magnifying Black voices that we have here,” said Offiah. “Things like this before now, it’s been done, but it’s been done on a small scale. Somebody will do one event and they don’t do anything again. But there’s a need, there’s a niche for this here in Prince George. Even aside from the club events that we do, this soccer tournament registration was free. It’s just, once again, something that when you come around here, you see people and when you ask, ‘Oh, what’s going on here?’ it’s like Black History Month tournaments. Things like that have been done, but they never stuck. But we’re here to stick around. Even if something comes up for us and we leave Prince George, Afro PG is an association that’s still here. The younger ones will come and take over and it’s going to keep going. But we made it to focus more on Black people because we want to magnify our voice and let our presence here be known and create action.”

Afro PG is also planning to host a brunch and career day in the near

future, where students and young people looking to start their careers can meet, apply for jobs and take the necessary steps to advance their futures while surrounded by their peers.

A staple of Afro PG has also been helping new students and immigrants find jobs and integrate into Prince George, something the group has recently expanded to include not only Nigerians but students coming to the city from across Africa.

“For new students who come around, we post their needs on our page,” said Offiah.

“If someone is looking for a job, maybe housing, or someone is looking for a two-bedroom, if someone is coming into town, they will need this stuff. We still do those things and we help out with food for people. Right now, as everyone knows, the students’ work hours have been reduced and that boils down to other things that are affecting students who come into the city. So we help out in ways that we can and even when we can’t help out, we link you to the right sources to get help.”

New horror-science fcton flm shot in Prince George

Even the cast hasn’t seen it before its March 13 premiere

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Picaroon Pictures will release its biggest movie production yet at the Prince George Playhouse on Friday, March 13.

The 40-minute film, Hypnonaut, was funded by a $20,000 TELUS STORYHIVE grant and was filmed entirely in Prince George, with production ending last October.

Well-known Prince George actor Gil Botelho takes on the role of the villainous Dr. Stygian.

“From my understanding, this script has been kicking around for a few years,” Botelho said.

“Ryan Muirhead wrote it, a colleague of Jon Chuby, who heads up Picaroon Pictures and is the director of Hypnonaut. They never had the technology or the budget to be able to tackle this thing, and then once they got the funding from TELUS STORYHIVE, they got the ball rolling just over a year ago,” he said.

“They put out the audition call for the cast and we did some online auditions, then they brought us in and we did some live auditions with different actors. They narrowed it down and then we got the call.”

There are three main characters, including Botelho’s Dr. Stygian. Dr. Morin is played by Amanda Spurlock, and Jacob, Dr. Stygian’s latest victim, is played by Chase Warmerdam.

Spurlock and Warmerdam both trained extensively under Judy Russell at the Enchainement Dance Centre.

The movie was shot at several locations in the city — UNBC, CNC and Cottonwood Island Park — and Picaroon rented two buildings where all the interior sets were built, Botelho said.

“We shot in there for all the interior shots, like everything that happens in the labs, the offices and that sort of thing.”

A couple of weeks into the shoot,

Botelho discovered that cinematographer Sam Ellis is a renowned wildlife cameraman who was part of the team that won an Emmy for Island of the Sea Wolves.

“So we were pretty thrilled to hear that and to know this guy was working with us, and you could see what a great eye he had for lighting and mood — he was all about the shadows. It was unreal to see,” Botelho said.

“We shot for six months and the movie itself has a great script. I’d say it’s a combination horror, supernatural thriller with a bit of science fiction

sleep disorder specialist who runs the Cosmotose Sleep Institute, a renowned sleep clinic.

“The doctor finds out about this kid and baits him with all these grand promises of a cure,” he said.

“But this doctor is a really bad guy and there are things he wants to do for his own purposes.”

In Dr. Stygian’s past, he cracked into a dream realm in another dimension, Botelho said, explaining the character’s backstory.

“Stygian saw some pretty nasty stuff and wants to get back there. What he’s really doing with these poor people who come to the clinic is performing really nasty experiments on them under the guise of helping them. He doesn’t care what he does as long as he’s trying to crack back into this weird supernatural dream realm, and Jacob becomes his latest victim.”

Conflict arises when the young intern, Dr. Morin, begins to see what Dr. Stygian is really doing.

“And throughout the film, things start to go sideways,” Botelho said.

“And things get really nasty toward the end, with all sorts of super cool, evil, supernatural elements — and it all looks fabulous.”

The cast has yet to see the completed film.

“We’ve only seen clips,” Botelho said. “They won’t let us see it until it’s done, but what I’ve seen looks fantastic — the lighting, the special effects — I’m really excited to see it myself.”

mixed in — the closest thing people might get, not entirely the same, but with elements similar to Stranger Things.”

The premise of Hypnonaut centres on a young man whose family line has suffered from fatal familial insomnia, a rare and real disease, Botelho said.

“It’s been eradicated for the most part now,” he said. “But in the 1700s and 1800s it was prevalent and people died from it. It runs in families — you’d get insomnia for months on end, hallucinate and die.”

Botelho’s character is a world-famous

Will the cast see it before the audience?

“Nope. Jonny has made it clear that he wants us all to see it together on the big screen and experience it with the audience to get the full effect,” Botelho said.

“So we’ll all see it on March 13 — which is Friday the 13th — the perfect date for this kind of movie.”

After its debut, Hypnonaut will be entered into several film festivals and will later be available on TELUS Optik TV video on demand, as STORYHIVE-funded films are, allowing audiences everywhere to enjoy it.

Feb. 18, 2012: The Citizen’s front page featured country star Dierks Bentley, who had played for 2,600 CN Centre fans the night before on his Country and Cold Cans tour. Bentley’s new album, Home, had just debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Feb. 19, 1979: Young boxers Joel Sha (left) and Corey Burton duked it out in the 55-pound weight division during a busy event at the Spruce Capital Boxing Club’s gym at the Civic Centre. Prince George’s Bill Pavich won the Irving Mann Sr. Memorial Award for the best !ght after taking on Williams Lake boxer Kevin Sears. In addition to the adult !ghts, the card featured junior and novice participants. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DOUG WELLER

FFeb. 18, 1995: Rosaleen Scoullar (left), Darlene Schlitt, Diane Kilbride and Lisa Klaudt modelled the latest styles for home, work and play during A Fashionable Affair at the Coast Inn of the North. The dinner and fashion show was held by the Prince George Christian Women’s Club, and featured clothes from The Inn Boutique. CITIZEN FILE

Feb. 19, 1965: Ellen Norman played Ado Annie and Peter Hudson was Ali Hakim the pedlar in the Prince George Theatre Workshop’s !rst production, Oklahoma! It made its debut for an audience of 500 at the Senior Secondary School Field House. The musical also starred Kate Sawley, Colin Scott, Ellen Norman and Mark Vogler. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY PETE MILLER

Learning Garden nurtures seeds of workforce resilience

JADE YEHIA Northern Health

My time as Northern Health’s (NH) interim climate change and health lead brought many highlights: collaborations with climate champions, innovative projects taking root and the privilege of supporting communities preparing for and responding to environmental change.

One initiative stands out: the Planetary Health Learning Garden. It captures what this climate change work is really about. Building resilience isn’t just about infrastructure and service delivery; it’s also about people, communities and our connections to place.

As someone who works remotely on a small, geographically dispersed team, much of my work happened through a screen.

The Learning Garden offered something different: a chance to meet colleagues and peers in person, to learn on the land and to see places like Witset, where the fall session of the training was held.

What impacted me most was the ability to shape my own learning journey, focusing on skills directly relevant to my work in climate change and health rather than following a prescribed curriculum.

The Planetary Health Learning Garden offers a collaborative training approach that supports learners from across disciplines, sectors and professional contexts to promote health in a rapidly changing world. The learning is grounded in Indigenous knowledge, cultural safety and systems thinking. Health professionals play a crucial role in protecting people from climate-related health risks, but they cannot shoulder it alone. This training model promotes the building blocks of health — clean air, safe water, healthy food and sustainable energy.

The Learning Garden is co-led by Wii Estes Sandra Martin Harris (Witsuwit’en Nation of the Likhsilyu, Little Frog Clan and UNBC PhD candidate) and Margot Parkes (professor, UNBC), and supported by founding partners

UNBC, the Public Health Association of BC (PHABC) and the Rural Coordinating Centre of BC (RCCbc). It brings together health professionals from across disciplines — nurses, physicians, environmental health officers, scientists and other practitioners — to strengthen our collective capacity to address complex health challenges while honouring Indigenous wisdom.

Shannon Turner, PHABC executive director, described the vision for the project: “The Planetary Health Learning Garden is an opportunity for us to bring the public health workforce into a more holistic way of engaging with our role in the natural world.”

Rather than following a conventional workshop format, the Learning Garden is structured around seasonal rounds. Four distinct learning periods mirror the natural cycles of planting, growing, harvesting and reflecting.

Sandra Martin Harris described these rounds as “seasonal touch points connecting to an idea of growing, harvesting and benefiting from what we’ve planted.”

Participants move through a complete cycle over the course of a year, with each season offering a different kind of engagement.

As I wrote this in winter, we were in a reflective season, the time for synthesis and contemplation before the cycle begins again.

• Spring: Explore new topics in planetary health (e.g., air quality

witnessed these connections firsthand. As an environmental health officer by training, I found myself reflecting on the Wetzin Kwah (also known as the Bulkley River) — unseasonably warm and swollen for that time of year — and the mountains, with glaciers sitting noticeably low.

and respiratory health, food systems and nutrition, mental health and nature connection)

• Summer: Apply learnings in your daily work

• Fall: Gather to share experiences, reflect on solutions and challenges

• Winter: Synthesize insights, share knowledge and integrate Margot Parkes explained a core intention of the training: “Creating an opportunity for participants to understand Indigenous health issues from a perspective that reconnects Indigenous health with the health of the land. That is a core tenet of the training.”

“Land-based learning and healing, why the land, water, our animal relatives and plant kin are so important to our wellbeing — they are essential for our futures,” Harris added.

In Northern BC, the connections between environment and health aren’t abstract; they’re part of daily reality. Wildfire smoke drives up respiratory admissions. Extreme heat affects our Elders.

Climate-related evacuations create lasting mental health impacts. At the same time, time spent outdoors can reduce stress. Traditional food harvesting strengthens nutrition and cultural continuity. Access to safe drinking water, affordable foods and places to connect fundamentally shapes our wellness.

During our fall gathering in Witset, I

These weren’t just observations; they were signals about drinking water safety, fish populations, wildfire risk and the traditional foods and wildlife that depend on these systems. The connections between environmental change and health weren’t theoretical. They were right in front of us. These connections between health and place are foundational to resilience, and understanding them is essential to the work we do.

The Learning Garden creates space for health professionals to deepen this understanding. As Parkes noted, “This is a way to help people gain perspective and think of the environment and health in relation to care instead of fear.”

Turner added: “By embracing landbased learning and Indigenous ways of knowing and being, we find a means to strengthen the emotional and mental well-being of a workforce challenged by a growing number of wicked problems and often disconnected from the earth of which we are essentially a part.”

NH has been a partner in this first round of Planetary Health Learning Garden training. The curriculum supports alignment with Action 5 of NH’s Climate Change and Sustainability Roadmap: to integrate sustainability and climate change education and outreach for staff and build the skills needed into their work.

For me, the Learning Garden planted seeds that continue to grow. Even as my role at NH has shifted, I’m carrying this work forward.

I’m taking a course from the Seed Library and embarking on further studies. I find myself returning to the relationships I built over the past year and the training’s core idea. Building resilience means nurturing our relationships with place, with Indigenous knowledge and with the land itself.

Local Sports Cal Washington put PG on internatonal football map

He

brought the sports skills he learned while growing up in Mississippi to Northern

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Cal Washington carved out a reputation as a caring father, hardworking pulp mill welder, tactful union boss, and tremendous athlete who became one of Prince George’s iconic football coaches.

That’s the legacy he left behind when he died Jan. 15 at age 90. But there’s a lesser-known side to Washington that probably never showed up on his job resumé.

He was a lifesaver.

Washington came to the rescue of more than a few souls working at his part-time gig as a bouncer for Johnny’s Supper Club, a long-defunct Prince George establishment on George Street where people gathered to escape the rough-and-tumble chaos of the downtown scene, back in the days when there was a bar on just about every corner and street fights painted city sidewalks red.

His oldest son, Calvin, has heard stories from men he’d run into at watering holes like the Columbus or the Croft, and they’ve never forgotten the times his dad stepped in to break up fights that were about to turn ugly.

“Of course my dad probably didn’t remember half of them, but he was the kind of guy who looked after the underdog in a very rough town,” said Calvin Washington. “It was pretty rough back then and guys would come to town to try him. He told me about a lot of (the fights) and they were very short.

“He was very involved in the downtown scene — it was really bad back then. Johnny’s Supper Club was known as a place you could go out and you’d be looked after.”

Washington moved to Prince George in 1960, a few years after he met his wife, Barbara Bricker, a Prince George girl. He started out working with the

BC

Cal Washington is photographed with one of the women’s basketball teams he coached in the late 1960s. The popular local sportsman died Jan. 15 at 90.

City of Prince George on a janitorial crew and when the pulp mills were built in the mid-’60s he was hired as a labourer at Northwood Pulp Mill, where he became a journeyman welder and served as vice-president of the union.

Known as “The Bopper” and “The Wash,” Cal was someone you didn’t want to mess with. He grew up knowing how to handle himself physically as the second of 13 children raised in Pheba, Mississippi, and although he was a tough guy he never went looking for

trouble. Raising his own family of six kids, he needed some extra cash and took on the job as a bouncer.

“Any of the old tough guys knew my dad, he had a lot of enemies,” Calvin laughed.

Cal wanted to get better at handling unruly customers so he took boxing lessons with Harold Mann at Spruce Capital Boxing Club. Doug Martin first met him when he was playing in the Spruce City Men’s Fastball Association while Martin was a Prince George Citizen

sportswriter.

“He was a no-nonsense guy, a straight shooter,” said Martin. “I remember one time there was a big fight at the union hall and someone used the wrong description of him, and he dropped him. He said (after that), Doug Martin, you’ve got to teach me this combination punching. I said, ‘Don’t knock him out with the first one if you want to land a combination.’”

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

‘Through sport, he mentored countless young people’

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Martin remembers Washington as a pillar of the community, always wanting to spread his enthusiasm for sports when he coached football, women’s basketball and women’s fastball.

“When I think of Prince George I think of Cal, he certainly was a landmark guy in town, a sports giant,” said Martin. “A beautiful guy, really a hell of a man, just a great guy. I really admired him and enjoyed his company.”

Now 67, son Calvin Washington got into peewee football in the late ’60s and Cal was his coach. The city had high school football at Duchess Park Secondary and Lakewood Junior Secondary, and with Washington on the coaching scene the minor football program skyrocketed in popularity.

“He became the top coach in town and we won games 70-0,” said Calvin. “He was a taskmaster, he made us practise five days a week and everybody complained. But you go and talk to some of the guys I played with and they all without exception say, you know what, as tough as he was, we learned a lot about life and how to win and what it takes to be a winner, the dedication and the time and practice.”

For Calvin, the work ethic his dad drilled into his players transcended football. They developed a group mentality that put them on the same page when it came time to work out strategies that made them successful in other sports. That continues to stick with them as adults and they talked about it at Cal’s 90th birthday celebration on Aug. 6.

“There’s a telepathy that we have, a chemistry that’s still there because of that, the constant practising with the same guys over and over for years,” said Calvin. “We all know exactly what each other is going to do. We’d play European handball and flag football with the same guys and we could pull off trick plays without ever practising them.”

Cal was a natural athlete who played basketball, baseball and fastball and he especially excelled at football growing

up in Mississippi. As a six-foot-one, 250pound running back in the mid-’50s he was good enough to earn tryouts with the Johnny Unitas-era Baltimore Colts and the BC Lions.

“He was a big and very strong man,” said Calvin. “He was a tough guy and he was fearless. He was an exceptional athlete and the Colts were looking for him when he was in Vancouver, they may have even seen him in high school. I think he did some college but I’m not sure where.

“He was incredibly fast. When I was a kid and watched him play fastball, when he ran around the bases he would almost be sideways, running. Even in his 40s, when he was coaching us in high school, he could outrun all of us.”

Cal and Ken Laursen were the two scoring leaders in the Prince George Men’s Basketball League and Cal was known as one of the heaviest hitters in fastball, playing at first base or as a catcher. He once clubbed a home-run shot in Hixon that landed on the opposite side of Highway 97.

His ability to teach football was key in the development of Tami Maida, a

quarterback who grew up playing for his teams in the Prince George Minor Football Association.

Maida gained international fame when she moved with her family to Philomath, Ore., and had to battle sexist attitudes of coaches, players and parents to continue playing football for a boys junior varsity team that she led that year to the conference championship.

She also became the homecoming queen at her school before moving back to Prince George that year. Maida’s story inspired Quarterback Princess, the CBS made-for-television movie starring Helen Hunt.

Without Washington’s influence to develop the game in his adopted hometown, that football story would never have been written.

Cal joined the United States Air Force after high school and was stationed in Blaine, Wash., when he came to Prince George to work at Baldy Hughes, a USAF radar station 40 kilometres southwest of the city.

He met his wife, Barbara, and they had six children.

He and Barbara separated years ago

Even in his 40s, when he was coaching us in high school, he could outrun all of us.”

and she now lives in Victoria with their daughter, jazz and blues singer Maureen Washington.

Cal Sr. lived in Prince George at his house on Eaglenest Crescent and was in reasonably good health until the day he died.

He’s survived by his children, Calvin, Dwayne, Frank, Andrea, Dennis and Maureen, and his 29 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

As written in his obituary, “Through sport, he mentored countless young people, teaching discipline, teamwork, and confidence. He was ceremonially awarded and thanked, along with others, for his outstanding contribution for working with youth from the city of Prince George.”

College Heights turns the tables on Trojans for the win

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Years from now, people will look at the City League boys basketball trophy the College Heights Cougars carried off the court in their possession and see the team’s name inscribed on the plaque.

It’s a big deal in Prince George, and has been ever since the league was formed in 1990.

Every kid who puts on a high school basketball jersey wants a piece of that action, a chance to make memories like the Cougars and their opponents, the D.P. Todd Trojans, did when they clashed Tuesday night on Brownridge Court at the Northern Sports Centre.

Little did either team know when the game started just after 8 they were about to engage in a classic City League final.

“I’ve been coaching a long time and that might have been one of the best games I’ve been a part of,” said Cougars head coach Jordan Yu, whose team won 61-54.

“It was such a closely-contested first half, no one really gave an advantage. They made some nice adjustments at the half and got a good run going and then it totally flipped. We switched up some defences and it just flipped. We’ve struggled closing games and also going down like that, we normally just kind of fold sometimes. They fought through a lot of adversity in that game and to turn it around like that it was just incredible.”

The intensity was obvious from the opening tip-off and the two crosstown rivals were holding nothing back as they tried unsuccessfully to get some degree of separation on the scoreboard.

In an opening 20 minutes that featured six lead changes, the teams were tied after one quarter 18-18, and College Heights held slimmest of leads, 33-32, as they headed off the hardwood at halftime.

But in the third quarter, the defending-champion Trojans took off on a tear. Logan Slater started it with a rebound putback and Jake Samis nailed his fourth three of the game. Before the Cougars could counter, Urijah

“It helps a lot when you’ve got a guy taking away all the defensive attention and hats off to Tolu, he really makes a difference,” said Piddocke.

Despite their best efforts to mount a comeback, it slipped away on the Trojans and they never threatened the rest of the game.

With their Tuesday triumph, the Cougars avenged a 63-54 loss to D.P. Todd a year ago in the City League final.

“We had to come with the mindset that we’re the underdogs, last year we lost to them and we had to come back and get revenge,” said Bankole. “Last year we were a little bit nervous but this year we were more stable, more relaxed. We got down and we came right back, we didn’t let it affect us, we just kept playing the whole time.

“We have such a deep team, I don’t need to be the only one to score, all these guys can score. We can all play basketball, we’re all amazing. We have a great group of guys, I just love this team.”

For College Heights, Markus Sale led the Cougars with 19 points, Samis had 12, while Slater and Zurowski each shot nine.

Zurkowski hit from long range and Slater converted a turnover into a field goal to put the Trojans in front 44-34 with five minutes still to play in the quarter.

Just as quickly as the boys from D.P. Todd built that 10-point cushion, College Heights tore it to pieces.

Dillon Piddocke hit from three-point range and drew a foul on a rebound attempt that showcased his free-throw accuracy. The Grade 12 guard then pulled off an act of thievery when he finished with a layup and Jeona Gill did the exact same thing, stealing the ball and finishing with a Statue of Liberty fingertip roll that swished the net. Gill also drew a foul to complete a threepoint play with six seconds left in the quarter, leaving the Cougars just three points down.

“We’ve got a deep team so we can relay in guys off the bench,” said Piddocke.

“Like, I’m off the bench this game so it doesn’t matter, we’ve got the same mentality and we came away with the win.”

College Heights guard MJ Kim erased the narrow Trojan lead on the opening play of the fourth quarter with a baseline three and Piddocke’s field goal put his team in front 50-48. Cougars forward Tolu Bankole, who led all shooters with 14 first-half points and set the tone with his defensive prowess, continued to be heavily involved at both ends of the court, using those springs in his feet to win board battles and block shots, and the Trojans couldn’t buy a bucket. Kim continued to do damage and sunk another three, Caleb Fuller hit a jump shot and Bankole stole the ball and put one in of the backboard to give College Heights a 58-48 lead with 5:02 on the clock.

Bankole finished with a game-high 20 points, Piddocke collected 14 and Gill had nine.

“Basketball’s a game of runs and College Heights played phenomenal,” said Zurowski. “You’ve got to hand it to them they played great defence, great offence, and we just folded. We took our foot off the pedal and that was the result.”

Both teams will get some time off before they head into zone playoffs. The Cougars will meet the Duchess Park Condors and Correlieu Coyotes in the North Central triple-A zone championship in Correlieu, Feb. 26-28.

The Trojans will head to Shas Ti Kelly Road for the double-A zone tournament that will include the host Grizzlies and Nechako Valley Vikings.

“We just have to forget about this, take it into zones and go back to work,” said Sale. “We just have to figure out a way, get some team bonding, it’s a tough loss for sure. They’re wellcoached, well-structured, and I thought we had them in the first three quarters but then we kind of let off there, that’s

Duchess Park smothers Cedars Christan in city fnal

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

As defending City League champions, the Duchess Park Condors got used to the privilege of holding bragging rights as the top high school basketball team in Prince George, a title they won fair and square a year ago.

The Condors are blessed with a productive blend of seasoned talent in the prime of their high school careers (starters Devyn Bjorn, Kionae Roberts, Katya Marchlewitz and Emily Clarke are all Grade 12s) and an exquisite Grade 11 guard (Zahra Ngabo) who made it glaringly obvious she knows what to do with the ball when she possesses it and when she wants to take it away from an opponent.

Together they hounded the Cedars Christian Eagles Tuesday on the court at the Northern Sport Centre in the City League final. Behind the sweet-shooting Ngabo’s 20-point effort and a relentless commitment to defence, the Condors crushed the Cedars title hopes to bits, winning 69-17.

“It feels good, it was a fun game and it was nice to do it with this team, I love all of them,” said Ngabo. “We try to always start with defensive intensity and that starts our offence, that’s how our team rolls.

“It was probably frustrating for them but Cedars hasn’t been in City Finals in forever and they’ll be back, they’ll want it next year.”

Marchlewitz and Roberts each contributed 10 points to the Condors’ cause and Bjorn had a nine-point game. Bjorn said the Condors have chemistry because most have played together on the same team since they were in Grade 8.

“I love playing with this group of girls, it’s like a family and it feels great to win,” said Bjorn, a veteran of three city finals. “We showed some teamwork, a lot of scoring all around from everyone. It’s good to have everyone playing.”

The Condors were leading 9-0 nearly four minutes in when Cadence Hooft found some daylight through the key and drew the foul for a three-point play

DPSS’s Zhara Ngabo knocks the ball off of Cedars’ Sofija Johnson’s hand as she leaps for the basket during the City League senior girls high school basketball final at the Northern Sports Centre Tuesday, Feb. 10.

to get Eagles on the scoreboard. Senior experience is lacking on a young Eagles’ squad and Hooft is one of seven Grade 10s on a team that has just one Grade 11 (Sofija Johnson) and one Grade 12 (Chloe McEwan).

The Eagles knew they weren’t going to shut down Ngabo and the gameplan was simply to limit the damage she was capable of inflicting. She had four steals in the first half alone and scored on two of them.

The Condors utilized everybody on their bench throughout the opening 20 minutes and stretched their lead to 48-12 at the half. The Eagles’ offence stalled at 12 points about halfway through the second quarter and their frustration continued to build.

Hooft, who led the Eagles with eight points in the game, showed her will to start something positive when she got into a fierce battle for ball possession in the Eagles’ zone with Condors guard Ava MacNeil. Hooft finally overpowered her smaller opponent and worked the ball downcourt, but the Eagles’ shooting

and again tonight, we really wanted to emphasize our defence,” said Condors head coach Reid Roberts. “We’ve had a really tough tournament schedule, playing down south and in Edmonton against a lot of strong teams and we just wanted to keep that momentum going, moving into zones and provincials.

“We’re always one of the smallest teams, so we have to do it defensively.”

The Eagles and Condors played each other twice this season, once at the Condor Classic and once in league play, and Duchess won by 30 and 25 points but it became obvious early on Tuesday the final outcome wasn’t going to be that close.

“Duchess plays smothering defence and the classic Reid Roberts teams are very in your face, they don’t let you breathe,” said Eagles head coach Jordan Johnson. “We’ve got a lot of young players and there was some nerves, some stress out there, but we battled hard and fought through, so no quit.”

woes continued.

“We had a lot of open shots we missed, we just had an off-game, couldn’t make much, but we had hustle, which is what really mattered in the end,” said Hooft, picked for the City League all-star team.

“While it wasn’t one of their best efforts, Hooft says with zone playoffs just around the corner they will be better for having absorbed the sting of a one-sided game.

“It’s been a great season, Duchess has helped us improve a lot, so I’m really looking forward to zones and provincials,” she said. “Hopefully we can be here again next year, we have a bright future ahead of us.”

Ana Davis finally broke the Cedars scoring jinx, hitting both her foul shots and following up with a field goal to reduce the deficit to 52-16. But the offensive spurt was short-lived and Cedars couldn’t get into a shooting rhythm. They trailed 56-17 after three quarters and were outscored 13-0 in the final 10.

“That’s been our focus for the year

Duchess Park won the Sa-Hali tournament a couple weeks ago in Kamloops, eating triple- and quad-teams and as a result climbed in the provincial triple-A rankings to the No. 5 slot.

They gained even more confidence last weekend at the Tri-Prov tournament in Edmonton, where they handled themselves well against some big-city teams.

The Condors will host the College Heights Cougars in the North Central triple-A zone championships this week, a best-of-three series to determine who goes to the provincial tournament in Langley, Feb. 25-28. The first game is Thursday at 4 p.m. and Game 2 is set for Friday at 2 p.m.

Cedars is ranked No. 2 in North Central behind the Acwsalcta Timberwolves of Bella Coola and they will meet this weekend in the zone championship starting Friday in Chetwynd, which has two provincial berths up for grabs.

“It’s great to have another great team in our zone to play against, these teams just make us better,” Johnson said.

“Playing against Duchess, playing against Bella Coola, they make us better.”

o ghtng spirit in ougars h loss to entcton

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The Prince George Cougars needed an energy boost.

They came out flat as a prairie highway facing the Penticton Vees in a penalty-filled Monday matinee Family Day affair at South Okanagan Events Centre, and with time running out in the third period they needed somebody to upset the cart to try to avoid a fifth consecutive loss to the BC Division leaders.

Cats goalie Josh Ravensbergen volunteered to step into the ring and drop the gloves with Vees netminder Ethan McCallum in a centre-ice scrap. Ravensbergen landed a glancing blow with his right fist and threw McCallum down onto the ice, and that was the end of it.

As they stood up and broke their embrace, Ravensbergen gave a friendly tap to the back of a smiling McCallum, and they returned to their respective creases to finish the game.

The Cougars got a power play out of the deal, with Vees forward Louis Wehmann getting an extra two minutes for his wrestling match in the corner with Cougars defenceman Carson Carels, a stoppage that precipitated the goalie scrap, but the league’s top power play struggled to get any shots that required extraordinary effort from McCallum.

He stopped all 31 shots he faced for his second shutout in 14 games since joining the Vees in a trade from the Saskatoon Blades.

All the scoring happened in the second period.

Noah Milford got the Vees started 2:17 in, taking advantage of a shot from Charlie Michaud that deflected off a player standing in front of the net. The puck caromed off a shin pad into the right circle — Milford had an open net to fire at.

Vees centre Ryden Evers was in on the next two goals. He forced a turnover at centre and chipped the puck over the blue-line for Tristan Petersen, who had time to carry the puck in and launch a hard shot over the glove of Ravensbergen at the 6:35 mark.

Prince George netminder Joshua Ravensbergen gets a toe on this shot as Cougars defenceman Bauer Dumanski ties up Penticton Vees centre Ryden Evers during WHL action at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Monday, Feb. 15. The hosts shut out the Cougars 3-0.

Less than two minutes later, with the Vees on their second power play of the game, Evers laid a backhander on goal that kicked off Ravensbergen’s pad right to a waiting Ethan Weber, who had cruised in from the point looking for leftovers, and he was rewarded with his 11th of the season.

The expansion Vees have won all five games in the season series, including a 6-5 overtime win Jan. 1 at South Okanagan Events Centre, the only point the Cougars have managed in games with Penticton.

The Vees (35-11-4-4) increased their BC Division lead over the second-place Cougars (32-20-2-0) to 12 points, ending the Cats’ three-game win streak.

The Cougars were stagnant offensively and managed only two or three great scoring chances the entire game. Cougars associate coach Jim Playfair was not impressed with his team’s effort Monday, coming on the heels of a resurgent performance in their 3-2 shootout win Saturday in Kamloops, where they rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit.

“It’s really disappointing,” said Playfair. “Coming off the last couple games we’ve played, I didn’t think we had enough urgency and energy, and we certainly didn’t start on time to give ourselves a chance to be a competitive group.

“In the first period we bent and didn’t break and came out even, and we couldn’t recapture that energy in the second period and carry it over to the third. We’re starting a big road trip, so we have to take tonight and regroup and get going next Friday in Swift Current.”

Playfair said Ravensbergen’s fight was an example of his team’s unwillingness to give everything they had left in the tank to try to beat the Vees.

“There’s a couple ways of looking at that,” Playfair said.

“I think he’s been wanting to fight for a couple years in the Western Hockey League. He got into the fight and got the player in the position he wanted to get him into, and then he stops and taps him up.

“I think that’s just a real lack of urgency

to be a real competitive group. If you’re going to get into a fight, get into a fight to win the fight. If you’re going to get into the game, get into the game to win the game. You can’t just pick and choose when you’re going to be a competitive group, and we did too much of that tonight.”

The Vees won the special-teams battle, scoring once on five power-play chances and stifling the league’s top power play while killing off two minor penalties.

Trying to dig themselves out of a three-goal deficit, the Cougars penalty killers were forced to work double time in the third period to hold the Vees off when Carels was sent to the sin bin on back-to-back minor infractions.

Penticton dominated the faceoff circle, and centres Evers, Matteo Danis, Samuel Drancak and Chase Valliant combined to win 50 of the 70 puck drops.

The Cougars next head to Swift Current, where they begin their six-game Saskatchewan/Manitoba tour of the East Division on Friday (5 p.m., PT).

Stck curling championships come to town

ABOVE: Lorna Schwartz sweeps her partner’s rock in the mixed quarter-finals Sunday. Stick curling follows the same rules as regular curling, except the player delivers the rock with a stick while walking instead of sliding from the hack. The stick must be released before the hog line, and the same stick must be used for every delivery.

LEFT: Sheron Sears of Armstrong sweeps into the house during the mixed quarter-finals of the the 2026 BC Stick Curling Championships at Prince George Golf and Curling Club on Sunday. Teams from across BC competed in three divisions (men’s women and mixed) between Feb. 12 and 15.

Coquitlam cools of Spruce Kings at BCHL Road Show

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The Coquitlam Express turned the tide against the Prince George Spruce Kings Sunday afternoon at the BCHL Road Show.

They handed the Prince George Spruce Kings their first loss in regulation time since Jan. 3, beating them 4-2 to even the season series at two wins apiece. Brady Engelkes had a goal and an assist to stoke the Express (24-141-1) to their 24th win of the season the visitors from the south pulled to within two points of the Spruce Kings

(25-14-2-2-0) atop the Coastal East Division standings.

Engelkes drew the primary assist on Michael Munroe’s go-ahead goal 2:59 into the third-period Sunday.

Carson McGinley ended the suspense with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Nate Crema also scored for Coquitlam and he opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period.

Marcus Lougheed, with his third goal of the two-game Road Show, and Ben Vreugdenhil, on a power play 15 seconds into the third period, scored for Prince George, in front of a crowd of

774 at Tom Fortsyth Memorial Arena in Burns Lake.

Coquitlam goalie Ryan Parker stopped 30 of 32 shots and was picked as the game’s first star.

Colin Reay took the loss in the Prince George nets, stopping 37 of the 40 shots he faced.

Prince George beat the Express 5-2 Saturday in the opening game of the BCHL Road Show neutral-site game in Burns Lake.

Prince George went into the Sunday’s game having won nine of its past 10 games, a stretch that included an overtime loss to Coquitlam Feb. 4.

The Spruce Kings will return to Kopar Memorial Arena this Friday and Saturday when they host Powell River.

The Spruce Kings will donate $2 from every ticket sold, as well as all of the organization’s share of the 50-50 draw proceeds generated during Friday’s game, to the Tumbler Ridge Parent Advisory Council.

The village of Tumbler Ridge, fours northeast of Prince George, was forever changed Tuesday, Feb. 10 by an 18-year-old who shot and killed six children and two adults before committing suicide in one of Canada’s worst school shootings.

Life Events

Victor E. Leclerc

February 26, 1948

February 24, 2025

Jean-Guy Roux

September 7, 1929

November 21, 2021

In Loving Memory

Wife & Daughter

Vivian Leclerc

Celebration of Life

Lee Patrick Prat November 14, 1968 - November 21, 2025

Coast Prince George Hotel by APA Ballroom

770 Brunswick Street, Prince George, B.C. Saturday, April 4th, 2026 @ 3:00pm

Service Details

Doors open at 3:00pm Speeches & slides at 4:00pm Dinner at 6:00pm

Please wear Lee’s favourite colours: Navy Blue or Black

Please RSVP to 250-301-7506 by March 18th (text or phone)

Sharon Louise Masson May 27, 1940 - February 1, 2026

Sharon Louise Masson was born on May 27, 1940. She got her angel wings and lef this earth on February 1, 2026, guided by the glow of the snow moon.

Sharon was surrounded by loved ones and music and was dancing untl the very end.

She is dancing with Elvis in heaven

We love and miss you mom.

Kari Uolevi Aalto October 28, 1948 - February 8, 2026

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Kari, our dear husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle.

A Funeral Service will be held at Zion Lutheran Church, 180 Tabor Boulevard, on Saturday, February 21st at 1 pm, with light refreshments afer. Interment to follow recepton.

In lieu of fowers, donatons to the Spirit of the orth Healthcare Foundaton (Diabetes Renal Fund) in Kari’s memory would be greatly appreciated.

A complete obituary can be found at www.assmansfuneralchapel.com where condolences can be shared online.

Robert Thomas George Jackson

August 23, 1949 - February 7, 2026

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Robert Thomas George Jackson (“Bob”), who died in Victoria on February 7, 2026. Born in Prince George in 1949, Bob was the eldest child of the late Marie (Chmielowski) Jackson and Robert Jackson.

Bob is survived by his beloved wife, Glenis, with whom he shared more than 50 years of marriage; his sons, Erin (Kerri Fraser) and Jesse (Genevieve Scot); and his grandchildren, Aevyn, Rovan, and Jarvis. He is also survived by his sister, Linda Schwab (Leo); his half-brother, André Swart (AnneMieke Sprenger); and many nephews, nieces, friends, and former colleagues.

Raised in Prince George when it was stll a small town, Bob grew up playing sofball and exploring the wilderness, especially around the family property at West Lake. Afer moving to the Vancouver area in the 1970s, he built a long and successful career in road constructon. In the 1980s, he and close friends founded their own company, Danvrill, which—afer a move to Vancouver Island in 1991—became Island Slipform, and later Boreal Pacifc. Startng with a single “curb machine” and plenty of know-how, Bob went on to build thousands of kilometres of road, from the Island Highway to Whitehorse and Yellowknife.

Bob and Glenis met in the early 1970s and embarked on a life of adventure. Together they travelled widely, including many trips to Mexico with their children (and later grandchildren), and chartering sailboats in the Caribbean and the South Pacifc with friends. One of their last trips took them to the Netherlands in 2023, where Bob met his half-brother André for the frst tme, a cherished memory for both brothers.

Humble, kind, and thoughtul, Bob was a man of quiet intelligence and varied interests: books, Jaguar cars (he owned four over the years), the Blue Jays, and Willie Nelson, to name just a few. He delighted in collectng and building models, playing cribbage, and had a special passion for building Lego with his grandchildren. Aevyn, Rovan and Jarvis brought him great joy, and Bob always made tme for sailing regatas, soccer games, and to admire their latest drawings and creatons.

A private gathering for family and close friends will be held at a later date. In lieu of fowers, donatons may be made to the Victoria Hospitals Foundaton.

email: frontdesk@pgcitizen.ca or call 250.562.2441

Classifieds

NOTICE TO REMOVE PRIVATE LAND FROM WOODLOT LICENCE 1173

Please be advised that Gregg Creek Forest Ent. Ltd. is proposing to remove 63 hectares of private land from Woodlot Licence 1173 located in the vicinity of Buckhorn Lake, 20 km SE of Prince George, BC.

Inquiries/comments to this proposal must be submitted to: Gregg Creek Forest Ent. Ltd., 133 Rogers Crescent, Penticton, BC, V2A 8E6 by March 9, 2026. Written inquiries will receive a response. For more information, please email: greggcreek@shaw.ca.

Sekani Forest Products

Public Notice: Forest Operations Map Review and Invitation for Comment.

In accordance with the Forest Range and Practices Act, Sekani Forest Products and Spectrum Resource Group invites the public to review its Forest Operations Maps (FOM ID: 2942) in the Mackenzie Natural Resource District. The FOM describes areas proposed for Cutting Permit and Road Permit development within the next three years starting on March 22nd, 2026, and ending on March 21st, 2029. We welcome your comments and feedback during the review period starting February 19th, 2026. Please, submit your comments by March 21st, 2026.

The map is accessible for review and comment submission online at: https://fom.nrs.gov.bc.ca/public/projects#publicNotices

Alternatively, in-person review and comments can be scheduled and completed at the following location during regular office hours (Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM): 1960 Robertson Road, Prince George, BC, V2N1X6

Comments may also be submitted by mail to the above address or submitted via phone or email at: 1-250-564-0383; etorres@srg.ca

Dunkley Lumber Ltd. Forest Operations Map # DLL A18160 2026-1

Dunkley Lumber’s Forest Operations Map # DLL A18160 2026-1 is open for public review and comment from February 19, 2026 – March 19, 2026.

Use link below, or in person by appointment Mon-Fri 9am-4pm. Contact the Dunkley Lumber forestry department at the email or phone number below in order to schedule an appointment.

17000 Dunkley Rd, Hixon, BC, V0K 1S1.

This FOM is applicable for 3 years. It may be relied upon to apply for a cutting permit or road permit, or to harvest a cutblock or construct a road that is displayed on the FOM.

250-998-4421

fom@dunkleylumber.com

https://fom.nrs.gov.bc.ca/public/projects

• 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 March 2, 1933, construction officially began on Australia’s Sydney Opera House. The structure’s first performance occurred in a rather unusual way in 1960, when singer and labor activist Paul Robeson climbed the scaffolding and serenaded workers while they ate lunch.

U.S. Air Force jets struck targets along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a military supply route running from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia to South Vietnam. The route sent weapons, manpower, ammunition and other supplies from communist-led North Vietnam to their supporters in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

agreed and the book not only won the Pulitzer Prize the following year but became one of his bestselling works. It would also be his last significant work of fiction before he died by suicide less than a decade 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.’”

* On March 3, 1965, more than 30

* On March 4, 1952, Ernest Hemingway finished his short novel “The Old Man and the Sea,” writing to his publisher the same day that it was the best writing he’d ever done. Critics

* On March 5, 1989, Michael Anderson Godwin, who’d been sentenced to death by electric chair for a 1980 murder sentence, accidentally took justice into his own hands when he electrocuted himself on his jail cell’s steel toilet after biting into a wire while trying to fix a pair of earphones.

* On March 6, 1987, the British Herald of Free Enterprise ferry, an 8,000-ton ship owned by Townsend Car Ferries, capsized after departing Zeebrugge, Belgium, drowning 188 passengers. The tragedy was attributed to poor safety procedures.

* On March 7, 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win a Best Director Academy Award for her film “The Hurt Locker,” about an American bomb squad that disables explosives in Iraq. Only three women had previously been nominated for the award.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) There could be some negatve reacton to your tough stance when making a recent decision. But overall, your eforts result in well-earned recogniton and all that can follow from this.

• 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.”

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your aspect favors creatvity, which should persuade you to work on your artstc projects. If tme is a problem, prioritze your commitments so that your work isn’t compromised.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your fnancial situaton seems confusing, even for the fscally savvy Bovine. Maybe it’s the confictng advice that you’re getng. Check it out before things get too tangled to unknot.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Scrutnize all the job ofers that interest you. Most are honest and worth considering, but a few might not be completely forthcoming about what the job is and what the salary and benefts are.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22)

An idea that could be helpful to you comes from an unlikely source. Listen to it. Discuss it. If necessary, adjust it. If it looks as if it might work out quite well, go ahead and use it.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21)

Be careful about allowing someone to share a very personal secret with you. This could cause problems down the line with others who are involved in this person’s private life.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) This is a good tme to get involved with a number of family maters that deal with money or other issues that might jeopardize the closeness between and among family members.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Cheer up! A difcult person who appears to be deliberately stalling your project might just need to be reassured of the value that they bring to it.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A relaxed attude goes a long way in helping you deal with any of life’s irritants that might be popping up this week. You’re also a reassuring role model for others in the same situaton.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22)

• 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.

An unexpected snafu could delay the completon of a project that you’re eager to fnish. Find out what’s causing it, fx it, and if you need help, don’t be shy about asking for it. Good luck!

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A cooling down of a relatonship could be the result of neglect -- unintended or not. To save it from icing over, you need to warm it up with a large dose of hot SAGITTARIUS passion!

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Good news! Expect to feel reenergized now that you’ve gone through a stressful energy-depletng period that involved a lot of changes. Now, go out there and show them what you can do!

Homes & Living

Should the trim match the walls?

For decades, the default approach to interior trim was simple: paint it white and move on. But today, interior designers are rethinking that rule. Should trim match the walls? Should it contrast? Should it disappear altogether? The answer, like most things in design, is: it depends on the room, the architecture, and the mood you want to create.

Let’s break down how designers think about it

The Traditional White Trim Approach

White trim became popular for a reason. It frames a room. It highlights architectural details like baseboards, crown moulding, and door casings. It creates a clean separation between surfaces. Designers often point to historic

your dream door starts here

homes—think classic Georgian or Victorian interiors—where trim was meant to stand out. In many older properties, especially those inspired by traditional European design, trim was detailed and ornamental. Painting it white (or offwhite) emphasized craftsmanship. White trim also pairs easily with shifting wall colours. If you’re someone who likes to repaint every few years, keeping trim neutral gives you flexibility.

But here’s the honest truth: white trim isn’t automatically “better.” It’s just safe.

Matching Trim to the Walls: The Modern Shift

In recent years, designers have embraced the idea of painting trim the same colour as the walls. This creates what’s often called a

“colour-drenched” look. Instead of outlining the room, the trim blends seamlessly into it.

This approach has been popularized in part by bold colour movements and designers like Kelly Wearstler, who often blur boundaries between architectural elements to create immersive spaces.

When trim matches the wall:

* The room feels softer and more cohesive.

* Ceilings can appear higher because there’s no harsh visual break.

* Ornate trim becomes subtle rather than decorative.

* Small rooms feel calmer and less visually busy.

Designers especially recommend this strategy in bedrooms, dens, libraries, or any space meant

to feel enveloping and restful. Dark tones—navy, forest green, charcoal—become dramatic and sophisticated when used on walls and trim together.

If you want a modern, editorial look, matching is powerful.

When Contrast Still Works

Beautifully

There are times when contrast is absolutely the right move. If your home has strong architectural character—think wide casings, intricate crown moulding, or wainscoting—you may want to highlight it. Crisp white trim against a saturated wall can feel timeless. Contrast also works well in transitional spaces like hallways or open-concept layouts where visual definition helps organize the space. Some designers even use trim

Continued on page 46

SNOW REMOVAL:

continued from previous page

as an accent colour. Instead of white, imagine deep black trim against pale walls, or muted sage trim framing warm neutrals. It adds personality without overwhelming the room.

The key is intention. Contrast should feel deliberate, not automatic.

Ceiling Considerations

Designers also think about the “fifth wall”—the ceiling. If you match trim and walls, you can either:

* Keep the ceiling white for lift and brightness.

* Paint the ceiling the same colour for a fully wrapped effect.

The second option is increasingly popular in smaller rooms or cozy spaces. It eliminates visual breaks and makes the room feel immersive. However, in low-light areas, it can make the space feel darker if not done thoughtfully.

Lighting matters. Always.

What About Resale?

Homeowners often worry about resale value. Real estate professionals tend to prefer neutral

palettes because they appeal to broader audiences.

But here’s the practical perspective: trim colour alone rarely makes or breaks a sale. Overall condition, layout, and natural light matter more. If you’re selling soon, crisp white trim with neutral walls is a safe choice. If you’re staying and want personality, match the trim and enjoy your home.

Designers consistently say: design for how you live, not for a hypothetical buyer five years from now.

The Finish Factor

Colour isn’t the only decision. Sheen matters too.

Traditionally, trim is painted in a higher gloss than walls—often semigloss—while walls are eggshell or matte. This creates subtle contrast even if the colours match.

If you choose to paint trim and walls the same colour, many designers still vary the sheen slightly. It keeps the room from looking flat and allows trim details to catch light gently.

Architectural Style Should Guide

You

Modern homes with minimal moulding often benefit from matching trim. It reinforces clean lines and simplicity.

Older homes with ornate details may shine with contrast—unless you’re intentionally modernizing the look.

There’s no universal rule. A midcentury bungalow and a Victorian century home should not follow the same formula.

Interior designers don’t ask, “Should trim match the walls?” They ask:

* What feeling do we want?

* What architectural details are we working with?

* How much contrast does the space need?

* How does natural light behave here?

If you want a bold, contemporary, and cohesive space—match it. If you want definition, structure, and a more classic aesthetic— contrast it.

If you’re unsure, test a small section first. Paint a door and its casing the same colour as the wall

and live with it for a week. You’ll know quickly whether it feels calm or dull.

Design isn’t about following trends. It’s about making conscious choices.

So don’t default to white trim just because that’s what everyone does. Decide what serves the room. And then commit.

Northern Britsh Columbia: Why Indoor Seed Startng Maters

Gardeners in northern British Columbia know that spring does not arrive gently. Snow can linger well into April, nighttime temperatures often dip below freezing through May, and in many communities such as Prince George, Smithers, and Terrace, the last frost may not pass until late May or even early June. With the first fall frost sometimes returning by early September, the growing season is short and intense. Because of this compressed window, knowing when to start vegetable seeds indoors is one of the most important decisions a northern BC gardener can make.

Starting seeds indoors allows you to extend the effective growing season by several weeks. Instead of waiting for the soil outdoors to warm up, you can begin the growing process in the controlled environment of your home. This is especially important for long-season crops that require many weeks to mature. Without an early indoor start, vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, and some brassicas may not have enough time to fully produce before autumn frost arrives.

The key to timing your indoor seed starting is understanding your average last spring frost date. In much of northern British Columbia, this falls between the last week of May and the first week of June. While weather can vary year to year, using June 1 as a general reference point works well for many inland northern communities. Once you have that date in mind, count backward according to the needs of each crop. Most seed packets list the recommended number of weeks before the last frost to start seeds indoors, and these guidelines are especially valuable in northern climates.

Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants typically need eight to ten weeks indoors before they are ready to transplant. If your target transplant date is around June 1, these seeds are best started in late March or very early April. Starting them too early, such as in February, can result in tall, leggy plants that outgrow their containers and become stressed before it is warm enough to move them outside. In northern BC, where cloudy spring days are common, adequate light is just as important as timing. Without strong light from a south-facing window or grow lights positioned close to the

seedlings, plants will stretch and weaken.

Brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts generally need about six to eight weeks indoors. For a late May or early June transplant date, mid to late March is usually ideal for sowing these seeds. These coolseason crops are more tolerant of chilly conditions and can sometimes be planted outdoors slightly earlier than warm-season vegetables, especially if protected with row covers. Even so, they still benefit greatly from an indoor head start in this region.

Onions and leeks are among the earliest seeds to start indoors because they are slow growers. They can be started ten to twelve weeks before transplanting, which often places their sowing date in late February or early March in northern BC. By the time the ground can be worked outdoors in May, they will be sturdy, pencil-thick seedlings ready for the garden. Herbs such as parsley and thyme also benefit from an early indoor start, as they can take time to germinate and establish. Not every vegetable needs or even appreciates being started indoors. Root crops like carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips are best sown directly into the garden once the soil can be worked. These vegetables dislike root disturbance, and transplanting can lead to misshapen or stunted growth. Peas and beans are also usually direct seeded, although peas can tolerate cool soil and are often planted outdoors in May as soon as the ground thaws. In addition to timing, indoor growing conditions play a major role in success. Seedlings require consistent moisture but should never sit in waterlogged soil. A sterile, lightweight seed-starting mix helps prevent fungal diseases that can kill young plants. Warmth is essential for germination, particularly for peppers and tomatoes, which prefer soil temperatures above 20°C. Many northern gardeners use heat mats to encourage quick, even sprouting. Once seedlings emerge, slightly cooler temperatures help them grow sturdy rather than tall and spindly. About ten to fourteen days before transplanting, seedlings must be hardened off. Plants raised indoors are not accustomed to wind, direct sunlight, or fluctuating

temperatures. Hardening off involves gradually introducing them to outdoor conditions, starting with a few hours in a sheltered, shaded spot and increasing exposure each day. Skipping this step can lead to sunscalded leaves, stunted growth, or transplant shock. In northern British Columbia, where late cold snaps are always possible, it is wise to monitor forecasts closely and have row covers or frost blankets ready.

Flexibility is essential in a northern climate. Some years, spring arrives early and warm, allowing for slightly earlier transplanting. Other years, snow lingers and nighttime temperatures remain low well into June. Rather than relying solely on the calendar, pay attention to soil temperature, nighttime lows, and long-range forecasts. The goal is not simply to plant early, but to plant successfully.

Starting vegetable seeds indoors at the right time gives northern British Columbia gardeners a powerful advantage. By counting backward from your last expected frost date and matching each crop

to its recommended indoor growing period, you can make the most of a short but productive season. With proper light, warmth, and gradual acclimation to outdoor conditions, your seedlings will be strong, resilient, and ready to thrive once summer finally arrives.