40 YEARS AGO:
Work on the new bridge across the Thompson River at Clearwater, Old Thompson Highway, will begin immediately, following the award of a $2,580,380 contract, it was announced by Transportation and Highways Minister Alex V. Fraser.
The contract award went to Goodbrand Construction Ltd., of Aldergrove. The firm submitted the lower of two tenders.
A work force of about 14, most of them from the area, will begin mobilizing for the project, making ready the river site for bridge foundations which will be installed after high water, probably around mid-June. Completion of the work is scheduled for August 1982.
35 YEARS AGO:
RCMP felt it was lucky nobody was hurt last Friday morning when they tried to stop a speeding vehicle.
Instead the car, a 1984 Volvo 4-door sedan heading south towards Clearwater, increased speed creating a high-speed chase between Vavenby and Birch Island.
The driver lost control of the vehicle in the vicinity of Birch Island lookout. The car left the road on the right hand side and came to a stop after rolling down the bank to the ditch. Both occupants immediately fled into nearby woods.
A few minutes later, the stolen car burst into flames and was burned beyond recognition.
30 YEARS AGO:
Raft River balloon number 41, one of 330 launched on Feb. 1 as the culmination of Science Days at Raft River School, came to Earth in northern Alberta. It was discovered May 8 having flown 675 kilometres, almost to the Saskatchewan border.
Janice Danley was cultivating her 500-acre grain farm close to Bonnyville where she and her four-year-old spied the message balloon.
“I was so excited!” said Mrs. Danley. “I read the message to my daughter right there in the cab of the tractor.”
Every student in the school was assigned a secret number. A plastic strip with the number and a brief message was attached to the balloon. The name of the lucky student will be announced at the month-end assembly by Principal Bill Keast.
25 YEARS AGO:
The season is new, the president is new and the clay is new. So, appropriately, the second welcomed the first by warning everybody about the third.
“The outside groove is soft,”1996 CSA President Johnny Marlow told the drivers gathered for the traditional pre-race meeting. “It’s a new surface. Don’t hook left, you’ll do a flip-flop. If you’re going to go off the top and you know it, please turn right.”
Always one to obey his president’s every command, Ryan Sorenson did just that, taking #16 over the top between turn 3 and 4 in Hobby Heat 1, apparently unbeknownst to everyone in the pits except for his mother and the intrepid stockcar reporter. (He was fine.)
20 YEARS AGO:
“We won a portion…we still lost, but we had a partial victory.”
That was the assessment of Bob Plecas, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, referring to a decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission handed down on Wednesday.
He made the comment during a telephone conference call held following the ITC decision. Media representatives from across North America took part.
The commission found that Canadian softwood lumber exports had not injured the U.S. industry. It also ruled, however, that there was still a “threat of injury” to American lumber producers.
10 YEARS AGO:
Amendments to the Medicare Protection Act were introduced today in the B.C. legislature to support the introduction of a more secure card, designed to improve patient safety and reduce fraud.
The new card, which would replace the current Care Card will offer more security benefits than a current driver’s licence, including a photograph of the beneficiary, anti-forgery features, high-level identity proofing, as well as a security chip. People can choose to have the new card, or to have their driver’s licence indicate they are enrolled in the Medical Services Plan.
The current plastic BC CareCard was introduced in 1989 with no significant changes over the last 20 years.
5 YEARS AGO:
Families and children of all ages can look forward to enjoying the new splash park now that construction is in full swing. During the past month contractors and volunteers have been busy building the splash park at Weyerhaeuser Pioneer Park, with the expected opening in early July.
“Clearwater is an active and growing community for young families,” said Mayor John Harwood. “Our council is very pleased that Yellowhead Community Services took the lead to build a splash park for the community.”
The location for the splash park project was selected as the best of three options identified in a recent report. Weyerhaeuser Pioner Park was chosen by council for a number of key benefits including its proximity to a residential neighbourhood, shopping mall and connectedness to walking paths providing easy access for pedestrian traffic.
1 YEAR AGO:
A sombre morning gave way to an uplifting afternoon salute at a makeshift and growing memorial near Kamloops Airport on Monday, the day after a Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds squadron member died when the jet in which she was a passenger crashed in Brocklehurst, shortly after takeoff.
Capt. Jennifer Casey of Halifax, the squadron’s public affairs officer, was killed and the aircraft’s pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall, seriously injured in a crash that saw their jet crashing in the area of Glenview Drive and Schreiner Street.
Casey and MacDougall’s plane took off from Kamloops Airport on May 17, at about 11:45 a.m., bound for Comox. It rose, then veered to the left and barrel rolled toward the ground.
The Snowbirds squadron was in Kamloops on its cross-country tour, dubbed Operation Inspiration, saluting frontline health-care workers dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
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