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25 YEARS AGO: Highway 5 selected to test rumble strips

Back in time: A snapshot of history
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40 YEARS AGO:

Dimac Resources Corp. is planning to go ahead with a mine in the Silence Lake area and preparation work will commence during April.

The company’s project is the Silence Lake tungsten mine where a production decision has been reached. Current proven and probable reserves are 50,000 tons grading 1.65 per cent W03, having a gross value of over $12,000,000. The potential to expand reserves is considered excellent.

The deposit is unique in that it consists of coarse grained scheelite in skarn material with no sulphides present.

35 YEARS AGO:

A very small turnout at the regular Chamber of Commerce meeting heard Bill Anderson tell members about his recent survey carried out in Clearwater.

Mr. Anderson said he asked about 100 residents how they felt about a full-time permanent gambling casino being established in B.C. He felt about 40 per cent either didn’t know or didn’t care.

Very few were willing to have a casino start in a small area like Clearwater. However, most believed the Lower Mainland would be a better area with the ideal location being Vancouver Island. A good number of people had no objections to a casino being established in the Okanagan.

30 YEARS AGO:

A decision by the Ministry of Forests not to award a value-added timber sale to a local sawmill owner has created a storm of controversy in Clearwater.

The decision was made even though the local bidder submitted the highest bid for the wood.

Bonus bid on the proposal by Clearwater lumberman Joe Waddlegger was 10 cents a cubic metre on top of the upset (or minimum) price of $12,45 per cubic metre.

Neither of the other companies he was competing with, Ideal Log Homes of Tappen and Interior Components of Heffley Creek, put in a bonus bid.

25 YEARS AGO:

From 1993 to date, 14 fatal accidents, claiming 20 lives, have occurred on the Yellowhead Highway between Little Fort and Blue River. Seven of those accidents, and eight of those lost lives, have been attributed to drivers who fell asleep at the wheel.

In an effort to reduce accidents caused by sleeping drivers, the Ministry of Transportation and Highways has approved the installation of rumble strips in conjunction with two previously scheduled repaving projects to be completed in the Clearwater RCMP detachment area this summer, said Clearwater Area Highways Manager Vern Goodwin.

Rumble strips, indentations placed in the pavement (“kind of like a cat track,” described one Ministry official) along the fog line, the white line that defines the paved shoulder of the highway, are spaced to produce a whine as tires pass over them, alerting the fatigued driver who has unknowingly driven onto the edge of the highway.

20 YEARS AGO:

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger is asking for an apology from Forests Minister Gordon Wilson for an apparent insult to the residents of the B.C. Interior.

In the legislature last Monday Wilson referred to “those people (in the Interior) who have, frankly, not matured to the point where they understand that equality applies to all British Columbians and not to a select number of British Columbians.”

Wilson was commenting on plans by the B.C. Liberals to hold a referendum on the principles that will guide treaty negotiations on native land claims.

“Wasn’t that a shocking thing for him to say,” Krueger said. “Who do these think they are?”

15 YEARS AGO:

Returning home with a rudimentary grasp of conversational Italian and memories to last a lifetime, 38 members of the North Thompson Travel Club laid their heads on their own pillow in the wee hours Sunday morning after a 10 day EF Educational Tour in Europe.

Students from Clearwater and Barriere Secondary Schools, along with teachers and parent chaperones enjoyed the many sights, sounds and (especially) the tastes Italy has to offer.

No rest for the weary, the pace was set the minute the plane touched down in Milan. After approximately 30 hours of travel through two time zones, a further two hour bus ride to the fair city of Verona awaited.

10 YEARS AGO:

It appears the District of Clearwater has looked at leasing the building presently occupied by the Community Resource Center and then subletting it to the CRC.

However, the CRC would still find it difficult to find the money to pay for it.

The information is contained in a short letter from CRC chair Ron Hadley to Mayor John Harwood that was made public during the March 15 town council meeting. The letter was in response to a special in-camera meeting held Feb. 18 during which council apparently gave the CRC two lease agreement options to evaluate.

“As expressed in out presentation, Option 2 would be more favourable than Option 1 for CRC, but our projections indicated there would still be a substantial monthly deficit, and this the proposed arrangement whereby DOC might assume the lease for the building CRC occupies would only partially address our fiscal difficulty,” Hadley wrote.

5 YEARS AGO:

The provincial government is considering closing Clearwater Fire Zone, Mayor John Harwood reported to town council during its March 15 meeting.

“The possible implications include loss of people and jobs, less equipment and longer callout times,” he said. “It’s’s not just Clearwater that would be involved, but also Valemount and McBride.”

The mayor said he intends to meet with the head of the Kamloops Fire Centre soon to discuss the issue.

Councillor Barry Banford, who was operations manager with the former Clearwater Forest District before his retirement, is providing the mayor with a list of concerns to take to the meeting.