40 YEARS AGO:
The University of British Columbia has granted degrees and diplomas to more than 900 fall graduates.
The degrees, approved by the UBC senate, go to students who completed their requirements during the spring and summer.
Each graduate has the option of receiving the degree in the fall or appearing at the convocation the following spring for the formal degree-granting ceremony.
In Clearwater, Ethel Laura Jones was awarded a Bachelor of Education (elementary) degree.
35 YEARS AGO:
The community of Blue River suffered a sad loss on Nov. 22, 1985 when the Blue River Hotel caught fire and burned to the ground.
It was reported the fire broke out around 3 a.m. and quickly engulfed the old building.
The two men living in the hotel reported the fire to the Blue River Fire Department but when they arrived there was no saving the old wood-framed building. It was believed the hotel was insulated with sawdust shavings.
Intense heat from the blaze cracked the windows of the Blue River Post Office across the road.
30 YEARS AGO:
The old Forest Service building in Clearwater next to Raft River has been sold to Public Works Canada, the Times has learned.
Former owners were British Columbia Building Corportation (BCBC). The transfer took place in late July or early August.
A Public Works spokeperson could not say what the planned use would be, but it is assumed that federal Fisheries would be interested in the site.
The building is currently occupied by Canadian helicopters.
25 YEARS AGO:
Cuts to extra-curricular travel funding as the result of school district amalgamation would most likely jeopardize the safety of travelling sports teams, if not sports programs as a whole.
“One of the biggest concerns I see (with amalgamation) is how our extra-curricular funding will be affected,” said CSS athletic director Libby Toman.
Toman referred to an accident which occured in the early ’80s when the CSS Senior Boys basketball team, travelling in a van, was hit head-on by a drunk driver on a trip to Barriere. The drunk driver dies in the incident, said Toman, and a number of the boys were injured.
“Safety has always been a concern,” she stated. “And using a school bus with professional drivers in the safest method. I really feel confident when we travel, even on horrendous roads.”
20 YEARS AGO:
“I consider our results to be an academic emergency…our results are abysmal.”
That was the reaction of Raft River Elementary School principal Gloria Hall to her school’s outcomes in the Minsitry of Education’s recently released Foundation Skills Assessment.
The FSA was written in May by about 150,000 students in Grades 4, 7 and 10 at schools across the province. It assessed how many students met or exceeded expectations in three areas: reading, writing and numeracy.
“In all categories Raft River was below the school district, and the school district was below the provincial average,” said Hall.
15 YEARS AGO:
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is getting a local government infrastructure planning grant to complete a water system feasibility study for Miller Subdivision.
Once some cost estimates are available, they will be brought to a meeting and the residents of the subdivision likely will be asked (through a straw poll) if they want to go ahead with any recommended changes.
The regional district board approved a motion by TNRD director Bert Walker to apply for the grant during its Nov. 10 meeting.
10 YEARS AGO:
A former Times reporter has received a Governor General’s literary award. Wendy Phillips, who worked for the Times in 1979, won the award in the Children’s Literature category for her first book, Fishtailing. The book tells the story of four teens caught up in a web of lies and deceit.
Originally from Kamloops, Phillips has worked as a journalist, bookbinder, English teacher and high school teacher-librarian.
5 YEARS AGO:
Requiring businesses operating within the boundaries of District of Clearwater to have business licenses would have a number of benefits, according to the municipality’s chief administrative officer, Leslie Groulx.
However, at least one business owner at a public information session held in Dutch Lake Community Centre was skeptical that the benefits would exceed the costs.
Regulations require the municipality to do fire inspections of all buildings used by the public, said Groulx. At present, those paid for by taxpayers. If there was business licensing, then that would pay for the service.
Business licensing would allow the DOC to know what goods and services are available and help identify gaps.