40 YEARS AGO:
The minimum wage in B.C. for employees 18 years of age and over will rise from the present $3.40 an hour to $3.65 an hour on Dec. 1, Labour Minister Jack Heinrich confirmed recently. This is the second stage of the two-stage increase introduced by the Minister last July 1, when the minimum wage rose from $3 to $3.40 an hour.
The minimum wage for persons under 18 years of age will also rise from the $2.85 an hour announced last July 1 to $3 an hour as of Dec. 1.
Increases were reported this year in all provinces except Ontario, and in the federal and Yukon jurisdictions, said Heinrich.
35 YEARS AGO:
The senior boys basketball team opened the 1985/86 season with a league game in Merritt and followed up with a tournament in Oliver on the weekend. Although the results do not appear favourable, the experiences of the first four games left a positive impression on the players.
In Merritt, the team was denied victory by the narrowest of margins in basketball, a single point. Even then, the opportunity presented itself at the foul shot line during the dying seconds but it was not to be. Credit Merritt for their first league victory in four seasons, Merritt will visit our gym in the new year.
The tournament experience in Oliver was absolutely excellent for the team. All games were officiated well and the tournament was well organized by Ron Lee of Oliver.
30 YEARS AGO:
About 40 people gathered at the Wells Gray Inn for the annual Clearwater Improvement Districts dinner to honour its staff and volunteer firefighters, it has been reported to The Times.
Henry Plugoway, who is retiring after nearly 22 years on the fire department, received a plaque with clock, a belt and a buckle in his honour.
Bob Foulkes was named officer of the year, Steve Borrow was fireman of the year and Ken Collins was rookie of the year.
Hats were presented to Steve Robertson and Guy Holland for their work with the Clearwater Fire Department Association.
25 YEARS AGO:
Ice packed up to within “eight, maybe nine” feet of the deck of the Birch Island bridge and weekend flooding of a home in Avola as well as a Birch Island rancher’s field was brought on by unusual weather, creating conditions in North Thompson waterways more commonly associated with another season of the year.
“The river never really went down like it should have this time of year with all the rain we had,” said rancher Barry Shiels. “And the ice is definitely built up all through Birch Island. The -20C weather and then the eight inches of snow all contributed to what happened this morning.”
What happened Sunday morning, said Shiels, was, “I went out to feed the cattle and didn’t throw out more than two handfuls of hay and the water just started coming in (to his field). It was just that fast.”
20 YEARS AGO:
Clearwater Secondary School Senior Girls won their home basketball tournament, but it was only on points.
The Raider Girls were defeated by a strong Barriere team by five points in a hard-fought game. Clearwater then went on to defeat Sahali by 11 points in the last game of the round robin tournament. The game was close until the last few minutes, when Clearwater was to score several points in a row.
Sahali had previously beaten Barriere, allowing Clearwater to take the tournament.
15 YEARS AGO:
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has approved the sale of Interact Forest Products to a numbered company.
In a hearing held Nov. 22, supreme court justice David Masuhara authorized the receiver, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, to sell the assets of the bankrupt finger-joint company to 0738383 B.C. Ltd.
According to a Vavenby resident, late last week PriceWaterhouseCoopers gave layoff notices to the security staff working at Interact’s Vavenby operation.
The ownership of 0738383 B.C. Ltd. is not clear, but it appears to be associated with Matco Capital Ltd. of Calgary.
10 YEARS AGO:
Solicitor General Rich Coleman has turned down a request from Mayor John Harwood to look into re-opening Bear Creek Correctional Centre.
“I think the discouraging thing was they didn’t even send anyone out,” Harwood said during a council meeting last Tuesday. “The site is big enough to expand and many court appearances these days are done by videoconference, so transport wouldn’t be a problem.”
Councillor Stephanie Teare felt town council should send a strongly-worded reply to the solicitor general.
A proposed 360-cell prison that the provincial government hopes to build in the Okanagan would mean “a horrendous number of jobs,” she pointed out.
5 YEARS AGO:
“That heat feels beautiful.”
That was how Mayor John Harwood described the output produced by District of Clearwater’s new biomass heater at Dutch Lake Community Centre.
An official opening for the heater was held Tuesday, Dec. 1 (2015).
The project was another example of how developing partnerships is moving the community forward, said Harwood.
Partners that contributed included Wells Gray Community Forest, which gave the municipality a $100,000 interest-free loan, and Canfor-Vavenby, which is donating chips needed to feed the heater at no cost.