Emergency Services Files -- February 2015

Our Archive of items of law enforcement and other emergency responders in Northwestern British Columiba.

From the North Coast Review

February 25 -- RCMP deliver final letter related to new detachment requirements
February 14 -- Prince Rupert RCMP warn of telephone scam circulating in the region 
February 6 -- Terrace RCMP tell motorists how it is, and they're pretty emphatic about it
February 6 -- RCMP updates status of investigation into the Brooks Bank Fire, which claimed four lives of the Rochon family 25 years ago
February 4 -- Foul play not suspected after RCMP investigate discovery of deceased male

Media From Across the Northwest

Prince Rupert/Port Edward/Haida Gwaii/North Coast

February 16 -- Prince Rupert RCMP warn of Phone Scam
February 11 -- Crash Near Prince Rupert
February 10 -- 31 year old Prince Rupert man killed in accident east of Fraser Lake
February 5 -- Rupert Arson Appeal (video)
February 5 -- Renewed appeal for information in 1990 arson/homicide
February 5 -- Rochon sister makes plea to the province for information on fatal fire
February 4 -- Rupert Body Found (video)
February 4 -- Foul play not suspected in Prince Rupert death
February 4 -- Rupert Body Found
February 4 -- Highway of Tears Cuts (video)
February 4 -- Prince Rupert RCMP investigate after Body Discovered
February 3 -- Fatal fire unsolved 25 years later

Terrace/Kitimat and elsewhere

February 26 -- Terrace Fire Department looks for volunteer recruits (video)
February 26 -- Terrace Fire Department is Looking for Volunteer Firefighters
February 24 -- Terrace Service Report
February 24 -- Police Watchdog to Investigate Death of Smithers Man
February 23 -- Terrace Service Report
February 20 -- Thornhill Fire Department Responds to a Fire risk in Usk
February 20 -- Terrace Service Report
February 19 -- Terrace Street Checks
February 19 -- Terrace Service Report
February 17 -- Terrace RCMP say night time street checks help them keep crime in check
February 17 -- Terrace Fire Department wants Volunteers
February 14 -- Petition aims to block parole eligibility for '90s stabbing killer
February 13 -- Terrace Service Report
February 13 -- Two Smithers men arrested in major Alberta Drug Bust
February 12 -- Terrace Service Report
February 12 -- Terrace needs more volunteer firefighters
February 12 -- Terrace RCMP continue to investigate teen shooting
February 11 -- RCMP release teen in shooting death, recommend charges
February 11 -- Deceased 15 year old Boy from Gunshot wound
February 10 -- Terrace Shooting Death (video)
February 10 -- Terrace teen shot dead, 16 year old in custody
February 10 -- One Teen Dead, Another in Custody, following Shooting in Terrace
February 10 -- Foul play ruled out in Terrace area man's death
February 10 -- Terrace Service Report
February 10 -- Terrace RCMP probe shooting death of  15 year old
February 10 -- 15 year old youth deceased from Gunshot wound
February 9 -- Body Found outside Terrace
February 9 -- Terrace Service Report
February 6 -- Stay Home!
February 6 -- Terrace asks residents to stay off roads/sidewalks
February 6 -- Terrace Service Report
February 5 -- Terrace School Zone Enforcement results
February 5 -- Terrace RCMP School Zone Campaign Yields "Dismal" Results
February 5 -- Terrace Service Report
February 4 -- First Nations Leader disturbed by E-Pana Cuts impact
February 4 -- Terrace Service Report
February 3 -- Terrace Service Report
February 2 -- Murdered Woman's husband speaks of loss
February 2 -- Terrace Service Report

Ketchikan/Southeast Alaska

February 20 -- Child allegedly caged, bound by grandparents
February 6 -- Waterman appeal of conviction denied

Archive of month to month reviews

Northern Health makes the list of BC's Top employers for 2015

Northern Health, the health care service that serves the largest expanse of the province has been named to the list of best employers for 2015, part of compilation of industry and services that was recently featured in the Vancouver Sun's special review, part of a joint venture with Mediacorp.

The review of British Columbia employers provided for a list of 60 of those organizations that provide benefits and conditions a cut above the norm.

Northern Health which is based out of Prince George, was one of three Health Authorities that made the listings for the review. Joining Fraser Health in surrey and Interior Health in Kelowna in the listings.

Some of the key aspects of working for Northern Health that appealed to the selection committee included:

Help provided to employees to plan for life after work with retirement planning sessions and contributions to a defined benefit pension plan.

Support for new mothers with generous maternity and parental leave top-up payments, varying with position. As well as letting new mothers extend their maternity leave into an unpaid leave of absence for additional time at home.

Extending parental leave top-up benefits to new Dads and adoptive parents

Offering new employee referral bonuses to employees who successfully recruit a new candidate

Consideration of a new candidate's previous work experience when setting vacation entitlements, the majority of new full-time employees start with 3.6 to 4 weeks of paid vacation.

Encourage all employees to keep their skills up-to-date with tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions along with in-house and online training programs.

Northern Health has over 7,000 employees working at facilities from Haida Gwaii to McBride and points North and South.

Of the sixty companies featured in the 2015 Review, eighteen are publicly funded, whether as part of government services at all levels, educational or health related.

You can learn more about the 2015 Top Employers here.

The Vancouver Sun overview can be read here.

Northern Health celebrated their success in the rankings and provided some background on what they have to offer with this media release from last week.

More items related to Northern Health can be found on our archive page here.

CityWest celebrates the All Native Basketball Tournament with $5,000 donation

As we get closer to the launch of this years All Native Basketball Tournament, Prince Rupert's CityWest is lending a financial hand, donating 5,000 dollars in cash and services to this years tournament operations.

CityWest's Donovan Dias dropped by the ANBT offices last week to deliver the CityWest contribution to this year's Tournament, handing over the ceremonial cheque to ANBT President Peter Haugan.

CityWest's Donovan Dias presente ANBT President
Peter Haugan with a $5,000 donation

The All Native Tournament tips off this coming Sunday and will bring players and fans together from across the Northwest, Northern BC, Alaska and other parts of the province.

The long time fixture on Prince Rupert's sports and cultural calendar will come to an end on February 14th.

You can access more information on the Tournament and preparations for it from the ANBT Facebook page and website.  Tickets and Tournament passes are available at ANBT office at 2459 3rd Avenue West.

For more information on the Tournament contact the ANBT office at 250-627-8997

Watch the blog later this week for our overview of this years tournament, along with the schedule and results page for the seven days of tournament action.

Prince Rupert Real Estate Tracker, week ending February 1, 2015

Our weekly review of the local listings of the local real estate agents, tracking those properties which appear to be driving the local price structure for the North Coast.

Every Monday, we will review the previous weeks listing prices and outline the Top 10 asking prices in the area, providing a snap shot as to where the Real Estate market may be trending on a week to week basis.

The listings below are purely for informational purposes, for further information on the properties recorded, see our links page for access to the individual real estate listings.

The Archive for our weekly review can be found here.

Our list of the top ten priced homes for the week ending February 1 is below:

Prince Rupert Real Estate
West Side February 1

Prince Rupert Real Estate
East Side February 1

In honour of Groundhog Day, and with a nod to the Bill Murray movie of the same name, for our review of real estate this week, everything it would seem will be the same.

There was no change in the overview for the week, with this week's listings an exact repeat of what we examined seven days ago.

As it has been for a few weeks now, we find that the West Side of the city hosting the bulk of the listings with seven homes among the ten, the high end continuing to go to a property on Van Arsdol, overlooking Fairview.

The east side of the city counts two locations for the week, with one  in Port Edward also included in the week's review.

Below our findings as of the Week ending February 1, 2014

160 Van Arsdol Street--       $699,000   -- Royal Lepage
1942-46 2nd Avenue W       $659,000  --  Royal Lepage
2044 Graham Avenue--        $549,000  --  Remax
1229 Conrad Street --           $525,000   --  Royal Lepage
1711 Sloan Avenue --           $499,900   -- Royal Lepage
1765 Sloan Avenue --           $475,000   -- Remax
1701 Sloan Avenue ---          $469,000   -- Remax
409 6th Avenue East--           $469,000   -- Remax
1947 West 2nd Avenue --      $440,000  --  Royal Lepage
306 Spruce Avenue (P. E.) -- $438,000   -- Royal Lepage      

For more items related to Real Estate see our archive page here.

For background on Housing issues in the region see our past items here.

Snowfall WARNING issued for North Coast Inland

If your travel plans for Monday morning include heading into the Northwest interior regions, be aware that Environment Canada has issued a Snowfall Warning for the inland sections of the North Coast.

Snowfall accumulations are expected to be between 15-25 centimetres, as a Pacific frontal system comes ashore.  A second front anticipated for the Kitimat region could bring a further 15 centimetres of snow to that area.

As the front arrives Driving conditions across the region could be affected, those making plans to travel eastbound can find out the latest Road conditions from the Drive BC website or twitter feed.

Updates to the Environment Canada forecast can be found from their website

For a review of our weather updates through the year see our archive page here.

Blog Watching for Week Ending February 1, 2015

The start of the new City Council year is proving to be a bit of a learning curve for the Mayor and his new council, as a number of procedural matters, as well as the keeping of minutes have proven to be a topic of concern since the start of the month.

That focus on procedure at City Hall was one item that proved popular on the blog this week, as was our item relaying word that Council had called two Special Sessions for this past Wednesday.

As well as municipal government issues, the opening of a new sports bar in town proved to be a popular read, as was our account of the 5.0 magnitude earthquake on Haida Gwaii last week.

The issue of wolves making their presence known in the city also made for a hot topic for the week, a conversation that started off with our item related to a Wolf Warning issued by the RCMP on Tuesday.

Leading it all off this week however, a few concerns when it comes to the way that these early Council meetings for 2015 have started off.

Procedural concerns make for lengthy discussion at Monday's Council session  -- A few of the Mayor's decisions regarding procedure gave cause for some discussion at the most recent City Council session   (posted January 28, 2015)

That item was followed by:

Council schedules two Special Sessions for Wednesday -- A pair of special sessions, one the third closed session of the year provided some news interest for the blog this week (posted January 28, 2015)

The Hub opens its doors in downtown Prince Rupert  --  The opening of Prince Rupert's newest sports bar and nightclub proved to be a popular read over the last seven days  (posted  January 26, 2015)

5.0 magnitude earthquake off of Haida Gwaii  -- A significant rumble along the North Pacific fault line was recorded off Haida Gwaii last week ( posted January 25, 2015)

Prince Rupert RCMP issue Wolf Warning   -- Wolves coming into the urban area of the city became a fairly topical story this week, with the conversation starting with an RCMP warning  on Tuesday (posted  January 27, 2015 )

You can find our Blog watching featured posted every Sunday morning by 9AM, a handy way to catch up to the week that was, at a leisurely weekend pace.

For those looking for updates to items as they are posted to the blog, don't forget about our email alert access.

A daily review of the latest items on the blog can be delivered to your email in box, simply by entering your email address into the information bar, items posted to the blog will be delivered to your e-mail account each day.

You can find the link to that feature on the upper, right hand side of the blog. Underneath the Follow the North Coast Review by Email indicator.

Our archive of weekly Blog Watching  can be found here.

AquaTrain mooring wall construction wraps up

Aquatrain at Prince Rupert, photo
from Prince Rupert Rail Images blog

While the renovation plans for the Alaska Marine Highway Terminal project, steeped as they are in cross border controversy, may have come to sudden halt in recent days, there is some progress on the waterfront.

One marine transportation option for shipping items to Alaska has something to show, as the Port of Prince Rupert celebrates the conclusion of a construction project on the Prince Rupert waterfront.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority took to their twitter feed this morning to outline some of the work that has taken place on the Aquatrain facility in the city, with work now complete on the new mooring wall for the Barge service to Alaska.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority
outlined the progress of work on the
Aquatrain facility in Prince Rupert

The Aqua train provides a vital shipping link between Prince Rupert and Alaska, with CN Rail highlighting the service as part of the transportation options that it delivers to the Port of Prince Rupert.

The Auquatrain which is operated by Foss Maritime, offers 4 day service from Prince Rupert to Whittier, Alaska.

The Foss vessels that serve Prince Rupert recently were in the news in October,  as the Barbara Foss came to the aid of the Russian Vessel Simushir when it was adrift off of Haida Gwaii

For more on items related to CN Rail in Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

More on developments with the Prince Rupert Port Authority can be found here.