Last night's Guaranteed Prize Draw in the Wednesday 649 draw has delivered someone who bought a ticket on the North Coast a cool one million dollars, with the region identified last night as home to the province's newest millionaire.
And while not the Giant Jackpots of recent weeks of the main draw, the 1 million probably works as a handy afterthought for those that check their numbers each Wednesday and Saturday evening.
No indication was provided from the BC Lottery website as to which North Coast community is the destination of luck for Wednesday night's draw.
Update: Turns out that there is a scheduling mistake on the CIHL website, with the Rampage advising that there is NO Game scheduled for Saturday night in Terrace between the Rampage and River Kings, the next game for the Rampage comes up on November 7th when the Lac La Hache Tomahawks come to town.
Things have become a little more congested in the CIHL West division following last weekend's play, with the Prince Rupert Rampage slipping off their perch atop the tables, after the Terrace River Kings skated into the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre and left with two points.
Saturday night at the Jim was all Terrace in a hard hitting, penalty filled affair, that saw the visiting River Kings jump out to a 1-0 lead in the mid way of the first period and never look back, adding three more goals in the second and a final one for the third on the way to a 5-0 shut out of the home side in front of 749 of the faithful at the Civic Centre.
The main story on the night was an inability for the Rampage to capitalize on the nine power play opportunities that they had through the three periods, letting those chances slip by as the evening worked its way to conclusion. While the River Kings were almost equal to the power shortage with the man advantage, the River Kings did make the best on one of their 9 power play opportunities, a power play marker in the second period.
Even though the River Kings dominated the evening in the goal count, the shots on goal were almost equal on the evening. Over the sixty minutes of play, the River Kings directed 34 pucks the way of Rampage goaltender Jarrod Hildebrandt, while the Rampage offence couldn't crack the armour of Terrace's Patrick Leal, despite the thirty three shots fired at the River King net.
Penalties marked the much of the tone of the night, with an equal amount of penalties and time served recorded on the rather full game sheet. Terrace on the night sat for 37 minutes of time on 18 infractions, while the Rampage players were in the box for 37 minutes as well, serving time for 19 penalty calls.
The officials had their hands full keeping play under control with seven penalty calls in the first period, 18 in the second and 12 in the third, including three game misconducts as the tone of the game got a bit nasty in the final frame.
For Terrace the road win could prove to be a turning point even this early in the season, with the River Kings having struggled through the first month of play, all those frustrations seemed in the past following their trek down Highway 16.
The win from Saturday night and the two points now move the River Kings closer to the pack in the very tight West Division with but four points separating the now division leading Smithers Steelheads from the River Kings at the bottom of the standings
The Rampage will be looking for a bounce back win on Saturday night, when they spend Halloween evening in Terrace with a return match up with the River Kings, puck drop at the Terrace Ice Arena is at 8 PM.
It's baaaack ... in the news! A surprising name from the past for Watson Island appeared this week
"We certainly did what we could, I don't think we ever backed away from anything.And now we have a new group that is going to realize when local government legislation forces something upon you, what a hell hole it can be, and I'm talking about Watson Island, the thing never ends ..." --Former Mayor Jack Mussallem speaking at his final Council session in November 2014, offering the incoming Council a cautionary word on the nature of the City's Watson Island file.
That long running tale of the place that the past Mayor described as a hell hole for Prince Rupert returns to the forefront of our civic discussion this week, surely to make the rounds of the coffee shops and bars as something from the tales of Believe it or Not Prince Rupert style.
The discussion to be launched, coming from a notice published yesterday in the weekly newspaper that outlines the latest points of discussion from a former official of the Sun Wave group Mr. Ni Ritao, a key participant from the days of the Sun Wave company, and apparently someone who has some comments to make on how the past legal negotiations between the city and his former company evolved.
Noting in his published four point notification through the weekly paper, that he declares that the agreement entered on behalf of Sun Wave Forest Products in August of 2013 was made without his legal authorization and he considers it to be null and void with no legal effect. Adding that the arbitration order made two years later was based on an invalid settlement agreement and that he considers that to be null and void as well.
All of which makes for a swirl of events which we can now add to the always expanding list of issues related to the never ending saga of the industrial site.
For those who may be getting confused, and who could blame you, what with all the various players that have passed through those Watson Island gates in over the years, Mr. Ni Ritao has a fairly colourful history from his time in the BC spotlight.
When we had last heard of his story, it included some names from the BC Liberal's past and a bit of involvement for Ni Ritao with the Chinese legal system.
Apparently free now from whatever limitations he faced over the previous two years, it seems that Mr. Ni Ritao from his Shanghai base is back, more than a little annoyed and perhaps it appears ready to rumble.
Where these latest developments may take us is the thing of fortune tellers, or in the spirit of Halloween, spell casting witches. Though the sudden reappearance of Ni Ritao and his declaration that the previous agreement and arbitrations are "null and void" certainly takes us further into the way back machine when it comes to the long running story of Watson Island.
Following the publication of the notice, and a follow up story in the Northern View, an item which basically recreated the "declaration" quote for quote, the Mayor logged onto the paper's comments section and directed residents to the City's media release, which offered up the city's side of the renewed debate over their interaction with the Sun Wave group.
The information statement addressed some of the points from Ni Ritao's Wednesday's notification and outlined the string of events that have taken place related to the Sun Wave issue over the last two years.
The latest in developments would seem to be adding on to the city's woes when it comes to Watson Island. Earlier in the summer we made note of another legal issue, that involved the Watson Island Development Company and its efforts in the courts with the City of Prince Rupert over the site.
As we outlined on the blog in August, WATCO found some success in the courts from the most recent proceedings of July and August, setting the calendar for further legal work heading on into February of 2017.
Should Ni Ritao follow up the prospect of further legal action himself, Prince Rupert residents could see the fascinating situation of duelling lawsuits over the same industrial lands that continue to haunt the community.
With all of this renewed focus on a topic that few at City Hall it seems ever really want to discuss in public, it surely is now time for the Mayor and Council to provide the residents of the city with a more comprehensive update than just a media release.
Delivering as much information as their legal representatives might allow for, as to where the City is with these two participants in their legal travels. As well, any update for the public should offer up information as to the current cost to the city of maintaining the industrial site, background on any outstanding issues related to the site and details as to just how much the legal requirements of the Watson Island file are costing the community.
In previous years, while the topic was a challenge, the city did deliver occasional updates on such things as "burn rates" and the occasional hopeful indication that the long nightmare may soon end.
Mayor Brain even took on that same sunny outlook earlier this year, speaking to the CBC's Carolyn de Ryk in May, at that time he observed that the residents of Prince Rupert would see the City move forward with Watson Island, expressing that belief that the situation was going to end this year, or as he put it in May "very soon".
As the events noted above with WATCO have illustrated, that perhaps was at best a bit of an optimistic overview.
Nor since the new team at City hall took office one year ago, has the City provided residents with any kind of status report on when there may be closure on the situation.
Considering the events of yesterday and the ongoing issues with the WATCO file, closure for Watson Island may be something that for Rupertites remains as elusive as ever and still apparently somewhere far down a road, one that seemingly has no end of twists and turns.
Prince Rupert City Council discussed the possibility of seeking longer transit hours from Prince Rupert Transit
Prince Rupert City Council may soon be approaching BC Transit to consider extending the hours of service for the city's transit system, a topic that became part of the discussion at Monday's City Council session.
The prospect of increasing the hours of operation for bus service in the city was tied into discussions that came out of a recent session of the City's recreation commission, which noted that increasing access and use of the city's facilities is something that could be boosted with a longer schedule into the evening.
At the moment, the four regular Prince Rupert routes all feature a schedule which stops for the night sometime towards the 6:30 mark from Monday to Thursday and on Saturdays, with service extended to the 10 PM mark on Fridays.
No indication as to how much longer that the City might wish to see the transit hours extended to was provided during the course of the discussion at Council on Monday night.
Mayor Brain noted that the proposal from the recreation commission was something that the city's corporate administrator should follow up on.
You can review the two minute conversation on Transit from the City's Video Archive, it starts at the one hour seventeen minute point.
Monday's council session wandered through a number of items both on the Agenda and of a free form style, yet by the time the evening came to an end, there was nothing to share from our municipal representatives when it came to a recent LNG conference in Vancouver.
The LNG in BC Conference, which was the third annual event, highlighted the state of the LNG industry in 2015 with the Liberal Government of Premier Clark still anticipating strong results from their efforts to build an industry from the ground up.
The gathering brought together a range of municipal and provincial officials, as well as key industry players, with a number of workshops and information sessions designed to showcase the progress of the industry, with a number of key announcements made and information sessions taking place during the three days.
The province outlined some of background to the events at the end of the conference.
Considering the investment that the North Coast would seem to have in the proposed LNG industry, it's puzzling that those that may have been in attendance, did not share any of their findings from the three days in Vancouver.
In previous years, when Council members would travel on city business out of town, they would following their return (though not always) provide a short update at the next available public session of Council, eager it seemed to inform the Council members and those at home as to what they had learned from their travels.
Council Members reportedly were in attendance at the LNG in BC conference in Vancouver Oct 14-16
That at times proved to be part of the focus of then Mayor Mussallem's session ending Mayor's Report, which featured a thumbnail sketch if you will of his travels on behalf of the city.
In the case of this month's LNG conference however, despite a fairly active Social media engagement on a number of topics from City Hall and the recent hiring of a Communications Manager by the City, the only indication that Council members were even out of town, comes by way of the minutes of a Regional District Council session, not a document that we imagine gets a lot of reading.
This highlights what appears to be a few policy shortcomings of late when it comes to what the City and City Council as a whole considers information that may be of interest to the public.
While the City offers up notes on community events and the some of the latest spending initiatives of the Mayor and Council as part of a frequent stream of information through its range of media options.
For the most part when it comes to updates on key issues that would surely be of interest to the public (Watson Island, CityWest, labour issues and Lot 444 developments, to name a few) those larger and potentially more controversial topics are left out of the flow of regular information from City Hall.
As for the theme of road trips on city business, when it comes to transparency on travel issues, residents of the City shouldn't have to read the fine print of another body of government's meeting minutes to learn what their municipal officials have been up to.
That it would seem, is the kind of information that should be made available on the city's own website, advising residents when their elected officials are away on business on behalf of the city.
In larger cities, updates on the work of their Council members and their travel is fairly easy to find, with those larger communities even providing an easy to access review of expenses claimed during those kinds of trips.
It's really not too much to expect that we be told in a timely fashion that council members and senior staff may be travelling on our dime and when Council members return, we should also receive some form of a report from those that were away, advising us as to what information they have brought back with them from their journey.
As they have at the end of many City council sessions previous, housing issues once again dominated the conversation on Monday evening, as council members took stock of where they are at on a file that they've been engaged with pretty well since they took office last December.
To start the discussion off on Monday, the Mayor provided a short overview of the latest developments between the City and the various stakeholders in their housing committee. Noting that they haven't made much progress from the last Council session, but that they are hopeful of moving the process forward in the weeks to come.
He also advised that they had assessed a list of city properties that they had identified from their recent tour of the city and created an internal city report as to which lots might be accessed when it comes to housing issues or other uses.
Councillor Thorkelson then took charge of the majority of the discussion, sharing some of her recent discussions in the community regarding housing concerns, noting that the Mission of the Good Shepherd is looking to find partners to create some affordable housing in the community.
However, she also outlined that the group is looking to address needs ranging from housing for families, to the need for just overnight beds for in town residents who may be homeless for a short period of time.
As Ms. Thorkelson recounted, like many other groups, the Mission of the Good Shepherd is running into problems in trying to access funding for their proposal to purchase and renovated a building for that purpose.
With that as the background to the current situation, Councillor Thorkelson then offered up a concept that may soon become part of the discussion for Council members on how best to tackle the issue of housing need in the community.
Making note of one approach to the situation may be through what is called cross subsidization, which would see rental properties scale their revenue from rentals, with some rents higher than others in the same building, a process which would provide for subsidized accommodations for those that may not have the means for higher rents.
As part of her presentation to council members on Monday, Councillor Thorkelson observed that it could be the quickest way for the city to address the current situation and to access some affordable housing int he community.
Providing the suggestion that the city could talk to the developers coming to town to adopt the concept voluntarily, or if required, to put some bylaw changes in place for current developers that are looking at housing proposals in the city at the moment.
That would introduce a process which would make it a requirement to either build the cross subsidized accommodation concept as a stand alone structure, or have part the concept incorporated into their current proposals for the community setting aside a number of units for subsidized housing.
She noted that this is the process that takes place in parts of Vancouver, with subsidized housing on one side and high rent housing on the other side of the same building, something that is called corridor housing.
A look at the Vancouver approach can be found here from the City of Vancouver website, which explains that city's focus on social and market rental housing. Whether concepts designed to answer the needs of a metropolitan area of over 1 million residents can be delivered to a community of less than 13,000 is perhaps something however that might require a little further study.
Councillor Cunningham also had a few thoughts on the topic, addressing the theme of funding for housing options. Making note of one current funding program in place and suggesting that with the change of the Federal Government there may be additional money provided towards housing issue, suggesting that city staff should be keeping track of any changes or new grants when it comes to housing opportunities.
For his part of the conversation, Mayor Brain noted that the City does have someone on staff that is actively keeping track of any grant opportunities that may be available to the community. He did suggest that while the city doesn't traditionally seek out housing grants, that the City could pass on that information to community groups that could make use of that process.
Councillor Niesh offered up an alternative to Councillor Thorkelson's suggestion, observing that developers in the region that might not wish to adopt the model that she suggested, could instead provide funding towards an affordable housing fund, that could be directed towards addressing housing issues in the community. He suggested that city staff investigate that process further to see how other communities handle the issue.
Before staff might get too bogged down in exploring housing strategies in other communities, Councillor Mirau noted that there is a draft report available for study on the topic from Urban Systems, a document which did offer a range of policy options for the city to take a look at.
Councillor Thorkelson also observed that there have been similar studies delivered for Terrace and Kitimat as well, but remained determined to move forward some discussion on her initial theme, reinforcing her belief that having developers buy into the cross subsidization model is the best approach at the moment to address the housing issues in Prince Rupert.
The full discussion on housing concerns can be found from the City's Video Archive, it starts at the one hour seven minute mark.
Prior to the start of review of the regular agenda for Monday's Regular Council Session, representatives from Pacific NorthWest LNG provided Council members with a short update on the latest information related to their proposed LNG development for Lelu Island.
Ms. Tessa Gill and Mr. Derek Baker delivered a short slide show presentation to go along with their project review, offering up some background when it comes to the ongoing work to prepare for development should the company receive Federal approval at the end of their CEAA evaluation process.
Pacific NorthWest LNG outlined the timeline that they are working under when it comes to the Lelu Island project
As part of the update, the Pacific NorthWest reps outlined the process to this point, noting that the company had moved forward with their plans on a conditional stage, while they await Federal approval for their development.
As part of the slide show presentation, the path to this point was provided, with the process now nearing the end of the CEAA review stage, should they receive the required approval, the final step would appear to be a final review by the company as to the financial viability of the project.
She also updated council on some of the approaches that the company has made with area First Nations as part of their engagement process.
Ms. Gill also reviewed the nature of the construction process and reinforced the design of the facility and how it is not located on Flora Bank, but adjacent to it and that they have removed the need for a major dredge in the area. Highlighting the suspension bridge as one of the ways that they have responded to community feedback.
As well she provided some further background on the results of the habitat studies that they have taken on as part of their planning for the project.
She observed that their studies have provided them with modelling data that suggests that there will be no significant impact on the marine environment or on Flora Bank, as well as offering up some details on the nature of their studies into the eel grass of the Flora Bank region.
Some of the work to this point on the proposed terminal project was outlined for Council on Monday evening
Pacific NorthWest LNG reps provided a look at some of the environmental work that they have done to date
In addition to the environmental items discussed, the Pacific NorthWest reps reminded Council of the upcoming educational opportunities available through NWCC for November offering residents of the community to prepare for potential jobs associated with the operation of the terminal.
Mayor Brain offered up the first of some questions from Council members, asking for an outline as to any agreements that Pacific NorthWest LNG has signed with Lax Kw'alaams. While Ms. Gill did not offer up any specific details on any engagement with the Lax Kw'alaams First Nations government, she did note that the company has varying levels of engagement with all area First Nations regarding the investigative works related to the project.
Councillor Mirau asked if they had a timeline in mind for moving forward with the project. Ms. Gill noted that the situation was up to the regulator and that there were 100 days left on the regulatory clock. Noting if they accept their submission, there would be a need for consultation and Ministerial review, with the potential for further requirements.
In an answer on potential employment numbers form Councillor Kinney and Councillor Randhawa, the approximate number would be 300 full time employees of Pacific NorthWest, while another 300 full time positions through other contractors that could be created as part of other services required for the terminal complex.
Ms. Gill also noted that it was the preference of the company to hire local workers, though there would be the need for some experienced workers from outside of the city. When it comes to the construction aspect of the project, while the preference again is to hire local, there will be a requirement larger than the local workforce can provide.
Councillor Thorkelson followed up on the environmental modelling aspect of their work and seeking clarification on what the process is in delivering that to CEAA and providing comments related to their previously submitted information.
Penalties marked the much of the tone of the night, with an equal amount of penalties and time served recorded on the rather full game sheet. Terrace on the night sat for 37 minutes of time on 18 infractions, while the Rampage players were in the box for 37 minutes as well, serving time for 19 penalty calls.
