Weather Watching the focus for Skeena Valley Relay organizers

The next event on the local running scene is set for this weekend, with the Skeena River Relay Run set for a 7AM start Saturday from Prince Rupert's Lester Centre, though organizers are keeping an eye on weather and flood forecasts as much as they are on entries at the moment when it comes to the run along Highway 16.

The popular event features ten stages for the relay along the scenic route between Prince Rupert and Terrace and runners have been in training for the event for a few months now.

The Rupert Runners Website lists the thirty teams registered to date for participation in the event, eight of which are from Prince Rupert that will see the teams take to the 140 kilometre course.

The timeline for the Saturday event looks as follows:

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However, for all the extensive planning that comes with an event like the Skeena River Relay Run, there is always the unexpected and this year, a flooding concern on the Skeena is making for something of some note for organizers.

That as the City of Terrace announced that its Emergency Operations Centre was now open to provide updates on the rising water concerns.

The latest update for the Relay came through the Rupert Runners Facebook page provides the situation as it is to this moment.

Follow the Rupert Runners social media stream for more notes on the event as they get closer to the start on Saturday.

More notes on running across the Northwest can be explored from our archive page.

With the end of the current Legislature session today and a summer break ahead, No Context BC runs the highlight reel

The Premier said what? ....

Today marks the last day for the BC Legislature and as a gift towards remembrance of the last year, No Context BC has rolled out the highlight reel, putting the spotlight on some of the Legislatures main performers from the recent session.

The Twitter based project has been providing for a wide range of some of the more unusual of moments from the BC Legislature, this year featuring some confused expressions, colourful language, a bit of theatrical mime work and even a marriage proposal.

Among those who were noted by the project for this session were Northwest  MLA's Nathan Cullen ad Ellis Ross.  

You can review the highlights here.

Since it launched in October of 2021, the feed has seen 1,259 tweets sent out to its growing fan base, you can explore all of them here.

With the end of the Legislature work today, the MLA's will return to their constituencies for the majority of the near four month break and await the call to the Legislature for the first week of October when they will resume their duties in the Chamber.

MLA's bring their Legislature work to an end today with the return
to the Chamber set for the first week of October

More notes on the work of the three Northwest MLA's both in the Legislature and at their home constituency offices can be reviewed from our archive page.

Container use in Residential areas again on the mind of City Council

The increased use of shipping containers for storage
in Residential areas was a topic of note from Monday's 
Prince Rupert City Council Session

The approval Monday night for a temporary use permit for a storage container in a city residential area, has once again brought the topic of how to manage the growing use of the shipping containers in the city, a situation which has increased in frequency in recent years.

Monday night Council approved a Temporary Use Permit for a period of one year, that related to a homeowner who is renovating a residence and wanted to use the container to be placed in the Cotton Street area to store belongings during the work required.

Council approved a Temporary Use Permit for a storage
container on a property on Cotton Street on Monday evening

The application for the Permit was requested in April, with the applicant going through all the proper procedures with the City, including public notification, which received no comment from the public and the posting a $5,000 cash bond with the City as part of those regulations.

The Report to Council at the time related to the request can be reviewed below:

And while Council was quick to approve the final stage of approval in this instance, the growing number of containers appearing around the city that haven't gone through the city's process did capture the attention of Councillor Barry Cunningham.

It's a topic he and Councillor Wade Niesh have raised before, though since that December 2020 discussion it doesn't appear that much progress has been made in bringing the unwanted incursions of containers to an end.

Monday, Mr. Cunningham noted of a few instances he has observed in his travels and called on the city's Bylaw department to enforce the existing bylaws related to such activity.  You can

"Containers on the street, I think are starting to become bit of a problem. And not everyone has a temporary use permit for them. 

I was up on Eagle Subdivision, on Parker there is one sitting taking up half a lane and if somebody parks on the other side I don't even know if a fire truck could get through there, it's a tight squeeze.

And the more and more you drive around town their sort of  ... off of people's property onto the street, and I think bylaw should look into, because if they have to have a Temporary use permit to put it someplace, then it's something we should be enforcing." -- Councillor Barry Cunningham on container use in the city

You can review the short discussion from the City's Video Archive starting at the 37 minute mark.

More notes on Monday's Council Session can be reviewed through our Council Timeline Feature.

A wider overview of past Council Discussion themes can be explored here.

Housing Minister David Eby notes of challenges for communities like Prince Rupert in developing housing

Work in May on the Supportive Housing facility of Cranes Crossing
saw some progress made; though it doesn't appear ready
for an official opening anytime soon.

The frustration of moving forward housing proposals got a review in the British Columbia Legislature this week and as part of the discussion in the Chamber, Housing Minister David Eby used Prince Rupert as an example of some of the challenges that have been found in adding to the much needed housing stock across the province.

The topic came up as part of the Legislature Debate on Estimates for the Housing portfolio of Tuesday morning and afternoon, with Mr. Eby relaying a range of statistical reviews of housing projects that are either in development for under construction, as well as those that have been funded but not yet under construction.

The back and forth of the discussion between the Minister and BC Liberal critic Mike Bernier among others,  explored the list of programs for Housing in the province and some of the challenges towards moving forward on the NDP government's ambitious plans for more housing development in the province, particularly through the concept of the government's Housing Hub program.

During the afternoon portion of the debate, the challenges of housing for Prince Rupert received a short mention with the Minister noting of some of the challenges found in developing additional housing in the community, mainly through a lack of developers to build the homes required.

Housing Minister David Eby had a few comments on the
challenges of getting housing built in smaller communities on Tuesday

"One of the issues that we've identified in the program — I'm not sure; I think I raised it in an earlier response, but maybe not — is that some communities have a shortage of developers or non-profits or both to build housing that's needed. 

And Prince Rupert's a really good example that I've spoken about on a number of occasions. 

Here's a community that's growing incredibly economically, hundreds and hundreds of jobs added annually just at the port. 

And All the services that the people who take these jobs at the port need…. And yet the municipality really is grappling with a shortage of developers to come and build the housing for people who are going to work at the port. 

So it's not just a health care issue. If we're talking about health care workers in Rupert, we're also talking about port workers and other essential service workers in Rupert. 

I'm sure there are similar issues in Chetwynd and other smaller communities." -- Attorney General and Minister for Housing David Eby speaking in the Legislature on Tuesday

The debate over Housing made for some extensive conversation in the Legislature you can explore more of the debate from the Legislature Video feed here, the Prince Rupert mention comes just after the 4:05 PM mark.

There are a number of proposed Housing plans still in motion in the city. Two of the higher profile projects in development come from the Lax Kw'alaams led housing complex planned for 11th Avenue East, as well as the BC housing remaking of the McKay/Kootenay area of the city,.

Neither of which have seen much in the way of work since they were announced previously.

When it comes to the BC Housing plans for the Harbour View Gardens, there doesn't appear to be much progress made on the concept since the community engagement of last year, with few updates on what is ahead released through the BC Housing site.

Getting projects to the finish line has been a challenge for Prince Rupert, the current status of the Cranes Crossing Supportive Housing facility at Five Corners is a good example of that, with progress seemingly back on track towards the much delayed renovation plans, though no timeline for completion has been provided for yet.

As we outlined in February, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice had indication that a summer completion was still the official target, though she added that it would not surprise her if that shifted towards the fall.

More notes on Housing themes across the northwest can be explored through our archive pages.

Indigenous storytelling the focus for June as CBC Daybreak and Prince Rupert Library host month long event

An opportunity to hear the Indigenous stories of the North Coast and share some of your own accounts is coming up starting this week and weekend, as the CBC Daybreak team and the Prince Rupert Library launch a month long venture of Indigenous story telling.

The project which will be hosted by Ts'msyen Reporter and CBC Associate Producer Rudy Kelly will feature three unique presentations at Prince Rupert's House of Reading on Sixth Avenue West on three Saturdays this month, as well as some information gathering by Mr. Kelly during the week.

The schedule of conversations to take place on Saturdays can be reviewed below:

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Daybreak North is also looking for more stories as part of their ongoing project of Indigenous storytelling.

 Starting tomorrow June 3,  Kelly will be in the library to meet with Indigenous community members and to hear your stories on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays all month long. 

The stories shared will be considered for use in CBC news, CBC podcasts and more. If you can't make it to the library but have a story you would like to share, you can submit your story online from the link included in the story link here.

The Saturday storytelling is just the start of what will be an expansive look at the stories of the Ts'msyen Nation with Mr. Kelly, Daybreak North and the Library working on podcast themes for those stories.

When he's not busy preparing for the Library sessions, or his current work at the Third Avenue West studios of the CBC Daybreak team in Prince Rupert, Mr. Kelly devotes a lot of his efforts towards the local theatrical community, well known for many of his past performance in local productions.

The former Prince Rupert Daily News reporter is also a recently published author, and you can learn more about his writing from his website which hosts a range of stories and review of the past both from his Daily News experiences and beyond, along with links to his latest works.

For more on the month long collection of stories and Saturday sessions at the Library follow CBC Daybreak North through their social media stream.

More items of note on the local media scene can be reviewed from our archive page here.

Convocation Month at Coast Mountain College starts today in Terrace

It's a big day for students at the
main campus in Terrace of Coast
Mountain College with 
Convocation set to take place at 1PM

The largest campus on the North Coast for Coast Mountain College will host the first Convocation ceremony in three years today, as students of programs at the Terrace campus make their walk across the stage at the REM Lee Theatre.

With the largest volume of courses available in the Northwest, the Terrace campus is home to thousands of students full and part time and as we transited through the last few years of the COVID pandemic the opportunities for large gatherings were lost, which meant that Convocation time was a very different experience for students and their families,

With the return to the REM Lee theatre today, the full pomp and celebration of the Convocation experience will once again make for the narrative of the day.

Students will begin arriving at the Theatre at 11:30 AM to receive their gowns, the photo opportunities will be available starting at the noon hour, while the Convocation Ceremony will take place at 1PM.

Follow the Coast Mountain College Facebook page  and Instagram Feed for updates, photos and such of today's event/

The main campus celebration of today is just the start for Coast Mountain College's month of Convocation, both the Smithers and Prince Rupert campuses will host their own local celebrations later this month.

More notes on Coast Mountain College can be reviewed from our archive page.

Budget Decision looms Thursday for SD52 Board members

A Thursday Open Zoom session for SD52 will provide the final
approval for the 2022 School budget 

Trustees from School District 52 will meet in a Special Open Board session on Thursday, the meeting to take place to resolve their Budget situation as outlined in early May and to chart the financial course forward for the 2022-23 School year,

When we last left the School Board members, Secretary-Treasurer Can McIntyre had seemingly  caught the Board by surprise with an announcement of a potential 800,000 dollar deficit for the year; the second year in a row that the Board Trustees had been provided with a notice of such a large financial amount to deal with.

At the meeting of early last month, the Board members noted of plans to go into workshops through May to explore how they would approach the financial situation, though there was no further mention of the process at the Regular Board meeting held on May 17th.

The only mention of Budget themes a that session came from Board Chair Kate Toye, who had outlined  a concept for consideration that would see a new committee formed that would explore budget themes in the future from the beginning of a school year.

That same May 17th session also featured a contribution to the discussion from the PRDTU president Gabriel Bureau, who raised concerns of school staffing and the lack of information shared to date on the budget issues.

Towards the  Budget session for tomorrow, the elected board officials will once again meet by  Zoom methods at 7PM, continuing on with what has been a year of sessions that have not been held in a public in person forum.

For those members of the public looking to participate, you will require a link to the session from the School District office, the details on how to access that can be found below:

For more notes on the SD52 Budget process for 2022 see the School Board archive page here.

Further items of interest from the School District can be explored through our archive page.