BC Ferries announces Sailing Delay in effect for Northern Expedition on Thursday

As nasty weather tracks its path towards the North Coast on Thursday afternoon, BC Ferries has already made a schedule change to the planned Thursday departure of the Northern Expedition.

The Ferry Service posted the Service Notice to their website on Wednesday evening, advising that Thursday's 2:30 PM departure time has been moved back to 11:59 on Thursday evening, weather dependant and subject to change.

As we outlined earlier, Environment Canada has issued a Wind Warning for the North Coast and Haida Gwaii for Thursday afternoon and into the evening.

With conditions that would make a journey across Hecate Strait a less than enjoyable experience, the Ferry Service revised their schedule to set out for Haida Gwaii under calmer seas. The resulting schedule changes can be found at the top of this page.

You can review further updates from the BC Ferries website.

Wind Warning issued for North Coast for Thursday

Environment Canada is giving the North Coast a heads up, Thursday is likely to be a stormy day along the coast.

The National Weather office issued a Wind Warning for the region at 6:06 on Wednesday evening.

The Warning advises that damaging winds are expected for the region as a strong Pacific frontal system develops offshore and makes landfall on Thursday afternoon.

Ahead of the system southeast winds of 80 to 100 km/h are expected to develop across coastal sections of the North Coast, Central Coast and Haida Gwaii.

The winds are expected to ease off overnight Thursday.

You can consult the Environment Canada website for further warnings through the next 48 hours.

Youth Soccer Registration starts Saturday

Our mild and relatively snow free winter (so far), has many thinking ahead to spring activities and one rite of passage in Prince Rupert for youth, is the start of the soccer season which normally runs from late April through to the end of June.

The 2013 season is on the way and the first of three opportunities for parents to enrol their children with the Prince Rupert Youth Soccer Association takes place this Saturday.

The registration for the 2013 soccer season will get underway at the Prince Rupert Civic Centre on Saturday, January 26th from Noon until 3 PM.

Those taking advantage of the first registration day will be able to access the lowest of the Association's registration fees, Saturday's fee will be 70 dollars per child.

The second registration day will come on Saturday, February 2nd, at which time the registration fee increases by ten dollars to 80 dollars per child.

The final opportunity to register for the 2013 season will arrive on Saturday, March 2nd, taking place at the Children's Festival at the Civic Centre.

However, those that wait until March will need to dig a little deeper for their registration fee, the final registration session fees will be 110 dollars per child.

Registration is open to boys and girls born between 1994 and 2007.

There are discounted rates available to families that are registering more than one child.

Parents with old soccer cleats hanging around the house can gain an additional one time 5.00 discount on each registration, when they turn the cleats over to the Association, which will then resell them to those looking for soccer cleats at the registration sessions.

As it is with many volunteer run organizations in the city, the Prince Rupert Youth Soccer Association is always on the look out for volunteers to lend assistance whether through the administration of the league or at the coaching level.

You can find further information on Youth Soccer in Prince Rupert from  the PRYSA website.

CN cleaning up derailment near McBride

Crews from Canadian National Railway have been working over the night to clear up a rail derailment near McBride.

The incident took place yesterday morning around 8:40, when 17 cars carrying metallurgical coal left the track in what is known as  the Fraser subdivision, 16 of the cars are reported to have landed on their sides.

None of the coal spilled into the Fraser River, as the site of the derailment is not in a stretch of the tracks that run near the river. There were no injuries reported from the derailment and environmental issues do not appear to be a concern from it.

However, the derailment has impeded traffic on the line between Jasper and McBride.

The latest update from CN is that the clean up efforts are anticipated to be completed sometime this morning, returning the line to service.

CN also advised that they believe that the incident would have minimal impact to customer operations at the Prince George or Prince Rupert gateways.

The Prince George Citizen was the first of the media outlets to provide news of the derailment with this article from yesterday, Opinion 250 in Prince George also had details on the derailment posted today.

New Hazelton RCMP release sketch of suspect in hitchhiking incident

The New Hazelton RCMP has released further details in a hitch hiking incident of last month that raised much concern across the Northwest.

As we outlined here after the first report of the incident, a female hitchhiker from the Kispiox area, was forced to jump from the moving vehicle, when she became concerned over the behaviour of the driver who had offered her a ride.

As part of the investigation into that incident, the RCMP has released a composite sketch of a person of interest in the incident, offering up a visual in the quest to seek further assistance from the public.

The male suspect driver has been described as a Caucasian male, heavy set, approximately 40 to 50years of age, At the time of the incident he had grey hair and was wearing dark brown glasses and a jean jacket.

Should anyone have further information on the incident, or if the sketch should tweak a memory you can contact the New Hazelton RCMP at 250- 842-5244 or contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)

More information on the incident and the ongoing investigation can be found at the RCMP website.

Updates:

CFTK-- Driver Sketch (video)

Further reviews of the original incident from December can be found below.


Terrace Standard-- Police seek northwestern BC minivan driver
CBC-- Hitchhiker leaps to safety from moving van
Opinion 250-- Young Woman Jumps through window in Hitchhiking incident
Vancouver Province-- Female Hitchhiker leaps to safety from red minivan
CFTK-- Kispiox Hitchhiker Escapes Frightening Situation

Sugar Shack Festival opens today

Prince Rupert's annual celebration of everything Francophone gets underway today, as Sugar Shack 2013 kicks off with a 7 PM social at Cowpucciono's.

The social launches four days of activities marking the third anniversary of the cultural event, celebrating the French culture across the Northwest. And while the temperatures of the North coast aren't quite the same as the backwoods of Quebec, the spirit of the festival should be much the same as that which surrounds the annual tapping of the maple trees back east.

Thursday is movie night at the Prince Rupert Cinemas. The featured attraction of the evening is the movie Liverpool, which includes subtitles for those still trying to work out their old high school french. Showtime is 7 PM.

Some entertainment in the way of a performance from L'Expression Collective is on the schedule for Friday night at the Tom Rooney Playhouse. As it's a Licensed event, the Friday evening affair is for those 19 and over. Tickets cost 5 dollars if purchased in advance at Teddy's or at the AFFNO offices at the Hecate Strait building. Tickets bump up a dollar to 6 if purchased at the door, the show starts at 8 PM.

Saturday features the Sugar Shack, which takes place at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre from 11 am to 2 pm. A chance to sample some traditional Francophone food, a performance from L'Expression Collective and the chance to win a number of prizes will be available through the three hours. Included in the potential prize package is return trip for four aboard Via Rail from Prince Rupert to Jasper.

The cost of admission to Saturday's wrap up event is 15 dollars for adults, 10 dollars for those 6-12, 5 dollars for children 3-5, those under 2 are admitted free.

Tickets to the wrap up event can be purchased at Cook's Jewellers or the AFFNO office.

You can find out more about the Sugar Shack and the AFFNO from their website.

Watson Island saga once again featured in the national press

The ongoing (or is that never ending) saga of Watson Island receives another review today, this one on the pages of the Globe and Mail, as reporter Andy Hoffman continues to examine the story that seems to have no end.

In a piece posted to the Globe website on Tuesday evening, Hoffman updates us all on the latest developments in an article that has a most fascinating title: Bizarre-trans Pacific scandal plagues Prince Rupert's best hope.

The article recounts much of the recent history of the Skeena Cellulose pulp mill, tying together the frequent troubles of the past and the more recent events of the last few years.

All of which have combined to make the Watson Island story a long running tale with many twists and turns and as of yet, little in the way of resolution and perhaps with yet more surprises to come.

Hoffman highlights the money spent by the city on maintenance of the site, at times as much as $100,000 a month and makes mention of the tens of thousands of dollars more that are being spent in legal bills.

He examines the plans of the would be buyers, Watco, still in a holding pattern as the battle between the City of Prince Rupert and a Chinese businessman continues on.

Those plans for development still very much the thing of a drawing on a table, rather than an active site of busy redevelopment.

And now, just when you thought the story couldn't get any stranger, the Globe introduces the scent of scandal from China. Where a Chinese  magazine Caijing, has apparently provided some background from the Chinese end of the news spectrum.

The Globe which has gained access to some of that documentation, suggests that the Chinese government may be viewing the bizarre nature of the magazine reports with a bit of faith.

Considering that Chinese officials seem fairly dedicated in censoring news and doing so quite frequently, the fact that they have allowed the Internet report to remain available to readers in China as long as they have, speaks volumes.

All fascinating stuff, and much of it something that Prince Rupert residents, thirsty as they are for any kind of information on the topic and still paying those bills, might be inclined to want to learn more of.

The Globe story can be found here, even with a pay wall at the Globe and Mail gates, there's much in the article to make the story one worth catching up on.

Considering how much Prince Rupert residents have paid so far as this tale has gone on and on, using up one of the Globe's 10 free monthly credits on this story, would perhaps be a very wise investment for locals.