Long time Northwest radio voice steps away from the microphone

After thirty years on the radio in the
Northwest, Joh Crawford has stepped
out of the media spotlight

For those who listen to CJFW FM or CHTK/EZ Rock, your morning routine was a little bit different today, with a new voice to listen to on air with your news updates; that after John Crawford brought a thirty year run on your radio in the Northwest to an end, retiring from broadcasting with the wrap on his Friday morning newscasts.

The popular news anchor and CFTK TV personality, who is originally from Ontario made his home in the Terrace area after a few stops up and down the dials of radio stations before taking to the air at the Terrace operations of then Skeena Broadcasters, now Bell North.

He has been witness to a number of pivotal Northwest events and shared the details of them with his audiences over those three decades, making for one of the longest serving broadcasters in the region.

In addition to his work in Northwest broadcasting, Mr. Crawford has also been involved in a range of local causes in the Skeena Valley over the years.

His retirement will see him remain an active member of the Terrace community, and the announcement that he was stepping away from the microphone has generated a fair number of best wishes through the CFTK TV Facebook page.

For more notes related to broadcasting in the Northwest see our archive page here.

Premier Horgan targets key Skeena riding with Terrace/Kitimat visit for first Northwest tour

NDP leader John Horgan was in Terrace/Kitimat over the 
weekend, among his themes another mention of the plans
for a new Mills Memorial Hospital

The political road  for Premier John Horgan didn't quite make it to Prince Rupert this weekend, wrapping up on Saturday with a short stopover in Terrace,  as well as quick trip to Kitimat, as the NDP brought their re-election campaign to what many suggest may be a key political battle ground come October 24th.

One of the focus points for the Premier, who was accompanied by Skeena NDP MLA candidate Nicole Halbauer was a stop at Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, where the Premier once again noted how the Mills replacement project remained a key priority for his government.

That visit to Mills Memorial has made for a short social media message for the first week of the campaign.

The Skeena riding which was once an NDP stronghold, was taken by former Haisla leader Ellis Ross in the 2014 election, with the BC Liberal MLA gaining a high profile over the last three years as part of the Liberal opposition.

Such is the importance of the riding as a potential swing, that the Premier spent much of his Saturday also checking in with are first Nations leaders, holding meetings with Eva Clayton, President of the Nisga'a Lisims government, Kitsumkalum Chief Don Robert and Crysatl Smith the Chief Councillor of Haisla Nation.

The itinerary for the weekend did not include a trip to Prince Rupert to lend a hand to the campaign for North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice and her quest for re-election on October 24th.

With or without the Premier's help, Ms. Rice kept busy, setting up her campaign office, located in the Cow Bay area of Prince Rupert, with a group of volunteers getting things set for the month long campaign ahead.

More notes on the 2020 campaign can be found from our archive page here.

Saturday Food Drive hauls in over 5300 pounds of goods

Generous Rupert residents once
again left their donations on
their porch on Saturday
as the annual Thanksgiving Food
Drive made collections in town

Volunteers had some great weather to make their rounds on Saturday as the annual Prince Rupert Thanksgiving Food Drive made the tour of the region and as they did they collected a good volume of goods for the annual event.

In a Social media post following a busy day of collecting and sorting, the organizers of the Food Drive announced that Saturday's haul brought in over 5,3000 pounds of goods.

Among those lending a hand once again this year was DP World, with the Fairview Terminal operator donating 25 collapsable crates for use at the sorting station, DP World employees also gave of their time this year to help in the program.

There may be a few Prince Rupert residents who weren't aware of the weekend Food Drive or didn't get their bags to their stoops in time for pick up, if so, you can still do your part, dropping off your bag of goods at either Canada Safeway or Save On Foods.

You can get some insight into what it takes to pull it all together from the Food Drive Facebook page.

The Saturday Food Bank Drive wasn't the only event held in aid of the Prince Rupert area Salvation Army, as we outlined on Saturday Prince Rupert's Harley Riders took to the streets of the city in their Annual Toy Run, with proceeds destined for the local Christmas program.

More notes of interest on community events can be explored here.

North Coast Liberals introduce their candidate; share a few potential themes for campaign ahead

BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson got a bit ahead of his own North Coast constituency last Friday afternoon, breaking the news on the candidacy of Hereditary Haida Chief Roy Jones Junior as the party's candidate for the 2020 provincial election.

The roll out of Mr. Jones, was one of a number of candidates named by the leader late last week.

Sunday evening, the North Coast Liberals made it a formal announcement, with a notice to the riding association's Facebook page that introduces the candidate and charts a few topics that may come up for discussion on the campaign trail towards the October 24th election day.

As they head into the campaign, Liberal officials on the North Coast are noting how Mr. Jones is the first ever Indigenous candidate for a major political party to contest a provincial election on the North Coast.

“One thing has to be clear. As a first nations candidate, and as your next BC Liberal MLA for North Coast, I will be here for the greater community, as we are all in this together. I will have an open door policy to ensure that you have a voice in the government of BC. I will bring your voice to the table and I promise, nothing is off the table."

Some of the themes we may hear about over the course of the next month include, the ongoing decline in industrial opportunities, particularly those found in the fishery, as well as the need to ensure opportunity is found here to stop the outward flow of youth looking for employment and to bring back those who have left previous.

He also outlines attention towards education, keeping the family unit intact, job and training opportunities and environmental themes as some of his points of focus for the days ahead.

You can review the full election launch here.

For the latest notes on the 2020 provincial election campaign see our archive page here.

Real Estate Tracker: Week ending Sunday, September 27, 2020

A sale and a return of a property to the listings made for the most movement of the last seven days, as the value of our top end listings nudged upwards since our last review.

Every Monday, we look over the listing prices of the week just passed 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 information purposes, for further background 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 September 27, 2020 can be explored below:

Real Estate listings on the East Side of Prince Rupert
Week ending September 27, 2020

Real Estate listings on the West Side of Prince Rupert
Week ending September 27, 2020

From this weeks arrangement of the top end of the listings, there is an 6-4 split from east to west, with sox properties west of McBride and four on the list located on the east side of the city.

The total value of the list of ten now drops from last weeks totals, sitting now at just over the 7 million dollar mark.

The lowest mark for the list of ten  sits  at $525,000 while our top end from the last week now is marked  at the price point of  $1,290,000

Below find our findings as of the Week ending September 27, 2020

1824 Graham Avenue                    $1,290,000 -- Realty Executives 

2050 Atlin Avenue                         $849,000 --    Realty Executives 

1933 Graham Avenue                    $699,000 --     Remax

2230 Graham Avenue                    $689,000 --     Remax

508 Cassiar Avenue                       $685,000 --     Remax

1714 Sloan Avenue                        $649,000 --     Remax
251 Parker Drive                            $570,000 --    Realty Executives

253 Parker Drive                            $549,000 --    Realty Executives

103 Raven Place                             $533,000 --    Remax

1702 India Avenue                          $525,000 --    Remax
 

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.

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

Blog Watching: Week ending September 27, 2020

Premier John Horgan put an end to the speculation this week, calling a provincial election for October 24th, a Monday morning announcement which signalled the start of what should be a most fascinating campaign across the Northwest.

Among a range of stories we provided on the theme of the election this week, our look at the nomination by the BC Liberals of Haida Hereditary Chief Roy Jones Junior found a strong audience.

Other items of note on the week included a number of City related themes, with Council set to move forward on a land disposition for Ninth and McBride.

Also capturing a large audience this week, was our look at a guest article on the Complete Streets for Prince Rupert website which explored Transportation themes tied into the current Official Community Plan overhaul.

Some data provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control delivered notice that COVID has been recorded in Prince Rupert, with three cases listed in the most recent report from the provincial agency.

And Prince Rupert's Harley Riders hit the road on Saturday and our account of their departure from the Salvation Army at Grenville Court was well received by readers.

However, when it came to the most read item of the last week, our review of the latest notice of plans for civic land in the community captured the most attention.

City set to close land deal, with plan of disposition of land located adjacent the Civic Centre -- Another land manoeuvre for the City of Prince Rupert, with a patch of land at Ninth Avenue West and McBride near the Civic Centre set to be turned over to the Prince Rupert area Jehovah Witnesses   (posted  September 25, 2020)

That article was followed by:

Roy Jones Junior named as BC Liberal candidate for North Coast -- Monday's election call by Premier John Horgan has seen BC's political parties scrambling to get candidates in place for the campaign for the October 24th vote. In the North Coast riding, the BC Liberals have nominated Haida Hereditary Chief Roy Jones Junior to try and take the seat from incumbent MLA Jennifer Rice. You can explore some of the latest notes on the campaigns so far across the Northwest from our archive page here.  (posted September 25, 2020)

Latest data from BC CDC shows 3 cases of COVID recorded in Prince Rupert area as of August 31 -- COVID has finally made its way to Prince Rupert, with the relay of information from the BC Centre for Disease Control which posted data from August that notes three cases recorded in the Prince Rupert area, a count that is still quite low compared to many other communities. (posted  September 22, 2020 )

Sunshine greets Prince Rupert Harley Riders as 2020 Toy Run gets underway -- The 39th annual run of one of Prince Rupert's most popular fund raising events for the Salvation Army Christmas program took to the roads of the city on Saturday, with the Prince Rupert Harley Riders roaring out of Grenville Court at 1 PM on Saturday.  (posted September 26, 2020)

Transportation themes explored by Complete Streets for Prince Rupert as part of their ongoing engagement towards City's Official Plan -- While Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain was wrapping up his one-on-one Official Community Plan sessions with those who booked appointments, Complete Streets for Prince Rupert, the local group with hopes of a more vigorous Active Transportation program for the region provided some good background reading on the theme. Posting a guest article from VIU Masters program graduate Seamus McConville which explored the range of options towards Transportation options that are available.    (posted September 23, 2020)

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

You can also review the full listings of the week just past, from our Blog Archive index page found on the right hand side of the page.

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. It can be found underneath the Follow the North Coast Review by Email indicator.

As well, those who use Twitter can get updates as we post new items from our twitter feed

Our archive of weekly Blog Watching  can be found here.

To view the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

Wind Warning/Rainfall Warning in effect for North Coast Overnight, along with heavy rains Sunday

Satellite imagery from Environment Canada highlights
the approaching storm set to arrive overnight on Haida Gwai
and the coastal regions of the North Coast

A nasty wind is going to blow overnight, with Environment Canada issuing a WIND WARNING for North Coast - Coastal regions on Saturday afternoon, the warnings.

An intense Pacific Weather System is on its way tonight, with Southeast winds developing eventually reaching 100 km/h for the North Coast and Haida Gwaii by early Sunday morning. The winds will shift to the SW by Sunday evening easing to 50 km/h with occasional gusts of up to 70 km/h.

click to enlarge

Along with the wind will come some rain with the Sunday forecast, with Environment Canada issuing a RAINFALL WARNING in the early hours of Sunday calling for up to 100 mm through the day and into Sunday night and on into Monday.

click above to enlarge

The Pacific system also makes for Marine Weather Warnings, with Storm warnings issued for areas off Haida Gwaii and the North and Central Coasts.

Winds are light at the moment but will increase to southeast 15 to 25 knots this evening and to southeast 35 to 45 after midnight. Wind increasing to southeast 50 to 60 early Sunday morning then diminishing to southwest 25 to 35 Sunday afternoon. Wind diminishing to southwest 20 Sunday evening.

Seas 1 metre building to 2 to 3 after midnight and to 3 to 5 early Sunday morning. Seas subsiding to 2 to 3 Sunday afternoon.

You can access the full Marine Warnings for all areas of the coast here.

More notes on past weather situations for the region can be explored here.