Rampage Weekend features Home and Home series with Terrace River Kings

Rampage in Pink for the Fight against cancer 2023
(image from PR Rampage Facebook page)

With the CIHL playoffs looming in the month ahead, the push towards placement in the standings resumes  this weekend and for the Prince Rupert Rampage, the next two games make for a familiar foe and significant challenge over the course of just over 24 hours.

The Rampage are on the road tonight for a showdown with the River Kings at the Sportsplex a much anticipated event for Skeena Vally hockey fans.  

Tonight's match up making for the second last home game of the regular season for the River Kings, a point on the schedule which should bring a good crowd in for the contest between the long running Northwest rivals.

A quick scan of the Roster sheets for both squads shows a pair of evenly matched teams, though the River Kings have an edge when it comes to offence with a number of players in double digits in total points on the year.

The two teams last went head to head on January 7th when the Rampage won a hard earned victory in Overtime by a score of 7-6, so the River Kings will be looking to reverse that history come puck drop tonight.

The two teams will then reverse the roles tomorrow night as the Rampage play the host to the visiting River Kings the battle for first place in the West for the most part is one between Terrace and Prince Rupert. 

That will make the four points up for grabs pure gold for someone by the time midnight rolls around on Saturday.

The Saturday contest which starts at 7 PM is also the second last home game for the Rhinos before the playoffs. 

So the wrap to the regular season and matchup of perhaps the strongest rivalry in the CIHL should make for a large and boisterous crowd at the Jim tomorrow night.

As they have all season, the Rampage have once again dipped into the deep pool of talent in the PRMHA, naming Luke Esso to the roster for Saturday night.

Tomorrow also will mark the end of the month long focus on the Fight against Cancer, a project that the Rampage took on and excelled at sharing the message towards over the last 27 days.

Their success towards that can be found from their Social Media Feed and the overwhelming support the cause has received from the teams sponsors and others.

The Hometown team also gained a shoutout from Mayor Herb Pond at Monday's Council session, with Mr. Pond noting of their success with the awareness and fundraising campaign this month and his anticipation that Saturday night will bring even more impressive news from the campaign.

"I just want to give a shout out to the Rampage, I've had a chance to speak twice now and I'll be at their final game, not their final game of the season, but as they do this month of push around raising funds for cancer. 

When I spoke the last game they had me announce before the game started, that they were up to 18,000 dollars raised, I'm sure that they're many times over that.

I'll have the privilege of announcing, I believe I'll have the Privilege of announcing the total again at the upcoming game." -- Mayor Herb Pond at Monday's city council session

You can follow all the latest news from the Rampage through their Social Media page.

More items of note from the Rampage and the CIHL can be explored through our archive page.

Dollar Store with more ... No More. Clear out of former Downtown retail space continues

The removal of stock and items from the Former Dollar Store with more
continued this week in Prince Rupert

It's another Load Out Day for what remains behind the Brown papered windows of the Dollar Store, with More, which at the moment doesn't have much left at all.

The store in the heart of the Downtown core, located right across from City Hall, announced its plans to close in November, the first of the stock was moved out earlier this month destined for other locations of the chain across the province.

The owners were back this week to remove more of the interior fixtures, shopping carts and other times from the interior of the store.

The closure marked the latest round for the shrinking nature of the city's retail shopping options, that as the commercial sector ebbs and flows in the community, more towards ebbing in this instance. 

So far there has been no indication if a tenant has been found to take over the space or what may be the nature of what comes next for the valuable bit of downtown retail space.

More notes on the Commercial Sector can be reviewed from our archive page.

Familiar name on the North Coast named as new Chief Administrative officer for District of Port Edward

Robert Grodecki has 
been named the new CAO for
the District of Port Edward
(image from North Coast
Skeena First Nation website)

The District of Port Edward has announced that their search for a new Chief Administrative Officer has come to an end, and with their Announcement of Thursday, a familiar name for many on the North Coast is stet to take up duties as the most senior executive in the District. 

Mr. Robert Grodecki was introduced as the new CAO in an District press release yesterday, with Mayor Knut Bjorndal making for the official welcome.

"We are pleased that we have been able to fill this important position from our local area and on behalf of Council and the community, we look forward to welcoming Robert to Port Edward and working with him on our many new and important initiatives"

The announcement also charted some of Mr. Grodecki's previous work of ten years as Executive Director of the North Coast-Skeena First Nations Stewardship Society.

His resume also includes a four year stint at Prince Rupert City Hall when he served as the City's Corporate Administrator from 2009 until his departure in 2013. 

Among his past work he has also served as the Administrative Manager for the Metlakatla Band Council a post he held for four years.

Mr. Grodecki. will assume the duties in Port Edward from the Interim CAO Elsie Lemke, who was welcomed aboard in the fall to assist the community during the period of their search.

The quest for a new CAO began following the departure of Danielle Myles-Wilson who moved from the North Coast for a position in municipal government on Vancouver Island in September of last year.

The announcement has been relayed through both the District's website and Social media page.

More items of interest from the District of Port Edward can be reviewed through our archive page.

As January nears end, still no word on a CityWest Distribution payment back to its sole shareholder

Almost one month into 2023, City of Prince Rupert residents and 
the sole shareholders in CityWest have not heard how much the
Communication company will return to the community for this. year

With an ever expanding CityWest charting new territories by the month, the folks back home at the home territory wondering how the return on their investment fared in 2022. 

Particularly with no word, as of yet, as to the annual delivery of what is now called a distribution payment back to the sole owner of the Communication company, the City of Prince Rupert.

The annual cheque presentation has often in the past been celebrated as a Christmas event, the annual payment complete with a giant novelty cheque that highlights the amount that the communication company has returned back for the year.

Last year, that Distribution payment announcement shifted towards the end of January. 

The January 2022 presentation would turn out to be the last for former Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain, who accepted the final novelty cheque on behalf of the City, from Stefan Woloszyn,  the President of City West.

The last Annual distribution payment presentation took place in 
January of 2022

Mr. Brain is now on the other side of the presentation program, serving as a VP for Community and Stakeholder relations.  But so far, there's no indication that the annual payment presentation is set to take place.

Distribution payments are not dividends, and the CityWest cash  is part of their repayment commitment towards a previous loan from the City during the days of the first expansion and purchase of the Monarch Cable assets.

A Snapshot of some of the Distribution Payments over the last decade looks as follows:

January 25, 2022 --$800,000

December 28, 2020 -- $700,000

December 10, 2017 -- $600,000

December 5, 2018 -- $400,000

December 12, 2017 -- $400,000 

December 7, 2016 -- $400,000

December 4, 2015 -- $400,000

December 22, 2014 -- $400,000

Over the years, it has been noted that the money returned by CityWest to the City of Prince Rupert was directed towards operational budget requirements.

Prior to it being turned into a City owned company, CityTel as it was known at that time normally had delivered a dividend towards one or two million dollars back to the City each year.

We forwarded an email earlier this week to CityWest communications office seeking an update on the status of this years Distribution payment, but so far no replay has arrived.

Should we receive one, or CityWest post a photo of the cheque presentation and amount for this year to their social media stream, we'll provide an update on the financial return for the year.

More notes on CityWest can be explored through our archive page.

AMHS Vessel challenges impact on Prince Rupert-Kethcikan Service

The AMHS Vessel Matanuska is in dry dock and won't be
coming back to service for a while, something that means
that service to Prince Rupert has been suspended

The plans for the reintroduction of Ferry service between Prince Rupert and its neighbour to the north in Ketchikan hit some choppy waters this month, that as the vessel Matanuska which had previously been tasked for the service has been sidelined from duty owing to some maintenance issues.

The advisory of the changes ahead came earlier this month with an update from the State of Alaska and the Alaska Marine Highway Service.

The AMHS Fleet which is an aging one, has few assets to shift around so in some cases, such as this last month Communities like Prince Rupert have seen their service curtailed.

The situation has had some impact on travellers, with Alaska Public Radio providing a snapshot of the challenge the cancellation of service to Prince Rupert brought for one pair of travellers.

As it was, the schedule that was planned for 2023 didn't offer much in the way of frequency with just 1 sailing set for February and March, moving to two monthly transits in April previously published.

But now as the KRBD story notes, with no ferry available, those sailings have been cancelled, with no further indication as to when an update will be provided towards the plans for the Prince Rupert service.

The AMHS is now in the process of working on its summer schedule so we should have some idea as to how the summer travel season may look like for transits to and from Prince Rupert later this Spring, that is providing the Marine Highway can keep its boats on the water before the busy travel period.

The AMHS Playbook for Prince Rupert features a comment section which highlights the importance travellers put to the connection between Alaska and BC.

So with some luck the State and Ferry Service will find a way to ensure some kind of marine link is available by the Summer. 

More notes on Marine Transportation on the North Coast and into Alaska
can be reviewed from our archive page. 

City Hall highlights the GO MAP as a Go To destination for Prince Rupert information seekers

The Planning and Development Map one of a number of
visual options from the City's Go-Map program

Click before you call, that's the message from City Hall as staffers highlight the opportunities available through the City of Prince Rupert Go Map program.

Earlier this week, the City outlined the various uses for the online Go Map program, the maps available offering up access to locating plots at the Cemetery, tracking your Garbage and Recycling information as well as property search options for those looking for a visual of properties in the community.

You can access the Go Map feature from the City website here.

More notes of interest from City Hall can be explored through our archive page.

Work Party Call out for Rushbrook Trail Clean Up on Sunday morning

Kaien Trails has put out a call for volunteers for this Sunday as the local recreation society looks to take to the work required to clean up the Rushbrook Trail.

The popular trail suffered from some of the impact of the Winter Storm of mid month and has been closed to the public since owing to trees that have fallen and other challenging situations for those who transit the path from Rushbrook to the Seal Cove Salt Marsh.

The Clean up work party is asked to assemble at the Salt Marsh on Sunday at 11AM.

You can follow their Social Media feed for updates on the work ahead.

More notes on the city's Recreation trail system can be reviewed through our archive page.