coldstreamer@shaw.ca*******
Issues related to the District of Coldstream, local government issues, political commentary, local area photos,oddities in the news etc....
We have had three Red-Tails hunting in our yard - a juvenile and an adult
female with her juvenile. The mother and youngster got marooned in the snow
bank. No pics of the mother 'cause I rescued her first using a bath towel and
then the youngster. They didn't struggle and never tried to bite me. I was
mostly worried about their talons which are needle sharp and can go through your
hand or arm like butter. Mum flew away but the youngster sat in the pine tree
and watched me through the kitchen window for the rest of the day - guess he
thought I was going to feed him, too. Debbie
An overflow crowd turned out to support Huguette Allen's presentation on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) to the Board of Directors of the North Okanagan Regional District. Allen, representing the Bee Safe organization, requested the Board to declare the North Okanagan a GMO free region. The participants applause indicated strong support of her position. The presentation was based on a report entitled: GMO Myths and Truths.
On a bitterly cold winters morning a husband and wife in St.John's were listening to the radio during breakfast. They heard the announcer say, we are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snowploughs can get through.
So the good wife went out and moved her car. A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer said, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the odd-numbered side of the street, so the snowploughs can get through.
The good wife went out and moved her car again. The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today. You must park...." then the power went out.
The good wife was very upset, and with a worried look on her face she said, " I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snowploughs can get through?"
Then with the love and understanding in his voice that all men who are married to blondes exhibit, the husband replied,
Why don't you just leave the car in the garage this time."
Every year for a few days in the month of
February, the sun’s angle is such, that it lights up Horsetail Falls in
Yosemite, as if it were on fire. Thanks Katy!
Two Britons are wanted in Sweden on suspicion of organising a multi-million
pound, international garlic smuggling operation.
Prosecutors allege the pair, who have not been named, organised shipments of
Chinese garlic to Norway to take advantage of its low customs duties and
then smuggled it across the border into Sweden, thus avoiding EU i
The garlic, worth an estimated £8 million in total, was then distributed
across the European Union.
Thomas Ahlstrand, deputy chief prosecutor at Sweden's International Public
Prosecutions Office, described the smuggling as an "extensive operation
for big money" that ran for about two years, and that there were "lorry
loads" of the vegetable involved. More
Ousting a special officer of the legislature from his post can turn
into a dirty business. So it’s best to have clean hands when you start
the job.
There are new questions about whether the B.C. Liberal caucus qualified
on that score when it came to picking the MLAs who would decide auditor
general John Doyle’s fate.
Liberal MLA Eric Foster, the chairman of the all-party committee that
decided against re-appointing Doyle, was cited in a confidential
management letter from the auditor general’s office last year over
inadequate documentation for a $67,000 renovation of his constituency
office. But he continued to sit on and chair the committee that decided
Doyle should be denied a second term.
That looks, feels and smells wrong.
But Foster has a surprising response to that concern. He denied Tuesday
ever seeing the letter, or knowing anything about the adverse comments
about lack of spending documentation. More
by Castanet Staff - Story: 85583
Jan 8, 2013 / 5:00 pm
Voters in Vernon and Coldstream will be asked to approve borrowing up to $7.53M for a sports facility complex adjacent to Okanagan College in Coldstream.
The proposed facility will include a synthetic turf field, a second soil based grass field and a rubberized track.
It will also feature stands for about 400 spectators as well as changerooms, officials rooms, washrooms and mechanical/electrical rooms.
Originally, the cost came in at just under $8.5M, however, those costs were trimmed by nearly $1M at a recent Regional District meeting.
RDNO Parks Planner, Keith Pinkoski, says the budget was trimmed in three areas.
He says the cost of off site upgrades to College Way (street lighting, curbs and sidewalks) was trimmed from $1m to about $390,000, covered seating was eliminated saving approximately $200,000 while a decision was made to go with a soil based second field opposed to sand based, saving about $145,000.
Pinkoski says he believes the figures will hold up.
"These are all numbers that have been used on previous projects so we are pretty confident in the numbers we're using," says Pinkoski.
"They are numbers that include some contingencies. We're confident we have enough buffering in there to account for any weird fluctuations in the construction."
Pinkoski says if the project comes under the $7.53M figure that would affect the tax impact downwardly.
The current figure would add about $15 a year to the tax bill over the next 20 years.
If given the go ahead by the electorate, Pinkoski believes the facility could be operational by the spring of 2014.
"If we get approval April 6 we would have a bout six weeks of design and four weeks of tendering so we would be looking at awarding the contract at the end of June and starting in late 2013," says Pinkoski.
"It looks like we would be completing the project, if it goes ahead, in spring of 2014."
If the project gets turned down, Pinkoski says it would have to be significantly changed in order to go back to the people a second time.
As for public reaction, Pinkoski says he is receiving a lot of positive feedback.
"At a lot of the public appearances we have received a lot of good support but unfortunately the ones against it are the ones that are the loudest."
Exact wording of the referendum still has to be adopted with the new numbers in place.
Ernest (better known as Ernie) Palfrey died peacefully Thursday morning at home in his sleep.
The 83-year-old was widely known throughout
Coldstream both for his role in helping to shape the community and as a
“generous and loyal” man.
His legacy will be remembered at a service Friday at 2 p.m. at the Pleasant Valley Funeral Home.
“He’s definitely always been there if you needed
anything,” said granddaughter Kayla Palfrey, who used to live on the
farm with her grandpa but now resides in Langley. “He was always good to
me and my brother.”
Palfrey served nine years on Coldstream council before he was elected mayor in 1985, and he spent another 10 years as mayor.
He was also a charter member of the Coldstream
Fire Department, where he was a volunteer fireman for at least 24 years
and was on the Vernon Irrigation District Board for 18 years.
“He was a community-minded person,” said Jamie Kidston, long-time friend who has known Palfrey “ever since I can remember.”
In fact, Palfrey’s father came to Coldstream from England to work for Kidston’s grandfather.
Palfrey, born on June 6, 1929, was raised in, and dedicated to, his community of Coldstream.
“He lived all his life on the Palfrey farm,” said
Kidston of the dairy farm that Palfrey worked from a young lad until he
finally retired a few years ago. “That was his love, was the cows.”
Palfrey also had a strong sense of pride and knowledge of the community he called home.
“He remembers everything,” said Kidston. “He
could tell you stories about Coldstream and Vernon for hours on end, and
he loved to tell those stories.”
So when he wasn’t tending to the farm, Palfrey
could be found chatting over coffee at Friesen’s Countrytyme Gardens or
bumping into friends and acquaintances at Fishers Hardware.
“He liked to go around and talk to people,” said Kidston.
Palfrey is survived by one son and two grandchildren.
Christy Clark might face a tall order in getting back to the B.C. premier's chair — but don't worry, Province editorial cartoonist Dan Murphy has three simple things she can do to win.
The New Yorker Online Only January 1, 2013 Posted by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Official Washington was in celebration mode on New Year’s Day after kind of averting a completely unnecessary crisis that was entirely of its own creation. “This deal proves that if we all procrastinate long and hard enough, we can semi-solve any self-inflicted problem at the very last minute in a way that satisfies no one,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).
But even as Sen. McConnell basked in self-congratulation, he warned Congress against the complacency that could come with having sort of fixed its own completely avoidable mess.
“This is a new year, and much work remains to be done,” he said. “It’s up to us to concoct entirely new optional disasters that we will have to undo at some later date in a more or less half-assed way.”
In a related story, an arsonist received an award for putting out his own fire.
Coldstream Ratepayers News! All Coldstream residents are ratepayers!
The opinions expressed by "Coldstreamer" are strictly his own and do not represent the opinions of Coldstream Council!
Because I value your thoughtful opinions, I encourage you to add a comment to this discussion. Don't be offended if I edit your comments for clarity or to keep out questionable matters, however, and I may even delete off-topic comments.
I have been a resident of Coldstream since 1976.
I have had 15 years of experience on Council, 3 years as Mayor.
As a current Councillor I am working to achieve fair water and sewer rates and to ensure that taxpayers get fair treatment. The current direction regarding water supply is unsustainable and I am doing all I can to get the most cost effective water supply possible.
