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  My first encounter with Ben Meisner happened when I was in Williams Lake. I was the editor of the Tribune and it was election time. Ben called me up and said he wanted to put me on his radio show to talk about the Cariboo election races (I don’t remember whether it was a federal or provincial election). He slotted me 10 minutes and I spent some time preparing. After the radio gig was over somebody asked me what it was like. I joked I talked for about two minutes and Ben for the other...

City council has made it clear that fixing the rift between two competing farmer’s markets in Prince George isn’t its job. However, city staff and council are forcing the matter by demanding that two markets learn to work together by next year because it wants to designate Veterans Plaza as the only downtown location for farmer’s markets. “We have two groups that can’t get along for whatever reason,” Mayor Lyn Hall said Monday. “We can’t mediate that, so don’t ask us to.” The farmer’s...

It’s been a year since the Canada Health Accord expired. Motorists travelling along Bypass near 15th Avenue were reminded of during the noon hour on Wednesday as about two HEU and BCGEU members rallied during what they called the National Day of Action for Health Care. “(The accord) has been expired for one year,” said Natalie Fletcher of the HEU. “What that means to British Columbians is about $5 billion in cuts to funding. The $36 billion (in cuts over $10 years) across Canada would...

This week marks a bit of a milestone for me. Last night I sang my swansong at the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. After four years on the board of directors, three-and-a-half of those on the executive committee, I am no longer on the board. It was by choice, however I did have to deliver a financial report last night, so after that my decision to not run again might have been timed perfect. As former Chilcotin author, columnist, newspaperman, and MP Paul St. Pierre used to say about his...

There are some new faces joining the Prince George Chamber of Commerce Board. At last night’s annual general meeting, members elected the new board of directors for 2015-16. Forty-six business members participated in the voting. Cindi Pohl, account manager at Waste Management Inc., was acclaimed as president, after serving as vice-president for the past two years. “This is a significant year for our city as we continue to celebrate Prince George’s 100th anniversary and UNBC’s...

A man accused of sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in 1974 in Prince George will be in court here March 27, thanks to work by police departments in Canada and the U.S. Raymond Douglas MacLeod was turned over to Canadian authorities in Vancouver, late Tuesday culminating a nearly two-year legal effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to gain his deportation. In September 1974, MacLeod, then 32 years old, was arrested in connection with the...

WorkSafeBC investigators declined an offer, in the fall of 2012, to view forensic investigative materials regarding the Lakeland Mills explosion collected by CASE Forensic, a coroner’s inquest heard Wednesday. That revelation, and the fact the material from that investigation conducted by Lakeland Mills’ lawyers, was not provided to the inquest at the outset, prompted Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe to adjourn the inquest, now into its fourth week. “I’m significantly disappointed,” she said...

The coroner’s inquest into the April 23, 2012 explosion and fire that killed two men and injured 22 others has taken some unexpected turns over the past few days. When the inquest, looking into the deaths of Alan Little and Glenn Roche, adjourned on Friday, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe ruled that an investigation into the explosion conducted by legal counsel for Lakeland Mills was relevant to the inquest. However, she also ruled that the information was subject solicitor/client privilege and...