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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...

Ben Meisner has been holding politicians to account for many, many years. And that has earned him respect from those same politicians and the community. On Monday night Mayor Lyn Hall extended the city’s well-wishes to Meisner, who fell ill while vacationing in Manitoba last week. “On behalf of council I want to extend our thoughts and our prayers to Ben and Elaine,” Hall said to open Monday night’s council meeting. “Ben’s wish is that he gets back to Prince George and that is our wish as...

What a difference a year or so, and a new council, makes. In late 2013 the issue of downtown parking raised its head as the council of the day mulled bringing back parking meters and, in 2014 it drastically increased off-street parking rates only to scale back the increases after a public uproar. Now Mayor Lyn Hall, who was one of the councillors who sought to re-examine off-street parking rates last year, has floated out the idea of lowering them even further. “A number of months ago, we...

In a meeting of the minds Monday, two community leaders from Prince George joined the Governor General of Canada for a dialogue about the importance of higher education and the key role of universities. With his lifelong background as academic and educator, the Rt. Hon. David Johnston was able to draw from his own experience to talk about how a small university in a small city like Waterloo could grow to become one of the country’s leading institutions of learning and research. He spoke on...

In celebration of the Prince George’s 100th birthday Friday, the city is offering free admission to some civic facilities this weekend. “We have some of the best facilities of any city our size in Canada,” said Mayor Lynn Hall in a press release. “They’ve been imagined, financed, and built by the people of Prince George over the past 100 years, and one way to say thanks is to throw open the doors for the weekend. It’s especially important given the support people showed during the 2015...

If you thought you could sleep in Monday morning after taking in the closing of the 2015 Canada Winter Games Sunday, think again. We’re not going to let a Games hangover take over. Bright and early, well, 10:30 a.m., the community is invited to take part in a conversation about the community’s future at the Prince George Playhouse. Taking part in that conversation will be Governor General of Canada, David Johnston, UNBC president Daniel Weeks and Mayor Lyn Hall. “It’s a discussion of how...

Money doesn’t always mean an electoral win. Many Prince George residents felt that when Shari Green spent more than $80,000 on her successful election campaign in 2011, that’s exactly what she did. However, it didn’t work for Don Zurowski. Documents released by Elections BC Monday reveal that Zurowski spent $72,249.29 on his campaign for mayor last fall. Lyn Hall, who won the election with 10,463 votes to Zurowski’s 8,850, spent $41,275 on his campaign. The largest contributor to Hall’s...

  It’s probably time to add a few more floors onto the top of North America’s tallest wood building. The reason? The six-storey Wood Innovation and Design Centre is full. It was announced last week that the Emily Carr University of Art and Design will be the latest and last tenant for the building that opened in downtown Prince George last year. “As the tallest contemporary wooden structure in all of North America, the Wood Innovation and Design Centre is an incredible new space and an...

Mr. P.G. will welcome visitors to the 2015 Canada Winter Games next month. He won’t, however, be joined by a large snowman. A proposal, from Chandra Malcolm, to build a giant snowman next to Mr. P.G. received a frosty reception from city staff and council Monday night. “Some of the concerns we have is around the potential liability,” said Mayor Lyn Hall. “… We’ve had a brief discussion around this and certainly the liability issue is of great concern to administration.” Malcolm, in a letter...