You are presumed to be honest and responsible without evidence to the contrary beyond a reasonable doubt… on the balance of probablilties you are justified by 51 % likelyhood.
TV news Kamloops BC reports on a death in Voght Park, Merritt. File Photo KDG
Congratulations to Rick Arnish on his retirement after 46 years with the Pattison Group finish up as a chair. Good luck in your continued contributions to the community post retirement. (as reported by CFJC on Wednesday)
Channel Seven CFJC has transmitters in 8 communities in the BC interior including Merritt. It is also available as channel 25 on the Bell system.
On this Day: January 21 1915
The service organization Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit Michigan.
Saddle Maker festival era Corner of Nicola And Garcia, Merritt BC File photo: KDG
Al Clarke retired from local radio ran a small business for a time away from the mike. The import from Powel River BC to Merritt had a promotion company called media Management.
Well before social media and smart technologies Al had an office in the corner building at Nicola and Garcia avenue, Across from the Grand hotel in Merritt.
Customers included Sanders and Company and forest concerns. We remember a conversation back when the Hedley Blast, music festival, in Hedley BC was failing under the watch of the organizer (locals and noise). Al had a keen appreciation serving an enthusiasm to see possibilities that could bring a festival to Merritt in what was to become the successful Merritt Mountain Music Festival. ( defunct in2010) :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Mountain_Music_Festival
Al is retired now and is a fluent social media friend. Kudos to him for his insights and all the years of watching council and broadcast at Radio NL Merritt and Q101 FM Merritt. https://www.facebook.com/al.clarke.3910?fref=ts
Happy retirement Al you sure were an asset and still are! Al was bringing us up to speed on Blue Monday at his writing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedley
Voght Street office of a local mine benefiting from new Hydro infrastructure. File Photo KDG
Robin a worker for Shaw Cable was pulling fiber through a pipe on Voght street here in Merritt Thursday. The laid off hydro worker said he had to change jobs when Hydro laid off a lot of people to accommodate apprentice trained workers.
The cable came from Parker Drive,Telus has lines on the poles above as well as Hydro lines in the top position on the poles.
When asked about site C he thought that that may be the reason for the lay off. He was aware of some of hydro’s activities in alternate energy including replacing some oil burning generators in small communities , working with distilling algae from sewage as well as some windmills.
BC Hydro’s Power Smart program encourages energy conservation among its residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The program also aims to promote energy saving retail products and building construction, and includes a “Sustainable Communities Program”. Its in-house Resource Smart program is used to identify and implement efficiency gains at existing BC Hydro facilities. BC Hydro also practices energy conservation at its generating facilities through the continuous monitoring and efficient use of the water resources used to power its generators.
BC Hydro is committed by the BC government’s Energy Plan to achieve electric power self-sufficiency in the province by 2016, with all new generation plants having zero net greenhouse gas emissions by the same year.[28] In 2013, BC Hydro released an Integrated Resource Plan which includes meeting at least 66 percent of the expected increase in electricity demand through increased energy efficiency.
BC Hydro has also entered into energy purchase contracts with a new category of company created by special legislation, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to buy electricity generated from intermittent renewable sources, mainly from small capacity run of river hydro and more recently, wind power, wood residue energy, and energy from organic municipal waste. There has been some criticism of this policy on the basis that it will result in Hydro paying significantly higher rates to private producers than it would have if the power were self-generated.
BC has a policy not to develop nuclear power.
: source Wikipedia
BC Hydro operates 31 hydroelectric facilities and three natural gas-fueled thermal power plants. As of 2014, 95 per cent of the province’s electricity was produced by hydroelectric generating stations, which consist mostly of large hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Peace Rivers. BC Hydro’s various facilities generate between 43,000 and 54,000 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, depending on prevailing water levels. BC Hydro’s capacity is about 11,000 megawatts.
To be continued.
On this Day: January 15th 1892
James Naismith publishes the rules to Basketball.
Gasoline at the local Petro Canada are under a dollar a liter. 98 cents are a lot better but not as good as prices under 80 cents in some prairie provinces.
Average price in the province at this 112.4 lowest 94.9 trending higher: http://www.gasbuddy.com/
on this Day: December 18th 1932
The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL championship game.
Pipe for oil field File:Photo KDG Will they be the bad guy from Paris?
The Paris meetings have recently affirmed that there is will to change , what is different about this international meeting and others is this;usually the bureaucrats have already done the work for agreements or treaties and the elected are there to announce and confer as well as associate with others that have the confidence of the electorate. This time their is a 90 day time limit for conferring with officials after the fact. The cabinet must take their pledges to the ministries in there nations and come up with plans. Here is some of the alternate methods that BC hydro is adopting in response to the markets here already.
Electricity from independent producers must also be clean and renewable. Projects currently generating electricity for B.C. are found throughout the province, and include: ( BC Hydro)
Biomass: electricity is generated either by burning or by converting biomass to a fuel, which is then used to generate power
Run-of-river: the current of a river is used to generate electricity
Solar: energy from the sun’s rays are converted to electricity using photovoltaic cells
Municipal solid waste: combustion or gasification of waste to generate electricity
Waste heat: when heat is generated as a byproduct of other processes, it can be used to generate electricity
Merritt is in the middle of a green energy project now, how this relates to Paris is unknown however it is always desirable for incoming governments to privatize. ( or in this case create new business) . Hydro says they have 100 projects on the go with the above elements.
Editors note: We think the first method of international agreements is preferable to the Paris format. Less surprises over all. That said it was nice to see all those getting along so well in a troubled world. We hope it sticks.
On this day December 4th 1875
Boss Tweed a New York crooked politician escapes prison later recaptured in Spain.
Tonight there will be the annual Christmas parade in Merritt, the parade will start off the Christmas shopping season and will have a midnight madness open shops after the parade.
Merritt BC is a community of 8000 people in the South Central Interior of British Columbia Canada. Its Chamber of Commerce has had a number of themes over the decades including, A lake a day as long as you stay,The Copper Capital of Canada, The Hub of the Coquihalla Highway System and its most recent The Country Music Capital of Canada. It has the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in the 2000 Block of Quilchena avenue and is the bedroom community of the Douglas Lake Cattle Company, it is also the home of NVIT, a local Community College started by its First Nations citizens over 30 years ago. Merritt’s parade will reflect a lot of that flavor.
Community parade as part of the Country Christmas week to help kick off the festive season.
Parade starts at the Civic Center goes down Chapman Street to Quilchena Avenue, down Quilchena Avenue to Charters Street, down Charters Street to Coutlee Avenue, down Coutlee Avenue to Garcia Street where the parade ends.
Telus making its presence known in Merritt. Photo KDG
The Telus bunch working all over this city had a meeting and discussed what they were doing and what to tell people because ” people are asking”. so today one of them said a letter is going out to everyone in town explaining the upgrade. they are also handing out brochures that show that they are bring direct fiber to households, so that you can be “digital right to your digital device” with out analog lines being used to slow speeds down.
They also promote Netflix through Optic to bring thousands of movies to your digital device. They say downloading a full music item will be 5 minutes.
There is information at: telus.com/merritt.
The websites promises 90 percent of Merritt to had 150 Mbp/per second of speed.
Editors note: When it says MBp/s that is Megabytes per second when the b is small it is Megabits . There are 8 bits to a byte. Mega-Bytes is faster service.
On this Day: November 6th 1947
Meet the press debuts on TV.
No its not a horror movie rather its a friend from the past. The onion was and invention of Heinz Lange here in Merritt and a version of it powered a warning light on the hillside leaving Merritt to the north and approaching the airstrip for decades.
A source with the city says that it is Murphy Shewchuck behind it’s construction it is being placed at the entrance to the Kinsman Park on Voght street and a plaque stand is in place ready to receive some acknowledgement.
Murphy Shewchuck is a retired BC Hydro employee and a free-lance writer and photographer. He has written several books on Merritt history and its trails and attractions. He also is published in outdoors magazines. He is a member of the Nicola Naturalists and a principal at the local museum and archives. http://www.murphyshewchuk.com/guidebooks/
Heinz Lange was a high school shop teacher passed away decades ago after a long a productive career here. He immigrated from Germany after the second world war after being on the side not prevailing as a test pilot for the Messerschmitt jet aircraft. Many of us remember him fondly as a teacher who cared and was energetic and positive. His windmill was also deployed in tests to aerate lakes in the area. He is said to have gotten a patent for his invention in the United States.
Reconciliation was his and many others aim here in the Nicola Valley.
We will see if some accounts of 100 megabits per second will stand, for now here is some info on broadband applications we think is accurate. One thing for sure there is a lot of utilities activities in the small central interior City of Merritt.
The upgrade and stitching of Telus fiber optics is in full charge. A line worker said that this community is lucky as we will have the highest speed internet available. “Good for Netflix, digital to the home”. Telus is also installing some new poles on Garcia Street, often phone lines are shared on Hydro poles and are the lower lines about 2 meters lower then power lines.
Below are the Internet download speed recommendations per stream for playing movies and TV shows through Netflix.
•0.5 Megabits per second – Required broadband connection speed
•1.5 Megabits per second – Recommended broadband connection speed
•3.0 Megabits per second – Recommended for SD quality
•5.0 Megabits per second – Recommended for HD quality
•25 Megabits per second – Recommended for Ultra HD quality, source: Netflix
HD Video Quality
Movies and TV shows that are available in high definition will play in 720p or better with a fast enough Internet connection. To watch Netflix in HD, ensure you have an HD plan, then set your video quality setting to High in the Playback Settings for your account.
A source says Telus is providing 7MB/s now and is going to 100 Megs/a second:
stichers on the site maintain it is the highest TELUS will offer meaning 10 megs or 1000 bites a second
What Internet Speeds Are Available?
While there are many rural communities that cannot even reach the 2 Mb/s speed, more of the larger cities, suburbs and urban areas have speeds available of 10 Mb/s and above. It is not limited to broadband/cable internet. In some cases internet speeds nearing 20 Mb/s from a DSL internet connection may be available.
The workers on the project puff the value of the work but it appears that an improvement is coming to this small rural community that will give the choice to those that may want it , higher speeds to watch in particular Netflix films in better definitions. Modems are a concern when matching performance to what is offered. Buyer Beware.
Editors note: David Calloway writes a good explanation of Broadband speeds here: http://broadband.about.com/od/speedissues/a/Broadband-Speeds-Explained.htm
Large logging trucks need industrial facility’s as they can not be parked in residential areas. File Photo KDG
A fire on Monday evening destroyed 6 cider block shops in the industrial park off Nicola Avenue, behind the Kal Tire building. The buildings were owned by Cool and Quiet, muffler and radiator. Cool and Quiet also have a business location off Wilcox Avenue on Coldwater road the area is popular with artisans who combine business with residence on the mainly 10 acre parcels of land in that area.
Sources say that the business Borderline Trucking that rented two of the bays may have been the center of the fire. Wayne Richardson said that they got a call in the evening at Kal Tire from authorities wondering were the trouble was soon after the fire consumed the building ” quickly”. A local artisan equipment operator Kelly Smyth on site Tuesday evening said no one knows what happened in reference to renters and adherents.
The buildings were built by local entrepreneur Hans Kruse in the 1970’s and was the center of his trucking business. HK trucking hauled between Merritt and the shipping terminals in Vancouver and was center of the benefit of the deregulation of trucking and the demise of the Canadian Pacific rail line to Merritt, in that time period and beyond.
Hans Kruse is the father of professional hockey player Paul Kruse a product of the local minor hockey programs and the Merritt Centennials junior club. The Merritt Centennials are the longest running franchise in the BCJHL. with over 40 years of producing young people for life and hockey.
Hans Kruse lives in an assisted living home, Nicola Meadows on Garcia street in Merritt.
There remains another six units and the office building in the complex.
On this day: October 28th 1835
The United tribes of New Zealand are sealed by signing of the Declaration of Independence
The Merritt Green Energy project s 40 megawatt electric steam generator is in progress. A worker on site says they are doing the transformer for kicking up voltage to transport. A security person says there is about 1 year left in the plants construction.
A huge bin for the receiving and storage of Hog fuel ( chipped wood waste) is part of the plant construction. The bin, made of vertical steel pipes with planking bolted to the inside is on the north side of the rising generator building..
Electric toys were a happy result of Edison’s electric File Photo KDG
On this day: October 15th 1878
The Edison Electric Light Company starts operations.
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