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.
The 25th of November saw the Arts council have its annual meeting at the Old Court House Gallery. The Non Profit posted committee reports including financial statements as well as electing 7 directors. They also struck a committee to find a full-time volunteer person to manage the gallery. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Bill Edmonds and Dr.Don Macleod, patron of the arts, sat next to him in the chairing position. Directors for the 2014/15 season are: Bill Edmonds,Christine Dooley, Andrea McVean, Jackie Stibbards,Mill Juricic, Lizette Nels,and Don Mcleod.
There were no responses to a call for nominations from the floor, no voting bar was established and no dissent given by the interested members. The AGM was advertised with notice in the local paper The Merritt Herald.
The financial position notes a deficit in income over expenses for the last year of eleven thousand dollars, 32 thousand on 43 thousand. The balance sheet shows 43,870.10 in equity, 29 thousand of that is a grand piano at the Civic center downtown.
The concert committee report notes a poor result of the concerts and a lack of a person to take charge of it will see no concerts planed for the coming season. It also invites a person to step forward to change that. The arts council has had concerts for 33 years in Merritt, and has little problem with attendance.
Today in history: November 28th 1964
A probe is launched toward Mars in the Mariner Space program.
The weekend saw scrapbookers from Merritt, Princeton and Kelownahave a weekend event at the Local civic center. A member said there were 32 people that came together to exchange items and put together scrapbooks. They used the Civic center facility and the group that hosted it Valley Scrapbookers is listed in listed inthe City published leisure guide under the contact Dancia Vere – 250-036-8298.
Editors note: the small community of Merritt has a good recreation program and enjoys good non-commercail rates for the use of the civic center for these activities. The Merritt leisure guide is published and available at the City, the Pool and the down town tourist info.
Today in history: November 26th 1922
Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter are the first people into the tomb of Tutankhamen in 3000 years.
A couple of locks and a chain left hanging on a gate to a ranchers property signals responsible invitation Photo KDG
The hunting season has brought up issues of land access and the need for private property owners in rural areas to keep a check on damage and vandalism.
Locked gates can be the result especially for private e drives and areas that have more than one public road going through them Civic election time also causes people here that wish better access to speak up.
The pictures of an unlocked gate is beside a helicopter companies hanger the ditch with a culvert is filled with copper ore to stabilize the banks. Perhaps a message signaling responsible use or a coincidence.
Today in history: November 21 1953
Piltdown Man Skull determined a hoax
Ponderosa soapstone, one of the artiisan products produced in the Merritt store. file Photo KDG
Ed Hendricks the owner of Ponderosa sports says that tonight there will be an offical of the local RCMP office on CBC saying that cutting locks on gates to ranch land is considered mischief. The broadcast is at 6:PM according to Hendricks. Ed is an advocate of access to lakes as it affects his interests in recreation and fishing access. He and others have published a brochure that shows a number of lakes the public have lost access to. The brochure is at his Merritt Sport shop on Voght Street downtown Merritt.
Editors note:
Locked gates can be an indication of a drive that is private and there is no right of way to anyone other then the land owner and their associates.
The Forestry and lands part of the government maintains many recreational sites on lakes in this area and ensures access to them for public enjoyment. The right to quiet enjoyment is also safe guarded by the government where lawful activities are carried out.
Right of way is a term used to describe “the legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another”, or “a path or thoroughfare subject to such a right”.[1] A further definition is that it is a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for transportation purposes, this can be for a highway, public footpath, railway, canal, as well as electrical transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines.[2]
As well this phrase describes “the legal right of a pedestrian, vehicle, or ship to proceed with precedence over others in a particular situation or place”,[3] and in hiking etiquette, where when two groups of hikers meet on a steep trail, a custom has developed in some areas whereby the group moving uphill has the right of way.[4]
The right of way may be limited. When one person owns a piece of land which is bordered on all sides by lands owned by others, a court will be obliged to grant that person a right of way.
In some countries, especially in Northern Europe, where the freedom to roam has historically taken the form of general public rights, a right of way may not be restricted to specific paths or trails. A similar right of access also exists on some public land in the United States and in Canada, Australia and New Zealand (where it is called Crown land). source Wikipedia
Merritt’s Chamber of Commerce in the past has had the theme A lake a day as long as you stay. Ed from the sport shop says that there are two roads in contention, the Raspberry and Loon lake roads, both roads received large cattle guards after the construction of the Coquihalla highway, he says they are public roads as they are both maintained by the government.Douglas Lake Cattle Company has locked the gates on them perhaps in anticipation of a decommissioning of public maintained status, Kim Robinson and a grazing rights holder still need access through them, says Hendricks. He also adds that he can see the other view points but would like the process to be more open as well as stay legal, and accountable.
We trust that Staff SGT White and SGT. Fleming will give a good accounting of the authorities duties in these situations on CBC news tonight.
On November 8th at 6 PM the Merritt Public Library is having a meet the author and a remembrance by the Merritt Community choir by the way of a singing of ‘ “it’s a long long way to Tipperary”
Please pre-register top the Library at 250-378-4737.
This will be one hundred years since the out break of the conflict that would end all conflicts. November 11th will be the 96th year since the signing of the armistice in the same railcar that once operated on the famed Orient express. The same car that the French were made to surrender Paris in two decades later, and then destroyed when it was in jeopardy of falling into allied hands. Today in history: October 22 2008
India launch’s its first lunar rocket probe Cyahndriann 1
Trans Mountain pipeline the operator for Kinder Morgan and its pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby BC has a proposal for a twinning of the line. the line will bring tar snads crude to an ocean port facility.They operate existing lines in Provincal parks, and this fall intend to submit an application for a temporary relaxation of Park ruiles while construction occurs.
Trans Mountain Pipeline has submitted a draft Stage 2 Boundary Adjustment Detailed Proposal to the Province of BC for review. If approved, the Boundary Adjustment would result in the removal of land required for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion right-of-way (RoW) from the provincial park or protected area for the period of construction and until restoration is complete. If the lands required for the Project are removed from the Finn Creek, North Thompson River and Bridal Veil Provincial Parks, the Ministry of Environment may seek government approval to establish those lands as a protected area under the Environment and Land Use Act to allow the Minister of Environment to continue to manage those areas.
Following completion of Project construction, the lands removed from the parks through the boundary adjustment may be returned to park or protected area status with operations authorized under a park use permit.
Four BC parks and protected areas are addressed in Trans Mountain’s Boundary Adjustment Application. BC Parks will review the application and make a decision about each location separately. Public comments are an important consideration for BC Parks in considering any boundary amendment proposal. Detailed information and maps for each location are available below.
Trans Mountain Pipeline intends to submit an application in the fall of 2014 for a resources use permit (RUP) to authorize the construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion through Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area. The RUP application will include a similar degree of assessment as the four parks and protected areas.
If approved, implementation of the temporary boundary adjustment and RUP will be subject to the National Energy Board’s approval of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.
The existing Trans Mountain pipeline traverses an additional three provincial parks that are NOT impacted by the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion Project. These parks are Coldwater River Provincial Park, Coquihalla River Provincial Park and Rearguard Falls Provincial Park.
The RUP application has a local effect on users of the Coquihalla highway, and visitor s to Merritt BC Canada, open comments are closed with BC parks , comments to your local MLA are always relevant at any time.
BC Parks operations are considerably less stringent then a national park, like the one proposed for the South Okanagan Similkimeen. http://action.sumofus.org/a/bc-parks-open-oil-gas-mining/?sub=fb
SOSnationalpark.com
Doreen Collins spoke to the Nicola Naturalists Thursday the 16th and outlined the need to get the province back on board for the National park proposal,” the MLA is blocking support do to a hunters lobby”. The SOS brochure outlines a phasing out of hunting, ATVs and industrial activities such as minerals and oil.
The Nicola Naturalists are a four year old Non profit, president Alan Burger U vic.
You do the math!
Today in history: October 21st 2013
Record smog levels closes public facilities in Harbin China.
Speaking to a local CO this week we became aware that it is a busy time for the conservation office office. ” hunting season is full on we are busy said a local officer. When asked if court time takes up a lot of his time he replied that not himself but others in the office time is taken up by it. “I will prosecute minor ticketed offences myself serious cases are referred to crown council” Is there a motion for confiscation of sporting equipment? If its evidence it can wind up in a punitive forfeit said the officer.
Merritt is in region 3 Thompson it is always good advice to follow the published regulations. Today in History: October 16th 1997
The Cassini probe is on its way to Saturn
Royal Astronomical Society, Okanagan observatory. The Astronomical society has a free observatory open Friday’s on the way to Big White ski resort outside Kelowna. they report that they started with a long term lease for a dollar and have put 300 thousand more to convert the old gravel pit into a viewing platform. At a recent presentaion in Merritt, they showed an interested crowd the heavens from the local Public Library parking lot. The equipment they have on site is more powerful and they offer it free on Fridays. http://www.okanaganobservatory.ca/
The Okanagan Observatory hosts free public observing nights every Friday. The Okanagan Observatory is exactly 4 kms up Big White Rd from Hwy 33. That makes it only 35 kms from Rutland Rd. We will be pointing out the Milky Way and constellations with special astronomical laser pointers as we tour the night sky. Club members will have their telescopes on hand and be using the observatory 25 inch telescope to show off celestial wonders such as the Moon, planets, comets, dying stars, stellar nurseries, globular clusters, open clusters and galaxies.
Today in history: October 10th 1967 The outer space treaty come into effect after being signed by over 60 countries.
The Merritt public library is having Al Horne give his presentation on Alexander the Great again this fall. The talks will be on Thursdays at 6 PM October 30th , November 6 & 13th.
In an interview with Al he said that he would be going over some of the tactics of the ancients in war, including getting out of the way of elephants. Al always provides a context to his particular lecture and often brings it to relevance of the present.
Registration is required at the desk in the public library.
Today in history: October 9th 1999
The last flight of the SR71
The local Naturalists had there AGM on September 18th, they reported 63 members after its 4th Year of operation. they have a schedule of monthly meetings in the non summer part of what they do. Speakers included Bruce Archibald ( Fossils of the BC interior),Richard Doucette, ( mine reclamation) Barbara Pryce ( nature conservancy of Canada) and they reported others. The group had outings over the year including the Christmas bird count, Spius Creek Hatchery, and many frogging outings. They had two nature presentation in elementary schools by members. They report their website as having 5 50 visits on average per month, http://www.nicolanaturalists.ca/ .They report a healthy balance sheet with a three fold increase in income over last year to $14,119.11 after paying $11,259.62 in expenses they had a net income of 2,859.49. The club has a balance of $6,936.02 in cash and $4,310.26 in assets, with outstanding liabilities of 75 dollars in cheques to clear, and 1500 dollars in liability to BC nature. they report 15 dollars in petty cash reserve. Directors for 2014/15: Alan Burger Norm Hanson D. Kerridge Anne Pang Chris Lepsol Margret Carlson
The next meeting is on October 16th 2014 with Doreen Olson on the Similkameen Natural park proposal, the presentation starts at 7:00 in the NVIT Lecture Theater
Today in history, October 8th 1904 The Canadian City of Edmonton Alberta is incorporated.
Kevin Griffiths
percypaschal
The Proprietor Review 