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.
Smoke filled the skies around Merritt on Monday and Tuesday, there were fires around Cache Creek and the Pemberton area sending smoke this way Photo KDG
No fires in the immediate area however smoke drifted in on Monday making the sun particularly red. We didn’t find our breathing effected, air conditioned, public buildings included the Public library, the Aquatic Center , the Civic Center. some restaurants were available to those that may be concerened .
The smoke was very much less severe by Wendnsday. Kudos to those that have to be out fighting these things.
On this day: July 09 1993
Canada divides its Northwest Territory in two, creating Nunavut and making NWT and Yukon the three territories in Canada’s north region.
There is a sign on Voght Street, here in Merritt for water table information. The sign moved its pointer this week , perhaps for the first time in its young life but not the first time that levels have been low here
The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with great auk bones, and one was buried covered in over 200 auk beaks, which are assumed to have been part of a cloak made of their skins. Early European explorers to the Americas used the auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. The bird’s down was in high demand in Europe, a factor which largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Scientists soon began to realize that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but this proved not to be enough. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. On 3 July 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, which also eliminated the last known breeding attempt. There are unconfirmed later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught. A record of a bird in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of the species. The great auk is mentioned in a number of novels and the scientific journal of the American Ornithologists’ Union is named The Auk in honour of this bird.
Driven in part by eco footprint a couple starts life a little different. photo KDG
A young couple were on their way home to north central BC on Monday they had just bought a new home. The home was off the grid on a wheeled Vin numbered tow trailer. For $50,000.00 the two hundred odd square foot home included a sleeping loft The home was meant to be parked off the grid. A Japanese stand up bath tub and a shower were the only thing in the small second room in the rear of the home. The appeal is no taxes and its paid for. The area of the province they live in probably still supports squatting, however acquiring land would certainly lead to an attractive future. The couple said they just want to be free and not trapped by debt.
The unit was built in the Untied States , ordered and paid for 2 years ago when the dollar was at par. They took it complete except for finishing paint as ” we are not sure of the colour we want yet.”
Editors note: staying with the program can lead to success but taking risk can add a flavor to life that is unique. Both are acceptable and considered rights in Canada. The ability to arrange your life to your advantage may cause someone else difficulty as well as your self. Forest cutting rights as well as road usage and private land are a restraint and if you were to do something like build a tree house you may be surprised. Permission while not always required is still desirable.
This roadside pond was drained because of its proximity to the green energy project. Photo KDG
Midday Valley road was the scene of a drainage project recently. The spring feed pond was piped to the north and into a field near the Coldwater river leaving the bulrushes in the drying mud.The road is next to the Merritt Green energy project and diverts the water to a new area to the North.
There are several springs that make their way down the slope from the hills and mountains to the south of Merritt and the coastal mountains.
The diversion was made with large diameter pipe accessible by fauna.
On this day: June 25th 1982
Greece makes shaving heads for military recruits against policy.
The retail price of gas has remained stable here with 7 of the 8 outlets offering it at $1.23.9 cents a liter. All but is also the truck stop who offers at $128.9 reporting 20 hours ago instead of the others at 4 hrs. ago. The Husky station also has a compressed hydrogen( LNG Liquefied Natural Gas) outlet in the large lot behind the gasoline service.
Merritt is a small community in the South Central part of BC , and is in the center of the Coquihalla highway system connecting the cities of Kamloops, Kelowna and Princeton with the lower mainland and Vancouver. http://www.bcgasprices.com/index.aspx?area=Merritt&dl=Y&fuel=A&intro=Y
On this day: June 19th 1961
The last indoor meeting for the year is on June 17th at the NVIT Lecture Theater, starting at 7PM and will feature bear and other wildlife photography by Ontario native Kyle Blaney.
Kyle Blaney is an avid nature photographer from Belleville, Ontario who has extensively travelled all over North America. He is visiting our area while on a photo/camping trip from Ontario to Vancouver via Northwest Territories. In this presentation, Kyle shares his favourite photos, discusses where they were taken, and talks about his photography techniques. Note: that this meeting is on a Wednesday rather then the regular day of Thursday.
The Nicola Naturalists President is Alan Burger PhD, U Vic and has presentation meetings by guest speakers during the year and has a number of nature programs including a frog monitoring one and a Christmas bird count. It is an NGO and operates with volunteers. Membership includes a newsletter and insurance for outings. It is under the umbrella of the provincial naturalist society. On this day: June 16th 2010 Bhutan bans tobacco completely.
After months of pile driving and concrete work the large building of the multiple hundreds of millions of dollars in project, posts its address. The fact that it is in the city limits makes it part of the tax base. Houston street is the truck route used by logging trucks to service 3 sawmills in the city as well.
The green energy project will make electricity from green wood waste.
On this day: June 10th 2003
Spirit rover is launched by Nasa to begin their Mars rover project.
The Diacarbon Energy corporation is running its plant here in Merritt and a source says that there are 18 jobs there. On a visit to the plant this week one of the addition bins were on a feed by an active conveyor. The company is to produce White wood pellets and bio coal.
The company expanded the property with two bins after acquiring it from the failed Highland wood pellets. The construction of the original plant involved government money and promised 50 jobs. The plant ran and packaged some wood pellets but ran into problems with moisture content. The pellets were attempted to be marketed for floor-ground cover in barns and other applications involving livestock.
Specialized in research and development of clean tech renewable energy products, Diacarbon has focused its efforts on perfecting its bio coal product, and now aims to produce this on a mass production scale this coming fall.
The plant was previously owned by Highland Pellet Manufacturing Ltd and came equipped with machinery allowing for the production of wood pellets. Diacarbon sees this as a great opportunity to expand its product line to offer a more established renewable energy product and will begin production of its wood pellets product this summer.
Diacarbon has selected state of the art technology from Europe and USA to be installed on its plant site and has taken great care to ensure its equipment is of high quality, efficient and environmentally friendly. Diacarbon is using local contractors and approximately 12 new employees from the Merritt region to complete the development and installation of equipment at its plant site. Once the plant is fully operational it will require a total of 25 employees to operate the facility and will create job opportunities within Merritt.
Merritt has a history of coal production dating back to the end of the 19th century, it was curtailed in after the second world war, in part due to engineering problems.There is no indication of coal mining at this writing. All coal mines were back filled at their portals with old cars and fill decades ago.
On this Day: May 28th 585
A solar eclipse becomes a cardinal date for dating events in history.
Hail surrounds the bloom outside the United Church in Merritt Photo KDG
On Saturday there was a hail storm here followed by a 4 hour power outage. The hail was soft and smaller then the storm in the 1990s here that caused millions of dollars in damage to roofs and cars.
The storm followed the BC cattleman’s convention and the power outage disrupted their dinner.
On this Day: May 26th 1897
Dracula, is published by Bram Stoker.
Kevin Griffiths
percypaschal
The Proprietor Review 