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- Free parking and prime cow-grazing pasture downtown for mayor Lyn Hall
Free parking and prime cow-grazing pasture downtown for mayor Lyn Hall
Plus, more on how Environment Canada measures snowfall. Read to the end for a good reason to fund public transit
I kinda had a hunch and was proven right when former mayor Lyn Hall was granted the Freedom of the City last night:
NEW- Lyn Hall granted the Freedom of the City of Prince George after a lengthy career in public office and as a valued community member.
“To my family thank you, thank you for letting me take this journey for so many years”
@ckpgnews | #CityofPG
— Caden Fanshaw (@CadenFanshaw)
2:11 AM • Feb 28, 2023
Hall served as mayor from 2014 to 2022, and previously served as a city councillor and as chairperson of the School District 57 board of trustees. Hall has been involved in local politics in Prince George since 2001.
Freedom of the City is the highest honour a municipal government can bestow on a person or unit of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Freedom of the City comes with a few perks, chief among them being free parking. However, it seems that the big about allowing your cow to graze in front of city hall has been removed, not that it stopped Shirley Gratton from doing it after she got the honour in 2013:
More seriously, Hall is a worthy recipient. His tenure as mayor wasn’t perfect but he ran council and city hall on largely consensus-based leadership, overseeing some pretty big challenges. If I were to choose a word to sum up his time as mayor, it would be “professional”, which isn’t always the case when it comes to mid-sized cities. Also — unlike any other living mayor — he’s actually sticking around now that he’s off the job.
Environment Canada does measure snowfall — sort of
Show me your mounds #cityofpg
— Clinton Herman (@ClintonOnAir)
1:15 AM • Feb 28, 2023
Some people may disagree but I’ve been pretty impressed by the speed of snowclearing during these major events. I know the piles in the middle of certain roads aren’t ideal but that’s the price you pay for being able to get more streets cleared. The fleet manager is predicting all residential roads to be cleared by weekend which, again, some people may find less than ideal but given what they’re working with, is pretty good. And if you do think it’s too slow, remember that the next time a new subdivision with even more roads to clear is approved.
Also, as a followup to my note in the newsleter confused by an Environment Canada meteorologist telling My Prince George now they don’t measure snowfall here, the Citizen has more details:
Some may disagree with Environment Canada's snowfall measurements. Lee said the service relies on sensors located at the airport and at an office on Massey Drive that measure snow on ground rather but may not take into account drift and spindrift.
"I looked at how much snow on the ground changed throughout the whole event, and was able to come up with some snow amounts," [meteorologist] Lee said, and added reports from local people are taken into account as well.
As of 2009, the service no longer keeps snowfall records and relies, instead, strictly on precipitation - effectively how much water the snow holds once melted.
Also:
"6 feet of snow can be a thing of beauty, depends on perspective" says Mayor Yu.
cc: everyone
— Caden Fanshaw (@CadenFanshaw)
2:44 AM • Feb 28, 2023
Forestry futures
Businses in Vancouver reporter Nelson Bennet reports on a new economic analysis that finds forestry is decreasing in importance to the B.C. economy as companies announce closures and curtailments, with an estimated 800 jobs gone in the last two months. Derrick Penner at Postmedia reports on the possibility that today’s provincial budget will offer support to the small towns most impacted by these losses. Ted Clarke at the Citizen reports that pulp mill layofss in Prince George won’t happen until at least the end of April but some workers have left already, having found work elsewhere, including at a diesel plant right next to the pulp mill. And the union leader representing those workers will be speaking alongside MLA Mike Morris, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives analyst Ben Parfitt and Sai’kuz First Nation councillor Jasmine Thomas at an event happening tonight at 6:30 at UNBC or online via Zoom.
Other news:
In the wake of an external investigation being ordered into how RCMP handled allegations that its own members were abusing Indigenous girls in Prince George, a discussion on who polices the police.
The unfinished downtown condos that were up for sale for $15.9 million have already been sold.
CKPG reports on how the demand for employees is leading to opportunities for people who might not otherwise be considered by hirers.
The Blackwater mining projecct southwest of Vanderhoof is one step closer to reality.
Theatre Northwest’s spring reading series will include a Queer twist on Pride and Prejudice.
Honestly, this is as good a reason as any to support public transit:
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