January 2010

The year began with Prime Minister Stephen Harper having prorogued Parliament. Kootenay-Columbia MP Jim Abbott said there was nothing revolutionary about what Harper had done and it would allow Parliament to "reset". He also said that the torture allegations involving Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan had been over hyped in the media and he doubted anyone in Cranbrook or Kimberley even knew about the issue.

Later in the month, Abbott would apologize for those remarks, though he maintained people were primarily concerned about jobs and the economy.

The annual BC Assessment notices were mailed out, letting property owners know the value of their properties as of July 1, 2009. Values rose slightly for the year on average. The average worth of a Chapman Camp home was s$259,000; the cost of a home in city centre was $204,000; Blarchmont $196,000, Townsite, $239,000; Ski Hill, $531,000; Marysville, $284,000 and Wasa lakefront, $363,000.

Nine checkstops over the 2009 holiday season resulted in two impaired charges, 14-24 hour suspensions, 11 speeding tickets, one vehicle impoundment, one prohibited driver apprehended, and one arrest for possession for the purpose of trafficking.

A home on 301 Street in Marysville was destroyed by fire on Monday, January 11.

Icy roads led to several crashes in the first week of January as the Pineapple Express brought warmer temperatures with it.

Popular City Councillor Bob McWhinnie lost his battle with cancer on Saturday, January 16, 2010. McWhinnie was a beloved figure to many in the community, especially the City's youth. He was the driving force behind the Skatepark and later in the year a plaque and rock were placed there in his memory.

Kimberley Summer Theatre announced the cancellation of their Summer 2010 season, as an inability to fill several key positions, including that of producer, was deemed to be too much of an obstacle. The Society promised to return in 2011.

Kimberley residents responded as usual when Rotary put out the call for ShelterBoxes for earthquake ravaged Haiti. $6000 was raised in one week, after Rotarian Graham Mann appealed to the community with an article in the Bulletin.

The Olympic torch stopped in Kimberley on its way to Vancouver for the Olympics on Friday, January 22, 2010. Huge crowds greeted its arrival in the Platzl, where Ray LeClair passed it to Dawn Voysey at the cuckoo clock.

Paul Carriere was announced as the new Superintendent of Schools for School District 6, with the retirement of Bendina Miller.

Rick Jensen of Cranbrook's New Dawn Developments, entered into an agreement to purchase Intrawest's interests in Panorama Mountain Village. The deal gave Jensen's newly formed Panorama Mountain Village Inc the resort's on mountain and Nordic ski operations, a 50 per cent ownership position in Greywolf Golf Course, all of Intrawest's commercial operations and lodging units in the village and the developable land.

February 2010

Council announced the by-election for Bob McWhinnie's vacant seat would be contested on April 24. Coun. Mick Henningson immediately announced his intention to run. Council also announced that at the same time, a referendum asking for approval for an expenditure of $800,000 on a new ladder truck for the Fire Department would be held.

The final tally for the Rotary ShelterBox appeal for January was $16,000. Rotarians were thrilled with Kimberley's response, especially as the donations were eligible for matching federal funds.

Kimberley's Josh Dueck, world champion sit skier, carried the Olympic torch in Vancouver the day before the opening ceremonies.

The attention of the province and the country was on Vancouver as the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games opened on February 12. A number of Kimberley residents attended the Games, and we had athletes at the Games as well, most notably ski cross athlete Stan Hayer and sit skier Josh Dueck, who would win a silver medal at the Paralympics.

MP Jim Abbot announced on February 20, that he would not seek re-election and would retire from politics after the next election.

The Bootleg Sled Dog Races survived some crashes and near misses as warm weather kept course crews hopping. But the races were pulled off successfully, with large crowds in attendance. Organizers announced that they would be looking at moving the races up a few weeks for next years, in order to hopefully get some cooler weather.

The Vancouver Games were capped in a golden moment as Canada's men's hockey team, including Cranbrook's Scott Niedermayer, captured the gold medal.

Canada's national sledge hockey team checked out the improvements to the Kimberley Civic Centre to adapt it to sledge hockey, as they practiced in Kimberley prior to the Paralympics.

Also training in Kimberley were the Russian para-alpine team.

March 2010

Despite financial difficulties, the Kimberley Dynamiters Hockey Club announced its intention of carrying on the proud Nitros tradition in Kimberley. Club president Rick Prasad said the club would take up a number of initiatives, including fundraising, to improve their financial situation.

Disabled skiing pioneer and Kimberley resident Jerry Johnston was honoured by the International Paralympic Committee with the International Paralympic Order for his role in founding the Canadian Disabled Skiing Association.

The City of Kimberley said it planned to ask for one of the made in BC Olympic podiums for the Conference/Athlete Training Centre. Council especially wanted the podium native son Josh Dueck used to receive his silver medal.

The City received word from the provincial government that an urban ungulate study was being completed and would be forwarded to all municipalities. Mayor Jim Ogilvie took this as a positive step, in that the government was acknowledging some willingness to work with communities on deer problems.

The Bootleg Sled Dog Races announced that after another successful year they had raised $17,466 for the East Kootenay Friends of Children, an organization that supports families who must travel for medical care.