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Year in review - Teachers drop admin duties during job action

Part 3 of the annual countdown to the year’s memorable moments

September

2 – School District 20 teachers follow the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and start to refuse to perform administrative duties as a tactic in bargaining for a new collective agreement.

6 – Greater Trail public elementary schools implement all-day kindergarten. School District 20 receives $75,000 in funding from the Ministry of Education to outfit new classrooms.

14 – Trail adds 11 more deserving names to its Home of the Champions monument. James Anderson, Nello Angerilli, Darla Crispin, John Barron, Frank Turik, Rhonda Michallik, Joanne Cutler, Dave Secco, Colleen Moffat, Mike Mondin and George Grey join the growing roster of 128 people recognized since the monument was established in 1996.

15 – The City of Trail hires Urban Systems Ltd. to complete a $45,000 study on the impacts of expanding its boundaries to include the Columbia Gardens industrial park in Area A.

16 – Longtime mayors Libby Nelson (Fruitvale) and Jim Nelson (Warfield) announce they will not run for re-election.

23 – Teck announces it will invest $210 million on increasing its capacity to recycle end-of-life electronic waste in Trail. The No. 4 Furnace Project, which includes the construction of a new slag fuming furnace and settling furnace, is set to start next year.

27 – People Loving People closes down its downtown storefront, after nearly 20 years of service, due to increased operation costs and reduction in financial donations.

28 – Fruitvale takes home five blooms from the Communities in Bloom competition and wins the provincial winner for its category (1001-5000 population).

29 – The Greater Trail Skills Centre announces that since the inception of the B.C. Rivers Day cleanup in Trail in 2008, about 100,000 pounds of debris has been lifted from the shoreline of the Columbia River. This was after about 50 volunteers pitched in a week prior, removing 53,000 pounds of garbage.

 

October

18 – Fourteen-year-old Kolby Zanier is the first pediatric patient in Canada to receive a leading-edge heart pump.

 

19 – Teck reaches one million hours without a lost-time injury Oct. 16, with the last incident occurring June 25.

21 – A a consultant from New Line Skate Parks rolled out a rendering of the city’s future park slated for the Gulch.

21 – The Trail Airport unveils its extended parking lot, which was made free of charge thanks to a leaving legacy left by the Waneta expansion project contractors ASL Joint Venture and Emil Anderson.

24 – An education session on the Columbia River Treaty attracts about 100 Greater Trail residents, who learn the importance of 2014, when either Canada or the United States can terminate many of the provisions set in the treaty.

25 – Teachers don’t hand out regular report cards to follow their bid to refuse to do administrative duties as a tactic in bargaining for a new collective agreement.

31 – Trail Community in Bloom secures five blooms in the Communities and Bloom international challenge for small population.

 

November

11 – Fruitvale’s cenotaph is the centre of attention during the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. The new cenotaph replaced the crumbling one built in 1955. In Trail, almost 1,000 people gather for the ceremony downtown.

14 – Teck Trail Operations announces it exceeded its discharge permit into the Columbia River by 1.5 kilograms of cadmium and seven kg of copper on Nov. 8.

16 – Trail’s cold weather emergency shelter re-opened with the goal of staying open every night throughout the winter. Last year, the shelter was only open on winter nights when the temperature was expected to dip below freezing.

19 – The 2011 municipal elections saw plenty of changes to the local political scene including new councillors in Trail – Kevin Jolly, Rick Georgetti and Sean Mackinlay – and new blood in Rossland – Jody Blomme, Cary Fisher and Tim Thatcher.

Joe Danchuk became the new mayor in Montrose and Patricia Cecchini took over the mayor’s role in Fruitvale.

20 – The Royal Canadian Legion Trail Branch #11 announces this year’s poppy campaign raised over $22,000 to help local veterans.

22 – Criminal charges will not be pursued against a School District 20 bus driver who allegedly canvassed Castlegar students to play a “be quiet game” and then proceeded to apply duct tape to the mouths and wrists of volunteers.

23 – Collections and programming at the Trail and District Public Library will suffer after Area B residents vote to end library services with the city and pull out of their financial contribution.

24 –Kootenay Boundary Transit System announced it will make its schedule more flexible for Greater Trail residents making their way home after work come spring, with the addition of 2,400 hours.

29 –The Columbia Basin Trust announced its Community Directed Youth Funds program, which aims to support services for youth between 12-19 years old by providing receiving areas (which include Trail/Warfield, Rossland, Beaver Valley, Salmo/Ymir) with $100,000 over the course of four years.

30 – The Trail Area Health and Environment Program continues to lower blood-lead levels in Trail children, if 2011 results are any indication.

 

December

12 – The Glenmerry Parents Advisory Council asked the public for help in deciding how to spend a $47,000 rebate it received from the government for its playground fund.

15 – The Industry Trades Authority warns that the Kootenay region could be in for a severe labour shortage within the next decade. Between 2010 and 2019, an estimated 4,260 job openings are expected.

16 – A leaked government document exposes potential changes at border crossings in the region. The Midway crossing is considered for closure while the Nelway crossing is considered for remote technology.

20 – A Trail youth picked up for second degree murder in Trail this spring now faces a reduced charge of manslaughter. The charge is in relation to the death of a 25-year-old Trail resident who suffered fatal injuries in an altercation before he was brought to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital May 15, where he was pronounced dead.

21 – Telus Mobility announces it will soon lift the height of its existing tower by 25 per cent to improve its reception in Trail.

28 – Pacific Coastal gives away a free ticket to its 20,000th passenger that arrived at the Trail Airport, as part of a ceremony celebrating its monumental increase in air passengers since it started in 2006.