This week, the Prince George Citizen goes into its archives to review what made the news of 2010, beginning with the first three months of the year.
JANUARY
Just a bit less than three hours after the new year was rung in, Prince George's first baby of 2010 was delivered at University Hospital of Northern B.C.
Weighing in at a healthy eight pounds three ounces, Logan Dominic Oke was born at 2:48 a.m. to mother Barb Oke, 29, and father Brian Oke, 31.
The Prince George Hotel received a date with the wrecking ball after a deal to sell the building to a joint venture, made up of the Ramada Hotel and Commonwealth Realty Corporation, was closed.
The building was to be levelled and the site converted into a parking lot for guests of the hotel, which is going through a $7-million renovation, Commonwealth president Dan McLaren said. The move will help improve the downtown, he contended.
The former owner of a Prince George hair salon was fined for tax evasion.
Dragana Babic was fined $48,165 in Prince George Provincial Court after pleading guilty to one count each of personal income tax evasion, corporate tax evasion and failure to remit goods and services tax.
The fine, which had to be paid by March 13, represents 75 per cent of federal taxes and unremitted GST evaded. Babic was also handed a 16 month conditional sentence.
A Prince George forestry worker became nearly $104,000 richer after guessing right on six of seven numbers plus the bonus number on the Lotto Max lottery.
Neil Morris, a married 47-year-old father of three, went to the B.C. Lottery Corporation headquarters in Kamloops to pick up the cash, won on a ticket he purchased at the Mohawk at the corner of First and George for the Christmas Day draw.
A group of Pine Valley Golf Centre patrons urged city council to keep the facility in its current location.
A proposed neighbourhood plan calls for converting the neighbouring Prince George Golf Club into a 18-hole, par-three course with pockets of townhouses and condominiums once the PGGC moves to its new location and converting Pine Valley to other uses.
But that's a bad idea, Friends of Pine Valley members Don Chamberlain and Dave Hodges will tell council, in part because the new location may be too challenging.
The city eventually backed away from the idea and the PVGC will stay put.
A new trial was ordered for the man found guilty of using a machete to commit a murder in the parking lot of a Prince George fast food restaurant slightly more than five years ago.
The B.C. Court of Appeal concluded the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Meiklem, "unfairly and inaccurately" summarized evidence from one of the forensic pathologists when giving instructions to the jury.
Smith was sentenced on March 22, 2006 to 13 years in prison before he could seek parole for an Oct. 30, 2004 attack that caused Brent Melanson to bleed to death in the parking lot of the Third Avenue Dairy Queen from cuts to his neck.
Prince George's Olympic spirit was definitely on display when the Olympic torch received a warm and enthusiastic welcome as torchbearers carried the flame along the city's streets and on to a celebration that drew thousands.
The biggest cheer of all was for Alix Well, the 14-year-old national junior alpine ski team member, who carried the flame along a narrow path through a crowd of an estimated 10,000 excited onlookers to the cauldron on stage at Exhibition Park.
Canfor Corp. announced the shut down of its Quesnel sawmill, which will throw 180 mill workers off the job. The Vancouver-based company cited sliding lumber prices and a rising Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. currency, which erodes the revenues on lumber exports to the U.S.
The first air quality advisory of the year is issued by the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Northern Health due to high levels of fine particulate air pollution.
The high levels are mainly due to combustion emissions including wood smoke, as well as emissions from industry and transportation sources such as automobiles, trucks and rail traffic, said the agencies.
U.S. oil and gas company Apache Corp. announces it has signed an agreement to buy a 51-per cent stake in Kitimat LNG's proposed $3-billion liquified natural gas terminal in northern B.C.
Two properties held by the Apehtaw Kosisan Metis Child and Family Support Society for 12 years -- one of which was turned partially into a daycare with the help of nearly $900,000 in federal funds -- ended up in the hands of a numbered company following a transaction that appears to violate B.C. Society Act rules, a Citizen investigation uncovers.
The province and B.C. Hydro join the Tsay Keh Dene in a celebration to mark an agreement inked in 2009 that ends a court case launched over the 1960s flooding impact of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and the Williston Reservoir.
College of New Caledonia unveils goal to employ about 50 aboriginal individuals within a five-year period. The CNC faces budget cuts of about $1.1 million for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
A final agreement is signed between the builder and health partners to construct the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North with site preparation beginning immediately.
Police and fire forensic investigators continued to comb the wreckage of the NT Air hangar looking for the cause of the Dec. 19 inferno and for any clues as to the whereabouts of Vernon Martin, 55, the owner of the structure. Although still unaccounted for, specialists concluded he was not burned in the blaze. That investigation continues.
A family near Grassy Plains celebrated New Year's Eve with stitches in their little boy's scalp and a search for the cougar that attacked him.
The eight-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister were playing on the grounds of the Danskin school and church near Grassy Plains. When the cougar pounced on the boy and bit into his head, his sister screamed for help and their mother came outside and beat the cougar off using only a damp towel as a weapon.
A gay-straight alliance of political proportions happened at this week's meeting of the school district's Gay-Straight Alliance youth group.
The teens at the weekly get-together had two special visitors, both of them icons in their field. Foxy De-Rossi, the city's most famous resident Drag Queen, and Dan Rogers, the mayor of the city, came together to hang out with the youth. Everyone involved considered it a rare and proactive opportunity to communicate.
The funeral was held on Jan. 11 for Michelle Lang, the Canadian journalist killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan where she was covering the war. Lang began her acclaimed journalism career in Prince George, first as a summer student in her first newsroom in the mid-1990s then as a full-time news reporter. She went on to daily papers, finally with the Calgary Herald with whom she won the 2008 National Newspaper Award as Canada's best health reporter and for whom she was on assignment in Afghanistan. Four soldiers died with her in the Dec. 30 blast.
School District 57 officials announced that provincial government cuts would require the local budget to be slashed by $4.1 million. The remedy was the reconfiguration or closure of 14 schools across the district.
Three thousand marijuana plants were rooted out of three homes in the Beaverly area. Six people were arrested. Police said that these were highly sophisticated grow-ops, each one with complex venting systems and tricked up electrical systems. It was the start of a long string of grow-op busts for the RCMP in Prince George and area over the early months of the year.
New charges were laid in the case of Adam Williams-Dudoward, who was 13 when he was allegedly murdered in January, 2000. These additional charges are to Judy Elaina Williams, 49, of Prince George, his mother.
William's boyfriend, Lloyd Cook, 50, was charged in June with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, indignity to human remains and forcible confinement in connection to the boy's death.
The Winter Olympic Games received a bomb threat as the torch came through Prince George during a ceremony held at Exhibition Park. About 8,000 people attended. After most of the event was finished, a 911 call was received stating a bomb was set there. Within minutes of the call, police had a 23-year-old Burns Lake man under arrest from within the crowd.
Stanley Heavysides, 48, was killed in a hit and run while he walked home on Ospika Boulevard at the intersection of Melody Crescent. The driver cut a path across the median several times and up onto both sidewalks before striking Heavysides, who had retreated up a bank. Police later arrested Sandra Cassidy, 68.
FEBRUARY
Fisk Avenue resident Mike Riemer won a minor victory in an unsightly premise dispute with the city but still had to take down two "temporary structures" in his carport.
The city was forced to pay Riemer $1,000 in damages, under a B.C. Supreme Court ruling, for removing one pile of items stored under a tarpaulin in his carport for failing to determine first if the contents contravened any bylaw.
Riemer was also ordered to pay half the city's legal costs, an estimated $8,500 bill.
A leading international figure in space science, technology, and renewable energy was named the University of Northern British Columbia's fifth chancellor.
John S. MacDonald, who was born and raised in Prince Rupert and went on to establish MacDonald Dettwiler, one of Canada's most successful companies was officially installed at the May 28 convocation ceremony.
Also an officer of the Order of Canada, MacDonald follows Iona Campagnolo, George Pedersen, Peter Bentley and Alex Michalos as chancellors of UNBC.
Prince George's three independent schools emerged the top achievers in the Fraser Institute's annual grading of elementary schools' academic performance.
Immaculate Conception was highest followed closely by Cedars Christian and St. Mary's.
In a comparison of 876 elementary schools around the province, Immaculate Conception was ranked 71st, Cedars Christian was 82nd and St. Mary's was 219th.
The effort to revive Downtown Prince George cleared a major hurdle after a counter-petition failed to attract enough votes to force the proposal back to the drawing board.
In all 26 per cent of property owners representing 30 per cent of the assessed value in the city's central business district signed petitions against the initiative.
Prince George artist and College of New Caledonia fine arts instructor Betty Kovacic was awarded $19,500 from the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund to create her largest piece of work ever. Kovacic will spend much of the next two years working on a six-by-16-foot painting, tentatively titled "Shadows of the Past," to commemorate ethno-cultural communities affected by Canada's first national internment operations from 1914 to 1920.
Canfor added a second shift at its sawmill in Mackenzie, nearly doubling the workforce at the mill to 155. It's welcome relief to a community hard-hit by an extended forestry downturn, which at one point experienced the closure of all of its wood manufacturing plants.
Terasen's plans for a 100-person unionized call centre on Second Avenue went ahead after the the natural gas provider agreed to the B.C. Utilitiies Commission conditions for approval.
Simon Fraser Lodge began a $4 million renovation and improvement project to provide a more home-like atmosphere for residents.
The province's first choice school based on aboriginal culture was given the green light by School District 57 for Carney Hill elementary school. It is one of several actions being taken to improve the graduation rates of local aboriginal students, with B.C.-wide interest in the project.
Extensive window damage was done to Heather Park school when vandals went on an overnight smashing spree. Ten windows and other damage was done, ripping into the school district repair budget and upsetting staff and students.
Daniel Lapp, Dave Rosin and Fraser Walters now share the record for the largest audience to ever watch a Prince George musician, which took place during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games ceremonies.
A major shortfall in landfill revenues due to the collapse in the economy resulted in a major hike to garbage collection fees. It was hotly debated, but the rates were raised and they could still rise further, local governments warned the public.
One of the most prominent advertisements during the Olympic hockey tournament centred on Prince George minor hockey. The ad, a full page in the official Olympic program plus a mini-billboard inside Rogers Arena, is a promotion for Chevrolet's hockey program Safe And Fun Hockey Program, which brought Bobby Orr and Cassie Campbell to Prince George this past season. The picture is a snapshot of the Team Canada dressing room, with red national team jerseys hanging in their respective cubicles but the focal point of the image is a child's jersey and that little jersey, an eye-catching blue sweater with complimentary red and white trim, is emblazoned with the PGMHA logo.
MARCH
The new Duchess Park secondary school awed students and teachers as its doors opened for the first time. Larger lockers, the abundance of natural lighting and that "new school smell" were among the details Grade 8 student Brooklyn Kennedy noticed.
The Canadian Mathematical Society will present an award for excellence in teaching, which recognizes sustained and distinguished contributions in teaching at the undergraduate level, to University of Northern British Columbia mathematics professor Jennifer Hyndman at the Society's summer meeting in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
More than 130 people from across the political spectrum packed a UNBC lecture theatre for a rally against the harmonized sales tax that featured former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm as the keynote speaker.
UNBC's board of governors passed a two-per-cent hike to tuition fees. A full-time undergraduate pays $89 more to $4,538 for two semesters, a graduate pays $83 more to $4,221, a medical student pays $113 more to $5,767, and masters in social work students pay $97 more to $4,943.
A Prince George air quality advocacy group will be testing for formaldehyde emissions in the Millar Addition after it was revealed that earlier provincial testing had shown extremely high levels of formaldehyde in the city neighbourhood.
Canfor Pulp completed its submissions of two projects totalling $15 million for federal approval through a green energy subsidy program. The projects are meant to lead to decreased odour emissions and improved energy efficiency at the company's facilities in Prince George.
Sophie Thomas, a respected Dakelh elder and traditional healer, passed away in her Saik'uz village home south of Vanderhoof. Thomas was believed to be in her late 80s.
The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council said Thomas was an "incredible" teacher and recognized for her works and contribution to traditional practices and knowledge.
Her notable works include the movie The Warm of Love: The Four Seasons of Sophie Thomas, produced by environmentalist and musician Terry Jacks; and a book, Plants and Medicines of Sophie Thomas.
A coalition of B.C. coastal First Nations said they will not let tankers carrying crude from the Alberta oil sands in their traditional waters. They announce their opposition to the oil tanker traffic and Enbridge's proposed $4.5-billion pipeline on the 21st anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill.
Terrane Metals Corp. raised $100 million in financing with the help of global-giant Goldcorp. to be used to construct the proposed Mount Milligan gold and copper mine in northern B.C. The project promises to bring jobs to north-central B.C. and is being watched closely by the nearby communities of Fort St. James and Mackenzie, both of which have suffered economically during a lengthy forestry downturn led by a collapse in U.S. housing.
The finger is being pointed at road dust again as the major culprit of fine particulate air pollution in the Prince George airshed, a conclusion of studies in the late '90s that were later largely dismissed. The latest findings were revealed by the Prince George Air Improvement Roundtable.
Former Citizen editor in chief Tony Skae died in Vancouver at age 90.
A double homicide on Pelican Lake Road in the Blackwater area claimed the lives of Darren Hala, 45, and Owen Thompson, 48, of Prince George. Michael James Bartley, 36, was arrested in Alberta and charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder.
Five-year-old Hannah Parker was diagnosed with a fist-size Wilms tumor deemed to be at the stage-four cancer level.
The RCMP launched the new Downtown Enforcement Unit, a team of officers dedicated to peace and crime reduction in the city's core, leading to a staggering drop in crime-related incidents.
City council approved spending $20,000 for a downtown Clean Team, opening a door for brain injured people in Prince George to be employed cleaning up an area of the city crying out for some TLC.
The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, along with the City of Prince George, announced that a curbside recycling program was in the works for PG.
For the first time since the Second World War, a soldier raised in Prince George was killed in battle. Former Kelly Road Secondary School grad, a popular football player, 21-year-old Darren Fitzpatrick was severely injured in a March 6 bomb blast and died March 20 in hospital in Edmonton where he was stationed with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He was the 141st Canadian casualty in the mission in Afghanistan.
In two years, Prince George writer Sarah de Leeuw has written two stories and earned two CBC National Literary Awards. De Leeuw won top prize in the CBC contest's English Language Creative Non-Fiction category for her story "Quick-Quick. Slow. Slow." Last year she earned the same award for her essay "Columbus Burning" about the fatal fire that destroyed the historic Columbus Hotel.
Prince George writer Denise Chong, now a resident of Ottawa, released her third book, Egg On Mao, which told the true story of Lu Decheng, one of the central figures of protest during the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989.
Two skiers, identified by Valemount police as being French nationals, died in an avalanche in the mountains above the Robson Valley. A third survived the incident.
Cynthia Dykhuizen, 12, from Barlow Creek elementary school in Quesnel, won the northern B.C. spelling bee held annually in Prince George. She went on to the CanWest Canspell national championship spelling bee held in Ottawa, making it to the second round.
Prince George was at the top of KPMG's list of cost-effective cities in which to do business, in the U.S./Canada Pacific region. Prince George also scored 11th place in all of Canada. The ranking came out in the biennial Competitive Alternatives Study put out by KPMG, the international accounting and corporate advisory firm.
The City of Prince George announced it had purchased the Prince George Hotel for $2.5 million. Although the intent of the acquisition - demolition leading to downtown revitalization development - was lauded by the public, questions still persisted about the details of the transaction with original owner Ted Coole and family, and interim owners Commonwealth Group.
