Chuck Chin gave us collective memories

'It will never happen again exactly as it did in that moment'

I don’t know that I ever met Chuck Chin in person, though I certainly saw him often: At community gatherings, street parties, sporting events, he was there, camera in hand, capturing the moment. His photos frequently floated to the top of my Facebook algorithm: Sports, portraits and his many, many scenery shots. On multiple occasions I found a news story about Prince George I was working on lacked a good photo to illustrate them, inevitably Chuck would have taken one and whenever I messaged him to ask about using it, he generously replied in the affirmative, resulting in shots like this hitting the national news:

Even more frequently, I would mine his latest photographs to bring colour and joy to the pages of this newsletter, as his latest shots came across my feed.

Sadly, Chuck Chin passed over the weekend. I have no knowledge of what happened beyond the many, many, many Facebook tributes pouring in to him and his photography, humour and generosity. There are motorcycle riders and wedding photos, hockey games and swim matches and his many, many photographs of what seems to have been his favourite subject, Cottonwood Island Park. In previous eras, newspapers had the staff available to send photographers out just to take pictures of people in parks or the elementary school sports tournaments, allowing the community to see itself in its pages. Those days have gone but Chuck often filled that role, filling the feeds of “Hell Yeah Prince George” and “Positively PG” and countless other Facebook pages with pictures of the changing weather or new generations of kids at play.

It’s clear from the tributes pouring in that it meant a lot to too many people to count that he took the time — so much time, day after day — to show us to ourselves in a public space where we could take joy and celebrate the things that bring us together. Even today, as I opened my tabs to put this newsletter together, this was the top post, one of the last he would ever make, with the caption “Peace and serenity … at Cottonwood ❤️”

I never met Chuck but the fact that this will be the last time I get see a new photo from him, and then share it with you, fills me with sadness. And it brings me happiness to be able to find comfort in his own words, also being shared as the community mourns his loss:

Thank you, Chuck, for making so many great memories for all of us.

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It’s budget time

This is not going to be a comprehensive post about the budget, in part because it’s only the first of three scheduled days of talks on exactly what will happen to our taxes moving forward. You can read a good overview at My Prince George Now if you want the breakdown and for some background on how we wound up with such a big increase, you can read that here. I do, however, want to note a few of the items from today’s agenda that stand out to me:

• The library is porposing a 5.11 per cent increase to its budget in part to absorb the impact inflation is having on the price of books and other materials — as well as negotiated staff pay increases, better software to manage the newspaper archives and the Knowledge Garden.

• RCMP are asking for more than a million extra to hire four new officers, as well as two civilian staff: A transcriptionist to type out witness and accused statements (including transcription of footage gathered by body cameras) and someone who can work as a liason for the families of missing people. The hiring of new staff is part of a multi-year plan started last budget time.

• There are also asks for more money for firefighers and a fire training site, road rehab, the REAPS Community Garden and the Little Prince train.

As a programming note, I’m not sure I’ll get to follow much in the way of budget talks given other priorities but will definitely be following the reporting of others with interest.

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The Save-On at Parkwood is being converted into a Buy-Low Foods

Buy-Low, like Save-On, is owned by Pattison. Here’s a current flyer from a location elsewhere in B.C. if you want a sense of the prices:

Quick news:

• Nightclub owners sue City of Prince George over explosion, claiming gas leak was reported day prior.

• Prince George, B.C., woman trying to run 1,000 km in winter to fundraise for kids with disabilities.

• Kids celebrate the return of snow.

• The Oval finally had a chance to open this weekend.

• Prince George expecting surge in Ukrainian arrivals ahead of visa cutoff.

• Exploration Place cutting open hours for winter.

• The Prince George Pipe Band is hosting Robbie Burns night Jan. 25 at OM, which is just a delightful melding of cultures.

• A moose on the loose.

  

  Today’s song:

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