Justice for Dewey
To mark April Fool’s the City of Prince George announced a new mascot and a new roundabout:
The City of Prince George is excited to unveil its new official city mascot and roadside attraction after retiring Mr. PG. The roadside attraction will be placed at the centre of a new traffic circle that will replace the current signaled intersection at Highway 16 and Highway 97. Construction on the six-lane traffic circle is slated to begin this spring.
The new mascot, Dewey, replaces Mr. PG as the City transitions from a forestry-based community. Dewey the water droplet represents the two rivers and is a nod to the up-and-coming hydrogen industry.
As one person quipped “I knew it was an April fools joke as soon as I read the city only spent $785,000. If it were real they wouldn't hesitate dropping $15,000,000” but jokes aside, I kind of like Dewey. It’s possible/probable I’m just feeling like Mr. PG has become a little overexposed and it wouldn’t be terrible to have something else to represent the city even if it is just a giant drop of water but honestly, let’s keep Dewey around as a side character.
Other April Fool’s jokes I saw:
“Who says I can’t wear my Converse?”
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Because I’m terminally online this TikTok by a right-wing dating app founder accidentally being leftist has been in my head for the last week. I’m not sure if the above iteration is a direct reference to the city of PG but the creator is from British Columbia so it well could be (it could also be about any number of cities, because we are not unique in our challenges). Anyways, there was a 60 person gathering protesting the city’s plans to centralize homeless campers in one place over the weekend. A final decision is being made April 12.
“CHSS better”
Speaking of TikTok I’m seeing more locals pop up on my feed. This weekend my for-you page had a video from Duchess Park Secondary informing students which entrance to use for the upcoming prom. I clicked through to see there were about a half-dozen other videos, and every single one of them had precisley one comment on them, from the same person:
Also speaking of TikTok, a stupid social media challenge has apparently spread to the city.
The Cougars claw back
The Cougars are 1-1 after their first two games of the playoffs, with both games being decided in overtime. The win Saturday night came after a controversial loss on Friday when the team thought they had tied things up with under a minute left, only have to have the goal disallowed:
”To put it lightly, fans in the building were upset, and when the Americans hit the empty net a few moments later frustrations boiled over and at least 100 water bottles, cans, rally towels, and other items were thrown on the ice in protest,” My Prince George Now reports.
As for turnout, 4,639 fans were recorded for night one and 4,514 for night two. That’s more than 1,000 short of the CN Centre’s capacity of 5,967 so hopefully the team picks up some wins on the road and gains some momentum.
The Spruce Kings, meanwhile, lost both their games at the beginning of their playoff run.
Quick news
Prince George blind curlers take third at Canadian Western championship.
A dog found abandoned tied to a railing downtown in February has been adopted.
Local fastball association aiming to increase registration numbers.
Prince George recycling centre finalist in top B.C. small business award.
Locally produced true crime podcast “Wicked & Grim” has surpassed 1 million downloads.
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