OMG a Red Tomato Pie is opening here
Plus, the city launches a fact-checking website. And what would you do with a five-day weekend in town?
I’ve said many times that Prince George has hit peak pizza and we really don’t need another one, but I’ve also always carved out one exception: Red Tomato Pies. I believe they originally opened in Williams Lake and expanded out to Kamloops, Golden and Quesnel and promptly became a favourite among many — I’ve known more than one person to actually make a trip to Quesnel largely for the pizza. When this was posted in the Prince George Restaurant Reviews Facebook group yesterday, it received so many responses so quickly that comments had to be turned off. I’m excited, but, seriously — once they open, no more pizza places. Let’s focus on getting a proper taqueria next.
The city of Prince George is launching a fact-checking site
This is an interesting one from the city:
Information travels at an incredible speed, and sometimes it can be difficult to tell truth from misinformation, and opinion from fact.
We've created this page to answer questions from residents, correct misinformation, and provide clear facts on some of our most frequently discussed topics.
Want to see if your question has already been answered? You can search previous questions and responses by entering keywords into the search box below.
In principal, this is a good idea. There are questions like, “It snowed yesterday. Why hasn't my street been plowed?” and “Are taxes being increased because staff/council gave themselves raises?” There are also ones that are direct responses to recent media investigations, like “Is it true that the City changed a policy so buildings are not inspected anymore?” (from the Citizen) and “Do City water pipes contain asbestos?”(CTV) and this is where I feel like things could get a little more nebulous.
With answers to questions like this, there’s the risk of running the implication that by the Citizen reporting on internal documents from people who work in building inspection, and CTV reporting on concerns around asbestos in water pipes, they are spreading misinformation. And I can’t help but think how the city might have used this page back when they were insisting they didn’t violate a court order by demolishing shelters in Moccasin Flats, wrote dismissive emails about those who said otherwise, only to later be told in court that they were wrong and apologizing. If I were being extremely cynical, one could see this as a way for the city to put out its own alternative facts under the guise of fact-checking, which has happened around the world.
To be clear, I’m not saying that this is what will happen with this site and, again, I think in principal it’s a good initiative — it has the potential to be a great way to increase civic literacy and be directly responsive to people’s questions — but I also think it’s important to keep an eye on how it’s used in practice.
Take an urban walking tour this weekend
Reddit user librie wonders what they should do with an unexpected five days off in the city. A lot of the suggestions are going to be to take a trip elsewhere and it’s good advice (Tumbler Ridge is RIGHT THERE) but given that it’s shoulder season I also think spring is a good time for city walking. A personal favourite of mine is downtown, through the Millar Addition to the Exploration Place, then through Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park and on to Cottonwood (you can throw Connaught Hill in there). It’s a not insubstantial walk and you can stop off for coffee, pop into the art gallery and museums and really have a good combo of urban/nature. I once led a walking tour that followed a portion of this route and have thought about making a self-guided one to share for moments like this and it’s a good reminder. Anyways, you can see other suggestions or add your own here.
Quick news:
The Prince George Cougars make it 2-2 series while the Spruce Kings put on a valiant effort but lost in double overtime, putting them out of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Cougars head coach Mark Lamb is named B.C. Division Coach of the Year.
Research project shows potential for mineral exploration and investment in North Central B.C.
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