Two weeks, two homicides
And some good Valentines. Read to the end for a viral TikTok from Quesnel
Let’s start with some fun, shall we? The city of Prince George put out a series of Valentine’s post yesterday and they are all great:
I’ve shared criticisms of the city’s social media posts in these pages before but I’ve also shared plenty of posts like these that I think hit the mark of engaging and humourous and (like yesterday’s post on potholes) also informative. These are the way to go!
Here are a few other local Valentine’s posts:
Homicide tracking has begun
On to something less fun: The city has marked its second homicide of the year, and the second in as many week — and, notably, both victims are women, as well:
Both women were found dead inside residences between midnight and 1 a.m.
RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Cooper said the death has since been determined to be a homicide, but no details would be released "due to the privacy of the deceased."
"It's too early in the investigation to draw any connections between the two deaths," Cooper told CBC News on Tuesday. "There's nothing glaringly obvious."
This time last year there had been one homicide recorded, with three to come in March and a total of six overall. Leading off this way is likely to keep us high in the dangerous crime stats.
The city plays ball with the province on a welfare office(smart, probably)
The Citizen reports that after backlash, the province has backed away from its proposal to open a welfare office in the old Spee-Dee Printers building downtown:
Reached Monday, Downtown Prince George executive director Colleen Van Mook said that although many other suggestions were raised during consultations on the matter, DPG decided it could ‘could accept’ Second and Brunswick as the new location.
She said the provincial government made it clear it wanted a location downtown and that the willingness to at least relocate to the "outer layer" as opposed to right in the middle "where there is still potential for retail and we have the daycare and the seniors centre" was an acceptable compromise.
This area was already zoned for use, so really the province didn’t have to take public feedback, at all. But the city has been a good player with the province when it comes to downtown — approving supportive housing and shelter spaces in buildings downtown while other cities resisted them — so there is likely some good will built up there between the two levels of government. Not going to the mat over this one is also probably good for long-term relations, on both sides.
Quick news:
The B.C. Real Estate Association says early signs are that 2023 is going to be a healthier housing market in northern B.C. than 2022 was.
The McLeod Lake Indian Band wants an apology from the head of the Prince George District Teacher’s Association after the latter complained about a prayer opening a recent school board session, and the actions of the school board chair, a former employee of McLeod Lake.
Meanwhile, here’s an expanded interview with said head of the PGDTA on his concerns over anti-LGBTQ sentiment coming from the community.
UNBC is also once again one of the best places to work in B.C., according to an annual survey.
A pair of poor fourth-quarter earnings results yesterday: TC Energy’s earnings were down as the Coastal GasLink pipeline’s costs doubled and West Fraser Timber, which just announced a short-term closure of its mill in Quesnel, says its Q4 earnings were down 128 per cent over a year earlier.
Related: Local trucking companies are feeling the impact of the forestry downturn.
Mackenzie is sounding the alarm on limited ambulance service.
The city and regional district have high hopes for provincial grant money being distributed.
Ness Lake is hosting a free Family Day event on Monday.
There will be a candelight vigil to mark the start of the invasion of Ukraine next Wednesday at city hall.
And, as promised, here is a viral TikTok from Quesnel and as not promised, here is Howie Mandel commenting on it.
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