Featured Archives - My Bulkley Lakes Now https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/featured/ Fri, 03 May 2024 18:29:17 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 Smithers author releases debut children’s book https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62433/smithers-author-releases-debut-childrens-book/ Fri, 03 May 2024 18:29:17 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62433

A new book about life as a conservation officer’s (CO) daughter in Smithers is released today. (Friday) 

The Wolverine and Me is written by Olivia Nixon and her father, Kevin, about rescuing a wolverine they found caught in a wolf trap. 

“I was only seven and I remember bits and pieces of the story, but he was there and has all the knowledge,” said Nixon. 

While the book follows her side of the story, her father also had an interest in putting his stories onto paper. 

“It ended up being perfect because I wanted to write something and he has all these stories I can write about,” she said. 

While writing the book, Nixon added there was a sense of nostalgia in putting words to paper. 

“Even if you were to tell your friends, it different than getting to write it down on a piece of paper and share it with other children.” 

The book is illustrated by Zoe Christensen, who Nixon met while attending college in Calgary. 

This is the first book the duo plans on releasing in The Canadian Wildlife Series. 

“They’re all going to be similar in the premise will still be about being a CO’s daughter, whatever experiences come with that,” she said. 

The second book is expected to release in early 2025 called the Conservation Officer Campout 

The Wolverine and Me can be purchased on the Ormiston Press website or on Amazon.

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]]> King Koehn: Ziemmer’s clutch effort keeps Cougars season alive against Portland https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62422/king-koehn-ziemmers-clutch-effort-keeps-cougars-season-alive-against-portland/ Fri, 03 May 2024 06:25:54 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62422

The Cougars are shipping back up to Prince George.

And they couldn’t be more thrilled to be heading back to BC’s Northern Capital to play at least one more home game at CN Centre.

Koehn Ziemmer played a like King, providing a clutch two-goal effort in a 6-1 Cougars shelling over the Portland Winterhawks claiming Game Five of the WHL’s Western Conference Final Thursday night in front of 6,138 distraught fans at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Portland leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

The 19-year-old signed Los Angeles Kings prospect meant business from the word go -  coming in like a wrecking ball, laying out anyone in a red Winterhawks jersey while also discovering his vintage scoring touch.

After Gabe Klassen banked a puck off the heel of Josh Ravensbergen to make it 1-0 Portland – Ziemmer put the visitors on his back and was the catalyst for six unanswered Cougars goals.

Coming up the ice on a scattered 3-on-2 rush, Ziemmer found a way to slip in behind the Portland defence and fire a wrist shot under the cross bar past Jan Spunar to even the score.

The Mayerthorpe Magician worked his magic one more time before the end of the period curling past a wimpy defender before cutting into the slot and firing another hard blast past Spunar to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

Given up and left for dead by some after a pair of less than inspiring losses in Game's Three and Four – the Cougars continued to pour on the offense in the second period.

Lanky power-forward Hunter Laing converted late on a PG power-play placing the puck in-between his legs, beating a sprawled out Spunar before falling to the ice.

"I think tonight was the first time this season, our group had to gain some confidence inch by inch. We had to find a way and the first goal we gave up was one where we mishandled the puck and we got back to work," said Jim Playfair, Cougars Associate Coach.

"It was one of those games where the players felt good and confident but they didn't naturally have the edge to their confidence and that is what happens when you lose three in a row. They found a way and stuck with it and I thought we did on good job on special teams."

Portland had two golden opportunities to snatch the momentum back on their side in the dying seconds only to be turned away by Ravensbergen.

A point blast by Klassen was padded aside by the 17-year-old only to see the puck ricochet to the stick of James Stefan – luckily Ravensbergen was able to get a toe on it to keep it out.

"He is as steady as it goes and he has a really innocent demeanor about himself in the game and he really makes you look back and appreciate the goodness of the game. It starts with the basics and the passion you have when you do things that are very hard and they look very simple. That is the simplicity of what Joshua brings to our team and I think the rest of the players feed off that," Playfair said.

In the third, PG emptied the gas tanks and ran roughshod over a frustrated and possibly banged up Winterhawks side who was once again without forward Josh Davies and star blueliner Luca Cagnoni.

Ondrej Becher made the Winterhawks pay on yet another transition rush cashing in on an Oren Shtrom feed – all the 19-year-old from Czechia had to do was tap into the yawning cage.

Borya Valis provided the exclamation point scoring on a penalty shot going through the five-hole of Spunar to make it 5-1. Valis drew the call after getting hooked up on a break-away, negating what looked to be a dangerous scoring opportunity.

Keaton Dowhaniuk added his fourth of the post-season courtesy of a Becher feed to add insult to injury.

Despite being without rookie sniper Terik Parascak for a second consecutive game, PG’s offensive prowess was spot on – outshooting Portland 36-26.

Ravensbergen made 25 saves in net for the visitors while Spunar could only muster 30 stops on 36 PG attempts.

Both Becher and Ziemmer had three-point efforts for the Cougars.

"We have three more game sevens in front of us so when Ziems steps up and scores those two goals you could see where the rest of the team felt like he is a big game player and comes as advertised. He is an NHL drafted player and that is what he is supposed to do," added Playfair.

So far, this Western Conference Final has been the tale of two series.

In both PG wins, they have outscored Portland by a combined score of 11-1.

When you flip the script the other way, the Winterhawks outgunned the Cougars by a 14-6 margin in their three victories.

Game Six is set for Monday at 7pm from CN Centre.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday) morning at 11am at both the box office and through TicketsNorth.ca and are expected to sell fast.

In addition, fans are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs and barbeques to the CN Centre parking lot on Friday to welcome back the Cougars from their 13-hour trek home from the Rose City.

Players and coaches are expected to arrive back between 11:30 AM and 1PM.

The Eastern Conference Final continues in Saskatoon as the Blades welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors for Game 5 at Sasktel Centre on Friday.

That series is tied 2-2 with Game Six set for Sunday back in the Friendly City.

McBride’s Tanner Molendyk and Evan Gardner of Fort St. John play for the Blades while Ethan Semeniuk who also hails from FSJ is a member of the Warriors.

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]]> Cariboo Regional District Board Chair issues statement on censure of Quesnel Mayor https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62411/crd-board-chair-issues-statement-on-the-censure-of-quesnel-mayor/ Thu, 02 May 2024 17:59:06 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62411

The Chair of the Cariboo Regional District Board has released a statement on the censure of Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Margo Wagner says they are aware that Council has revoked his appointment to the CRD’s Board of Directors, adding that they welcome a new municipal representative once one is selected.

Wagner says the Board as a whole remains committed to the principles of reconciliation and strengthening their relationship with all Indigenous governments in the Cariboo and the Chilcotin.

She says the CRD will not be issuing any further comment about Mayor Paull’s censure at this time.

Paull is accused of taking a controversial book, Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the truth about Residential Schools), to a CRD meeting and trying to distribute it.

He denies the accusation.

-Files by George Henderson, My Cariboo Now

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]]> Rain remains low in the Bulkley Valley and Lakes District https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62410/rain-remains-low-in-the-bulkley-valley-and-lakes-district/ Thu, 02 May 2024 17:58:02 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62410

Umbrellas and rain jackets were out of fashion last month while temperatures stayed normal. 

That’s according to Environment Canada as the Bulkley Valley and Lakes District felt it’s 25th driest April since 1938. 

“We recorded 12.7 millimetres; normal is about 23.8,” said Meteorologist Brian Proctor. 

The same time last year, the region recorded its 25th wettest month on record at 28.5 millimetres. 

Year over year mean temperatures spelt a different story, only differing by 0.1 degrees. 

“The mean temperature was 4.7 degrees. The normal mean temperature was 4.8 degrees so pretty much right on normal,” said Proctor. 

He added May is looking to have about the same outcome as April with less than average precipitation and normal temperatures.

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]]> Portland pushes Cougars to the playoff brink with Game Four victory https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62406/portland-pushes-cougars-to-the-playoff-brink-with-game-four-victory/ Thu, 02 May 2024 05:40:07 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62406

Along with the thousands of Prince George Cougars fans who be at a local bar or glued to their computer screens on Thursday, expect a few ghosts from the infamous 2016-17 post season roster to be hanging around in spirit as well.

For the first time this postseason, the Cougars are facing elimination after the tantalizing trio Nate Danielson, Marcus Nguyen and Jack O’Brien tapped danced their way to a three-goal, six-assist performance enroute to a 5-2 Portland Winterhawks victory on Wednesday in front of 5,769 fans from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Winterhawks lead the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final series 3-1.

Once again, Portland would get the jump on PG in the opening period as Gabe Klassen roofed a wrist-shot over the shoulder of Ty Young.

Six minutes later, a Josh Zakreski wrap-around rush allowed Diego Buttazoni to sneak in and chip a puck past a sprawled-out Young who nearly committed highway robbery on the Winterhawks forward.

The Cougars found their skating legs in the second period generating the vast majority of the chances but not able to consistently beat Portland netminder Jan Spunar.

On one play, Koehn Ziemmer was sprung on clear-cut breakaway only to be turned aside by the 19-year-old from Czechia.

Hudson Thornton provided the ice breaker for PG on the power-play as his point shot whistled past Spunar trimming the deficit to 2-1.

However, the Nguyen’s mastery of the Cougars would rear its ugly head prior to the intermission as a scramble deep in the defensive zone allowed the Calgary product to bury a loose puck past a sprawled-out Keaton Dowhaniuk.

Nguyen would strike again at 5:38 of the third as the Hawks came in on a 3-on-1 led by Danielson who collected his ninth assist of the series.

Thornton provided some faint hope for the Cougars once again on the man-advantage beating Spunar glove side on the power-play to make it a 4-2 game.

Danielson brought the curtain closer tapping home a loose rebound on a drive to the goal by Jack O’Brien forcing Young to spit out the rebound.

The Winterhawks outshot PG 39-28 overall and went 1-for-4 on the power-play while the Cougars were 2-for-3.

Young looked sharp in the visiting goal despite giving up five markers on 39 Portland attempts. Spunar was a tad cleaner allowing two goals on 28 Cougar shots.

PG was without rookie sniper Terik Parascak due to injury while Hunter Laing also came out – both of them were replaced by Nick McLennan and rookie AP Lee Shurgot.

Shurgot, the Cougars first round draft pick in 2022 tallied one assist in 20 games during the regular season before lighting it up for the Saskatoon Blazers in the Saskatchewan U18 AAA league recording 50 points in 31 games.

Winterhawks defenceman Luca Cagnoni failed to suit up for the third time this series due to injury, leading to head coach Mike Johnston to re-insert Alex Thompson into the lineup who played sparingly.

With their backs up against the wall, past playoff history is not on the Cougars side against the Winterhawks.

Portland finished off the heavily favoured Cougars in six games during the 2017 WHL Playoffs – a roster that featured Jansen Harkins, Jesse Gabrielle, Ty Edmonds, Brendan Guhle, Jared Bethune and Josh Anderson just to name a few.

Fast forward five years later (2022), and the Winterhawks again dispatched PG from post-season play – this time it would only take the minimum of four games with ex-Cougar goalie coming back to beat his old team. Eighteen players from both teams in that series are again butting heads in 2024.

Game Five is set for tomorrow night at 7pm from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

A Cougars win would force Game Six that would be slated for Monday at CN Centre.

In the Eastern Conference Final, Egor Sidarov scored 3:29 into overtime to give the Saskatoon Blades a 5-4 overtime victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors to even up the series at 2-2.

Three of the first four contests have gone to extra time with Saskatoon winning twice while the Warriors claimed Game One in sudden death.

Game Five is slated for Friday from Sasktel Centre - both teams will then head back to the Friendly City for a Sunday matinee (1pm Pacific) from the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Nashville Predators signed first-rounder Tanner Molendyk of McBride and Fort St. John goaltender Evan Gardner both play for the Blades. Ethan Semeniuk, also out of Fort St. John, is the lone northern BC boy on the Warriors.

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]]> Canfor posts $16 million first-quarter loss; PG’s Intercon Mill to undergo maintenance outages https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62375/canfor-posts-16-million-first-quarter-loss-pgs-intercon-mill-to-undergo-maintenance-outages/ Wed, 01 May 2024 15:02:37 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62375

Canfor is off to another challenging start to begin 2024.

In its first quarter update, the company posted an operating loss of nearly 16-million dollars.

It’s mainly associated to challenges with available economic fibre in BC.

“This was an improved quarter for Canfor Pulp, as we benefited from generally steady global softwood pulp market conditions and solid pulp production at both NBSK mills. While we continue to navigate the external challenges facing our business in relation to the availability of economically viable fibre, both in the short and longer term, we greatly appreciate our employees’ continued focus on enhancing our operational performance and efficiency.” said Kevin Edgson, Chief Executive Officer.

In addition, maintenance outages are scheduled at Prince George’s Intercon Mill and at Canfor’s paper machine, which are projected to reduce pulp and paper production by a combined 10-thousand tonnes.

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]]> Centre for Free Expression appoints Smithers Librarian as Senior Fellow https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62353/centre-for-free-expression-appoints-smithers-librarian-as-senior-fellow/ Tue, 30 Apr 2024 19:06:46 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62353

Smithers Public Library Director Wendy Wright was appointed as a Senior Fellow to the Centre for Free Expression. (CFE)

“With more than 30 years of working in bookstores, publishing, and libraries across Canada and with deep experience in promoting intellectual freedom, we are delighted Wendy is joining CFE as a senior fellow,” said CFE Director, James L. Turk.

The announcement was made on Friday which was both a surprise and an honour for Wright.

“I had never imagined such an honour and I was very emotional. This is something that has been a deep driving force; the advocacy for intellectual freedom and protecting people’s rights to have intellectual freedom,” she said.

Senior Fellows assist the centre’s work with the interest of that individual’s interests and expertise.

Immediately before joining CFE, Wright served as chair on the Canadian Federation of Library Associations’ Intellectual Freedom Committee and before then on the British Columbia Library Association’s equivalent.

CFE operates out of the Toronto Metropolitan University and does work internationally to help uphold the freedom with government level organizations and provides resources to libraries to aid with book challenges.

“It will help all libraries and all of the people libraries serve,” said Wright.

“Like with the Intellectual Committees I’ve been on, we’ll be sharing information and pooling resources.”

The library is hosting an event about intellectual freedom called Freedom to Read on May 9th.

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]]> Highway 118 to see new Fulton River Bridge https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62347/highway-118-to-see-new-fulton-river-bridge/ Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:54:21 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62347

Upgrades are on the way for Highway 118 and the Fulton River Hatchery south of Granisle. 

The province announced today (Tuesday) the 58-year-old Fulton River bridge is being replaced with a new two span design. 

Construction on a temporary route is expected to begin this summer and remain in place until 2026. 

The new bridge will have a median separated sidewalk and dedicated pathway along a new route for the highway. 

Along with highway improvements, the Fulton River Hatchery will see habitat enhancements from the new alignment. 

Up to date delays and highway closures from the project can be found on Drive BC’s website.

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]]> Nguyen’s hat-trick leads Portland to victory against out-of-sync Cougars https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62338/nguyens-hat-trick-leads-portland-to-victory-against-out-of-sync-cougars/ Tue, 30 Apr 2024 05:42:51 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62338

While coming onto the ice in front of a glitzy red hue, Marcus Nguyen picked a good time to run wild.

The 19-year-old forward from Calgary owned the Prince George Cougars Cougars on Monday night potting a hat-trick in a convincing 4-1 victory for the Portland Winterhawks in front of 5,608 fans at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Portland leads the best-of-seven Western Conference Final 2-1 with Game Four set for Wednesday in the Rose City (7pm).

For the second game in a row, the Cougars alarm clock failed to go off on time as they found themselves in a 3-0 hole at the halfway point of the opening period.

The seven o’clock puck drop was no issue for Nguyen however, as he beat Cougars goaltender Josh Ravensbergen twice in the first seven minutes.

Off a crafty wrap-around sequence by Nate Danielson, Nguyen caught the Cougars napping on the near side and had a gaping net to shoot at following the back-door feed.

Danielson again showed off his passing prowess that got him selected in the first round by the Detroit Red Wings, drawing three Cougars into the corner before finding Nguyen alone in the slot, beating Ravensbergen through the five-hole.

Marek Alscher put the exclamation mark on a dominant 20 minutes blasting a wrist shot from inside the face off circle getting past the glove side, ending Ravensbergen’s night who allowed three goals on 10 shots.

The bad blood spilled over between the two sides in the middle period as seven penalties were called including a fight between Winterhawks blueliner Josh Mori and Cats forward Carlin Dezainde.

Earlier in the frame, Nguyen continued to be public enemy number one as he took a charging major that knocked out standout rookie Terik Parascak who didn’t return for the third period.

Nguyen completed his hat-trick at 1:47 of the third, accepting a Jack O’Brien pass, outlasting a sprawled-out Ty Young who nearly made an eye-popping save. Danielson also ended his night with a second straight three assist performance.

PG finally solved Jan Spunar and the offensive ineptitude at the 15:56 mark when Borya Valis beat the Czechia-born goaltender short side to trim the deficit to three.

After a flat opening two periods, the Cougars found their skating legs and outshot the Winterhawks 17-6 in the third period, resulting in a 31-30 edge overall.

Portland went 1-for-7 on the power-play while the Cougars were 1-for-4.

Spunar stopped 30 Cougar pucks directed onto the Winterhawk goal while Ty Young stopped 19 of 20 shots in relief for the visitors.

Both teams have the day off tomorrow (Tuesday) before Games Four and Five set for Wednesday and Thursday from the VMC.

Game Six, if needed, would be played on Monday, May 6th at CN Centre.

You can catch all the action on 94.3 The Goat as well as the WHL Live video stream that is being shown at several bars and restaurants in the city.

This includes the Canadian Brewhouse, which is hosting the official Cougar watch parties as well as the Westwood Pub among others.

In addition, the CN Centre is opening the arena for fans to watch the remaining road playoff games.

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]]> Burgess Creek Area Evacuation Alert has been lifted https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/62330/burgess-creek-area-evacuation-alert-has-been-lifted/ Mon, 29 Apr 2024 18:30:54 +0000 https://www.mybulkleylakesnow.com/?p=62330

The Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre has lifted the Evacuation Alert in the Burgess Creek Area between Williams Lake and Quesnel.

The decision was made earlier this (Monday) morning at 10:30 and the original Alert was issued back on Sunday, April 21st.

The CRD said should conditions change, an Evacuation Alert or Evacuation Order will be reinstated as necessary.

The Burgess Creek Wildfire, approximately 20 kilometres East of Alexandria, continues to be roughly 1,800 hectares in size and is now categorized as being held.

-Files by Pat Matthews, My Cariboo Now

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