Some things never change.
“It’s only mid-July and the province has already blown its firefighting budget. Speaking from her constituency in West Kelowna last week, Premier Christy Clark said it could get worse. According to the Penticton Herald, Ms. Clark said that given the realities of climate change and the drying climate, the province has to be more prepared for a drier future. She is also reported as saying the province is not going to stop spending money on firefighting just because it is expensive.” - French Connection, July 23, 2014
Although a recent RCMP report said crime in the city was down, there seems to be an alarming number of break and enters, shooting, muggings, etc. Lately. There are meetings being held with the intent of finding some solutions to the current issues.
The very first meeting I attended when we moved to Williams Lake 45 years ago was about crime. No gangs, no drive by shootings or much in the way of drugs back then, the biggies were problems related to alcohol abuse (including street people) and youngsters breaking store windows.
The bad stuff happened downtown. We lived on Ninth Avenue and never locked a door unless we were out of town, and then we left a basement window open for the cat’s convenience.
Since then we’ve had two break and enters, both when the house was locked up.
Walt Cobb was at that early meeting. I don’t remember how many similar meetings I’ve attended since — bet Walt can’t remember how many he’s been to either.
One of the most worthwhile sessions had a panel that included the Judge (C.C Barnett) and an ex-convict who was very graphic about his time in jail. We heard all sides of the story.
I’m singing an old song here, but it might be worthwhile for somebody to look back at previous projects to see what worked and what didn’t (and why) rather than re-inventing the wheel yet again.
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian, and book author.