Five local businesses recognized at Tourism Kamloops hospitality awards – Kamloops News

A 12-bed women’s shelter opened a month ago by The Mustard Seed Kamloops is now at full capacity.

Kelly Thomson, managing director for The Mustard Seed Kamloops, said Harbour House staff are connecting with the women staying at the facility.

“They feel safe, and they feel loved, [and] that we’re able to work with them, which is great. I think that’s one of the key things I always look for, is how can we support them so that they can do well,” Thomson said.

The shelter, which is housed in a newly renovated space inside the Mustard Seed’s West Victoria Street location, welcomed its first guests in mid-October.

The fully accessible shelter will be open 24/7 year-round, and provides women with a space to stay for as long as they need.

“There’s always one or two beds that kind of seem to revolve in and out a little bit. But as soon as one leaves, another one comes in. So it’s pretty much full all the time,” Thomson said.

“We’re learning how how the ladies do things a little bit differently than the mat program and the recovery program upstairs. They’re little unique in how they do their things, too. But we’re slowly getting the handle, I think, on how to do a good job of it.”

Thomson said due to the shelter’s smaller size, the staff have time to sit and talk with the women who are staying in the facility.

“We’re beginning to get them to open up a little bit and say, you know, I’d like some counselling. So we can set them up with one of our counsellors upstairs or one of our advocates,” Thomson said, adding a few women have decided they want to start detox programs.

“That’s awesome — and then they come back when they’re done that and we just keep talking to them about how can we help you keep going forward?”

The beds at Harbour House make up 12 of about 200 shelter beds currently available in Kamloops, according to BC Housing.

The Mustard Seed Kamloops also operates a nightly shelter in its Outreach Centre at 181 Victoria St. West. The agency is also running a temporary cold weather shelter at the Yacht Club downtown.

This shelter, which runs from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. each night, is expected to remain open until Monday.

The provincial minister of transportation and infrastructure says it took “unbelievable” work from crews over the course of a year to reconstruct Highway 8 after severe flooding washed away over seven kilometres of road.

On Wednesday, First Nations chiefs and ministry representatives joined Rob Fleming to announce the reopening of Highway 8.

“Nothing tests you like a disaster to see how you can respond, and the companies, the contractors, the heavy construction unions that stepped up and the Indigenous communities, young people who worked on these projects to rebuild it — it’s been a flat out impressive year,” Fleming said.

“The work that was done on this corridor to get us to the announcement that we’re able to make today with our partners is unbelievable — and I think one that will be studied by engineers and road builders for years and decades to come.”

Drone footage and photographs from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and Quattro Constructors shows the extent of the highway damage and the work that took place to restore missing highway sections, install two temporary bridges — 73 metres and 85 metres long — and complete geotechnical work along the corridor.

According to data from the province, the atmospheric river event in November 2021 resulted in 23 damaged areas along the highway, including 15 sites where both lanes were lost and four sites where a single lane was lost.

Several more sites were impacted by debris flow events and erosion.

Shawn Clough, highway director for the ministry of transportation and infrastructure, said most of the severe highway damage happened after the confluence of Spius Creek and the Nicola River.

“When Spius Creek joined the flow, it was an additional 300 to 350 cubic meters a second to give us the 750 [cubic metres per second] that hit the the corridors,” Clough said.

Fleming said temporary repairs to all regional highways damaged during last year’s floods have cost $250 million so far. Of the total, 40 per cent, or $100 million, has been spent solely on restoring the Highway 8 corridor. Fleming noted the projects will be eligible to be funded through federal disaster financial assistance.

Fleming said when Highway 8 was constructed several decades ago, it was paved along a route that was first a First Nations trade trail, then gold rush wagon roads. Fleming said there “wasn’t much by way of a road bed” underneath the old pavement.

“That’s why we lost seven kilometres. There’s a lot of silt in there was built to a standard that you would never build to these days. Now we’re using 21st century durable resilience road bed with rock that was crushed locally and it’s built to a strong raised elevation, a modern standard,” Fleming said.

Clough said the highway is much more resilient, even though it’s built at the same elevation.

Clough noted the highway is being built to “ambient condition” — essentially built to maintain its curvy, winding, relatively narrow design so the public knows what to expect at each stage of the drive.

“You can well imagine that it doesn’t give drivers a good expectation of what to expect if [the highway] goes super wide back to narrow, super wide,” he said.

“So we are reestablishing the highway in phase one to the ambient standard, which is what you would expect to see throughout the rest of the corridor.”

Clough said when the river carved into the banks and the highway, it created “large geotechnical instabilities.”

“We have done some risk analysis and are now identifying where we can do work that meets the ambient condition that again is consistent in the corridor,” Clough said, noting this type of work is unique to the Highway 8 restoration project.

Clough said MOTI is also working with partner ministries to plan for grass seeding and other stability measures on upper slopes to reduce the likelihood of future events impacting the highway.

While the highway is now open to the public, drivers are warned that work to complete permanent repairs is ongoing, and the route remains an active construction zone.

“Crews are on the corridor continuing to install roadside barriers, armouring of the Nicola River continues on the embankments. We’re working on the permanent repairs as we speak,” Fleming said.

“Sections of the highway will have reduced speed limits. There’ll be different surface materials including gravel on some of these sections.”

Clough said motorists should be aware that the highway “isn’t your old Highway 8.”

“Be prepared for changing road conditions, be prepared for gravel surfaces,” he said.

“It is going to be a construction site for the next two to three years.”

A Kamloops man who attacked a driver in a busy Brocklehurst intersection in an “unprovoked and violent” case of road rage has been ordered to undergo anger management counselling as part of his probation.

Troy Lewis, 53, pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court on Thursday to one count of assault.

Court heard Lewis was a pedestrian in a crosswalk at the intersection of Holt Street and Tranquille Road on Dec. 18, 2021. While he was crossing the street, he became enraged with a driver and jumped onto the hood of his vehicle, climbing up the windshield.

“He then got off the vehicle and opened the driver’s door,” Crown prosecutor Evan Goulet said in court, noting Lewis slammed the car door on the man a number of times.

“He was kicking and punching him while he was strapped into the driver’s seat.”

Goulet said the driver eventually freed himself from the vehicle and confronted Lewis. A street fight ensued, which was quickly broken up by passersby.

“This was an unprovoked and violent attack on somebody who was strapped into his vehicle, didn’t know Mr. Lewis and was merely driving his vehicle, stopped at an intersection,” Goulet said, noting Lewis caused nearly $3,400 in damage to the vehicle.

Defence lawyer Jay Michi said Lewis was going through “some very difficult times” when the assault took place, struggling with a health issue. He said Lewis has lived in an apartment near the intersection for some time and has witnessed close calls involving pedestrians.

“He has developed the view that a number of motorists don’t take pedestrians’ lives seriously,” he said. “When the victim drove into what Mr. Lewis perceived to be the crosswalk, he began acting irrationally.”

Goulet asked Kamloops provincial court Judge Lorianna Bennett to impose a 12-month period of probation with conditions requiring Lewis to stay away from the victim and undergo anger management counselling, among others.

Michi, meanwhile, suggested a conditional discharge — meaning Lewis would have no entry on his criminal record if he completed the probation without incident. He said Lewis is hoping to find work at a local casino and an assault conviction would hinder those efforts.

Goulet said a discharge would not go far enough.

“This is an egregious, unprovoked assault on an innocent driver,” he said. “A conviction in necessary to drive home the point to Mr. Lewis and others that this is completely unacceptable behaviour.”

Bennett sided with Goulet, placing Lewis on a 12-month period of probation with conditions requiring he stay away from the victim, attend anger management counselling and pay $200 in restitution — the deductible the victim had to pay his insurance company.

“A discharge would be in Mr Lewis’ best interest,” the judge said. “Having said that, I am equally mindful and alive to the fact that this was an unprovoked, unnecessary and violent attack on an innocent member of the community who was doing nothing other than driving his vehicle.”

The Kamloops Human Society is hosting a kitten adoption event this weekend — and some dogs might be available, as well.

The event will take place Saturday at Petsmart, 30-1385 Hillside Dr., from 2 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Barbara Zibrik, executive director of the local humane society, said 18 kittens will be available for viewing. They have been vet checked, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, tattooed and dewormed.

She said she is waiting for confirmation as to whether any dogs will be available.

Anyone looking for more information can call 250-376-1366 or email [email protected]

Kids with sensory sensitivities have an opportunity to visit Santa at Aberdeen Mall without overwhelming crowds, noise or bright lights.

According to a post on Aberdeen Mall’s Facebook page, the mall’s Silent Santa event will be held over two nights in late November, with a second evening session added due to demand.

“Families will have the opportunity to visit Santa after mall hours without the distraction of large crowds, mall music or holiday lights,” the post said.

Tyler Meade Photography will be offering professional portrait packages for Silent Santa attendees, and each family will receive a complimentary 5×7 photo.

Registration for the event is mandatory, and those interested in attending are asked to contact guest services at Aberdeen Mall to reserve a spot.

While the first Silent Santa session — to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 29 — is fully booked, organizers say there are still spots available for the second night, planned for Wednesday, Nov. 30.

The Silent Santa evenings will run from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

More information can be found on the Aberdeen Mall website.

Kamloops Mounties are hoping to connect with relatives of a man whose body was found in the Thompson River more than three decades ago.

Raymond Lyle Haines, 34, was reported missing in September of 1990. His remains were discovered on the south shore of the Thompson River the following February, police said.

RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said a cause of death was never determined, but the investigation is ongoing.

“Over the years, contact has been lost with Raymond’s remaining relatives,” she said in a news release.

“Police are looking to re-establish a connection in order to maintain communication on any updates or progress related to the investigation.”

If anyone recognizes Haines as a relative, or has information about his death, they are encouraged to contact police at 250-828-3000.

Drugs, brass knuckles and a large knife were seized by Kamloops police after an officer discovered the items while conducting a traffic stop on Westsyde Road.

In a statement, RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said an officer was on patrol Wednesday at about 2:15 a.m. when he stopped a white Mustang to confirm the female driver was licensed.

The officer saw the weapons as well as an axe handle near the drivers seat.

“The woman was arrested for offences including possession of a prohibited weapon,” Evelyn said.

“A further search located the drugs.”

Evelyn said a bag of suspected methamphetamine and the weapons were taken by the officer to be destroyed and the woman was released at the scene.

Police are investigating the incident, and anyone with relevant information is asked to contact the Kamloops RCMP detachment.

A Kamloops man is back behind bars facing new auto-theft charges less than two weeks after he was released on bail after allegedly stealing a different vehicle, police say.

In a news release, Mounties said they responded to a report of a stolen commercial van just before 8 a.m. on Nov. 3. RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said investigators traced the vehicle to the Paul Lake Road area.

“The suspect was recognized by police and, when the officers attempted to stop him, he allegedly fled in the van in a manner that was dangerous to the public,” she said.

Evelyn said Monties later located the van near Nicolani Drive and Lethbridge Avenue in Brocklehurst.

“A suspect was arrested near Singh Street following a brief foot pursuit,” she said.

John Robert Beauchemin, 36, is facing charges of theft of motor vehicle, dangerous driving, failure to stop for police, driving while prohibited, failure to comply and possession of property obtained by an offence.

Beauchemin was one of three men arrested during a special police operation last month aiming to curb spiking auto theft numbers in Kamloops.

He was expected to appear in court for a bail hearing on Thursday.

The following individuals were wanted by Kamloops RCMP as of the time of publication.

Joadth Anderson

Evan Davis

Nathon Doucette