Good Morning everyone. Hope you all have a great day and weekend! Merry Christmas to all. I’ll talk to you in the New Year!

May all your dreams and wishes come true!

Taxi

Gawwwwwwd it is friday. There is a god. have a good one. Stay safe shopping.

Thanks Taxi and the same to you!

Merry Christmas to all! Hope everyone has a merry Christmas and happy new year! Be happy and stay safe.

With the snow falling and everyone rushing – traffic continues along as if it was July 1st instead of Christmas… May you all survive to see another Christmas .. slow down and enjoy life

The 20th Anniversary Performance of The Nutcracker goes tonight.

The symphony sounds great, and the dancers are magical.

I hope people get an opportunity to take their family to this year’s spectacle.

Last night, I was at The Goh Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker in Vancouver. Having performed in the Prince George production numerous times myself, I was curious of the differences.

The one I saw last night, while the dance dance technique was there, and the sets were outstanding, the story interpretation was an abomination.

Prince George… you need to go see your Nutcracker. The dancers are every bit as skilled as what you will find anywhere, and the symphony always sound fantastic. It’s Judy & Bill’s eye for production and storytelling that are superior.

And the local venue is probably adequate.

@middle finger – I’d love to give you a tour of the local venue so you can see how “adequate” it is.

You know two rows of seats are pulled out of the venue so there’s room for the orchestra, right?

And everything has to be on flats and rolled off the stage because there’s no fly tower, right?

And you must know there’s nowhere for the huge cast to change in the “theatre” area proper – the gym must be utilized, but this is only available when school is out – not like last night’s dress rehearsal where the back of the hall had be be used.

And make sure you come and check out intermission so you can witness how “adequate” the restroom situation is.

No, the venue is not adequate. Vanier Hall is a high school auditorium, not a performing arts centre. That the show happens at such a high level is a testament to Bill and Judy, the dedicated crew and some really amazing kids that soldier on despite less than “adequate” support from the venue.

Here we go again…

I read that the city is looking at electric and propane vehicles for their fleet as a “green” initiative to improve the city’s air quality.

Instead of making virtually no difference with half a dozen vehicles, put the money into PLC controls for the lights along the bypass where pollution can be reduced from thousands of vehicles a day.

The emissions from just a couple of chip trucks having to stop and start 5 times along the bypass would be more than what is saved by a few electric cars.

Lots of action at the Ramada last night, many cops. Young people tried to have a formal dance but it got shut down after only 45 minutes because of a group of puking drinkers. Why to go scum bags, you should be proud.

Bohemian, how many people were there? Would it be worth it for us to spend $45,000,000.00 on a “suitable venue”, and keep paying forever to keep it running?

Over the next coming week, most people will be running about doing their last minute shopping. If you’re feeling the time crunch, please do NOT be tempted to purchase the Gift Card VISAs or MasterCards that are available.

First, they charge you $6 just for the privilege of activating the card. That’s over and above the denomination.

Second, if the recipient doesn’t use the card in 7 months, they start charging an “Admin Fee” of $3 per month.

And lastly, if you have a $100 card (for example) and you’re purchase is over $100, it will come back as “declined”, rather than just taking the $100 off the price.

Vanier Hall is a High School Auditorium???

Since when does a High School have a 800 Seat Autitorium?? Seems to me that Vanier was built for both the school and the City. Certainly the taxpayers of Prince George paid for the facility. Not the School, or school board.

So. Looking at the problems above I would think that all the so called problems could be solved with a few million dollars in renovations. Fix the bathrooms, build a change room, plus add on a foyer. Fix the acoutics. This is not rocket science. In fact it should have been the first and only suggestion in a town this size.

But NO. Lets build a $52 Million performing arts centre downtown, that will pull business away from Vanier Hall, and allow us to tear down the Playhouse Theatre.

Vanier also has something that the downtown doesnt. Lots of parking.

Building a PAC downtown may be a benefit to some business’s downtown. However there will be no little or no benefits for those who will have to pay for it. Leave it where it is.

duffer

Did you not know that there are bio-tech companies massing on the outskirt of PG like the germans on the polish border waiting for the PAC to be announced before they invade;-p

Nice to see the Feds are finally forcing the Airline Industry to advertise actual pricing of flights, rather than this $79 one-way BS, with a pile of taxes and fees piled on afterward.

“And lastly, if you have a $100 card (for example) and you’re purchase is over $100, it will come back as “declined”, rather than just taking the $100 off the price.”

Pylot, if the purchase is say 120.00 and you have a 100 visa gift card, tell the cashier to take your 20.00 cash (or debit, whatever) payment 1st, leaving a balance of 100 which can then be rang in on the card. Seriously, if the cashier cant figure that out, find somewhere else to shop. We’ve given and recieved thes cards and yes, there is an admin (actvation) fee. Did you expect the company (visa or whomever) to not make any money on their product? (the card). Its not quite the same as buying a store specific card (boston Pizza, etc) as those companies take your money and know you will spend it at their store where they are making a markup as well. The visa GC can be used anywhere and the issuing company then has to pay the bill for your purchase – hence the nominal fee. Come to think of it, 6% is a lot lee then some of the bank issued cards!
(Sorry for the long winded reply, Merry Christams one and all!)

lol dang typos…
meant to say:
6% is a lot LESS then some of the bank issued cards
and obviously:
Merry Christmas…. lol

Palopu, I agree with you on the renovation option for Vanier Hall and share your frustration but I do see a brand new PAC on the near horizon! It is an itch that simply will not go away until it is properly scratched by spending 52 million dollars (or so) of money, wherever it comes from!

All three levels of government will put in a few bucks and the homeowners will get stuck for the rest and the ongoing costs on their annual tax bill.

Yes, lonesome sparrow, I can see all the people flocking here after we get the PAC. What else would they come for, our nice streets? I have a bridge for sale as well.

lol dang typos…
meant to say:
6% is a lot LESS then some of the bank issued cards
and obviously:
Merry Christmas…. lol

Seems on this Friday we have all but forgotten that Prince George is # 1 when it comes to crime. Some say it’s the justice system, punishment is not severe enough, our police are not using the right techniques. These are all simple and no brainer solutions to our crime rate in the City.

The real problem is that we are looking for simple solution when I fact it is very complicated and finger pointing is not the solution or as our government is doing wanting to build more prisons. The fact is that it is a social problem and will require a social solution. For starters the parol system should be looked at. It could provide guidance for social adjustment instead of merrily being a watcher of what parolees are doing..

When a prisoner is released he/she has one strike against them and that is that they are consists. Because they have made an error we just throw them away and let them go their own way. They are vulnerable and they need help. Instead of letting them drift into their old habits of criminal activity

Provide them with social guidance such as an opportunity for more education and training so they will become productive individuals instead of repeat offenders

And why is the crime rate so high in Prince George could be our attitude of hang em high and our support of the idea that bigger jails would be a solution.
Cheers

Lonesome sparrow:”Instead of making virtually no difference with half a dozen vehicles, put the money into PLC controls for the lights along the bypass where pollution can be reduced from thousands of vehicles a day.”

Highway 97 is a provincial responsibility.

Our city officials have to lean on Victoria to improve the traffic flow with Programmable Logic Controllers at the intersections to create a Green Wave for the main traffic travelling at the posted speed. It’s a concept which was implemented many decades ago in various countries, successfully!

It works! Without the city going after the province NOTHING will happen!

And it won’t cost the city a dime!

I don’t often agree with Palopu, but he’s spot on with his assessment of Vanier Hall as a PAC. Renovate it and save millions of dollars (vs. the cost of a new PAC).

Pylot: “Nice to see the Feds are finally forcing the Airline Industry to advertise actual pricing of flights, rather than this $79 one-way BS, with a pile of taxes and fees piled on afterward.”

Agreed! The taxes and are relatively fixed added on costs, but things like the Airport Improvement Fees, which differ from airport to airport might be a little harder to compensate (and advertise) for.

Retired: “Provide them with social guidance such as an opportunity for more education and training so they will become productive individuals instead of repeat offenders”

Such a simple solution. However, many of these repeat offenders wouldn’t have any interest in working some minimum wage job when their criminal lifestyles pay them much more than that for less effort. Not to mention, I don’t know how many employers would want to hire someone who was a convicted thief or drug dealer.

Have a great Friday!

Bahh humbug…

Maybe the high crime rate is because people pick and choose which law they will obey, eg:
– the speed limit is too low and how dare they stop and give me a ticket
– I’ll smoke pot if I want to and I can’t help it if the drug dealers make money off me
– I only had 2 drinks so I’m still safe to drive

Disobeying the little laws is the slippery slope to disprespect of the system

I won’t forget my brush with the law, three of us were riding a bike down the back alley and we were stopped and our punishment was that we had to wash the police car. Okay we were stupid to ride pass a RCMP officer washing the police car but in the end all four of us (three young law breakers and one RCMP officer) had fun washing the car.

I just have to comment on Bruce Stachan’s column in Thursday’s Citizen about Ms. Green and her team. I actually felt nauseous after reading it. His column was used to give promote Dan McLaren and Commonwealth and how wonderful Ms. Green’s team are.

Does Mr. Strachan not know that he was shown in a photo that he was at Ms. Green’s campaign office opening? It was on her Facebook page. I am pretty sure he didn’t show up there as a “journalist”.

I really don’t think he should use his column, and the Citizen shouldn’t condone it, to promote Ms. Green’s team and Commonwealth.

Mr. Strachan, there are a lot of people in this city that didn’t support Ms. Green and know of, and about, Mr. McLaren and Commonwealth.

I sure hope these people are sincerely doing this in support of the City of Prince George and not just to line their own pockets.

Why Gift Cards, give Cash cuts out the Money Sharks, lets face it a Gift Card is Cash on a Card with all Sort of Rules and Fees. That’s my take on Gift Cards.( use a Cheque if you mail it).

I read Strachans column also. He tried to make a case for the City, NDIT, Commonwealth, in the purchase of the P G Hotel. He attributed this to team work and hard work on behalf of all concerned.

The reality is that the whole issue was nothing more than a huge manipulation of the various rules and regulations governing City purchases, and NDIT money lending.

At the end of the day Commonwealth purchased the property with funds from the NDIT, and then sold the property to the City. The City will then (as far as I know) gift the property to the Provincial Government for the much vaunted (and highly overrated) Wood Innovation Building.

We the taxpayers get stuck for the original purchase of the property, and the cost of tearing down the building. We are probably staring $4/5 Million if the face.

What will we get out of this?? Who knows?? There will be some short term jobs, but at the end of the day it will be nothing more than a high rise office building that may very well never get fully utilized.

In any event it is amazing how you can take a bizzare manipulation of tax dollars, and somehow come to the conclusion that those people involved were great team players, and did the City a great service. (For a fee)

My front wheel drive is stuck in the driveway again. I have to be the worlds biggest idiot, I have lived here for 30 years and I have owned 2 front wheel drive cars, in PG we get lots of snow, and I need a 4×4!! the next time the car salesman looks at me and says “oh no you don’t need a 4×4” I’m going to hit him..( well not really) but I am so frustrated with vehicles not made for the amount of snowfall we get here, that I just want to spit!! (among other things)..but thats what I get for listening to the salesman I guess…oh well back to shovelling..have a great day everyone..;(

PrinceGeorge

“Highway 97 is a provincial responsibility.”

Regardless of who is responsible, the token gesture by the city will do zilch to improve the air. The money would be far better spent if the city started the automation with the hope that the province would kick in enough to complete.

Senator Richard Neufeld has a piece in the citizen about smart meters. He is in support so makes me wonder if in some way he has a financial interest.

In Ontario they have spent over 1 billion on smart meters but have no idea if they are working as intended

http://dailybayonet.com/2011/12/not-so-smart-power/

In reference to Strachans comments, I still wonder why the city is paying for a manager of real estate services and then have to get Commonwealth to act as their agent in the PG hotel deal.

“The money would be far better spent if the city started the automation with the hope that the province would kick in enough to complete.”

The responsibility of the province is to engineer and fund these improvements. It has the expertise and knowledge acquired in cities like Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon etc. It’s all done to a provincial standard. The city should not get involved financially or otherwise into something which is none of it’s business.

Just saying.

highlander, front wheel drives are not the problem.

Dragonmaster@Well, if your driveway is shoveled clean and the roads are clear and you have good winter tires, front wheel drive may be alright, but four wheel drive is a big help in getting out of a snowy driveway or navigating streets with snow and slush.

Funny, my rear wheel drive van gets around all over this town just fine! But then, I do have good winter tires on it too.
Have a safe and wonderful Christmas everyone!

I thought you’d all get a kick out of this story from my local rag The Now in Port Moody… my jaw dropped when I read it.

“The House Band at Joe’s Atlantic Grill in Port Moody, won’t be able to lead seniors in sing-a-longs, after the restaurant was told not to allow patrons to sing because it does not have the appropriate liquor licence.”

Apparently you have to get a completely different liquor licence here that allows for audience participation. Just goes to show there’s craziness in every and all levels of bureaucracy. I shake my head.

@highlanderpg Good set of studded winters gets me plowing through the snow pretty good.and I drive a front wheel drive car.

As long as you just tap your feet to the music it is okay.

It is a restaurant license ….. eat, drink, but do not be merry. Being merry is only allowed in a pub.

Oh, servers are allowed to sing happy birthday, but the guests at the table are not allowed to join in.

This is still Canada. Not that many years away from separate male and female entrances to liquor establishments. LOL

Palopu wrote: “I read Strachans column also. He tried to make a case for the City, NDIT, Commonwealth, in the purchase of the P G Hotel. He attributed this to team work and hard work on behalf of all concerned.”

You too seem to have missed the reason why the City could not buy the PG Hotel even though Strachan explained it quite clearly:

1. The PG Hotel owners wanted to sell the hotel only through selling the shares of the holding company – this was a tax advantage to the owners.

2. The Community Charter prevents a City from purchasing shares unless approved by the inspector of municipalities.

According to Strachan, this was a difficult hurdle to overcome. In other words, he feels the approval would not have come. In fact, the City may have asked for all we know.

So, the teamwork that Strachan speaks about was actually teamwork undertaken under Dan Rogers’ administration, not the Green administration as the title of the opinion piece seems to indicate.

Commonwealth bought the shares with a secured loan from NDIT. Commonwealth accepted the potential liabilities the provincial government did not want municipalities to undertake, re-housed everyone in the building, assigned the property to NDIT and the city purchased the property without liabilities from NDIT.

So, what is so difficult to understand about that? My question is why does it take an opinion piece in a newspaper to explain all that? I can understand that during the process of that “teamwork” activity it is kept in camera. What I do not understand is why this information could not be explained by the City to the plebes of the community after the deal was completed.

gus

Have you thought about the vacant communications manager position at city hall:-} In one post you got the more info out than Mr. Davis did in his whole time at Patricia Blvd.

BTW I did not read Stachan’s article as I cancelled the local rag….may reconsider now that nicholson is gone.

Palopu wrote: “Since when does a High School have a 800 Seat Autitorium??”

Well, in PG, none. In the province I came from, all the ones I know about. I attended a brand new high school in the late 1950s. It had a cafeteria with a kitchen similar to CNC and a 700+ seat “auditorium” with a large stage, orchestra pit, music rooms, fly tower. The size was determined to allow the whole school of maximum 1,400 to have assemblies in two sessions.

The music rooms doubled as green rooms and dressing rooms during performances. The cafeteria was immediately adjacent to the “auditorium” and provided overflow for large performances such as classes putting on individual skits which could easily have 400+ performers for the evening.

The gymnasium was at the other end of the school, so there was no conflict.

There were three high schools of the same design built that year in the city to accommodate the looming baby boom generation.

When I attended university, I came back every summer to work at the same architect-town planning-engineering-interior design firm for 5 years. Each year, in the mid to late 1960’s we designed a high school. Each had the full complement of facilitioes including a school auditorum/theatre. The auditoriums became more versatile and became much more theatre-like with better attention paid to acoustics, ancillary space, excellent quality of partitioning for lecture theatre use, and continuing great placement in the school for separate community use. In fact, the original Kanata High School theatre which I was on the design team for, was the community theatre for almost 30 years with a company similar to TNW operating out of it. They now have their own theatre.

PG has been short changed. PGSS is the only HS in PG with a reasonable assembly/performance space adequate for HS use. It always was a SD57 building and still is. In Kamloops, for instance, there is a joint use agreement and a theatre company, similar to TNW, operates it with a mandate to maximize community use. SD57 has no interest in that.

No matter how often you say that the place caould be fixerd up for a couple fo million, does not make that realistic. It can’t!!! I ought to know! You don’t!! You have absolutely no clue about such matters!!

And yes, I can very easily say that because I have the experience and yes, it does count for quite a lot in this case.

So go at it folks, hit me all you like, it does not change the physical and financial facts.

Gus. If Commonwealth bought the shares, what happened to the shares.????? Did they go to NDIT? When the City purchased the property from NDIT, did they get the shares???

So the question is **Where the hell are the shares**.

Here is a hgh school addition to an existing schoolhttp://www.designshare.com/index.php/projects/davis-high-reconstruction/images@2321

Notice the food court, the media centre, the theatres, the music rooms. Remember, in modern high schools these ar all teaching facilities as well, whether they are for food services, technical aspects of media facilities, carpentry shops for set building, etc. etc.

Here is another one in Illinois.

http://l78z.org/architecuture/metea-valley-high-school-dlr-group-archdoc

Here is one in St. John, NB. an addtion in the ,mid 60’s to much older school in a city the size of PG – around 75,000.

So Gus how come everything you have said about the purchase of the PG hotel has never been explained before. Maybe I missed it. I guess everyone must have missed it.

Gus. With all you engineering experience you should be able to do a half decent reno on Vanier Hall. There is no such thing as **It cant be done** Perhaps what you mean is **We dont want to do it**

In any event the whole Performing Arts Centre comes down to the expenditure of taxpayers dollars. It matters little whether this is Federal, Provincial, or Municipal dollars. However because the City will be required to ante up a large portion of the cost of a new PAC. Probably somewhere in the area of $15 Million, plus the City will be responsible for the maintenance of the buildings, which would be somewhere in the area of $300,000.00 per year, the taxpayers need to have a say on whether or not this venture goes forward.

SO……What we need is for the Mayor, Councillors, and members of the PAC Society to make a statement, that because of the huge expenditure involved, it is necessary to have the PAC proposal go to a referendum.

Now whats wrong with that. Democracy at its finest. We all get a chance to vote on the issue and if it passes we get a new PAC, and if it doesnt we dont. No need to go through the process of the Alternative Approval Process, which is nothing more than a thinly disquised con.

In my opinion once people vote to support this issue it is a done deal. Once they vote to get rid of it, it is also a done deal.

Gus. Are you in favour of a referendum on this issue??

For those that have been drawn into this so called man caused global warming thing, by the way no warming for almost 15 years.

Anyhow the media reports on every storm happening somewhere on the world. This gives the impression the rate of storms is increasing which they are not. In reality the rate of major storms has been decreasing for years. Here is one connection to the impression of increasing adverse weather. Take the Weather network, owned by NBC which in turn is owned by GE which just happens to be a producer of wind generators. See the connection.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/12/16/dont-sell-your-coat/

Gus, a couple of millions (for fixing Vanier Hall) of course is not a realistic figure.

Since you have a lot of experience, can you tell us what a rough estimate would be in order to do an A1 credible job?

Orchestra pit, Air Conditioning, new and larger dressing rooms, new and larger restroom facilities, new furniture…etc.

The whole enchilada! How much?

Seamutt wrote: “So Gus how come everything you have said about the purchase of the PG hotel has never been explained before”

Beats me, Seamutt. I just restated what Bruce Strachan wrote in his opinion column today. The critical part was news to me as well. Up to then, I was under the impression it was simply a matter of the PG Hotel owners wanting too much money since they knew there was government money behind it with a larger purse than some other. I suppose the reason as presented by Strachan amounts to the same thing.

As I already stated, it really beats me why it took Strachan to come out with that information. I mean he even wrote: “the biggest obstacle – AND THE ONE THE CRITICS TOTALLY MISSED – was section 185 of the Community Charter …”

To me, the biggest mistake the City made in all of this is to not beat Strachan to bringing that information to the community of interest. I would love to hear an explanation from the City why they let this fester in part of the community. Perhaps they think that part of the community should not be told.

It is our City, it is our City Administration and it is above all our City Council. If we are left in the dark, is it any wonder some think City Hall needs to have a total make over.