Alberta was hit with a massive snow storm yesterday I am up in Grande Prairie tried to leave yesterday morning but was forced to turn back due to whiteout conditions I thought I was going fast at 70km an hr but many people were zipping by me like I was standing still you couldn’t see more than 40 feet in front of you and between Beaverlodge and Grande Prairie counted ove 40 vehicles in the ditch.

The massive storm that hit Edmonton many drivers were going over 100 km an hr it’s a miracle nobody was killed but a lesson should be learned from this just because the road is bare doesn’t mean you can go Fast in whiteout conditions.

Let’a have a safe Friday and weekend everybody, and try not to leave the under carriage of your vehicle in a Prince George pot hole.
metalman.

Highway pileup near Edmonton leaves 100 injured
http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/highway-pileup-near-edmonton-leaves-100-injured

It’s Friday.. 8)

and it is free ….. for all of us……

Everyone will pack the Ramada at noon? to hear the WIDC announcement? …. and the big news that there will be a pedestrian bridge connection between the WIDC and the Ramada Pool….

It will be used to test the ideas which will be generated by the engineers and the industrial design students to see if they will float…..

The total government (federal, provincial and municipal), business and household debt in Canada is really starting to pile up.

Are you ready for a lot of economic pain Canada?

http://www.bluecanada.ca/index.php?/topic/96748-are-you-ready-for-a-lot-of-economic-pain-canada/

Another Federal budget! Bend over Canadians, here come more benefits.

Do the City crews realize that the crater at the East end of 1st ave is growing out of control? That needs to be patched immediately. It can’t wait until it’s warm.

Boundary Road at the rail crossing to Kal Tire is an epic pot hole infested piece of real estate. I simply can’t see how people with small cars can get through that during the day when there is traffic.

The city really should consider hauling in some crush rock or something to fill in the holes at least a little bit. One has to wonder why the businesses out there even pay property taxes.

Surprised O250 doesn’t have any news on the big announcement on the Wood Innovation Building today at noon at the Ramada. Should be interesting to see what happens!

Eagleone…. Glad you opened this keg of worms. This stretch of road (Boundary to Kal) has been the worst piece of road in the country for the last three years. There are potholes deep enough to high center an average vehicle. The Council and Mayor should be forced to drive over it and see first hand what a failure our roads crews are in maintaining this trail. I work in the logging industry and our bush roads are in far better shape. This road has a lot of industrial traffic that use it many times a day and it is very tough on equiptment. A comment from an Edmonton transport driver…”Worst I’ve seen anywhere in Western Canada. If this were an Edmonton Industrial Park, the road crew would be fired on the spot.” Another reason we are on the “One of the worst places to live” list. The City roads division needs a serious shake up. How many times should you patch a patch over a patch on a patch before the light comes on. REBUILD THE ROAD.

Completely agree with both of you Eagleone and giterdun. I arrive at work early and leave a little late just to avoid the traffic on that stretch of road – but even with no other vehicles in the way you can’t miss all the craters.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hope spring arrives soon. Big announcement today of who gets to build the WIDC…..wonder if the successful bidder knows and accepts there may be a significant delay in building the centre due to a possible investigation into the matter.

I’ve noticed in the past couple weeks people posting links that aren’t links. There are instruction’s right below where you click “Post Comment”.

It’s hard to do an example because if I write it out correctly, it’ll make a link and the square bracket, url and backslash part’s won’t show.

“url” goes at the beginning of the link with “/url” at the end. Just make sure you enclose both in “[]”.

Cheerio

Talk about patch over patch – ever drive past the Superstore in the left lane on Ferry? It has been patched and all you see are little bits of asphalt all around and now a second spot is opening up. The melting water makes it look smooth, those poor people waiting for a bus…

Heard on the radio this morning that the new technology going into the Lakelands mill will possibly create a skilled worker shortage. Why would the 1000s of mill workers in this town, a lot of whom are currently unemployed, not be able to be retrained on the new equipment? It is interesting to note that during the announcement they were unable to state how many jobs may be lost due to the new technology. I say they know exactly how many are needed to run the new technology and it will be substantially less, and the country that is making the new equipment probably will be asked to send over crews to run the new technology. At least until the local people can be trained of course, should not take any more than 10 years or so.

To include links within your comment, enclose the address in and tags. For example: http://www.250news.com

Very simple, instructions at the bottom of the comment box

[url]http://ckpg.com/wood-innovation-centre-announcement-coming-video[url]

ooops sorry, missed the / for the second url…i suck

A note to the pothole police on this site.

If you know of a large pothole that needs repair pick up the phone and call the city. I have done this many times and the crews usually have it repaired withing 24 hours.

All of the potholes in PG need to be fixed and the crews have a schedule of repairs. When you report a pothole (or an intersection that needs sanding) they include these reported areas into the scope of work. I have found the city to be very responsive.

You may also try to be polite about it rather than condescending. The receptionists dig not create the pothole.

http://ckpg.com/wood-innovation-centre-announcement-coming-video

Only good thing about this announcement is that it will waste less public funds than the airport runway expansion.

Build it and they will come. Doesn’t work for jumbo jets or technological advances.

Flippin property – Fehr admitted about flipping property and mentioned in the media his old friend Mayor Green. Was the Haldi school to be flipped also? We need an investigation to this flippin flipping. ;)

If you go the the Ramada for the big announcement and see a couple of guys sitting on the curb out front babbling incoherently or bawling uncontrollably just pat them on the head and say “it will be OK Dan/Brian” :P

opine says “If you know of a large pothole that needs repair pick up the phone and call the city. I have done this many times and the crews usually have it repaired withing 24 hours”

I agree – you can also do it online here”
http://princegeorge.ca/infocentre/publicconsultation/engagement/Lists/Pothole%20Report/NewForm.aspx?Source=/infocentre/publicconsultation/engagement/pages/thankyou.aspx

I have reported two now and they were both repaired within two days.
Having said that, the mess on boundary is beyond reporting. The city is aware of it and Mr Jones said on the radio that Boundary road is up for complete repaving this summer so for now I will just continue to scrape my spoiler along the pavement on my way to work each day lol

gold_rush: “Surprised O250 doesn’t have any news on the big announcement on the Wood Innovation Building today at noon at the Ramada.”

I think it has to do with the fact that this project would be good for the downtown. Anything good for downtown is bad for this site and many people in PG who always say the downtown is a blight and a cesspool, and they want to keep it that way.

In my opinion, the editors of this site relish in the fact that nothing ever gets done in the downtown and in some cases try to prevent anything in ever getting done. And no I cannot recall anything right now.

Nothing sells newspapers better than controversies. Good news stories and feel good stories sells bupkis.

“Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.” — T. S. Eliot

lonesome sparrow – “just pat them on the head”

Naw………I might get greasy palms

Thunderboltz

“I think it has to do with the fact that this project would be good for the downtown”

Can you please elaborate on this magical thinking? How exactly will building a six story building for $25 million of taxpayers money improve downtown?

Just remember that this project is brought to you by the same people that pushed for the runway extension. How short are some peoples’ memories.

DNHey wrote: “wonder if the successful bidder knows and accepts there may be a significant delay in building the centre due to a possible investigation into the matter.”

I am unaware of contracts being delayed because of an investigation unless the matter goes to the courts and the judge imposes a restraining order. If the matter does go to court at some point, then there is no harm being done in continuing to build, since any wrongdoing by anyone in such a case can be compensated for in other ways without incurring further costs by delaying the project due to no fault on the successful proponent’s part.

This is not a matter of something being built on a property which the property owner does not agree with and would cause material damage.

How is that “hotel complex” coming along supposedly next to our library? Gonna brek ground next month? Next year? How about completing that road to the highway on the west end of Ospika?

Heard Tommy Eclair on the radio this AM. He was poo pooing Mr. Harpers budget and raising doubts about the deficit and all. This, after going to the states bad mouthing a money maker for Canada. i.e. the pipeline. Eclair for PM? I don’t think so, pal. What a maroon.

If a private developer proposed a $25 million development for downtown, I would be overjoyed. If it takes taxpayers money to build it, then you can be sure it will be taxpayers money that will maintain it as well. This will be a white elephant, and an ongoing drain on the public purse.

I am waiting for the announcement to see what is going to be in the building before I make a decision of tax drain or not.

for instance, does anyone know the vacancy rate in the government office space at PLAZA 400? Is some of the “storefront” space on 4th still used to store stuff they are hording?

How many of the offices of various provincial government organizations are scattered all over town that may be able to work more effectively in a single building? I do not know the numbers. Does anyone?

If that were the case, for instance, it may be more sound financially if the government had their own building, such as they have with Plaza400 as well as the Courthouse and the Northern Health building on Edmonton, etc. rather than leasing it from a developer such as Cooper for a 10, 15, 20 year period, after which the building is still the owner’s and all paid for.

Let those who own the buildings bring new businesses into their empty spaces again for a few years. Right now, those who are renting to government organizations are sitting pretty. I am sure they are waiting to hear the government’s plans if they will release them today.

Harbinger

The Ospika connector is on the books for a cool 19 million. Look way way down near the bottom. Maybe the city will use all the natural gas money to build it.

http://princegeorge.ca/cityservices/finance/Financial%20Statements_1/Budget_Book_2013-2017%20web.pdf

I think the developers overestimated the local demand for 850k condos, the two projects will be complete about the same time.

herbster wrote: “If a private developer proposed a $25 million development for downtown, I would be overjoyed.”

They did, far in excess of that amount, actually.

So …. viewing it at this time, are they any better than government announcing a large development some years ago and taking thos long to give us a less expensive version?

Everyone in the development field goes out on a limb on occasion. Some proposals get cancelled totally, some get a different scope, some get built in other communities, some never get built, some get built and they do not produce what was promised or intended.

One does not have to go further than PG over the years to see that we have had them all. So have other communities.

We are not unique.

I think the developers of the hotel/condo building alo overestimated the Delta Chain of hotels. I understand they are a “bitch” to deal with.

I have heard many ideas for downtown redevelopment. The best was overheard a couple of weeks ago when a few oldtimers were discussing the sad state of George Street, 3rd, 4th and 5th avenues just west of George. After about 15 minutes of disecting all the political inspired plans, one grizzled oldtimer suggested that 2 45 gallon drums of gasoline and a book of matches would go a long way to beautifying the area. What do you think?

The Ospika connector? $19 Million? Such a deal! The road from 15th to the university only cost $18 million. Remember? Time discounting inflation? Sounds like a good deal to me. I believe the only money anybody will get re: natural gas is the HST on a burrito bought in this town.

who da thunk

The city has a plan, they are buying up every building and then flattening it(CKPG block, PG hotel block, Norgate block etc)
the look they are trying to achieve is Dresden circa Feb 14 1945 although Coventry of that era might also work(ie citizens kept in the dark;)

For those who do not know the history…google or bing it.

Another lame budget from the Kingdom of Harper. Grand free enterprizers that they are. Jimmy the Court Jester for King Harper even has the nads to get ahold of the banks to tell them they cannot lower mortgage rates as that would make him really really angry! So far they have taken a $11 B surplus and run it into the ground for what $20 B? deficit.

I love working downtown. So many interesting shops and eateries. A vast improvement from even a few years ago. Keep up the good work all you creative entrepreneurs!

Herbster: Have you been downtown lately?

The area around George street is absolutely horrible, and has been declining rapidly for the past 20 years. Most of the buildings are left are in absolute disrepair. It is an absolute embarrassment. This is what out of town visitors see when they stay at the Ramada and the other downtown hotels, when the visitors take a walk in the evenings. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE BACK WITH THEM? Some of these people will tell theirs friends DO NOT got to PG, it is a horrible place to go, as there is no buildings and nothing to do near the hotel.

I say anything, is better than doing absolutely nothing. Regardless of where the money comes from. Doing nothing for downtown has been going on for over 30 years. It is time to put a stop to it.

The more of the status quo, the worse the downtown will become.

Spoken like a true dipper Denaljo, it was you leftards that threatened to bring down the minority government if they didn’t “stimulate” the economy and bailout everything during the financial meltdown, and now you bitch about the deficit. Stick to boycotting Isreal.

ohhh mannnn almost noon and still nothing to write about… except that lady talking on her cell at Domano and 16 yesterday. Some guy broke down in left turning lane so we all had to skidattle to the rght turning lane. In front of me was this lady in white Honda SUV talking on cell, almost missed the lights till I honked at her for a long time. She turned off to Can Tire. Some people…

ohhh Maybe that Treatment Centre can go in that new building dntn they are proposing… (??) Then that’ll give the landowners out at Haldi some peace n quiet.. What say ye ??

LUV the Budget.. pass the buck, it seems..

Doesn’t our Mayor look beautiful today??

Thunderboltz – have you been watching any council meetings? The latest one the city pulled a bonner on is the “Gas Company” they allowed a variance to just outside of the downtown area. Council was “afraid” the company would go elsewhere. Give me a break…Take a look at other companies and venues this city has stopped in the downtown core….

The standards this city has for the owners of properties to maintain their buildings is non existence. Do some research and see who owns properties in the core – you will find some common threads…

“one grizzled oldtimer suggested that 2 45 gallon drums of gasoline and a book of matches would go a long way to beautifying the area. What do you think?”

I think the description is apt from what he said …. he is a grizzled oldtimer.

Perhaps he has seen places like Dresden, Coventry, Cologne, etc. and figures that they were partly devastaded and rebuilt …..

Well, there was a commuity there …..

We are tearing down our community bit by bit when we needed to build it up from what was essentially the aftermath of a work camp which built 3 major pulpmills that made this City the largest pulp manfacturing location in the world at that time.

We can no onger rest on those laurels as the forest inustry becoms more and more efficient through mechanization leaving us with trucking because we cannot figre that part of the equation out just yet. When we do, there will be even more job losses.

The European cities were well enough established that they rebuilt. We are not that well established. We are still the remnants of nomads who went exploring the world for more riches.

That is what we do. When there are no more riches here, instead of building riches as older cioties have done for centuries, we move on.

We are more like some of the inland First Nations than many realize.

The problem with some if not most of the residents of PG is that they are complainers and stuck with the 60s mentality of being a mill town. Well guess what, that was over 50s years ago. Times have a changed. This city is no longer just a mill town, it is much more than that. It is time for PG to go up and change with the times. Do you think the other cities in BC think like us?

Every city needs a strong core. Usually a downtown. Without a strong core, everything starts to collapse. Because, all of the services and amenities start to be spread out all over the place, and become inaccessible bu most of the people, either physically (transportation corridor) or mentally (i.e. I don’t want to drive to the Hart or Westgate to eat at a restaurant) or both. A strong core will attract tourists and people that really do want to live & work in PG.

PG used to have a strong core. There use to be lots to do downtown: movie theatres, good restaurants, bowling, night clubs, bars, shopping, and a few other activities. Today, the only things left downtown is restaurants, bowling, and shopping at specialty shops.

The really sad thing is, that most of the posters on this site do not care about the downtown. This totally shows with the attitude at city hall and with the city council. If the residents of PG don’t care, why should they.

People here look at the other cities with envy and ask why do they get things there and we don’t? (i.e Westjet’s new Entourage flights). They get them, because they worked hard to get them. They did not just lay back to wait for it to come to them. These chased after it, grab it by the horns, and wrestled it to the ground. Not only did their civic leaders do this, but the citizens as well. Look at Fort St John and Westjet.

Improving this city is the responsibility of every citizen of PG, not just the civic and business leaders.

Yes every PG resident should open up their wallets and bend over for this Lieberal vision of progress. Want a modern airport, world class runway, air cargo facilities? Let the taxpayer pay for them!

Whatever happened to Free Enterprise and the Private Sector? The Lieberal government has been in power so long they no longer believe in it. They prefer to award their friends government contracts for useless projects that simply waste our money.

I hope to God the NDP get in and deep six this monumental waste of public money.

Guesswhat – I have causally followed what goes on the the council and their decisions. The problem is that the council does not have a real plan in developing PG. The city treats the OCP as a joke. They stumble from decision to decision and there is no rational thinking & planning behind most of these decisions.

Sounds like dow7500 forgot his meds. Should just go back in the closet and play with his dollies!

Yes I hope the NDP get in too – deep six all the projects. Put more people out of work; then those people will leave BC to seek better employment.

Can’t wait.

Hopefully the WIDC announcement will spark private investment in the downtown core (and not private firms looking for a quick dollar on some property flips).

Thunderboltz – that is what many are trying to say. The citizens of this town keep getting hit by bricks. Someone needs to be fired in the planning department in my opinion.Thousands have been spent in tax dollars and volunteer hours from the citizen of PG to have input etc on the OCP.

It does not come from the “old people” in this city that they do not want change. Many have adapted to change all their lives. Most people complain for the same reasons – City does not follow the OCP – allowing for a vibrant city and downtown core…It is who you know – not what you know in this city.

To many people and small company owners are afraid to speak up in fear of retaliation from the city and the so called people with money. By the way one only needs to look at council.

gus

With three pulp mills and a refinery PG should not be compared with Cologne especially when an inversion happens, talk about eau de toilet:)

Herbster:”Just remember that this project is brought to you by the same people that pushed for the runway extension. How short are some peoples’ memories.”

At least we have the runway! With the Fast(!) Ferries we got what? Zero, Nada, Zilch. How short are some peoples’ memories. The money wasted on the Fast Ferries would have paid for half a dozen (or more) runway extensions!

Never mind the Fast Ferries…how about the ferry at Margaurite?? Oh that’s right the Liberal government got rid of another service for inland residents. I guess they needed to divert all that funding to a $500 million cost overrun or two?? I wonder how many runway extensions that would have covered??

The City has no plan thats for sure. They dont care who builds what a or where. As long as its built and they can collect the taxes.

why did they allow Westgate and let the downtown go to the dogs. They will always collect the taxes from those that are still in business viable or not. And to add insult to injury when a business goes broke they buy up the property and give it to the next developer that needs it and the circle starts all over again.
Cheers

Problem is with these sweet deals Retired02, they pay little in the way of taxes.

If you plan on combining your care card and drivers license what happens if you get your drivers license lifted which is real easy these days?

Also when you get an upgrade on your drivers license such as airbrake, instead of just putting a sticky on the license as is done with a change of address, they take your license away. You are then charged 25 bucks for the new one and have to wait a couple of weeks. Now if your care card is combined, now you have no care card or picture id. I don’t know if they thought that one out.

Prince George

Great , now we can have a useless building along with a useless runway. Fantastic! What progress!

Such an impressive building! Exactly the same height as the Ramada!

I think is terrible and distgusting how lance armstrong has beentreated latley After winning seven tour de france races while on drugs. When i was on drugs i coulnt even find my bike.

Oil spills, no problem.

http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/603659/oil-spill-response-ship-runs-aground-en-route-to-vancouver-news-conference/

I know this one guy that goes around piping people for nothing. He believes everything a junkie will tell him. He’s been doing crime here since summer of 2007. I noticed him fighting some crack head one evening in the summer. He’s young, 30 years old white guy. Short hair tattoos on arms, he’s careful to cover them. He has admitted he is nuts and doesn’t care. He piped me twice. Some people told him things that were not true about me. He’s on meth and steroids now. There are others that are friends with him that are as psychopathic as he. He comes here once and a while to pipe me. Makes some crap up. Cops just say phone 911. A lot that will do. He does that crime when the police are on the way. That to me means Canada is pretty messed up.
No names, none anyone would give the police. He isn’t very big guy for a enforcer of any kind. Thing is he is nuts. He will shoot you, and smile. Thing is what rights do we have as a citizen really?
I am not into heavy drugs. I just don’t want the addicts making problems for me, which they have. What gets me is they don’t even pay rent to begin with. The dealers do nothing but create grief for everyone, even if they are not into what they are selling, drugs and women. You wouldn’t want what they are selling I can tell you. It’s sick and they know it.

Suggest to this guy that he should go and get some counselling. He might thank you for it.

Taxpayers have a problem – you know the Federal budget just announced? Looks like we will need to keep an eye on this city council – we could get a Performing Arts Centre sooner than you think. Instead of monies from gas tax going into infrastructure….

Cariboo Prince George Conservative MP Dick Harris said he’s pleased the gas tax money can now be used for projects beyond just water, sewer and bridge enhancements.

“They can now go into infrastructure items such as sports arenas and cultural centres. It’s quite an expansion,” he said.

I am glad the WIDC is going ahead and look forward to watching the build to see some of the new types of construction to be used.
I also look forward to Boundary road being finished – the logistics park will happen, dont worry naysayers.

Have a good weekend all

ps – Enbridge pipeline is going through as well no matter how much chicken little yells ;)

Enbridge is going to be tied up for so long with the natives they will give up and go home!

Can someone tell Sherry that they need to keep plowing the freaking streets! Oneway on a residential street is unacceptable.

A read for earthhour

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/03/31/earth-hour-2012-a-dissent-and-poll/

To all you folks who didn’t vote for Dan Rogers I hope you are happy now! PG is going to hell in a handbasket.

Northern Gateway. Not so much a pipeline as a pipedream.

Does anybody know if we can impeach Mayor Green….

What the hell is up with the price of gas. Is it Pr. Geo. alone that the gas companies don’t like. Why do we pay soo much more than everyone else?