Still up so what the heck! Utilities are due today. I think i have enough to pay the bill in pennies!

For this week’s Friday Free for All: I would like to thank, and congratulate, the Harper Conservative Government for vaulting Canada to 11th place in the world in the annual United Nation’s human development index.

Although this is a far cry from the 1990s when Canada held first place for most of the decade.

If we can get this Conservative government re-elected again, do you think they can vault us out of the top 20 positions?

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/canada-drops-out-of-top-10-most-developed-countries-list-1

Food for thought hey? … have a happy Friday everyone :-)

Sure hope they do the street cleaning quickly because some people are having a hard time with their breathing these days and it is not really fair to them. The street cleaning, other years is usually started before now. I also am hoping it is done properly this year, as last year it was not….lots of mud was left on the roads…a real mess it was. Hoping for better and cleaner roads this year!

What’s with the City guy hosing down the median on Ferry intersection by super Store during rush hour yesterday, making for only one lane traffic???? Do they not think rush hour is busy and they should clean at a later time???

Speaking of Ferry Avenue, what’s with the light at Lansdown?? That light should be made so it’s sensitive to vehicles. As it is, it is like a regular light, stopping all traffic on Ferry Avenue, holding up and slowing the traffic during rush hours.

So they continued the dust advisory even though they forecasted rain. I wonder if they’ll lift it this morning?

Oh, Good Friday morning to all. Hope its a good one for you and have a happy safe weekend too.

Any updates or developments regarding the explosive devices on University Way? I can understand RCMP may not want to release any info, but it would be nice to know that there even is an investigation being held.

This distracted driving law I think is a joke for rural areas and interior highways. It seems every other person on the highway has a phone attached to their ear. There is very little enforcement if any on the highways when you think of one police officer patrolling a couple of hundred kilometers of highway the chances of catching someone talking on a phone is slim to none. This law should only apply when your driving within a incorporated community because it’s definitely not being enforced on the interior highways of the province.

I’m sure missing Shoppers Wholesale Foods for my groceries this week. That store had the best meat and veggies.

Distracted driving fines are going up in BC. Hopefully BC will double Ontario’s recent increase to 1000.00 by making ours 2000.00. Death caused by distracted driving in BC has surpassed Impaired driving.
http://www.theprovince.com/touch/story.html?id=9694064

Announcement out of the lower mainland this morning about the funeral arrangements for the provincial ndp party.

The party was dealt a near fatal blow this week when former premier Mike Harcourt publicly quit, saying they party did not have the know how to properly run a lemonade stand. The party ended up on life support when the two main contenders for the leadership backed Harcourt. The plug was pulled when Jim Sinclair and other union leaders spoke at a press conference backing Christy Clack’s plan for the province going forward.

Memorial service will be held in the phone booth at the corner of Theystuckittous and Howe in downtown Vancouver. For obvious reasons there will be no viewing and the casket will be sealed and vacuum packed.

Organ donation was considered but only the very lowest part of the colon was in perfect shape…..something I always suspected that they were perfect assh….well you know:P

As predicted, the new fee at the Foothills landfill has sparked a spate of dumping on our rural roads by those good citizens who avoid paying six dollars to dump their trash legally.
It is a blot on our city and its people.

PG Whirly girl::::: What about Shoppers Wholesale??? Here in PG ??

Sardonic – they are dumping all over the place someone doing renovations on Ahbau is dumping their stuff along the sidewalks, and those garbage bags tossed on the ground behind the closed Mr G by Peden Hill. They can’t be bothered to drive to rural areas, just make others pick it up for you

Whirly – I am going to miss the mint chocolate chip ice cream from shoppers wholesale

Sunnyday – get off the soapbox, they have never started this early on average it has been mid to late April

There was a horrible dust cloud on the street behind Value Village last evening. I was driving down 15th and saw it from a good distance!! Dampen the street first, you goons!! Or do it on a ‘wet’ day!!!
You are causing the air quality advisories!! So, in winter we get to bitch about snow and it’s removal; and in spring it becomes pothole, dust advisory season!! I know, -don’t like it–just move–not happening!! Senior with no money to move!!

Ntkr13 – They are wetting the road. When you sweep up wet it leaves some sludge behind on the road spread out over the entire length of the broom. The original dirt trail may have been a couple feet along the edge of the road but when you sweep your broom gets wet and leaves behind an even layer of wet fine dirt the entire width of the broom. When this dries it is a strip of dirt 5 to 6 feet wide and now in the drive lane which makes things worse as the vehicles push it to the edge again once it dries lifting the fine dust into the air. Happens every year on every street they sweep, I remember Art tried to talk to the city in the past but they didn’t like his advise.

I believe the sweeping must halt during dust or air advisories.
Doesn’t make sense. The air is bad because of the dirt on the streets.

What a gawdawful pit this place is.

Posted by: slinky on April 4 2014 8:10 AM
Sardonic – they are dumping all over the place someone doing renovations on Ahbau is dumping their stuff along the sidewalks, and those garbage bags tossed on the ground behind the closed Mr G by Peden Hill. They can’t be bothered to drive to rural areas, just make others pick it up for you

—————–

On a somewhat related note. I have a swipe card for the dump since I don’t have garbage pick up which is good for 50 trips to the dump a year. I live about 5 dollars worth of gas from the dump so I usually only go every 3 or 4 weeks. Last trip, my load came in at about 110kg which is 10kg over the limit. The attendant wanted more cash for the excess so I asked, “Why not just swipe my card twice?” “Nope, can’t do that.” she says. Then she made the most asinine suggestion, “If you think you’re over the 100kg limit just drop half your load in the bin then get back in line and make a second trip to drop of the other half.”

Seriously? She wanted me to get back in line and idle unnecessarily instead of just swiping my card twice? Are they brain dead over at the regional district?

Re: Shoppers Wholesale

I can only hope they find the loss of revenue for Cash n Carry is more significant than what they believed? It was a convenience, much like shopping at Mr G’s?

Lonesome dove, Daring blog. funny thou.

That is a rhetorical question, right?

And I am wasting one of my 10 allowed posts for that comment … :-)

so I was driving down westwood rd by the school I came to the 4 way stop to turn left to Costco when I saw not one but two cars run the stop sign(right by the school) the really messed up thing was there was a cop parked in the church parking lot watching the whole thing and he just sat there. so its ok to run stop signs at an elementary school now. how do we get the rcmp to do their job when it comes to laws of the road? and people wonder why PG drivers are so dangerous well when you realize there is no enforcement just do whatever right

Nice to see after 2 weeks away from school for spring break, the kids are already having a pro-d day. Couldn’t have thought to schedule that when the kids were already off?

Maybe the cop was busy texting!

The four seasons of Prince George.

1. Unplowed snowy slippery roads.

2. Dust advisory.

3. Pot hole.

4. Property tax and user fee increases.

I know, if I don’t like it, then just move.

Posted by: Resident
I know, if I don’t like it, then just move.

I am. First chance I get.

I have had questions about this recycling outfit MMBC that the province has signed onto. Well it turns out to be another draconian greenie money maker. If you have blood pressure issues don’t read. For those of you that think we have garbage issues now check out the link. Castlegar news has other related links.

http://www.castlegarnews.com/opinion/253786271.html

Unleashed dogs on Prince George trails are a very serious problem and the City does not seem to care about the welfare of other users. Dog owners just laugh at the City and the non-existent animal control. I know, I have talked to these dog owners.
Ferguson Lake Nature Reserve is that in name only, it is in reality, nothing more that a dog park with dogs continually running unleashed, which reduces wildlife populations to the very minimum levels they are today.
The unleashed dogs are driving the legitimate users of these trails away.
As a PG taxpayer I have to why my taxes are wasted on a bylaw enforcement department that does not enforce bylaws.

I think that it is time that the Government and people in this Province start to come to terms with all the Horse S..T surrounding distracted driving.

We presently have on the books, and have had for over 50 years the following laws.

1. Impaired Driving
2. Driving without due care and attention
3. Dangerous Driving
4. Criminal Negligence

We have added other laws such as

a. Driving with a BAC exceeding .08
b. Driving with a BAC between .02 and .05
c. Distracted Driving

The distracted driving and BAC laws allow the RCMP to issue fines, roadside suspensions, vehicle impoundment etc.

What this is really about is avoiding charging people with the appropriate law as outlined in 1-4. Using these laws would entail having people going to court to defend themselves, and if convicted subject to higher fines and jail terms, and longer license suspensions, etc;

So the one set of laws 1-4 adds considerable cost to the Province in policing, court time, and incarceration time.

The second set of laws a,b,c, allows the Government to collect money in fines, reduce police costs, court costs, and incarceration costs.

There has not been any discernable decrease in distracted driving since it implementation, and very small if any decrease in impaired driving, so it would be fair to say that these laws are not working. Increasing the fines would at best just increase the amount of money that the Government saves.

We need to go back to 1-4 and charge people under the applicable laws, have them go to court and plead their case. In cases where they have their second or third impaired driving charge, they should have to spend the appropriate time in jail. I believe that it is an automatic 14 days in jail for your second conviction for impaired driving.

The present system does not work, and in fact gives people an opportunity to continue to break the law at a measly cost of $167.00 fine.

Prince George rocks, love the hell yeah Facebook page

PG does rock, you’re right P Val. I like that FB page too.

Well, Peeps gives us more depressing news, always depressing news!

It’s Friday, the sun is now shining and it’s a good day!! I think that we need something good, something positive to counter Peeps constant negativity.

The following was posted on CBC News Business Report yesterday:

“Canada ranks 7th in the world on the Social Progress Index, a measure of human wellbeing that goes beyond traditional economic measures such as GDP or per capita income.

A U.S. non-profit group, the Social Progress Imperative, collaborated with the World Economic Forum to create the index, which this year looked at 132 countries around the world for the first time.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-ranks-7th-on-social-progress-index-1.2597225

I know that Peeps will read the report and will do his best to negatively pick it apart! Me, I prefer to look at things from a glass half full perspective instead of a glass half empty perspective so today I choose to be happy! Wow, 7th out of 132 countries! That’s not too bad!!

But, I could be wrong!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Mike Gillis for Prime Minister !
John Tortarella for Foreign Affairs Minister.

Why doesn’t the city now use the 57 million in savings and revenue from the core review to pay off the police station loan? Even with adding 3 percent to last years budget we should have so much cash in the bank as to build the PAC with cash money the year after we pay off the RCMP building….?

I.E.D.’s on University Way? Repeat after me. When the RCMP says “it’s under investigation” that means they don’t know anything.

Palopu Wrote;
There has not been any discernable decrease in distracted driving since it implementation, and very small if any decrease in impaired driving, so it would be fair to say that these laws are not working. Increasing the fines would at best just increase the amount of money that the Government saves.

I would agree and disagree with you on this point.
1) I agree that increasing fines for distracted driving will not have any real measurable effect on the cell phone / texting addicted population that is the target of the distracted driving laws
2) I would disagree with on the results of BC’s Impaired Driving laws. The last statistics that I have seen show a reduction in deaths from alcohol related auto accidents of close to 50%. That is a lot of lives that have been saved since introduction.

The difference is not in the amount of the fines, or even the cost of getting caught to the individual. In my opinion the reason the impaired driving laws have been effective is the fact that the individual has their vehicle immediately impounded, and their driver’s license is immediately suspended for 90 days.
If this were the case for Distracted Driving,I do believe that most sane people would not wish to risk losing their vehicle or their license for an extended period of time and I do not believe that we would be seeing any 26 time offenders.
Again most people would think twice about picking up their phone while in the vehicle. However even the die hard addicts, would learn their lesson the first time they faced a minimum 90 suspension of their driving privileges.

just my 2 cents!

oldsoon, I cant repeat this again. There are some nice townhomes in Abby starting at250 and 300 gives you around 1700 sq ft. Just Google Abbotsford townhomes and you gone. Do it now while prices are steady.

My wife and I moved from George last May to Abbotsford but should of done it years ago. Last winter here was just great. Mostly frost free and 4mm of snow for a couple of days. Streets wet most days. You will love it.

Every time a West Jet flies over my wife says looks like another load has just left George
Cheers

seamutt: “I have had questions about this recycling outfit MMBC that the province has signed onto. Well it turns out to be another draconian greenie money maker. If you have blood pressure issues don’t read. For those of you that think we have garbage issues now check out the link. Castlegar news has other related links.”

As it turns out, the company who will be doing the work here in PG, Emterra, has had a ton of complaints about their work in Winnipeg, something like 15,000 missed pickups. People haven’t really caught onto this scam/moneygrab yet, but they will soon.

NyteHawwk…make that more than your two cents. Make it three. Two gets rounded down to nuthin’. Just so ya know, my car doesn’t stop on a dime anymore. It stops on 9.6 cents.

Response to Slinky–nope no water truck was there! the road was as dry as a 100 year old bone in a desert. Guess that neighbourhood doesn’t rate!

NyteHawwk: Maybe give them the choice when pulled over, either surrender the car or the phone. I wonder which most people would give up?

Retired can you go sledding, atving, moose, deer hunting out of your back yard?

DISCUSSION PAPER BC GOVERNMENT.

***Addressing the Problem of Distracted Driving and its Impacts to Road Safety.

Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Paragraph 4.

**In both simulated and real driving environments, the use of electronic devices has been shown to result in crashes and near misses. Drivers fail to process approximately 50 per cent of the visual information in their driving environments when they are using electronic communication devices. EVIDENCE also concludes that there is NO difference between the cognitive diversion associated with HANDS-FREE and HAND-HELD cell phone use.**

So in view of the above, why does the Government allow the use of hands-free telephone devices.????

There is some other interesting information in this Discussion Paper, and I would recommend that people read it.

NyteHawwk. I have this feeling that the Government may have changed how they collect statistics on alcohol related auto deaths,. Do they only count accidents where the driver was using alcohol, or do they count the deaths when any alcohol is found in the vehicle. (That’s how they do it in the US) That’s why its called alcohol related deaths, as opposed to deaths caused by drinking drivers. If they made a change then the deaths caused by alcohol could have decreased, and the deaths caused by distracted driving could have increased.

Who knows??

Boudicca
The cop at the church has his radar pointed at cars traveling the school zone and relays infractions to a second cop car that chases down the speeder. As to running stop signs – you know cops cannot multitask.

To Prophet aka HG under the LNG Working Group comments. The environment is not just “my” concern or agenda, it is everyone’s, particularly our children’s.

Maybe if you had the gonads to have some kids, you might think differently about the environment and world we will be leaving them! Time for you to crawl back under your rock.

Last fall I cleaned up the yard and I loaded my little 4X6 trailer with bags of clippings, pruned, dead branches and drove to the Foothills landfill. I was weighed going in and again coming out. I was charged $8. Now I read on the RDFFG site: “If your load contains recycling or yard and garden waste only, no fee will apply.” Was I conned?

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON ON OGRADY BEHIND THE MALL? Besides moving dirt every day, and creating a wall of mud, and dust to the red light on Domano, The fricken flintstones moved less dirt, this has been going on for months.

Hey Peeps, re: your comment to “Prophet aka HG”.

Hope you weren’t suggesting that Prophet’s comments are my comments. I’ll take credit where credit is due but unfortunately while I agree 100% with Prophet’s comments, this time I can’t take credit!!

Peeps, are you having a hard time accepting that I’m not the only one here that disagrees with your point of view?

By the way, aren’t you known for stating that when one has no intelligent response, one resorts to name calling and other such attacks! Your recent post makes me wonder if this is just a case of “the pot calling the kettle black”???

Prophet nailed Peeps to a tee in the LNG thread.

I have heard the lot on Ogrady is going to be a restaurant. Swiss Chalet. and have to say I am glad you enjoy Abby so much. I cant wait to get out of that rat race land when I HAVE to go there ,Im not sure what country I am in when in dem dare parts,maybe when I am old and just want to lounge around my condo I will do it in Mexico, you did nt go far enough, sick and tired of people who bash this place ,, don’t like it move like 02 ,, simple,,,, enjoy :)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EhGa7TKiMIA/TbaM6Stt6FI/AAAAAAAAAKI/KemPgnB0bmg/s1600/stalkerrrrrrr.jpg

PS not to mention living in the fraser valley with all the mushrooms farms and fertilizers and the wind blowing up from lotus land your air is probably worse than here , cant deny it ,I have spent a lot of time there, I would rather shovel snow than live in that low gray ceiling pouring rain day in day out in the winter months, depressing. enjoy your retirement 02, glad to hear you have found paradise :)

Another intelligent(?) post from Peeps!

Come on Peeps, you can do better than that!! You are starting to disappoint me!

So just how objective can Crusty Clark be when it comes to making a decision on the Enbridge Northern Gateway? She’s had Enbridge’s dirty oil money in her purse before…

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/premier-christy-clark-partnered-enbridge-lobbying-firm?page=0,1

On O’Grady??? think they are building a bunker for City Hall Staff.. they think Putin is gonna come to PG, now that he is separated from his wife and looking for a new hideaway… :)

Hey Peeps your hero Gore made lots of bucks from Occidental coal, Petroleum.

“As a PG taxpayer I have to ask why my taxes are wasted on a bylaw enforcement department that does not enforce bylaws”
——————

It’s the same with all the bylaws everywhere in PG Honestjoe.