THE MOST RIDICULOUS STORY OF THE YEAR.... NATIVES GET THE RIGHT TO SHOOT GAME IN THE DARK WITH THE AID OF LITES. THE JUDGE SHOULD GET "IDIOT OF THE YEAR AWARD". WE SHOULD ALL SHOW UP WITH LITES AND RIFLES AT HIS HOUSE. WONDER IF HE WOULD HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS??

The unheralded story of the year was the United Way of Prince George. They not only had to move, they found a place that fit within their current budget and is in the same area.

Without skipping a heart beat, the United Way Campaign exceeded its goals for the year.......reaching over one million dollars from the community......DOUBLE from two years ago.

Hats of the the volunteer Board of Directors as well as the executive director, Trevor Williams and the staff.

Saddam Hanged......

or was he?
Could it be that the Iraqi's did a slight of hand and executed one of his look alikes....It would allow Sadam to live but satify the blood lust of the rest of the world....
Oh, we have a possible hornets nest here me thinks....

I still cringe at the cop who got off because his prosecutors delayed charging him for so long.

It must be sweet to only answer to your own pals, and not the rest of the justice people like the average Canadian citizen has to.

Top story should go to the Provincial Government and all of the contracts, bonuses etc...

Smooth

Top story should go to the Provincial Government and all of the contracts, bonuses etc...

Smooth

Oh come on you people. Back to topic!!!!!

I think the least covered but most impressive story would be the about the people of the north who sacrificed some of there own money and personal time to help people who were in need. When confronted with a problem people tend to overcome it.Compared to that governments are fleeting at best.The joining together of our fellow citizens is our best and least understood asset.

I think the Income Trust of Canfor's pulp mills in PG was story #1. This is potentally big news as it signals a scale back in investment as the income trust depleats the assets value. Could that mean future clean air in PG, could it also mean an economic collapse if mills are closed or scaled back? Huge early profits shared with local employees was a bonus to the local economy?

I think story #2 would clearly be the softwood lumber agreement.

#3 could potentially be the local land being sold to foreign investors. Ie the Islamic mosque at 5th and Foothills, and the land behind the Hart scales.

In my opinion, the top story of the year for the city and its immediate surrounding is:

Lheidli T'enneh Treaty Initialed
http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/3972/3/lheidli+t

It was local news that made news outside the region as well since it was the first one to be initialled under the new process. It was 13 years in the making, and long overdue. It leads the way for others to follow soon. I am hoping that it will be part of improving sustainability for the community and region - economically and socially.

OK,
I have been convinced, my vote is for the Lheidli T`enneh Treaty.

Does that mean I have to vote for yours?

:-)

I think that not only the success of the United Way, but also the increasing need for such programs which encourage private donations to take care of basic social needs is an important story. Both are a part of the changing times we are seeing across this country. Hopefully those who can come forward to donate will not diminish in the future.

Owl thats a hard one to call. Everyone knows this town was built and survives on the pulp mills, but on the other hand that treaty is also very important to our future....

The Mountain Pinebeatle Disaster and the lack of provincial or federal will or funding to address the dramatic effects on our economy currently and in the future.

EEks pine beetle....

I think that the best story of the year 2006 is that we coped with every adversity that Nature and the follies of mankind threw at us with true Canadian grit and like a Timex watch: We took a licking - but we kept on ticking, and will do so in the future!

Only in Canada, eh?

Chadermando .... the pulp mills and their viability is certainly important to the community.

They are the single most important event which happened to this community and this region that caused the City to be the size it is. If it were not for them, the City would not have been flush with money for as long as it has been.

Just a reminder that PG was the Fort McMurray of the mid 60's. With the exception of a few suburbs of major cities - primarily Don Mills and Scarborough in Toronto - this was the fastest growing community in Canada for many years and people were so hyped on it that they actually thought (and I am talking about professionals in the business who should have known better) that it would continue to go on like that so that we would be a community in the 1/4 million range post 2000. That thinking lasted to about the mid 70’s.

No one suspected that it would be Kelowna that would have that tremendous continued growth. They do not have a pulp mill. No one foresaw in those days the impact Hong Kong would have nor the impact of retirement. Everyone thought that the island was and would continue to be the retirement capital of Canada.

So, no matter what financial shell games are played, they are the indicators, not the cause, of what will happen to the mills. Engineers at the mills who understand the process will tell you that the technology is running its course. Feedstocks will change, as will the process.

There is no doubt that there will come a time within the next 5 years when there will be a reckoning as to what to do – shut down and leave; shut down a rebuild a more efficient facility, maybe even build a plant which can churn out finished products rather than just kraft. I assume that the expansion of the Rupert port will put a bit of a different spin on such positions now. Maybe even the extension of the runway. Improved transportation and shifting markets are certainly key determinants.

Too many people in this community remind me of those who sat in places like Pennsylvania watching as the steel industry went for a dive as a result of newer post war European plants followed by newer plants in Asia, as well as the increase of recycling and the creation of reduction mills.

Detroit and Michigan and Ohio were the heartland of manufacturing (you know, the traditional “modern” wealth producing industries) in the USA, and they are now the some of the poorest part of the country, while the south east is in demand because of the lifestyle and reasonable costs of living, for now.

To think that pulp will not go the same way as every industry is naive. However, I am relatively certain that the forest industry will continue for many more decades, if not centuries. The products produced from, however, as well as the silviculture practices will change over time. The time for a radical retooling of the pulp mills is getting closer each year.

This article is just the tip of the iceberg. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=998774

Companies that converted to Income Trust have the next three years (according to Harper) to undo their trust arrangement and get back to where they were before, or face the consequences, tax wise.

However, things may change again - politicians can be very shifty, as we all know.

I don't know if this is the top story or not, it was the one that impressed me the most!
I don't even know what the group is called but they are the ones who opposed air pollution in their area. They are from North Nechako.
Their research was the most impressive that I have read.
Their persistence and sincerity are without parallel.
They show the strength of what "the little guy" can do.
I don't think they are going to go away.
My wish for 2007 is that more citizens could follow their example and make Prince George a healthier safer place to live.
To those who don't agree and to all citizens a healthy and happy 2007.

I think the biggest story of 2006 relating to the northern interior, had to be the way the communities of the north came together to raise awareness of the Highway of Tears. In some ways, the crimes commited along this highway have an eerie similarity to the same crimes Robert Pickton is accused of. Provinically, the biggest story has to be the weather the people of BC experienced this year. From the hot dry summer to the snowy, blowy winter blast, everyone in BC has a weather story to relate - it doesn't matter if you live on the coast, the mainland, the interior or somewhere in the northern half of the province - the weather effected almost everyone in some way in 2006.

One of the biggest stories of 2006 was Alcans attempt to build a more efficient Aluminum plant in Kitimat that would reduce the use of electricity from their Kemano Generators and then they would sell this surplus of power to BC Hydro at huge profits. This scheme would at the end of the day cost the City of Kitimat approx 1000 jobs and divestate their City. Some of the money generated from the sale of the power to Hydro would go to building Alum Plants in the Province of Quebec. The amazing thing about this story is that unlike the Port of Prince Rupert container terminal, or the Kemess North Mine, etc; most people completly ignored it.

It would appear that if we think we can benefit from a project then we get on the band wagon and praise the hell out of it, but when it comes to a major downsizing like the one proposed by Alcan we remain silent.

They Mayor of Kitimat along with some of the citizens are taking the Provincial Government to court to try and stop this project. The crux of their case is that the Ministers of the Government who made the agreement with Alcan did not have the authority to do so. Hopefully they will win this case. In addition the BCUC ruled this week that the agreement between Alcan and BC Hydro for the sale of the surplus power was not in the public interest. Maybe just maybe justice will prevail over Corporate Greed in this instance and the City of Kitimat will continue to produce ingots into the future.