The outage is scheduled to span 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on that day.

BC Hydro advises customers in those areas to protect all sensitive equipment in advance of this maintenance.

For further information, customers are invited to call: 1-888-769-3766.

Research done by Surrey Fire Services, in partnership with the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), shows that in 11,000 residential fires in B.C. from 2006 to 2011, nearly 70 per cent of the fire scenes examined either had no smoke alarm or the smoke alarm wasn’t functioning. The research predicts that working smoke alarms could reduce annual fire deaths by as much as 32 per cent.

“This is a very poor report card on the state of functioning smoke alarms in our province and country,” states Len Garis, president of the Fire Chiefs’ Association of B.C. “As a fire service, we now have the opportunity to work together and make a real difference on this important safety issue. We’ve tackled this issue before, but this time we’ll be looking for permanent, sustainable solutions.”

Some components of the campaign are a national injury reduction forum to be held this fall, a call to action on behalf of local fire departments to address this issue in their communities, exploring the potential to develop a school-based curriculum for fire prevention, and encouraging federal politicians to focus on design changes to smoke alarms to address design deficiencies that enable them to be disconnected.

Ryan Oevermann’s a second degree black belt in the martial art, and an instructor with the Northern Taekwon-do Academy, the body under which 23 Sun Peaks youth are learning South Korea’s national sport.

“This was something that was on the back burner of my brain, and it worked out timing-wise,” explains Oevermann. “The Delta Hotel was accommodating in making sure we had a place for training, so everything fell into place. The kids tried it and were enthusiastic; the parents are very excited about it.”

Each Tuesday and Thursday, for one hour sessions, Oevermann and 23 kids gather to work on the art and sport of taekwondo. On top of learning the skill, and the discipline, Discovery Centre students enrolled in Oevermann’s class receive credit toward their physical education curriculum. The distributed learning model that governs their schooling allows students to apply extracurricular classes such as music or sports to their school reporting, explains Jillian Schmalz, teacher at the centre.

Dan Yano’s son Kiyomi takes the classes, and despite only being in kindergarten, he enjoys the activity, while his father appreciates the etiquette it brings.

“He loves it for sure. Five is quite young, but he really digs it,” says Dan. “He calls Ryan sir; it’s discipline.”

The group warms up, practices the set of movements, or patterns, that are specific to each level, they spar, and they work on self defence techniques, all while maintaining the discipline inherent to the art.

When the class deals with self defence, Oevermann frames scenarios in every-day applicable situations such as encountering a bully, or being approached by a stranger.

“The parents get a peace of mind that their kids are learning basic techniques about how to say, ‘Hey this is a stranger . . . or this person is trying to take me somewhere and he’s not my dad.’ These are really important things you have to think about,” explains Oevermann. “I might even say that there are more life skills involved than exercise (in taekwondo) but exercise is a key foundation that goes all the way through it.”

This session of instruction will wind down in June, to be resumed in the fall. Oevermann is eager to see the returning students, as well as some new faces, in September.

“There’s the potential for an adult’s class in September so we’ll be looking at that and keeping track of people who want to try that out,” says Oevermann. “I recommend (people) come out and try a couple classes and make sure it’s something they enjoy before they register.”

Dan, for one, is keen to give taekwondo a go.

“(I’d do it) to do something that (my son) does. It’s more or less if he does it, it’s something he and I can work on together,” says Dan. “There’s been lots of people asking if they can do it too, as adults.”

For more on Taekwondo at Sun Peaks, call Ryan 250-371-0733.

In Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality open burns over Category 1 (ie: a simple campfire) are always restricted without a permit from Sun Peaks Fire Department.

Beyond the municipal boundary, in Whitecroft and Louis Creek, for instance, larger fires are allowed in the appropriate season.

That season ends on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 12 p.m. for the majority of the Kamloops Fire Centre, including Sun Peaks and environs. This prohibition will remain in effect until Oct. 15, 2012, or until further notice.

Specifically, prohibited activities include:

• The burning of any waste, slash or other materials (piled or unpiled) at a size larger than one metre by one metre.
• The burning of more than two open fires of any size at the same time.
• Stubble or grass fires of any size over any area.
• The use of fireworks or burning barrels of any size or description.

This prohibition does not ban campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide (or smaller) and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.

Click here for a map of the affected areas.

For the latest information on fire activity, conditions and prohibitions, visit the Wildfire Management Branch website: www.bcwildfire.ca.

To report a wildfire or unattended campfire, dial *5555 on your cell phone or call toll-free to 1 800 663-5555.

Garbage bags will be supplied, but be sure to pack some sturdy gloves to grab the garbage.

A hamburger and hot dog barbecue will be provided to the helpers following the bash by the Sun Peaks Fire Department, and the Sun Peaks Municipality will provide non-alcoholic drinks. Attendees are invited to bring an appetizer, salad or dessert as a contribution to the pot-luck.

To show their commitment to keeping this community clean, the Sun Peaks kids from the Discovery Centre will be doing a preliminary trash bash from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.  as part of their school day.

Please contact Tourism Sun Peaks at 250-578-5542 with any questions.

Jillian has a strong background in home design after starring in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and hosting Canada’s Next Handyman premiering on HGTV in 2012.

“The PNE is such a historic landmark in B.C., and the Prize Home Lottery is a great tradition in the province,” says Jillian Harris. “I’m so excited to be a part of it.”

The 2012 PNE Prize Home has been uniquely designed to fit into its final surroundings, the mountains of Sun Peaks Resort.  The 3,000 square foot Brtico built home features a ski in and ski out sports room accessible straight from the slopes. It has a mountainous feel with big exposed wood beams and post throughout as well as natural cork flooring.

PNE Prize Home tickets are available now online at www.pneprizehome.ca or available via phone at 604-252-3688 or toll free at 1-877-946-4663.  The first Prize Home preview will take place July 13, 2012.

The Fair at the PNE takes place from August 18- September 3, 2012. For more information about the Prize Home Lottery and the Fair at the PNE visit: www.pne.ca.

“If any residents know of any significant issues with the roads or drainage on the roads, (for example) if there’s big pooling, they should report it to the municipality,” says Byron Johnson, chief administrative officer for the municipality. “We’ll take a look at some of those areas and make sure we get everything on the work plan for Argo.”

Argo has been patch repairing potholes in the community this spring, but those have been short-term remedies to improve driving while conditions are still not optimal for permanent repairs.

“Unfortunately when you just use the cold mix repairs during the colder season, it’s very temporary,” states Johnson. “But (Argo will) come in and do more permanent hot repairs over the summer.”

The municipality will report the biggest problem areas to Argo, to be completed during the summer months.

Contact the Sun Peaks Municipal Office at 250-578-2020 or www.sunpeaksmunicipality.ca

The community formed distributed learning centre, which resembles a regular school in most ways, had grown from 17 students enroled in its first year, to approximately 49 students registered, and 11 expressing interest, for its third year.

“The numbers show that the need is here,” says Barb Kupferschmidt Linder, president of the SPES. “The forecast of 60 is for kids who are already residents of the community, not incoming. Sixty’s not out of the question, and that’s without promoting (the centre). If we did that, the numbers would go even higher.”

Those growing numbers pose a financial challenge for the society and community, but the board affirms that schooling on the mountain will have a long and successful future.

The SPES, in partnership with the Sun Peaks Municipality, have been lobbying government to have the Discovery Centre adopted as a public school to ease the local fundraising burden of covering operating costs.

“The proposal is for full funding and teaching support for our kindergarten to Grade 6 program, and a continued @KOOL model for the Grades 7 to 12,” explains Maria Cannon, director with the SPES.

However, even if public status isn’t granted, the learning centre will continue to operate and be managed by the SPES, as it’s been doing since 2010.

“We are fully confident,” says Cannon. “There’s such huge support from the whole community to see this school continue because it’s been such a great success, it’s the heart and the soul of the community and it’s going to move forward. We’re moving ahead, we’re going to continue to lobby for public support.”

To facilitate planning for the upcoming year, the SPES requests that all new and returning students complete 2012-2013 application forms as soon as possible. The forms are available on the DCBE website.

The society also asks residents with, or knowing of, children in the community under the age of five to contact the SPES for their long term planning.

Visit the Discovery Centre for Balanced Education at www.balancededucation.ca

Warm temperatures and sunny skies hastened spring conditions to the Monashees by Easter Monday giving good opportunities for sledding and ski traverses in the high alpine and glaciated terrain.

With an often predictable spring pattern of freezing at night and melting during the day avalanche hazard can be managed and anticipated with good planning. Utilizing firm frozen snow in the morning can provide great travelling on skis or snowmobiles. Keep in mind that sun affect will rapidly change the snowpack stability—be alert to avoid cornices and slopes overhead. The heat of the day will often trigger deep instabilities, such as the March 27 suncrust layer, and produce large natural avalanches to valley bottom. Consider the affect of daytime warming when planning your route home in the afternoon, or consider staying put if you’re committed to a ski traverse through large terrain.

Be extra cautious when there’s no overnight freeze—this often initiates widespread natural avalanches capable of running full path and creating new paths. Spring also brings more snowfall in the mountains, often creating storm slabs over new suncrusts.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre provides some great info on trip planning and managing avalanche hazard.

Get the info you need from the Canadian Avalanche Centre.

Jamie Koivisto was sentenced on Monday to 2 ½ years after pleading guilty to the thefts.

The Kamloops Daily News reports that Koivisto was convicted of five counts of break-and-enter, one count of possessing tools to break into buildings, as well as five breaches of probation.

The second man associated with the crimes, Jesse Tucker, received a nine-month conditional sentence in February after also pleading guilty to the crimes.

Koivisto, a 23-year old former property maintenance employee in the Sun Peaks community, targeted unoccupied townhomes, stealing flat screen TV’s, DVD players, gaming units, and other electronics. In total, he was involved in 54 break-ins at Sun Peaks between August and November, 2011.

Koivisto was picked up in mid-April after failing to make a court appearance, reports the Kamloops Daily News. He resisted arrest twice, and was found to be in possession of narcotics, as well as communications regarding drug deals and the sale of televisions.