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The Province is allocating $120 million for gaming grants in 2010-2011, up from $113 million last year, to fund approximately 6,000 organizations that benefit communities, including those that assist public safety, youth and disabled sports, people in need, fairs, festivals, museums and community services such as preschools. 

Quesnel RCMP have been investigating several reports of fraud over the Internet.

On February 27, 2010, Quesnel RCMP received a complaint of a scam over the Internet in which a person was giving away a 'lovely bulldog puppy' on buysell.com. The seller posted the dog on the Internet and asked the respondent to only pay for the transport of the animal. The respondent was then sent an email from pettravelservices@ aol.com and pettravelcargoltd@ in.com with information about the shipping and expenses. The respondent was then sent information from the seller stating that the puppy is held up at Customs and $600 must be sent to release the dog. The international pet air travel association website has both pettravelservices@ aol.com and pettravelcargoltd@ in.com listed on their website as scam emails. These email addresses and several others are implicated in a puppy fraud out of Cameroon. Other sites that these scam artists have posted on include Kijiji and Buy and Sell from other cities.

CCRHD Review Master Plan Funding Request

The Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District (CCRHD) will be funding a $200,000 Master Plan project at Cariboo Memorial Hospital. It is anticipated that completion of the Master Plan will be an important step towards maximizing the full potential of the site and to securing Provincial funding to begin the necessary capital improvements.  

On March 4,  the Williams Lake RCMP received a complaint of a Break and Enter to a local business. 

The business, located at 1085 Murray Drive, was believed to have been broken into sometime the previous night between 10:00pm and 5:00am. 

Police are currently investigating this matter and are asking the public to please call the Williams Lake detachment or CrimeStoppers if they have any information about this incident.

Williams Lake Fire Department, BC Ambulance Service, Williams Lake RCMP and Terasen Gas were at the scene of a small structure fire in an industrial area located behind the old People's Foods building tonight.

Fire Chief Randy Isfeld advised that a passer-by had alerted the fire department to flames on the outside of one of the buildings around 10:30pm.

The fire was extinguished, and there were no injuries.

Welcome to Williams Lake would like to thank the reader who sent this tip in.

On March 3, 2010 RCMP dismantled a very large marijuana grow operation in Horsefly based on a tip from a very good source in the area, according to Detachment Commander Warren Brown. 

"Based on that information we did surveillance and conducted an investigation which lead to these arrests," he said.  "This kind of success rarely happens without those kind of community reports."

The equipment related to this grow is worth an estimated $200,000 in addition to the estimated street value of between $2-4 million of marijuana seized.

It is the Williams Lake RCMP's belief that the sole purpose for the occupancy of this property was to house a factory style marijuana grow operation. Although this is a very significant grow, it is not uncommon anymore to see this quantity of plants and equipment in a single location.

 "This latest grow is a continuing trend which is being seen in the Cariboo corridor, which appears to have become a location of choice for similar type set-ups. The Cariboo area detachments including Williams Lake, Quesnel, 100 Mile House, and Alexis Creek are aware of this trend and will be making coordinated efforts to discourage the apparent draw to the area for this type of illegal activity," stated Staff Sargeant Warren Brown.

Yesterday, a team of police officers including the Williams Lake RCMP Drug Section, the North District General Investigation Section and Williams Lake general duty members attended a remote residence in the Horsefly area with a search warrant, as this was a suspected marijuana grow site. 

Setting the foundation for decades of renewed economic growth, protecting vital services, adding to British Columbia’s competitiveness and building on the tremendous momentum of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are core elements of the 2010 provincial budget tabled in the B.C. Legislature today by Finance Minister Colin Hansen.

“We are enhancing support for B.C.’s families, meeting our financial targets, maintaining our commitments to health and education, and we are on track to return to balanced budgets in 2013,” said Hansen. “Recognizing the many opportunities resulting from the global exposure provided by the Olympics, we are also furthering our investments in areas such as clean energy, arts and culture and international commerce while ensuring future job growth across B.C.”

Submitted by the Federation of British Columbia Woodlot Associations (FBCWA)

Most BC woodlot licensees probably don’t know it, but an example of their work was on display - front and centre in fact - when Alex Bilodeau won Canada’s first gold medal on home soil on February 14.

(Photo: Rod Blake and his buddy Kotaro (above) helped build one of 23 Olympic podiums (below) with the donation of part of this Fir log. The remainder of the log was used for a curved beam in a log house.)

Discussions to address outstanding ice rentals and fees 

The Central Cariboo/City of Williams Lake Joint Committee announced today that they are currently negotiating with the ownership of the TimberWolves Junior A Hockey Club to address their outstanding ice rental and other fees associated with the team’s use of the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex during the past hockey season. 

At the conclusion of the 2009-2010 hockey season, the TimberWolves had outstanding bills for use of the Cariboo Memorial Complex in the amount of approximately $40,000. The Timberwolves had, however, undertaken the construction of a mezzanine within the Complex which enhanced the capital value of the facility. Negotiations are currently underway to determine if a suitable arrangement can be reached between the parties to exchange the value of the mezzanine for the outstanding debt - an arrangement similar to past agreements.  In the event that an agreement on the outstanding debt can be reached, the parties will be negotiating a new contract for the 2010-2011 hockey season to ensure the financial issues experienced in the past season are not repeated.