Local News

With a month to spare, the goal of boosting B.C.'s annual lumber exports to China to 4 billion board feet within three years has been reached, Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell said Wednesday.

B.C.

Opatcho Lake is south east of Prince George, roughly 50 km from the city. It is a small lake, but quite deep reaching 77 feet at its maximum.

A Prince George man will remain behind bars after the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that found him guilty of charges related to seven-year sexual relationship with a boy he had first encountered while babysitting.

The "extreme cold weather" is forcing CN Rail to run shorter trains between Jasper and Prince George, the company said in an advisory issued Monday.

The hatchet came down at City Hall today as nine employees were given lay-off notices. The lay-offs are part of a planned City of Prince George restructuring meant to achieve a drastic reduction in budget expenditures.

The City of Prince George laid off nine workers on Tuesday as part of $1.99 million in budget cuts planned for 2012. Four managers and five full-time union employees received pink slips on Tuesday.

City council signed off on a proposed budget plan that would see a 3.12 per cent increase in property taxes in 2012 on Monday. In October city staff predicted a 5.13 per cent tax increase would be needed to maintain services at existing levels.

Police have ruled out foul play in the death of a 39-year-old local woman after speaking to two people who brought her to the University Hospital of Northern B.C. Tracy Schwanke died Thursday, after she was taken to the hospital on Tuesday evening.

Unlike cities like Red Deer, which were caught unaware by rapid growth, Prince George has plenty of room to accommodate new commercial, industrial and residential development, city director of planning and development Dan Milburn said.