Helen Mirren on Kandinsky

Members' Newest Work at The Gallery

The window in the painting behind Clara and Kylie
 made this their favourite work, 'Prized Treasures' by Maria Maryniak

Cranbrook and District Arts Council latest exhibit is titled, "Members' Newest Work". 

With  school classes regularly visiting the Gallery for various exhibits, it was not surprising today to find two Grade Seven students visiting the gallery in their holiday to explore the latest selection of paintings. 

Their discussion around the exhibited paintings was educated and thoughtful including references to the media used to create the paintings and the points of interest within their favourite work.


A book of thanks can also be found within the gallery, from a class of elementary students who visited the' Let Them Run Salmon' exhibit. 

 

Wayne Stetski Well Endorsed as NDP Candidate

On Sunday March 15th Wayne Stetski was endorsed as the NDP candidate for Kootenay East by a well rounded group of people, Alex Atamanenko MP  BC Southern Interior, Michelle Mungal MLA Nelson Creston, Ed Conroy former MLA, Katrine Conroy MLA Kootenay West, Norm Macdonald MLA Columbia River Revelstoke, Ann Edwards, former MLA, Dr, David Schindler, Norma Blissett, Cranbrook City Councillor, Gerry Taft, Mayor District of Invermere, Paul Galbraith, Rancher, Gerry Wilkie, Regional Director RDEK, Dr, Suzanne Bayley, Crystal Green and Carley Eldred.

A packed room listened as all endorsers presented their reasons for supporting Wayne Stetski as the NDP candidate for our riding. Prior to the speeches guests contributed to broad discussions and recorded notes about their issues of concern and importance for this next upcoming election.

Juan Lee Sunn and Peter Alex Warland in the Gallery Saturday March 21st

ABOVE A WHISPER IN HOUSE GALLERY CONCERT SERIES

CRANBROOK & DISTRICT ARTS COUNCIL

SAT MAR 21^ST 1PM TO 3PM                       #104-135 10^th Avenue South

ADMISSION BY DONATION                    Cranbrook, BC                       

Hailing form Nelson, BC and parts unkown He will be joined on stage by Cranbrook Legendary Musician Peter Alex Warland on bass and possibly a mystery guest on keyboard.

Pressure Reducing Station Failure Saturday Caused Multiple Water Main Breaks Across City

large hole close to Gordon Terrace School

From the City Website:

Cranbrook, BC (March 16, 2015) – Public Works water crews are expecting to be back on the scene of the last few water main breaks to wrap up the repair work today.

Crews had water restored to all the affected residents around 10:30pm Sunday night and will be working today to complete the repairs and backfill the excavated holes.  However, with the return of winter weather overnight, some crews have been allocated to snow removal operations and it could be late today before the additional staff is available. 

Four full water crews and machinery worked all day Sunday to restore water service after a failure in a pressure reducing station overnight Saturday which caused 8 separate water main breaks across the City and a serious sinkhole.   The cause of the failure was determined to be a faulty part, which has been replaced.

Some of today’s additional repair work may require crews to turn the water off for a short time.  Residents are reminded that as the water service is restored and the water turned back on, you could experience dirty or discoloured water. This is due to the water pressure stirring up sediment in the water lines. The discoloured water is not a health concern. Simply run your cold water tap until the water runs clear.

Birds are back

photos - Stewart Wilson

An ungainly heron balances on bended branch

Killdeer's distinct shrill cry is often heard before the bird is seen racing about on shore or grassland

Another Osprey nest appears to have been usurped by Canada Goose

Warner's Potluck Corner

Time to end the medical pot travesty

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

So Cranbrook is going to get a new industry. About time, you say and I agree except I’m not so sure about the industry being talked about, namely medicinal marijuana or “pot” as we called it in the good ol’ 60’s and we got high on it and never thought of the alleged health benefits.

However, Cranbrook Council, and the one before it for that matter, appears to be quite high on the prospect of making the Key City the pot capital of the Kootenays and taking the dubious distinction away from Nelson. But do our well-intended, if somewhat naïve councillors, have any idea of what they may be tripping out on? I don’t think so.

Is there money in devil weed? You might as well ask if the sky is blue or water wet. Health Canada estimates medicinal pot will be a $1.3 billion industry by 2024 and this has launched a veritable “greenwash” across Canada with producers from Halifax to Victoria chasing the elusive pot of gold. Not to mention Cranbrook’s idea to stick a pot factory in an industrial park somewhere with the mayor cutting a green ribbon on opening day.

But don’t throw your baggies away just yet because there’s an awfully big fly in this medicinal ointment because Health Canada is a bureaucracy, and like any government bureaucracy, has laid down some stringent rules for hemp entrepreneurs wanting to get in on the greenwash. So far, out of more than 1,000 applications from coast to coast, only around 20 have been approved as authorized producers of medicinal Mary Jane and the application process can take as long as two years. “They (Health Canada) are really an unfortunate bureaucracy under siege,” said Umar Syed, president of Cann-Mart Inc. in a CBC interview last June. Syed said would-be pot purveyors like him are “all dressed up and nowhere to go” as Health Canada struggles with a “tsunami” of applications. And the agency is rejecting many applications as it did last week with CEN Biotech which is seeking to build the world’s largest marijuana factory in Ontario and is accused in an investigation by the Toronto Globe and Mail of having “numerous misrepresentations” in its application and misleading investors. CEN Biotech then issued a statement saying said it will hash the matter out in court with Health Canada.

As of October, 2014, Health Canada refused 226 applications and issued only 22 licenses to producers with 291 still going through the tortuous process. The delays are hurting the companies wanting get in on the potrush. “They’re burning through money like crazy,” said Ottawa lawyer Trina Fraser in a CBC interview last November. “Everybody’s going bananas, out of their minds, frustrated with the process.”

Then there’s the little matter of whether the estimated 500,000 or so medicinal pot users in Canada, 80 per cent of whom are estimated to live in BC, are really toking up for the health benefits of the still-illegal drug or just recreational users of BC Bud and its numerous pale imitators. Shortly after April 1, 2014 when Health Canada issued its new regulations for medicinal marijuana producers the Canadian Medical Association issued the following statement:

“The CMA still believes there is insufficient scientific evidence available to support the use of marijuana for clinical purposes. It also believes there is insufficient evidence on clinical risks and benefits, including the proper dosage of marijuana to be used and on the potential interactions between this drug and other medications.” 

Hmmm. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it?

Despite this, the pot tsunami continues to crest on the Left Coast with illegal but tolerated marijuana emporiums springing up all over the Lower Mainland like pot plants after a summer rain. Vancouver alone has 20 storefront pharmacies offering services like cannabis oil massages, WiFi vapour lounges (sure to be a hit on Baker Street), and hemp juice bars. “We’d like to educate people that you can heal yourself without pharmaceutical drugs,” Matteo Suleyman, manager of the Sea to Sky Alternative Healing Society told CBC News after opening his second location on the east side of Vancouver complete with an in-house naturopathic doctor and a medicinal marijuana smoothie bar.

In a CBC interview, Const. Brian Montague said Vancouver police aren’t in a rush to bust so-called marijuana “pharmacies,” but the drug is still illegal and things could change. “While these dispensaries are not a priority, it does not mean they can’t become a priority if public safety becomes a concern.”

Public safety indeed! Don’t you think it’s time to end this farcical travesty and just legalize this dubious drug and its questionable health benefits and let people decide for themselves if  they want to inhale it, bake it, drink it or rub it into their skin? All we’re doing now is making lawyers rich and entrepreneurs greedy.

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist and a non-smoker of anything, including pot.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Same discussions fifty years later!  In which direction are we really moving?

Cranbrook Courier September 24th 1959

What's Happening.....

Ongoing
Cranbrook and District Arts Council Gallery
Members Latest Work
135, Tenth Avenue South
Hours Tuesday to Friday 11:00am to 5:00pm
Saturday 10;00am to 2:00pm

Saturday March 14th

St Patrick's day Tea
Senior Citizens hall
1 - 3:00pm
Judy 250-426-2436

Monday March 16th

Cranbrook Garden Club
'Gladioli' with Andy Krajewski
Christ Church Anglican Hall 6:30pm
Everyone welcome
1-778-517-1222

CARP The Canadian Association of Retired Persons
Informational meeting for beginning a new local chapter
10:00am Senior Citizens Hall

Tuesday March 17th

The Arrogant Worms
7:30pm
Key City Theatre

Wednesday March 18th

Go Go Grannies Travelogue
'Penguins' presented by Denise and Allister Pedersen
COTR Lecture Theatre 7:00pm

March 16 to 20

Theatre Boot Camp for kids between 9 and 15
Register at Key City Theatre or www.keycitytheatre.com

Bill C -51

Cranbrook’s Day of Action Against Bill C­51 will take place at noon on Saturday, March 14th on 2nd Street North between Kootenay Street and Cranbrook Street. 

From the Tyee:

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/03/11/C-51-Six-Things-To-Know/

Six Things Protesters Need to Know about Bill C-51

Preventative arrest? Secret police? Rights lawyers break down anti-terrorism law.

By Alyssa Stryker and Carmen Cheung, 

At over 60 pages, Bill C-51 -- the Anti-Terrorism Act -- is a heavy read. The bill proposes a myriad of radical changes to Canadian law and to Canada's national security apparatus, many of which seriously jeopardize the rights and freedoms of Canadians while promising little improvement to public safety.Canada's privacy commissioner, ex-CSIS officials, former prime ministers and international whistleblower Edward Snowden have all raised alarm about the bill's impacts on Canadians' freedom and privacy. Lawyers at the B.C. Civil Liberties Association have gone over the bill paragraph by paragraph, and we've outlined the parts of this document that concern us most.

1. Bill C-51 drastically expands the definition of 'security.'

When you think of being secure, you likely think of being safe from physical danger. But Bill C-51 defines security as not only safeguarding public safety, but also preventing interference with various aspects of public life or "the economic or financial stability of Canada." With this definition, a separatist demonstration in Quebec that fails to get a proper permit, a peaceful logging blockade by First Nations, or environmentalists obstructing a pipeline route could all be seen as threats to national security.

For the entire article go to the link above.
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