2011 in review – Top stories from April, May and June

April kicked off with thousands of our readers falling for an elaborate April fool's joke – we reported that a 14 billon dollar skytrain would be built from the Alberta border to Fort St. John, with a primary goal of getting "cheaper and more skilled alberta workers into the Peace Region saving BC residents from actually having to work" as well as "allowing the south Taylor Hill to stay as is". We reported that the skytrain would have stops at the Farmington Store and the soon to be built "Village on a Diet interpretative centre" in Taylor. Watch for our 2012 April Fools joke! Read the 2011 story here.

 

Early April 2011 marked the one year anniversary of the disappearance of 28 year old Abigail Andrews from Fort St. John. She was last seen leaving her apartment on 99th Ave in Fort St. John. Friends and Family continue the search, and have used a physic and billboards in the hopes of finding her. 

 

To this date, there have been no developments into her disappearance. 

 

The Site C dam project has been in the news a lot over 2011, but perhaps the biggest development in the story came when the cost estimate jumped to 7.9 billion dollars from 6.6 billion dollars. The dam also underwent a design change that would increase the output from 900 megawatts to 1,100 megawatts of capacity. 

 

The proposed dam construction remains a major local issue, with many groups including local First Nations' groups still registering their opposition to the project. 

 

A decision to proceed on the construction of the dam is expected in late 2012 or 2013. 

 

The punchline to every joke in early summer circled around building an ark after record rainstorms flooded basements, RV parks and streets all around the Peace Region. Dawson Creek and Chetwynd were hit particularly hard, with severe damage to infrastructure in both communities. 

 

The Pine Pass was closed for the second time in 2011, this time for several weeks after the massive amount of rain washed out bridges and sections of the highway. The pass was closed for several weeks and major delays in the pass continued through the fall. Mudslides caused a CN train to derail in the pass. 

 

 

Fort St. John politicians continued to make provincial headlines for all the wrong reasons after Peace River North MLA Pat Pimm was arrested and spent a night in jail following a domestic dispute involving his wife. Following the arrest, Pimm resigned from the Liberal Party. After the Crown decided not to lay charges, Pimm was re-admitted to the Liberal Party and continues to represent Peace River North in the provincial legislature.