Student travel
A program that allows free ferry travel for youth on school or community sports trips to Vancouver Island is starting in Powell River.
School District 47, which is administering the program, has received notification from BC Ferries that travel vouchers will be available September 1 for travel between Westview and Little River.
BC Ferries agreed to implement the program, similar to what is in place for student travel on the Lower Sunshine Coast, after the Northern Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee surveyed the community in June.
Three quarters of respondents to the online survey said they were in support of an average 0.8 per cent rate increase to offset the free student travel.
Readers interested in the program can visit School District 47’s administration office (4351 Ontario Avenue) to apply for the travel vouchers.
Record sunshine
High temperatures in July made for a hot, but only slightly drier, month than usual. Temperatures held in the mid to upper 20° Celsius range.
Maximum mean temperatures for the month were close to three degrees warmer than the 30-year climate average. The minimum mean was 0.3° warmer. The average temperature was 18.8°, about one and a half degrees warmer than climate averages.
While Powell River has had one of the driest years of the past quarter century, the weather station at Powell River airport recorded 35.6 millimetres of rain. Weather observer John Ede said rain came in two short periods and almost met the 30-year average (37.5 millimetres) for rainfall in July.
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