Highway cycling
Powell River needs a good bike lane on Highway 101 from Lund to Saltery Bay [“Staff propose bike route,” September 11, 2013].
I noticed there is part of a bike lane on Padgett Road coming from the south end of the valley which is a nice improvement and will be nice when finished.
When I was recently bike training in Powell River, I noticed a few riders on the road. It is hard when you want to ride hard and train for big bike rides. Part of the highway is narrow and rough, there are some wide areas and then narrow areas. I rode for four days. I found that shoulders on the highway are not easy for traffic and riders.
Powell River is a very beautiful city. More riders would be on the roads training for long distance if conditions were easier. I love the hills and the views of the city. In total I rode 117.6 miles over the four days and will see the city again next year on a big ride.
Cliff Lang
Squamish, BC
Softer than I had hoped
This is a cautionary tale for all chainsaw-wielding folk in the region [“In honour,” April 25].
Some of you are well-experienced and wise enough to wear full protective gear. Some of you are well-experienced and not wise enough to wear full protective gear; and some of you might be neophytes to the world of the chainsaw with its awesome and ferocious ability to cut anything softer than stone.
I have been operating chainsaws for 20 years and am firmly in the second category. In the Powell River area I expect many of you reading this also qualify there. I feel strongly motivated to share my story and spare some nice people enormous discomfort, and embarrassment.
I touched my thigh with a moving chainsaw blade and it was scary, painful and happened in the blink of an eye. I eagerly encourage you to wear proper safety gear so that it never happens to you.
Now to give you some context the last time I used the chainsaw my girlfriend had insisted on asking me if I knew how to use a chainsaw safely and to never use it alone. I off-handedly assured her I was and would, but I was just being a donkey; guys, don’t be a donkey.
I now refer to rain pants as mock-Kevlar because it kind of feels like it might offer some protection, but it does not. In my case the pucker in the fabric actually caught the chain and pulled it into my thigh. The divot of flesh and skin it carved out was deep and pink and fleshy and really really uncomfortable to look at. It just didn’t need to happen. Fortunately my reasonably well-stocked first-aid kit was close at hand and I had golden-seal to clot the wound.
A few days later I am healing well, hobbling about, and out of work for 10 days. I knew better, but I got lazy and cheaped-out thinking the risk was worth it. It turns out my girlfriend was right, again. Chainsaws and power-tools really do demand respect from soft things like mammals.
Mike Robinson
Lund
City lot parking lot?
A City of Powell River property at the corner of Manson Avenue and Duncan Street looks like a used car lot most of the time. Recently there were four vehicles parked there sporting For Sale signs.
What happened to the third-party advertising bylaw [“Bylaws permit relocation,” December 23, 2013]? I was acquainted with it in no uncertain terms when I tried to advertise Ocean Harvest Products Ltd., my business here in town, at the commercial Wharf at Westview with a small sign on the outside of the then-operating fishing supply premises down there. I had to take it down or pay the city to do it for me.
How is trying to sell your car different from trying to sell a prawn trap?
Tracy Walker
Cranberry Street
Climate crisis deepens
Recently, at the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change in Yokohama, Japan, hundreds of climate scientists from around the globe assembled and concluded that the planetary climate crisis is far worse than originally thought.
Man must curb carbon dioxide emission levels by up to 70 per cent. The rhetoric that continues to emanate out of Ottawa is that the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal is in Canada’s national interest [“MP stumps against northern gateway,” March 26]. The proposal is detrimental to the planet, so how is this possible?
Did Canada undergo a metamorphosis which separates itself from the rest of the world? It is completely devoid of logic. My daughter-in-law, granddaughter and grandson are currently in Beijing, China, visiting grandma and grandpa. They’ve been told to stay indoors as the air pollution levels outside are too severe. Just imagine how that would feel here in the Powell River area.
Steve Perkins
Blair Road, Texada Island
Eggs and all
I had the opportunity to go to the Easter Egg Hunt at Willingdon Beach on April 12 and wow, what an event [“Easter egg hunt,” April 18]. The whole event was over the top. Hats off to Patti from Powell River Recreation Complex and all of the volunteers. They had games for the kids, a petting zoo, face painting, and great organizing of all the egg hunt categories. A stand was even set up with popcorn and hot coffee for the moms and dads. It was just a great event and very well done. I greatly appreciated it and the kids loved it too.
John McDowell
Joyce Avenue
Thumbs up for help
I am extremely grateful to all the people who responded to the fire at Glacier apartments [“Apartment fire displaces tenants,” May 7]. The police, fire and rescue, and paramedics who were first, as well as the community service people who responded to the residents’ health and safety needs during and after the fact. Their efficiency and empathy ensured that all were taken care of.
I have never before experienced a crisis such as this and given what I observed and experienced, I am very happy to live in Powell River. My appreciation to all.
Joseph Ravick
Glacier Street
Interested citizens should count
There seems to be disappointment expressed about turnout at consultation meetings [“Report sheds light on plan,” April 23].
It’s obvious to me that people have given up because City of Powell River council pays no heed to petitions, comments or letters, shrugging them off as vested interest groups. But that is just what we are, vested interest citizens, who have the courage to speak out against policies of council, that we feel are not for the public good. That is our democratic right as citizens and should not be downplayed by our elected representatives.
We spoke out about the new Powell River Public Library going to Willingdon. There was an alternate suitable site on Barnet Street, but what happened? That site was made into an emergency centre.
Now, it’s back to Catalyst Paper Corporation Powell River division for our sewage system, when many have rejected that proposal.
Mayor and council are there to represent us, to pay attention to our suggestions and do what is best.
Helen G. Evans
Manitoba Avenue
