TMCnet News
--B-C Update--(Canadian Press Broadcast Wire (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) (BC-Teachers-Court) The B-C government is asking the province's top court to suspend parts of a ruling that said legislation that removed class size and composition from contract negotiations violated teachers rights. A B-C Supreme Court ruling last month said the move was unconstitutional and intended to provide a teachers strike. The ruling ordered that class size limits -- with provisions for special needs students and specialist teacher staffing levels -- be restored to what they were in 2002. A document from the attorney general's office filed in court says immediately restoring 12-year-old provisions would harm students, whose school programs would be disrupted, and add additional costs for 60 school districts. (The Canadian Press) (BC-Endangered-Species-Court) A Federal Court judge says the federal environment minister and the fisheries minister broke the law by failing to enforce the Species at Risk Act. A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit over the government's recovery strategy for the Nechako White Sturgeon, Pacific Humpback Whale, Southern Mountain Caribou and Marbled Murrelet. The Species At Risk Act sets deadlines for the government to file proposed recovery strategies and final recovery strategies, but the judge says none of the proposed plans were finished by the time the lawsuit was filed in September 2012. Both departments have now filed proposed plans for all four species, but only one final recovery strategy, for the Pacific Humpback Whale.(The Canadian Press) (BC-Fatal-Stabbing) A man accused in a fatal stabbing in Prince George nearly four years ago has been charged with second-degree murder. Police say the suspect -- who was arrested in Victoria -- can't be named because he was 16 when the crime occurred. R-C-M-P responded to a report of a stabbing in the early hours of July 9th, 2010 and found a 39-year-old man with multiple stab wounds. Tyrone Thomas was transported to hospital but died of his injuries. (The Canadian Press) (BC-Avalanche-Highway) Part of the Coquihalla Highway linking the south coast and southern Interior will be closed for four hours tomorrow morning as crews do avalanche-control work. The Transportation Ministry says the closure of Coquihalla Highway 5 will begin at 7 a.m. Crews will use helicopters to reduce the snowpack in avalanche paths and clear any debris on the highway. Detours are available at Highway 1 at Kamloops and Hope, or via Highway 8 and Highway 1 at Merritt, and updates will be posted on the DriveB-C site. (The Canadian Press) (BC-Angry-Birds-Vancouver) The Angry Birds video game that's hooked fans around the world is being spun into a movie -- with a Vancouver-based animation house getting a leading role in the production. The head of Finnish video-game developer Rovio Entertainment says Sony Pictures Imageworks was picked after a global search for the best animation facility. The game involves players using a slingshot to launch irate birds toward green pigs. The Angry Birds movie is slated to be released in July 2016. (The Canadian Press) (B-C Update by Camille Bains) (The Canadian Press) (c) 2014 The Canadian Press |