Pride Walk built in Prince George

The Prince George Pride walk was built today near the Days Inn. The walk was unanimously voted in favour at city council. Prince George Pride Society pushed to get the walk built in the community. This is added to the pride flag which is being flown at city hall. The pride parade, which is taking place on July 9th, will certainly be highlighting the new cross walk. Feelings of how the city has changed over the years could be heard while the paint was being mixed. Composed of rock and reflective materials the paint is expected to last longer than traditional cross walk paint even in the winters of Prince George.

The walk was built days after a massive shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Florida which claimed the lives of 49 people and injured over 50. Outpouring of support has been happening all across North America, a vigil was held on Monday May 13 to show support for the victims and their families of the shooting.

By: Grant Bachand (Twitter) @grantbachand

The Fresh Sheet - Episode #20: Partched

  [mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/david-powe/the-fresh-sheet-parched/ width=260 height=60 hide_cover=1 mini=1]

Harry Partch's video- Played before Paul Simon's Tune!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfbcEa5sSIs

The Kills- Doing it To Death... not the song played on the Fresh sheet... but you gotta love the choreography... and Alison Mosshart...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=498zUzNGQxY

Margaret Glaspy- No Matter Who...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxPsNuiEvsk

Whitney- Golden Days....correction from what I said on the radio... they haven't been around for awhile...they've only been around since 2015!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op4HT0-W428

Empty House- Every Word https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiKYK3E483A

Ether in The Attic - Episode #127: Protectionist Business Practices - 20160606

Protecting businesses from competition totally sucks! Unless it's my business of course. :D TEAR DOWN THE COMPETITION, to this playlist. Alternatively, you could just amputate a wart, or some awful aspect of your personality to it instead. Pic Credit (Self-Portrait): http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/t-shirt/psychedelic-chimp-in-monkey-suit-is-all-business/121848/

[embed]https://www.mixcloud.com/HubcapWalter/ether-in-the-attic-episode-127-20160606/[/embed]

Celtic Fire: Summer Retro Season Episode 1

The first in this year's Summer Retro Theme Song Season. During this season, we will be looking back over the past 11 seasons at the 24 theme songs that have been used as well as more music by those same artists. It will be a season chock full of great music! Be sure to NOT miss a single show! On tonight's show: Mary Jane Lamond, Enter The Haggis (now known as Jubilee Riots), and Rachel Walker along with the focus artist for this season (also a theme song alumnus): Maggie MacInnes. Tune in!   [mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/andrew-mcfayden/celtic-fire-summer-retro-season-episode-1/ width=100% height=120 hide_cover=1 light=1]

How we vote: Government committee on electoral reform

During the federal government election the question of whether first past the post is a fair system loomed over the liberal party's platform. Now Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have rolled out a committee on electoral reform. This committee is made up of all the parties in the house and after the recent pressure by the NDP now reflects the popular vote not the seat count in the House. The committee is made up of 12 seats, 5 Liberal (one is the chair), 3 Conservatives, 2 NDP, 1 Bloc Quebeco, 1 Green. This is based off of the NDP proposal that was championed by Skeena-Bukley Valley MP Nathan Cullen.

The Conservative Party has been calling for a referendum on this issue. They assert that this question no matter what the committee makes up looks like will be illegitimate if it does not have the consent of the people of Canada. This could be problematic for the committee since in order to get a resolution passed the liberals will need the support of 1 or 2 opposition parties.  The Liberals have also stated that they will reach out to Canadian but how that will look is still yet to be disclosed.

The Green Party and the NDP have been calling for proportional representation, while the Liberals tend to favor a system of preferential ballot. It is likely that the committee will move towards a proportional system but to which degree will depends on the committee.

The current system gives a preference to the Conservatives and the Liberals in elections. With the current system a party can win the most seats but loose the popular vote amongst Canadians. After the Liberals devastating lose in 2011 they have been in favor of a change to the system. It is likely that the electoral reform issue will not come back around until parliament is back in the fall.

Parking in bike lanes no longer allowed

City council passed a bylaw which makes it an offence to park in bike lanes in Prince George. This motion was put forward by Jillian Merrick to help improve cyclists safety.  The motion passed with only one dissenting voice. Brian Skakun felt that the bike lanes were under used by the public and the added costs that would be needed to improve parking options were unnecessary. This new bylaw will affect 69km of  the 72 km of bike lanes in Prince George. The 3km of bike lanes which are not affected need more work before ready for the new bylaw. The process for this motion it was long, it was brought in front of council on February 1st 2016. At that time the motion was referred to staff to conduct a study on how would imposing these restrictions would affect the community. L&M Engineering as hired to perform the study at a cost of $70,000. The study included a feasibility analysis and a way to implement the new bylaw.

There was many problematic areas around the community; Rainbow Park, CN Centre, outside the Phoenix Medical Centre, and the PG soccer fields were among the most discussed. Complaints relating to lack of parking option at Rainbow park and the distance of the parking options for the Soccer fields were some of the complaints heard by the city. It was due to these complications that particular areas like those ones were except for a time being until proper accommodations were put in place by the city.

The city will allow for an educational period where signs are put up and information is given to the community about these new regulations. This will include warnings by bylaw officers and information in local media. Though eventually towing and tickets will be brought in, this was some of the statements made by Brian Skakun.

According to Bikesafety.caa.ca 7,500 people a year are injured while riding bikes. Cyclists are more likely to be injured or killed at an intersection or at a location with a traffic signal or other traffic control signal.

Public transit in PG getting high customer satisfaction

In Monday night's meeting in front of city council BC Transit representatives Chris Fudge and Shilpa Panicker along with the new transit planner, Josephine Macharia told council about the future of transit in Prince George. The team went over short and long term changes to the transit system in Prince George as well as the current state of affairs. Chris Fudge stated that customer service in Prince George is high and this is a result of the good work done by the staff. Prince George transit has been characterized by some students as under par with a lack of transit options on weekends and statutory holidays. This has left students feeling stranded on campus in many situations creating a divide between UNBC and the community of Prince George. Transit has been a focus for many of the city councillors at UNBC with Lyn Hall making election promises to improve transit. Action of public transit has been slow with a 5 year plan being put in place and no action on that plan happening for two years.

In the long term transit in Prince George will have some changes, with the introduction of rapid transit lines (buses that make few stops) and frequent transit lines (buses that come every 15mins). These changes are however over the long term which could be over the ten years. In the next 5 years expect transit to expand into the statutory holidays and a increase in the hours of operation of the buses. All of these changes though planned will be based on the fiscal situation of BC Transit which has been experiencing funding challenges. Lyn Hall stated that he would like to see an earlier implementation of these short term changes sooner rather than later.

Ridership has been down over the last couple years going from 2,032,972 in 2013-2014 to 1,877,966 in 2015-2016. This decrease in ridership has made it difficult for the city and BC transit to improve the services here in Prince George. Funding from the provincial government has been frozen for the last two years and created a financial pinch for BC Transit. Prince George makes up 53.31% of the funding for public transit and the province makes up 46.69%. In order to improve the service Lyn Hall believes that the city needs to be lobbying the provincial government to get the improvements that are needed done.

It is unclear when the longer hours and the service on statutory holidays are gonna happen BC transit has been reluctant to place any time horizons on the expansion. So for the time being prepare for the same as usual with the transit in Prince George.

Ether in The Attic - Episode #126: Wheels Need Grease - 20160530

Rotating objects across the universe must do so with the awareness that they will eventually succumb to friction The stones that separate us all will eventually turn to sand. That is unless, enough lubrication is provided, so vehicle operator GREASE THEM WHEELS, and do it to this soundtrack. [embed]https://www.mixcloud.com/HubcapWalter/ether-in-the-attic-episode-126-wheels-need-grease-20160530/[/embed]

Pic Credit: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/psychedelic-wheel-kris-woo.html

The Rat Queen-- Hey Music Hellions, I'll Sacrifice Thom Yorke and His Awful Whining For Gord Downie's Continued Existence

  Seriously, who do I talk to to arrange that trade?

Even Thom Yorke's name is annoying. T-O-M Y-O-R-K. It's not hard to spell like everyone else. You're not special, Thom. I want to punch you in your mealy mouth.

Giving Gord Downie brain cancer is like torturing the most sprightly and perfect kitten.

Sacrifice Thom. Save Gord. I'll be waiting here for the real change, Trudeau.

Screw 2016.

#TradeThom

https://www.mixcloud.com/jamteezy/the-rat-queen-may-2416-ill-gladly-sacrifice-thom-yorke-for-gord-downies-continued-existence/