June, 1968
Dateline: June 2, 1968
Flooding creeks in Nelson area took a high toll of roads, bridges and private property as recent rains tripled creek sizes and torrents of water cut up the landscape Sunday. At press time Sunday night, 3 area highway bridges were reported out as well as there were several washouts. The road was flooded just south of Salmo, with traffic stopped, but was down to six inches from a much higher level by press time. A city police spokesman in Nelson said that Cottonwood Creek had caused between 15 and 20 homes to be evacuated with several others packed and prepared to move if necessary. Eight homes and a service station in the City are flooded, at least partially. Two large gas tanks were washed away from the service station on Ymir Road with an unconfirmed figure of 900 gallons of gas inside. Volunteer crews totalling 1,500 fought the flood, mostly with sandbags, trying to keep the creek flowing close to its normal channel. The lower bridge at Duhamel creek, below the main highway at Six Mile Road, was nearly lost but hard work, sandbagging and two cats had kept it in place. The flood was caused by nearly two inches of warm rain which fell in the area. Any men available are asked to contact Manpower or city police to see if they are needed.
Dateline: June 3, 1968
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau flashed his winning smile to more than 1500 West Kootenay residents who turned out at Selkirk College to see him Monday. Wires, mikes and the constant click, click, click of cameras followed him everywhere he went during his brief stop in Castlegar. A 67 member Doukhobor choir sang to great the prime minister, their repertoire included songs in Russian, English and French. The large crowd listened to the prime minister touch briefly on a variety of subjects including the cost of tuition. Students concerned about the financial burdens connected with attending university were told they were, “tackling the problem by the back door. He used the statement to emphasize his contention that education is, under the Canadian constitution, a strictly provincial matter. In the future, Trudeau explained, education or at least higher education could become a federal matter. He also described the Columbia River Treaty as “the best possible deal under the circumstances.”
Dateline: June 5, 1968
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, was shot today as he left the platform from which he had made a victory statement over his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary. Reuters News Agency said there were reports that Kennedy was shot either in the head or the hip, or possibly both places. The scene at the Ambassador Hotel was one of shock and terror as Kennedy lay on the floor of the hotel kitchen. Blood streamed from his face and his eyes were open but unseeing. Kennedy’s assailant, as yet unidentified, was being held a few feet away by a half-dozen of Kennedy supporters. Before he was removed to a hospital, a priest said he attempted to give the senator final rites of the Roman Catholic Church but the surging crowd pushed him away. The priest said: “I gave him the rosary and he clenched it tightly and I was pushed away. There was blood on his head”. The Senator was apparently shot three times.
Dateline: June 26, 1968
The Liberals parlayed gains in Ontario and the West into a comfortable but not overwhelming majority in Tuesday’s federal general election. The victory by Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the first Liberal majority since 1953 when another French speaking Canadian, Louis St.Laurent. It appeared that the Liberals would have about 20 more seats than the 132 required for a bare majority. Locally, in a landslide victory that began with the first returns and continued and grew as the count mounted, Randolph Harding scored the most significant win in the history of the West Kootenay New Democratic Party, surmounting by far the greatest victory ever mounted by his illustrious predecessor, Bert Herridge. With only nine polls to come, the count is as follows: Ran Harding, NDP 11,725; Don Griffiths, Liberal 7503; Bruce Arneson, Progressive Conservative 4055; and Ted Brothers, Social Credit 2580. About 72 per cent of the ridings 36,213 eligible voters cast their ballots in Tuesday’s election.