Latest news with #Quesnel
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wrestling matches in Prince George aim to support Quesnel after tragic fire
A wrestler is taking to the ring to support his hometown with fundraisers after a fire burned down the Nourish Food Bank on May 5. Steve Ingraham, who goes by the moniker, The Barlow Creek Butcher, when he's wrestling, says that the food bank has been around since he was a kid and losing it is like losing part of Quesnel. "It was sad to hear. That food bank has been around for years," he told CBC's Daybreak North. Ingraham, born and raised in Quesnel, has been a resident of Prince George for 13 years and wrestles with Prime Time Wrestling at the Prince George Civic Centre. In a news release, Prime Time Wrestling says that Davy Greenlees and Stuart Brown have raised over $30,000 in charitable donations over the past two years with the wrestling matches they co-ordinate at the Prince George Civic Centre. When they heard about the Quesnel food bank, they decided to take action. "We don't present matches in Quesnel, but some of our wrestlers live there and we feel that this is the type of disaster that calls upon us to be a good neighbour," said Primetime Wrestling CEO Greenlees. "We are organizing a food drive through our ticket outlets and our live events in the coming weeks to help replenish the supplies and ensure that families in need don't go without." Elaine Laberge, the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern B.C., the organization that runs the Nourish Food Bank, says that the community is shocked. LISTEN | Quesnel food bank destroyed by fire: She told CBC's Radio West that she found out about the fire in the middle of the night over the phone. She said it is gutted with only a shell of the former building left. "We had no idea how catastrophic it would be." Laberge says that the cost-of-living crisis has hit Quesnel hard and that the community cannot survive without the food bank. It supported 500 to 700 households a month and ran a lunch program for those needing food three days a week. "It's not just food, it's health and well-being," she said, tearing up. Ingraham says that he wanted to get involved in the fundraisers because he has family and friends who still live in Quesnel and knows people who utilize the food bank. "I wanted to make sure that we could help out the people in Quesnel and make sure they get what they need." Prime Time will be accepting food donations at their next matches with an opportunity to win exclusive prizes for fans who donate, and all donations collected will be delivered on May 21. Laberge says that her hope is that one day society won't need food banks. "It's not about taking a can of beans off your counter that you don't need; it's about raising awareness about injustice and inequality, because we shouldn't need food banks." She says that the rebuild of the food bank won't be overnight, but it is coming. "We need the community to come together to weather this storm."
CBC
17-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Wrestling matches in Prince George aim to support Quesnel after tragic fire
A wrestler is taking to the ring to support his hometown with fundraisers after a fire burned down the Nourish Food Bank on May 5. Steve Ingraham, who goes by the moniker, The Barlow Creek Butcher, when he's wrestling, says that the food bank has been around since he was a kid and losing it is like losing part of Quesnel. "It was sad to hear. That food bank has been around for years," he told CBC's Daybreak North. Ingraham, born and raised in Quesnel, has been a resident of Prince George for 13 years and wrestles with Prime Time Wrestling at the Prince George Civic Centre. In a news release, Prime Time Wrestling says that Davy Greenlees and Stuart Brown have raised over $30,000 in charitable donations over the past two years with the wrestling matches they co-ordinate at the Prince George Civic Centre. When they heard about the Quesnel food bank, they decided to take action. "We don't present matches in Quesnel, but some of our wrestlers live there and we feel that this is the type of disaster that calls upon us to be a good neighbour," said Primetime Wrestling CEO Greenlees. "We are organizing a food drive through our ticket outlets and our live events in the coming weeks to help replenish the supplies and ensure that families in need don't go without." Elaine Laberge, the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern B.C., the organization that runs the Nourish Food Bank, says that the community is shocked. She told CBC's Radio West that she found out about the fire in the middle of the night over the phone. She said it is gutted with only a shell of the former building left. "We had no idea how catastrophic it would be." Laberge says that the cost-of-living crisis has hit Quesnel hard and that the community cannot survive without the food bank. It supported 500 to 700 households a month and ran a lunch program for those needing food three days a week. "It's not just food, it's health and well-being," she said, tearing up. Ingraham says that he wanted to get involved in the fundraisers because he has family and friends who still live in Quesnel and knows people who utilize the food bank. "I wanted to make sure that we could help out the people in Quesnel and make sure they get what they need." Prime Time will be accepting food donations at their next matches with an opportunity to win exclusive prizes for fans who donate, and all donations collected will be delivered on May 21. Laberge says that her hope is that one day society won't need food banks. "It's not about taking a can of beans off your counter that you don't need; it's about raising awareness about injustice and inequality, because we shouldn't need food banks." She says that the rebuild of the food bank won't be overnight, but it is coming.
National Post
07-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Canucks: Who is Mitch Love and why he could fill NHL coach vacancies?
Article content Undrafted and undaunted in pursuit of an NHL dream is always a good story. Article content Article content Add being unbridled to fight your way to command attention from the scouting community and we bring you the tantalizing tale of Mitch Love. Article content The kid from small-town Quesnel grew up amid a rich family hockey lineage and always had big-city aspirations. And now, the Washington Capitals' assistant coach is getting a lot of love to fill one of seven NHL head-coaching vacancies. Article content A pugnacious past with 901 WHL penalty minutes with three teams, and another 741 minutes with seven clubs in the AHL, ECHL and the CHL, plus a passion to learn and stay in the game, speak to the grind. Article content His last playing stop was with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in 2010-11. His next stop could be running an NHL bench. Article content Love is in his second season with the Capitals and an example of where the game is trending. He's 40 and head coach Spencer Carbery of Victoria is 43. He also went undrafted as a BCHL winger, but is being lauded as one of the NHL's brighter minds. Article content Those who watched Love run an AHL bench believed curbing intensity, and gaining a better coaching balance from Carbery, will advance his career. After all, when you enter an NHL room full of veterans, you can't be the big bully. Article content Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford is casting a wide net in search of a replacement for Rick Tocchet. It includes the battled tested old guard — Peter Laviolette and Gerard Gallant — and those who have made impressions and deserve a serious look in Jay Woodcroft, Todd Nelson, Canucks assistant coach Adam Foote and AHL bench boss Manny Malhotra in Abbotsford. Article content 'We've got to get it right,' said Rutherford. 'We're moving quickly to set up interviews. It's what route we go and maybe bring in a guy who has some fresh ideas. Manny is on our short list, but we want his focus on the playoffs. He's done a terrific job.' Article content Article content Malhotra, 44, could benefit from taking the Travis Green route to 'The Show' — four seasons in the AHL before getting the big gig here — but there's no magic timeline. It's preparation meeting opportunity. Article content Long-serving University of Denver head coach David Carle, 35, was pursued by several NHL clubs, but the two-time NCAA champion has signed a multi-year extension to remain with the Pioneers, who have made four Frozen Four appearances. Article content It was initially hard to imagine Love getting into coaching because his first job was as strength and conditioning mentor with the WHL Everett Silvertips. It came after driving the opposition crazy with his willingness to drop the gloves. He didn't have the game or the goals, be he had the grit. Article content 'I wasn't a great player,' Love admitted on a Break the Ice podcast. 'I was a stay-at-home defenceman that tried to play honestly and protect my teammates. I had to find a certain skill set that I felt allowed me to survive in terms of the league at that time.
CBC
11-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
New bus service to connect five northern Manitoba communities, Winnipeg this spring
Northern Manitoba will soon be getting a new bus service connecting Flin Flon, The Pas, Swan River, Dauphin, and Portage la Prairie to Winnipeg. NCN Thompson Bus Lines announced the route Monday at its new depot in The Pas. The new line expands service from existing bus services between Thompson and Winnipeg, and Thompson and Split Lake. "A huge win for the community. You know, we don't have a lot of big announcements. A lot of .. new growth and new projects happening in the North," Dan Quesnel, president of the The Pas-OCN Chamber of Commerce, told CBC News. Previous bus service connecting the communities to Winnipeg folded in September 2024. Since then, residents without vehicles have been scrambling to find rides, or have had to rely on the train. The loss of the last bus service left residents disconnected from the rest of the province, Quesnel said. Quesnel said this service will "provide that transportation reconnect with the rest of northern Manitoba as well as give us a good, safe, reliable transportation provider to, you know, get down to Winnipeg." The new service will operate seven days a week, with a daytime freight run and an overnight passenger run. Service is expected to begin in April 2025. Quesnel said people travelling for medical services in Winnipeg had few alternatives because there are few medical services in northern communities. "We see them being reduced all the time. A lot of people more and more often are relying on medical services from Winnipeg," he said. After losing the bus service in 2024, there was limited transportation in The Pas, said Jonathan Lalonde, Economic Development Officer for The Pas Community Development Corporation, adding that the new service will improve the local economy. "That is a big boost for us and our economy as there is a big need for passenger service and freight and there's a demand for it," he said. For NCN Thompson Bus Lines, a company owned by the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, the expansion is an opportunity to create jobs and more revenue for the First Nation. "We had one employee and one bus six and a half years ago today. Now we have 12 buses, 27 employees and now we have a building here in The Pas and 10 more jobs created," said Jimmy Pelk, co-founder of the company. Pelk said he wants a service for northerners by northerners, and that he's ready to expand further if the demand presents itself. For Ed Vystrcil, CEO of Nelson House Development Corporation, the parent company of NCN Thompson Bus Lines, the expansion is a chance for First Nations to reap the benefits of economic development. Indigenous-owned companies need to support each other, and help each other grow, he said. "As First Nations, we've sat in silence for too long watching economic development happen in our respective territories. And this is an opportune time to celebrate, embrace economic reconciliation for all people of Northern Manitoba as we continue to grow economically," Vystrcil said.
