Recycling was a hot topic in Kamloops this week as city council discussed a new program offered by Multi Material B.C.

(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS – The week was busy in Kamloops with the opening of several new facilities, the introduction of the new police chief, a house fire that sent one man to hospital and a clash between Ajax supporters and opponents.

Over the weekend police executed a warrant at a drug house. The raid garnered two replica handguns, drugs and electronics believed to be stolen. A 48-year-old woman could be facing a number of charges in relation to the raid.

This week saw the opening of the new seniors care facility in Brocklehurst, the Gemstone Care Centre. The centre continues the growth of a seniors community on the north end of the city, something at least one councillor has been advocating for a number of years.

Monday afternoon the city was introduced to the new officer in charge at the Kamloops RCMP detachment, Insp. Brad Mueller. He says he wants to get a good feel for the detachment before making any big changes but looks forward to the challenges policing in a city like Kamloops can bring.

Monday evening KGHM Ajax Mining Ltd. began a series of public information sessions led by experts in blasting, water quality, air quality and human and ecological risk assessment. The series did not draw as many people as external affairs manager Yves Lacasse would have liked to see, but a rally held by mine opponents, the Kamloops Area Preservation Association, on the final day of the sessions did draw a couple hundred people to the Thompson Rivers University Campus. Following several confrontations with Ajax supporters only a handful stayed for the information session.

Tuesday afternoon explosions rocked a North Shore neighbourhood as a house on Alexander Avenue went up in flames. One man was treated at hospital for burns to part of his body but the family dog died. The fire department has said it believes a number of aerosol cans or propane tanks could have caused the explosions and thick black smoke.

Later that afternoon Kamloops City Council had a heated discussion over a recycling program offered through Multi Material B.C. Councillors said they felt blackmailed and were unhappy with the vague contract being offered. They opted out of the program and will continue running the recycling program as is.

Thursday morning Jackie White spoke to media about her missing daughter, Sherri McLaughlin, who went missing in 1993. White continues to maintain hope that someone knows something that can help police solve the cold case so she can put her daughter to rest.

The weather was hot in Kamloops this week, with temperatures reaching above 30 Celsius almost every day. Thursday we finally broke the record high by less than half a degree with another record set to be broken Friday and possibly even Saturday or Sunday.

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013