Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

City councillor in Merritt, B.C., struck and killed in apparent hit-and-run: mayor

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Jul, 2023 03:24 PM
  • City councillor in Merritt, B.C., struck and killed in apparent hit-and-run: mayor

The mayor of Merritt, B.C., says a city councillor has been killed in an apparent hit-and-run crash outside another community.

Mayor Michael Goetz says he understands Coun. Claire Newman had been on her way to meet her husband ahead of a planned trip to Alaska to visit an ailing friend.

He says she was fatally struck by a vehicle on Tuesday outside Valemount, B.C., about 400 kilometres northeast of her community in the province's southern Interior.

Cpl. Madonna Saunderson with the RCMP's north district said she was working to confirm details about the crash before releasing a statement.

Goetz says he and the rest of Newman's council colleagues are devastated by her death, which has left "a giant hole" in the mayor's heart.

He says Newman was passionate about policy and was an integral member of council.

"Claire was the cheerleader of this council and a driving force that you rarely come across," the mayor said in a statement. "Getting to know Claire over the past six months has been a great pleasure and I am a better person for having known her. 

"To her family and friends, I offer my deepest sympathies."

Goetz says he and city officials will carry on the work Newman had championed to honour her legacy, while taking some time to mourn and reflect upon her death.

MORE National ARTICLES

RCMP says Lytton wildfire probe still active, two years after village's destruction

RCMP says Lytton wildfire probe still active, two years after village's destruction
The Village of Lytton and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District are suing Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways and Transport Canada, alleging they were negligent to let trains pass through the town during the heat dome. The district says the claim was brought on its behalf by its insurer, the Municipal Insurance Association of B.C.

RCMP says Lytton wildfire probe still active, two years after village's destruction

Series of trailer and skid-steer thefts result in over $150K

Series of trailer and skid-steer thefts result in over $150K
Between May and June 2023, a suspect male has attended various Home Depot locations in Langley, Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam to steal Bobcat510 wheeled skid-steers and trailers. In all five incidents, the suspect rented the skid-steers using a false name, removed the GPS trackers and never returned them.  

Series of trailer and skid-steer thefts result in over $150K

Lack of B.C. transplant surgeons means donated kidneys are sent elsewhere: doctors

Lack of B.C. transplant surgeons means donated kidneys are sent elsewhere: doctors
Dr. David Harriman, a kidney transplant surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, said between eight and 10 surgeons are needed in B.C. so residents waiting for a kidney can benefit from the organs that were donated in the province. The B.C. Health Ministry said the province had six kidney transplant surgeons in 2018. 

Lack of B.C. transplant surgeons means donated kidneys are sent elsewhere: doctors

New Chinese Canadian Museum opens its doors in historic Vancouver Chinatown building

New Chinese Canadian Museum opens its doors in historic Vancouver Chinatown building
The museum opens its permanent location in Chinatown's historic Wing Sang Building after more than six years of planning, starting with then-premier John Horgan mandating the province's Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry to establish the institution.  

New Chinese Canadian Museum opens its doors in historic Vancouver Chinatown building

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting
Around 1 A-M on June 30th last year, police responded to reports of gunshots. Officers arrived to find 37-year old Mehdi “Damian” Eslahian suffering from gunshot wounds outside a home in Port Coquitlam, and he died at the scene.

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report
British Columbia's independent forests watchdog is calling for the provincial government to make critical changes to how it manages forests to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. It comes as the largest wildfire in the province's history, the Donnie Creek wildfire, continues to burn out of control in the remote northeast.  

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report