Five years ago (2009): A driver used his sedan to travel over Lake Windermere before attempting to exit the frozen body of water via Lower Lakeview Drive. The car was unable to fully manoeuvre itself up a steep incline, and rolled backwards onto a private property, crushing a canoe and plowing through a fence before smashing into a tree. The driver left a note at the scene and took off.
The owner contacted the RCMP shortly after, who appeared at the scene to speak with the home owner. During the discussion between the police and owner, the driver showed up to explain himself. The police officer determined that the driver was intoxicated from alcohol, and believed that the damage occurred while the man was drunkenly operating his vehicle, but because of the time that had passed, the officer was “unable to form reasonable and probable grounds to demand a breath sample,” but was able to issue a 24-hour driving suspension.
10 years ago (2004): A cold snap brought temperatures around the -30 C mark on January 7th, and while the cold weather wasn’t enough to prompt a local school closure, the frigid temperatures managed to freeze the children’s transportation. Ten bus routes around Invermere were cancelled in the morning, but eventually began running and were able to take students home in the afternoon.
20 years ago (1994): The president of the Radium Chamber of Commerce was concerned about a possible amalgamation between the Radium Hot Springs RCMP and their Invermere counterparts.
“The presence of that building alone there in itself deters crime,” he argued.
But aside from him, there was little attention paid to the proposed amalgamation. A public hearing was held on December 29th to discuss the rezoning of land near the Invermere crossroads to accommodate for a new RCMP building, and nobody showed up.
25 years ago (1989): The Valley Echo echoed local complaints that roads were not being maintained as well as they had been prior to privatization, which happened in October 1988.
“There’s no change from when Highways was managing the roads,” said the general manager of the private maintenance company. “One of the mandates of privatization was that standards did not change.”
Taxpayers benefitted with lower costs, and local suppliers benefitted from local purchases, he claimed.