Nearly 1,000 people packed into the gymnasium at Osoyoos Secondary School in February, to show their support for keeping Osoyoos schools open. Hundreds also packed a later meeting in March and hundreds more turned out at a rally on Tuesday. There won’t be enough space to the Osoyoos Community Theatre at OSS to accommodate those wanting to attend the April 6 school board meeting. (Richard McGuire file photo)
School District 53 is still planning to hold next week’s special school board meeting about closing Osoyoos schools in the Osoyoos Community Theatre at Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS).
But the capacity of the theatre is just 264 seats and two wheelchair spaces. If the two public “consultation” meetings and recent rally are any indication, they’ll need a lot more seating than unless they plan to leave half the Osoyoos community outside.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
We’ve asked SD 53 whether there is thought of moving the meeting to a larger venue — like the OSS gymnasium — but at this point there are no plans to move the venue. Normally meetings are held in the boardroom at the school district office in Oliver, which would be much tighter.
We’ll provide an update if there is any reconsideration of the location.
Trustees will consider two proposals — closing OSS and busing students to Oliver, or closing Osoyoos Elementary School and converting OSS into a Kindergarten to Grade 9, then busing Grades 10 to 12 to Oliver.
The Town of Osoyoos and many local residents are urging trustees to go for another option — delaying the decision for a year in order that stakeholders in the entire district can develop solutions that will avoid closing a school.
Winter tires no longer required after today
Today is the last day that you must use winter tires on B.C. provincial highways.
The provincial government, however, is reminding motorists that there can still be a lot of snow and winter conditions at higher elevations. That’s easy to forget as we enjoy near-summer-like weather here in Osoyoos.
In B.C. what qualifies as a “winter tire” is much looser than in some other jurisdictions. Here tires that are mud and snow (M+S) qualify, which means most tires, pretty much.
Tire experts advise that for the best control in winter you really need real snow tires, which have a mountain and snowflake on them. That’s what counts as a winter tire in some colder jurisdictions.
Under the Motor Vehicle Act, winter tires must also be in good condition with a minimum tread depth of 3.5 millimetres. They are required from Oct. 1 to March 31 on mountain passes that experience winter-like conditions.
Don’t be an April Fool
It’s a good idea to be especially skeptical about anything you read or hear tomorrow morning.
Information that gets posted and shared on social media without any fact checking can be notoriously unreliable, but on April 1, many pranks get believed and forwarded without any questions. And some persist in cyberspace long after April Fool’s Day is over.
Last year the Osoyoos Times came out on April Fools Day and we ran a front-page story announcing that Justin Bieber planned to play a concert in Osoyoos. Ticket prices were expected to range from $1.25 to $3. You get what you pay for, we suppose.
Some readers didn’t read to the final line of the story, and a few were completely April Fooled. Hopefully nobody cleared out of town mistakenly believing that the Biebs and swarms of Bielebers were about to descend on Osoyoos.
Sun keeps on shining
Today should get up to 21 C with sunshine, according to Environment Canada. Friday will still be almost as sunny, and the high will be a degree warmer, at 22 C.
Both days on the weekend are forecast to reach 17 C. Saturday will be cloudy, but Sunday should be sunny.
Enjoy the summer-ish weather before Osoyoos gets really crowded again.Tulips are blooming in planters and gardens and the blossoms are beautiful. Time for a walk!
