NEWS BRIEFS

MP pays tribute to Ken Lepin in House of Commons

/Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod paid tribute to Kamloops philanthropist Ken Lepin in the House of Commons on Monday.

Earlier this year, Lepid donated $2.25 million to TRU. He had previously donated another $250,000.

The donations will go toward bursary prizes for students in trades, sicence, nursing, business, law, arts, culinary, tourism, education and veterinary health.

“Mr. Lepin is a self-made man who has given back to Kamloops in an extraordinary fashion,” McLeod told the House.

“In addition to this substantial donation to TRU, he has put thousands of dollars into the Royal Inland Hospital, the B.C. Wildlife Park and the Salvarion Army.

“Through his generoslity and his life’s work, Ken Lepin has left his mark on Kamloops, and it is a better place for it. Thanks to the most recent donation, his mark will be left on generations to come.”

Stuff numbers reduced at Ponderosa

/Twenty-three RNs, care aides and activity workers will be laid off from Ponderosa Lodge as beds are closed.

Interior health says 32 temporary beds at Ponderosa are unneeded with the opening of Gemstone Care Centre in Brocklehurst.

Trio headlines final Blues show of season

/The Arsen Shomakhov Trio will headline the final show of the season for Interior Blues Association on Saturday, May 24.

Doors open at the Plaza Hotel at 7 p.m.. Tickets are available from www.Interiorblues.ca or contact Brant Zwicker at brant@atcblues.ca. Tickets are $20 for tickets or $25 for non-members.

The blues association will then take a break for the summer and start up again in late September.

Bev Busson named to electoral boundaries commission

/Former RCMP commissioner Bev Busson has been named to the Electoral Boundaries Commission that will look at provincial boundaries before the next election.

Busson was familiar in Kamloops when she was in charge of the provincial E Division of the RCMP that included Kamloops. Busson, who holds a law degree from UBC, retired in 2007.

The other two boundaries commission members are Supreme Court Justice Thomas Melnick and Keith Archer, B.C.’s chief electoral officer.

New appointment to KamPlan committee

/The KAMPLAN advisory committee will get a new member today with the appointment by City council of Deb Friesen. Member Lynne Lambert resigned due to unforeseen circumstances, making the new appointment necessary.

When the committee for the 2015 community plan was formed in January, three vacancies were filed from 16 applications.

New HIV testing guidelines released

/Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall has released new HIV testing guidelines for health-care providers in B.C. to encourage all British Columbian adults to get tested.

The guidelines — the first of their kind in Canada — recommend that HIV testing be part of the regular tests offered to adult patients.

At present, only pregnant women are routinely offered HIV testing.

McLeod to seek another term in Ottawa

/Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod will seek her third term in the 2015 federal election.

McLeod has been acclaimed as the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada.