ELECTION BITS – NDP candidate withdraws, Green candidate now official in Kamloops South

… The B.C. Green Party has opened candidate nominations for the 2017 provincial election in 30 ridings. Donovan Cavers has officially been announced as the Green Party’s candidate in Kamloops-South Thompson. “I remain very concerned about KGHM’s proposed open-pit mine, adjacent to Kamloops,” he said, adding that current MLA Todd Stone “continues to do little to represent very valid local concerns”…. Retired school teacher Lillian Kwan withdrew from the NDP nomination race in Kamloops-South Thompson on Thursday, saying her personal and family circumstances have changed and “I have decided that now is not the time for me to be seeking political office”…. Kamloops-North Thompson Green candidate Dan Hines has been named the party’s forestry critic… Steven Puhallo, running for the Liberal nomination in Kamloops-North Thompson, tweeted ArmchairMayor columnist Alan Forseth’s column this week criticizing the NDP’s election plan…. His rival, Peter Milobar, has been making the rounds in the North Thompson, speaking with the Clearwater Chamber and other groups, and joining the locals at places like Sam’s Pizza & Rib House in Barriere and the famous High Five Diner in Little Fort…. Nancy Bepple, seeking the NDP nomination in Kamloops-South Thompson, continues to emphasize the doctor shortage, saying this week there are 200,000 people in B.C. who want doctors, 20,000 in Kamloops — “that’s one in 10.”