Alaska Highway News

DAVID BELL PHOTO

Herb Sangrett described what he saw Wednesday afternoon when a mobile treatment centre truck pinned his wife of 43 years against his own vehi-cle. Speaking at a press conference at the RCMP detachment, he believed the occupants were aware his wife was in distress, but fled the scene.

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DAVID BELLStaff Writer

Two workshops covering how to ‘take back your finances’, will be held this week at the North Peace Cultural Centre.

In conjunction with the Fort St. John Women’s Resource Society, financial planner Denean Arntson will host the events, covering a variety of financial health topics.

“It will introduce locals into financial planning, why it is important, what actions they need to do to make a plan and what they should be looking for in a financial planner to achieve their life goals,” Arntson said.

An hour long lunchtime session takes place Wednesday starting at noon and is repeated Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

“It is basically educating people on knowing what is professional financial advice and what is a fly-by-night situa-

tion,” she explained.Women’s centre executive director,

Emily Goodman, said many of the peo-ple she works with might benefit from the information.

“If you are a single mom, if you are going back to school, there are lots of things to consider,” she said.

“It is easy to go about your daily life spending money and not really knowing how that factors in to your future, how it affects the health and well being of your-self and your family.

“Having an honest conversation with yourself about how you are doing and what you might need to do differently and then being able to factor that into your everyday life – this is that opportu-nity to learn more. It is not where you stand in comparison to other people, it is about your own goals and making a plan for yourself.”

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Make sense of money

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PUBLISHED MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY IN FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.

DAVID BELLStaff Wrier

The second fatal hit and run accident in six months has left the community shocked, out-raged and demanding answers.

“I was right there,” said griev-ing husband, Herb Sangrett, at an RCMP press conference Thursday afternoon.

The day before, 87-year-old Bernadette Nora Gallifer, Sangrett’s wife of over 43 years, had been sandwiched between his car and a mobile treatment centre (MTC) pick-up truck in the parking lot of the Totem Court II apartment building.

Two caucasian men and an aboriginal woman, described as stocky and in her 20’s, are the suspects. It is believed they are locals.

They observed Gallifer’s condition and despite the like-lihood that at least one of the three had medical training,

rather than provide assistance to the woman in distress, they returned to their vehicle and speed off up 93rd Avenue toward the high school.

Sangrett, who was in the driver’s seat of the vehicle Gallifer was getting into at the time, saw the whole thing.

“The vehicle looked fairly new, it had Alberta licence plates on it,” Sangrett explained.

RCMP could barely conceal outrage as they detailed what is currently known about the accident.

“The word I would use to describe that is incomprehen-sible,” said Sgt. Steve Perret of the Fort St. John RCMP.

“I find it very disturbing that somebody that likely has exten-sive medical or first aid training would see somebody that is clearly in distress and drive away to leave this person unat-tended to literally lay there are die from their injuries.”

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A tragicA tragic

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accidentaccident

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2010 – A5Alaska Highway News – FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.

LOCAL

TIME Capsule

AHN FILE PHOTO

The weather was wet for the Hudson's Hope Rodeo back in 1970, but it didn't dampen the enthusiasm of these youngsters who lined up for the parade with decorated bicycles

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FORT ST. JOHNDENTAL CLINIC

The Fort St. John Dental Clinic would like to announce that all 3 of our dentists are now accepting new patients. We also now have 4 Registered

Dental Hygienists on staff to better meet the needs of our patients.

Policy changes now allow us to accept payment directly from certain dental insurance carriers, enabling the patient to pay

just their portion at the time of service.

NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

To make inquiries or to book an appointment please call 250-785-1867.

Dr. Don Hughes • Dr. Patrick Cullinan • Dr. Amy Tseng

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CONT. FROM A1• The incident happened just after 12

noon. The victim was transported to hospital by ambulance but later suc-cumbed to her injuries.

Connie Greyeyes, Gallifer’s niece, read from a family statement.

“Our lives were all changed instantly and what was an accident has now turned into a crime and we are search-ing for answers,” she said.

“We are appealing to the public to come forward with any information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, it could be the small piece of evidence that is needed to bring the people responsible to justice. We are appealing to the people responsible for this tragedy to please come forward and turn yourselves in to the police. It is the right thing to do. Our family would like to thank everybody for their support during this very difficult time. My aunt was a kind and loving person. She is dearly missed.”

Perret said the case is a priority.“The Fort St. John RCMP has dedi-

cated all available resources to assist with this investigation. We have acquired a collision analyst as well as a Criminal Crash Investigative Team to assist us. We are committed to identi-fying the persons responsible and solv-ing this tragic case.”

He said residents in neighbouring apartments and houses are being questioned, vehicles matching the description are being pulled over and video from businesses, that may have captured the vehicle as it fled the scene, is being reviewed.

The type of vehicle is common in the area.

“This type of vehicle is quite com-mon, particularly with the oil patch and other industries in this area. There are a number of different companies

that operate this type of service in this region. We will be talking to all the companies that we are aware of. I would say there are probably in the hundreds of this type of vehicle in the area.”

Perret said those responsible must come forward.

“We want to encourage the persons responsible for this incident to come talk to the police. This was a terrible tragedy, however, we don’t want to see matters get any worse. We need to talk to the people responsible for this and we need to bring rest and closure to the family. If anyone has information regarding this, if anybody saw or heard or knows anything about this terrible tragedy, please contact the Fort St. John RCMP.”

Another hit and run case remains

under investigation.Fourteen-year-old Dr. Kearney

Junior Secondary student Teddy Luo died following a collision involving a red mid-sized vehicle on May 11. He was riding his bicycle southbound on 76th Street at approximately 7:35 p.m. when a vehicle heading west on 89th Avenue struck him at the intersection. The driver fled the scene. Luo was treated for head injuries at the Fort St. John Hospital and Health Centre, where he was later pronounced dead.

Perret said that the suspects left the scene makes it difficult for the family to find closure.

“This is a terrible tragedy,” he said.“It is deeply regrettably that some-

body died as a result of this incident, however, the matter is only com-pounded by the fact that you have not come and spoken with the police. I can only assume that any reasonable per-son would be deeply troubled by this incident and they would be extremely remorseful and experiencing a great deal of guilt. The only true way to get past this is to come talk to the police so we can put this matter to rest, for the family of Nora. You have to appre-ciate, what if this was your mother, your grandmother, how would you want to see this play out? Would you want this matter to be solved and the family be able to put Nora to peace and be able to move on with their lives or do you chose to hide and hope this matter will go away. It won’t go away. The police have dedicated a great deal of resources into solving this and we fully anticipate that we will get to the bottom of this matter one way or another.”

Anyone with information can con-tact Fort St. John RCMP at 250-787-8140 or through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

CONT. FROM A1• The sessions are open to the gen-

eral public. The $5 entrance fee will be waived for members of the wom-en’s centre and a membership costs $2.

Arntson said the sessions will appeal to many.

“I am assuming there will be quite a few women coming, but it is Canadians in general for this session. Anybody that is interested in know-ing, ‘what is financial planning?’, ‘what steps need to be taken?’, what to look for in a planner.”

Framework of a solid financial plan will be covered.

“I will go through 10 things to ask your financial planner and mistakes and misconceptions about financial planning. I have some quizzes on, do you have all of the things you need to be doing, some tips sheets. It will cover the six areas of a financial plan. People can then rate themselves,

‘how am I doing?’, ‘do I need addi-tional help?’ or ‘am I on track?’.

“Financial planning goes through not only cash flow and budgeting, but also retirement, investments, estate planning and taxation. All of that is your overall financial health. You might need help on one area but have the other areas covered,” Arntson explained.

Goodman added that a series of workshops are currently in the plan-ning stages.

“This is the groundbreaking for a financial literacy and financial plan-ning vision that we have, so we hope to do workshops on different themes at least once a month. We have oth-ers in the financial world who are going to be involved with that as well. It is [about] being able to have own-ership over knowing what you are doing and where you stand, because h a v i n g t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n i s empowering.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Nora Gallifer, shown in this photo from August 2009, was killed in a hit and run accident Wednesday.

Sgt. Steve Perret of the Fort St. John RCMP said that Wednesday’s fatal hit and run which took the life of 87-year-old Nora Gallifer was "incomprehensible." (David Bell Photo)

RCMP asks for those involved to come forward

DAVID BELL PHOTO

Financial planner Denean Arntson and Emily Goodman of the Fort St. John Women’s Resource Society are working together on a couple of financial plan-ning workshops that will be held at the North Peace Cultural Centre this week.

Financial planning not just about budgeting