Cougar that stalked golfers is killed

WHISTLER, B.C. — He chased several bicycle riders this summer. He looked into windows. And finally, the cougar was seen on the fringes of the golf course at Whistler’s Fairmont Chateau, allegedly stalking golfers.

With that, the cougar, also called a mountain lion, was killed.

Chris Doyle, Whistler conservation officer, told Pique Newsmagazine that cougars rarely are interested in people. This one was.

“We pretty much knew, given its past history, that it was going to be destroyed before it hurt somebody,” Doyle said.

He said an autopsy would be conducted to determine whether an injury or illness caused the cougar’s aberrant behavior.

If no permit was available for the pelt, the body was to be put in the forest to be picked over by scavengers.

Jackson struggling for workers

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. - It’s high season in Jackson Hole, where summer is far busier than winter at such hotels like the Four Seasons.

But employers who have come to depend upon seasonal workers from Mexico and other countries are hard-pressed. The nation’s H2-B visa program has been sluggish in delivering workers. By one estimate, the program is 30 percent backlogged.

The Four Seasons, reports the Jackson Hole News&Guide, is asking employees to work overtime, and has shipped in employees from Scottsdale and Philadelphia. Jackson’s mayor, Mark Barron, who owns a dry cleaning business, was denied the 20 workers he had applied for.

“Two, three, four years ago, the H2B program was meant to supplement the workforce, but now it is a core element of our workforce that we are dependent on,” said Tim O’Donoghue, executive director of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. “When there are changes in the program, there are significant ripple effects.”

Labor pinch also seen in Canada

INVERMERE, B.C. — The tourism sector of the Kootenays, located in south-central British Columbia, should expect getting employees will be much more difficult in coming years.

An organization called go2, a human resource association, said tourism businesses are likely to need 40 percent more employees by the year 2015. Tourism businesses will grow, but several new resorts are planned.

The population is aging in Canada, with baby boomers an even more powerful influence than is case in the United States. As such, resort employers must offer better compensation —- a difficult proposition in the short but busy season of summer, notes a report in the Invermere Valley Echo.