Greybrook Academy parents and staff left in the lurch after the school suddenly closed its doors last year may be close to a settlement with the now-defunct school and its founder.

A settlement conference between parents, staff and the school’s found-er, Nigel Turner, has been ordered for Dec. 9 at the Port Coquitlam Provin-cial Court.

Parents were left without a school to send their children to, and staff was left jobless after Greybrook shut its doors Dec. 1, 2009.

Teachers and staff rejected a pro-posal by the non-profi t society that owned and operated the school, the Vancouver International Primary and Secondary School Society, that would have had the school’s staff work for free in order to keep the school open.

Count on Albion fl ats fl ooding – every 500 years.

As part of the Fraser-fl ood-of-record area, the fl ats have less than a two-per-cent chance ev-ery year of being submerged by a rising Fraser River – one that reached the fl ood levels of 1894,

says Steve Litke, with the Fraser Basin Council.

And if the sea level was to rise, “it is likely the entire site would be breached,” says a study by Raincoast Applied Ecology and HB Lanarc.

It is one the background reports being used to develop the Albion area plan.

About 84 per cent of Albion fl ats is in the Fraser River fl ood plain.

Rise it will, says another report, due soon from the Ministry of En-vironment.

Though still in draft form, the

study says that in 40 years, the sea level will rise by half a me-tre on the B.C. coast, consultant Mark Holland told participants at the fi rst Albion fl ats open house last week.

“Flooding can be considered as a risk throughout the site, with the exception of the raised areas …” the Raincoast report, titled Albion Flats Environmental Baseline Report, continues.

It notes, even though the fl ats area is surrounded by six-metre-high dikes, the pumping station at Tamarack Lane and Kanaka

Creek would allow high water to get to the fi elds.

But the lumbering Fraser River isn’t the only threat.

Heavy rains from the surround-ing uplands during a big storm could also submerge the fl ats as climate change brings increas-ingly freakish weather, says Lit-ke.

And what about the big one?About 72 per cent of the 323

acres of Albion fl ats has a “very high hazard rating” for liquefac-tion.

Fraser River not the only threat, either: basin council

Abby to pipe drinking water from Stave. p3B.C. Views

B.C.’s haves and have-nots. p6

THE NEWS

Flats in quake, flood zone

James Maclennan/THE NEWS

Little pumpkinYear-old Everley Fyke rides in a wheelbarrow pushed by her grandfather as they collect pumpkins at the Laity Pumpkin Patch on Sunday.

Settlement conference set for Greybrook

See Greybrook, p9

Opinion 6

Tom Fletcher 6

Letters 7

Arts&life 29

Community Calendar 32

Sports 35

Classifi eds 39

Index

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢www.mapleridgenews.com

Arts&life

Seeing all of life as art.p29

b y P h i l M e l n y c h u kstaff repor ter

See Albion, p14

District of Maple Ridge

The creeks and streams that lace the Albion flats are subject to a 30-metre setback.

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

If Mission and Abbotsford use Stave Lake for drinking water, does that mean Maple Ridge can no longer play?

Maple Ridge Coun. Al Hogarth is asking that question after learning of plans by the two municipalities to tap into Stave Lake to meet a growing demand for drinking wa-ter.

“Are we going to shut off the whole watershed now? There’s a huge amount of activity,” in both Stave and Alouette Lake, Hogarth said.

Alouette Lake is used by fi sher-men, boaters and water skiers and thousands of campers every year in Golden Ears Provincial Park.

Pipes at the north end of Alou-ette Lake connect it to Stave Lake as part of B.C. Hydro’s operation of the Stave hydroelectric dam.

Hogarth is concerned that health regulations could restrict rec-reational activity in the lakes in order to preserve drinking water quality.

He also wondered if the fi sh fertil-ization program in Alouette, where small amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen are dumped into the lake to help feed the kokanee salmon and grow the population, would have to be cut.

Those chemicals mimic the natu-ral fertilization present when fi sh spawn and die, leaving carcasses to provide nutrition.

Would water levels in the reser-voirs have to change as result, a change that could affect B.C. Hydro power generation?

“There’s all kinds of questions that have to be answered. These are just a few that I can think of,” Hogarth said.

Abbotsford’s Jim Gordon, gen-eral manager of engineering and regional utilities, said the intent is to be withdrawing water from the Stave by 2015. Over time, Stave Lake could supply half the city’s drinking water.

Negotiations have already started with B.C. Hydro and First Nations.

“It’s a long process, but we start-ed it,” Gordon said.

Water testing has already started and has shown to be good. “If we keep doing what they’re doing now, there’s absolutely no problem because the water quality is good.

“We’re not asking any of the ex-

isting activities to be curtailed and those activities are not affecting the water quality as far as we can see in the tests.

“It’s a very big lake and we’re taking a very small quantity from that lake.”

Abbotsford’s daily average water use is about 75 million litres.

Gordon said he wasn’t aware of the Alouette River Management Society’s concerns about the ko-kanee fertilization program and said he’d talk to the society.

Geoff Clayton, with the ARMS, still wants Abbotsford and Mis-sion to sign and agree to accept

the Alouette Lake fertilization program, to remove any chance of being shut down because of health concerns.

“We will defi nitely talk to the so-ciety, but certainly the activities that are taking place are not a con-cern,” Gordon said.

Most major cities have water sup-plies that are open to the public for other uses and that Metro Van-couver’s water reservoirs – Capi-lano, Seymour and Coquitlam – are closed to public use, which are “ideal” situations.

The water would go through an advanced treatment plant and in a

worst-case scenario, if there was a spill of some kind in the lake, the treatment plant would be shut down.

Metro Vancouver, like other mu-nicipalities, has a source-protection program that uses a multi-barrier approach, consisting of: source wa-ter protection, source water treat-ment, a well-maintained water dis-tribution system and water quality monitoring.

“We’re very fortunate, over time the various governments and peo-ple have made the decision to allow us to have closed and protected wa-tersheds,” said Stan Woods, senior engineer with regional utility plan-ning.

No recreational activities are al-lowed on Metro Vancouver’s reser-voirs and any access is only under escort.

Woods said the better protection a water source receives, the less treatment is required.

But there are few watersheds as protected as much as Metro Van-couver’s.

Kamloops, Woods points out, takes its water from the North Thompson River and Kelowna draws from Okanagan Lake, used heavily for recreation.

The Alouette and Stave reser-voirs are less developed than other watersheds, he said.

While Metro Vancouver and B.C. Hydro are trying to re-introduce sockeye salmon back into the Co-quitlam reservoir, the question of whether to put in small amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen to help nurture the salmon hasn’t been considered.

Currently, “our policy would not support fertilization of Coquitlam Lake.”

It would seem counter-productive to add chemicals to the reservoir, Woods said. “But we haven’t re-ally looked at it … because it really hasn’t come up.”

Woods said the Coquitlam reser-voir could sustain a small salmon population and still maintain drink-ing water quality.

Abby to pipe drinking water from Stave

The cost to extend the sewer line from Fern Crescent to the two provincial prisons has climbed by $1.75 million to $11.7 million.

But local taxpayers are off the hook. Provincial taxpayers are picking up the tab to stretch the line from Fern Crescent to Alou-ette Correctional Centre for Wom-

en on 248th Street and the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre on 256th Street.

The provincial government wants the prisons to be able hook into the sewer lines so the insti-tutes can disconnect from septic fi elds.

Both the men’s and women’s prisons have expended or are in the process.

Originally, the cost of the new sewer line was $9.2 million, with

the province paying Maple Ridge a $5 million one-time grant, plus annual payments, to make up the total of $9.2 million.

Extra costs, because of the com-plexity of the project, have raised that to $11.7 million. The project requires that horizontal drilling be done beneath the South Alou-ette River in order to protect the riverbed.

While the project is primarily for the prisons, the district also

wants to use that line to service its industrial area at the north end of 256th Street.

The municipality is also paying interest costs for the project by fronting the money, then collect-ed the grants later from the Min-istry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

Monday, council OK’d a contract for $7.7 million to Double M Exca-vating, for conventional sewer line construction from Fern Cres-

cent to 256th Street.It also approved another con-

tract worth $1.6 million to Precise Crossings, for specialized drill-ing beneath the South Alouette River.

Included in the project is instal-lation of a separate pipe in the same trench that will allow future installation of fi bre-optic cable to connect the northeastern part of the district with core area.

THE NEWS/files

Pipes at the north end of Alouette Lake connect it to Stave Lake as part of B.C. Hydro’s operation of the Stave hydroelectric dam.

Cost of sewer line to provincial prisons jumps to $11.7 M

Maple Ridge councillor wor-ried what that means for Alouette Lake

b y P h i l M e l n y c h u kstaff repor ter

b y P h i l M e l n y c h u kstaff repor ter

See Sewer, p4

RCMP school liaison offi cers could play a crucial role in get-ting teens to tell them about an alleged sexual assault at a Pitt Meadows rave last month.

“We’ve got them in the school,” said RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen. “They will continue to make ef-forts with the students around this.”

Although a 16-year-old boy has been charged with producing and distributing child pornography, the investigation remains ham-pered by a code of silence involv-ing a dozen or so people who may have watched the Sept. 10 assault of a 16-year-old girl.

Police allege the girl was raped by several boys at a party held on a farm at 12993 Harris Road.

The 16-year-old boy charged al-legedly photographed the rape on his cell phone.

The “graphic” photographs were then posted on the Internet and distributed to hundreds of teens via Facebook.

So far, only two witnesses to the rape have come forward to speak to police.

Investigators are now consid-ering a variety of investigative techniques to get other teens to talk.

Thiessen would not elaborate on what they are, though.

“The bottom line is the youth have got to utilize some com-mon sense,” he said. “What is

the right thing to do if they’ve got information that is crucial to this that would assist us in trying to fi nd out exactly what occurred?”

An 18-year-old man was also arrested by police for his alleged participation in the sexual as-sault, but charges have yet to be laid against him.

Thiessen said a report to Crown has not yet been fi led by investi-gators for charges against the 18-year-old.

But, he added, “we are hoping that is going to be happening at some point.”

• Anyone with any informa-tion is asked to call RCMP at 604-463-6251. To remain anony-mous call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or contact RCMP via Twitter or Facebook.

Project must be done by March 31A previous part of the project has already

been completed, over Millionaire Creek and Zirk Brook. That required an aerial crossing of the streams and had to be done in August, when fi sh weren’t in the streams.

The diameter of the sewer line on 256th Street will be 45 centimetres.

The additional $1.75 million from the province means the project has to be done by March 31, to qualify for B.C. Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

However, if the project doesn’t meet that dead-

line, the government will still cover the cost.The main construction period starts this month,

with March the date for completion.Residents in existing homes along the new line

that runs along the 128th Avenue corridor can hook into it if they’re within the Agricultural Land Reserve and there are health concerns with their septic systems, council heard last spring.

Design work for the project started in 2009 and is almost complete, while brush clearing for the route was done earlier this year before the bird-nesting season.

Sewer from p3

RCMP trying to break code of silenceVariety of techniques will be used to get teens to come forward about Pitt rave

b y M o n i s h a M a r t i n sstaff repor ter

The developer of Pitt Meadows’ fi rst business park is getting ready to begin construction on its second phase.

Onni Contracting is applying to rezone prop-erty at the south end of Harris Road, near the city’s public works yard, from Airport to Light In-dustrial/Business Park.

As the project involves rezoning that will result in an industrial develop-ment that’s more than 10,000 square feet, coun-cil policy requires Onni to host a development information meeting.

Staff have asked coun-cil to waive the require-ment.

“Staff believe that a de-velopment information meeting is not necessary for this application, as the proposed rezoning is essentially an extension of the project,” planning technician Anne Berry said in a report to coun-cil Tuesday.

Onni has already be-gun construction on the Golden Ears Business Centre’s fi rst building, just off Airport Way and Harris Road.

Berry added that a public hearing, to be hosted after the rezon-ing application gets a fi rst and second reading, will satisfy the public in-formation component.

The application is scheduled to receive fi rst and second reading at next week’s council

meeting.

Farmland addedMeadows Garden Golf

Course and TransLink are fi nally combining

two parcels of farm land affected by the construction of Golden Ears Way.

TransLink is transfer-ring land it acquired for the connector road to

the golf course as part of compensation for ar-eas affected by the con-struction of the Golden Ears Bridge.

The consolidation in-volves land that strad-dles the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge border and also involves subdi-viding the land to sepa-rate Golden Ears Way.

The proposed subdi-vision will result in the creation of a 3.3 hectare parcel, of which 2.67 hectares are located in Pitt Meadows.

Planning technician Anne Berry said while separating Golden Ears Way from its parent parcel will create an additional parcel in the Agricultural Land Re-serve, the consolidation of the rest of the land with the golf course will prevent further fractur-ing of the ALR.

The subdivision ap-plication must be for-warded to the provin-cial Agricultural Land Commission for re-view.

Next phase for Pitt business park

Contributed

TransLink is transferring land to the golf course.

THE NEWS/opinion

WHISTLER – The glass-and-cedar mansions of B.C.’s Olympic playground sparkled in the sun as local government leaders arrived for their annual date with the premier.

They swung off the new Sea-to-Sky High-way to full hotels, packed restaurants, designer shops, strolling internation-al tourists and lavish government and corporate receptions. This display of wealth and privilege offered quite a culture shock for small-town delegates who make up the major-ity at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.

So it was interesting to see poverty emerge as the unoffi cial theme this year.

I happened to be the only reporter in the room as delegates questioned cabi-net ministers on building local econo-mies. The fi rst question, tossed out as an icebreaker, was about B.C.’s minimum wage, frozen at $8 an hour since Gordon Campbell imposed his market philoso-phy on the province in 2001. Labour Min-ister Murray Coell’s admission that it’s almost time to raise it caused a feeding frenzy by the city media, bored as they are with small resource towns and their hard-luck stories.

Coell tried to skate backwards when TV cameras cornered him the next day, but his original point stood. The B.C. Liberals long ago eliminated income tax and medical premiums for low-wage

workers, and even subsidize their rent, but the cost of living keeps rising. It appears B.C. will soon grudgingly join Newfoundland and Nunavut at $10 an hour.

Lost in all this were the real subjects of the economic panel, such as a plea for provincial help to keep farms viable. No-body talks about an $8 minimum wage for farms, corner stores or other seven-day-a-week family businesses, where it’s mostly a theory.

As expected, the most divisive issue at this year’s convention was a proposed shift to four-year terms for councils. Here again, a canyon separates urban and rural, rich and poor.

A Vancouver councillor now makes $61,674 a year, plus expenses for things like the UBCM convention. Not bad for a part-time job. In B.C.’s smallest towns, when you calculate the actual hours for councillors you fi nd another group that doesn’t make even Campbell’s miserly minimum wage.

It was these folks who voted down the idea of four-year terms. Three years is enough of a commitment.

The poor were thrust into the spotlight again when Campbell took the stage for the traditional convention-closing speech.

After a fond look back at the Olympics, he imagined himself and Finance Min-ister Colin Hansen as a fi gure skating pair for a little self-deprecating humour about the hasty introduction of the har-monized sales tax.

With the federal clock ticking, “we rushed out, and we threw the HST up in the air, and we promptly fell on our faces,” Campbell said. “Well, we sol-

diered on with the program. Some were saying that the only thing we had really mastered was the death spiral.”

Then he got serious. He didn’t plot the HST before the election. He didn’t lie, but he accepts now that many people will never believe it.

Then Campbell threw his latest pitch in a long-shot bid to save the HST and his government via referendum next fall. The HST helps the poor.

Tax rebates for more than a million low-income people add up to $230 a year for a single senior, or $920 a year for a low-income family of four.

Campbell did not return to the ar-gument that the HST helps resource industries recover and grow. It’s too vague for people intent on checking their restaurant bills.

He also knows the media are bored by economics, just as they are the sob stories of small-town unemployment.

Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press

and BCLocalnews.com(tfl etcher@blackpress.ca).

B.C.’s haves and have-nots

Let the Game beginIngrid RiceNews Views

Published and printed by Black Press at 22328 – 119th Avenue, Maple Ridge, B.C., V2X 2Z3

@ Online poll: cast your vote at www.mapleridgenews.com, or e-mail your vote and comments to editor@mapleridgenews.com

This week’s question: Should prostitution be decriminalized in B.C.?

B.C. Views Tom Fletcher

The anticipation is palpable.The tension is as thick as a January fog.Everywhere, hearts are buoyant with hope. Hockey season is about to begin.And for the 40th successive year, fans of the

Vancouver Canucks are united by a single thought: maybe this will be our year to win the Stanley Cup.

Like sugar plums on Christmas Eve, images of the gleaming silver chalice dance in our heads. On Luongo, on Burrows. On Daniel and Hen-rik. On Kesler, on Raymond and Samuelsson. On Bieksa, on Ballard, and maybe even Edler. Will these be the players to lead the confetti parade up Burrard Street in June?

O, to dream a little dream of championship glory.

And Lord Stanley knows, Canucks fans have been dreaming a really, really long time.

From their ill-fated loss of the wheel spin to decide the first pick in their very first amateur draft that gifted the Canucks’ expansion rivals, the Buffalo Sabres, with Gilbert Perreault and left them with Dale Tallon, the Canucks’ his-tory has been fraught with lunch bag letdown.

Perreault became a superstar. Tallon never scored more than 17 goals in a season. Al-though he eventually did lay the foundation for a Stanley Cup champion. As a general man-ager. In Chicago.

Twice the Canucks came tantalizing close to winning it all. Only to break our hearts. Along the way we’ve been electrified by the talents of players like Bure, Gradin, Mogilny, Naslund and the Sedins. We’ve respected the grit of Linden, Smyl, Snepsts, and even Tiger Williams. We’ve been befuddled by Bertuzzi, maddened by Messier and crucified by Clout-ier. We booed LaForge and rued Keenan. We suffered the optical indignity of the “Flying V” yellow, black and red uniforms.

But as the first days of October slip away, and the leaves turn gold and crimson, all of that history is forgotten. It’s a new hockey season. A new beginning. Nine months of triumphant goals and glorious victories lie stretched out before us, like a silver-bricked road leading to...

Let’s get on with it.– Black Press

Jim Coulter, publisherpublisher@mapleridgenews.com

Michael Hall, editoreditor@mapleridgenews.com

Carly Ferguson, advertising, creative services manageradmanager@mapleridgenews.com

Kathy Blore, circulation managercirculation@mapleridgenews.com

22328 – 119th Avenue, Maple Ridge, B.C.,

V2X 2Z3Offi ce: 604-467-1122

Fax: 604-463-4741Delivery: 604-466-6397

Website: www.mapleridgenews.comEmail: newsroom@mapleridgenews.com

The News is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province's newspaper industry. The coun-cil considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org.

CCAB audited circulation: (as of September 2009): Wednesday - 30,221; Friday – 30,197.

Ser ving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows since 1978

THE NEWS“Nobody talks about an $8 minimum wage for farms, corner stores or other seven-day-a-week family businesses, where it’s mostly a theory.”

Letters to the editor should be exclusive to The News and address topics of interest to residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Include full name and address, as well as daytime phone number for verification. Keep letters to 500 words or less. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

@ E-mail letters to editor@mapleridgenews.com.

Letters welcome

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Re: New drunk driving rules hurting

pub (The News, Sept. 29).I would like to tell you about my

friend Carol. When our families where younger, we were best friends. We shared our goals, dreams, frustrations, we shared meals, holidays and vaca-tions. We looked after each other’s kids and made each other casseroles in times of crisis. We celebrated anni-versaries, birthdays and Christmases together, our kids played dress up, Lego and acted out stories together.

As time went on, Carol and her fam-ily moved to another city and so did we. But we still kept in touch and re-membered each other’s milestones and we even got to visit and see how our families had grown.

Then eight years ago we got a phone call. The phone call that no one ex-pects and everyone dreads. Carol had been killed in a car accident. Hit by a drunk driver. It was two days before Christmas. Her husband and two of her fi ve kids were also in the car. We had to wait two weeks to have the fu-neral so he could be released from the hospital.

To this day he, and both of her daugh-ters receive treatment for injuries from that accident.

Carol was a wife, mother, sister, teacher, daughter and friend.

More than 1,200 people came to her funeral.

Soon after her death, her fam-ily reached out and forgave the young man who took Carol’s life. They knew that they could not begin their own healing until they let go of their anger towards him.

The driver spent years wrangling through the courts and, in the end, could not forgive himself and took his own life.

The tragedy doubled, and another

family was shaken to its core. When I read in your paper that a lo-

cal pub owner is suffering fi nancial setbacks because of new drunk driv-ing regulations, I fi nd it offensive that this is even newsworthy.

His balance sheet might be differ-ent at the end of the day and he may have to hire a shuttle to send home his drunk patrons, but in the end, he can go home and hug his family. He can walk his dog and enjoy the sunshine. He can take in a hockey game or hike in the mountains.

My friend Carol will not do any of those things.

She did not get to attend her kids’ high school graduation or university graduation, she did not see them go out and make a difference in the world, she never got to see her daughter’s walk down the aisle or meet her six, soon to be seven grandchildren – and they are beautiful children.

When I read that it will cost more than $3,700 and 90 days to get your car back after a drunk driving charge, I want to applaud the government for fi nally getting something right.

A drunk driving charge might be an inconvenience and an economical hard ship, but it is not even remotely close to the consequences of taking some-one’s life because you got behind the wheel while drunk.

VALERIE BERKENPAS MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS: Re: Long-gun and painful memories

(The News, Oct. 1).I fail to see what this story has to do

with the long-gun registry.I read this story and see a woman

who was too scared to leave her abu-sive husband, and too ignorant to mention to the police that her husband had rifl es and may be dangerous. I see someone who is wallowing in self pity and looking for an excuse to detract attention from the fact that she has to share a portion of the blame in the tragedy.

How Phil Melnychuk twisted this into a story about guns is beyond me. This is the story of a man with a serious un-diagnosed mental illness who slipped through the cracks and received no medical attention for his condition.

Two people were killed in this trag-edy, so please let’s look beyond the hunting rifl e; this could just as easily have been a deadly kitchen knife or a hardened aluminum baseball bat.

The fact a gun was used has very lit-tle to do with the big picture and only serves to bolster the seemingly inten-tional media attempts to frighten the public into a large scale fear of hunting rifl es and all fi rearms, in general.

It was a mentally ill man who killed these people, fi rst and foremost, not a hunting rifl e.

Let me put it to you this way, two sce-narios:

a) A man is severely depressed; he shoots his son and commits suicide with the same rifl e.

Media will focus on the fact that a gun was used.

b) A man is severely depressed, he beats his son to death with a hammer

and jumps off a bridge committing sui-cide.

Media will focus on the individual and his mental illness.

These two scenarios both end with roughly the same consequences, but the majority of the blame is placed on guns when they are used in a crime. The focus should be on the individual and the mental issues that

caused the tragedy. By pointing the fi nger at guns, we

will never look at the real problem in these situations. This is a catastrophic failure of media and society.

Let’s all look at the ‘why’ a little more often, the ‘how’ is pointless after the fact.

BRANDON WAGG

TORONTO ONTARIO

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Re: Public gets say on Albion fl ats (The News, Oct. 1).What to do about the Albion fl ats? Why is it so neces-

sary to do anything with this marginally viable bit of farmland? We don’t need any more horse trails; nor do we need big-box retail in that location.

Agriculture would seem a logical use of the land, but would only be viable for greenhouses or other industrial agricultural activities.

If the residents along Kanaka Ridge don’t want to gaze down on a multitude of big-box retail outlets in a sur-rounding sea of asphalt, they sure as the devil won’t like the ugly sprawl and all-night lighting overcast of green-houses.

There are other areas in Maple Ridge where big-box re-tail could be accommodated with less impact on the sur-rounding neighbours.

It appears that the supporters of retail development on the Albion fl ats are mainly realtors and some of those land owners in the area. It seems silly to base a decision that will impact everyone in the area on the basis of a relatively small number of supporters.

The suggestion that the site could be served by the West Coast Express is simply shortsighted and silly. To say nothing of the matter of constructing some form of cross-ing from the railroad to the north side of the Lougheed Highway, there is the matter of downgrading the West Coast Express from an ideal commuting train to a local transit service. I can’t imagine any transportation or transit experts agreeing to that.

Neither is the land in question suitable for residential or industrial use.

Municipal and regional authorities have no mandate to approve any or all projects that would eventually pave and subdivide everything from the Fraser River to the Golden Ears.

Why not just leave the Albion Flats alone?SANDY MACDOUGALL

MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Every time I listen to Gordon Campbell, he never fails to

twist the facts to favour his elitist agenda, for example his twisted vision of the minimum wage

If you have 100 workers making $8 an hour, they will make $16,000 a year each. If you add one person making $1,000,000 a year to that group, all of a sudden you have an average wage of $25,742.57, and an average hourly wage of $12.87 for all 101 workers – just another example of Mr. Campbell playing fast and loose with the facts.

All his statement really means is that there are a few highly overpaid executives in B.C. and a whole lot of un-derpaid wage slaves at the bottom.

WAYNE CLARK

MAPLE RIDGE

Why not do nothing with Albion flats?

Pub owner’s remarks offensive

Fast and loose with facts

Hunting rifle wasn’t to blame for tragedy

THE NEWS/files

Fox’s Reach owner Todd Arbuthnot plans to offer a shuttle service for his pub patrons.

THE NEWS/letters

chat@www.mapleridgenews.com

Not just gunsFrom: Anopheles, posted on www.mapleridge-news.com.Re: Long-gun and painful memories (The News, Oct. 1).And 100 per cent of domestic shootings are done with a firearm. So what? Does that mean if a gun was registered that magically an assault wouldn’t have happened and everyone would have lived happily ever after?The most common form of domestic assault is with bare hands, and second to that a knife. But apparently in this story it only matters if someone was killed with a gun. No other assaults matter.The gun registry is just as effective at stopping violence as licence plates on cars are effective at stopping drunk driving.

Just a listFrom: riptide1, posted on www.mapleridge-news.com.Re: Long-gun and painful memories (The News, Oct. 1).It’s unfortunate that Shirley feels the need to use her story in an emotional tirade to defend the long-gun registry. A list doesn’t protect people, it can’t. However, the millions spent on it could have

saved and help thousands of families had it been better spent.

Not the answerFrom: 5_O_Clock_Charlie, posted on www.mapleridgenews.com.Re: Long-gun and painful memories (The News, Oct. 1).Let me get this straight, Shirley left and went back to her abusive husband twice previously. She never informed the police about the firearms her husband possessed on their previous calls to the residence. She left a young, vulnerable child in the custody of a man she was afraid of, a man with a history of violence and who had abused her other son. Yet somehow a registry is the answer?

Scare resourcesFrom: Stormbringer, posted on www.maplerid-genews.com.Re: Long-gun and painful memories (The News, Oct. 1).Nothing about the registry would have prevented what occurred in this story. However, wasting scarce resources on the registry has diverted funds from programs that would certainly have positive results, actions such as suicide prevention call centres, women’s shelters and background checks.

chat@www.mapleridgenews.com

Not LangleyFrom: LaneAnderson, posted on www.mapleridgenews.com.Re: Public gets say on Albion flats (The News, Oct. 1). What I love about Maple Ridge is the freedom from the stifling presence of box stores. I love to support local and independent businesses and would detest the business-crunching effect of stores like Walmart. Please don’t turn Maple Ridge into another bland community of enormous signs blaring the same logos and names you see in so many other neighbourhoods. If we turn into another Langley I guess I’ll just move elsewhere.

The school and Turner are currently being sued by more than a dozen parents and former teachers, each attempt-ing to recover lost tu-ition or severance pay as a result of Greybrook’s closure.

The conference is meant to encourage a settlement of the case, or if a settlement is not possible, to help the par-ties prepare their cases for trial.

According to their statement of claim, par-ents Richard and Karen

Kelln paid a full year’s tuition, $10,520, at the beginning of the school year and have not been reimbursed for the 33 weeks of schooling their daughter did not receive. They are suing Turner and the Vancouver In-ternational Primary and Secondary School Soci-ety for a total of $11,770, which includes tutoring fees and uniform costs.

Pamela Piddocke and Christopher Jack, both parents, are also suing Turner and VIPSSS in an attempt to recover the tuition fees they lost

when the school closed. The Pitt Meadows cou-ple paid a total of $9,520 in tuition and $350 for school uniforms prior to the 2009/10 school year.

“We are left without educational instruction and academic devel-opmental supervision for our daughter,” they state in their notice of claim. “We will now have to pay new student fees and an application fee to another school in the area and pay the higher rate of tuition as it is part way through the school year.”

None of the claims have been proven in court.

Through the fog

Marlis Martin leads a quarter

horse named Major through

the fog at a ranch on 224

Street Thursday morning.

James Maclennan/

THE NEWS

Conference meant to encourage a settlementGreybrook from front

That happens when the ground shakes and causes saturated sandy soil to behave like a liq-uid.

“Liquefaction can be one of the major causes of damage during an earthquake,” says the baseline report.

It is one of seven back-grounders used in the Albion fl ats planning process and online at the District of Maple Ridge’s website (www.mapleridge.ca).

The site is also laced with fi sh-bearing creeks and ditches.

Each creek would usu-

ally have a setback of 30 metres from the top of its bank, meaning no construction could take place in that streamside area.

District of Maple Ridge planner Diana Hall agreed the area has many challenges, many of which can be addressed through en-gineering and design.

And while a developer can sometimes environ-mentally enhance one area in return for in-fringing on another, the district wouldn’t consid-er wholesale burying of streams.

“I don’t think that

would be the intent of this. Certainly, we’d be looking to maintain streams.

“It will certainly affect the lands available for development.”

She agreed about a third of the site could be protected for streams. Despite that, “there is considerable space that could be developed.”

Flood concerns could also be addressed by bringing in fi ll and rais-ing the elevation of the building sites. “Cer-tainly, habitable space where people are living would be a concern.”

If those types of build-

ings were constructed, “it tends to mean no ground-fl oor residen-tial.”

However, such consid-erations are all made later once a plan is in place and when devel-opment proposals come forward.

When it comes to building on soil that could turn to mush if an earthquake hit, “That’s defi nitely going to be a concern,” which can be addressed through en-gineering and design, Hall said.

“It’s likely those condi-tions exist throughout the community.”

Litke says the basin council encourages cit-ies to build outside the fl ood plain, rather than in it.

For the most part, Low-er Mainland cities have been following that.

According to Statistics Canada, from 2000 to 2006, most of the growth has been outside the fl ood plain, apart from areas in Abbotsford, where there was “mod-est” growth in the fl ood plain.

Most of the construc-tion and development within the fl ood plain, such as in Richmond and Chilliwack, occurred be-fore 1970, Litke pointed out.

“The municipalities seem to be holding the line.”

For him to say that Maple Ridge is going against the trend would depend on the scale of development planned for Albion.

A development that would house 500 people would be relatively

small considering that 327,000 people already live in the fl ood plain from Hope to Vancou-ver.

On the other hand, developing 323 acres in the fl ood plain, “that’s signifi cant.”

The value of such a de-velopment would have to be balanced with the social and economic hardship that could result if a catastrophic fl ood hits.

But Maple Ridge would likely require raising of land elevations to re-duce the fl ooding risk, he added.

Still, Litke had a cau-tion.

The cheapest and best way to minimize fl ood-ing is by land-use plan-ning.

“This involves concen-trating growth outside of fl oodplain areas to the extent possible, and by requiring any new development within fl oodplains to be fl ood-proofed by building hab-itable living space, above predicted fl ood levels.

“The Fraser Basin Council encourages communities to adopt an integrated approach to fl ood management that includes land-use plan-ning, fl ood protection dikes and emergency planning and prepared-ness.”

“In terms of recom-mendations generally, if communities have an opportunity to develop outside fl ood plain ar-eas, that’s what we en-courage.”

Residents can’t get fl ood insurance, but businesses can. If a fl ood hit, the Provincial Emer-gency Program and fed-eral governments would provide fi nancial help to fl ooded residents.

Albion from front

Wholesale burying streams not considered

A man who intervened in a fi ght outside a Maple Ridge pub was punched in the face early Sun-day.

Ridge Meadows RCMP said the assault took place outside Shooter’s, in 20600-block of Dewd-ney Trunk Road around 2 a.m.

The 27-year-old Lan-gley man was trying to break up a fi ght between two other men.

Cpl. Alanna Dunlop said without provoca-tion or warning, the man was struck in the face, knocking him to the ground.

He was taken to Ridge Meadows Hospital by the B.C. Ambulance Ser-vice.

Police are looking for a white man, approxi-mately 22 years old, 5-4 tall with bleach blond hair. He ran off before police arrived.

Drivers nabbedRidge Meadows RCMP

continue to nab drivers

under new legislation to curb excessive speeding and impaired driving.

During the past week, two drivers were stopped for travelling 29 kms over the posted speed limit on the Lougheed Highway.

Under the new legisla-tion, their vehicles were towed and impounded for seven days. The costs for towing and storing them are the responsi-bility of the driver, as is the fi ne for $398.

Another driver was stopped for driving with-out a driver’s licence.

His vehicle was im-pounded for 30 days and the driver has to pay $138 fi ne.

The last incident in-volved a man who had consumed alcohol be-fore getting behind the wheel.

A sample of his breath resulted in a fail reading. The fail resulted in an automatic 90-day driving prohibition. His car was towed and impounded for 30 days.

In addition, the driver will have to pay admin-istration fees to get his driver’s licence back.

Thieves caughtTwo car thieves are

in police custody after they crashed a stolen truck in a Maple Ridge yard on Friday.

The crash happened around 11 p.m., when Ridge Meadows RCMP tried to stop a Ford pickup truck. The truck fl ed from the fi rst offi -cers, then almost struck another police offi cer when he tried to use a spike belt to stop it.

The truck then trav-elled to Silver Valley, where police tried to stop it again. But the driver accelerated away. The driver then traveled into a private yard, and drove the truck off of an embankment.

Cpl. Alanna Dunlop said the thieves then jumped out and tried to make their escape on foot.

A police dog and Air One, the RCMP Traf-fi c Services helicopter, were called to assist and two men, aged 36 and 40, were arrested.

The truck, which had been stolen from Na-kusp, was damage in the pursuit.

The pair were held in police custody for a fi rst court appearance on Monday .

DisturbanceAn 18-year-old wom-

an was arrested by po-lice Sunday afternoon after she caused a dis-turbance in a fast food restaurant.

Police were called to a McDonald’s Restaurant in Pitt Meadows around 2:30 p.m. to deal with a woman who was yelling at customers and staff. The woman left the res-taurant before police arrived, but was found nearby.

RCMP Cpl. Alanna Dunlop said due to her odd behaviour, the woman was taken to Ridge Meadows Hospi-tal, but she was found to be fi ne.

Offi cers then arrested her on an outstanding Youth Court warrant.

She was taken to a youth detention centre.

Break-insRidge Meadows RCMP

are investigating a series of residential break-ins that took place Friday in Maple Ridge.

The thefts happened in the 21600- to 21800-block of River Road, as well as one home in the same area on Holly Street.

A quantity of jewelry, money – including a small amount of U.S. currency – televisions, a computer and two moun-tain bikes were stolen.

A black car was seen in the area around 4:30 p.m.

• Anyone with any in-formation is asked to call RCMP at 604-463-6251. To remain anony-mous call CrimeStop-pers at 1-800-222-8477. CrimeStoppers will pay a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Strange man Ridge Meadows RCMP

are alerting residents to a man who approached a young boy in a car on Friday.

The 10-year-old was stopped around noon by a man in a small white car near 117th Avenue and 232A Street in Maple Ridge.

The man asked the young boy if he wanted candy and told him to get into his car. The man opened one of the car doors, but he did not get out of the car.

The boy continued to walk home and the man drove off.

He is described as a white man, approximate-ly 40 years with short hair and slightly balding.

Coff ee caperA man crashed his

van into a parked moto-rhome Thursday while trying to keep his cof-fee from spilling.

The accident hap-pened at 10:45 a.m. on Davidson Road in Pitt Meadows.

Police are charging the man for driving without due care, as he was trying to avoid spilling a coffee he has just bought.

Man punched trying to break up fight

Sedrick Simon and Matt Mattice of Maple Ridge will be among the more than 100 long-boarders pushing their way through town this Thanksgiving weekend as part of the Push for the Cure breast cancer fundraising event.

Breast cancer has claimed three genera-tions of Simon’s family, with his great grand-mother, great aunt, and his cousin all succumb-ing to the disease.

He said he hopes to raise awareness about the deadly disease, as well as funds to help cancer research.

He’s helping to orga-nize the local leg of the 153-km trek from Hope to Vancouver.

“The support has been unbelievable,” he said.

The long line of pink-shirted longboarders are expected to push their way into Maple Ridge Sunday around 6 p.m., and will be camp-ing out for the night at the Albion Fairgrounds. They’ll be up early the next morning as they

take off at 9 a.m. Mon-day to ride through Maple Ridge along the Lougheed Highway en route to Stanley Park in Vancouver.

The event started fi ve years ago when a group of friends long-boarded across Cana-da to raise awareness

about breast cancer. Upon learning of the group’s trek, close to 50 longboarders from the Lower Mainland met them in Hope, and pushed along with them for the fi nal leg of their journey into Van-couver.

Every year since,

the same route has been followed, and the now-annual event has raised close to $1 mil-lion.

• For more informa-tion or to donate, visit www.pushforthecure.com. Donations will also be taken by partic-ipants along the route.

Longerboarders push for cancer cure

James Maclennan/THE NEWS

Sedrick Simon (left) and Matt Mattice will be participating in Push For the Cure, a three-day skate from Hope to Vancouver to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

Premier Gordon Camp-bell pledged on Friday to deliver “SkyTrain to Langley,” but Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says the option of using at-grade light rail tech-nology should not be ruled out.

“I’d be surprised if he’s excluding any technol-ogy,” Watts said, adding she took the reference as intended to mean a rapid transit line will run to Langley, with the exact system and route to be determined by TransLink, Surrey and Langley.

Offi cials in the Pre-mier’s Offi ce, however, confi rmed Campbell did intend to specify SkyTrain when he ad-dressed the Union of B.C. Municipalities.

“The community prefers light rail for a number of reasons,” Watts said. “You can have double the tracks for the same price as

SkyTrain.”Surrey’s land mass is

almost as large as Van-couver, Burnaby and Richmond combined, she said, and SkyTrain technology that might work well in those cities is less suited to the Sur-rey-Langley extension.

“When you’re looking at putting rapid transit across those kinds of ki-lometres, you need to be looking at all options,” Watts said.

TransLink will soon launch a new round of public consultations on the routes and technolo-gies for Surrey-area rap-id transit extensions.

Surrey council is also set to visit Portland, Or-egon this month to study that city’s light-rail sys-tem.

In January, 2008, Campbell unveiled the Provincial Transit Plan, which indicated a rapid transit extension to Guildford and then southeast to roughly 168 Street and Fraser Highway, after which a RapidBus system would run to Langley City.

Campbell’s UBCM speech pledging SkyTrain to Langley and then RapidBus to Chilli-wack is being taken as a

commitment to take rap-id transit further than previously discussed.

“I was surprised to hear SkyTrain was go-ing to come to Lang-ley City,” said Langley City Mayor Peter Fass-bender and the chair of the TransLink mayors’ council. “It refl ects our vision for our down-town and the fact we’ve already increased den-sity,” he said.

But Fassbender cau-tioned there’s much work to be done exam-ining the rapid transit options and stressed TransLink and the may-ors who control funding must consider the broad needs of the entire re-gion.

The province has spelled out no timeline, cost estimate or method of paying for the exten-sion, except to indicate Partnerships B.C. will lead work to cost it out and develop a plan.

“There are no details of how to pay for it,” NDP transportation critic Harry Bains said. “And the key issue here is funding.”

The province and may-ors’ council last month agreed to redouble ef-forts to determine what

new taxes or revenue sources will fund Trans-Link expansion, particu-larly the money needed to start construction of the Evergreen Line to Coquitlam next year.

“There’s a third Sea-Bus sitting rusting right now because they don’t have the operating mon-ey,” Bains said, adding the province’s promises are meaningless with-out reliable long-term funding.

The 2008 pledge also committed to a Rapid-Bus network by 2020 with bus rapid transit lines running down King George Highway to White Rock, from South Surrey through Delta to the Canada Line in Rich-mond, from Lougheed Station in Burnaby across the Port Mann Bridge to north Langley and then over the Gold-en Ears Bridge to Maple Ridge, then Coquitlam.

The premier’s now-stated preference for SkyTrain irks light rail advocates, who say it would preclude the use of the existing rail tracks on the old interurban corridor, which they say could launch light rail service at a modest cost.

Too soon to pick SkyTrain over light railMayors react to premier’s pledge for line to Langley

b y J e f f N a g e lBlack Press

See SkyTrain, p19

“Promising SkyTrain to Langley is not real-istic,” said Rail For the Valley spokesman John Vissers. “Does anybody in the Fraser Valley believe that’s going to happen in their life-time?”

He said elevated or underground SkyTrain is “monolithic” with stations that are en-trenched, while at-grade light rail stops are easy to create any-where and can even be relocated from one spot to a different one if rid-ership patterns change.

Vissers said he’s dis-appointed the premier hasn’t looked more closely at the group’s

proposal to restart a modern light rail sys-tem on the existing tracks, which he argues

would attract more rid-ers.

The premier’s speech also committed to a

line along Broadway to UBC but used the words “rapid transit,” not SkyTrain.

‘At-grade light rail can be located anywhere’

James Maclennan/THE NEWS

Just say noA man cuts his lawn where he posted a sign he made to prevent strangers from knocking on his front door in search of illegal drugs. The house on St. Anne street had a reputation for drug activity before the previous tenants moved.

SkyTrain from p19

WHISTLER – After nearly a decade of re-sisting an increase to the minimum wage, the B.C. government is considering the is-sue.

When the B.C. Liber-als took office in 2001, the province’s $8-an-hour minimum was the highest in the country. It’s now the lowest, as the B.C. Federation of Labour and the NDP opposition frequently remind the govern-ment.

Labour Minister Mur-ray Coell was asked about the minimum wage at an economic development forum at last week’s Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whis-tler. He said the gov-ernment’s approach has been to eliminate provincial income tax for minimum wage earners, provide rent-al assistance for low-income people, and exempt people mak-ing $10 an hour or less from monthly medical premiums.

“Those were all le-vers that we could pull

to put more money back in people’s pock-ets other than raising the minimum wage,” Coell said, responding to a question from Oak Bay Mayor Chris-topher Caus-ton.

“But we are getting close to, I would say, running out of levers that we can use, so it’s s o m e t h i n g we’re defi-nitely going to have a look at in the future.”

New Brunswick is the latest province to raise its minimum wage, going from $8.50 to $9 an hour on Sept. 1. New Brunswick has announced further in-creases to take it to $10 an hour by next summer.

In March, Ontario raised its minimum wage by 75 cents to $10.25, the highest in Canada.

It’s $8.70 in Prince Edward Island, $8.93 in Yukon, $8.80 in Alber-ta, $9.25 in Saskatch-ewan, $9 in Manitoba and Northwest Ter-ritories, $9.20 in Nova Scotia, $9.50 in Quebec

and $10 in Nunavut and Newfoundland.

B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair has taken ev-

ery opportu-nity to push the govern-ment on the issue in re-cent years, as well as con-demning the $ 6 - a n - h o u r “ t r a i n i n g wage” is still available to B.C. employ-ers.

“The Liberals told us the minimum wage did not need to be increased when the economy was produc-ing jobs,” Sinclair said in a statement released for Labour Day.

“According to the B.C. Liberals, there is never a good time to increase the minimum wage.”

The B.C. Fed calcu-lates that inflation has increased nearly 15 per cent in the past nine years, and that B.C. also has a higher cost of living than oth-er provinces. Sinclair says B.C. should im-mediately move to a $10 an hour minimum.

Minimum wage hike considered

Coell

b y To m F l e t c h e rBlack Press

Spring and summer spe-cial events and festivals at-tracted a record number of participants in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows this year, demonstrating the growing popularity of community cel-ebrations.

Fall and winter events are

in full planning mode and a number of free activities are scheduled in celebration of traditional holidays, active living, and benefi cial causes, said Kathryn Baird of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Parks and Leisure Services.

Community event statistics

indicate an increase in event participation, up from 151,000 to 165,500 based on the fi rst three quarters of 2010.

The Olympic and Paralym-pic Torch Relays, Bard in the Spirit Square, lunchtime concerts in Memorial Peace Park, Osprey Village Mar-

kets, an expanded Caribbean Festival, and several new grassroots events have con-tributed to the rise in event numbers.

Some upcoming community events to mark on the calen-dar: Ghost Ridge, Oct. 24-30, Albion Fairgrounds; fi re-

works, Albion Fairgrounds, Oct. 30; Remembrance Day ceremonies in Pitt Meadows Spirit Square and Maple Ridge Memorial Peace Park, Nov. 11; Christmas in the City, Pitt Meadows Spirit Square, Dec. 3; Christmas Festival and Santa Parade, Memorial Peace Park, Dec. 4.

Parks and Leisure Services supports community volun-

teer groups that plan events, recognizing the recreational benefi ts of celebrations. Events are valued for build-ing community spirit, for de-veloping volunteer life and career skills, for attracting local business and tourism, for providing low or no cost family activities, for devel-oping local arts, culture and heritage, and more.

Participation in community events on the rise

THE NEWS/seniority

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Red and goldRed Hat Society queen Carolyn Grange (left) presents vice-queen Hazel Motick with a gold medal for perfect attendance dur-ing the group’s fifth anniversary celebration at the Bella Vita Restaurant on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Mayor Ernie Daykin was in attendance for the special event, sporting a red shirt and purple tie.

Soft martial arts can counteract aging

Most people know about the research that shows that reg-ular exercise provides a wide range of health benefits and, perhaps most importantly, can preserve function and independence. Fewer realize that their choice of exercise activity can produce another host of unexpected benefits. By choosing mind/body ex-ercises, such as yoga or soft martial arts (like Chi Gung and T’ai Chi), older adults can unleash even greater health and vitality.

Yoga and Chi Gung (as well as all other soft arts) are ideal choices for older adults be-cause they positively affect the whole person: body, in-tellect, emotions, and spirit. They increase vital energy while strengthening and soothing the body, focusing the mind, and nurturing the spirit.

Strengthen Muscles and Bones. Yoga especially builds

muscle strength and bone mass. The vital weight-bear-ing postures of yoga stimulate the bones to retain calcium. In yoga, both the upper and lower body receive the ben-efits of bearing weight, unlike walking or running.

Improved Heart and Re-spiratory Health. Chi Gung and the soft martial arts have been shown in studies to improve circulation, heart health, and respiratory func-tion. Yoga breathing exercis-es are very powerful tools to increase respiratory function, breath capacity and physical energy. Both increase vitality and sense of well-being.

Increased Flexibility. Yoga and Chi Gung both increase overall flexibility, contribut-ing to improved everyday functioning and mobility, and protection from falls. Despite popular notions, you do not need to be flexible to practice yoga. The idea is to practice at your current level with pa-tience and compassion, gently becoming more pliable.

See Yoga, p23

b y K a r e n B . C o h e ncontributor

Seniority

Better Posture. Good posture calls upon our new strength and fl exibility to keep our spine healthy and strong. Healthy body posture supports digestive and respiratory functions as well. Poor posture in combination with osteoporosis leads to stress fractures.

Improved Balance. Balance gives older adults the confi dence to move freely and to engage in physical ac-tivities. One of the most important parts of a senior fi tness program is balance training. Seniors who exer-cise and practice balance activities,

like those found in yoga and Chi Gung, can avert the devastating ef-fects of a fall – the second leading cause of accidental death for seniors. Balance is an intangible force that many people take for granted.

Increased Energy. Yoga and Chi Gung are, in essence, ancient re-newal and balancing systems for our vital energy. More than the sum of their parts, these practices gently re-vitalize the body. The term “Chi” it-self means “energy”, and “Chi Gung” literally means “energy work”.

Intellectual Stimulation. Learn-ing a mind-body exercise is like

learning a new language with its own vocabulary and rules. It takes focused attention. It is a practice ... a journey of exploration. Yoga and the soft martial arts also invite us to ex-plore a way of thinking that may be very unfamiliar to us.

Emotional Support. The philoso-phies infusing yoga and Chi Gung encourage us to be mindful of the present moment, to be aware and grateful of all around us, and to let go of our attachments of how we think things should be. This positive outlook leads to a sense of calm and well-being.

Contributed

Class ActBigbey Belcher on violin and Lorne McNaughton on keys entertain the crowd at the 55th high school reunion for Maple Ridge Secondary School’s Class of 1955. More than 75 people gathered on Sept. 11 and 12 to celebrate and reminisce. The class of ‘55 was the fi rst to attend and graduate from the newly rebuilt Maple Ridge High School, after the original building burned to the ground on Father’s Day, 1953. Students were scattered all over the district the next school year as they took their classes wherever there was room while the school was being rebuilt.As a result, many members of the Class of 1954 had to come back in 1955 to the new school building to fi nish off their high school diplomas, so all members of the ‘54 class were invited to the reunion.“The camaraderie of these two classes has never waned, and it’s great to know we can still have a lot of fun,” said Joan Skelton, one of the reunion organizers.

Happy birthdayMae Simpson of Maple Ridge will be turning 101 on Friday. Simpson lives at the Maple Ridge Seniors’ Village.

James Maclennan/

THE NEWS

Yoga a tonic for the body, mind and soulYoga from p22

Cities alarmed about rising RCMP costs are pressing Ottawa to take on more of the burden and rein in spending by the Mounties.

Policing devours close to half the total budget of many municipalities.

Cities larger than 15,000 residents pay 90 per cent of RCMP costs and their mayors want that cut to 70 per cent – a proposal the federal government rejected

this summer. Ottawa also refused to move to a 50-50 split in costs for most smaller communi-ties, which now pay 70 per cent.

Civic leaders now plan to press federal cabi-net ministers and B.C. Conservative MPs to rework the formula and provide more RCMP ac-countability.

“Every mayor and council that has RCMP are concerned about the costs,” City of North Vancouver Mayor Dar-rell Mussatto said at the Union of B.C. Mu-nicipalities convention in Whistler.

The push for cost control comes amid negotiations to renew B.C.’s contract with the RCMP – which expires in March of 2012 – and growing debate over whether to instead shift to a provincial police force.

Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender, a civ-ic observer in the talks, said some progress has been made.

The federal govern-ment has agreed to cover 30 per cent of the cost of integrated re-gional policing teams and cadet training, up

from 10 per cent.The province has re-

jected federal attempts to download even more costs on cities, he said, but added mayors re-main worried.

RCMP offi cers get a 1.5 per cent pay raise next year but the costs of each offi cer are to grow by a further $4,700 due to higher pension costs.

Rifl es are also being added to each patrol car at a cost of at least $1,000 each in response to the 2006 shooting of two RCMP offi cers in Saskatchewan.

Detachments also must provide rifl e-resistant body armour for offi cers and install more video cameras to monitor prisoners in areas beyond cells.

“The costs are going up whether it’s sala-ries or new equipment needed,” said RCMP Pacifi c Region Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass, who met with a number of mayors at UBCM Tuesday.

Bass said the issue isn’t limited to the RCMP, adding cities with municipal forces are also struggling with rising costs.

A UBCM survey found nearly two-thirds of municipalities consider RCMP policing costs to be unaffordable and limiting the delivery of other civic services.

“It’s reaching a tip-ping point,” Salmon Arm Coun. Kevin Flynn said, adding cities like his may be forced to cut the number of offi cers.

“I understand that you are concerned,” Attorney-General Mike de Jong responded. “So are we.”

De Jong said he’s can-vassed RCMP-policed cities and found almost no appetite to actually abandon the Mounties.

Critical regional po-licing functions are per-formed by the integrat-ed investigation teams that draw offi cers from multiple RCMP detach-ments or civic forces – a system some con-sider a form of regional policing.

But the case for deeper reform gained momentum this month when former Solicitor General Kash Heed called integrated teams a “band-aid solution” and said B.C. should consider creating a new force.

Policing costs loom large for citiesSurvey fi nds little appetite to drop Mounties

A stiff drink could come with stiffer taxes if B.C. cities get their way.

Delegates at the Union of B.C. Munici-palities convention in Whistler voted unani-mously to lobby the province to launch an alcoholism reduction strategy.

One plank of it advo-cated by the B.C. Coali-tion for Action on Alco-hol Reform would see strong liquor and other high-alcohol bever-ages like vodka coolers taxed at a higher rate than lower-alcohol op-tions like beer.

Current liquor taxes don’t escalate by al-cohol content and co-alition chair Lembi Buchanan said that en-courages heavy drink-ers and young people to buy what gives them more bang for their buck.

Binge drinking, ac-cidents, crime and health problems are the result, she said.

The tax shift to raise the cost of cheap high-strength booze wouldn’t alter the price of most beer and wine, she said.

Low-alcohol bever-ages would actually get cheaper and, it’s thought, more popular, reducing related harm.

Saskatchewan took the reform plunge in April, driving up the cost of targeted high-alcohol beer, coolers, cider and wine by as much as 40 per cent by using a formula that

pegs the price to the alcohol content.

Authorities there re-port a decrease in pub-lic drunkenness and police calls from neigh-bourhoods known for chronic alcoholism.

The concept has been endorsed here by B.C. Provincial Health Offi -cer Dr. Perry Kendall.

But Buchanan said Rich Coleman, the min-ister responsible for li-quor policy, has so far shown little interest in alcohol pricing reform and concerted lobby-ing will be required to make it happen.

The B.C. Coalition for Action on Alcohol Reform also proposes minimum prices for alcohol – $7.80 for a bottle of wine, $9 for a six-pack of beer and $26 per bottle of hard liquor – as well as equivalent taxes on products made at U-brew outlets.

Three more yearsMunicipal election

terms will remain at three years, delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities conven-tion decided in a hotly contested vote.

The executive of the UBCM had endorsed the idea after a pro-vincial-municipal task force recommended it this spring. Support-ers noted that most Canadian provinces have already gone to four-year terms, and it may improve the low turnout of local elec-tions.

Burnaby councillor Sav Dhaliwal said he started in politics with a one-year term, and went through similar

debates over increas-ing it to two years and the present three years. There has been no shortage of candi-dates to run for the longer terms, he said.

Councillors for small-er communities dis-puted that, and argued that with the low pay, a four-year term would prevent many candi-dates from making the commitment.

The task force also recommended limits on spending for civic election campaigns, but not restrictions on campaign donations. Those changes are ex-pected to be incorpo-rated in provincial leg-islation next spring.

Medical marijuanaIt’s too hard for pa-

tients to get medical marijuana, so regula-tion of the issue should be transferred from the federal to the pro-vincial government.

The Victoria motion passed, with advocates suggesting the prov-ince could then dis-tribute medical mari-juana via pharmacies and community dis-pensaries, potentially

reducing the number of approved patients growing their own pot.

Delegates also de-bated a call from Mer-ritt for tighter en-forcement of licensed medical marijuana growers to ensure they meet local regulations and don’t pose similar safety risks to illegal grow-ops.

That resolution was referred back for fur-ther study after Koote-nay delegates argued it could violate the pri-vacy rights of medical pot users.

Drug policyA call for the provi-

sion of needle exchang-es and base levels of other harm-reduction services for addicts in every B.C. community narrowly passed by a 124-118 vote.

Opponents said it would lead to greater provision of free drugs to addicts in the name of harm reduction.

Advocates said such services should be consistent, rather than the current patchwork that stems from local opposition in some re-gions.

UBCM supports booze pricing reformCoalition aiming to jack cost of cheap, strong drink

One of the closest votes at UBCM came when delegates debated whether to press for mandatory helmet use by skateboarders, in-line skaters and scooter riders.

But the wheels quickly started to come off the idea when some civic reps questioned whether it might

also apply to seniors or the handi-capped in electric scooters or chil-dren’s tricycles.

“This is going to cost people quite a bit of money,” Langford Coun. Lillian Szpak said, adding it could deter young people from be-ing outside and active.

Powell River Coun. Debbie Dee defended the measure as one that would prevent brain injuries.

A Tofi no councillor suggested the overwhelmingly non-skate-boarding mayors and councillors at UBCM were unreasonably try-ing to restrict the lifestyle of local

youth.The motion was defeated

198-190.

Regulate MMACivic reps voted to ask for tight-

er restrictions on boxing, wres-

tling and similar pro matches like mixed-martial arts.

UBCM will ask the province to ban such events unless they’re regulated by an athletic commis-sion.

North Cowichan Coun. Al Sie-bring said the move shouldn’t stamp out the popular fi ght events, but is merely an attempt to “set standards on this vastly growing sport.”

UBCM votes down mandatory helmets for skaters

Vladimir Kolosov believes every aspect of his life is essential – his pursuit of music, his passion for

numbers, his business acumen, his art.Not one can be discounted as a mere

hobby, a leisurely pastime to fill up a day.

“All this is me,” says Kolosov, pointing his art studio, his art collection, his mini music studio and home office.

For Kolosov, though, art is alter ego, his second self.

“It’s a confirmation of what I see and I transform what I see,” says the artist who moved with his family to Maple Ridge from Moscow in 2006.

Although they appear surrealistic, al-most Dali-esque, Kolosov’s paintings chronicle situations that are very real, sometimes almost mundane.

A early morning trip to drop his wife to the airport inspired “Goodbye Mary Lou”, a canvas that captures the rocky ridges of the Coast Mountains and dawn’s orange glow as well as the song that shares a name with the painting.

A fl ight high above a storm in Chicago sparked “Visible Danger”.

“I’m very careful about the title,” says Kolosov.

“Well-fed and saturated life of a stom-ach” with its bulging innards illustrate just how he felt during a bout of food pois-ing. The guts displayed are drawn from an digital scan of his belly.

“Is it surreal?,” he asks. “Not really. It’s about everything that’s real.”

Kolosov’s work will be shown in “En-semble”, an exhibition next month at the Maple Ridge Art Galley and his paint-ing “Carnevale Veneziano” will be fea-

tured in the book Artists of B.C. Volume II, which publishes later this year. He will also show his work in juried exhibitions next year in New York and New Jersey.

Born in the former U.S.S.R., Kolosov studied painting, sculpture and music at

Moscow’s Fine Arts Youth School, a pro-gram that ran parallel to a regular prima-ry and secondary education.

It was a time when only one movement was offi cial approved and supported – so-cialist realism with mission to further of the goals of socialism and communism.

It promoted Kolosov to investigate other art movements.

“My surrealistic way began when I started to think about transforming of the reality in our mentality – it is different to everyone. I started to put together ob-jects that are incompatible to each other and tried to imagine how they can live together,” he says, now counting Turner, Picasso, Serov and many 19th and early 20th century Russian artists among his infl uences.

He initially wanted he would be an art-

ist but soon grew mesmerized by math-ematics and abandoned his dreams for a life steeped in creative pursuit for a more practical one that eventually saw him work for the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine.

When Perestroika began dismantling the Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist state, Kolosov seized the opportunity to study business.

He currently works as a consultant, us-ing his creativity to fuel success.

“I can say now, that your life is a piece of art,” refl ects Kolosov.

“If you life your job and do it in a good way, it is art. I can’t imagine myself with-out everything.”

James Maclennan/THE NEWS

Vladimir Kolosov in front of a painting called “Goodbye Mary Lou.” He is currently working at his Maple Ridge studio. His work will be featured in En-semble, an exhibition that opens at the Maple Ridge Art Gallery next month.

THE NEWS/arts&lifeSection coordinator:Monisha Martins 604-467-1122 ext. 217newsroom@mapleridgenews.com

Seeing all of life as artVladimir Kolosov fi ndsevery aspect of his life is an inspiration for art

b y M o n i s h a M a r t i n sstaff repor ter

Hunting Season print

Lady & Gent at the beach, Monterrey

“I transform what I see.” Vladimir Kolosov, artist

• To learn more about Vladimir Kolosov and his art, visit artofvk.com.

From small town Virginia to the bright lights of Carnegie Hall, Patsy Cline’s legend is a monument to ambi-tion, grace, and talent.

A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline is a moving tribute to a dazzling star lost at the peak of her career features classics like Walkin’ After Midnight, Sweet Dreams, and Crazy.

Experience the mag-ic of an unforgettable woman and an unfor-gettable voice.

Starring Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Kevin James and musicians Nico Rhodes (leader, piano), Marisha Devoin (bass), James McRae (drums), Allan Medcalf (guitar, baritone guitar), Na-than Tinkham (steel guitar).

• A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline stops at The ACT in Maple

Ridge as part of Arts Club on Tour on Satur-day, Oct. 9.

Arts&Life

Up close with Patsy ClineArts Club Theatre on tour

David Cooper/ARTS CLUB THEATRE

Sara-Jeanne Hosie in the Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline.

Films at Maple Ridge libraryThe Maple Ridge Pub-

lic Library will be screen-ing a series of “Essential Foreign Films” this month on Tuesdays.

French cult classic Del-icastessen plays Oct. 12. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) and Marc Caro, Delicates-sen is post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasional prepares a delicacy for his odd ten-ants.

Zelary, which plays Oct. 26, won an Oscar for best foreign language fi lm in 2004.

It tells the story of a nurse and her surgeon-lover who are part of a resistance movement in 1940s Czechoslovakia. When they are discov-ered, her lover fl ees and she must fi nd a place to hide. A patient whose life she saved, a man from a remote moun-tain village where time stopped 150 years ago,

agrees to hide her as his wife.

Admission in free. To reserve your seat call the Main Floor informa-tion desk at 604-467-7417. Movies begin at 6 p.m.

Teen movie Watch Sleepy Hollow

next week at the Ma-ple Ridge library as as part of the Teen Movie Night series. The movie plays Wednesday, Oct. 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free.

Founded in 1980 by a handful of expatriate Welshmen, the Van-couver Welsh Men’s Choir has grown into a 100-man ensemble from throughout the Lower Mainland of British Co-lumbia and represent-ing Canada’s cultural mosaic.

Offering an entertain-ing repertoire of tra-ditional Welsh hymns, spirituals, opera cho-ruses, show tunes

and much more, the choir tours extensively throughout British Co-lumbia and internation-ally.

The year 2005 marked the silver jubilee for the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir – 25 years of per-formances.

This celebrated 100-voice choir has per-formed, by invitation, in Royal Albert Hall, Lon-don, in St. Petersburg and Moscow on the in-vitation of the Russian Ministry of Culture, and in many other countries around the world.

It entertains audi-ences throughout the

Lower Mainland and the province and is particu-larly proud of its work in communities through the numerous fund-raising concerts it has performed for worthy causes over the years.

The choir has a very active season, usually performing 15 to 18 con-certs a year in the prov-ince.

Last year, the choir was invited to perform in Berlin, Dresden, Salzsburg, Vienna and Prague.

• The Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir plays the ACT Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.

Arts&Life

Welsh choir to perform at ACT100-strong men’s ensemble sings in Maple Ridge

Contributed

The Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir sing at The ACT on Oct.16.

Community Calendar

Community Calendar lists events in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Notices are

free to local non-profi t groups courtesy of The News. Drop off details to 22328 119 Ave., fax to 604-463-4741 or e-mail events@mapleridgenews.com at least a week before the event. Include a contact name and number. (No submissions by phone.) Listings appear as space permits. For guaranteed publication, ask our classifi ed department at 604-467-1122 about non-profi t rates.

Wednesday, Oct. 6• The Maple Ridge Public

Library is off ering homework help on the Internet workshop for children in Grades 4 to 7 and their parents or caregivers. Come and fi nd out where to look on the Internet for great age-appropri-ate information for homework assignments. This program will be held in the computer lab of the Maple Ridge Public Library from 7 to 8 p.m. Please register at the second fl oor information desk. For more information, please call the Maple Ridge Public Library at 604-467-7417.

• Are you ready for a change in your life? The Well-ness Connection presents reg-istered hypnotherapist Jackie Maclean, and holistic life and business coach Brenda Wallace in an informative evening at the

Pitt Meadows library, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Free admission. Call 604-375-9341 or visit www.wellnessconnectionbc.com for more information.

Thursday, Oct. 7• A support group for

caregivers, family and friends of people with Parkinson’s disease meets from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information please call or email Elinor Verkerk at 604-467-2768, or email jdverkerk@shaw.ca

• The Maple Ridge Public Library presents An Evening with ‘Robin’ Maharaj at 7:30 p.m. Robin Maharaj, author of The Picture of Nobody, will be visiting the library as part of the Goo-dReads series tour. He teaches writing and has written several books including the Amazing Boy and the series Malcolm and Alvin for CBC Radio. For more informa-tion, please call the Maple Ridge Public Library at 604-467-7417.

• The Better Breather Club will hold their next meeting from noon to 2 p.m. in the Fraser Room of the Public Library. This club is a support group for people with chronic lung diseases. The guest speaker at this meet-ing will be Elaine Brown, a pharmacist with Safeway who will give a talk on stress. Family, friends and caretakers welcome. For more information call Heidi at 604-466-1366.

It was a sheer stroke of luck that Peter Dame and his son Jordan ended up lined up together on the fi nal race of

the day.The pair had come up to the Eagle Mo-

torplex in Ashcroft for the fi nal race of the summer and faced off together for the fi rst time, and by chance ended up pitted against each other.

Peter may have made it down the track fi rst, but the real thrill was just lining up alongside his son.

The two have been drag racing fans since Peter started taking Jordan, 18, to Mission Raceway when he was three years old, and Jordan would race his matchbox cars on an imaginary track.

Peter saw his fi rst drag race at the age of 10 in his hometown of Winnipeg, and the image of a dragster popping a wheelie has always stayed with him.

“I couldn’t believe that a car could do that,” he says. “It was just the most amaz-ing thing.”

Peter bought his fi rst dragster more than 25 years ago, but it remained untouched in his garage for more than 10 years.

“Work, kids, family, the house, there just wasn’t any time for it,” he says.

Today, the 1934 Ford Roadster has been completely rebuilt. The supercharged 350-cubic inch V-8 spits out close to 400 horsepower, by his estimation.

However, it was Jordan behind the wheel of the Ford on race day. Dad, meanwhile, was behind the wheel of his 1955 Chevy se-

dan delivery wagon, a 700-horsepower big block beast of a machine.

The pair worked non-stop throughout the winter months and into spring to get their cars race-ready.

Two years ago, Peter tried to race at Ashcroft, but found out quickly he wasn’t ready.

“We got there and we weren’t prepared,” he said.

Track offi cials required a number of safe-ty measures to be taken before they could race, but a late start meant they were un-able to get the work done in time.

This year, however, Peter and Jordan had

everything taken into account every possi-bility. Of course, there were still hiccups.

The Ford’s fuel pump couldn’t keep up with its supercharger, robbing it of power.

“It wasn’t running right, so Jordan couldn’t go too fast, but that was okay with us,” says Peter.

Instead, Jordan had to settle for a quar-ter-mile time of 14 seconds, and topped 100 miles per hour.

“Yeah, I like to go fast,” says Jordan. In fact, he wants to graduate to pro-mod

drag racing and drive the 3,000-horsepow-er alcohol-powered dragsters similar to “funny cars.”

Peter popped his fi rst wheelie that week-end, an experience he likens to an amuse-ment park ride.

“I couldn’t see a thing. She goes any-where but straight, so I was just praying she’s come down alright.”

The pair plan to race at Mission Raceway in the new year.

Peter said he enjoys spending time with his son more than winning races.

“When they’re young, kids want to be around you all the time,” says Peter. “Then they become teenagers and they want nothing to do with you.

“It’s nice having him around.”

THE NEWS/sportsSection coordinator:Robert Mangelsdorf 604-467-1122 ext. 216newsroom@mapleridgenews.com

James Maclennan/THE NEWS

Peter Dame and his son Jordan pose with their 1934 Ford Roadster at their home in Pitt Meadows. The paired raced against each other at the Eagle Motorplex in Ashcroft Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

The Ridge Meadows Flames welcomed 16-year-old goaltender Mackenzie Skapski to the team this past weekend. However, the WHL prospect was unable to help the team win either of its home games.

The local junior B hockey club lost 5-4 to the Port Moody Black Panthers Friday night at home, before dropping a 4-3 deci-sion to Abbotsford Pilots on Saturday.

Skapski got the starting nod in net both nights, an indication of the playing time

he’s likely to get with the team, said head coach Tavis Eaton.

“I thought he played fantastic Friday night,” said Eaton. “We wanted to send a message to him that he’ll get a chance to play here.”

Skapski was recently cut by the Koote-nay Ice of the Western Hockey League af-ter being selected in the third round of the 2009 bantam draft.

He previously played with the Fraser Valley Bruins of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League, and missed much of last season after being seriously injured when the team’s bus crashed after hitting black ice near Williams Lake.

Fourteen players, as well as the bus driv-er, were taken to hospital after the crash, while Skapski was the most seriously

injured, and was airlifted to Vancouver, where he underwent surgery.

Skapski sustained a serious concussion in the crash and had to have two metal plates installed surgically in his head to allow him to heal. As a result, Skapski was off the ice for close to three months.

However, the young goalie was been able to bounce back from his injury and was short-listed for the U-17 Team Pacific this season. He also represented B.C. in the Western Canada U-16 Challenge Cup last year,

Skapski stopped 29 of 34 shots in his debut with the Flames Friday night, but Eaton said the young goalie could hardly

be faulted for the ones that got by him.“Our guys did not give him a lot of help,”

he said. The Flames took an early 3-1 lead

on Port Moody thanks to goals by Danny Brandys, CJ Legassic,

and Ryan Stewart. However, the Black Panthers were able

to claw their way back into the game after the Flames took a string of bad penal-

ties, allowing Port Moody to score three power play goals in

the second and third periods.“They were lazy, selfish penal-

ties, and they capitalized on them,” said Eaton. “The outcome is that we lose two points.”

Ridge Meadows Flames drop pair at home despite goalie addition

Father and son duel on track

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

See Flames, p36

Junior B team falls to third place in PIJHL’s Harold Brittain Conference

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

James Maclennan/THE NEWS

Promising paddlersHaley Leatherdale and Noah Said compete in the atom 200-metre kayak race during the RCKC Pacific Cup at Whonnock Lake on Sunday.

Sports

The Flames have dropped three of their last four, with all of their losses coming by a goal.

The Flames fell behind 4-0 early against Abbotsford as the Pilots peppered Skapski with 26 shots in just 27 minutes. Skapski got the hook after the fourth goal, and Tyler Klassen was perfect in his relieving duties, stopping all 21 shots he faced.

Eaton was again quick to de-fend his newly-acquired goalie, saying there was plenty of blame to go around for the team’s poor start.

“It was sort of the opposite of the first game,” he said. “We were sleeping at the start.”

The Flames were able to mount a comeback thanks to goals by Matthew Genovese, Matt Keller, and Brent Fletcher. But time ul-timately ran out on the team as they were once again unable to pot the equalizer with the extra attacker on the ice.

“We had some life in us,” said Eaton. “We just found it a little

too late.”With the

loss, the Flames fall to 4-5 on the sea-son, and now sit in third place in the Harold Brit-tain Confer-ence.

Eaton said the team is still experi-

encing a bit of a learning curve with so many new players joining the team this season. But despite the recent losing skid, he sees promise in his young squad.

“Most of our losses have been by one goal, so it shows we can play with anyone in this league,” he said. If the team can put to-gether a consistent 60-minute effort, “I think we’re going to be just fine.”

• The Flames face the Squamish Wolf Pack this Friday at home at Planet Ice in Maple Ridge. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

Skapski

Flames from p35

Flames face Wolf Pack next

Stick-up

Olah Jarek of the Ridge

Meadows Burrards U-14 field lacrosse team tries to

evade a Delta Footmen

long-stick midfielder

Sunday night at Westview

secondary. The Burrards

won the game 8-1.

James Maclennan/

THE NEWS

Sports

The Meadow Ridge Knights bantam football squad took top spot in their division Saturday with a convincing 40-6 win over the visiting Chilliwack Giants.

Leading the offense was full-back Damian Hartman who had several key gains and a touchdown. Also scoring for the Knights were Brett Boyce, Rashaun Simonise and Tanner Hartley. Kicker Coltan Davis kept the Giants bottled up with several excellent punts. Jackson Murdoch and Mike Vegh had a strong game on defence while Jeff Seebauer had an intercep-tion.

The bantam Knights improve to 3-1-1 this season, and will en-joy a much-deserved bye week this week.

In the atom division, the Blue

Knights got some strong play from Cody Stewart and Tyson Phare as they downed the North Langley Bears 48-0 to remain undefeated after fi ve weeks. The Blue Knights defence was led by Dallas Pattenden and Guy Rod-gers. They face the Chilliwack Giants this weekend

The Gold Knights played hard but lost 38-14 to the Abbotsford Falcons. Touchdowns were scored by Tyler Spencer and Cody Hogarth. Michael Howarth made some great runs in the second half, while Mason Waka-bayashi. Jacob Peterson and Kurtis Heron made some key de-fensive plays.

The peewee Knights and the Chilliwack Giants met last Sat-urday in a battle of undefeated teams and a stellar defensive

effort helped the Knights post a 21-0 victory.

Drake Kindred scored two rushing touchdowns behind the blocking of Mark Podschadly and Jeremie Kankolongo. Hayden Barton hauled in a couple of passes for converts to lead the offense. Defensively the Knights were outstanding and led by the play of Jayden Shanley, Trent Cooper, Mackenzie Baust and Will Chartrand

The junior bantam Knights started strong but faded late against Chilliwack Giants, los-ing 50-14. Devon Bird and Mat-thew Cameron were the Knights leading receivers while Brian Dongalen was the leading rush-er. Marcello Lucarino and Peter de Zeeuw were standouts on de-fence.

Bantam Knights topple Giants at home