Chilliwack Times February 19 2013

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INSIDE: Father of girl hit by car says road needs to be slowed

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T U E S D A Y

February 19, 2013

get back winning ways 10 toChiefs  N E W S ,

Pedersen mystery turns 30

SPORTS,

WEATHER

&

E N T E R T A I N M E N T  chilliwacktimes.com

Multiple petitions to keep Gideons

WILDLIFE RIVERSIDE DINING

BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com

T

hirty years ago today, 10-yearold Jo-Anne Pedersen made a phone call from a phone booth at the Penny Pinchers convenience story at the corner of Watson and Vedder roads in Chilliwack. That was the last time anyone saw the young girl but her mother holds out hope the now 40-year-old is still alive. “The police are still receiving information on this ongoing investigation,” said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Tammy Hollingsworth in a press release. “Investigators are hopeful that we will soon know the truth regarding what happened to JoAnne so we can give her mother and family closure.” Witnesses 30 years ago reported that there was a man in the phone Submitted photo booth with Police are still Pe d e r s e n o n looking for clues to Feb. 19, 1983, at the disappearance approximately of Jo-Anne Peder- 8:20 p.m. sen 30 years ago. Pedersen called her parents to pick her up because she was locked out of the house. By the time her parents arrived, the young girl was gone. Chilliwack RCMP have received three anonymous letters since 2008 from a man who claims to be a witness. Police say it is imperative they find this witness. The latest letter was received late summer 2011 and was dropped off at the Chilliwack detachment. ◗ Anyone with any information on this investigation or these letters is asked to contact the Chilliwack RCMP Serious Crime Unit at 604792-4611 or Crime Stoppers at 1800-222-8477 (TIPS).

BY CORNELIA NAYLOR cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com

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Paul J. Henderson/TIMES

ultiple petitions are now competing for the attention of Chilliwack school officials as they prepare to decide whether or not to allow free Bibles to be distributed at local public schools. Mike Unruh, a School District No. 33 education assistant, put up an online petition supporting the Bibles Saturday “Keeping the Bible an option for Grade 5 students in Chilliwack schools has come into question within the last few months. We SCAN TO VIEW want to see this PETITIONS continue being an option for families and students,” reads a preamble to the petition, which had 46 signatures by press time Monday afternoon. Unruh’s wife Stacy, told the Times that the key word is “optional.” She wouldn’t want religion forced on students, but she’s not opposed to her own kids being exposed to different perspectives and would support other religious groups being allowed to hand out materials at schools. “We follow the Bible, yet we send our kids to public schools so they can see the other side,” she said. Another Bible-supporting petition (dubbed an “affirmation” by pastor Leon Throness) was circulated at the Unruh’s Chilliwack Alliance Church on Sunday and attracted 392 signatures in about 40 minutes.

A juvenile bald eagle picks over a fish carcass in a tree beside the Rotary Trail along the Vedder River.

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