Thursday March 15, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 22)
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Courting success: The White Rock Christian Academy Warriors, led by senior Jake Newman, got the BC High School Boys Basketball Championship started on the right foot, with a win in Tuesday’s opening game. see page A31
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Surrey mayor’s State of City address touches on number of topics
Watts continues call for better transit Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Mayor Dianne Watts delivered her State of the City address to a packed ballroom at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford. Watts began her seventh annual address Tuesday by thanking her colleagues who sit on several city committees, and outlined a number of policy initiatives, both currently in place and in the works. Then she got on with the theme of the speech, which was “Building a City from the Ground Up.”
Watts pointed out that Surrey has experienced tremendous growth over the years, with most recent census figures showing the city’s population has soared by 18.6 per cent in the past five years – more than three times the national average. Representing its own challenges is the fact one-third of that population is younger than 19 years old. She also pointed out that growth has resulted in the creation of 12,714 new businesses since 2006 – 2,334 of those in 2011. Watts said that growth is a double-edged
sword, as it requires substantial infrastructure needs. For that reason, Surrey is attempting to “shape” growth by creating an affordable housing strategy which includes a number of choices in housing stock. Surrey will be shifting to more high-density multi-family dwellings and smaller lots. The city will also be bringing in six-storey wood frame apartments, Watts said. Watts noted Surrey has 46 per cent of the region’s available industrial land and that one-third of the city is Agricultural Land
Reserve, which produces $150 million in revenue annually. Surrey also has the second-largest border crossing – with $15 billion in trade annually – along with other trade points, including Fraser Surrey Docks. She quoted from the provincial Liberals’ B.C. Jobs Plan, which says, “Now is the time to expand the capacity of our infrastructure so we can manage higher volumes safely and efficiently.” Watts renewed her call to have the 75-year see page A4
White Rock man latest to be arrested
Drug sting nets three Dan Ferguson Staff Reporter
Challenge accepted
Boaz Joseph photos
The Healthy Community Challenge began Saturday, as participants dropped by various Lower Mainland locations to have measurements taken. Aneta Crane (top right) and Karen Leask (left) participate in a zumba class which followed weigh-ins, at the Cloverdale Rec Centre, while Innovative Fitness trainer Whitney Wellington (above) measures a participant.
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A 22-year-old White Rock man is the latest person to be charged with drug trafficking as a result of a three-month undercover police investigation in the seaside city. Thomas James Sharman appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Feb. 28 on two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance. He is due back in court on March 20. Sharman is one of three men charged as a result of an investigation into a suspected delivery service for illegal drugs that was conducted between March and May of last year by White Rock RCMP and the Mounties’ undercover operations unit, a special section of officers who pose as criminals to obtain convictions. Late last year, Jonathan Taylor Rakic, 21, of Surrey, and Langley resident Rockwell Doxey, 26, were each charged with one count of trafficking in a controlled substance in connection with the operation. Rakic made his first court appearance in December, and his trial has been scheduled for two days beginning May 30. Doxey made his first court appearance in November, and is due back before a judge on March 27. None of the accused are in custody.
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