THE FRIDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS Amalgamate Tri-Cities?
Something fishy at Hyde
SEE FACE TO FACE, PAGE 11
SEE THINGS-TO-DO GUIDE, PAGE 20
APRIL 20, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE Letters/12 Elaine Golds/25 Tri-City Spotlight/29 Sports/46
Bowling, lunch & love for PoCo couple ‘Mighty Mouse’ proposed after proposing they move in together By Sarah Payne THE TRI-CITY NEWS
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SARAH PAYNE/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
t 87 and 84 years old, George Siggs and Lorraine Williams aren’t ones to fool around. Well, maybe just a little, as is clear from the twinkle in their eyes. The octogenarian lovebirds are tying the knot tomorrow (Saturday) after a terrifically brief courtship that had them making plans to move in together while they were still on their first date. And despite their advanced years, Siggs and Williams’ love story is anything but old-school. Siggs was born in 1925 and grew up in Kitsilano. Eighteen years later, he was drafted into the army; he figured he didn’t have the moxie to be a paratrooper so instead he volunteered for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. He was sent to Europe to jump out of planes and into some of the deadliest battles of the Second World War, including the Battle of the Bulge.
Lorraine Williams and George Siggs in their suite at Astoria Resort Retirement in Port Coquitlam. The two octogenarians — she’s 84 and he’s 87 — shown sitting on the loveseat on which she proposed, are scheduled to be married on Saturday after a whirlwind courtship; they will honeymoon on a bus tour down the Oregon coast.
see ‘YOU YOU’RE RE NEVER NEVER’,, page 3
In time for Earth Day, some tree talk Q Readers take a Coquitlam
city councillor to task for his comments on Glen Park trees: Letters, page 12 Q A city of Coquitlam initiative results in 10,000+ trees being planted: page 15 Q Columnist Elaine Golds celebrates the benefits of trees: Green Scene, page 25
Cash for counsellors Schools funding to go to helping kids who are struggling By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
School District 43 has $1.2 million in extra funds to support large elementary schools and struggling students thanks to strike savings and other surplus funds from this year — but the cash won’t stretch far.
Next Tuesday, the board is expected to approve spending the funds on more counsellor time for elementary schools, a work experience teacher for special needs students and more time for vice-principals at large elementary schools, among other things. The remaining $268 million budget is set and will be mostly spent on wages and benefits for teachers, support workers and managers who run the district’s 70 schools. B o a rd ch a i r M e l i s s a
Keeping young students in school key in Community Link funding: page 6 Hyndes said the $1.2-million surplus is being used to try to accommodate requests from principals, teachers and parents who spoke about the budget during this year’s deliberations. “I think we did make an attempt to look at all of the requests to accommodate some of what was asked for,”
said Hyndes. But she pointed out there is never enough money to address all the issues. One concern that was raised and not addressed with this funding is a concern of shop teachers that their classes are too large for project work. see $100K SET ASIDE, ASIDE, page 4