The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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News
Sports
Yarrow Days
Pipeline
Olympics
Yarrow Days bring community together.
More opposition to pipeline plans.
Turner weeks away from Olympic experience.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T H U R S D AY, J U N E 7 , 2 0 1 2
District urged to act on safety concerns
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Katie Bartel The Progress A Chilliwack shop teacher is concerned his school district is failing to move fast enough to improve the safety in industrial education classes. Eric Munshaw, industrial education teacher at Mt. Slesse middle school, requested a time slot at an upcoming school board meeting to revisit the idea of smaller class sizes, but was denied. Munshaw, who speaks on behalf of Chilliwack shop teachers, had hoped the district would take the concerns of the teachers seriously and design classes for next year based on those concerns. “My intent was to revisit the issue with trustees because principals were already building timetables for next year and if trustees were going to make a move and recommend we limit numbers, it had to be soon,” he said. Munshaw previously presented last October, where he detailed information provided in the BC Technology Education Association’s (BCTEA) Best Practices Guide, and warned trustees they could be held liable if an accident were to occur. When his request was denied by the superintendent, Munshaw emailed Continued: DISTRICT/ p12
Jade Charney of Chilliwack carries the Special Olympics B.C. torch to the Pacific Region Training Centre on Keith Wilson Road on Tuesday morning. More than 50 people (RCMP officers and staff, and members of the community) took part in Chilliwack’s stretch of the Law Enforcement Torch Run to raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics B.C. athletes and programs. This year’s torch run in Chilliwack featured Special Olympics track athlete Pat Johnson (behind torch, in blue toque). The torch run is now the largest fundraiser and public awareness vehicle in the Special Olympics movement, with more than 85,000 officers in 35 countries. They have raised more than $38 million dollars for Special Olympics. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
‘Big City’ feel to new transit plan: Gaetz Robert Freeman The Progress More buses, more often, but on fewer routes will still give Chilliwack a “Big City” feeling, Mayor Sharon Gaetz enthused after council approved an expanded transit plan Tuesday. “It feels Big City now to have 20-minute service on the main drag,” she said, instead of the former hourlong wait. City councillors approved the expansion plan that will add a seventh bus to the system, but reduce the number of routes from 10 to four.
A proposed 50-cent fare hike to $2 will also be delayed until 2013. The new service starts July 2 and “transit ambassadors” will be on hand to familiarize riders with the new system. Coun. Jason Lum, chairman of the city’s transportation advisory committee, called the plan “an important step in the evolution of the community.” “It’s not perfect, but it’s moving in the right direction,” he said. Express buses will run every 20 minutes along Vedder Road between Chilliwack and Vedder Crossing, and every 30 minutes around the down-
town core. The Vedder route buses will also enter shopping mall parking lots at Luckakuck Way to reduce walking distances for riders. The third and fourth routes will take riders to new retail developments on Eagle Landing Parkway and to the Promontory area, but only run every hour. A new sheltered bus exchange will be located at Spadina Avenue and Yale Road, which will also accommodate future regional transit services to Agassiz-Harrison and Abbotsford. “We’re going to continue to refine this, and expand it without tax increases,” Coun. Chuck Stam said.
Transportation manager Rod Sanderson agreed the transit changes will increase walking distances for some riders, but the city does not have the resources to immediately satisfy all the demands on the system. However, he said this is the “first step” in a series of improvements that will continue in 2014-16 and over the next 25 years. Seniors are encouraged to use the subsidized “taxi-saver” program and HandyDART until gaps in the bus system are closed.
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