The Chilliwack
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The sky is the limit at Chilliwack’s Flight Fest
Call for better access to cancer screening
Tough start for the Chilliwack Huskers
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 U E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 4 , 2 0 1 2
Fate of building following ASU departure remains unclear
■ B ULL D OGGER
Robert Freeman The Progress
Joel Isnardy of Cache Creek competes in the steer wrestling competition during the Chilliwack Rodeo at the 140th annual Chilliwack Fair at Heritage Park on Saturday evening. For more photos from this year’s event, go online to www.theprogress. com. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
RCMP officials at the Pacific Region Training Centre in Chilliwack say it’s too early to speculate whether there’s any interest in acquiring the “1041 Building” should it come available with the closure of the Canadian Forces’ Area Support Unit. And it appears “unrealistic” for the necessary studies to be completed in time to use the building for a new rifle range, said RCMP Insp. Ken Burton, officer in charge of support services at the PRTC. The University of the Fraser Valley is interested in the property at 1041 Caen Road behind its Trades and Technology Centre, but UFV officials aren’t commenting publicly until after a tour of the property later this month. Chilliwack MLA John Les, the former Chilliwack mayor who has been instrumental in converting the former military base into what is now the Canada Education Park, was also non-committal about possible future uses of the 1041 building. But he pointed out the city has seen “huge economic and educational benefit” out of all the former military buildings and properties that are now being used by the RCMP, Canada Border Services, B.C. Justice Institute and UFV. Continued: 1041/ p8
Call for dogs to control Cultus geese Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Cultus Lake Park Board is still on the hunt for a good goose management strategy. The resident population of Canada geese has increased in recent years, which means substantially more unappealing goose poop on the beaches. Lake resident Max Newhouse presented a proposal to the park board on July 27 that would see a handler and a trained border collie used to keep the geese at bay.
The Cultus artist told The Progress he often counts the geese at Cultus, as he’s on the beach quite often. Sometimes there are 10, or 100 geese around. Other times he’s counted as many as 300 at a time. Park Board officials started looking into their goose management options last year, studying raking equipment and vacuum type machines to keep the beaches clean. At the time, board chair Sacha Peter cited the growing numbers of geese, and the potential public health threat posed by the feces as part of the incen-
tive for them to find solutions at Cultus Lake. It could migrate from being an annoyance to a health issue, Peter said, and some Okanagan beaches had been closed because of high fecal counts in the water. “There’s no quick fix with this one,” said Newhouse. “The geese are very persistent and very clever.” He’d prefer not to see the geese culled, nor does he want to shake eggs, among the techniques employed by others. Continued: CULTUS/ p7
Cultus goose population has increased in recent years, which means more feces on the beach. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS FILE
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