New west to get air moNitor statioN
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school projects pushed back
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more are payiNg their fares
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wedNesday
OctOber 10 2012 www.newwestnewsleader.com
when you’re active, and you give to your community, you’ve got two big reasons to smile, as these local seniors of distinction prove. See Page A13
Budget for new school rises Grant Granger
ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com
MArIO bArteL/NeWSLeADer
shawn innes works on his shot at the moody park lacrosse box. he’s organizing a weekly bike polo match that’s attracted at least a half dozen regulars since it began late in the summer.
Saddling up for bike polo in New West Mario bartel
photo@newwestnewsleader.com
Move over lacrosse, there’s a new game in New Westminster. Like the venerable national sport that’s bred in the bone of the Royal City’s sporting heritage this newcomer has fast action, missilelike shots and crunching collisions. But these crashes are more likely to break spokes than bones. For the past eight weeks or so, Shawn Innes and some like-minded buddies have been saddling up their
bikes every Wednesday evening to play bike polo. Innes, who runs New West Cycles in the city’s Downtown, says he was aware of the sport because some of his customers play in East Vancouver, but he’d never considered setting up a game himself until one of his mechanics watched some videos online and fashioned his own mallet from an old ski pole and PVC pipe. A shopping trip to the thrift store, some sawing, glueing and taping
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later they had enough equipment assembled for a proper game. Word went out through his shop and on a late summer’s evening, the orange plastic hockey ball was dropped for New West’s first bike polo match on the expansive hardtop at the east end of Pier Park. The game has since moved to the lacrosse box at Moody Park, but with daylight waning earlier and earlier, Innes says he’s on the prowl for a location with more illumination.
So far the weekly matches have attracted a regular contingent of at least a half dozen players. The earliest games were rather haphazard, says Innes, as everyone worked out the proper combination of balance, speed, dexterity and fearlessness to maneuver their bikes in close quarters while swinging mallets at a rolling ball. “There were a lot of collisions,” says Innes. please see MAyheM, A3
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The Ministry of Education has approved dipping into reserve funds to the tune of $1.1 million for the building of a new elementary school in New Westminster on the former St. Mary’s Hospital site. The extra money is to cover expected costs incurred because the site has turned out to be more challenging than the district outlined in its request for design/ build proposals, said board chair James Janzen. The three companies shortlisted to be the design/ build contractor “expressed concerns about the difficult site conditions,” said an Oct. 3 update from the district. “As we continued to do work on the site it just became apparent it was a more difficult site than we had envisioned,” said Janzen. “The joys of building in New Westminster.” The $1.1 million will be added to the $13.5 million budget for the project announced in April. It is expected to have 23 classrooms for 500 students ranging from kindergarten to Grade 5. please see NAMING, A3