Thursday November 1, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 88)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Funny business: Two Semiahmoo Peninsula women are encouraging others to embrace the positive effects of a good giggle with their laughter yoga class. › see page A11
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
Bicycle chase ill-advised, says man’s employer
Thief threatens staffer with knife Dan Ferguson Staff reporter
Dan Ferguson photo
Chance Mains.
When a bicycle-riding thief tried to flee with two $300 jackets during a parking lot sale at the Pacific Boarder sporting goods store in South Surrey, 20-year-old staffer Chance Mains commandeered a bike from a store for-sale rack and gave chase. Mains, an Ocean Park resident, nar-
rowly escaped injury during the recent struggle with the fleeing thief, who produced a knife and began slashing at Mains after he managed to catch up with the crook and knock him off his bike. “I kind of launched off my bike and tackled him into the grass,” Mains told Peace Arch News Wednesday. “He said, ‘Take your jackets, leave me alone.’
Then he pulled out a knife.” Mains said he was initially able to knock the knife – a “hobby knife” with no more than a two-inch blade – out of the man’s hand by grabbing his wrist and “dragging” it against the concrete, but the thief then regained the knife and, waving it wildly, got away. “I really lucked out,” Mains said. Seconds later, police arrived on the
scene and quickly arrested a suspect. Reaction to Mains’ chase has been mixed. “My boss called me an idiot and told me not to chase crackheads any more,” Mains said. His family and friends, Mains added, have told him that what he did was brave but foolish and should never, ever be repeated.
One woman to be tried
Dog-theft charges expected to be dropped Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Barring unforeseen developments, the majority of women facing charges in connection with an extensive dog-theft investigation could soon be putting the ordeal behind them. Craig Sicotte, a lawyer representing three of the women, said Wednesday it’s likely that charges against all but one – Janet Olson – will be dropped in the near future, providing they complete “alternate measures” ordered by the court. “Charges will be dropped against everybody but Jan, I expect,” Sicotte said, following a brief appearance in Surrey Provincial Court. Charges against Olson – who is a founder of A Better Life Dog Rescue – were first announced last November, after she and Surrey resident Louise Reid were arrested in connection with the theft of a bulldog from a Coquitlam backyard. As the investigation progressed, new charges related to other incidents across the Lower Mainland were added and additional women – Christine Carter, Diane Young Hale, Michaela Schnittker and Natalia Borojevic – were arrested. › see page A4
The Best Care for your Best Friend.
Lance Peverley photo
Eight of nine byelection candidates take turns outlining their platforms and responding to questions at a packed all-candidates meeting Tuesday.
All-candidates meeting offers insight to voters
White Rock byelection forum attracts 200 Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
The first and only opportunity for White Rock residents to hear from byelection candidates en masse made a big difference to at least one voter who turned out for the occasion. It changed her vote. “I’m very glad I came,” said Kristina Knowles. “I made up my mind.” Knowles was among more than 200 people who filed into the gymnasium of White Rock Elementary Tuesday night for the all-candi-
dates meeting, hosted by the South Surrey White Rock Chamber of Commerce and White Rock Business Improvement Association. Eight of nine candidates vying for a single seat on council (left vacant by the June 26 death of longtime councillor Mary-Wade Anderson) attended, hoping to convince the crowd to put a check by their name on the ballot this Saturday. Questions for the candidates, moderated by MC Gordon Hogg – MLA for Surrey-White Rock – ran a gamut, from how high develop-
ment south of Thrift Avenue should go to whether user-fees should be implemented for garbage collection. Attendees also asked Grant O’Kane, Bill Lawrence, Graham Wood, David Chesney, Scott Kristjanson, Megan Knight, Pat Petrala and Tom Willman – listed in the order they sat on-stage (Bruce McWilliam did not attend) – about pay parking, community service and the anticipated impact to White Rock if a proposed casino is built in neighbouring South Surrey. › see page A4
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Peninsula Crossing Animal Hospital 2382 - 152 St. • 604-541-7374 Open 7 days a week
Corner of 192nd St. & 48th Ave., Surrey
in today’s paper