THE WEDNESDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
From PoCo with love
History in stitches
SEE LIFE, PAGE A16
SEE ARTS, PAGE A26
Hyde Creek festival for the fish – and for the birds
NOV. 21, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 Sports/A30 Holiday Gift Guide/B1
Health pros & cops must share info A coroner’s jury makes 16 recommendations By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Police and health authorities need to develop a coordinated approach to dealing with people suffering from mental illness, said the jury at the coroner’s inquest into the death of Coquitlam mom Colette Salemink. Salemink died after her mentally ill son, Blake Salemink, who was on leave from Riverview Hospital, set fire to the family home in the spring of 2010. Earlier this year after a trial, a B.C. Supreme Court judge found Blake Salemink not guilty by reason of mental disorder of arson and manslaughter, and the man has resided at the Colony Farm Psychiatric Hospital ever since. ABOVE: JANE PEACHMAN PHOTO; BELOW: ANDRE CHAN PHOTO
Hundreds of people turned out for the 13th annual Hyde Creek Salmon Festival on Sunday. At the hatchery off Coast Meridian Road and at Hyde Creek rec centre, they viewed a few returning salmon, checked out displays, got their faces painted, made crafts and learned about fish and raptors. Above, a volunteer from OWL (Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society) displays a screech owl. Right, a salmon in Hyde Creek.
The late Colette Salemink with her son, Blake. The jury in the inquest, which concluded last Thursday, made 16 recommendations in order to prevent similar deaths in the future. Th e j u ry r e c o m mended that Coquitlam RCMP, Port Moody Police Department and Fraser Health establish a memorandum of understanding that will coordinate the agencies’ approach to dealing with people with mental illness. see 16 WAYS, page A3
Scare, no bomb Coquitlam RCMP blocked traffic at a local business on United B o u l eva rd M o n d ay morning after receiving a report about a suspicious-looking device that later proved to be safe. Just after 11 a.m., customers told staff at a business they had seen what looked like a pipe bomb in the parking lot and police were called. “We take public safety very seriously,” said Cpl. Jamie Chung. “We shut down the area from foot and vehicle traffic for several hours until we were certain the area is safe once again. “With the assistance
from Explosive Disposal Unit, the found object was rendered safe.” It was later determined that the device was a cylindrical container that is commonly used by commercial truck drivers to hold utility trailer registration documents. “We think the paper container was accidentally dropped from a vehicle,” Chung said. There has been a rash of real and false bomb scares this month in Metro Vancouver, including one in Tsawwassen and another on a SkyTrain track in Surrey. spayne@tricitynews.com