THURSDAY MARCH 28, 2013
AWARDS MAGNET
UFV volleyball star Kayla Bruce is the PacWest female athlete of the year for the second straight season A39
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Flying over the line A new poll finds more travellers using nearby U.S. airports
Jeff NAGEL and Alex BUTLER Black Press
A new poll shows half of Lower Mainland air travellers recently drove to the U.S. to catch a cheaper flight instead of using a B.C. airport. The Insights West online survey found 51 per cent of respondents who flew anywhere in the last two years did so at least once by driving across the border to airports such as Bellingham or Seattle. “It was more than I expected,” said Insights
Vikki HOPES Abbotsford News
D
esperate to save her husband’s life, Lois Wilson posted a request on the Internet in June 2008. She offered to swap her healthy kidney in exchange for one for her husband, Dave, for whom her kidney was not a match. The post was taken down within hours, due to concerns that the site provider had about the legitimacy of the offer and issues about organs being sold on the black market. But the request had been online long enough to attract the attention of a TV media outlet, which pursued the story. Soon, Lois was being interviewed not only by local media, but by U.S. outlets such as CNN and Fox News. The attention resulted in several people offering to be Continued on A4
West senior vice-president Catherine Dawson. Mike Pastro, general manager of the Abbotsford International Airport, said the number from the Insights West survey seems high, though border-crossers are a concern for the airport. Pastro said he has heard other statistics about border-crossing for flyers, such as 20 per cent of Lower Mainlanders driving to the U.S. for flights, and that 50 per cent of passengers flying from the Bellingham, Wash. airport are
Canadians. He said this is a concern for all Canadian airports located near an airport across the U.S. border. “It does have an impact… up to as many as 100,000, possibly more, passengers per year are flying from Bellingham and Seattle, who would have otherwise flown from Abbotsford,” Pastro said. Jay Teichroeb, the city’s general manger of economic development, said an economic impact study found that the airport Continued on A4
TOWER DEVELOPMENT A5 Neighbours react to a
pair of proposed 26-storey high-rises on Gladwin Road
PAYING IT FORWARD
ISSUES OF HEALTH
A5/11 Liberal minister and
NDP critic express their views on the health care system
Lois Wilson wants to donate one of her kidneys, after her husband received a transplant in 2010
HUNGRY MOTHS
A6 Scientist raises
concerns about a moth that has developed a new appetite for peppers
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VIKKI HOPES Abbotsford News
In gratitude to a man who gave a kidney to her husband, Lois Wilson of Abbotsford is willing to donate one of her own to her sister-in-law or another waiting recipient.
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