THE WEDNESDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS
APRIL 24, 2013 www.tricitynews.com
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
Artist in residence
SEE LIFE, PAGE A15
SEE ARTS, PAGE A23
GARY MCKENNA/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
2 causes, 2 big events
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 A Good Read/A17 Sports/A26
Frank Smyth of Coquitlam.
Trip to Korea & back in time Coquitlam man joins other vets By Gary McKenna
I
THE TRI-CITY NEWS
t is often referred to as the forgotten war. But Frank Smyth’s memories of the Korean conflict are as fresh today as they were when he was one of the 27,000 Canadian military personnel who took part in the battle. Smyth’s experience in Asia are on his mind this week when the Coquitlam resident joins a contingent of veterans and federal officials travelling to South Korea to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the war. “I have a lot of mixed emotions,”he said.“We are going to be touring the Commonwealth cemetery.There is a beautiful new Canadian memorial there.” The statue, which depicts a Canadian soldier holding the hand of a small boy while carrying a little girl in his arms, commemorates those who fought and the 516 Canadians lost in the war. see KOREANS, page A9
ALLEN DOUGLAS/BLACK PRESS
Peni Kiori of Coquitlam’s United rugby club launches a kick during a B.C. Rugby Union Div. 1 men’s contest on Saturday in Kamloops. For more sports, please see page A26.
SD43 cuts to hit kids Most vulnerable won’t escape cuts By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
A top-to-bottom reorganization is planned to help School District 43 weather its financial storm. And programs serving vulnerable children and
students with special needs are among those that will be affected. The plans were announced last week when the district laid out its proposal for cutting $12.5 million in spending. Yesterday, after The Tri-City News’ print deadline, more information was to be made available to SD43 trustees and some changes
may have been made as the board of education was to discuss the budget. But in its proposal for cutting 142 positions — or 6% of its staff — the district announced a reorganization of district and school programs, many of them serving aboriginal, special needs or other vulnerable youth. Among the posi-
Suspect sought in stabbing of guard
tions facing cuts next year will be youth workers, teaching assistants, and special education assistants. The cuts come at a time when the district is facing a demographic change, with more kids requiring extra help in the form of academic support and counselling.
Police are searching for a suspect after a security guard was viciously stabbed early Tuesday morning in Port Coquitlam. The security guard is in hospital with non-life threatening injuries but has not been able to provide investigators with much information about the suspect or what led to the attack, said Cpl. Jamie Chung, Coquitlam RCMP spokesperson.
see MORE, page A12
see POLICE COULDN’T, page A6
By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS