Modern Mackin With a history as old as the city’s, Coquitlam’s Mackin Park has long been a centre of activity. Now, the Maillardville park has undergone a makeover to draw people of all ages. See page 8
THE FRIDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
Making connections
Polish festival & more
SEE FACE TO FACE, PAGE 11
SEE THINGS-TO-DO GUIDE, PAGE 18
MAY 24, 2013 www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE
Letters/12 Books Plus/19 Tri-City Spotlight/21 Sports/38
$148k for former SD treasurer By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Cash-strapped School District 43 paid its former secretary treasurer $148,495 in severance when he left his job last December after less than three and a half years at SD43, district records show. Rick Humphreys, who began working in Coquitlam School District on July 13, 2009, left his job Dec. 19, 2012, according to records obtained by The Tri-City News under a freedom of information request. Humphreys was en-
City of PoCo has a surplus. See page 17 titled to up to 14 months in severance for 41 months of service, according to B.C.’s Public Sector Employers Act (his annual salary, according to the latest financial records, was $147,955). But if he gets another public sector job, he won’t be eligible for the severance pay. see FORMER, page 4
Cougar attack was ‘defensive’ By Sarah Payne DIANE STRANDBERG/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Daniel, Jordan and Kiarash, students in Nichole Van Sickle’s Grade 6 and 7 French Immersion class at Port Coquitlam’s Maple Creek middle school, show the “bank” of “franc” notes that they and their classmates earned and spent as part of an ongoing education on managing finances.
It’s not (just) about the money A teacher at Port Coquitlam’s Maple Creek middle school created an ‘economy’ in her Grade 6/7 classroom, with students earning ‘francs’ and spending them, too, which had some perhaps surprising — and educational — results. See story, page 3
THE TRI-CITY NEWS
A Belcarra teen and his dog are breathing a sigh of relief after a runin with a cougar Tuesday evening. Levy Sadler, 16, was in his room when he heard a commotion outside in the back yard of his home, which fronts on to Sasamat Lake. When he looked out the window,
he saw a cougar attacking the family’s ninemonth-old puppy, Daisy. “It was like looking into death, it was so scary,” Sadler told CTV News. He jumped out the window and down to the yard and was screaming at the cougar to get off the dog but the cougar then turned on Sadler. see COUGAR, page 13