THE WEDNESDAY
MAY 29, 2013
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS
www.tricitynews.com
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
Eagles have landed
The kids are alright
SEE SPORTS, PAGE 19
SEE ARTS, PAGE 16
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/10 Letters/11 A Good Read/12 Chamber News/B section
18 months for daycare operator By Sarah Payne THE TRI-CITY NEWS
The daycare operator charged in the death of a nearly one-year-old boy on his first day of daycare in January 2011 will spend the next 18 months in prison. In his reasons for sentencing, B.C. Provincial Court Judge David Stone noted many of the supporting cases offered by both Crown and defence lawyers involved more aggravating circumstances, such as a period of abuse or neglect preceding the death, than the case of Maria McFerran, who last September pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death. McFerran was operating the Rattle ‘n’ Roll daycare out of her Port Coquitlam home when
Arto Howley, just two days away from his first birthday, arrived for his first day of daycare on Jan. 17, 2011. He died just four hours later. As an unlicensed daycare, McFerran was allowed to care for fewer than three children not related to her, but on the day Arto died she was looking after him as well as six other children. McFerran had strapped him into a car seat with the padding removed and left him alone, with no baby monitor on, in an upstairs bedroom for a nap. When she came back to check on Arto an hour later he wasn’t breathing; an autopsy found he had slumped down in the car seat and was strangled by the straps. see CAR SEAT, page 4
NDP’s Robinson back in the lead By Sarah Payne THE TRI-CITY NEWS
MARIA SPITALE-LEISK/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Maple Ridge’s Connor L’Abbe, 3, and his dad, Denis, enjoy some peaceful bonding time at the Como Lake Fishing Derby Sunday in Coquitlam. Approximately 75 trout were recorded during the derby, said Peter Kessler with the Port Coquitlam District Hunting and Fishing Club. Coquitlam’s Brice Kingsley reeled in the winner, a 15 3/4-ounce trout.
The CoquitlamMaillardville riding will likely stay in the NDP’s hands after a count of absentee ballots gave Selina Robinson a slight edge over Liberal candidate Steve Kim. According to Elections BC, the NDP candidate for CoquitlamMaillardville has 35 votes more than Kim. However, these numbers are preliminary and subject to a judicial recount. “I’m honoured, humbled, overwhelmed and overjoyed,” Robinson said Tuesday morning. “I’m hopeful that the win
will stand...but I’m feeling comfortable.” An election night vote on May 14 had Robinson 111 votes behind Kim but the final count had Robinson at 9,928 votes compared to Kim’s 9,893, a difference of just 35 votes. Under the Election Act the District Electoral Officer must apply to the Supreme Court for a judicial recount if the difference between the top two candidates is less than .2% of the ballots considered. (That application hasn’t yet been made so it’s not known when the recount will happen.) see ABSENTEE, page 5