The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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Purple Lights
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Raising awareness about domestic violence.
Parents call for greater flexibility.
Evans Elementary playground upgrade.
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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 , 2 0 1 3
FVRD backs ChilliwackLangley express bus
■ G RIZZLY R OAR
Alina Konevski Black Press After years in the works, residents will soon be able to commute from Chilliwack to Abbotsford to Langley, and beyond, by public bus. The Fraser Valley Express bus has been unanimously approved by the Fraser Valley Regional District at Tuesday’s board meeting through a new bylaw. Chilliwack councillor Jason Lum, chair of the transportation advisory committee, was thrilled to see the Chilliwack-AbbotsfordLangley bus connection coming to fruition. “I am extremely pleased to see this system put into place,” he said. He sees it becoming a vital transit link, not only between the communities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, but between Metro Vancouver and Chilliwack ultimately. “It will benefit not only students who attend UFV, but residents who go into Abbotsford for cancer treatment, and it will also bring people into Chilliwack to shop at our businesses and stores.” FVRD director and Abbotsford mayor Bruce Banman agreed: “I’m pretty excited about this particular connection because finally, that invisible border between TransLink and the rest of the world will be erased,” he said. “People who want to get out of their cars to go to work will find a convenient way to do that…I think it’s been that missing link that the public has been asking for for a long, long time.” For the first time, a BC Transit bus will seamlessly connect the three municipalities, which have a combined population of 317,000. Continued: BUS/ p8
Kirkland Kennedy (No. 21) leads his GW Graham Grizzlies into battle in their home opener, played Friday night at Exhibition Stadium. It was the first senior varsity game played in Chilliwack in 30 years, but the final score favored the visitors, with the Rick Hansen Hurricanes winning 23-0. See story, page 16. ERIC WELSH/ PROGRESS
Pub stabbing sends two men to hospital Eric Welsh The Progress The blinking neon ‘open’ sign was flashing in the window of Chilliwack’s District Public House Monday morning, but the only people going in and out were police officers. The downtown pub was the site of a double-stabbing Sunday night, and Monday morning found the place surrounded by yellow police tape. Evidence placards and tarps covered the ground near the entrance, and one officer sat in
his car making sure the evidence remained undisturbed. While forensics teams worked inside, pub owner Brad Stuart tried to make sense of the scene. “It’s the last thing you want to happen in a pub,” he said. “We’ve worked so hard to make it a safe and fun environment, and all it takes is a few minutes to destroy that hard work.” Stuart said it was just after 7 p.m. when two men came into the pub and went upstairs for a game of pool. About 20 minutes later, staff heard a ruckus. Then, they saw two men come downstairs
and go outside, both covered in blood. District staff immediately phoned 9-1-1, then phoned their boss, who lives a couple blocks away. Stuart got there in time to see the stabbing victims being loaded onto stretchers. “They had arrested a third guy, and they were looking for a fourth guy,” he said. That has since been confirmed by police. Cpl. Len vanNieuwenhuizen said one of them is in serious condition, while the other sustained
superficial wounds. While none of his staff witnessed the actual stabbings, Stuart spent the next few hours trying to calm rattled employees. “Everyone there, even the customers, are like family and this is like having it happen in your own home,” he said. “This is devastating. We’ve had a perfect record up to now, where we haven’t even had fights in the pub. We haven’t even had a noise complaint in the last year and a half. I don’t think any of the staff has ever had any concerns about being safe.” Continued: PUB/ p4
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