B.C. Views Ottawa puts on pipeline push. p6
Formula car made in Maple Ridge. p8
THE NEWS
Arts&life Magic carpet ride around the world. p21
www.mapleridgenews.com Wednesday, December 11, 2013 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · Delivery: 604-466-6397
Mailman beaten, robbed Thieves steal mail, hit him in the head by M on i sh a M ar ti n s staff reporter
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Dreams of Christmas A character from the Fairytale Dream Parties float waves to onlookers during the Santa Claus Parade in downtown Maple Ridge on Saturday. See more images, p4.
A postal worker was beaten and robbed in east Maple Ridge on Thursday. The 67-year-old man was delivering mail to a community box outside a gated housing complex on 116th Avenue at 239th Street around 1 p.m., when he was approached by two men. The suspects demanded mail and his keys. One of them then struck the postal worker in the head with a “hard” object, according the Ridge Meadows RCMP. After the assault and theft, the suspects drove off in a green-grey SUV, which had two more men in it. “This brazen, mid-day attack is very concerning for police and our community,” Cpl. Alanna Dunlop said. “Police investigators are working hard to identify suspects and bring them before the courts. Suspects did steal a quantity of mail in the robbery.” See Attack, p12
Maple Ridge to be a city? District considering application to change status by Phil M elnyc h u k staff reporter
How does the City of Maple Ridge sound? Depending on a staff report next spring, council could decide to apply to the provincial government and change its status from district municipality to city.
Coun. Al Hogarth raised the issue earlier and the economic development will review the pros and cons of changing the label in the new year. “The City of Maple Ridge – I kind of like the sounds of that,” Hogarth said Tuesday. “We’re not just a sleepy little town.” Hogarth pointed out that Maple Ridge, with a population of about 78,000, is one of the largest 100 municipalities in Canada. He acknowledged there could be pros
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and cons, and that both sides had to be considered before making the change. Becoming known as a city will make it easier to attract investment, tourism Daykin and improve interaction with senior governments. The same goes when trying
to attract overseas investments, he added. And out of the eight regional growth centres identified by Metro Vancouver, Maple Ridge is the only one known as a district. “District municipality – what does that mean?” Hogarth asked. The topic has been discussed for a while, added Mayor Ernie Daykin. “I can see, everybody calls it the city anyways. Are people more used to the term [city]? Yup,” he said. See City, p13
Index Opinion Letters Seniority Arts&life Community Calendar Sports Classifieds
6 7 20 21 26 27 30
Community: 200-plus line up for Help Portraits. See story, p14
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