Tuesday December 17, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 101)
V O I C E
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W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
Royal messenger: South Surrey teen Ashley Brooks will use her new platform as the first-ever Ms. Vancouver to share her personal story and anti-bullying message. i see page 11
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Surrey councillor says mayors’ presentation should have been previewed by transportation committee
City staff ‘dropped the ball’ over rail: Gill Alex Browne Staff Reporter
The idea of track relocation in South Surrey and White Rock went off the rails with a public presentation on Nov. 26 – at least as far as the head of Surrey’s transportation advisory committee is concerned. Coun. Tom Gill said he feels city staff “dropped the ball” in promoting the ‘Rails To Trails’ plan to the public at the forum
– which included presentations from both Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin – without first running it past the transportation committee. Public excitement anticipating relocation of the route, expressed by many since then, has been tempered by skepticism and negative comments from others who are critical of pushing perceived safety and noise concerns onto other neighbourhoods inland.
Gill told Peace Arch News Monday that while discussion of topics such as rail relocation from the current BNSF waterfront route in both communities to alternate alignments inland will always be welcome at the committee, the safety of existing routes must always be the primary focus. And, he confirmed, the committee has no current plans to pursue funding options for relocation of the main line.
Four proposed relocation routes were presented at the packed open house, at which Gill acted as master of ceremonies, with Watts and Baldwin as the only scheduled speakers. Gill said he was asked “at the last minute” to attend the event and act as MC – and participated “given that the meeting was set” – but that his transportation committee “should have had a full presentation” first. i see page 2
Family ‘has suffered’
Planner panicked, court told Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. image
Police are appealing to gang members’ softer side, in a new campaign that will release new posters and video every four months for two years.
Campaign focuses on loved ones left behind by violent crime
Gang squad tugs paternal heartstrings Jeff Nagel Black Press
In a bid to shatter B.C.’s gang culture, police are targeting what they think is the soft underbelly of hardened gangsters – their guilt at the anguish they may cause loved ones if they die. Posters, videos and radio messages released Wednesday depict grieving children at the graves of gunned-down gangsters, including a tiny blonde girl leaving behind a card that says
“I miss you Daddy.” It ends with the tag line “Wouldn’t you rather she look up to you?” One video shows a girl sitting on a swing above a covered corpse. The campaign dubbed End Gang Life, complete with a website at www.endganglife.ca, is the latest brainchild of Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C.
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Officers with the anti-gang unit say violent criminals have no fear of jail nor often their own death, but may be swayed at the thought of causing pain to those they love. A quarter of gang-related murder victims in the past eight years were parents, Houghton said. “No child should have to grow up without their parents because of gangs and organized crime.” i see page 2
A former City of Surrey planner was under a great deal of pressure and failed to submit funds to the city in a moment of poor decision, his lawyer said last week. At his sentencing hearing Friday, Akonyu Akolo’s defence lawyer, Jennifer Currie, described how her client was rushing off to Uganda to see his sister who was dying of AIDS. In his hurry, Akonyu Akolo he neglected former staffer to submit $65,000 in cheques to the city for a builder’s development cost charges. Currie painted the elaborate scheme that followed as the act of a man who was afraid for his job and was trying to avoid getting caught. “In dealing with this developer, he was focused on getting back to his sister in Uganda,” Currie said. Judge Michael Hicks wasn’t entirely convinced of the spontaneous nature of the crime. “There’s more to this than a single act of bad judgment isn’t there?” i see page 2
The Freshest Holiday Treat! Korean Mandarins are now available!
See page 4