A18 December 26, A18 Thursday, Thursday, December 26, 2013 2013
CHILLIWACK TIMES CHILLIWACK TIMES
YEARINREVIEW April April 2 Honey, a four-year-old chihuahua that stepped in to rescue 8-year-old Jenna during a pit bull attack, was recognized with a “Small Dog, Big Hero” from PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) a week after the incident. In addition to a certificate of honour, Honey’s family was given a bag of vegan dog treats, a new harness and a toy.
April 2 The Indigenous Maps, Films, Rights and Land Claims program at the University of the Fraser Valley will run for the fourth time in Chilliwack this summer. The four-week intensive program was launched four years ago to give people interested in land claims some essential background on how First Nations lands and resources were first taken away and the different methods aboriginal people have used to get them back.
April 4 Mayor Sharon Gaetz said a number of communities in the interior have watched closely as the City of Chilliwack battled the Fraser Health Authority over the water chlorination edict. Reporting back from the recent Municipal Finance Authority of BC meeting, Gaetz told council that the Interior Health Authority and some regional districts were “keenly aware” of what happened in Chilliwack, with some districts even talking about hiring lawyers to “protect their interests.”
April 4 Patricia Jones hasn’t seen the cat in nine months. Jones said the animal sleeps in the living room and eats the cat food that is set out for it. But verifying that assertion is difficult because of the mountains of trash that have taken over the downtown Chilliwack home. The Chilliwack home of Patricia, 90, and her 56-year-old son Glen (not their real names) is a death trap.
April 9 Tamihi Creek, the location of a proposed 15-megawatt power project, has become a “poster child” for British Columbia waterways endangered by independent power projects, according to a provincial recreation group. The popular kayaking creek—
Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Chilliwack Fire Department Capt. Don Van Beest had been trying for four years to fix the hoarding situation in a downtown Chilliwack home. which feeds into the Chilliwack River just below the Tamihi Rapids—has been named one of two “rivers to watch” by the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia, which recently released its annual Most Endangered Rivers List.
April 9 A local family was awarded $3.2 million in damages after the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously restored a decision this month against an obstetrician, William G. Johnston, for breaching standard of care during their daughter’s birth in 1998. Cassidy Ediger, 15, suffered from permanent brain damage due to a botched delivery and now lives with spastic quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. The money, which was awarded after a 12-year-long battle, will allow her family to care for her at home.
April 11 Corn farmer Gord Mitchell said he will physically stop natural gas pipeline owner, Spectra, from coming
onto his property if the company is not willing to negotiate. Specta is due to replace three kilometres of pipeline on a stretch that runs from just west of Prest Road across Luckakuck Way and through the Cottonwood Mall parking lot in June. The pipeline also runs beneath corn fields owned by Mitchell. The farmer has had an unhappy relationship with Spectra since they performed an emergency dig in 2011 during spring planting season, leading to topsoil damage and missed planting.
April 11 A driver involved in a deadly 2011 crash in Harrison Hot Springs that killed a Delta teen and injured another woman has pleaded guilty to two charges. Suhkvir Singh Grewal entered guilty pleas Tuesday to charges of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection to a crash on June 4, 2011, that killed 19-year-old Drew Helgason and injured Courtney Lewis.
April 16
April 18
In one final act in the dying hours of his tenure as Chilliwack’s representative in Victoria, John Les has helped secure $1 million in funding for the new agriculture training facility at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) campus at Canada Education Park. Les secured funding through the Ministry of Advanced Education to build dedicated greenhouses, labs and classroom space for the agriculture/horticulture program.
Desperate to start a family after nearly two decades together, Arthur Adams and Toni Grenier were thrilled when they learned they qualified for vitro fertilization. There was only one hitch: a $15,000 price tag. One week later, through a miraculous stroke of luck, Adams was standing at Chance Casino with a cheque for $10,000 in his hands.
April 16 Chilliwack man Jerry Lee Elliott was convicted Friday of aggravated assault in a brutal beating that left his victim with a fractured skull. At trial, the court heard that Douglas Hiatt had stopped his car on Chilliwack River Road on Oct. 29, 2010, only to be set upon by two men. Hiatt was dragged from his car and beaten with what may have been a hammer and suffered injuries that cause seizures and headaches that continue to this day. Elliott will be sentenced at a later date.
Paul J. Henderson/TIMES
Paul J. Henderson/TIMES
The irony was rich for Sto:lo pop singer Inez Jasper when someone complained to the police on April 5 about loud drumming while she was shooting a video for a song about the historic ban on aboriginal gatherings.
Chilliwack NDP candidate Patti MacAhonic protects herself from a looming debt prop hoisted by Chilliwack-Hope BC Conservative candidate Michael Henshall during a provincial election all-candidates meeting April 18.
April 18 The leaders of both main provincial parties made campaign stops in Chilliwack on Wednesday, a sign of tight races in both local ridings. BC Liberal leader Christy Clark’s campaign bus went to Langley Concrete to talk about jobs, the economy and the risk of voting NDP, while BC NDP leader Adrian Dix went to Chilliwack candidate Patti MacAhonic’s campaign office with Chilliwack-Hope incumbent Gwen O’Mahony to rally the troops for the 28-day election campaign, which started Tuesday. See APRIL, Page 20
Tyler Olsen/TIMES
A rider has a rough landing during a demonstration at the grand opening of the Fraser Valley Regional District’s Island 22 bike park April 20.