The Chilliwack
Progress Wednesday
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Search and rescue teams practise their skills in Chilliwack
A new take on a Shakespeare classic.
Graduating Chief can’t believe it’s over.
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Dion finds ‘inspiration’ in Chilliwack Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
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Former federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion in Chilliwack on Friday. JENNIFER FEINBERG/ PROGRESS
James Dick uses his tractor to shovel the parking lot and walkways at Broadway Church on Maple Avenue on Monday morning, in preparation for that day’s Canadian Blood Services mobile clinic. Dick attends the church and has been helping clear snow there for 20 years. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Chilliwack digs out from second storm Three-vehicle crash on Highway 1 claims one life east of Chilliwack Emergency crews were kept busy on the weekend as the snow that began Saturday and walloped Chilliwack on Sunday, changed to freezing rain in the evening. Highway 1 both east and west of Chilliwack was hard hit, as vehicles left the road or drivers negotiated their way around jack-knifed semi-trailers. One report indicated there were more than seven vehicles in the ditch between Abbotsford and Chilliwack by 9:30 p.m. West of Hope, the weather was
a factor in one fatality. RCMP say two eastbound vehicles collided near Flood-Hope Road at around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, sending one vehicle into the ditch and another through the median and into a westbound vehicle. Five people in the first two vehicles escaped serious injury. However, of the three people in the westbound car, two were taken to hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. The 71-year-old female rear passenger was pronounced dead at
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the scene. At the time of the crash both east and west bound lanes of Highway 1 were completely shut down for 3-1/2 hours for investigation and removal of the vehicles. The road, weather and visibility conditions were poor at the time of the crash with blowing snow. Witnesses who may have information about the crash were asked to contact the RCMP Fraser Valley Traffic Services at (604)702-4039. Meanwhile on Monday, the storm – the second major snowfall event in a week – closed schools across Chilliwack and
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Agassiz, giving students their first snow day of the year, or more appropriately “slush day.” UFV’s Chilliwack campus remained open, but its centre in Hope was closed. Total snowfall accumulation for the storm was estimated at 27 centimetres, said Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada. Rain is expected to continue throughout the week. But with the moisture will come warming temperatures, prompting the City of Chilliwack to remind residents to keep catch basins clear of ice so water can drain properly from their streets.
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Liberal MP Stéphane Dion said he was deeply inspired by what he saw and heard in Chilliwack last week. Dion was invited to be the keynote speaker at First Voice — an evening at Squiala Community Centre to “involve, inform and inspire” First Nations youth, sponsored by the Chilliwack-Hope Federal Liberal Riding Association. Dion was touring the eastern Fraser Valley last week, including stops in Hope, Chilliwack and Abbotsford. He’s been the Member of Parliament for St-LaurentCartierville in Quebec since 1996, and he is also the former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2008. The Liberal Party is courting the youth demographic, particularly First Nations, by making it clear they’re welcome to bring their aboriginal culture and perspective to the national political scene. “I would say that Canada needs its aboriginal people to succeed,” Dion told The Progress. Asked what he found remarkable or inspiring about his mini tour, Dion said it was something he heard during a meeting with reps from Sto:lo Community Futures inside the Sto:lo Resource Centre.