POPULAR BUSINESS MAN PASSES AWAY
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WE MUST SAVE THE ALR
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ANVIL BATTERY WILL BLAST AGAIN
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FRIDAY
APRIL 11 2014
The Ford Fiesta ST is a gem of the subcompact class of cars, says Zack Spencer. See Page A14
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NWSS moves up FI rankings Mario Bartel
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New West musician Jeff Neufeld plays his guitar outside the Blenz coffee shop at 6th and 6th, where he’s hosting a weekly open mic night.
Musician brings open mic to Uptown Mario Bartel
played drums in a band when he you’re doing your job right.” was younger. But as career and Neufeld also performed at The family responsibilities took hold, Orange Room on Sixth Street. music faded into the background. When that closed, he drifted Until he picked Downtown to the up a guitar and Heritage Grill, walked into the old where he continues Jeff Neufeld Myles of Beans to play one night a It’s nice to be able to hear coffee shop in month. a real musician play a real Burnaby. But with a young instrument. Neufeld, 45, says family, Neufeld he was terrified as wanted a venue much as enthralled. closer to home. That’s when he saw “You get so much feedback a handwritten notice posted on from people,” says Neufeld of the the window at Blenz seeking local intimate environment. “You know musicians to play in the coffee shop.
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Jeff Neufeld’s passion for public performance was revived by playing his guitar at open mic nights. Now he’s hoping to revive open mic nights in Uptown New West. Neufeld is the organizer of a new weekly amateur music session at the Blenz café at the corner of Sixth and Sixth. Next week’s open mic will be on Thursday, but from then on they’ll be every Wednesday through May. Neufeld, a graduate of the music program at Capilano College,
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“We wanted to bring in more business,” admits Gauri Chadha, who runs the café with her husband Vinny. But they were also responding to customers’ enquiries to boost the ambiance. “People don’t always want to go to a pub to listen to music,” says Chadha. “The coffee shop is like their second home.” Neufeld runs a licensed daycare from his home near McBride Boulevard and often plays music at farmers markets on weekends. Please see OPEN MIC NIGHT, A4 Open Saturdays by appointment
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New West secondary is 65th in this year’s rankings of B.C. high schools by the Fraser Institute. That’s up from last year’s 74th placement, and makes it one of only 30 schools in the province that improved their ranking. But nobody’s doing a victory dance. In fact, the chair of the high school’s parents advisory council said he wasn’t even watching for the annual report. “We know it’s a good school,” said Stephen Bruyneel. “We know it’s got good teachers. The experience there is outstanding.” Bruyneel said with only one high school in the city, most parents can’t even look to the rankings to shop around for alternatives. “Their bigger concern is what is going to be available next year, what are the programs in the school,” said Bruyneel. The Fraser Institute ranking assigns scores to all 293 high schools in the province according to test scores in Grades 10-12 for courses that include a mandatory provincial exam, graduation rates and other indicators. see ‘IT’S CANNON’, A4