Take Five! PAGE 17
TUESDAY August 12, 2014 • www.langleytimes.com NEWS Charges Approved in Dogs’ Deaths
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ARTS & LIFE Arts Alive Returns
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SPORTS Run Like a Girl
Family, friends mark year since death BROTHER OF MAN KILLED ON BYPASS SAYS ANDREW LEDUC’S DEATH ‘STILL NOT REAL’ A LY S S A O’DE L L Time s Re po rte r
ALY S S A O’DELL L an gley Time s
Adam Leduc, far right, led family and friends of his brother Andrew in a memorial balloon release Saturday, Aug. 9, near the 19500 block of the Langley Bypass where Andrew was struck and killed by a semi truck one year ago.
It’s been a year, but Adam Leduc is still waiting for the phone to ring and to hear his brother’s voice on the other end. “It’s still not real for me,” said Adam of the passing of his brother, Andrew. Family and friends of Andrew Leduc gathered Saturday (Aug. 9), to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of the 37-year-old son, brother and father to three young children. He was struck and struck and killed by a semi truck driven by a Surrey RCMP consultant in the 19500 block of the Langley Bypass, on the Surrey-Langley border. Police blocked off a lane of traffic on the Langley Bypass as loved ones, including Andrew’s mom, brother, twin sisters and two daughters, met on the side of the road at the spot where he was killed. The anniversary of his death comes only weeks after an RCMP investigation cleared the driver, a consultant whom the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies employ to assist in traffic investigations, of wrongdoing — even though he did not stop after the accident. “It kind of brings everything back up again,” said Adam of the conclusion of the investigation, adding that the family is nowhere close to having closure. “He’s got three young kids who are going to grow up now never really knowing their dad,” he said of Andrew’s children, the youngest of whom was just six months old at the time of his death. “Everything with him was about the kids, taking them out and being with them.” The two dozen attendees honoured Andrew by releasing bright red balloons — decorated with handdrawn messages remembering him — into the cloudless summer sky. Continued Page 4
Numbers down in Langley homeless count MO N I Q U E TA M M I N G A Ti m e s Re por t e r
There are fewer homeless people in Langley this year, than there were in 2011. The final numbers are in from the oneday Metro Vancouver homeless count. It saw an 11 per cent decrease in Langley’s homeless population in 2014. On the day of the count, March 12, volunteers located 92 people who were
homeless in Langley and Aldergrove. Volunteers went out to known homeless camps, gathering spots and to the Gateway of Hope to gather information about Langley’s homeless population. More than 900 volunteers fanned out across the region to obtain a 24-hour snapshot of people who are homeless. A preliminary report came out in April but now the final numbers are now in. The last count was done in 2011.
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At that time, Langley’s volunteers counted 103 people who were homeless. In 2008 there were 86, and in 2005, there were 57 people homeless. When the count began, in 2002, Langley only had 18 homeless people counted. Most communities in Metro Vancouver saw a significant drop this year. Langley has the third highest number of children and youth living on the streets, with only Vancouver and Surrey
higher. In fact, 16 teens were found to be unsheltered. But Loren Roberts of the Aldergrove Neighbourhood Services said that number paints an inaccurate picture. “We know of five youth right now who are living without shelter and four of those are not interested in getting help from us,” said Roberts. Continued Page 4
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