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Metro to tighten sulphur dioxide emission limit / MLA decries special policing regs
SNOW FALL FOR FOX RAVENS
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3, 2014 Your community. Your stories
TRI-CITY
NEWS HOMELESSNESS
It’s frigid but some still stay outside Shelter use is up so far this year Gary McKenna
The Tri-CiTy News
ROBERT MCDONALD PHOTO
The Terry Fox Ravens’ AAA high school football season came to an unexpected end on Saturday when the previously undefeated powerhouse lost 16-13 to the South Delta Sun Devils in the championship semifinal. See Sports, page A27 for details.
Sub-zero temperatures may be hitting the Lower Mainland this week but for some homeless people, it is still not cold enough to prompt them to take advantage of a shelter in the Tri-Cities. Rob Thiessen, director of the Tri-Cities Hope for Freedom Society, said there are a number of “hard-tohouse” people who are firmly entrenched in their way of life. He added that some have mental illnesses and are afraid of being in a confined space, while others are suspicious of outreach efforts and attempts to move them indoors. “There are a few individuals that have never responded to the resources offered to them by our outreach team or our shelter,”
Thiessen told The Tri-City News. “Those are the ones we have concerns about.” Thiessen’s organization runs the cold/wet weather mat program, which rotates between Tri-City churches, offering a warm place to sleep for the region’s homeless population. The number of people taking advantage of the shelter is up this year, averaging between 20 and 30 people a night. Since the shelter opened at the beginning of October, Thiessen noted that 15 people have been moved into permanent housing. Because of the frigid temperatures, the extreme weather emergency shelter was opened on the weekend at Trinity United Church in Port Coquitlam. That shelter only operates when the thermometer dips below –2 C and the cold/wet weather mat program is approaching capacity. see some refuse, page A6
CRIME IN THE TRI-CITIES
Mounties seeking suspect(s) in pair of similar sex crimes SaraH Payne The Tri-CiTy News
Coquitlam RCMP are seeking the public’s help in identifying similar-looking suspects in two separate sexual assaults on the same night. On the evening of Aug. 24, police received reports from two women that they were groped by an
unknown man in separate incidents. The first alleged assault took place on Maxwell Place in Port Coquitlam, in the Imperial Park neighbourhood, while the second occurred in the area of Westwood Street and Christmas Way in Coquitlam. In both incidents, the suspect was described as a
young-looking Asian man with darker skin, between 5’5” and 5’9” tall. Cpl. Jamie Chung said the incidents happened within 30 to 45 minutes of each other and involved the suspect(s) approaching the women and groping them. Chung said sex crime investigators are not sure whether the two incidents are related or if more than
one suspect is involved. Anyone with information is asked to contact Const. Kevin Cavanagh of the Coquitlam RCMP Sex Crimes Unit at 604364-6374 or, to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477 or through www. solvecrime.ca. spayne@tricitynews.com @spayneTC
CONTACT ThE TRI-CITY NEWS: newsroom@tricitynews.com
Police sketches of suspects in a pair of sex assaults.
A hoAx? A hoax may have led to a search last week, says Coquitlam SAR: pg. a17
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