History: The story of Christmas trees and soldiers in 1914. 24
Safety: Operation Red Nose rides again. 9
Sports: Marauder Smith signs with SFU. 33 Fr i d ay, D e ce m b e r 1 9, 2 014 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (del ive r y) 6 0 4 - 4 6 6 - 6 3 9 7
Pitt donors win mayors’ challenge Friends food bank benefits from double contributions By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Maple Ridge residents may grow to like Pitt Meadows’ flag. They’ll be seeing it for the next month every time they walk into Maple Ridge municipal hall after the smaller city won the CP Holiday Train Challenge on Wednesday. Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read and Pitt Meadows counterpart, John Becker, announced the challenge two weeks ago to see which city had the biggest heart and could raise, per capita, the most food and money for the Friends in Need Food Bank. When the train rolled in with Blue Rodeo singer Jim Cuddy performing, the donations started to flow. When it was over, Pitt Meadows residents had the bigger hearts. Those who dropped by to see the CP Holiday Train at the Pitt Meadows location brought 2,954 pounds of food. See Train, 13
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy performs on stage during the CP Rail Holiday Train stop at Port Haney Station in Maple Ridge on Wednesday.
TransLink referendum approved Province approves question on sales tax By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
THE NEWS/files
A B-line bus from downtown Maple Ridge to the Evergreen SkyTrain line is part of the plan.
The province approved a TransLink referendum on Thursday for this spring, when Lower Mainland residents will vote on a 0.5 per cent increase in the B.C. sales tax to fund the transportation authority’s 10year plan. New B-line bus routes, shorter
waits for buses and upgrades to the West Coast Express service are the main benefits that residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will get in the deal. That’s what Pitt Meadows council heard from Metro Vancouver board chair Greg Moore at their Tuesday night meet- Moore ing. The Port Coquitlam mayor is also a key voice for the Mayor’s Council on Regional Transportation, and
explained the upcoming TransLink referendum, which will determine how to fund the transit authority’s 10-year plan, if successful. If the plan is approved by voters, Moore said more busing will be the easiest for TransLink to roll out. So communities from Coquitlam to Maple Ridge will get their improvements first. “We’ll see the most impact, almost
immediately.” Two new B-line buses will connect Coquitlam Centre to both downtown Maple Ridge and downtown Langley, via the Golden Ears Bridge. There are currently three B-line routes in the Lower Mainland, but that would increase to 14, served by 159 new buses. These buses have limited stops, greater capacity, have their own lane, can go through red lights, and are touted by TransLink as being faster than driving. See Transit, 10
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