January 09, 2015

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TOWER NOT SHORT ENOUGH TO SATISFY

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IS QUEENSBOROUGH GETTING SHAFTED?

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FARE EVADERS FROM page POORER AREAS

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FRIDAY

JANUARY 9 2015 www.newwestnewsleader.com

Trip to Queen’s Park off-leash area led to misadventure for local dog owner. See Page A3

Board adopts inclusion policy with teeth Grant Granger

ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com

GRANT GRANGER/NEWSLEADER

Alberta Street parents Danielle Connelly and Lara Kinna want to see traffic calming measures for their street because the volume and speed of traffic on their narrow residential street is becoming dangerous for themselves and their children.

Alberta unsafe at any speed: Residents Say they want city to take measures to stop dangerous drivers on their side street Grant Granger

ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com

Danielle Connelly’s heritage house is home, sweet home except for one thing. She’s so afraid of her sons getting hit by a car she won’t let them play in the front yard. Her family doesn’t live on a thoroughfare like Tenth Avenue

or Eighth Street. Their home is on Columbia, Brunette Avenue and what they thought was a nice, quiet McBride Boulevard. A traffic side street in Sapperton. But now light on Columbia at the foot of the 300-block of Alberta makes it Alberta Street is easy for eastbound as dangerous as a commuters to turn highway, she says. left onto Columbia, Danielle Connelly Connelly said says Connelly and It’s scary. It’s not nice for rat-running the kids. It’s not nice for the her neighbour people that live here. commuters use Lara Kinna. In Alberta to connect addition, they say, between Richmond commercial trucks and Columbia streets. They do use Alberta to connect to Nelson’s it to avoid congestion on much Crescent and the Brewery District busier thoroughfares like East development’s loading docks.

CHOICEquotes

Parking is permitted on both sides of Alberta, making it so narrow it’s basically one lane. Parked vehicles are frequently clipped and the offending drivers aren’t stopping, the two women said. Connelly’s even called the police after a verbal confrontation with a driver. She won’t allow her sons, aged 10 and eight, to play in their family’s front yard, “which is a sad way to be building viable, people-friendly communities,” she wrote in a recent email to city council. Please see ‘I DON’T THINK’, A10

New Westminster school district is beefing up its anti-homophobia policy to make it “far more actionoriented,” according to board chair Jonina Campbell. The board initially adopted a policy 18 months ago. But Campbell said the new one will make sure New West schools are inclusive in the future. To start with, the policy has a different label. It will be called the “gender and sexual diversity inclusion policy.” It also establishes an ongoing committee made up of trustees and other district stakeholders, including students. Campbell said the committee’s duty will be to make sure the district’s schools remain safe and inclusive, and policies and procedures aren’t outdated. The new policy also will result in more education and awareness of the issue that’s age appropriate. “There’s a lot more here that will change the culture of New Westminster starting with making sure our school district is an inclusive school district,” said Campbell. see INCLUSION, A3


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