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COQUITLAM EXPRESS: A15
Winning weekend for BCHL club HAWKEYES
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Hospitals jammed but Fraser Health predicts progress / Metro Van shakes up garbage
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4, 2015 Your community. Your stories
TRI-CITY
NEWS VOTERS URGED TO SAY ‘YES’ Jeff Nagel BLACk PRESS
PHILIP WARBURTON PHOTO
Philip Warburton snapped this photo of a red-tailed hawk on the dyke in northeast Coquitlam last week. The birds reside throughout North America, reaching from Alaska to as far south as Panama.
STRANGER DANGER?
leigh incident prompts student safety discussion Man offered chocolate to young students Sarah PayNe
The Tri-CiTy News
Leigh elementary teachers will be talking to students about safety around strangers after an incident at the Coquitlam
school Monday morning. Two girls who were playing near the fence on Victoria Drive, near Toronto Street, during recess reported that a man walked up to the fence and asked if they wanted some chocolate. They looked up but didn’t say anything, at which point the man then threw some chocolate bars over the fence and then kept walking.
“What would a guy be doing with a bag full of chocolate, walking past the school?” asked the mother of one of the girls, who asked not to be named. “You don’t know if he could be a creep, slowly gaining their trust. My daughter always plays there. Maybe he’s been watching them.” The mother suggested there needs to be gates installed and greater super-
vision during recess and lunchtimes. An email went out to parents on Monday afternoon and was also posted on the school’s website, which noted there was no attempt to lure the girls off of school grounds. The school has also contacted Coquitlam RCMP and notified the school board office.
CONTACT ThE TRI-CITY NEWS: newsroom@tricitynews.com
see VESTS, page A5
RETRO TECH PETTING ZOO A blast from the past at Port Moody Public Library: page a8
Metro Vancouver mayors formally kicked off their referendum information campaign in support of a new 0.5% sales tax Monday, saying it’s critical to the future of the region to improve transit and transportation. Several mayors rode transit to Waterfront Station where they highlighted the broad expansion of transit service that would come under their plan, while emphasizing that a No vote will leave residents increasingly stuck in traffic. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson pitched the tax as a minimal cost — 35 cents a day per household — to deliver key upgrades ranging from a light rail network in Surrey, to a subway along Broadway, more SeaBus service and 11 new B-Line express bus routes. “Our constituents have told us to fix the transit and transportation problems plaguing our growing communities,” said Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore. “Wasted time sitting in traffic jams, passups by full buses or having no buses at all costs everyone.” Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner said congestion now costs the economy $1 billion a year and that will rise to $2 billion without the promised improvements.
see MAYORS, page A6
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