TransLink: Questions answered. 10
Taking a stand. 3
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Family safe after terrorist attack Didn’t join cruise line tour in Tunisia By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Sometimes, it’s a good thing just to hang around and do nothing all day. Such a decision this week kept Maple Ridge realtor Ron Antalek and his family safe after fellow travellers on the cruise ship MSC Splendida were attacked during an excursion tour to a museum in Tunis, Tunisia. A total of 23 people were killed when tourist buses at the museum were attacked by terrorists, March 18. Twelve of those people were from the Splendida, the cruise line said on its website. Another 13 were injured. Another five from the Costa Fascinosa, another cruise ship that was in port, were also killed. Fortunately, Antalek, his wife Cathy and two kids, decided to stay at the dock and not jump on to one of the nine buses taking travellers on an onshore excursion. “They decided before they got there they’re not going into town. So they just stayed around the dock and then went back on board,” explained Brian Porter, Ron’s father-in-law who lives in Pitt Meadows. Porter has been tracking the progress of the brief cruise around the Mediterrean. The ship made five stops in seven days and Tunis was the last one. “It’s only a seven-day cruise, five ports. They did the others. They just figured no,” they wouldn’t go into town. Porter told his family that there wasn’t much to see, so they stayed around the ship. See Attack, 9
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
Joanne Pinkney is fed up with the problems around her business on Cliff Avenue.
Couple tired of cleanup Say their spa business suffering because of the neighbouring Caring Place B y T i m Fi t z g e r a l d newsroom@mapleridgenews .com
On a warm March afternoon, Ben and Joanne Pinkney answer the phone and talk to customers like any good business owner would. As the owners of Maple Ridge Pool and Spa Centre, the warm winter and budding flowers has everybody thinking of summer just a little sooner. Business should be good.
But for the Pinkneys, it’s anything but. Outside their store on Wednesday shortly after lunch, about a dozen people have set up shop on the street. Some simply make their way down the dead-end road and cut through an empty lot on their way to the Salvation Army Caring Place. A group of three sits a few metres from their front door, huddling close together, sharing something pulled from a fanny pack. Farther down the road, an older gentleman sifts through a grocery cart full of empties and other keepsakes he’s managed to rum-
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mage up. Ben takes one more quick glance outside, shakes his head. The exasperation in his voice says more than what comes out. “I’m just sick and tired of it,” he said. “It’s absolutely killing my business here. I don’t know what more we can do.” In 1993, the couple purchased the land where their business now sits. In 1996 they built their business. “This was going to be our retirement, it’s what we worked for so we could enjoy life,” said Joanne. “It’s more nerve racking what goes on outside our doors than the work in here. I can handle the
business. But we’re so busy trying to keep the place cleaned up.” But 18 years after they first opened their doors, the couple said they have seen their property values plummet and they are forced to continue to work. They had sold their store in 2004, but when the new owners went out of business, the Pinkney’s found themselves back in the pool and spa business when they couldn’t find anyone else to rent their storefront. Joanne is now 73, Ben 76, and neither said they expect to be able to retire. See Business, 9
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