UP FRONT 3
NEWS 9
‘Magical’ view of Burnaby Cops canvass for clues
ARTS 13
6
Gallery explores photo art
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY APRIL 24, 2015
SEE PAGE 17
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
PUBLIC SAFETY
Mountain is deceptive Firefighters prepare for worst-case scenarios By Cayley Dobie
cdobie@burnabynow.com
LONG WAY DOWN: Burnaby firefighters practise loading a stretcher on Burnaby Mountain. If someone had to be rescued after falling down the slope, firefighters would lower the person to the bottom and then transport them to a hospital if necessary . PHOTO LARRY WRIGHT
Firefighters spent a morning dangling off the side of Burnaby Mountain as part of the department’s recent technical rescue training. The training exercise is part of an annual program that helps familiarize new and less experienced firefighters on some of the terrain they could encounter while on duty in Burnaby. “The north side of the mountain is quite a hazard. There’s lots of steep dropoffs, and some of them are in the region of 200 to 300 feet,” Lt. Jeff Lyle told the NOW. While there hasn’t been a major incident on the mountain in recent years, Lyle said people occasionally hop the fenced perimeter not realizing how dangerous the area is. “It looks like bush and it looks like it’s not sloped, but there are actually sheer drops,” he said. “There are signs up there, but unfortunately people do stray over the fence.”
Survey says: Parents love libraries DPAC polls parents on pending cuts in city schools By Cornelia Naylor
cnaylor@burnabynow.com
Burnaby parents responded in droves to an online budget survey this month, and cuts to school libraries were their biggest concern. The school board is exploring more than $3.5 million in cuts, including the equivalent of more than 30 jobs, to cover a projected net deficit of more than $2.4 million next year. In an online survey, the district parent advisory council (DPAC) asked local parents to say which of the proposed cuts they opposed and which they supported. The poll garnered 1,627 responses, com-
pared to 586 when DPAC surveyed parents on the budget last year “Parents are concerned about the state of the education budget,” DPAC chair Jen Mezei said about the increased response. “When you do small cuts every year, it starts to take a toll, and I think parents are aware of what’s going on, and so I think they wanted an opportunity to have input.” By far the biggest concern, Mezei said, was a proposed plan to cut the equivalent of nearly three elementary teacher-librarian jobs. “Parents were really against that cut,” she said. Parents also felt strongly about proposed cuts to high school lab assistants (2.5
FTE), high school library shouldn’t have to decide. They (parents) staff (0.6 FTE), English lan“Parents feel they’ve been guage staff (two FTE), elput in an untenable position don’t want to ementary band (0.2 FTE) where they actually have to choose what and high school daily physichoose,” Mezei said. “They cal activity, CP and GT staff don’t want to choose what to cut ... (1.5 FTE). to cut because they don’t Mezei said parents also think we should be in a place submitted comments about where we should be cutting.” the importance of protecting The survey results were special-needs services and presented to the board Tuesthe district’s music programs. day. “Basically parents didn’t want to see cuts Trustees are scheduled to vote on the in the classrooms and to services that didistrict’s 2015/16 preliminary budget at a rectly affect students,” the DPAC chair public meeting April 28. said. When it came to listing which cuts they WHAT DO YOU THINK? COMMENT AT supported, however, Mezei said many parBurnabynow.com ents wrote comments instead, saying they
✁
REALTOR®
Order Take-Out. Call 310-SPOT (7768) or order online at www.whitespot.ca
BJELICA
Making Transitions Smooth
$5 off Frozen Cakes Expiry Date: May 15, 2015
menchie’s highgate village 7155 kingsway, burnaby 604.553.2811
✁
604-619-6263 Cell 604-435-9477 Office vidabjelica@hotmail.com