INSIDE: Former NHLer named new Bruins assistant coach/GM Pg. 16 June 11, 2010
F R I D A Y
dirt jumps levelled by city 3 Popular 1985-
201
0
LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER & ENTERTAINMENT chilliwacktimes.com
Silencer wanted for gun range
Grad stuck on duct-tape dress BY CORNELIA NAYLOR cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com
A
t about $80, Ilena Low’s homemade duct-tape grad gown was a serious bargain—unless you factor in the labour, that is. Altogether, the local grad estimates she spent about 130 hours fashioning her blue and silver creation. But it was time well spent according to Low, who debuted the gown at her MEI graduation last Friday. “People’s reactions were hilarious,” she said. “It definitely paid off in the end.” The quirky grad garment has become a bit of a tradition in Low’s family. Her decision to don a ducttape dress was EB IRST i n s p i r e d l a s t First reported on Christmas by a chilliwacktimes.com cousin who wore a suit made of the versatile tape 10 years ago at his Sardis secondary graduation. “I thought that was really cool,” said Low. “He doesn’t like to do what everybody else does. It probably runs in our family.” To craft her own creation, Low first dismantled a dress she found at Value Village to serve as a pattern. For lining, she chose cheap fabric emblazoned with mailmen and UPS deliverymen. “It’s sort of my quirky touch for the dress,” she said with a laugh. Once the lining was cut, each segment of the emerging gown was covered with duct tape—eight rolls of blue and two rolls of silver. Stiching the pieces together was a challenge. Unsure of whether a sewing machine could handle the tape, Low first sewed the entire dress by hand—an impressive feat
W
City not ready to enforce bylaw just yet BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
F
F
See DUCT TAPE, Page 27
Cornelia Naylor/TIMES
Local Grade 12 student Ilena Low touches up the duct tape grad gown she crafted for her MEI graduation last week.
reshet water rushes down the rocky banks of the Vedder River as birds flit about the newly greening branches on a Chilliwack spring morning. And then suddenly, another peaceful June day on the Rotary Trail is shattered by the sound of repeated gunfire. Long the bane of some regular trail users—and surely the source of shock and surprise for new ones—the near-daily sound from the firearms range at the RCMP’s Pacific Regional Training Centre (PRTC) has been getting worse and the City of Chilliwack will finally address the matter. “When they first started they weren’t working with Canada Border Services,” Mayor Sharon Gaetz said. “Now there is a lot more noise going on; the shooting range is being used far more often than it was in the past.” Not only is the range being used almost every day, but Gaetz said the RCMP are using a new firearm that has a higher pitch to it so that it can be heard all over the Vedder Crossing area into south Sardis. “Obviously it is protecting public safety but obviously it is a nuisance,” she said. “Complaints from the community have been ongoing since the PRTC/RCMP began using the firing range,” a staff report presented to city council at Monday’s meeting stated. “Aside from complaints from the residential community, the city has also received several concerns from other users within the Canada Education Park, including Canada Lands Company (CLC) and the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV).” Despite the complaints, the report stated that the city will not enforce the city’s noise bylaw against the RCMP “at this time.” If the PRTC were on federal land, the city’s noise bylaw would not apply anyway, but since the land is leased from UFV the city could issue fines. See GUN RANGE, Page 7
Plumbing Service Department WWW.OCONNORGROUP.COM 06198229
8645 Young Street, Chilliwack 604-792-5151 www.jadamandsons.com
FREE 143 PT pre-owned inspection and one year membership!
only at
604-792-2754 DL#5952
02124924
Price 60¢