INSIDE: Artistic marvel is our city’s Cultural Centre of attention Pg. B1 September 17, 2010
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LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER & ENTERTAINMENT chilliwacktimes.com
Taser death delay
Slots put on hold for now BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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ive-and-a half hours, 69 speakers and a nerve-wracking four-to-three vote gave the goahead to Chilliwack Bingo’s application to relocate and convert into a Community Gaming Centre complete with slot machines. But that was one year ago Tuesday night. Those driving by the location at the old Mertin GM dealership building on Olds Road will have noticed that nothing but weeds have come up between the cracks in the pavement despite the original goal that the gaming centre would be up and running by the end of this year. So what happened to the project after all this time? “Oh well, things never go as you schedule them,” said Fran Heagy of Chilliwack Bingo. “It’s just taken much longer than we had anticipated.” First up was a traffic study the city asked the organization to do, which is now in the hands of municipal staff. But it turns out the building also isn’t quite what they had hoped. “Initially we were going to renovate it,” Heagy said. “We’ve since rethought that and I think it will be a new building.” Mayor Sharon Gaetz said, from the city’s point of view, staff is processing the development permit, but no new hearings of any kind are required. Some improvements to the Young Road and Olds Drive intersection will also have to be made as a result of the completed traffic study. Heagy said the charities that make up Chilliwack Bingo are anxious to get the gaming centre up and running, but she was reluctant to say when it might be open. “All I can say is we are still moving forward and obviously the sooner the better for us,” she said.
Local runner on a Mission for Terry
RCMP failing to sign-off on Knipstrom report now 300 days overdue BY TYLER OLSEN tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com
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from the mouth of the Fraser at Musqueam up to Hope from Wednesday to Friday. “We’re using beach seines which gather up the salmon and make it easy for our fishermen to reach in and release the coho in the catch,” explained Sto:lo Tribal Council fisheries advisor Ernie Crey. Beach seines use a finer mesh than gill nets and allow fishermen to catch sockeye while putting coho
early three years after Robert Knipstrom died after being arrested by Chilliwack Mounties, an investigation into the events leading up to his death continues to gather dust at RCMP headquarters. Knipstrom died on Nov. 24, 2007, five days after being pepper sprayed, Tasered and hit with a baton as Mounties attempted to subdue him. The Commission for Public Complaints (CPC) Against the RCMP launched a “chair-initiated complaint” immediately after the arrest of Knipstrom. Last November it completed its investigation into the incident and forwarded its report to the RCMP for final comment. The CPC recommends that the Mounties take no longer than 30 days to sign-off on reports and comment on whether, and how, it plans to address the issues raised. But nearly 300 days after receiving the Knipstrom case, the report has still not been released. The initial complaint called for
See SALMON, Page 3
See KNIPSTROM, Page 22
Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Matt McIntyre tosses a salmon caught in a Fraser River beach-seine Wednesday.
In-seine numbers BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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he unexpectedly lucrative sockeye fishing season on the Fraser River is winding down. Recreational anglers have only until Sunday and First Nations were out this week on what is likely the last three-day fishery to selectively harvest the popular salmon. Sto:lo fishermen were on the river with beach seines
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