Proposal at public hearing before going to ALC
3
Passion Play
Massive production planned for Tsaw.
4
At Home 2011 trends in flooring
15-22
Optimist Delta
Newsstand 50¢
Medal haul
YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT! WWW.DELTA-OPTIMIST.COM The Voice of Delta since 1922 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2011
Delta trio helps Team B.C. win hockey gold in Halifax
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Politicians making a stink over landfill gas
Fashionable fundraiser!
BY
JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
PHOTO BY
KAREN LIBONATI
Paul Ridley modeled an outfit from John Michael Menswear during a fashion show fundraiser last Saturday evening at the RunInn in Tsawwassen. For more on the show, see Page 14.
Teen charged in murder Laura Szendrei’s parents not expecting to see skinny kid accused of killing daughter BY
TOM ZYTARUK
Optimist contributor
They were expecting to see a scary monster, a big bogeyman, but the image Rachael and Mike Szendrei had conjured up was a far cry from the skinny kid who appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Monday, charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of their 15-year-old daughter, Laura, in North Delta’s Mackie Park last September. “I’d like to rip his head off,”
the burly — and clearly enraged — dad told reporters outside the courthouse. Laura’s mother was surprised when she laid eyes on the teen, saying she’d expected a “big bogeyman, a scary monster.” Prosecutor Wendy Stephen said the Crown would seek an adult sentence for the 18-year-old North Deltan, if he’s found guilty. That would work out to life without eligibility to apply for parole for
25 years. The accused was 17 when Laura was killed, so it is illegal to publish his name as the Youth Criminal Justice Act shields his identity. Under the act, a first-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of 10 years, with six in custody. The accused remains in custody and his next court appearance is
scheduled for March 7. Laura died in hospital on Sept. 26, one day after she was viciously beaten in broad daylight in Mackie Park, while walking through the forest in the 8200block of 110th Street in North Delta. Her murder shook the community. Delta police Sgt. Sharlene Brooks said the accused was arrested early Sunday morning near the Surrey-Delta border but she wouldn’t say where.
Delta is calling the City of Vancouver out over its handling of greenhouse gas emissions at the landfill in Ladner. Civic politicians learned this week the Vancouver Landfill’s gas collection system is working well below provincial standards. The system is supposed to help control odours and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Provincial regulations state the landfill gas collection system must be at least 75 per cent efficiency to control odour and emissions. In 2009, it was working at only 41 per cent efficiency. “This information is startling,” chief administrative officer George Harvie told Delta council Monday night. “This landfill is not working properly.” Delta Mayor Lois Jackson called the information a “little bit of a kick in the teeth” after all the work on the Zero Waste initiative over the last year. Delta staff launched an investigation after receiving a number of odour complaints from residents in December. “The same odours were noted in the winter of 2009 and there have been many anecdotal comments noting that the odour has been more pronounced over the past two years,” Mike Brotherston, manager of climate action and environment, stated in his report to civic politicians. Staff reviewed the 2009 annual report to the province, which is a requirement of the landfill’s operational certificate, and noticed the section dealing with landfill gas collection was missing.
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