CHILLIWACK TIMES CHILLIWACK TIMES
YEARINREVIEW
Thursday, December December 26, A21 Thursday, 26, 2013 2013 A21
point less to a predicted higher overall turnout than they do to an increase in access and information about the advanced polls.
May
May 14 A convicted fraudster’s decision to skip his sentencing hearing and leave British Columbia backfired last Friday when he was handed a one-year jail sentence in Supreme Court. Last June, a jury found Marc Colman guilty of defrauding the CFB Chilliwack Historical Society and two banks out of more than $38,000 by writing bad cheques.
May 2 Chilliwack’s Touch-n-Tan 24/7, the first 24-hour, self-serve tanning salon in B.C., is under fire from the member association that advocates on behalf of Canadian tanning salons for offering around-the-clock services. Clients use a special key fob to access tanning beds after hours, which could be 2 a.m. on a holiday or 5 a.m. before the salon opens on a work day. The Joint Canadian Tanning Association wants the B.C. government to ban self-serve tanning, citing room for error.
May 16 John Martin was elected BC Liberal MLA for Chilliwack on May 14 by a surprisingly large margin. Martin took 48 per cent of the approximately 19,500 ballots cast in Chilliwack, 17 points more than his close challenger, New Democrat Patti MacAhonic. Martin’s victory in a long-held BC Liberal riding came alongside a win by fellow Liberal candidate Laurie Throness in Chilliwack-Hope, who garnered more than 9,500 votes, or 49 per cent of the approximately 19,300 ballots.
May 2 Chilliwack Museum and Archives director Ron Denman has spent nearly three decades curating the city’s history. But if all things go according to plan, Denman, 65, will be retiring in late June, which means the search for his replacement is currently underway.
May 16
A Chilliwack man who fled B.C. after being convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from two local non-profits has been arrested in Ontario. Marc Colman was convicted last July of defrauding the Chilliwack Métis Association of more than $33,000 and of defrauding the CFB Chilliwack Historical Society of nearly $8,000 while serving as treasurer of both organizations.
Local parents who have been lobbying the Chilliwack school district for an early French immersion program for almost two years were devastated Tuesday when the school board voted against starting a program anytime soon. A feasibility study recommend the program start no earlier than 2014, but on May 14, the board defeated a motion to start it in 2014. The program is projected to cost $578,035 the first year and $3.9 million over the next five years.
May 7
May 21
May 7
Two people walked away from the crash of a small plane that plowed into a Fairfield Island farmer’s field Thursday afternoon. Locals who saw the accident rushed to the scene and were able to help the two occupants out of the aircraft.
May 9 Riding the bus in Chilliwack is getting easier and easier with more buses running on more routes for longer hours. Changes to the transit system that took effect last summer have proven extremely popular as ridership has increased steadily to the level of 20,000 rides in April, according to BC Transit. According to a three-year transit service plan, more changes are expected, including the extension of the Yale/Vedder route north to the
Paul J. Henderson
City hall was filled with tears and smiles May 7 as the late Dorothy Kostrzewa was remembered and her sport in past memorialized. Mayor Sharon Gaetz and council approved the renaming of the tennis courts at Portage Park to the Dorothy Kostrzewa Tennis Courts to hour her legacy. Broadway/Yale area and south to directly service the University of the Fraser Valley and Tyson area.
May 14 Local voters came out in record
numbers to the four days of advanced polls held last week in Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Hope for the 2013 provincial election. Residents in Chilliwack-Hope cast 4,832 votes between May 8 and 11,
representing a 68 per cent increase over 2009. In Chilliwack, 3,848 votes were cast at Evergreen Hall, up 27 per cent over advanced numbers from four years ago. The high early voting numbers
A Sto:lo woman’s nine-year fight over a few hundred sockeye salmon has ended with absolute discharge and a payout for most of the fish confiscated. After more 200 court appearances, Patricia Kelly was granted absolute discharge in Chilliwack court on May 9, and will be paid $2,484. Kelly was charged with purchasing, selling and possession of fish against the Fisheries Act in 2004. She was convicted in 2008, and then put forth an aboriginal rights defence, which she was in court trying to prove since that time.
May 21 A Chilliwack senior was arrested May 15 after allegedly fleeing from police and backing into several RCMP cruisers. Edward Sztuk, 73, was arrested See MAY, Page 22
Paul J. Henderson/TIMES Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Two people escaped the crash of their small plane without serious injuries on May 2.
Chilliwack-Hope BC Liberal candidate Laurie Throness—who would later win the election—waves to blue-suited volunteers as he leaves the WaterWealth Project’s all-candidates meeting held at Sto:lo Nation.
Rick Collins photo
The University of the Fraser Valley’s new campus at Canada Education Park designed by Stantec was named best university building by the World Architecture News Education Awards.