live
travel
Women and Wellness Page 13
Sunday, May 12, 2013
India Page 29
40 pages
your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment!
sport
West Van romps to final Page 31
Voted Canada’s Best Community Newspaper
www.nsnews.com
E 2013
PROVINCIAL ALL
Voter turnout a concern Jane Seyd jseyd@nsnews.com
AS polls open around the North Shore on Tuesday, there’s a good chance a large number of voters will be voting with their butts rather than their ballots — by choosing to stay home. In a trend that’s been growing for the past three decades, elections are being decided by a shrinking percentage of eligible voters. A study on declining voter turnout by Elections BC noted that 30 years ago, about 71 per cent of registered voters cast ballots province wide. In the See Older page 5
Mother love
NEWS photo Cindy Goodman
MADELINE Dy, 5, presents her mom, Karen, with a paper flower at the Highlands Preschool Mother’s Day Tea Party held Thursday. Scan with Layar for more photos.
DNV gives longboarders a break
Jeremy Shepherd jshepherd@nsnews.com
IT’S business as usual for District of North Vancouver longboarders after a contentious council debate ended with an endorsement of the status quo Monday. As the sport has thrived in recent years it has also generated scrutiny, with several drivers reporting near-collisions with longboarders swooping down steep streets at uncontrolled speeds. The district passed tougher measures on riders in 2012, instituting $100 fines and eventually banning longboarding on Skyline Drive. While he voted in favour of maintaining the status quo, the clock may be ticking for longboarding, according to Mayor Richard
Status quo remains but mayor warns sport must get compliance
Walton. “If this is going to be part of our culture it has to change,” he said. Walton likened the situation with longboarders to the status of mountain bikers a decade ago. “We were on the verge of banning mountain biking,” he said. “The woods were just being thrashed, quite frankly.” The transition of mountain biking from fringe sport to regional mainstay is due in part to the efforts of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association, according to Walton. “I see the solution as coming from those of you who are in this
room,” he said to the assembled longboarders in council chambers. “I would suggest the next two years, at the most, is the time the sports has to get tremendous compliance . . . or else it is going to be banned.” For Walton, the Skyline ban represented a failure, and a districtwide prohibition would also be regrettable. “We’ll be spending a lot of money with our police and bylaws officers running after 12-year-olds on skateboards instead of drug dealers, which is to me a complete waste of the community’s money and resources.” An effective balance has been struck between the longboarding community’s interests and safety concerns, according to a staff report. However, not everyone was in agreement on the effectiveness of the See Selective page 10
Scan ad with