INSIDE: Spectacular fire burns down Yarrow Esso gas station Pg. 3 T H U R S D A Y
March 22, 2012
Raising cancer funds hoop games 7 through N E W S ,
SPORTS,
WEATHER
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T chilliwacktimes.com
Protecting Carey Point at what cost? BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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hile Chilliwack city hall and the provincial government go back and forth over who should pay to protect land and homes in the Carey Point area from the spring freshet, residents want to build a berm themselves.
Mayor Gaetz says province not stepping up to fund repairs to berm that some say protects city
At Tuesday’s meeting, city staff presented a report to council on the Carey Point area, which lies outside the dike system and has been the subject of erosion for 100 years.
The spring freshet last year broke through a 15-year-old berm resulting in flooding on 17 properties. The conclusion of a report written by a consultant hired by the city was
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that there is no immediate threat to the east dike, something with which the provincial government agrees but that many of the residents and some city councillors don’t.
“Somebody’s got their head in a mole hill if they think that dike isn’t in peril,” said resident John Janzen. Janzen was at the meeting along with about a dozen Carey Point residents, but he lives on the city side of the dike. He said he’s lived in the area since the 1950s and seepage through See CAREY POINT, Page 4
hiefs even series Possible upset of historic proportions
mium and territory was fiercely contested. It was far from pretty. In fact, Tuesday’s game wasn’t on the same continent as here’s a long way to go, but the pretty. But that was by design, according Chilliwack Chiefs are one game to Chiefs head coach Harvey Smyl. “We haven’t been pretty all year,” said closer to pulling off what would be one of the greatest upsets in Smyl. “We’re a group that has to work hard to be successful, and right B.C. hockey history. now we have everyone playing The Chiefs beat the heavily hard.” favoured Penticton Vees 3-1 The loud crowd—aside from a in front of an electric Prospebusload of Vees fans—certainly ra Centre crowd Tuesday night to tie the best-of-seven firstEB IRST didn’t care. The Chiefs opened the scoround series at two. Game 5 First reported on takes place tonight (Thursday) chilliwacktimes.com ring four minutes into the first period on a power play when a in Penticton. The teams will puck squirted loose to Malcolm then return to Prospera Centre Friday for Game 6. Game 7, if necessary, Gould, who roofed the puck past Vees would take place Saturday in Penticton. netminder Chad Katunar. Chilliwack clung to the lead for the rest Facing some of the best junior A talent in the country, the Chiefs turned of the period, killing off two Penticton Tuesday’s game into trench warfare in See CHIEFS, Page 17 which scoring chances were at a pre-
BY TYLER OLSEN tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com
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Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Chiefs defenceman Alexander Perron-Fontaine shows his delight after scoring what turned out to be the game winning goal Tuesday against Penticton. The Chiefs have now evened their series with the Vees.
Magazine says don’t A move to Chilliwack
BY TYLER OLSEN tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com national magazine has declared Chilliwack to be one of the worst places to live in the country. Chilliwack was ranked 175th out of 190 cities in Money Sense magazine’s annual Best Places to Live rankings, behind Prince George, Cold Lake, Alta., and Sudbury, Ont. Abbotsford was ranked just ahead of Chilliwack, at 174th in the nation.
The magazine weighs several variables to determine a city’s place in its rankings including weather, affordable housing, accessibility to health care and the local economy. While Chilliwack scored above average for its residents’ discretionary income and for its growth, our city’s ranking suffered because of poor weather, relatively high crime, and the scarcity of doctors. Doing poorly in one category wasn’t enough to sink a city in the
rankings. The cities with the worst weather (St. John’s, Nfld.), worst pollution (St. Georges, Que.), and worst crime (North Battleford, Sask.) were all ranked in the top 60 cities. Asked her thoughts on the rankings, Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz provided a wry response via email: “Chilliwack residents who have concerns that our city is growing too fast, will be relieved to see that our scenic landscapes, numerous recreation opportuni-
ties and low taxes remain a well -kept secret from the rest of Canada, or at least from the writers at MoneySense magazine.” Gaetz, insisted Chilliwack is the best place to live. “On the other hand, Chilliwack’s unemployment rate is the lowest in B.C. at 4.7 per cent and our population has grown by 21 per cent since 2001, so the secret must be getting out that Chilliwack is a great place to live, work and play.”
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