THE
NEWSPAPER.COM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012
NEWS
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Surrey
City moves casino proposal to public hearing Christopher Poon
Now staff Twitter @questionchris
As supporters and opponents packed a crowded council chamber, Surrey council voted 8-1 to move forward with the gaming application for a proposed casino and entertainment complex in South Surrey. It was the last step before the public would be allowed to share their thoughts on the project with council directly, which will come in the form of a public hearing to be held on Jan. 14 in the New Year. Terry McNiece, president of the South Surrey Ratepayers Association, said council’s decision to move forward with the application to a public hearing was not a surprise. He said the next step is planning on what to say at the public hearing. Tanya Gabara, community liaison for Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited, said they were eager to move forward. “We were happy to hear the city say how important it was for everybody’s opinion to be heard and to move forward to this public information meeting,” said Gabara. As for the roughly 200 or so people who came out to city hall wearing T-shirts showing support for Gateway, Gabara said they comprised supporters, employees and friends of Gateway. “The level of support that came out was amazing,” she said, adding that Gateway had chartered buses for supporters wanting to attend. “We had several hundred people coming out so we felt this would be a good way to ensure that everybody who wanted to come got there and was able to find space.” Coun. Marvin Hunt, the lone councillor who voted against the application, said he’s ready to hear from the public about the proposed project, despite voting against the motion to move forward with the gaming application. When asked why he voted the way he did, Hunt said it wasn’t because Marvin Hunt he was opposed to allowing the public to have their input, but that he was opposed to the casino itself. “The generality is that you always vote for the public hearing but the reason I voted against it is simply that I am continuing a voting pattern I have in that I think there is enough gaming around for everyone,” he said. “By the same token, I wouldn’t be reading a lot into the other council members voting for that because it was a vote to hear from the public and that was a positive thing.” cpoon@thenownewspaper.com
Construction mishap on Maple Street
Firefighters battle a blaze in White Rock that left a 32-year-old man with burns and a broken arm on Wednesday morning. The fire broke out at house under construction on Maple Street. According to White Rock Deputy Fire Chief Bob Schlase, the fire was the result of some torch work being done
by crews working on the second floor. Schlase said the worker jumped from the second floor to the ground, breaking his arm. The blaze was contained in under an hour, taking around 16 firefighters to combat it. See more on this story online at thenownewspaper.com. (Photo: KEVIN HILL)
Surrey
No reason to keep ‘horrific’ assault secret, says Urban Mission’s Jonquil Hallgate
Beaten woman, 43, found partially clothed in Whalley parking lot Tom Zytaruk
Now staff Twitter @tomzytaruk
A Whalley woman continues to fight for her life in hospital as questions are being raised why her vicious beating has received less attention than other crimes in more affluent Surrey neighbourhoods. Surrey Mounties continue to investigate the Dec. 2 beating of a 43-year-old woman who was found partially clothed and falling in and out of consciousness in a Whalley parking lot. A passerby called police after finding her in the 13500-block of 106th Avenue, shortly after noon that Sunday. She remains in critical condition. News reports indicate she’d been chained to a tree and that one of her eyes had been
scratched out over a drug debt. Police said they did not find her chained up. “That’s what somebody said, but not us,” Cpl. Bert Paquet said. “It’s safe to say she suffered lifethreatening injuries, including facial injuries and fractures. There’s a lot of those details we can’t get into.” Paquet said the Surrey RCMP has “several dedicated officers” on the case but they have not yet identified a suspect. Police didn’t discuss the assault publicly until two days after the victim – whose name has not been released – had been found. “We had confirmed from the early stages that the greater public was not at risk in this case,” Paquet offered. “We have no reason to believe the greater public is at risk.” The neighbourhood where the assault took place is one of the roughest and most socially troubled areas in the Lower Mainland. Jonquil Hallgate, who operates the Surrey Urban Mission not far from where
the woman was found, questioned why this “horrific” case received so little public attention compared to a hit-and-run crash in South Surrey where two joggers were injured. “What makes that more newsworthy?” she asked. “Why is this not public?” Hallgate said she suspects the Whalley beating victim didn’t draw similar attention because her story didn’t involve “middle-class women doing what middleclass women do.” “That’s my perception,” she said. “If it was anybody else, there’d be a huge media outcry.” Chief Supt. Bill Fordy, in charge of the Surrey RCMP, said both crimes are being taken seriously. “Everybody matters,” he said. “No one’s life is more important than somebody else’s life.” Police ask witnesses or anyone with information in connection with the woman’s assault in Whalley to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502. tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com