New Westminster Record February 4 2015

Page 1

NEWS 3

Brewery District gets OK NEWS 5

Get ready to pay more taxes COMMUNITY 13

Church turns up the heat WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2015

LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS

M I D W E E K

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ORCHID ENSEMBLE BLENDS GENRES AND CULTURES SEE PAGE 11

NewWestRecord.ca

E D I T I O N

Measles outbreak triggers concerns 42 per cent of kids under two in NewWestminster are unvaccinated – authorities want to see more get their shots By Cornelia Nayor

cnaylor@newwestrecord.ca

Fraser Health is seeing an uptick in parents calling about vaccinations after a recent measles outbreak in Disneyland, but 42 per cent of New Westminster kids under the age of two are still unvaccinated, according to health authority data. “They’re concerning if they would continue to go down,” Burnaby-New Westminster public health manager Corinna Orobko said of the immunization numbers. “We do need to see them increase.We like to see closer to 80 per cent. Herd immunity is better if it’s higher.We are putting ourselves a

little bit at risk to have some outbreaks.” New West’s immunization rate for kids under two has dropped from 68 per cent in March 2013 and 65 per cent in March 2014 to 58 percent October – well below the Fraser Health average of 69 per cent. Orobko, however, said the number of local kids actually vaccinated is probably higher because New West parents often take them to nearby Vancouver for shots, and Fraser Health has no way of tracking those numbers. New West’s high immigrant and refugee population is also mobile, Orobko said, and the health authority has no way of determining whether people who originally land-

ed in New West are now living and vacciOrobko said local public health officials nating their kids somewhere outside of the are doing everything they can to boost imhealth region or still in New West not vaccimunization numbers, offering evening clinnating them. ics, concentrating on followup and cleaning As for newcomers being averse to vacciup vaccination data. nation on religious, culturRegrettable as the Disal or other grounds, Orobneyland measles outbreak is, ‘Herd immunity Orobko said, health officials ko said she doesn’t think that is better if it’s are encouraged by the pubsignificantly affects the data. “I don’t think that’s the islic’s response. higher’ sue,” she said. “(Immigrants “It’s terrible that we have and refugees) are very appreoutbreaks of measles,” she ciative of health care because said, “but at least people are they’ve seen some of the saying, ‘OK, this happened things that happen when these diseases do there. It could happen to me. I have to go occur because there aren’t enough vaccinaget my kids immunized.’” tions where they’ve been.They’re appreciaAlong with urging parents to get their tive of health care, period, because they may Continued on page 8 not have had the access.”

No arrests yet after stabbing By Jacob Zinn

editorial@newwestrecord.ca

SEARCHING Police brought in a dog to look for evidence after a man was stabbed on Friday. The victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening

New Westminster police are investigating a daytime stabbing that happened at Columbia Square on Friday. Shortly after 2 p.m., police received reports that a man had been stabbed at 1005 Columbia St., Staff Sgt.Todd Matsumoto told the Record. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. “I can tell you our major crime unit has been called in to continue with our investigation, as well as our forensic identification section,” said Matsumoto. The stabbing occurred in Columbia Square plaza, right outside of the New Westminster school district’s school board office. Superintendent John Gaiptman said witnesses brought the victim to the front of the building and staff attended to him. “911 was called immediately, they showed up and whisked him off to Royal Columbian,” said Gaiptman. In regard to concerns with the stabbing happening so close to the school district headquarters, Gaiptman said they are in Continued on page 8

injuries PHOTO SHANE MACKICHAN

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