CANADIAN PACIFIC WOMEN’S OPEN PHOTOS, PAGE 15
GARY MCKENNA/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
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TC THINGS-TO-DO GUIDE: 16
Lots of live music here this weekend
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Chief judge reviews online provincial court records / Are forest plans failing?
FRIDAY, AUG. 21, 2015 Your community. Your stories.
TRI-CITY
NEWS
CHILDREN, CHALLENGES & ABILITIES
‘In the water, she is free...’ Diane StranDberg Tri-CiTy News
S
tanding at the edge of the Hyde Creek rec centre pool, Alexa Kemp is as lean and fragile-looking as a fledgling bird. But once she’s in the water, she swims like a fish. “Good job, Lexie. Good job!” her mom, Deborah Prokosh, yells. Thrilled with her daughter’s accomplishment, she steps back from the edge of the pool to clap enthusiastically. It’s a common scene poolside but Alex is not just another new swimmer and Prokosh is not simply a proud parent. Alexa, who is 12 years old, has
a genetic disorder and mobility issues, and is mostly confined to a wheelchair. But today, she dog paddles over to her mom with a wide grin and big sparkly eyes, showing off her new skill. It’s been just over a year since Alexa started water therapy with Tidal Wave Aquatics, a subsidiary of Kidsfirst Physio. In that time, Alexa went from needing a floating device and clinging to her two trained assistants to dog paddling across the pool on her own. “It looked like she was fighting for her life,” says her mom. “Now, she’s swimming fluidly and independently.”
see ‘GRAVITY’, page 4
Mom Deborah Prokosh and physiotherapist Brenda Horton give Alexa Kemp, 12, a hug for being able to swim independently after a year in a hydrotherapy program, Tidal Wave Aquatics, which celebrates its 10th year at Hyde Creek rec centre in Port Coquitlam.
DIANE STRANDBERG/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
TRANSIT IN THE TRI-CITIES
bus changes planned for evergreen Sarah Payne The Tri-CiTy News
Tri-City transit users will be seeing a number of changes to the bus route landscape next fall, with expanded service and increased connections
planned to the Evergreen Line. The changes including eliminating or restructuring some existing bus routes — including the 97 B-line and the 160, 169 and 190 routes, which will become redundant once the Evergreen Line is operating —
and transferring those resources to fund the new plan, according to the Northeast Sector Area Transit Plan (NESATP) report released last month. These transit network changes are expected to expand service to new or under-
served areas and include: • frequent all-day service between PoCo Central and the Coquitlam Central stations via a combined 151 and 160 route; • frequent service on the Evergreen corridor and on Guildford Way and Pinetree Way
via a new 7 route and the 160; • more direct connections between Westwood Plateau and Heritage Mountain and the Coquitlam Central and other SkyTrain stations; see BUS ROUTES, page 8
MORE INSIDE • Bus map: pg. 8 • TransLink appointees: pg. 9
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