Thursday, April 25, 2024 - Turning history into song

🌧 High 10C

Good morning!

I have strong feelings about Bluey. Many parents do. For those without small children, Bluey is an adorable Australian TV series about a six-year-old blue heeler and her family. Although it is geared towards children, it is not—I would argue—a kids show. Bluey is a show for parents that your children will actually let you watch. The recently-released special “The Sign” proves that. (Spoilers below.)

In “The Sign,” Bluey tries to stop her parents from selling their house. She fails. But, at the last minute, her dad decides they can stay. That is, frankly, a terrible message for kids. But for the parents, there is something more. It is chance that forestalls the house sale, and in a moment of clarity we realize with the TV family that we will never truly know which choice is the right one. Sometimes, we just need to follow our hearts. When everything from bedtime to screen time feels fraught with implication, it’s a pretty good message to hear.

– Grace K.

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

NEWS

Singing history into the present

Inside the Mission Community Archives, reams of newsprint preserve the first draft of Mission’s history. Now, the city wants musicians to bring those stories back to life.

This summer, Mission is asking local performers to participate in its new musical storytelling project: The Mission Record. Four musicians will be chosen to turn a story from the archives of the local newspaper (The Mission Record) into an original song, recording and performing it for the community.

It’s an unusual approach for a municipal arts and culture department, but it’s one the city hopes will allow artists and community members to appreciate local history in a new way.

• Today, Grace K. looks at how Mission hopes to inspire local musicians to turn its history to song.

Related

Need to Know

🚓 Several people and businesses in Mission were shot with paintballs last week; police say they have identified a vehicle linked to the incidents [Global]

🔎 Calgary RCMP are asking for help to find a missing man who may have been in Hope on Saturday [Hope Standard]

⚖ An inquest into the 2018 death of a man in Chilliwack who was tasered by police will begin next month [Chilliwack Progress]

🚐 Mission Youth House is seeing more young people accessing its services [Mission Record]

⛑ Chilliwack Search and Rescue is getting $250k in provincial funding for a larger training and storage facility [Fraser Valley Today]

🐟 Thousands of chinook salmon were released into the Nicomekl River last Sunday [Langley Advance Times]

👉 A man who committed two indecent acts in Abbotsford last year has been sentenced, but won’t serve more time in jail [Abbotsford News]

🚒 A weekend fire that damaged four houses in Aldergrove was caused by ‘outdoor cooking,’ police say [Aldergrove Star]

🩺 Women have better survival rates in hospital when they are treated by female doctors, a new American study has found [Global]

🛒 A man trying to steal ice cream from a Chilliwack grocery store was arrested after he assaulted a loss prevention officer [Fraser Valley Today]

🚨 Shots were fired in an Abbotsford basement early Monday morning [Indo-Canadian Voice]

🗳 Former political advisor Shanjeelin Dwivedi is running for the federal Conservatives in Abbotsford-South Langley [Aldergrove Star]

🚿 Merritt is one of the driest places in BC right now, and residents who don’t heed water restrictions will have their taps turned off [CBC]

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The Agenda

Moth eradication scheduled for Langley

An invasive moth that BC has been battling for years will be facing another onslaught of insecticide this spring.

Spongy moths are an invasive species that have decimated trees and farms in Eastern Canada and the United States. They can be unintentionally brought to the province on vehicles and equipment traveling from infested areas. BC has been spraying the moths, formerly known as gypsy moths, and their habitat since 1979 to prevent infestations. This year, 30 hectares in Langley on 248th Street and 56 Avenue will be sprayed in late April. Other parts of the province outside the Fraser Valley will also be targeted.

The province will be using a common organic insecticide to target the moths. The insecticide contains a bacteria that will poison and kill the moths (and the caterpillars that become them) when they eat it. Only certain species of moth are affected.

🗓 Things to do this week/end

🐮 Bison tour: Academy Farms in Langley is offering bison farm tours April 27, May 11 and May 25. Proceeds go to an addiction treatment centre. Details online.

😜 Free kids fun: The Abbotsford Youth Commission has a week full of free events for youth ages 12-18 to celebrate BC Youth Week starting May 1. Try laser tag, ice skating, skateboarding, and more. Details online.

🎭 Improv night: Chilliwack Improv performs at Cowork Chilliwack April 26 at 7:30pm. Tickets online.

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Catch up

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