Thursday - Jan. 18, 2024 - How an Ohio newspaper sank a BC publishing empire

☃️ High 1C

Good morning!

I really love a good snowstorm. I’m also kind of proud of myself in this particular storm: I just—like yesterday—put better tires on my car. (Did I know I needed to get new tires months ago? Yes. Did I only just get around to it? Also yes.) It’s one of those things that stays on the list until it becomes an actual issue. Like the broken microwave I still haven’t replaced.

– Grace

Support local journalism by supporting The Current. Become a Current Insider member today and help bring local stories to life.

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

How an Ohio newspaper sank a BC publishing empire

Tyler writes: In 2006, Black Press was BC’s largest publisher of community newspapers. It owned a daily in Alberta. And I was just starting my newspaper career with one of the company’s paper. As I learned how to write a story and take a photo, Black Press owner David Black was doing what made him rich: he was looking to buy another newspaper.

Driven by ambition, this one would be bigger than any he had bought before. But Black’s big bet would end up going sour in ways that are only now becoming clear—and which will influence the future community institutions in the Fraser Valley and beyond for years to come.

• Today, Tyler writes about how a quest to turn a small-town newspaper empire into a continental behemoth backfired, and how the fate of Black Press was determined not in Williams Lake or Abbotsford, but in a gritty Ohio city.

Need to Know

❄️ Why do even small amounts of snow shut down Lower Mainland traffic? [CBC]

👉️ A Langley MLA got a new cabinet post [Langley Advance Times]

🚚 An Abbotsford trucking company was suspended after an oversized load almost hit an overpass [CBC]

➡️ A 66-year-old woman was killed in her home in Chilliwack; a man has been arrested [Chilliwack Progress]

✉️ Canada Post suspended mail delivery on Wednesday on account of heavy snowfall [Langley Advance Times]

⛸️ Skaters enjoyed some frozen waterways in Chilliwack last weekend [Chilliwack Progress]

👨‍⚖️ A man was sentenced to a year in jail after he held someone down on rail tracks in Abbotsford [Abbotsford News]

👉️ Langley Township will reconsider the rezoning that led Martini Town Studios to file a lawsuit [Langley Advance Times]

📷️ CURRENT CAM: Congratulations to Shirley, who was the first to correctly guess the location of yesterday’s Current Cam photo was Brydon Lagoon in Langley.

Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better!

Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Fraser Valley.

The Agenda

Storm dumps piles of snow in Fraser Valley

More than a foot of snow fell in many parts of the Fraser Valley Wednesday leaving commuters, businesses and institutions struggled to cope. Schools closed, drives were messy and, with snowfall warning still in effect in parts of the region, the storm may not be over yet.

School closures were announced in Langley, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack school districts early Wednesday morning. 

BC Transit suspended several routes in Mission (Bus 35 and 39), Chilliwack (Bus 33, and 34), and Abbotsford (Bus 6). Translink, which operates transit in Langley, is urging riders to undertake essential travel only.

Up to 20 centimeters of snow was forecast for between Tuesday night and Wednesday evening. On Tuesday morning, The Current shared two potential storm outcomes—a ‘boom’ forecast of up to a foot in some area, and a ‘bust’ forecast with much less snow, particularly close to the ocean—from Weather Network meteorologist Tyler Hamilton

As of 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, though, YVR Airport had recorded 23 cm of snow on its second-snowiest January day ever. And Fraser Valley residents reported more than a foot of the white stuff in many areas. The snow boom had materialized.

Flurries are expected for Thursday before the big melt: A week of moderate rain is expected beginning Friday with temperatures around 8 C. (In case you’re worried, the Nooksack isn’t expected to come close to flooding.)

Community journalism needs the entire community for it to succeed.

Become a Current member today and join 1,200+ other local supporters who help keep our lights on.

As part of a membership, you get our special weekend roundup of all the things you might’ve missed each week!

🗓 Things to do this week/end

😆 Comedy: Harrison Greenbaum will perform a comedy and magic show at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Friday Jan. 19 and at Mission’s Clarke Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 20.

⛏️ Theatre: The Arts Club Theatre Company will present Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story, a play about the story of a miner trapped in the Springhill, Nova Scotia, mine in the 1958 disaster, on Sunday, Jan. 21. Details online.

🍝 Friday, Jan. 19: Creekside Cheese and Creamery in Agassiz is holding a pasta-making class on Friday, Jan. 19. Details online.

Want even more? Insider members get a comprehensive events listing every Thursday, plus a weekly Saturday round-up edition with behind-the-scenes content. Becoming a member costs less than $2 a week and helps support the ongoing production of The Current’s newsletters and in-depth journalism. Become a member here.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Catch up

That’s it!

Thanks for reading Fraser Valley Current today ♥️ 

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another local.

And before you go, please let us know:

Help share The Current

Wouldn’t the Fraser Valley be better if more people had access to local, quality news – and didn’t have to rely on social media? Share The Current with your friends and help us build better communities.