Friday - Dec. 29, 2023 - Four stories to watch in 2024

🌤 High 3C

Good morning!

Our second story today is about our Newsmaker of the Year. In the interest of full transparency, this isn’t some Time Magazine endeavour. Last week, I thought to ask readers for their newsmaker opinions. Having done that, I committed us to name someone.

Not that it wasn’t that hard of a choice. No readers suggested the person we selected—but the person would probably be a safe choice most years over the last decade. (We hope to talk to them in the months to come but haven’t yet done so.

Yesterday’s naming of Steven Point to the Order of Canada is a reminder not only of the Fraser Valley’s long history of prominent chiefs, but of the fact that their impact often transcends that of mayors, MLAs, and MPs who frequently appear in local news stories but rarely make a dint far from home. From William Sepass to Richard Malloway to Point, the political legacy of the Fraser Valley is frequently a story of chiefs whose voices carry far beyond the banks of the Fraser. One doubts that will change in the years to come.

– Tyler

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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

Stories to watch in 2024

The last two days we’ve written about the biggest political and environmental stories of 2023.

• Today, as we get ready to throw out this year’s calendar, we’re highlighting four 2023 stories that will reverberate throughout 2024.

Related

Need to Know

👏 Steven Point has been named to the Order of Canada; Point has served as Skowkale Chief, a judge, a provincial court judge, and in myriad other prominent positions [Chilliwack Progress]

🚓 After days of forensics work at a downtown Chilliwack home, police have identified a man believed to have been murdered [Fraser Valley Today]

💲 Langley City hiked property taxes nearly twice as much as the Township earlier this year [Langley Advance Times]

👉 Trans Mountain has been denied a request to use a smaller pipe in a stubborn piece of pipeline being installed in a tunnel near Hope [Western Standard]

🍞 A Chilliwack bakery is offering free baked goods this Saturday to celebrate the new year [Fraser Valley Today]

🍵 A new tea restaurant will open in Sevenoaks Shopping Mall in Abbotsford [Abbotsford News]

🚧 Renovating Langley City’s McBurney’s Plaza will cost about $700,000; construction is expected to last until February [Langley Advance Times]

👉 Police say they aren’t likely to investigate a woman who advertised a craft market, took money from vendors, then abruptly cancelled the event [Abbotsford News]

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The Agenda

New highway camera installed at Vedder Canal bridge

New highway cameras have been installed near the Vedder Canal to let drivers track the flow of traffic at the frequent choke point.

The cameras are two among a slew installed around the province over the past year. In a news release Thursday, the province said the Vedder Canal cameras were frequently requested by users.

Cameras point in both directions on the west side of the bridge, where accidents and a lack of shoulders can cause significant and prolonged delays. You can find the west-pointing camera here and the camera pointing east here.

New cameras have also been installed at Allison Pass, near Manning Park Resort. The province says the camera will be more reliable than the previous one, with better-quality images.

You can find links to a variety of highway cameras on our website here.

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NEWS

Our newsmaker of 2023

Today, we’re naming our first newsmaker of the year: Squiala First Nation Chief David Jimmie.

Although rarely front and centre, Jimmie has played a key role in two very different issues at the centre of the news in the valley over the last year: investigations into residential school abuses and rapid development in Chilliwack and on First Nations land.

• You can find readers’ suggestions—along with why Jimmie was our choice—here.

🗓 Things to do

Black & White New Year’s: Harma White and Joe Matheson will perform during Black & White Night, at the Vineyard Community Centre in downtown Chilliwack, New Year's Eve. Tickets online.

New Year drag: Bricklayer Brewing in Chilliwack is hosting a New Year's Eve drag show. Tickets and details online.

Harrison Mills party: The Sasquatch Inn in Harrison Mills is hosting a New Year's Eve party Dec. 31. Tickets online.

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

Catch up

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