Friday, June 29, 2023 - Best of July events

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NEWS

July’s must-do events

Summer is heating up and so is the Fraser Valley’s events calendar.

While some summertime activities like biking and basking in the summer sun don’t necessarily require scheduling there are some July events you’ll want to mark on your calendar.

• Today, we rundown a selection of the best of July happenings in the Fraser Valley—including where you can find a Canada Day celebration in your community.

Need to know

🚨 Fraser Health issued a drug alert for Chilliwack after discovering vape products with benzodiazepines [Fraser Health]

👍 A Langley teen who vanished in Golden Ears Park has been found [Vancouver Is Awesome]

❤️‍🩹 A young boy from Abbotsford who survived a drowning in Cultus Lake will travel to the United States for treatment; his family is fundraising for his recovery [Abbotsford News]

🏊‍♀️ Drop-in, punch passes, and membership fees are increasing at the Cheam Leisure Centre and Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre [YMCA]

🥊 Eighteen-year-old Chilliwack boxer Ella Meredith will represent Canada at the 2023 Pan-Am Games this summer [Fraser Valley Today]

🩺 News of a Langley clinic closing in December has patients worried about finding a new a doctor [Global]

💻 Bed Bath & Beyond is relaunching in Canada as an online store [Daily Hive]

👩🏻‍⚕️ The province is trying to incentivize Fraser Health doctors to fill gaps at hospitals in Langley and Abbotsford [CityNews]

🏒 Langley’s Zach Benson was drafted to the NHL by the Buffalo Sabres [Buffalo Sabres/YouTube]

👮🏻‍♂️ A driver in Mission was fined for excessive speeding [Mission RCMP/Facebook]

🚙 The junction at Highway 1 and 264 Street remains the most dangerous intersection in the Lower Mainland, according to ICBC [CTV]

👉 Staff who failed to check on two Indigenous children who were abused by their foster parents in a small Fraser Valley community are no longer employed by the ministry [CBC]

🏥 Fraser Canyon Hospital reopened Thursday after a police shooting [Hope Standard]

👩🏻‍💻 People can book an appointment to see a pharmacist for 21 minor illnesses and prescription contraceptives [BC Government]

⛺️ A new BC Parks feature will provide email notifications when a previously booked campsite becomes available at a specific campground [BC Government]

⛴ BC Ferries has cancelled eight sailings between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay during the Canada Day long weekend [Vancouver Sun]

🚫 A Langley-based media agency fired its president after he used misogynistic insults in an email to a former client [Daily Hive]

🧹 A Grade 3 class from Unsworth Elementary named Chilliwack’s new bike lane sweeper Sweeperella [City of Chilliwack]

☺ TODAY’S SMILE: A Nova Scotia valedictorian came out as trans during his commencement speech and was met a standing ovation [Global]

The Agenda

Chilliwack OKs news apartment

A new apartment building in Chilliwack will be rental-only for 10 years.

The planned six-storey, 64-unit project on Spadina Avenue will incorporate denser housing than the city would otherwise allow on that lot. In exchange, for permission to build more units, the project will provide a “community amenity”—in this case, affordable purpose-built rental housing.

The project will require amending the city’s Official Community Plan. City staff suggested that, once the required bylaws have passed, council ask for a restrictive covenant on title. That covenant would ensure the building be maintained as rental housing for 10 years.

Cameras to catch parkers that break two-hour rule

Chalk is out. Cameras are in.

Abbotsford is set to adopt automated licence plate readers that will detect if cars are parked longer than the permitted time period.

The “automated licence plate recognition” (ALPR) technology is similar to that already used by police. Abbotsford’s parking ALPR system will be used to scan plates in downtown areas with two-hour maximum parking times. A 2020 report found many cars were overstaying their welcome, and city staff say enforcement is needed to ensure enough parking spaces are available for visitors.

In a closed-doors meeting last year, council approved the use of ALPR technology, and the city bought the technology. (They split the coast with the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association.)

Vehicles that overstay their welcome trigger automated alerts and the system can issue a fine within 24 hours. City staff say they are testing the system and “exploring ways to incorporate a grace period.”

The technology will cost around $20,000 each year. That includes a facial blurring add-on, a city spokesperson told The Current. The city completed a privacy impact assessment. The spokesperson said the technology will use AI to “automatically blur faces … to safeguard privacy.”

Things to do

👉 Drum circle: Fraser Valley Métis Association hosts an Indigenous-lead singing medicine circle every Saturday in Abbotsford. Details online.

🧘🏻‍♀️ Outdoor yoga: Join a free yoga session on Saturday next to a lavender field at Harrison Lavender. Register online.

🐸 Toadlet fencing: Ryder Lake and Chilliwack residents are invited to help the Ryder Lake Nature Team build a temporary fence along Elk View Road on Monday to help amphibians travel from the breeding wetlands to the forest.

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