Monday - Jan. 15, 2024 - Value of 109-year-old Chilliwack hall skyrockets

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Good morning!

When you take a ferry from Vancouver to Victoria and back again, there’s a narrow point where the big boats twine themselves between rocky, wooded islands. The small, deep strait the ships use is called Active Pass, named for its business as the main passenger thoroughfare between Vancouver and Vancouver Island. It’s often the point where ferries meet and blast their whistles in warning.

When the weather picked up at the end of last week, I couldn’t place the noise the wind made as it careened past my windows. It was weirdly familiar, like an actor I’d seen in a movie before, until I placed it. The wind was making the same sound as the ferry whistle. It was also nearly as loud, and went on for hours.

– Grace

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🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

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🛣 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

Value of 109-year-old Chilliwack hall has skyrocketed despite police raid, bad decor

Built more than a century ago by a municipality trying to overcome its mooching past, the Township of Chilliwhack's first municipal hall was a fine structure in its day.

That was a long time ago. Recent years have been unkind to a hall that the township couldn't sell for $7,000 six decades ago. Today, the building is up for sale again. But if you think police raids, nearby murders, iffy decor decisions, and loud trains would make the hall a bargain, well, you don't know the Fraser Valley real estate market.

• Today, Tyler writes about how the Township of Chilliwhack mooched off its younger sibling, and built a municipal hall with a multi-million 2024 price tag.

  Related

  

  A more complete meaning of Chilliwack’s name

  How Chilliwack's name highlights a special type of canoe travel.

Need to Know

👨‍⚖️ Martini Town Film Studio is suing the Township of Langley over land-use changes [Langley Advance Times] / We have the court documents; you can see them here

🌡️ Why was 2023 so warm? [Earth Observatory/NASA]

🔥 Scientists warn that Canada should be on “high alert” for wildfires this summer [CP24]

🚧 Langley Township will tie the construction of new homes to the provision of schools [Langley Advance Times]

❌ Burst water pipes forced the closure of Mission Memorial Hospital’s emergency room [Mission Record]

🥶 Thousands of people in Kent and the Hope area were left without power during the cold snap [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

☕ Langley charities have been dishing out coffee and cab rides to help men and women who are homeless during the cold snap [Langley Advance Times]

⚖ A hitman was sentenced for two killings, including that of an Abbotsford man who was not an intended victim [CTV]

👉 A fundraiser is being held for a Chilliwack hero who may lose her home after being injured trying to save a man from an on-rushing train [Chilliwack Progress]

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The Agenda

Replacements coming for Langley City ball diamond

City Park’s Barbour Ball Diamond in Langley City is getting a new backstop—but the project will cost more than the city had originally planned.

The city originally budged $670,300 for the project, which includes replacing the high mast netting and poles and the backstop dugouts, as well as restoring the infield.

The lowest of the three bids that the city received, though, rang in at $870,600, or about $200,000 more than the city wanted to spend. The company revised their design to get it down to $743,382. City staff proposed using available funds from other capital projects in City Park to make up the difference. Council will vote on whether to move the project forward at their meeting this afternoon.

Camping reservations opening for BC Parks 2024 season

Reservations for May Long Weekend campsites in BC Parks will open on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Campers can reserve campsites four months in advance online. BC Parks campgrounds saw reservations increase 15% last summer after the online reservation service was relaunched.

Campers can also be notified by the BC Parks website when a previously full campsite has a cancellation.

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🗓 Things to do

🏒 Hockey: The Vancouver Giants host the Kelowna Rockets Friday, Jan. 19 at the Langley Events Centre. Tickets online.

👨‍🎤 Elvis: Elvis tribute artist Darren Lee performs Thursday, Jan. 18 at the Clarke Theatre. Tickets online.

🏀 Basketball: The Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Abbotsford on Jan. 25. Tickets online.

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Catch up

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