Friday - Jan. 5, 2023 - Latte art lessons

🌧 High 8C

Good morning!

There was a huge Tupperware full of really good leftover turkey from Christmas dinner in my mom’s fridge when I left. I considered freezing a bagful of it and sticking it in my luggage. Then I decided that that would look too weird for airport security, and I didn’t want to check a bag. I already had a small tub of honey from my grandparents’ bees that was going to require all the goodwill I could muster from security.

But alas honey (even when it’s pretty solid) counts as a liquid, and we had to check a bag anyway. So I probably could have snuck some turkey home.

– 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

Ukuleles and latte art: What to do in January

Congratulations. You made it to 2024.

For your reward, you get to survive January, an infamously chilly and dark month. While the days are (slowly) getting longer, the winter cold might be just starting to set in.

To escape the chilly rain for a while, check out some of the workshops, classes, and play-groups throughout the Fraser Valley—for both kids and grown-ups.

• Today, Grace writes about places to have some fun this January. 

Related

Need to Know

📣 Chilliwack’s mayor has condemned the BC Supreme Court decision on drug use in public spaces [Chilliwack Progress]

👮‍♂️ BC’s police officers weren’t fully trained for drug decriminalization. They still aren’t [The Tyee]

👩‍⚖️ The judicial system is failing repeat impaired driving offenders, a Vancouver lawyer says [CKNW]

🏘️ Multi-generational living is becoming more and more common in expensive areas—and it can be an interesting journey for everyone involved [The Walrus]

⛷️ Warm winter conditions are hurting snow-based business [CBC]

🛏️ A Langley homeless shelter has 15 fewer beds this winter after losing the use of a secondary site in a local church [Langley Advance Times]

🚗 An impaired driver was arrested in Langley after a 15km police chase [Langley Advance Times]

🎖️ A Langley resident received the Order of Canada for her advocacy for people with disabilities [Langley Advance Times]

👉️ A woman from Mexico was sentenced to six years in prison after trying to smuggle drugs through the Abbotsford airport [Abbotsford News]

🎆 A Langley school was damaged by New Year’s fireworks [Langley Advance Times]

🌲 A local company will pick up and dump your Christmas tree in return for a food bank donation in Chilliwack and Abbotsford [Chilliwack Progress]

The Agenda

Good citizen honoured

A Hope-area man has been recognized for his leadership and work during the 2021 atmospheric river with one of BC’s highest honours.

Johannes (Hans) Mulder is one of 21 recipients this year of the Medal of Good Citizenship. 

The citation for the medal highlighted Mulder’s importance to his community during the disaster: “In the face of nature's fury, Johannes Mulder emerged as a stalwart leader and community champion during the atmospheric river events of November 2021. In Laidlaw, isolated by landslides and flooding, Johannes leveraged his law enforcement and military background to establish crucial communication links with emergency operations centres, ensuring a lifeline for his community.”

Mulder checked on neighbours, provided aid to those stranded by flooding, prepared for evacuations, spearheaded a sandbagging campaign, and helped co-ordinate responses with military officers. 

Although the Medal of Good Citizenship focuses on Mulder’s work during the atmospheric river, he also sprung into action the following year when the Flood Falls Trail fire threatened the community. (He spoke to The Current for a subsequent story about that response earlier this year.)

The province also honoured another person with Fraser Valley links: Navjit Kaur Moore, the president of the Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Fraser Valley East Chapter.

Moore has helped lead the chapter since 2017 and led monthly support meetings for those affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She has also chaired the Gutsy Walk, an annual fundraising event that has raised more than $100,000.

Moore was also honoured for an array of other volunteer efforts in Burnaby, where she lives.

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!

💾 Flashback Friday

A motorist out for a drive nearly crashed into a rare barrier on his way along the newly-reimagined Fraser Canyon Highway.

The road, which had been abandoned and nearly destroyed after the gold rush in the Fraser Canyon and the construction of the railroad, was rebuilt in the 1920s. Excited about the newfangled automobile, drivers and their passengers enjoyed pleasure cruises along the exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking, canyon road. It became part of the Trans-Canada Highway in 1962 and remains a nice, though still-occasionally hazardous, drive today.

🗓 Things to do

💡 Holiday lights: It’s the last week of the year to see Harrison Hot Spring’s Lights By The Lake. The lights will be up until Sunday, Jan. 7. Details online.

🥁 Acoustic punk: Bricklayer Brewing in Chilliwack is hosting a show of acoustic punk music featuring local and non-local musicians on Saturday, Jan. 6. Details online.

🏒 Hockey: The Langley Rivermen will face off against the Cranbrook Bucks on Sunday, Jan. 7 at the George Preston Arena. Details online.

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.