Friday - June 7, 2024 - Half of Mission road cameras vandalized

☀ High 26C

Good morning!

Earlier this week, I interviewed Afua Cooper—a Black historian and poet—for a story on prison education that we will be sharing with you all soon. I’ll leave the details of our interview for the article, but I wanted to mention a project she has been working on for the last few years: A Black People’s History of Canada.

The website focuses on African-Canadian history which, as Cooper and I discussed, is not as peachy as many of us had been taught. Although research for the project is still ongoing, the website is already pretty full of learning materials for classrooms, as well as other resources. It’s focused more heavily on the Maritimes and Eastern Canada, but I think there is a lot there for anyone wanting to know more about Black history in Canada. You can check out the website here.

– Grace

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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

Ag-tech assets—and challenges

Farms are getting fancier in the Fraser Valley.

It has been a long time since the region was simply a string of farming communities slung along the Fraser like beads on a necklace. There are still lots of farms, growing everything from beef to berries. But how those farms look and operate in the Fraser Valley is changing as the valley itself develops and diversifies.

Several pioneers in the world of new farm technology and innovation say the Fraser Valley is a good place to plant the seeds of new high-tech projects. Its proximity to investors and high tech laboratories and scientists is a benefit. But the region is not without its specific challenges for ag-tech entrepreneurs.

• Today, join Tyler as he chats with five local entrepreneurs about agriculture, technology, and the Fraser Valley.

Related

Need to Know

🛑 A group of Canadian climate disaster survivors, including Lytton’s Meghan Fandrich, were in Ottawa Thursday, calling for the feds to cap emissions on oil and gas [Global] / We profiled Fandrich and her poetry last September [FVC]

🗳 The federal Cloverdale-Langley City riding will have a by-election before the end of the year [Langley Advance Times]

⚖ An Abbotsford bank robber who was thwarted by customers in 2021 has been sentenced to two years of house arrest [Abbotsford News]

🚓 A welding machine was stolen from a construction site in Mission; police say it was taken to Agassiz [Mission Record]

🎖 A 99-year-old Abbotsford veteran was awarded France’s highest honour this week for his bravery during D-Day [Abbotsford News]

💰 A Chilliwack woman won $1M in the lottery last weekend [Chilliwack Progress]

❌ Canadian workers at the Canada-US border could strike as soon as Friday afternoon, causing concerns for some travellers [CBC]

🍦 Popkum’s new Dairy Queen is set to open today, and has hired 40 people to staff the restaurant [Fraser Valley Today]

💡 Night owls could get a discount on their power bill if they opt in to a new BC Hydro program [Global]

🚗 Two Langley schools were placed in a hold-and-secure state Wednesday after a nearby driver had a mental health issue [Langley Advance Times]

⛑ A search is underway to find a 65-year-old rower who went missing on the Sumas River Wednesday [Abbotsford News]

🐻 The province has fined the City of Chilliwack $11,000 for not protecting its landfill against bears [Chilliwack Progress]

📷 CURRENT CAM: Congratulations to Angie, who was the first person to identify Wednesday’s Current Cam photo of The Pantry Natural Foods in Mission.

SPONSORED BY THE MISSION FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL

Early Bird discount deadline June 10

Come Find You Folk at the 37th annual Mission Folk Music Festival, July 26-28 at Fraser River Heritage Park. 20+ acts from across North America and beyond, deliver a glorious weekend of global beats, folk songs, blues riffs, Celtic tunes and more.

Buy your tickets by June 10 and save!

The Agenda

Mission road cameras decimated by thieves and vandals

Vandals and thieves stole or destroyed five of 11 cameras installed around Mission to allow residents and city staff to monitor road conditions last year.

The cameras had been popular with residents and staff, and four new devices were installed last year, a report to council says. But five have since been vandalized or stolen, leading staff to consider whether it makes sense to replace them. Staff say it could cost up to $25,000 per camera to replace each device and protect it against future damage or theft.

The same report notes that the city spent about $734,000 on snow-clearing over the winter. That’s 8% over its budget but far less than 2022. The season was quiet until a January dump that saw more than a foot of snow fall over the course of 24 hours.

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💾 Flashback Friday

After two wars and a depression, Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition decided it needed to shake things up with a bit of feminine accomplishment. In 1948, the PNE hosted its first Miss PNE pageant, inviting 14 young women from communities across the province to share their culture, talent, and ambition alongside their beauty and charm.

The pageant ran until 1991, and saw eight Fraser Valley women take the crown. Contestants would be chosen from their own community pageants, and subjected to several days of social scrutiny at the PNE. The winner was announced at the PNE theatre in a final, public judging. She was then expected to give a speech on social issues of the day. The first Fraser Valley winner was Langley’s Joan Greenwood in 1956. Other notable Fraser Valley winners included Abbotsford’s Sandi Friesen (1982), who was the first 4H Club member to win the Miss PNE title, and Langley’s Devi Brar (1981), who was the first Indo-Canadian woman to win the pageant.

🗓 Things to do

Art walk: Art lovers can head to downtown Mission for a night of community, art, and exploring at the Sip and Stroll Art Walk today from 4 to 8pm. Details online.

Plant sale: Urban Jungle Plant Co. is hosting its 2024 summer market in Abbotsford on Saturday. Buy plants, sample food trucks, and win prizes. Details online.

Car show: The Fraser Valley Classic Car Show will be in Chilliwack on Sunday. Head down to the corner of Caen and Dieppe to see classic cars and motorcycles. Details online.

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Catch up

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