Friday, June 9, 2023 - An end in sight for the transit strike?

Friday, June 9, 2023 | 🌧 High 19C

Good morning!

About a month ago, I saw a bright red Mini Cooper for sale on Facebook Marketplace. It was just old enough to be a good price and it was the coolest car I’d ever seen. I used to have a tiny remote control one just like it. And now I have a real one.

Then a warning light came on as I was driving it home. So now the new car is in the shop. And I’m swearing off shopping on Facebook Marketplace for good.

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Members keep scrolling at the bottom of this email for a photo and details on what may be the largest Saskatoon berry bush ever recorded.

WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

NEWS

Could this be the end of the transit strike?

A solution to the Fraser Valley transit strike may finally be on the horizon.

A special mediator has been appointed by the province to help transit workers and their employer reach an agreement, Labour Minister Harry Bains announced Thursday. Both parties would have had to agree to the involvement of the mediator, provincial officials say. They had not previously done so.

The appointment of mediator Vince Ready suggests the strike could end this month. The last time Ready was called in to mediate, a deal was signed three weeks later.

• Today, Joti writes about the latest on the transit strike and looks back at how it reached this point.

Need to know

💨 An air quality advisory for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley was cancelled on Thursday [Metro Vancouver]

🔥 Two fires near Harrison grew little Thursday; officials declared the smaller of the two to be their priority; find the latest info in The Current's Fire and Smoke Hub

🚍️ A coach bus full of students on a school trip caught fire on Vedder Road in Chilliwack [Chilliwack Progress]

🌈 Hope RCMP are investigating a series of property crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people and organizations [Hope Standard]

🍻 Two Langley breweries won awards at the Canadian Brewing Awards [CTV]

🚓 A man who barricaded himself in an Agassiz home on Wednesday evening surrendered peacefully to police [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

👨‍🌾 The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce farm tour will feature ‘resilience’ and innovation this year [Abbotsford News]

🏘️ Langley saw a big increase in the number of homes for sale last month [Langley Advance Times]

👉️ A Harrison man was charged for assaulting his neighbour [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🚨 A woman was given an 18 month conditional sentence for her involvement in a Chilliwack attempted kidnapping [Chilliwack Progress]

📷️ CURRENT CAM: After no one identified Wednesday’s Current Cam photo of the Mahogany at Mill Lake tower in Abbotsford, many of you got it yesterday after we provided a second image. Don Delves was the first.

🃏 Sample the finest craft beverages in the Valley on the Langley Poker Run, June 17, 1-6pm. Great drinks, great people, and great prizes! Tickets and information here.*

*Sponsored Listing

The Agenda

Fraser Valley soil very dry

Over the last eight decades, the Fraser Valley’s soil may never have been as dry as it is now—at least in parts of the region.

A model of global soil moisture levels created by European Union scientists suggests that southwestern BC’s soil has rarely been drier in May than it was this year. The data suggests that in the Chilliwack area, the soil is the driest it has been over the 84 years considered by the model.

While the findings are based on computer models and weather data—not actual soil readings—the mapping tracks with local observations, recent weather, and the fact that some forests in the area are currently on fire. One farmer who began irrigating his fields last month, told The Current that it was the earliest he had ever done so.

The data also suggests that large areas of northeastern BC that are very dry.

Chilliwack Flight Fest to run without city staffing

The Chilliwack Flight Fest will take off under its own power for the first time this summer.

The free airshow has run for more than 30 years in Chilliwack. Previously, the volunteers who organized the event relied on the City of Chilliwack for organizational assistance. City staff would help run traffic control and “support delivery” of the show. It created an effective but “somewhat tenuous” system, staff said in a report to council. 

This year, Chilliwack will cut the apron strings (but not the purse strings) on the show. For the next three years the airshow will receive $12,000 per year, as well as tables and chairs. But it will operate without assistance from city staff.

The city estimated that its previous assistance had a value of $8,000 per festival. The $4,000 increase in the three-year deal will account for the increase in traffic control prices, the city said.

This year is the 31st annual Flight Fest in Chilliwack. The airshow takes place on Aug. 19 and 20.

Things to do

🎥 Film screening: The Chilliwack Museum is hosting a free screening of Unarchived, a feature documentary highlighting community archives from across BC to reveal some of what has been erased from the official record. Details online.

🏎 Car race: Mopac Friday Night Street Legals return to Mission Raceway Park. Free admission for Mission residents and kids under 12. Tickets online. 

➡️ Aboriginal Arts and Culture Day will take place at Trethewey House on June 11. The celebration will include storytellers, artisans, activities for kids, and a drum-making workshop. Details online.

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