Monday, April 29, 2024 - What's up in May

🌧 High 9C

Good morning!

Last week, we bid goodbye to Grace Giesbrecht. So, in classic news fashion, you’ll spend the next couple weeks intermittently reading stories she produced. I also imagine that you may spend the coming decades also intermittently reading her stories. Because Grace has a hell of a future in this news business and, just as importantly, the unreasonable passion you need to not flee it for a more stable enterprise.

Although you’ve read some of her writing over the past 18 months, you haven’t seen all the work she has done behind the scenes to keep me from falling on my face. The last six months, especially, has seen her play a crucial uncredited editing role in each and every story I’ve written. She’s also been the one putting together the bulk of each week’s newsletters and finding the bulk of the Agenda items.

We’re wishing her the best as she embarks on the Europe trip of a lifetime and hope to see her again soon when she’s done gardening in the Netherlands or riding trains across Hungary.

– Tyler

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

Paddle boards, war canoes, and maypoles

The sun comes up early and stays out late. Parks and beaches start to fill—but they aren’t too busy yet. The weather is nice, but not too hot. The wind is warm and fresh and, usually, not yet hazy with wildfire smoke. May is a beautiful month in the Fraser Valley.

This month is packed with adventure and activity, especially if you’re looking to get outdoors again after a long winter. Outdoor races and competitions abound and spring festivals promise to draw big crowds to little towns. 

• Today, Grace G. tells you what’s up in May.

Related

Need to Know

❌ Another Harrison council meeting ‘collapsed’ after the mayor claimed it was illegal [Agassiz Harrison Observer]

🚫 BC is rolling back its drug decriminalization project [CBC]

🔎 The family of a missing Abbotsford man is pleading for information [CityNews]

👉 A historic Chilliwack church will be torn down soon, but its stained-glass widows will be preserved [Chilliwack Progress]

🚧 Highway 1 will be closed in the Fraser Canyon between Boston Bar and Lytton all day today [Fraser Valley Today]

👉 Mission residents at a local RV park worry redevelopment could leave them homeless [Mission Record]

🚫 London Drugs is closing all its Western Canadian outlets ‘until further notice’ because of what it is calling an ‘operational’ issue [Global]

🚧 Highway 11 in Abbotsford will be getting some final flood repairs; single lane closures start today at 9am [BC Government]

🚑 A five-car pileup in Langley last Thursday sent two people to hospital [Langley Advance Times]

🎤 Pop star Diljit Dosanjh sang to a sold-out BC Place Saturday night, making it the largest Punjabi concert held outside of India [Vancouver Sun]

🚔 A Hatzic woman lost $25,000 to a Facebook scam [Fraser Valley Today]

🌑 The Chinese Academy of Sciences has released the most detailed map of the moon ever made [Nature]

📷️ CURRENT CAM: Congratulations to Nancy, who was the first to correctly identify that last week’s Current Cam was taken at the Langley Airport.

Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better!

Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Fraser Valley.

The Agenda

Local Indigenous athletes recognized in digital hall of fame

Three Stó:lō athletes now have their achievements recognized in BC’s new digital Indigenous Sports Gallery.

The gallery, created by the BC Sports Hall of Fame, includes videos and histories of Indigenous athletes and a virtual reality version of the physical gallery in Vancouver. It pays homage to Indigenous athletes across the province, including Terry Fox, NHL goaltender Carey Price, and paralympian Richard Peter along with three Stó:lō athletes: Kaila Mussell, Lara Mussell Savage, and Terry Felix. 

Kaila Mussell and Lara Mussell Savage, both members of the Sqwá First Nation, are recognized for their contributions to rodeo and ultimate frisbee, respectively. Mussell has competed in both barrel racing and saddle bronc riding, and is now helping train horses and new athletes. Mussell Savage represented Canada at four ultimate frisbee world championships, bringing home two bronze and two gold medals. 

Terry Felix, a member of the Sts'ailes First Nation, is recognized for his contributions to Canadian soccer. He began his career in Indigenous community leagues, and eventually became the first Indigenous person to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Canadian national team, and the Canadian Olympic team.

The Current gets gold for Lytton rebuilding coverage

On Friday, we shared that Tyler Olsen was up for a National Newspaper Award in local reporting for his stories about post-fire Lytton. Today, we are proud to announce that Tyler’s coverage won gold. Congratulations Tyler!

Insider members can revisit all the award-winning Lytton coverage in one place here.

🤝 Now hiring

• Junior Project Engineer at the Township of Langley

• Early Childhood Educator at Little Einstein Day Care in Chilliwack

• Community Coordinator at Fraser Valley Conservancy in Abbotsford

• Cook at Kibo Japanese Grill & Cafe in Hope

Hiring in the Fraser Valley? Reply back and let us know!

🗓 Things to do

Open mic: Bez Arts Hub in Langley is hosting a weekly open mic every Thursday until June 20. Sign up is at 7:15pm and performances start at 7:30. Details online.

Plant sale: Mission's Annual Green Thumb Plant Sale will be happening May 4-5 and May 11-12 from 9am to 3pm at 32965 4th Ave. All proceeds will go to four local animal charities.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

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.