Tuesday - Nov. 5, 2024 - More than pickleball plotted for Chilliwack rec facility

🌤 High 10C

Good morning!

So we have a new reader survey. And, well, we kind of screwed it up.

The 7th question says “check all that apply” but it won’t let you submit it if you click more than one box. Now that the survey is live, the wording can’t be changed because… well… just because the technology won’t let us. We’re legitimately very sorry and grateful for your patience. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, please do so here. It will help us out and you’ll be entered into a draw for a $100 gift certificate to Field House Brewing. Just select one response for the 7th question.

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope (We have had to temporarily change our forecast links to the Weather Network due to a technical error.)

🚘 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

The negotiator

Fred Talen planned to retire in Harrison Hot Springs with his wife. Now he’s the mayor.

After spending more than three decades in Yellowknife, primarily serving as a negotiator on Indigenous rights for the territorial government, Talen moved to Harrison Hot Springs in October 2021.

The couple toured other regions of the province—Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, Okanagan—before choosing the village. They both loved the idea of settling down in a community with access to nature, big city amenities, and family already living in southern B.C.

“Harrison Hot Springs checked off all the boxes for us,” Talen told The Current in a recent interview. “It was just a really great fit for us.”

But neither could have predicted that Talen’s negotiating tactics would play a large role in trying to get its local government back on track.

• Today, Josh profiles the man elected to try to bring a sense of normalcy to Harrison Hot Springs's local government.

Related

Need to Know

⚡ Monday’s storm left many Fraser Valley residents without power; you can find a map of BC Hydro outages here [BC Hydro] / BC Hydro said some people might be without power overnight [BC Hydro]

💡 Several Langley schools were closed after power was knocked out [Langley Advance Times]

🗳 There is an election happening in the United States today; CNN’s election results page can be found here [CNN]

⚖ The man who drove through participants in a residential school march with his vehicle in 2022 was sentenced to nine months of house arrest and handed a one-year driving ban [Mission Record]

🚚 A semi rolled over on Highway 1 near Chilliwack Monday, causing a huge highway backup [Fraser Valley Today] / Video suggests a gust of wind may have toppled the truck [Erikdv/Twitter]

⚖ A judge dismissed a claim from a man who said he lost 45 kilograms of gold after a marijuana grow-op in Mission was busted 12 years ago [Mission Record]

👉 Abbotsford’s Remembrance Day ceremony will be scaled back because of a protest encampment near Thunderbird Memorial Square [Abbotsford News]

💲 Mission council is cutting its tourism and film division and reducing victim services hours to help trim its upcoming tax hike [Mission Record]

🚧 A Langley road damaged in an October storm won’t re-open until next summer [Eric Woodward/Facebook]

🛏 Five mattresses fell off a truck driving through Mission last week [Mission Record]

🗳 Murray Sinclair, a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has died [CTV] / You can read the TRC reports here [National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation] / Last year we surveyed each municipality about their progress toward responding to the TRC’s calls to action; you can find their responses here [FVC]

🌱 Create change from the ground up. KPU’s Sustainable Agriculture program prepares you to make a difference in a future-focused career. Learn more today.*

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SPONSORED BY BC CANCER FOUNDATION

Life beyond cancer is within reach

Marita Luk’s eyes fill with tears as she reflects on what the new BC Cancer – Burnaby McCarthy Centre will mean for local patients. Diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 40s, Marita was treated at BC Cancer – Vancouver. She recalls that even during the most challenging time of her life, she remained conscious of not wanting to inconvenience others with the commute to Vancouver.

Recognizing the impact BC Cancer – Burnaby McCarthy Centre will have, Marita shares, "This is our home, and you don’t want to leave home during such a difficult time. To have treatment and support in Burnaby will make a huge difference in our lives."

The BC Cancer Foundation is fundraising $10 million to support bringing the Centre to life.

Donate today.

The Agenda

Other sports may join pickleball at new Chilliwack rec facility

Pickleball may not be the only sport in play at a planned extension to Chilliwack’s Landing Sports Centre.

Earlier this year, the City of Chilliwack finalized plans to build an extension to the Landing Sports Centre that would have 10 new pickleball courts. The original plan was to have the space focused on pickleball. But after a review of Chilliwack’s indoor dry floor space, city staff found that many other sporting leagues and community groups were competing for indoor space, especially in the fall.

Staff suggested the city redesign the addition to provide more multi-use spaces and rename it the Landing Sports Centre Annex. With about $70,000 in design work already completed, Chilliwack council voted in October to award the design firm, MQN Architects, a $230,000 contract to complete the work.

MQN previously designed a 14-court pickleball facility in Vernon. The impact of the design change on the facility’s final cost isn’t yet known.

Chilliwack plots ‘toys for tickets’ program

Chilliwack residents might soon be able to pay off their outstanding parking tickets with toys.

City staff have suggested the municipality create a “Toys for Tickets” campaign whereby residents can buy toys (or gift cards) and hand them over to the city with a receipt in lieu of cash for outstanding city-issued parking tickets. The toys or gift cards would then be donated to a local charitable organization, while the parking offender would get their fine scrubbed clean.

Council will have a say on the program at their meeting today. City staff wrote that bylaw officers frequently issue verbal or written warnings instead of fines. That, staff say, means the program will have a “minimal” financial impact for the city. That suggests that parking fine offenders also aren’t likely to put a huge dent in the need for donations this holiday season.

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