Thursday- Nov. 16, 2023 - Highways and landslides

🌤️ High 6C

Good morning!

I got a big haircut last week. My favourite comment on it so far has come from my Grandma. She asked if I donated my hair to a cancer charity because, she said, I had the “perfect hair for wigs.”

I’ll take what I can get. Style-wise, I was aiming for “leading lady in a ’90s rom-com” but I think it’s closer to “boy who wants the lead in the spring musical.”

– 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

Highways and landslides

Two years ago, British Columbia was split asunder by massive landslides that left communities isolated, travellers stranded, and an economy in limbo.

That year’s storms laid bare the fragility of the region and the susceptibility of its infrastructure and neighbourhoods to a climate disaster.

Today, the region is more resilient but hardly stormproof. This month, moderate storms have forced closures of highways north, west, and east of Hope. 

As the second anniversary of 2021’s storms and landslides arrives, we’re looking at whether the region’s communities are better prepared, and what still must be done to better protect its homes, neighbourhoods, and highways.

• Today, Tyler writes about the transportation routes decimated in 2021, the work done to rebuild them, and how many highways are still vulnerable. He also has new information from a press conference held Wednesday by Transportation Minister Rob Fleming.

• Tomorrow, we’ll focus on places like Clayburn Village, Hope, Kent, and Hatzic.

Related

Need to Know

🚧 A Hope couple is turning to legal action after frustrations with construction near their home weren’t resolved by local government [Hope Standard]

🎡 Aldergrove’s fair will go on thanks to more volunteers who have stepped up to run the show [Langley Advance Times]

👉️ Workers at Mountain Institution in Agassiz are exhausted over constant drug trafficking and overdoses [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🚓 Abbotsford and Chilliwack are two of the latest cities to get teams of mental-health nurses and police officers to respond to crisis [Abbotsford News]

👉 The mayor of Sumas, Wash., said he wasn’t informed of the cross-border Nooksack agreement and only learned of the talks after they were announced [CBC]

🥕 Major changes are needed to Canada’s competition laws to stabilize grocery prices, Canada’s finance minister said [CTV News]

🏘️ The mayors of Langley City and Langley Township have different outlooks on proposed new provincial housing laws [Langley Advance Times]

🚦 A crash on Highway 1 in Abbotsford slowed traffic on Wednesday morning [Abbotsford News]

🦜 A Langley library hosted several parrots from a local sanctuary for an afternoon [Langley Advance Times]

🚨 A shot fired at animal control officers escalated a standoff at a Langley farm on Friday [Langley Advance Times]

📸 CURRENT CAM: Congratulations to Carla S, who was the first to identify yesterday’s Current Cam as a photo of the Big Ditch historical-marker in Chilliwack.

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The Agenda

Abbotsford considering 5% tax hike

Abbotsford residents are looking at an average tax increase of about 5%.

City staff have suggested it needs that much more money to meet its budgetary commitments the coming year.

(Your tax bill will go up 5% only if your assessment rises at the same rate as the city’s average assessed value. If your assessment rises faster than average, you’ll be on the hook for more. If your assessment rises slower than the average, you could actually save money.)

Of the $11.6 million in new spending, two-thirds will go to increasing salaries and benefits. Maintenance and property insurance accounts for another 20% or so.

Police are, by far, the single biggest expense for city taxpayers, eating up about one-third of the city budget and rising 6%. You can see Abbotsford’s entire proposed budget here.

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As part of a membership, you get our special weekend roundup of all the things you might’ve missed each week!

🗓 Things to do this week/end

💃 Play: A play highlighting the scientific inventions of famous actress Heddy Lamar will take the stage at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Thursday, Nov. 16. Details online.

👗 Gala: The Fraser Valley Healthcare Foundation is hosting its annual fundraising gala on Friday, Nov. 17. Details online.

💐 Memorial celebration: Chilliwack Hospice Society is hosting its annual memorial celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at Vineyard Community Centre. Details online.

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Catch up

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