Tuesday - April 16, 2024 - A new history

🌤 High 12C

Good morning!

George Orwell was onto something. Orwell was famously right about a whole lot of things—so much so that today, many people of all persuasions like to misattribute various statements to him to back up their own ideas. Orwell predicted some pretty dark times. But he was also ahead of his time in other, less serious ways. On Monday, the internet dug up another example of his brilliance: a fun essay about Orwell’s fantasy of the perfect pub. He envisioned a place with good stout on draft with a garden and play area that made it amenable to entire families. It sounds a lot like a modern brew pub. You can find the essay here. And if it also called for “liver-sausage sandwiches,” well, even geniuses aren’t always right.

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– Tyler

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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

The rebuilding of Lytton’s
Chinese History Museum

The rebuilding of one of Lytton’s key cultural institutions has finally begun.

The rough outlines of the Lytton Chinese History Museum’s future have begun to emerge. And if all goes to plan, the museum’s founder and operator, Lorna Fandrich, hopes to re-open the award-winning heritage facility this fall.

The museum and more than 1,000 artifacts that told the story of Chinese workers and immigrants and their contributions in the BC Interior were destroyed in 2021. After a long wait, rebuilding work finally began last week. And while there’s a lot more to do, hundreds of new artifacts await thanks to the donations of organizations, individuals, and Chinese Canadian families from around the province.

• Today, Tyler writes about the pending return of a cherished Lytton landmark.

Related

Need to Know

🚑 An eight-year-old boy will survive after he was hit by a car on a Langley road [Langley Advance Times]

❌ Mission’s council rejected a subdivision in the Steelhead area, saying an OCP update was needed [Mission Record]

👉 Money is being raised to help a Hope man seriously injured in a motorcycle accident Friday [Hope Standard]

🐜 BC researchers say they have found that ticks try to avoid areas with lots of ants [Global]

🩺 A Chilliwack doctor is running for BC United in this fall’s provincial election [Chilliwack Progress]

🚓 A conflict between youths in Aldergrove led to an adult getting bear sprayed, police say [Aldergrove Star]

👍 A UFV trades student who is restoring a 1981 Chevy truck expects some double takes when she competes in a provincial competition [UFV]

🌲 Langley’s Meals on Wheels program needs a van after its old vehicle was in an accident [Aldergrove Star]

🔥 A small wildfire that broke out east of Highway 1 is under control [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🏠 An upcoming Official Community Plan amendment will enable Abbotsford Tech District to build affordable housing for young people and families alongside high-quality education and well-paying jobs.*

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The Agenda

New ‘interim’ building to be built alongside repurposed Travelodge in Chilliwack

A new 43-unit modular housing project will be built on the former site of Chilliwack’s Travelodge Hotel, near Highway 1.

It is part of 73 temporary housing spaces coming to Chilliwack, albeit potentially only for a few years, the province announced Monday.

The old Travelodge hotel is currently managed by Ruth and Naomi’s Mission as supportive housing. The current building will stay, and a new facility will be built on an adjacent parking area. It will also be managed by Ruth and Naomi’s, and will prioritize housing for older adults. The building will have individual sleeping spaces and shared dining, common, and washroom spaces. Residents will receive three meals a day, individual case planning, and referrals for health care and other services. Construction will begin in the summer and is expected to be complete in the fall. A government press release describes the building as “interim” and it’s not clear how long it will be in operation.

Thirty additional shelter beds will be opening in the next few weeks at the Chilliwack Wellness Centre on Trethewey Avenue in the former office of the Chilliwack Times. The shelter, operated by Lookout Housing and Health Society, is already used as a daytime drop-in space. The new beds will give people access to laundry, meals, and showers, as well as referrals, case planning, medication management, and life-skills training. The shelter will be open for three years. The province and the City of Chilliwack say they will look at more permanent solutions in the meantime.

The two housing projects are part of BC’s Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing project, which provides funding to open new shelter spaces to respond to homeless camps in communities.

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Catch up

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