Tuesday, April 18, 2023 edition - The valley's vital homeless count

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 | ⛈ High 10C | Forecast

Good morning!

Grace, Tyler and myself got into a discussion about ride-sharing during our morning meeting. Personally, I don’t know anyone in my circle who uses ride-sharing apps in the valley. When visiting Vancouver, however, it’s not uncommon. So I’m curious to hear your thoughts: are you eager for ride-sharing to be available in your community, or would it not change how you get around?

Also, a big thank you to those continuing to sign-up for Insider memberships: Suzanne, Yvonne, and Nicole. Learn more about our membership program here. 

NEWS

Everyone counts

The buzz of generators cuts through the cold evening air as volunteers from Cedar Outreach survey the scene at the Whatcom Park and Ride on March 7.

Numerous RVs, trailers, cars, and trucks occupy the lot, but it’s dark out and many of their occupants appear to have turned in for the night.

The volunteers aren’t deterred. With surveys in hand and flashlights in the other, they walk towards one of the trailers. The lights are on, but the noise from the generator is overpowering. One of the volunteers makes eye contact with someone inside, and a woman comes out to speak with them.

The volunteers are here to count and survey unhoused individuals in the Fraser Valley. Such point-in-time counts are meant to capture a snapshot of homelessness at a given point in time (usually over 24 hours).

Today, FVC intern Thomas takes readers along during the count at the Whatcom Park and Ride and writes about how exactly volunteers record the crucial data.

Need to know

🚧 Highway 1 between Chilliwack and Hope will be closed intermittently for the next six weeks for rock-scaling work [CBC]

🚓 A gangster was visiting his brother’s grave in Chilliwack when he was killed on April 1 [Vancouver Sun]

🚘 The City of Surrey owes more money in damages to owners of a car dealership on the Langley Bypass after business was disrupted during construction of the 196th Street overpass, a court ruled [Langley Advance Times]

🎨 Chilliwack and Langley City are receiving backlash for offering artists poor compensation for commissioned work [CBC]

🚨 Trans Mountain will run an emergency response drill on Tuesday and Wednesday at Mission’s Nicomen Slough [Mission Record]

🏍 A Chilliwack School District employee says he will step away from his motorcycle club after being photographed with the Hells Angels [Chilliwack Progress]

🚔 Mounties arrested a 24-year-old man after he allegedly stole a truck and drove through a Mission park [CTV]

⛑ Chilliwack Search and Rescue has launched a campaign to raise $1 million for a new facility [Chilliwack Search and Rescue/Facebook]

💰 Langley Township is looking for the heirs of a dead millionaire to pay them $100,000 for property they seized [Aldergrove Star]

🏋🏻‍♀️ A new fitness centre will open at Chilliwack General Hospital this summer [Fraser Valley Today]

🌱 An Indigenous-owned cannabis facility near Chilliwack has started to serve international clients [Chilliwack Progress]

🤠 Dust off those cowboy boots! The Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair is back May 19-22. Enjoy food, rodeo events, live music, rides, and much more.*

*Sponsored Listing

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M&M Food Market is seeking passionate Franchise Partners to introduce the brand into new markets and local communities across the country.

For a limited time only, eligible Franchise Partners will receive up to 50 percent of the cost of construction for their new store.

For more information, contact Liz Riley at [email protected] or 905-814-2420.

The Agenda

Chilliwack council to decide on continuing summer drinking permit in Vedder Park

Summer is starting to seep into city hall in Chilliwack.

Decisions on seasonal projects will come before council this afternoon. A replacement of the lighting system on the city’s exhibition field at the Landing Centre is one of these projects. The lights would be swapped over to an LED system for $304,000 if the project goes ahead.

Another decision required before summer will be whether to extend the city’s drinking-in-parks rules. A successful pilot project in 2020 was extended for the last two summers. Council will decide whether or not to continue that project again this summer. The decision would allow visitors to drink alcohol from May to October in Vedder Park.

Find Tuesday afternoon’s council agenda here.

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