Tuesday - April 30, 2024 - Hippie Mike

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Good morning!

I just read a headline about how the federal government’s promise to build millions of homes over the coming years is practically impossible to achieve. That finding sums up a lot of all our political discussions these days, both from government and opposition parties. You see the same pattern when it comes to issues like health care, drug overdoses, education, and all the rest.

Governments have extensive plans to improve things—but track records that should make any voter question their ability to actually achieve their goals. Opposition parties, meanwhile, make big promises, but tend to hand wave when it comes to explaining how they would avoid the obvious problems that have foiled the current politicians in charge. A party might say, for instance, that they’ll “hire nurses” and ignore the nursing shortage that a government has only partial control over.

Governing is hard, but talking about governing is easy.

Voters and the media need to ask the fundamental question: “how are you actually going to do it?” Then we need to ask it again, and again. It doesn’t matter what a politician wants to do, if they are unable to actually accomplish their goals. So we don’t really need to know what a politician wants to do. We need to know how they’ll actually pull it off.

— Tyler

NEWS

Hippie Mike’s Hope skateboarding haven

Three and a half years ago, Mike Faux turned a small town’s abandoned hardware store into an indoor skatepark.

The park’s ramps and rails, smack in the centre of Hope, quickly became a beacon not only for local skateboarders, but also newcomers of all ages to the sport. Within a year, the skateboarding population in the town went from around a dozen to about 200, Faux estimates.

As more people learned to skate and took their boards outside to keep practising, friends and neighbours saw them ripping around Hope’s quiet streets—and then realized they wanted to learn, too.

“It's something that people see, and they go, ‘I want to try that,’” Faux said.

It’s not easy to sustain an indoor skatepark in a town of 6,600, but those difficulties aren’t quelling his hopes for the future of HMI.

• Today, Grace Giesbrecht writes about how Hippie Mike has turned an old Rona into a new spot for young skateboarders—and, often, their parents. 

Related

Need to Know

⚖ A security guard at Trinity Western University has been found guilty of manslaughter after putting a mentally ill man into a deadly choke hold [Langley Advance Times]

🗳 Bob D’Eith will run for the NDP again in the coming provincial election [Mission Record]

🚔 An Alberta man wanted for child porn charges was caught in Chilliwack while trying to flee Canada, police say [Vancouver Sun]

🏒 A Chilliwack ball hockey tournament needs help to keep going [Chilliwack Progress]

💻 The ongoing closure of London Drugs in Western Canada is due to a ‘cybersecurity incident’ [Global]

🟧 Cheam First Nation is holding a march this weekend to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women [Fraser Valley Today]

🌲 Tourism Harrison is hosting an open house for its new Sasquatch Museum [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🌲 Abbotsford Tech District is working with stakeholders to preserve, maintain, and enhance trails on Sumas Mountain, so developing the Tech District will result in more trails, not less.*

*Sponsored Listing

SPONSORED BY THE HARRISON FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

45th Harrison Festival Lineup is Announced!

The Harrison Festival of the Arts will be back on the beach in Harrison this July 12-21st with a lineup full of artists from around the globe. With the theme of "Getting the band back together" for this 45th edition, the team has assembled a lineup that not only brings back some past favourites but introduces many new lesser-known acts to this part of the world!

Festival faves such as Harry Manx, Barney Bentall, Locarno, Leela Gilday, and Scottish music pioneers Shooglenifty will be returning. Fresh vibes from Leeroy Stagger, Kathryn Tickell, Dobet Gnahoré, Buenrostro and many more will be new great discoveries.

A free beach stage, indoor hall concerts, Artisan Market, Children's Day, Workshops and Art Gallery - there's plenty to check out at HFA45.

The Agenda

Pay up for parking, Kent tells developers

Developers looking to build in Agassiz will need to pay more if they want to skimp on parking.

At the last Kent council meeting, council decided to increase the fee for each parking space a developer chooses not to build. A report to council noted that Agassiz is running low on public parking spaces within the townsite, and that local businesses are becoming concerned about the potential loss of revenue from paying customers being unable to park.

The current requirements include one parking stall for every 46 square metres of commercial space, one off-street parking space for apartments plus a visitor space for every 10 units, and up to two loading spaces for most retail and warehouse developments. Kent’s previous parking fee was $15,800 for every parking stall that wasn’t built for a development.

The new increase will raise that cost to $25,000 for each unbuilt parking space, and a minimum of $30,000 for every unbuilt loading bay. The district will hold these fees from future developments in a restricted revenue fund to create public parking lots in the future.

SPONSORED BY THE CHILLIWACK PLAYERS GUILD

Hilarious comedy by the Chilliwack Players Guild

A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and hilarity ensues! Accusations, mistaken identities, and romances run wild in this laugh-out-loud farce. Don't miss it! Presented by the Chilliwack Players Guild at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. Tickets online or call 604.391.SHOW.

Drinking Habits is presented by special arrangements with PlayScripts.

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