Tuesday - June 13, 2023 - Vacant houses + speculators

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 | ⛈ High 22C

Good morning!

Taking a kid camping is notoriously exhausting. So is hosting a child’s birthday party. So in a moment of madness—but also brilliance?—my wife and I decided to combine the two this past weekend. We completed two exhausting-but-fulfilling outings in the space of a single weekend (we didn’t go far) and no kids got lost in the woods and eaten by bears, so I’m calling it a success.

Thanks to all our new members, including Wendy, Linda, Al, and Mark. You can become a member and support our work here. 

WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

NEWS

About that vacant house

Drive through Chilliwack Proper, and you’ll probably pass an abandoned house. The lawn is tangled and overgrown. Some have broken windows. Others are decorated with fading graffiti.

More than 100 homes are deserted throughout the city—and most sit empty for the same reason.

• Today, Grace writes about a new Chilliwack strategy to discourage developers from buying homes and leaving them empty.

Need to know

🏰 Construction continues on the fantasy-themed Hazelnut Inn in Yarrow; landscaping is nearly complete, though there’s still a lot of work to do inside [Imagination Corporation]

⛳ The same design company also provided a glimpse at new mini golf segments it is building for Castle Fun Park’s rebuilt course [Imagination Corporation]

🌧 The weekend rain helped the fire situation in the short-term but more is needed to make a lasting impact [Matt MacDonald/BCWS]

👉 A Chilliwack man who kidnapped and severely assaulted a man and woman in 2021 will likely serve several years in prison [Chilliwack Progress]

🛰 New satellites will be launched to provide real-time information on wildfires—but they won’t be in space until 2029 [Waterloo Region Record]

❓ Bellingham is cool now; how did that happen? [Post Alley]

🚧 A new Indigenous Justice Centre will be created in Chilliwack to help those involved in both criminal and child-protection matters [BC Government]

💦 BC is at ‘high risk’ of drought because of a lack of rain and the rapid and early melt of its snowpack [FVC]

❌ Chilliwack’s school district banned dunk tanks because of the ‘racist origins associated with the dunk tank game’ [Fraser Valley Today]

🔥 The Chehalis River wildfire west of Harrison Lake remains out of control but hasn’t grown significantly; 85 firefighters and three helicopters are working the fire [BC Wildfire Service]

💰 A lavish Langley estate near Campbell Valley Park is being sold for $11 million [Instagram]

💗 CTV’s Farming For Love reality show is full of farmers from Agassiz and Rosedale [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🍧 An Italian dessert and gelato shop has opened in downtown Chilliwack [Instagram]

🏳‍🌈 Tiny rainbow flags erected along a UFV sidewalk have been vandalized or stolen eight times since March, including twice Monday [CHASI Hub]

🔊 ‘Social media did not build this great country, but it’s starting to tear its democracy down,’ Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole warned Canadian politicians [CPAC]

🚑 An Abbotsford man suffered life-threatening injuries when his vehicle rolled into a water-filled ditch [Abbotsford Police]

⚖ A bad warrant led a judge to throw out an array of car theft charges against a Langley man [Langley Advance Times]

⚖ An Abbotsford man convicted in a 2018 motorcycle crash that killed a teenager has lost his appeal [Abbotsford News]

💙 Get together with family and friends to experience an unforgettable weekend of live blues music at the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival. Grab your tickets today!*

*Sponsored Listing

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The perfect gift for Father’s Day is here!

Celebrate Vancouver’s best food and drink festival of the summer on Sunday, July 9! Brewery & the Beast brings more than 50 of the city’s best restaurants together, serving up incredible dishes prepared with local ingredients, and cooked over open fire. Refreshments include craft beer, cider, cocktails, wine, non-alcoholic drinks, and original live music.

Visit BreweryandTheBeast.com/Vancouver to purchase tickets and see all event details.

The Agenda

Abbotsford-Mission bridge needs suicide barrier, councillors say

An anti-suicide barrier should be installed on the bridge between Mission and Abbotsford, Mission council has declared.

The city will write a letter to the provincial ministry of transportation and Mission’s local MLA to ask for a barrier to be installed on the bridge. A resolution by Coun. Mark Davies at last week’s council meeting led to the request.

Davies pointed to evidence showing that suicide barriers prevent people from harming themselves.

“It is well-proven that anti-suicide barriers of various types…significantly reduce fatalities,” he said. Council unanimously agreed to support the call.

In 2008, a coroner recommended that suicide prevention barriers be installed on Vancouver bridges. The installation of such barriers have been haphazard in the years since. An upgrade to the Granville Bridge occurred with no barriers added because of an estimated $16 million cost.

McKee Peak decision set for later this month

The latest public hearing into Abbotsford’s McKee Peak Neighbourhood Plan took place last night. Council expects to make a decision on the controversial plan in two weeks, on June 26. We hope to have a piece on the hearing later this week.

7am is too early for weekend construction, you say

We’ve run a few polls recently! Here’s what you told us:

With June upon us, we asked you what your favourite summer month was. June garnered 45% of support, July was preferred by 24%, and 30% of you liked August best.

Maybe that’s because you all don’t really like the heat. We asked how hot you like the summer days and 80% prefer the temperature between 20C and 27C. Barely 10% of you like it hotter than that. Only 1% of respondents like it hotter than 34C.

Langley Township is considering allowing construction start at 7am on Saturdays. Abbotsford and Chilliwack already permit such early start times. We asked you when construction should start. Half of you said 8am was best. A 9am start time was preferred by 35% of residents. Only 15% think 7am is an appropriate time for Saturday construction.

“It does nothing for anyone's mental health to be abruptly awakened by any loud, harsh clanging, hammering noises,” a reader wrote in support of an 8am start time. “RESPECT thy neighbours.”

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