Wednesday, April 5, 2023 edition - The valley's best pie recipe?

Wed, April 5, 2023 | Today: 🌤 High 12C, Low 3C | 7-day forecast

Good morning!

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NEWS

A pie for Summer, from Summer

Whether you want a sweet dessert, a savoury steak, or toasty tomato soup, three local award-winning chefs have you covered.

Alas, you won’t find those chefs directing the action at local restaurants quite yet. Summer Wall, Mirrah Webster, and Riley Meszaros have schoolwork to finish. But that doesn’t mean you can’t sample the food of the three Fraser Valley junior cooks.

Summer, Mirrah, and Riley competed in last year’s Field to Fork Challenge, and the trio’s recipes—all emphasizing local BC products—are now available for anyone to try to replicate. Summer finished first place in her category

Tyler spoke to her about cooking, finding inspiration in local blueberries, and her award-winning pie recipe.

You can click the links below to see Summer’s recipe, along with those of their fellow competitors, including locals Mirrah and Riley. You can also test the recipes of two adults: Agriculture Minister and Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis; and a real pro, Chef Trevor Randle, BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation’s chief instructor.

• Summer Wall: Blueberry pie

• Mirrah Webster: Tomahawk steak

• Riley Meszaros: Roasted tomato soup

• Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis: BC tzatziki

• Chef Trevor Randle: Potato gnocchi, cheese sauce, oven-roasted broccoli, and lemon macaroons

Need to know

👍 Sq’éwlets Chief Johnny Williams declared the return of artifacts from Kilby Historic Site a ‘momentous day’ [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

😲 Parents were angered by an April Fool’s prank by the principal of an Abbotsford elementary school [Abbotsford News]

🔥 A Chilliwack apartment building caught fire Tuesday, but crews stopped it before many units could be damaged [Chilliwack Progress]

🚓 Five men in masks robbed an Abbotsford woman at gunpoint outside her home [CBC]

🚒 Flames gutted a commercial trailer in Hope on Monday [Hope Standard]

😆 Car show organizers pranked Langley residents by suggesting a local school was for sale [Langley Advance Times]

👉 An Abbotsford school was locked down after a false alarm about an active shooter [Global]

⚖ A Chilliwack pastor sentenced to prison for child porn offences is appealing his conviction [Chilliwack Progress]

☺ TODAY’S SMILE: Speaking of pie… our editor recently missed the 15th anniversary of the day he got a pie to the face courtesy of a crew of NHL legends [Vernon Morning Star]

⏰ Early bird weekend passes for the Fort Langley Jazz Fest Cool Blues Show, July 21-22, are available for a limited time at $100. Get your tickets now!*

*Sponsored Listing

THE AGENDA

Langley Township tax hike increased at last-minute

After surveying Langley Township residents about a proposed 4.92% property tax increase, council made a last-minute decision to increase the rate Monday.

Instead, they approved a 5.37% fee increase. Coun. Steve Ferguson proposed the 0.45% boost before council voted on its budget. “It could either be used for future amendments to contribution to capital or other uses,” he said.

The proposal was approved by Mayor Eric Woodward’s slate, which holds a majority on council. Couns. Margaret Kunst, Kim Richter, and Michael Pratt voted against the increase.

“We’re in tough economic times for people. They can’t even afford groceries as much as they did a year ago. And for us to say, ‘Oh, it’s only another cup of coffee’… and using what other communities are doing to justify—‘Well look at how good we are, we're only 5% and they’re 10%,’—that is such a lame excuse,” Richter said.

Prior to the budget returning to council for a final vote, the township surveyed residents for two weeks about the original proposed 4.92% increase. Only 166 surveys were completed (an improvement from last year). The survey did not ask for residents’ thoughts about the proposed increase itself. Instead it asked about issues facing residents.

Nearly 50% of respondents said the most-important issue facing the township was “transportation and streets.” The second-most pressing issue for respondents was “crime/policing.”

The budget was approved by council with Richter opposed.

THE AGENDA

Communities get $30,000 each for disaster prep

Several cities and First Nations communities in the Fraser Valley will get provincial funding to upgrade emergency support services for disaster responses.

In total, Fraser Valley communities will receive $177,171. The funds will be used to repair, modernize, or create emergency support services (ESS)—or the short term infrastructure (including teams of trained volunteers, supplies, and physical spaces) that help people evacuating disaster zones stay sheltered, fed, healthy and connected. Langley City, Abbotsford, Kent, Chilliwack, Mission and the Fraser Valley Regional District will all receive about $30,000 apiece to improve their setups.

Abbotsford and the FVRD both planned more specific enhancements to their ESS projects: both local governments want to equip emergency shelters.

Skwah First Nation and Leq'a:mel First Nation will get $30,000 each.

🤝 Now hiring

• A butcher, baker and (no, not a candlestick-maker) cashier at Lepp Farm Market

• Administrative assistant at Chilliwack Society for Community Living

• Labourer at City of Chilliwack

• Hardware manager at Otter Co-op in Langley

• Cannabis consultant at BC Cannabis Stores

Hiring in the Fraser Valley? Reply back and let us know!

📸 Current Cam

Each week we showcase a different photo from across the Valley and invite readers to share their best guesses about where it was taken.

Any guesses as to where this week’s Current Cam was taken? Fill out this form with your best guess—or reply with a picture we can use in a future edition.

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