Wednesday - Feb. 7, 2024 - The newspaper stalking horse

🌦 High 6C

Good morning!

Usually, when I’m doing the Wednesday newsletter, I write this section around 11am on Tuesday. I’ve been sick, though, so yesterday I tried to sleep in a bit. When I finally got to work, I became curious (as I often do), promptly fell into a massive pile of creditor protection documents, and spent a couple hours reading and writing. (And, it strikes me as I write this, not eating.) So, it’s 3:09pm on Tuesday, and having written a couple thousand words about those documents, I’m only now getting started on putting the newsletter together. (Grace is busy editing the story at the moment.) Which is why you’re getting an intro about today’s lack of a proper intro. News!

– 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

A stalking horse comes for Black Press

The future of dozens of community newspapers in the Fraser Valley, Washington State and Hawaii may be determined during an auction later this month.

Three weeks after Black Press filed for creditor protection and announced its sale to a US company and two investment houses, an auction process has begun to potentially sell the company again.

New documents published as part of the process also shed light on how the corporate owner of the Fraser Valley’s newspapers tried—and failed—to solve its financial plight before filing for creditor protection last month.

• Today, Tyler writes about how the future of newspapers in Chilliwack, Hope, Abbotsford, Langley, Mission and beyond will be settled in courtrooms and corporate backrooms—and how the papers’ new owners may not control the publications for long.

Related

Need to Know

👏 A Mission firefighter has retired after more than four decades putting out blazes [Mission Record]

❌ A Harrison Hot Springs candidate in the recent by-election will be banned from the next vote after failing to file a disclosure statement [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🏥 Overworked health care specialists say assistants could address patient waits [Vancouver Sun]

👉 Hope is enduring one of the highest overdose death tolls in BC; a group of community members are trying to curb the impact [CBC]

🗳 The BC NDP is courting Langley Liberal MP John Aldag to run provincially [Langley Advance Times]

🚓 Crime increased in Mission by 4% last year; thefts were up while robberies were well down [Mission Record]

📃 Langley Township voted to update its Brookswood neighbourhood plans to align them with new provincial rules [Langley Advance Times]

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The Agenda

Mini roundabout coming to Mission neighbourhood

Roads in western Mission near the city’s busy sports park complex are slated for several upgrades, with a mini-roundabout coming for one intersection.

City staff wrote that residents of the area have been raising concerns about vehicle speeds and a lack of pedestrian infrastructure on Kenney and Israel Avenues and Oyama and Wren Streets. They say the issues will grow as the area develops.

On Monday, Mission council endorsed plans to build multi-use pathways on Wren Street and on Kenney Avenue. The first priority, though, will be the creation of a small roundabout at the intersection of Kenney and Oyama.

The work won’t come right away, though. The roundabout is set to be first up, but requires land to the north that will depend on development. Work on the path along Kenney could start as early as 2025. Staff say it’s a priority because of the key link it provides to the sports park.

🤝 Now hiring

• Cashier assistant at Langley’s Costco

• Behaviour interventionists at Stepping Stones Consultants in Abbotsford

• Community engagement coordinator at Ruth & Naomi’s Mission in Chilliwack

• Line Cook at Mission Springs Brewing Company in Mission

• Pharmacist at Neighbourly Pharmacy in Hope

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.

Think you know where this week’s Current Cam was taken? Fill out this form.

🗓 Things to do

Hike for mental health: BeMorr Society is hosting its annual Wandering Warriors Hike for Mental Health in April. Sign up or become a sponsor online. The hike was inspired by Brook Morrison. We spoke to his mother in our first FVC edition. You can find that story here.

Giants vs. Wild: The Vancouver Giants host the Wenatchee Wild Feb. 10 at the Langley Events Centre. Tickets online.

Valentine’s skate: The Mission School District's Early Years Team is hosting a free Valentine’s-themed public skating event on Feb. 13 at the Mission Leisure Centre for families. Play games and activities and learn about programs available for little ones. Details online. 

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Catch up

That’s it!

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