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- Wednesday, June 28 2023 edition - Pigeons vs. chickens
Wednesday, June 28 2023 edition - Pigeons vs. chickens
Wednesday, June 28, 2023 | Today: š High 23C
Good morning!
Iām driving up north for my cousinās wedding this weekend. Itās a pretty long trek, but Iām looking forward to it. Iāve driven those 13 hours of highway enough that theyāre familiar, but not often enough for them to be boring. Also, I rarely get to make the drive in late June when I have daylight for the whole trip. It means Iāll be less likely to fall asleep driving through the rockies at the end of the trip.
At the bottom of the newsletter today, members can learn about one of my favourite tv shows (and the strangest final exam I ever wrote).
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WORTH KNOWING
š¤ Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope
ā ļø Hereās the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here
š Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBCās latest updates.
NEWS
Pet pigeons and poultry problems
Gurbir Brar holds a baby pigeon on his West Abbotsford farm. š·ļø Grace Giesbrecht
A few pigeons swoop low over the trees, silhouetted against an overcast sky. Life-long pigeon trainer and breeder (or fancier) Gurbir Brar points them out as it begins to rain. They had gotten lost, and theyāre late, the fancier says, but they still made it home to Brarās farm in West Abbotsford.
He trains new birds to race every year. Both a product of their carefully tailored genetics and their training, the birds will be able to find their home from hundreds of kilometres away.
Under those long flight paths, though, hundreds of farmers live on a constant lookout for signs of illness in their chickens. After disastrous avian flu outbreaks, wild birds travelling long distances present a āgraveā concern to some poultry farmers.
Brar wants Abbotsford to legalize keeping pet pigeons in residential areas to help the sport he loves thrive. But the cityās poultry farmers are strongly opposed to the idea.
Related story
Need to know
āļø Some lawyers say evictions from an Abbotsford homeless camp are illegal [Vancouver Sun]
š· A Langley winery avoided the worst of some very weird weather this year [Langley Advance Times]
š® Chilliwack dairy Smith & Co.w will celebrate its 13th anniversary on July 1 [Fraser Valley Today]
šļø Overdose deaths spiked when police arrested the āwrongā drug dealers, a Chilliwack safe supply advocate said [Chilliwack Progress]
š Meet the harbour seal hanging out with rowers on the Sumas River [Abbotsford News]
Ā š„Ŗ A Canadian grilled cheese franchise is coming to Abbotsford [Abbotsford News]
š§āš¤āš§ Mission politicians discussed the need for increased mental health services and rising overdose-related calls with the minster responsible [Mission Record]
š©āš Chilliwack high school students celebrated graduation this weekend [Chilliwack Progress]
š± A neighbour claimed there was a cannabis grow-op in a Chilliwack house that burned down [Fraser Valley Today]
š Langleyās equestrian industry took centre stage in a recent farm tour [Langley Advance Times]
The Agenda
Abbotsford council passed the McKee Peak plan. š·ļø Tyler Olsen
Councillors say McKee Peak plan better than alternative; stay largely quiet on Indigenous opposition
Rejecting the McKee Peak plan wouldnāt necessarily save the areaās natural treasures, two Abbotsford councillors said Monday as they and their colleagues approved the controversial document.
The plan lays out how thousands of homes will be built on the lower reaches of Sumas Mountain in the coming years. The plan has been criticised by trail users and conservation groups, as well as the SemĆ”:th First Nation, which said there was insufficient consultation.
Abbotsford council unanimously approved the plan Monday. Couns. Patricia Ross and Dave Loewen, the two Abbotsford councillors who most frequently cite the need to protect the environment, voted for the plan, saying that it offered better land use protections than the status quo. Both pointed to current land use rules that already permit some developmentāincluding agricultural useāon the properties.
Loewen said that if the plan was rejected landowners could choose to log their properties and use them for farming. The plan, he said, will preserve illegally built trails that currently exist on private property while protecting around half the land from future development. While some have suggested the city should buy the land, both Ross and Loewen said that was financially impossible.
Ross said landowners have thus far declined to develop in order to wait for the cityās plan. Rejecting it, she said, āwould mean unco-ordinated piecemeal development.ā
Mayor Ross Siemens echoed the thought, saying āChange is hard. But itās necessary but we can either plan for it, or we can chase it and correct it after things have gone astray.ā
Only one member of council mentioned the fact that the neighbouring SemĆ”:th First Nation had opposed the plan, pointing to the need for more consultation and a āgovernment-to-governmentā relationship.
Loewen said he was āsatisfied that staff had worked conscientiously and deliberatelyā with SemĆ”:th and that provincial officials had concluded likewise.
Correction
In Tuesdayās story on the McKeep Peak plan vote, The Current incorrectly reported that all eight councillors voted in favour of the plan. In fact, Coun. Mark Warkentin recused himself from the matter and did not vote. Sorry for the error.
Chilliwack woman places 11th in 100-mile race
Jenny Quilty, a well-known member of Chilliwackās trail-running community, was the 11th woman across the finish line in the Western States Endurance Run last weekend.
The race is held in Californiaās Olympic Valley. Runners have 30 hours to complete the course, which climbs through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the heart of California gold country.
Quilty started the race with 381 other competitors at 5am on June 24. She finished, with a time of 18 hours and 49 minutes, at 11:49pm.
Ihor Verys, an endurance runner The Current wrote about last month, is also seeing a successful racing season. His debut in Abbotsfordās 50km Run for Water trail race landed him on the podium in third place, with a time of 5 hours and 44 minutes.
š¤ Now hiring
ā¢ Banquet servers at Ledgeview Golf Course in Abbotsford
ā¢ Equestrian barn assistant at Cobblestone Farms in Langley
ā¢ Assistant grower at Quikās Farm (flowers) in Chilliwack
ā¢ Spa coordinator at Fluid Medi Spa and Wellness in Langley
ā¢ Laboratory clerk at Fraser Canyon Hospital in Hope
Hiring in the Fraser Valley? Reply back and let us know!
šø 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 weekās Current Cam was taken? Fill out this form with your best guessāor with a picture we can use in a future edition.
Things to do
šøĀ Local musicians: Andrew Christopher and Dylan Weightman, a duo of local musicians, will play at the Jolly Miller Pub in Chilliwack at 7pm tonight. Details online.
š¶Ā Kayaking class: The CCE Paddling Club is offering kayak instruction courses for adult and youth in both flat water and whitewater kayaking until August. No previous experience is required and all equipment is provided.
š»Ā Music Festival: The Forest Echoes Music Festival in Cultus Lake starts on Friday. Tickets are still on sale, find them here.
Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.
Catch up
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