Wednesday - Nov. 15, 2023 - Campbell Valley park improvements

🌧 High 5C

Good morning!

A year or two ago, my wife bought the board game The Settlers of Catan from a second-hand store. I’d heard the game was great, but until this weekend it had sat on a shelf waiting for its moment. We finally broke it open Saturday and played a nice, fun game in an hour or so. It was so much fun, we played it again Monday. But as we went about setting it up, we realized we hadn’t played with one supposedly essential rule. So we used the rule and it transformed the game. It made it even better.

Three hours later, the game finally ended. We adults had a ton of fun, but were exhausted. The kids, meanwhile, long past their bed time, were ready for another game. I woke up this morning to them setting the game up again. It’s going to be a long week.

– 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

Big changes for big park

Campbell Valley Regional Park is getting a makeover.

The 1,300-acre expanse of fallow fields and forests is criss-crossed by kilometres of hiking and horseback riding trails.

But the park is actually even bigger than many visitors realize. Plans to redesign Campbell Valley Regional Park’s northeastern corner (on the north side of 16th Avenue) will open up several new acres of trails and activities in the area—including a new canoe dock and a new summer camp.

• Today, Grace writes about plans to upgrade part of Campbell Valley Regional Park—and how it could benefit canoers, campers, and turtles.

Related

Need to Know

💡 A Hope couple is angry about dust and light pollution from nearby construction activity [Hope Standard]

⚠ Canada’s emergency alert phone notification system will be tested this afternoon in BC at 1:55pm. [Alert Ready]

🌲 Thousands were left without power this weekend; Hydro officials blamed the summer’s drought for weakening trees [CTV]

🔋 A billion-dollar battery plant will be built in Maple Ridge and employ more than 400 workers [Global]

✍ Leq’á:mel First Nation has signed a settlement with the Canadian government to compensate for allotting the band land, then unilaterally reducing the size of the reserve in 1868 [Government of Canada]

🏏 Aldergrove might get Langley’s second cricket pitch [Aldergrove Star]

🚧 Trans Mountain is resuming its pipeline work in Abbotsford after environmental issues forced its pause [MSN/Reuters]

🌲 The Abbotsford Police Department is looking to update its arm patch and is soliciting designs from the public [Abbotsford Police Department]

📚 A new book chronicles the life of a former Matsqui mayor [Abbotsford News]

🚔 Two men arrested in Hope are suspected to have stolen a vehicle in Chase and conducted three armed robberies in Kamloops—all within a span of hours [Kamloops Now]

🦅 The Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival has been relaunched and will take place with events in late November near Harrison Mills [Hancock Wildlife Foundation]

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The Agenda

Film festival returns this weekend

A director of the lauded film Blackberry will be on hand for a screening of the film during the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival this weekend.

Matt Johnson will take part in a live question-and-answer session following the film, which is one of dozens that will be screened at Cottonwood Cinema.

The festival, which is entering its seventh year, kicks off Friday with Boil Alert, a documentary about an activist and the struggles of First Nations reserves to get drinkable water. The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the director. Saturday features an array of workshops and screenings, plus an industry-focused talk with Johnson at Cowork Chilliwack. I’m Just Here For The Riot, a documentary on the 2011 Stanley Cup riot, will also be screened Saturday evening.

Sunday will feature the screening of Blackberry, along with collections of short films on an array of topics. Tickets are available online. We wrote about the film festival’s origins in 2021. You can find that story here.

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🤝 Now hiring

• Arena worker at Langley Township

• Overnight clerk at Save-On-Foods in Chilliwack

• Firefighter at City of Abbotsford

• Lawn care technician at Weed Man in Mission

• Supervisor at Panago in Hope

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📸 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.

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🗓 Things to do

Support group: A free community support group for survivors of childhood sexual abuse meets every third Wednesday from 7-9pm at The Métis House 7201 Vedder Rd. Chwk. Register by emailing [email protected].

Spawner session: View the return of salmon spawning and hear from Natashia Cox of the Fraser Valley Watershed Coalition about the importance of Mission’s urban streams Saturday, Nov. 18 from 1 to 2:30pm at Windebank Creek. Details online.

Pottery sale: Dave (Dobie) and family are holding their annual pottery sale Nov. 21 to Dec. 24 in Abbotsford. Details online. We profiled Dave’s mentor Herman Venema earlier this year.

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Catch up

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