North Vancouver news

• From the inferno: Fighting wildfires in a disastrous summer

  09-09-2017 23:29 via vancouversun.com
  Every time a new wildfire breaks out in B.C. an initial attack crew has to get there fast — by truck, helicopter or hiking through the bush with all their equipment on their backs.
  “It’s definitely physical work,” said Jess Oundjian, a first-year firefighter working in Kamloops. “When you are right on a fire you get inundated with smoke and ash, sometimes it feels like you’ve smoked a pack of cigarettes, but it doesn’t last long.”
  The three-pe
  
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• B.C. Liberals remove Darryl Plecas from party

  09-09-2017 23:05 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — British Columbia’s Liberal party has kicked out one of its caucus members for taking the role of Speaker in the NDP minority government.
  Darryl Plecas, MLA for Abbotsford South, took the Speaker position yesterday to the surprise of his party.
  By taking the role, Plecas gave the New Democrats more breathing room in the legislature where they hold a razor-thin minority, with a one-seat majority with the support of Green party member votes.
  Interim Liberal Leader Rich Colema
  
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• Advisory lifted as rain chases away smoke and smog in Metro Vancouver

  09-09-2017 22:18 via vancouversun.com
  An air quality advisory for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley has been lifted after recent rainfall helped to push smoke out of the region.
  “The advisory was due to elevated concentrations of fine particulate matter due to smoke from wildfires in Washington state and the Interior of B.C.,” read the Metro Vancouver authority’s latest update, shared Saturday. “Changing weather patterns have now improved air quality throughout the region.”
  The advisory had been in
  
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• Ontario plan to sell legal weed no match for B.C.'s existing industry

  09-09-2017 22:16 via vancouversun.com
  Ontario’s plan to sell marijuana out of government-operated stores would never fly in B.C., according to a local pot advocate.
  Vancouver’s Dana Larsen suggested a provincial government could never compete with established and independent dispensaries in offering the same variety of products that consumers seek – such as different strains and edibles – and that the Ontario government won’t be able to open shops fast enough to keep pace with the existing demand.
  &ldqu
  
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• Want to use the bus bike rack but feeling a little intimidated? Try out the City's Rack & Ride demo station in… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  09-09-2017 22:00 via twitter.com
  Want to use the bus bike rack but feeling a little intimidated? Try out the City's Rack & Ride demo station in… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Multi-use and super smooth. Have you checked out this great space at Sam Walker Park? Putting, yoga, bocce, u name… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  09-09-2017 20:00 via twitter.com
  Multi-use and super smooth. Have you checked out this great space at Sam Walker Park? Putting, yoga, bocce, u name… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• #WalkCNV Open House TODAY 11am - 1pm in #CivicPlaza. Review draft pedestrian network map & give feedback.… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  09-09-2017 18:00 via twitter.com
  #WalkCNV Open House TODAY 11am - 1pm in #CivicPlaza. Review draft pedestrian network map & give feedback.… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Stellar outlooks on offer at Terraces at the Peak

  09-09-2017 15:55 via vancouversun.com
  Throw the word “Vancouver” into any online image search and you’ll get dozens of picture-postcard photographs of city skylines and snow-topped mountains surrounded by sparkling inlets. Most people who live in the city don’t get these kinds of views from their living room windows and those that do often have had to pay big bucks for it.
  Not so at Terraces at the Peak, a 117-home condo development by Intergulf set for SFU’s UniverCity, a master-planned community on to
  
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• Sold (Bought): Large Burnaby property includes gym and media room

  09-09-2017 15:11 via vancouversun.com
  A snapshot of recent residential real estate in Metro Vancouver
  4678 Carson Street, Burnaby
  Type: Five-bedroom, four-bathroom detached
  Size: 5,524 sq. ft.
  B.C. Assessment: $2,004,000
  Listed for: $2,488,000
  Sold for: $2,500,000
  Sold on: May 18
  Days on market: 15
  Listing agent: Leslie Gray at Kore Realty and Carlo Bustamante at Kore Realty Elite
  Buyers agent: James Garbutt at Keller Williams Elite Realty
  The big sell: Size counts with this sprawling property on the edge of Gray Creek Ravine Park o
  
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• This Week in History: N.E. Thing set out to subvert the visual status quo

  09-09-2017 15:00 via vancouversun.com
  On its cross-Canada tour in 1969, N.E. Thing Co. played around with visual conventions about landscape and art. From B.C., for example, the company took a bag of local dirt east and added it to some dirt in Alberta. The art provocateurs also took some Alberta dirt and mixed it in with dirt in Saskatchewan, to make it even dirtier.
  Iain and Ingrid Baxter, the husband-and-wife team who made up the group, picked up a bag of dirt from every province they travelled to — including Newfoundland.
  
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• Albatross Music Festival of Asian pop stars at Hastings Park

  09-09-2017 15:00 via vancouversun.com
  Albatross Music Festival
  Sept. 14 & 15, 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.| Hastings Park Racecourse
  Tickets and info: From $119 at albatrossfest.com
  When it comes to Lower Mainland music events, the Albatross Music Festival is a bird of a different feather. The two day showcase is the first to celebrate the massive Asian pop music market.
  The festival’s seventeen acts come from China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Los Angeles and Mongolia.
  Given the diversity of this region, it’s sur
  
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• The Home Front: Vancouver Modern Home Tour set to go

  09-09-2017 14:59 via vancouversun.com
  Those who love modern architecture and design — or who just enjoy a fun day out while the weather’s still good — will want to know that the Modern Architecture + Design Society’s Vancouver Modern Home Tour is returning for a fifth year.
  This year, the self-guided tour takes place on Sept. 16 and includes six homes spread across the city from West Vancouver to Pacific Spirit Regional Park, all representing the work of leading local architects and designers. 
  
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• ELLA to rise in Kelowna's trendiest new neighbourhood

  09-09-2017 14:54 via vancouversun.com
  When one of Kelowna’s most progressive developers shifts gears and begins building up instead of out, it’s a sure sign that the city is entering a new phase.
  Mission Group is launching sales this fall of its first highrise in the Okanagan city, a 20-storey, 116-unit concrete tower called ELLA, astutely located in the Bernard district, Kelowna’s newest and trendiest neighbourhood. All the homes will be guaranteed views of Okanagan Lake or the surrounding mountains because the re
  
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• Builders put heart into Children's Hospital renewal

  09-09-2017 12:00 via vancouversun.com
  Phil Weston had a deeply personal reason for going to work every day during the redevelopment of B.C. Children’s and B.C. Women’s hospitals. 
  Weston was a senior project manager on construction of the Teck Acute Care Centre, slated to open on Oct. 29. It is the centrepiece of a five-year, $678-million redevelopment project that will transform and improve treatment for B.C.’s children and their families.Weston and his wife Jewel, like most parents in the Lowe
  
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• Opinion: Coping with change: Managing the stress of starting university

  09-09-2017 07:00 via vancouversun.com
  Transitions can be tough at all life stages. And many young people across Canada are in the process of a major one: starting university or a post-secondary education for the first time. Many are going away from home, often far away, and leaving friends, family and familiarity behind as they embark on their post-secondary adventures.
  This time of transition can be an exhilarating or highly anxious time — or, more commonly, a combination. Young people are going through multiple changes that
  
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• Opinion: Are amenity spaces destined to become housing development sites?

  09-09-2017 07:00 via vancouversun.com
  Vancouver is designed to have neighbourhoods with parks, community centres and schools on large historic sites that make communities walkable and sustainable. These amenities and open green spaces will become even more critical as the city densifies over time, as they are the heart and lungs of the city.
  However, rather than being protected, they are increasingly under threat of being sold or redeveloped for housing. Astonishingly, we are moving in this direction now.
  Vancouver is unique in its
  
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• Letters: Adopt European model of public-private health care

  09-09-2017 07:00 via vancouversun.com
  Re: Bitter medicare challenge resumes in B.C. courtroom, Sept. 6The logic of the government of B.C.’s position is that we should not be allowed to send our children to private schools, we should not be allowed to send our seniors to private care homes, and we should not be allowed to drive private motor vehicles — everyone should take public transportation.
  Why can RCMP officers, members of our Canadian military and federal inmates be treated in private surgical clinics but the rest
  
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• Editorial: Dividend not root cause of ICBC financial woes

  09-09-2017 07:00 via vancouversun.com
  Attorney General David Eby announced this week that the cost of basic and optional auto insurance from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia for the average driver will rise by eight per cent, or $130 more a year, effective November 1. And he was quick to lay blame for ICBC’s financial woes on the previous Liberal government, which he accused of mismanagement and “gutting” the Crown corp by “raiding” it of $1.2 billion since 2010.
  However, a 203-page consult
  
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• Editorial: Bridge or tunnel — just fix it fast

  09-09-2017 07:00 via vancouversun.com
  The New Democrat government cancelled work on a new bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel this week and said it will submit the project to an independent technical review. It also suspended a process to choose one of three shortlisted firms to design, build and finance it.
  The government’s move is expected to delay any progress on addressing issues related to the 58-year-old seismically vulnerable tunnel and massive traffic bottlenecks on the heavily-travelled route between Vancouver
  
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• Dan Fumano: Calls up, staffing down at renter agency

  09-09-2017 05:11 via vancouversun.com
  Part 1 of 2
  Deb Dawson returned home from work one evening this year to the slip of paper every renter dreads.
  “There it was on my door: surprise!” said Dawson, 64. “The first reaction when you get an eviction notice is shock.”
  The notice, in April, gave her two months’ notice to vacate her home of 21 years.
  Dawson, on low-income seniors’ assistance and nearing retirement, didn’t want to move. Although her rent had doubled over the years that she’d
  
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• Coleman accuses Speaker Plecas of betraying Liberal colleagues

  09-09-2017 04:41 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — Shortly before the legislature convened Friday morning, B.C. Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas sat alone at the back of the chamber while elsewhere in the building, Liberals seethed and New Democrats purred.
  A few minutes later, with the house called into session, the cause of all the celebration and lamentation became readily apparent as MLAs had it confirmed that only one of their number let his name stand for the vacant position of Speaker.
  “Therefore, I wish to announce t
  
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• Abbotsford trio charged in ongoing Lower Mainland drug turf war

  09-09-2017 04:15 via vancouversun.com
  Three Abbotsford teenagers have been charged in connection with the Lower Mainland drug turf war.
  Ishaan Mutneja, Navpreet Dhaliwal and Sukhjit Malhi were all been arrested within the past week and a half and now face charges related to the gang conflict stretching across the region, said police in a statement on Friday. All three are 19 years of age.
  Mutneja faces two charges while Dhaliwal and Malhi face six charges each. The charges range from drug trafficking in fentanyl, cocaine, heroi
  
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• Judge dismisses publication ban request in case of Vancouver developer facing extradition

  09-09-2017 03:50 via vancouversun.com
  A B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed a defence lawyer’s application Friday for a publication ban in the case of a Vancouver real estate developer facing possible extradition to the US to face fraud allegations.
  Mark John Chandler, a longtime Vancouver real estate developer with a history of legal skirmishes, appeared Friday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver for a hearing in which the US government seeks his extradition to face allegations he participated in an alleged “fraudulent sc
  
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• Premier Horgan, Surrey Mayor Hepner, MLA Sims pose with convicted gunman

  09-09-2017 02:02 via vancouversun.com
  B.C. Premier John Horgan, Surrey MLA Jinny Sims and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner all posed for a photograph with convicted gunman and Radio India owner Maninder Gill at a private Surrey residence this week.
  The photo, which is being circulated widely, was taken Sept. 6 at the home of Kulwant Dhesi, a community leader and longtime Sims supporter.
  Dhesi said Friday that he invited the politicians to his newly-built home for a private function.
  And he said he invited Gill, who is out on bail awaiting
  
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• Council's back in session Monday 6pm, City Hall. Come in person or watch online. Agenda: cnv.org/CouncilMeetings… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  09-09-2017 02:00 via twitter.com
  Council's back in session Monday 6pm, City Hall. Come in person or watch online. Agenda: cnv.org/CouncilMeetings… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Today's rain hasn't significantly changed our fire danger rating. Barbecues (incl briquette & gas-fuelled) are still banned in all NS parks.

  09-09-2017 01:56 via twitter.com
  Today's rain hasn't significantly changed our fire danger rating. Barbecues (incl briquette & gas-fuelled) are still banned in all NS parks.
  
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• NDP throne speech promises disability bus passes and education funds

  09-09-2017 01:50 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — B.C.’s new NDP government will put more money into the education system, fix lease loopholes that hurt renters, restore annual disability bus passes, and embark on an ambitious plan to build new schools, hospitals road and homes, according to its throne speech.
  Premier John Horgan’s government outlined its agenda Friday, in a speech that recapped many of the party’s recent announcements while also offering its first glimpse at new reforms by the administration.
  
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• Premier Horgan, Surrey Mayor Hepner, MLA Jinny Sims pose with convicted gunman

  09-09-2017 01:43 via vancouversun.com
  B.C. Premier John Horgan, Surrey MLA Jinny Sims and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner all posed for a photograph with convicted gunman and Radio India owner Maninder Gill at a private Surrey residence this week.
  The photo, which is being circulated widely, was taken Sept. 6 at the home of Kulwant Dhesi, a community leader and longtime Sims supporter.
  Dhesi said Friday that he invited the politicians to his newly-built home for a private function.
  And he said he invited Gill, who is out on bail awaiting
  
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• Plecas defection gives NDP minority important breathing room

  09-09-2017 01:38 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — B.C. Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas turned on his own party Friday to become the legislature’s new Speaker, an act the interim Liberal leader called a betrayal.
  The decision by Plecas “puts a little wind in the sails” of the governing NDP-Green alliance, said Max Cameron, a political scientist at UBC.
  “I think that this minority has a more workable minority in partnership with the Greens, which I think means its life expectancy just improved significantly,&rdq
  
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• Bulls & Bears: Serving up U.S. talent in Open final, NFL taking hard hits off field

  09-09-2017 01:37 via vancouversun.com
  BULLS OF THE WEEK
  This is such a big weekend for the United States Tennis Association — operators of the U.S. OPEN — with an all-American women’s singles final coming out of a semifinal round Thursday that was also all-American.
  The big runs this week by Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe and ageless 37-year-old veteran Venus Williams marked the first time since 1981 that a final four of Americans made the semifinals at the U.S. Open — and first time sinc
  
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• Vancouver urban rescue team ready to go to Florida, if needed

  09-09-2017 01:09 via vancouversun.com
  Vancouver’s heavy urban search and rescue team is ready to leave within a few hours if it is called upon to help areas of the U.S. hit by Hurricane Irma.
  “It’s most definitely a possibility,” the team could be deployed, said John Dennis, an assistant chief with Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services.
  Officials in Florida and Georgia ordered evacuations for at least 1.4 million people along the southeast coast on Friday as a major Category 4 hurricane headed straight toward
  
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• Investigators on scene following targeted shooting in Burnaby

  09-09-2017 00:50 via vancouversun.com
  Police are investigating after shots were fired in Burnaby Friday afternoon.
  Around 1:30 p.m. Friday, Burnaby RCMP were called to the 6400-block of Roberts Street after people in the area heard gunfire. Investigators on scene have confirmed evidence of shorts fired and that no one was injured in the shooting.
  Investigators are now speaking with neighbours and witnesses to gather information.
  “The investigation is still in its early stages, but initial indications are that this is an isolat
  
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• Ottawa seeks to boost media diversity in B.C.

  09-09-2017 00:21 via vancouversun.com
  A project to increase diversity in Vancouver’s news media is among seven gender-equality programs in British Columbia that have received a total of $2.2 million in federal funding.
  The Multilingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities, or MOSAIC, says the project will address issues including discrimination, stereotyping and lack of representation of female experts.
  Studies have shown that male experts are interviewed by the media far more often than female experts, sa
  
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• Crews struggle with southeastern B.C. wildfires as conditions ease elsewhere

  09-09-2017 00:10 via vancouversun.com
  CRANBROOK — The unprecedented, aggressive behaviour of three blazes in southeastern British Columbia has forced firefighting crews to withdraw from the area, the B.C. Wildfire Service said on Friday.
  Fire information officer Karlie Shaughnessy said a grouping of three smaller fires in the Flathead area east of Cranbrook is not threatening any homes or structures, but unpredictable activity prompted the pull out.
  The combined size of the fires is about 26 square kilometres and the wild
  
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• The #ShipyardsNightMarket continues Friday nights 5-10pm 'til the end of September. Live music, vendors, food truck… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  09-09-2017 00:00 via twitter.com
  The #ShipyardsNightMarket continues Friday nights 5-10pm 'til the end of September. Live music, vendors, food truck… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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