August 6, 2010, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News

A gravel mine looking to expand in the Pitt Polder has tweaked its plans, moving its boundary further away from homes.

Pitt River Quarries’ revised plan shifts the proposed mine expansion 200 metres away from the nearest houses on Sheridan Hill.

The distance is double the origi-

nal 100-metre setback originally set out.

“We listened to the concerns of the community,” said Brad Kohl, general manager of aggregates and marine division for Lafarge Canada (Vancouver area).

The changes to the expansion plan follow a heated public meeting between Lafarge and Sheridan Hill residents in March.

The current gravel mine has enough stone and rock for another

20 years of extraction and covers 54.7 hectares.

The proposed expansion will al-low Lafarge Canada Inc. to continue mining at the site for an additional 10 to 15 years.

The proposed expansion would now follow a “natural draw,” or gul-ly, that exists in the rocky outcrop.

“It will preserve the Sheridan Hill mound,” Kohl said.

Lafarge has presented its revised plan to the city and the Katzie First Nation, who both opposed the origi-nal expansion.

Shea to shine on field down south. p37Radio Haney

Smart Growth project bears fruit. p6

THE NEWS

Quarry changes plan

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Getting airDawson Ignatieff (left) and Aidan MacDonald, both from the Ridge Meadows BMX club, get air off a hill during a practice run before a 13-and-under race at the track in Pitt Meadows on Tuesday. See race results, p40.

Plan for Blue Mtn.‘ongoing’

While neighbours fret about a new gate into Blue Mountain forest and logging trucks rumbling down their streets, the grand plan that will set out who can do what, where on the mountain, is years away.

“It’s still going on, slowly,” said Mike Peters, recreation offi cer with the Chilliwack district in the Min-istry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

“The big problem is access, so the recreation plan is going to address that over time. It’s a big planning process.”

More than a dozen groups, repre-senting everyone from environmen-talists to dirt bikers to First Nations have been involved in discussions over years, in an attempt at rewrit-ing the Forest Recreation Manage-ment Strategy, originally written in 2003.

See Mountain, p3

See Quarry, p3

Friday, August 6, 2010 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢www.mapleridgenews.com

Gardening

Holy, hardy Hibiscus, Batman.p19

Opinion 6

Ingrid Rice 6

Acts of Faith 12

Money Talks 15

Parenting 16

Home&gardening 19

Scoreboard 40

Index

Pitt River Quarries

Pitt River Quarries has mined gravel from its current site in the Pitt Polder since the 1960s and wants to expand the life of it.

Expansion wouldn’t come as close to Sheridan Hill homes

b y M o n i s h a M a r t i n sstaff repor ter

b y P h i l M e l n y c h u kstaff repor ter

The last meeting was two years ago and there’s no meeting scheduled and no deadline for finishing the plan.

“It’s a pretty complicated area,” said Peters.

Sharing the mountain that lies north of Dewdney Trunk Road near the border of Mission are three woodlots, operated by Blue Mountain Woodlot, BCIT and Kwantlen First Nations. The UBC Re-search Forest and forest licences held by Kwantlen and Katzie First Nations also occupy the area.

Meanwhile, in Mission, the municipality is completing a parallel process on writ-ing a plan for the Mission Interpretative Forest, where forestry and recreation will also co-exist.

“They’re a bit farther along,” said Pe-ters.

“They’ve done a huge amount of work.”Maple Ridge has also put a lot of work

into the area, he added.Mayor Ernie Daykin agreed a plan for

Blue Mountain should be completed and the issue is dragging on.

“We’ve got a ton of stuff on our plate.”He said he didn’t really favour motor-

cycles on the mountain, but “there’s a ton of people that do that responsibly.”

Some accomplishments have been made, however. A heavy steel gate on McNutt Road, one of the two access points, keep out 4X4s and prevents the forest from turning into a dump site. And most mo-torcyclists seem to be using the second, northern access point, on north 256th Street, away from the suburbs.

He suggested that a new plan could have horse riders, hikers and mountain bikers using the McNutt Road entrance, where a parking lot could be constructed.

“Those are just options.“Those are comments that have been

coming up through the meetings.”But Peters agrees, pressure to sort

out the use on the mountain is growing,

as the population grows and the rest of the Lower Mainland discovers the area, thanks to the Golden Ears Bridge.

There is no timeline for tying every-thing up into a neat package, however, although he’d like to have regular meet-ings.

“It’s really challenging to try to grasp what our mandate is. I wish it could have been done sooner.”

With no plan in place, the mountain and any possible tourism potential is not part of the District of Maple Ridge’s economic

strategy, said Darrell Denton, with the economic development office.

Instead, the department will wait until the plan for the mountain is finished and take its cue from any recommendations.

Maple Ridge Coun. Craig Speirs says the goals and the timeline for a new Blue Mountain plan is up to the ministry.

The district tried to put forward its vi-sion for the mountain when it supported the application for a community forest li-cence by Katzie First Nation in 2007.

“They just rebuffed us.

“The province has got to get off the pot on this one and has to take the leadership on this.”

Last November, the Katzie and UBC, which has a research forest nearby, signed an agreement “to send a message” to the Ministry of Forests and Range that all groups support a community forest on Blue Mountain.

What Speirs doesn’t see, though, is a long-term future for motorcycles on the mountain, especially during the dry sea-son.

Increased access just will lead to more motorcycles and there’s always a small segment of those who create problems.

Some areas near Stave Lake don’t cre-ate problems because there are no homes, but as soon as they start getting near sub-urbs, people object.

“I don’t think that’s [Blue Mountain] the appropriate place for off-road vehicles, I really don’t.

“As soon as you throw a motor behind it, you just end up with yahoos and prob-lems. It’s just how it works.”

He said even creating a larger staging area for motorcyclists would be costly.

“Until they have a formal way of paying for it, I don’t see it happening.”

Instead, he points to a planned BMX skills course for Albion park and there could be mountain biking on the district owned land in Thornhill, east of 248th Street.

He wants Maple Ridge to build on from the Alouette Valley Association that calls for a recreation corridor along 132nd Av-enue. He also wants the district to focus on family recreation, and foster more tourism products, such as a BMX park, more bed and breakfasts, horse rentals and a campground, possibly in Whon-nock Lake.

However, Dave Clarke, with the Blue Mountain Woodlot Ltd. said recently the Blue Mountain Motorcycle Club is doing a “fantastic job” policing the mountain.

‘Not right place for off -road vehicles’

THE NEWS/files

Increased access will lead to more motorized vehicles on Blue Mountain.

Ministry hasn’t made decision yetThe mine has been located on Sheridan Hill

since the 1960s, before a tony subdivision was built near it.

Besides supplying gravel to nearby munici-palities and developments, the quarry was a major supplier of aggregate for the Pitt River Bridge.

It is currently supplying cement for the con-struction of the new Port Mann Bridge.

A municipality cannot regulate mining opera-tions, which fall under the jurisdiction of the province.

The province, however, evaluates each mining application individually and does allow munici-palities to submit comments.

Pitt Meadows council has told the province it doesn’t support expansion of the quarry fur-ther into the historic hill, which is purported to be the location of a lost gold mine and figures prominently in First Nations legends.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines said it has

yet to make a decision on the expansion and continues to work with the information provid-ed through a technical review.

Residents of Sheridan Hill aren’t placated by Lafarge’s revised plans.

They still remain concerned for wildlife, the destruction of vegetation and the eventual grinding down of a hill that’s a landmark in the Pitt Polder.

“It still shouldn’t happen,” said Brent Rich-ards, who lives on Sheridan Drive and adminis-ters a website against the expansion (stopquar-ryexpansion.ca).

“The expansion still takes the west side of the hill.”

Richards admits the revised plan is better than the one originally proposed, but added it hasn’t changed anyone’s mind.

“It is physically taking a hill away. Once the hill is gone, it’s gone, and they are paving the way for more development in the area,” he add-ed.

Quarry from front

Mountain from front

Pitt River Quarries

The new plan would only cut into the hill to the gully, further away from homes than the previous expansion proposal.

The B.C. restaurant industry’s worst fears about the HST have been realized, says the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices As-sociation.

After an online survey of 802 B.C. restaurants, the association says the Harmonized Sales Tax, which adds seven per cent to a restaurant meal, is hurting the business, after it took effect July 1, creating a 10-per-cent drop in sales compared to the same period last year.

The HST combines the federal fi ve-per-cent Goods and Services Tax and the seven-per-cent Provincial Sales Tax into the single 12 per cent HST. Some ser-vices though, such as

restaurant meals were only charged the GST.

The restaurant asso-ciation says 47 per cent of those restaurants have cut back on staff, while 72 per cent say it’s had a “negative im-pact.”

Tell that to Opa! Sou-vlaki at Meadowtown Centre, where sales have increased every month this year, said

owner Herman Thind. That’s led him to hire two more staff in June and July. This July, sales are up $4,000 more than the same month last year.

“We’re fi nding that we’re busier. We’re seeing the growth.”

That could be because people are cutting back and not going to a sit-down restaurant and

instead visiting the deli-style Opa! Having the theatres nearby also helps.

Thind said he also likes the simplifi ed tax system and paperwork of the HST compared to the previously separate PST and GST.

Despite the restau-rant association’s claims, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Chamber of Commerce president Jeremy Bekar says the new tax isn’t hurting business. He checked with Red Robin and Buffalo Club restau-rants and the Jolly

Coachman pub and none have any com-plaints.

And for those restau-rants that are noticing a slow in sales, he said it could be just the de-layed effects of the re-cession fi nally being felt in B.C., following the fading glow of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Ted Botsis, at Dino’s Restaurant, however has a different story. “We’re down 40 per cent,” he said.

“It’s getting ridicu-lous.”

Botsis has had his res-taurant on Lougheed Highway for 28 years. “This is the worst I’ve seen it.” He’s had to lay off a cook and blames it on the new tax. And he doubts sales will bounce back because they didn’t when the GST came into effect in 1991.

Todd Pratt, at The Frogstone Grill, said it’s diffi cult to judge the impact of the tax because summer is normally a slow time.

“I don’t think it’s helping.”

On the other hand, this summer is com-parable to other sum-mers, he said.

HST having hit-and-miss eff ect on local eateriesOne owner claims business down 40%

THE NEWS/files

Dino’s owner Ted Botsi says his restaurant is struggling since the HST was implemented.


Drug traffi cking charges against a Ma-ple Ridge man were quashed last month af-ter a judge found Ridge Meadows RCMP en-trapped him during an undercover operation.

In a ruling released by last week, provin-cial court judge Shehni Dossa set aside two con-victions against Roland Andre Gosselin and en-tered a judicial stay of proceedings on the traf-fi cking charges.

Dossa found the un-dercover offi cer had no information about Gos-selin, other than the phone number of a pos-

sible known drug traf-fi cker.

“As far as the under-cover operation that was convened, he only had a mere suspicion that the accused may be involved in drug traf-fi cking,” she said.

The court heard police fi rst learned about Gos-selin in July 2008, when an offi cer stopped a per-son in Maple Ridge who provided him with sev-eral pieces of informa-tion, one of which was the name “Roland”, that he drove a grey Oldsmo-bile and sold “green,” or marijuana.

The constable entered the tip into a computer and received a second tip in April 2009 from a special constable about an individual named Roland with the same telephone number, who was 45 years old and had dark, wavy hair.

RCMP began an un-

dercover operation in May 2009 to target street-level drug deal-ers.

Gosselin’s number was called and an un-dercover offi cer asked if he was working and said he wanted “half an O,” or half an ounce of marijuana.

Gosselin was arrested after he meet with the offi cer and sold him pot.

“I accept that the po-lice in this case were conducting operations with the genuine goal of pursuing serious crime, namely traffi cking, without ulterior mo-tives,” said Dossa.

“I fi nd that the offi cer engaged in random vir-tue testing and did not have details to have a reasonable suspicion that the accused was already engaged in that particular criminal ac-tivity.”

Judge fi nds police entrapped Maple Ridge man

Drug trafficking charges thrown out in court


THE NEWS/opinion

Following a meet-ing in December 2002 between the

District of Maple Ridge and Patrick M. Condon, UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environ-ments, the municipal-ity was invited to be the fi rst community to participate in the Smart Growth on the Ground Project.

The project com-prises a collaborative workshop process that enables profession-als, community representatives and policy makers to break the pattern of develop-ment deadlock and negotiate new bylaws, plans and standards that will encourage sustainable and forward-looking civic devel-opment.

The objective of Smart Growth was – and remains – to help communities meet their affordable housing targets, protect water-shed health, and reinforce neighbourhood land use patterns that require less automo-bile use, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas production and more walkable com-munities.

Given that Maple Ridge remains one of the few communities in the Fraser Valley that can boast a bona fi de downtown core, it is little wonder we were selected for this process.

On Nov. 26, 2003 a project committee in-formation session was held at the municipal hall. Those gathered were introduced to the process and a project committee was formed.

Smart Growth is underpinned by eight

guiding principles: each community is com-plete; options to the car are emphasized; work in harmony with natural systems; buildings and infrastructure are greener, smarter and cheaper; housing meets the needs of the whole community; good jobs are close to home; the spirit of each commu-nity is honoured; and everyone has a voice.

In April 2005, Maple Ridge council ap-proved what was described as the Maple Ridge Town Centre Concept Plan and directed staff to proceed with its implemen-tation.

So, where are we with our Smart Growth plan fi ve years down the road, now 2010? How do we rate?

The good: bringing infrastructure and streetscapes into a contemporary state as-sisted by a $5.6 million grant; the establish-ment of a business improvement associa-tion that appears, after a slow start, to be making some progress; commencing the clean-up of South Haney by removing the owner of Northumberland Court; limited though promising number of startups of medium and high density projects within the downtown; two new commercial build-ings on Lougheed Highway in the core; two sites cleared at the foot of 224th on the Haney Bypass (one for mixed use and one, they say, may be a hotel); new owners at the Billy Miner and a great clean-up; a fancy new liquor store for the Witch of En-dor; talk of something happening on the old Mussallem auto dealership site; Tommy’s gone, replaced by the Haney Public House; a cluster of housing springs up near Thomas Haney secondary.

The less good: the Haney Place Mall remains a retail enigma (no one I know un-derstands why it has yet to undergo a com-prehensive makeover. The Smart Growth

report provided three options for the mall, each one quite different from the other. The owners apparently opted for a fourth option that aims to ‘do nothing.’ The construction of the Westminster Savings building helps, of course, but only just.

Time and population growth seem to be the only real enemy of Smart Growth. And the threat of a double-dip recession does little to promote the full blossoming of this plan. We see this in several stalled proposals for our downtown, the most obvi-ous being the gaming facility planned for Lougheed at 227th Street. Not only stalled, but now downsized, it could be several years before it materializes.

Two glimpses into the future can be seen in two different retail situations. One is Tim Horton’s on the corner of 224th Street and Lougheed. Its popularity grows daily.

East along Lougheed is the Langley Farm Market. Catering to the more health conscious, it too is getting busier. And it is gratifying to note how many people have obviously walked from their homes nearby to pick up their fruit and vegetables.

This is what Smart Growth envisioned, and it is working, albeit it modestly.

The Haney Farmers’ Market, while only a one-day event each week, has to be men-tioned as a pioneer for the establishment of a true downtown. The number of vendors and shoppers grows steadily and one can see it only continuing to become a natural part of the downtown experience that Maple Ridge will proffer in the future.

Claus Andrup is a former member at large of the Maple Ridge Community Heritage Commission, the Maple Ridge Economic Advisory Commission, and former Presi-

dent of the Maple Ridge Historical Society.

Smart Growth project bears fruit

Hey, neighbourIngrid RiceNews Views

Published and printed by Black Press at 22328 – 119th Avenue, Maple Ridge, B.C., V2X 2Z3

Question of theweek:

Will you visit downtown Maple Ridge once the

street renovations are complete?

Yes: 42% – No: 58%

This week’s question: Should smoking be banned from all public

spaces, including parks?

@ Online poll: cast your vote at www.mapleridgenews.com, or e-mail your vote and comments to [email protected]

When was the last time you borrowed a cup of sugar from your neighbour? Or poked your head over the fence to say hello or offer a friendly wave? Do you even know their names?

If you’re a little more neighbourly than some, or have found yourself living in the same qui-et neighbourhood for many years, the answer should be easy.

However, it may not be so for many of us in today’s world – full of high-density develop-ment, secondary suites and rental houses with tenancy turnover.

It’s the world we live in now, but it was not always thus. It wasn’t too long ago – a decade or two or three, maybe – where it seemed every-one knew everyone, and a friendly face was just one door away.

And remember Block Watch and Block Par-ents? These neighbour-helping-neighbour movements that were popular in the ’70s and ’80s are still active now, but there seems to be fewer telltale signs posted in windows.

And while such developments might be per-ceived as signs of the times more so than any conscious effort to ignore those around us, it is something of a shame, considering how benefi -cial such neighbourly relationships can be.

At the very least, it helps to know neighbours’ names, and have their phone numbers scribbled somewhere.

Take for example, two incidents in the Lower Mainland recently. In one, a family escaped from its burning house after on-the-ball neighbours alerted them to the blaze. In the other, neigh-bours administered resuscitation attempts to a two-year-old who had fallen into a residential pool. Thankfully, the toddler – found face down – was expected to make a full recovery.

Of course, not all neighbourly benefi ts are of the life-and-death variety. It might simply be nice to see a familiar face when you’re out washing the car, or know that if you go away for a week, there’s someone to water your plants.

Some say progress has made our world a lot smaller. Perhaps it’s time to revive that small-world feel.

– Black Press

Tell us what you think @ www.mapleridgenews.com

Jim Coulter, [email protected]

Michael Hall, [email protected]

Carly Ferguson, advertising, creative services [email protected]

Joan Griffi th, circulation [email protected]

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V2X 2Z3Offi ce: 604-467-1122

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CCAB audited circulation: (as of September 2009): Wednesday - 30,221; Friday – 30,197.

Ser ving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows since 1978

THE NEWS

Radio Haney Claus Andrup

Letters to the editor should be exclusive to The News and address topics of interest to residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Include full name and address, as well as daytime phone number for verification. Keep letters to 500 words or less. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

@ E-mail letters to [email protected].

Letters welcome

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Re: Pine beetle impact

overstated, Bell says (Busi-ness, July 27).

I am pleased B.C. Minister of Forests Pat Bell is saying the beetle impact on our forests has been overstat-ed. I agree, but my reasons may be different.

The mountain pine bee-tle is a natural part of our lodgepole pine forests, no different than the wind and the rain.

Lodgepole pine is a rela-tively short-lived tree

species, and is typically re-established naturally following fi re, wind storms, beetle epidemics, and log-ging.

Large mountain pine beetle epidemics re-occur about every 40 years. In B.C., epidemics re-occurred in the 1890s, 1930s, 1980s and recently.

When we see all those red and dying pine trees, we typically overreact. Ground observation is always need-ed to verify what is happen-ing because human eyes

are more sensitive to the red part of the light spec-trum, than the green.

In mixed species forests (about 75 percent of the pine forests), the mountain pine beetle dramatically increases the rate of forest succession, and growth of remaining live trees.

This is a very good thing for maintaining mid-term timber supply, in, say, 15 to 50 years.

The key to reducing vul-nerability of lodgepole pine and increasing its resilience

to mountain pine beetles, is to maintain diversity in tree species, size, age, and condition, through skilled partial cutting.

Large-scale clear-cutting of mixed-species stands, and replacement with uni-form young pine, is coun-terproductive.

I would like to see a post-beetle epidemic assessment keeping these forest policy, science, and management principles in mind.

RAY TRAVERS, R.P.F.VICTORIA

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Re: Answer questions about fire-

fighters (Letters, July 30).I think it is highly unprofessional of

Nancy Cole, as a professional para-medic for our ambulance services, to question our fire department here in Maple Ridge and still ask them for a lift to assist if things are betting a little to heavy for her.

Or to ask the fire department to as-sist her in the ambulance to stabilize a patient and bring them to any of

the hospitals in the area.She is creating a controversy in

our community that nobody needs or wants.

I do not understand why her em-ployer would send you to Maple Ridge after all the things she has written about the fire department.

We had a fire situation at a neigh-bour’s house a few years ago, and the quick and professional reaction of our fire department saved our house.

By the way, what is she doing for volunteer work?

I do not understand why a newspa-per like The News would print things like this, unless they do it for finan-cial gain. This for sure is not news.

JAN JONGBLOED

MAPLE RIDGE

Editor’s note: Letters to the editor are the opinions and views of the writers

and address topics of interest to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows residents.

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Dear Mr. Kamp:Your government announced that it is about to spend a

huge amount of money on prisons because there is unre-ported crime in this country that needs to be addressed.

Bravo.I assume the unreported crime that your government

is talking about is police crime against peaceful citizens as was experienced by my daughter, Natalie Gray, at the G20 Summit.

Could you please fi nd out from Stockwell Day what the minimum sentence for a police offi cer who shoots two rubber bullets into an innocent woman trying to partici-pate in a peaceful demonstration is?

Could also fi nd out what type of jail sentence his com-manding offi cer will need to serve?

This information would be greatly appreciated.ELIZABETH ROSENAU

MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS:It is a sad day for not only peace, but especially democ-

racy. I recently visited my father and he was a little dis-

tressed by the violence at the G20. We talked about it and he came to realize that there would be worse to come.

For example, we talked about the legal, peaceful, highly successful anti-HST petition that he signed and that got more than 700,000 registered voters signatures and how it hadn’t swayed the government in the very least and had only subjected us to even more lies, and the waste of even more public tax dollars.

Our elected public offi cials have shown nothing but con-tempt for the electorate, democracy and peaceful protest, the sad fact is that the only thing that ever has got people or politicians to sit up pay attention and then act to rec-tify any problem, is a bit of violence or public mayhem.

As much as I hate this reality, my experience confi rms that it is nonetheless the reality.

We have politicians with no mandates telling an elec-torate they have the power to do whatever they feel like.

What happens when an overwhelming force meets an immovable object?

WAYNE CLARK

MAPLE RIDGE

Sentence for firing rubber bullets?

Firefighters saved our house

Mayhem is the only way

There are benefits to pine beetle epidemics

Facebooking a fire in the brave new world

Chronic in-somnia and social media

can be a mighty potent mix that produce a cocktail of information im-mediacy virtually impossible in the newspaper world of a decade ago.

While the July 28 massive fire in the Dallas-Barnhartvale area was threatening to eradicate the beloved Pineridge Golf Course, I was trying yet again, in vain, to fall asleep.

I finally gave up the fight at 2:30 a.m. and rose to read a book and perhaps wander outside to escape the stifling heat inside the house.

For some reason, I decided to first pick up my iPod and check my email. I then pressed the Facebook button and learned right then and there – courtesy of the Facebook page of CFJC-TV reporter Geoff Hastings – of the fire.

Or, as Hastings downplayed it: “Big Fire! East Kamloops is burn-ing.”

It was the witching hour and I needed to find my phone. It was charging and, once I turned it on, a text message appeared from Kam-loops This Week reporter Melissa Lampman. It was sent about two hours earlier. She was at the fire and shooting pics.

I then texted another KTW re-porter, Jeremy Deutsch. He texted back that he was at the fire, video

camera in hand. I called him and he described the scene as he stood me-tres from flames as the clock neared three in the morning.

From there, Deutsch relayed basic information, which I typed into my Mac laptop and posted on our Kam-loops This Week website.

A few hours later, the story had been updated a few times and complemented with Deutsch’s video of the blaze, a slide show of some of Lampman’s photos and a map show-ing where the fire was raging.

All in all, an impressive job by two reporters whose desire to know and tell others is obviously bred in the bone. That much was evident as the darkness of morning gave way to the hot sun of day and both report-ers were at their desks, working on the fire story and photos, while tackling far too many other stories and newsroom duties.

Let’s just say that by 1 p.m. or so, Deutsch and Lampman could have secured roles in every George Romero film ever made.

When you work for a newspaper that has reduced its publishing cycle to twice a week, and you are faced with daunting competition that publishes and broadcasts far more frequently, the web is the one platform that can even the playing field.

And, so it has been the philoso-phy of KTW, and every other Black Press newspaper, to always attack the Internet ferociously.

The unofficial mantra has been: post stories now, attach photos, add video when possible, repeat.

The traditionalist in me still

winces at this impatience.That would be the part of me who

still longs for the days when waiting on your doorstep for the afternoon Vancouver Sun to arrive carried a nervous joy that is hard to describe; the part of me who was up at dawn, staring out the kitchen window, willing the Province paperboy to plunk down the very first tabloid edition in the summer of 1983; the part of me who, as a child, settled down with the box scores and a pen-cil every day as a daily ritual after reading every page of the newspa-per; the part of me who recognizes a fellow news junkie by perpetually smudged elbows (think broadsheet paper spread on carpet).

But the traditionalist in me rec-ognizes Denny Boyd, Jim Murray, Jimmy Breslin and Damon Runyon aren’t coming back.

And so it is we must go forward – and that road includes the now, now, now demands of the Internet.

I don’t know if Facebook and Twit-ter and the assortment of social-me-dia sites will ever replace tradition-al newspapers. I highly doubt it.

But complement and aid in the pursuit of journalism? Absolutely.

They have been doing so in count-less ways for a few years and this week’s evolution of our coverage of the Dallas-Barnhartvale fire – though texting and tweeting and Facebooking and, of course, basic feet-on-the-ground reporting – is an example of the future being now.

Christopher Foulds is editor of Kamloops This Week,

a Black Press affi liate.

THE NEWS/letters

Commentary Christopher Foulds

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Re: Family searching for missing puppies (The News, July

30).I want to thank you all at The News from our family. I think

without that article our babies wouldn’t have been found. Apparently, a woman and her son were trying to sell the

dogs door-to-door around Cook Avenue and Laity Street. Someone at a retirement home bought them, but couldn’t take care of them. Craig Summers and his wife, who works with animal rescue offered to take them. She recognized the puppies right away and came to our house about Tues-day night to let us know they had our dogs.

We can’t thank them and you guys enough. Without your help, we might have never seen them again.

I have to say, our house feels like a home again. My chil-dren were so happy to see them, there were tears shed and lots of love in the air, and a big sigh of relief that we now have our babies back.

FARIBA NOORI

MAPLE RIDGE

Happy to have babies back

Six fi refi ghters from Maple Ridge are pro-tecting homes from a wildfi re that’s burned through more than 6,000 hectares of B.C. forest.

Led by assistant fi re chief Howard Exner, the crew is manning a structural protection unit – one of two on site at the Dog Creek and Canoe Creek reserves,

40 kilometres west of 100 Mile House in the Cariboo.

Fire chief Dane Spen-ce said the sprinkler protection units can be deployed quickly to pro-tect houses threatened by a fi re, which is burn-ing close by.

The community has been evacuated.

Sparked by lightening,

the fi re was discovered since July 28 and is only 20 per cent contained.

Six helicopters are battling the 6,500 hect-are blaze and fi re crews are currently working in conjunction with heavy machinery to create a fi re guard on its south-ern fl ank.

Smoky conditions have made it diffi cult for

ground crews and air-craft to work on the fi re.

Spence said the Maple Ridge crew will learn from fi ghting an inter-face fi re that’s burning close to homes.

“It is an invaluable ex-perience,” he added.

Crews are currently battling more than 400 active wildfi res across the province.

Figures released Tues-day show there have been more than 1,200 wildfi res in B.C. since April 1, burning more than 84,000 hectares of land.

One of the province’s most hard-hit areas is the Cariboo region, where 13 new fi res be-gan over the long week-end, most caused by lightning.

A Maple Ridge man climbed a ladder to douse a fi re in a townhouse Tuesday, keeping fl ames from spreading throughout the wooden structure.

The fi re depart-ment received a call about the fi re around 3:30 p.m. after a man smelled paper burning next door.

Maple Ridge fi re chief Dane Spence said when the neighbour stepped outside the townhouse on 223rd Street, near 119th Avenue, he saw smoke billowing from a window next door.

The man called 911, put a ladder against his neighbour’s porch, climbed up and threw a bucket of water on

the blaze smouldering inside the suite.

“It substantially knocked the fi re down,” said Spence.

The man had been “burned out” by a fi re once before and said he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“The fi re depart-ment doesn’t recom-mend anyone place themselves in danger,” Spence said, but added the man’s action kept damage to a minimum.

The townhouse suite sustained light smoke damage to the upper floor.

The fire started in a plastic trash can and involved nearby furni-ture.

“His actions were fundamental in the fire not becoming a major event,” Spence said.

Man prevents fire from spreading


Firefighters respond to townhouse fire on Tuesday.

Maple Ridge crews fi ghting Cariboo fi res


Ten windows were smashed and graf-fiti sprayed all over an Whonnock Elemen-tary School in Maple Ridge on Wednesday.

Insp. Derren Lench said police have no suspect at this time and are asking for the public’s help in try-ing to identify anyone who vandalizes public property, especially schools.

Vandalism costs the school district more than half a million dol-lars annually.

Lench said if resi-dents see anyone does not belong on school property, call Ridge Meadows RCMP to re-port the incident.

“You may be pre-venting a crime.”

• If you witness an act of vandalism or theft on school prop-erty, call the district’s anti-vandalism hotline number at 604-466-4357 or police at 604-463-6251.

Panic leads to potA small marijuana

grow operation was found in a Maple Ridge house Wednesday after a couple who live there set off a panic alarm.

Ridge Meadows

RCMP responded to the alarm around 8:30 p.m. and discovered around 40 marijuana plants while they were clear-ing the home to look for someone in distress.

The plants were seized and police con-tinue to investigate the grow operation.

Grow-op bustedMore than 700

marijuana plants were seized from an east Maple Ridge house Wednesday a f t e r n o o n after police e x e c u t e d a search warrant at the prop-erty.

The Ridge Meadows RCMP Mari-juana Enforcement Team and the Street Enforcement Unit joined forces to ex-ecute the warrant on a property in the 10000 block of Rolley Cres-cent.

A total of 785 mari-juana plants, in vari-ous stages of growth, were found.

It took investigators four months to build grounds for a search warrant.

RCMP continue to in-vestigate the file and are trying to identify who owns the mari-

juana.

Tools stolenMore than $2,500 in

tools were stolen this week from a construc-tion site in Pitt Mead-ows.

Police believe the theft happened over-night Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Thieves gained en-try to the work

site, located on Kennedy Road near Woolridge

Road, then cut open a padlock on a storage container to steal the tools.

A red d i e s e l -

p o w e r e d generator and a blue-and-white gas-pow-ered water pump were among the items sto-len.

• Anyone with any information is asked to call RCMP at 604-463-6251.

Business break-inCoins were stolen

from a pinball ma-chine during a break-in Monday at a Maple Ridge business.

The Pizza Factory, on Lougheed Highway near 207th Street, was entered around 5:40

a.m.Thieves pried open

the front door to the business.

Police patrols failed to locate any suspects.

Stolen carsRidge Meadows

RCMP are looking for two cars that were sto-len over the B.C. Day long weekend.

RCMP believe the thefts took place over-night Sunday or early Monday.

The first vehicle – a purple 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier – was stolen from the 21900-block of Wicklow Way in Maple Ridge.

The car is a two-door model with British Co-lumbia licence plates 050 WDD.

The second car was stolen from the park-ing lot near Rooster’s Country Cabaret in Pitt Meadows.

The vehicle is a grey, four-door 2009 Dodge Charger with Brit-ish Columbia licence plates 107 MHV.

• Anyone with any information is asked to call RCMP at 604-463-6251. To remain anon-ymous call CrimeStop-pers at 1-800-222-8477. CrimeStoppers will pay a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Vandals target Whonnock elementaryGrowops busted, cars stolen

The Conservative gov-ernment’s decision to no longer compel people to fi ll out the long form census is just a means of demeaning the data so the government can keep pushing their ide-ology, says the local Lib-eral president.

“They don’t want peo-ple to know what’s go-ing on in the country, so they can pass their ideo-logical agenda without the data to back them up,” said Brian Rice.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it dem-onstrates this govern-ment’s contempt for sci-ence and data.

“They just don’t like anything that contra-

dicts their ideology,” said Rice, president of the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission riding association.

But there’s confusion about what the govern-ment has actually done, said local MP Randy Kamp.

“I think there’s been a little misunderstanding.

“We’re not eliminat-ing the long form, we’re just changing the rules so that if you don’t fi ll it in, there’s not going to be the threat of fi nes or jail time.”

Instead of 20 per cent of Canadians getting the form, 40 per cent will do so, increasing the sampling range, Kamp pointed out.

And most people, once they receive the survey, will fi ll it out regardless.

Every census (the next one happens in 2011), Kamp hears from people com-plaining about having to fi ll out forms.

Despite the previous man-datory require-ment to fi ll out forms, few peo-ple were prosecuted for not doing so.

“So, in a sense, it was voluntary anyways.”

The decision not to make the long-form compulsory led to the recent resignation of the head of Statistics Canada, Munir Sheikh in protest.

Rice pointed out more long forms than are needed are routinely

sent out dur-ing the cen-sus.

“That’s not the real issue here.”

He said the sector of the p o p u l a t i o n who would fi ll out a form voluntarily is different than those who

would fi ll it out if they had no choice, so the re-sults would be skewed.

The government is following the same course in its criminal justice policy, he said, referring to the MP Stockwell Day’s state-ment Tuesday that the government would keep building prisons despite statistics that show the crime rate is dropping.

Tories pushing agenda by fiddling with census forms, says Liberal

Kamp

People don’t like the idea of giving pension benefi ts to newcomers and they’re letting their MP know it.

“I would say I have

received more corre-spondence on her bill than almost any other private members’ bill that I have seen,” Ran-dy Kamp, MP for Pitt

Meadows, Maple Ridge-Mission, said Tuesday. “It really has generated some feedback.”

Kamp said the num-ber of e-mails and

phone calls he’s re-ceived, about a 1,000, make it one of the more controversial issues he’s dealt with.


People riled about Liberal MP’s pension bill

See Pension, p11

The calls are coming in response to a proposal by Ontario Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla’s private mem-ber’s bill, C-428, to give Old Age Security and guaranteed income sup-plement to immigrants after they’ve been in the country three years. Cur-rently, the waiting period is 10 years.

Kamp has said he’d vote against that.

According to a June 2009 release from Dhalla, immigrants from some countries can get OAS af-ter a three-year waiting period, while those from China, India and Africa have to wait 10 years, a practice Dhalla said was “unfair” and “discrimi-natory.”

Whether Dhalla’s bill will ever see the light of day, remains to be seen. It hasn’t even been debated yet. The politician tabled the bill more than a year

ago, but it’s up to her as to whether she wants to put forward a bill when her turn comes up.

“I don’t recall anybody supportive of this,” Kamp said.

He said that most people say there has to be a balance in helping newcomers and that requiring people to be in Canada 10 years be-fore collecting benefi ts achieves that balance.

On the other hand, Liberal MP Bob Rae has co-sponsored the bill and Liberals and NDP out-number the 145-member Conservative govern-ment.

“So, I’m not sure what position the Liberals have on this,” Kamp said.

He doesn’t see the same issue when it comes to collecting Canada Pen-sion Plan, which is based on the amount of contri-butions made to the plan and the number of years.

Anyone can qualify for that and collect it out of the country, if they are 65 and made one payment into the plan.

“If people come into the country and they work and contribute to it, they should be able to collect CPP,” Kamp said.

But it’s doubtful the Liberals would support Dhalla’s bill, said Brian Rice, president of the Ma-ple Ridge federal Liberal riding association.

“The majority of the Liberal caucus won’t be voting for this.”

Toronto MP Judy Sgro, Liberal critic for pen-sions, said pension issues have to be addressed “holistically” that immi-grants are supported in a number of ways and that Old Age Security “is not the most appropri-ate method of increasing that assistance.”

Parliament resumes sitting Sept. 20.

‘Liberals won’t vote for this’Pension from p10

Wildfires deteriorate airSmoke from forest fi res in the Interior of the province continues to deteriorate the air in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, result-ing in an extended air quality advisory.A 24-hour advisory was fi rst issued Wednes-day afternoon, and an extended advisory

was issued yesterday morning, continuing through to today.Elevated levels of fi ne soot have been detected throughout the region from wildfi re smoke.Forecasted rain and more atmospheric mixing are expected to improve air quality levels by Saturday morning.

Have you ever sat and looked around this big world in awe, then ask: What is the purpose of living here on earth?

Have you found an answer?Well, I think I have, and over time I’ve learned

some things that make life worth living for.First, I discovered that I don’t always get what I

want. What a big surprise that is. I’m sure we’ve all been there, believing that

somehow, something is owed to us. But I have come to realize that I need to be content with where I am, what I have and who I’m with (or not with). It isn’t always easy, but I do fi nd that I’m a lot happier that way. Acceptance is an amazing thing.

Second, that giving is so much more fulfi ll-ing than getting. I guess that kind of goes with the fi rst one. Sometimes when I get ‘stuff,’ the satisfaction is so temporal, and there is still an empty spot.

But if I’m content with what I have, then it’s a lot easier to give, and that is much more satisfy-ing. Not only giving of my time or money, but giving encouragement, joy, and acceptance to those around me. It really does make a differ-ence.

Third, what do I want to leave behind when I die (I know, I’m talking about the purpose of living). I pondered this for awhile (not that I have any plans in the near future of dieing). An inheritance left for your children is so much more than possessions and money. That may be part of it, but I would also like to leave behind the very core of who I am.

Acceptance is an amazing thingA c t s o f Fa i t h b yWendy Townsend

See Acts, p13

Look to our greatest example


Swimming lessonNong Khammountry teaches his seven-year-old daughter Belina how to swim Sunday at Whonnock Lake in Maple Ridge.

To be able to pass on a legacy of being honest, being good to people, being compassionate and understanding, for-giving instead of harbor-ing resentments, living a life that’s worthy of God. That is something that isn’t only passed down from generation to generation, but it has a ripple effect with the lives of people touched by each one of those generations.

And last, but not at all the least, I’ve learned that God doesn’t owe me anything. He has already provided for my every need. He did it all when He went to the cross.

If I didn’t receive any-thing else, that would be OK.

But the funny thing is, He still blesses me. I can’t explain why, I just know that I’m very rich indeed, not fi nancially, but my life is rich – rich with family, relation-ships and purpose.

So the next time that question comes around, look to the greatest example that we have.

He is the one who said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Wendy Townsend is a pastor at Southgate

Church.

Acts from p12

Few things in life are guaranteed but there are two

things for certain: death and taxes.

Another certainty is that all new taxes that are introduced are typi-cally feared and hated.

While the province touts the benefi ts of combining the PST and GST, such as reducing compliance costs and at-tracting new investment and jobs, consumers fret about the increased cost of HST, and business owners stress about un-derstanding and imple-menting a whole new set of rules.

The truth is that end consumers will pay more for some items (such as bicycles and books) un-der the new harmonized regime, since these items were previously exempt from PST, but are now subject to the increased HST rate.

Unlike what the gov-ernment would like us to believe, introducing a new tax is never as sim-ple as the fl ick of a light switch.

The period of transi-tion is always a chal-lenge. For businesses, this is particularly true where sales returns and exchanges are con-cerned.

As a business owner, you will likely come across returns or ex-changes of goods pur-chased prior to July 1, 2010.

Here is a summary on how to handle returns or exchanges when goods are purchased before July 1, 2010 and returned after July 1, 2010 (but be-fore November 2010):

• if a return of goods oc-curs and a cash refund is given to a customer, the PST should be refunded;

• if an exchange does not result in either a refund or an additional payment, there should not be a PST refund, and the seven per cent provincial component of the HST would not be payable.;

• if there is a partial re-fund as a result of an ex-change, the customer is able to recover the PST applicable to the amount refunded, while the pro-vincial component of the HST, at seven per cent, is not payable by the customer;

• if an exchange results in additional payment by the customer, HST would be applicable to the additional payment, not PST;

• if goods are returned after November 1, 2010, there will be no PST ad-justments available at the point-of-sale, how-ever the purchaser, will be able to make an ap-plication for a refund of

the PST (for tax paid in error) with the B.C. Min-istry of Finance.

If you have any expe-rience with recovering tax from any level of government, you would know it’s an exercise of jumping through hoops, so consumers would be well advised to complete any applicable returns by no later than the end of October 2010.

If PST did not apply on a purchase before July 1, 2010 and it is exchanged on or after July 1, 2010, HST will be applicable

on the full value of the replacement property, un-less the prop-erty is exempt from the pro-vincial portion of HST, such as children’s clothing.

G o v e r n -ments often present the simplicities of implementing consumption taxes like the HST, but the reality is that there is no such

thing as a sim-ple tax.

The rules surrounding the HST tran-sition are com-plex and busi-ness owners and consum-ers alike would be well advised to keep this in mind.

Jim Maroney is a chartered

accountant with Meyers Norris Penny in Maple

Ridge.

Introducing new tax anything but simple

Money talk Jim Maroney

Since my children were young, I have tried to

introduce them to inspirational stories, in writing or through television, film or internet biographies.

It’s not that I expect them to become an inspiration to others, but rather that I want them to appreciate the common theme that tends to run through most inspi-rational stories – you have to persist and overcome adversity.

Up to 2008, our country had lived in relatively good pros-perity for 20 years or more. I can assure you, I recognize that prosperity is not a term some people use when referring to their conditions, but I am making a general statement that em-ployment was strong and stable, incomes rose, house values rose and people’s overall equity rose.

Children were benefactors of their parents’ economic fortunes, and so

disposable incomes of students rose.

Many kids got the clothing, the electron-ics and the enrich-ment opportunities they wanted and, quite frankly, came to expect.

Over the past couple of years, the eco-nomic flu that began with the subprime mortgage debacle in the U.S. has spread around the world and everyone has been affected.

Depending on where you live in the world, your housing prices may have tanked, your stock values may have dropped, your credit rating might have been walloped or your job security may have been compromised.

Here in Canada, where stock values and employment seemed to be the most affected, we’ve been lucky to escape the worse parts of equity losses during the downturn, at least for the short-term.

Still, we are all a

little more cautious about our spending and our frivolous credit than we were not too long ago.

Again, while I realize the difficulties may not be evenly shared across the population, the reality is that our children’s generation may be facing more adver-sity than they ever have before. It’s not just that there is less disposable income in most families, but there is also a sense of uncertainty about what the future holds.

I’m not talking about the Mayan calendar and the un-certainty of 2012, but rather the uncertain-ty of just where this new world economic order is going to lead.

Where are all the jobs the last five years of university graduates thought would be avail-

able when the Baby Boom generation retired? How far

can hous-ing prices go up before purchas-ing a home becomes unrealistic without rent-ing out the basement, forgoing a family for 10 years or working desperately at more than

one lousy job to stay afloat financially?

Perhaps I’m sensi-tive to such questions because my sons are older and these are their questions.

Still, my response to their anxiety was to remind them that adversity is what gen-erates new ideas and new opportunities.

I handed them Michael J. Fox’s new book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, and re-minded them that if he can write a funny and hopeful book about his situation, surely they can fi nd ways to make their life work as well.

Having grown up rel-atively poor, and thus grateful for anything I have, I have developed the ‘old school’ notion that what doesn’t kill you makes you stron-ger.

Adversity is what puts a pea under your mattress and gets you up each day to do something about it.

Reading or hearing of how others have dealt with adversity and simply making sure you get up the next day and move forward is the fastest way to turn adversity into advan-tage.

It’s a lesson that should not be lost on this next generation of young people.

Graham Hookey is

an educator and writer ([email protected]).

Adversity the pea under your mattress

Parenting Graham Hookey

“Reading or hearing of how others have dealt with adversity and simply making sure you get up the next day and move forward is the fastest way to turn adversity into advantage.

Commercial salmon fi shermen are getting their fi rst shot at Fraser River sockeye in four years.

Seiners were cleared to fi sh for sockeye in

Johnstone Strait Thurs-day and Friday – the fi rst time since 2006 – despite objections that it’s too early in the run for fi shery managers to be confi dent enough

salmon will be left for conservation needs.

Fraser gillnetters were also expected to fi sh Fri-day in anticipation of a much better return this summer.

Recreational anglers can also fi sh for sock-eye in marine waters and in the lower river upstream as far as the Mission Bridge starting Thursday until further notice, according to Bar-ry Rosenberger, with federal fi sheries.

Green light for sockeye fishing

See Sockeye, p18

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans had forecast 11.4 million sockeye would return to the Fraser this year, fan-ning hopes for a fi shery after three years of dis-

mal returns and com-mercial closures.

Fraser returns in 2008 and 2009 ended up be-low two million sockeye and are the subject of a judicial inquiry that re-sumes this fall.

“It’s optimistic right now,” Rosenberger said.

The initial two days of commercial openings are intended to harvest about 150,000 sockeye, he said, adding further openings would depend on the estimates of salm-on entering the river in the days ahead.

Further openings dependSockeye from p18

There’s no forget-ting them once you’ve made

eye contact, as the show-stopping blooms bombast the senses in exaggerated hues of mango orange, deep scarlet, hot pink, glow-ing yellow and just about every colour in between.

For some, Hibiscus flowers represent the epitome of tropical beauty.

Yet for others, their garish display is a lot like having a bad song (anything by ABBA will do) stuck in your head that just won’t go away.

I like to compare them to the 1966-68 Batman series (with Adam West), which took live action television from old black and white Three Stooges skits to full colour heroes and villains (The Joker, Catwoman, The Riddler) dressed in outrageous costumes acting out death-defying plots and fight scenes superim-posed with “pow,” “bam” or “zonk” with every punch thrown. It was hyperbole to the extreme, but it did manage to get our undivided attention for a few seasons and it still enjoys cult status to this day.

So let’s just agree that Hibiscus are an acquired taste, and just because you find yourself on the more conservative side of the flower spectrum, does not give you the right to mock your hibiscus-loving fellow gardeners.

The most common species of hardy Hibiscus is Rose-of-Sharon, or Hibiscus syriacus. This large deciduous shrub (averages 2.5-3 m tall without pruning) requires full sun and free draining soil, but other than that, it’s relatively easy to grow.

It blooms on new wood in late summer (August-October), so pruning should be limited to early spring (late February-March) or you might lose out on your flower display.

Despite its hardiness, this species does not fare well as a container specimen, of-ten suffering severe dieback during win-ter – so unless you have a very sheltered location, it’s best planted in the ground.

Another quirk about Hibiscus syriacus is that it is one of the last shrubs to get

its leaves in spring, often just showing swollen buds when Rhododendrons are in full bloom.

Some of the better cultivars include ‘Woodbridge’ (single pink w/ red eye), ‘Blue Bird’ (originally ‘Oiseau Bleu’), ‘Red Heart’ (single white w/red eye), ‘White Chiffon’ (semi-double white), ‘Hamabo’ (single pale pink w/red eye), ‘Blushing Bride’ (double pale pink) and ‘Ardens’ (double lilac-pink).

If you ever happen to come across a white variegated form (‘Purpureus Var-iegata’) with deep burgundy flower buds, keep in mind that those buds never open up to full blooms.

Hibiscus moscheutos, or swamp Hibis-cus, is quickly gaining popularity due to its large, silky blossoms. This species is actually a perennial, with tall stems that die down in winter and re-grow entirely from the base in spring, reaching heights of 90-150 cm, depending on the cultivar.

These can be a bit tricky here on the coast with our wet springs, as they need heat to enact new growth – but once they get going, you can expect 15-25 cm wide terminal blooms starting in August.

Although hardy to Zone 5, it’s still a good idea to mulch them (with coarse bark nuggets) for their first winter and leave the stems intact until spring, at which time they can be cut down to stubs of live wood.

They also need even moisture during summer heat and as the common name implies, many are offered as marginal plants for the pond shallows.

A few good varieties include ‘Lord Baltimore’ (silky scarlet), ‘Plum Crazy’ (plum with purple veins), ‘Fantasia’ (bright rose), ‘Robert Fleming’ (deep red) and the ‘Southern Belle’ strain, which is a mix of rose, pink, red and white.

Last on our list of Hibiscus is a spe-cies commonly used for hedging, fea-ture shrubs or small specimen trees in tropical climes such as Hawaii or Florida. Returning tourists often seek them out at their local garden centre in hopes of using them in their own landscape – unfortunately, the evergreen Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is not hardy here.

That said, it makes an impressive houseplant that can be brought outside for the summer to add an exotic touch to

the garden. Blooming on new wood from late spring

to fall, it is best pruned in early spring and then left alone. Don’t begin fertil-izing until new growth is initiated, after which you should be feeding regularly with a fertilizer with a 3-1-3 ratio.

Avoid high phosphorus (the second number in the fertilizer formulation) with this species as it can cause decline and will result in fewer and poorer qual-ity blooms, despite the fact that high phosphorus usually induces better flower displays in most plants.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis also requires good soil drainage (especially important to allow it to dry out between waterings in winter) and repotting (with light root pruning) every three years.

As flamboyant as it is, Hibiscus has a way of growing on even the most discern-ing gardener and I suspect that it is only a matter of time before you catch your-self giving it the proverbial second look.

Mike Lascelle is a local nursery manager and gardening author

([email protected]).

Mike Lascelle photos

(From left) Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Robert Fleming’; Hibiscus syriacus ‘Red Heart’; Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Fantasia’.

THE NEWS/home&gardening

Holy, hardy Hibiscus, Batman

Gardening Mike Lascelle

The Maple Ridge Burrards de-feated the New Westminster Salmo-nbellies 12-11 in the opening game of their fi rst-round playoff series Tuesday at Queens Park Arena.

The same two Western Lacrosse Association teams were to play again Thursday at Planet Ice in Ma-ple Ridge.

“New West will not be happy hav-ing had their fi rst loss in the play-offs in two years,” said Burrards coach Daren Fridge.

“We know they’re going to come out even more angry and ready to turn things around.

“They’re going to do their best to shut down our offense or limit our offensive opportunities, and defen-sively we’ve got to continue to frus-trate them,” Fridge added.

New Westminster’s Jordan McBride scored the fi rst goal of Tuesday’s game at 1:24. But Maple Ridge then went on a scoring spree, with goals from Curtis Dickson at 2:08, Andrew Murphy at 5:59 and Derek Lowe at 6:55.

The game was tied 4-4 after the fi rst period, but Dickson put the Burrards ahead, scoring on a pow-erplay at 1:16 into the second pe-riod.

The team started the last period with an 8-6 lead over the Salmon-bellies and kept ahead until the fi -nal whistle.

“I’m impressed with how our team responded. Going into a playoff se-ries, guys may have been nervous, but it certainly wasn’t showing in their play,” said Fridge.

“They matched the physical play and battled through some cheap shots or high hits or slashes that went undetected.”

Maple Ridge had fewer penal-ties, at 18 minutes on nine infrac-tions while New West gave up 22 minutes on 11 infractions.

New Westminster had 52 shots on goal to Maple Ridge’s 43, but Bur-rards goalie Ron Schibild was a standout in net, stopping 41 Salmo-nbelly attemps.

“When we got out and pressured their shooters, Schibild was able to make the saves,” said Fridge.

First and third star recognition went to Murphy and Schibild of the Burrards, while the second star was McBride of the Salmonbellies.

The Burrards are back on the road Saturday for their third game against the Salmonbellies which will be at 7:45 p.m. at Queens Park Arena.

Meanwhile the Coquitlam Adan-acs lead series B of the semifi nals after beating the Victoria Sham-rocks 10-6 on Wednesday.

THE NEWS/sportsSection coordinator:Robert Mangelsdorf 604-467-1122 ext. [email protected]


Brendan Shea is preparing to move to South Carolina where he will be an attacker for the Limestone College Saints men’s lacrosse team.

Maple Ridge teen earns four-year scholarship to play lacrosse and study sports management in South Carolina

Shea to shine down south

Burrards win playoff opener

Brendan Shea is on a strict exercise regimen that in-volves running and heavy

lifting fi ve days a week. The 18-year-old Maple Ridge resident is preparing to move in two weeks to South Carolina where he will attend Limestone College on a four-year lacrosse scholarship.

Although lacrosse season does not start until February, Shea and his fellow Saints teammates will start practising and working out the fi rst week of school.

For the Burnaby Lakers Junior A lacrosse player, receiving his acceptance letter to Limestone last spring was a dream come true.

“It’s pretty exciting; it’s been a long time in the works; it’s what I’ve been wanting to do for quite

a while,” said Shea, formerly a player with the Ridge Meadows Minor Lacrosse Association.

Already sporting his blue and yellow college colours, Shea isn’t concerned about balancing his lacrosse commitments with his sports management courses. The Thomas Haney Secondary grad is accustomed to self-directed study.

“You have to stay on top of your-self,” he said of his high school experience.

This will be Shea’s fi rst time liv-ing away from home, but he says he’s more excited than nervous.

His dorm mate is a fellow la-crosse player, and he already knows a handful of former Lak-ers box lacrosse players who are now playing fi eld lacrosse for the Saints.

Shea said that fi eld lacrosse is extremely popular on the East Coast of the U.S. But few Ameri-

cans play box lacrosse, so col-leges often import quick-handed talent from north of the border.

“They come to Canada to look for the box lacrosse players,” Shea said, explaining box players excel at fast-paced play.

“You’ve got to have quick hands to move the ball in and out,” he said. “In fi eld lacrosse, it’s more open, it’s more spread out, you can take your time.”

The left-handed player will keep his attacker position when he joins the Saints’ fi eld team.

Limestone College is well known for its athletic programs. Estab-lished in 1845, the school has only 800 daytime students – 75 per cent of whom are athletes. The men’s Division 2 lacrosse team won the NCAA national championship in 2000 and 2002.

When Shea leaves for Gaffney, S.C. on Aug. 19, his parents and 15-year-old brother Ian will come along to help him settle in.

Thanks to the infl uence of their lacrosse-playing father, the Shea siblings both got into the sport at an early age. Shea fi rst picked up a lacrosse stick at age six, while a student at Golden Ears elemen-tary.

Though he gave soccer a try, and earned a brown belt in judo, lacrosse was always Shea’s fo-cus.

“I like the competitiveness. It’s the ultimate athletic sport,” he said.

Salmonbellies lose their fi rst semifi nal game in two years

b y C h r i s t i n e Ly o ncontributor

“I like the competitiveness. It’s the ultimate athletic sport.” Brendan Shea

b y C h r i s t i n e Ly o ncontributor

THE NEWS/scoreboardWestern Lacrosse Association

Regular season standings

Teams GP W L T Pts GF GANew Westminster 18 13 5 0 26 182 156Victoria 18 11 7 0 22 188 169Coquitlam 18 9 9 0 18 204 197Maple Ridge 18 9 9 0 18 165 162Nanaimo 18 9 9 0 18 188 193Langley 18 6 12 0 12 184 198Burnaby 18 6 12 0 12 143 179

Maple Ridge Burrards scoring leaders

Players GP G A Pts PIM S S%Davis, Jarrett 18 24 49 73 8 118 .203Dalgarno, Joel 12 21 24 45 12 97 .216Dickson, Curtis 12 18 16 34 6 116 .155Lowe, Derek 16 13 18 31 27 83 .157Murphy, Andrew 15 11 18 29 4 51 .216Tellis, Peter 14 14 12 26 2 52 .269Pascas, Aaron 17 18 7 25 0 69 .261Daly, Randy 14 10 10 20 7 68 .147Michaud, Dayne 18 8 7 15 34 21 .381Davis, Aaron 16 6 7 13 17 30 .200Sauve, Jeff 14 3 8 11 16 11 .273Cook, Sam 18 2 6 8 12 10 .200Reid, Kevin 15 2 4 6 78 5 .400Steedsman, Curtis 4 4 1 5 0 15 .267Davies, Ben 16 1 4 5 8 13 .077Nichol, Mark 6 2 2 4 2 17 .118Miotto, Tyler 2 2 2 4 22 6 .333Munk, Jonathan 17 1 3 4 32 4 .250Codron, Tyler 12 1 3 4 26 2 .500Schibild, Ron 15 0 4 4 0 0 .000Reid, Creighton 17 1 2 3 11 6 .167Tarrant, Nate 14 1 1 2 32 5 .200Galbraith, Brennan 4 1 1 2 0 2 .500Rennie, Brad 17 1 0 1 24 4 .250Hinman, Greg 14 0 1 1 17 5 .000

WLA goalie leaders

Players Team GP W L T GAA SV%Schibild, Ron Maple Ridge 15 9 6 0 8.14 .800Roik, Matt New West 10 6 4 0 8.35 .806Lowe, Scott Burnaby 6 3 3 0 8.63 .796Richards, Tyler New West 8 6 1 0 8.87 .802Patterson, Nick Victoria 12 8 2 0 9.42 .783Dickie, Drew Burnaby 12 3 7 0 9.81 .793

• The Maple Ridge Burrards play their third playoff game of the Western Lacrosse Association semifinals Saturday, Aug. 7, against the New Westminster Salmonbellies at Queens Park Arena. Game time is 7:45 p.m.

• Maple Ridge residents Trevor Casey and Kolbie Orum and Pitt Meadows resident Jordan Rich are among 400 young basketball prospects playing in the 2010 Canada Bas-ketball National Championships Aug. 2 to 7. The two tournaments, in Winnipeg and Toronto, bring together the top U15 and U17 male and female players in the country.

• The last week of Precision Soccer camps will be held the week of Aug. 9. Camp includes daily snack and beverage, quality soccer ball and T-shirt. All camps are held at Thomas Haney Senior Secondary from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Visit www.precisionsoccer.ca for more information.

Lacrosse

WLA scoring leaders

Players Team GP G A PtsDobbie, Dane Coquitlam 18 51 49 100 Conway, Cory Coquitlam 18 35 57 92 Ratcliff , Lewis Nanaimo 14 34 50 84 Ranger, Scott Nanaimo 16 38 41 79 Davis, Jarrett Maple Ridge 18 24 49 73 Veltman, Daryl Coquitlam 14 26 38 64 Billings, Garrett Langley 13 26 37 63Jones, Jason Coquitlam 18 24 38 62 Shattler, Jeff Victoria 18 23 39 62Turner, Alex Langley 17 28 33 61 Leblanc, Stephan Langley 13 20 40 60Henry, Joel Nanaimo 18 21 37 58

BMX

Sports Calendar

Slo-Pitch

Ruskin Slo-Pitch League

A DivisionTeams GP W L T PtsPosse 27 22 5 0 44 Master Batters 27 21 6 0 42 Gamblers 27 20 7 0 40 Marlies 27 17 10 0 34 Longnecks 27 12 14 1 25 Outkasts 27 12 15 0 24 Brewers 27 11 16 0 22 Ball Busters 27 9 18 0 18 Renegades 27 7 19 1 15 Outlaws 27 3 24 0 6

B DivisionTeams GP W L T PtsThe Moose 27 23 3 1 47 Maniacs 27 17 10 0 34 Krackers 27 14 12 1 29 Blue Bulls 27 13 14 0 26 Zig Zags 27 12 15 0 24 Full Tilt 27 11 15 1 23 Hawks 27 11 15 1 23 Ridge Pigs 27 11 16 0 22 Falcons 27 11 16 0 22 Uncoachables 27 10 17 0 20

C DivisionTeams GP W L T PtsSlammers 27 23 4 0 46 Rebels 27 22 5 0 44 Big Ballers 27 19 8 0 38 Vandals 27 18 9 0 36 Base Invaders 27 12 15 0 24Big Doggs 27 12 15 0 24 Hangovers 26 10 15 1 21 Bombers 27 9 17 1 19 Alchoballics 26 6 20 0 12 Shake N Bake 25 1 24 0 2


Half-trackersCameron Elliott (centre), 3, of Maple Ridge, is just ahead of Zander Nunes (left), also 3, of Delta, during the half trackers race at the Ridge Meadows BMX race track in Pitt Meadows on Tuesday.

13 and under openRider Final M-PTS M1 M2 M3 Sherrington, Chase 1st 3 1st 1st 1stTougas, Alex 2nd 5 1st 2nd 2ndMacdonald, Aidan 3rd 6 2nd 1st 3rd Timmerman, Landon 4th 7 1st 2nd 4thTougas, Ryan 5th 4 2nd 1st 1stHanson, Jared 6th 9 3rd 4th 2ndStewart, Brandyn 7th 12 5th 3rd 4thJuriga, Jackson 8th 10 4th 3rd 3rdWebb, Joel 6 3rd 2nd 1stKreuzkamp, Ethan 7 2nd 3rd 2ndWatt, Cassidy 11 4th 4th 3rd

14 and over openRider Place M-PTS M1 M2 M3Donnelly, Thomas 1st 4 2nd 1st 1stErickson, Gerry 2nd 5 1st 2nd 2ndKreuzkamp, Georges 3rd 9 3rd 3rd 3rdEnnis, Rory 4th 15 4th 7th 4thRichard, Nicolas 5th 16 5th 6th 5thVleveland, Christopher 6th 16 6th 4th 6thKinnie, Erin 7th 19 7th 5th 7th

8 novice female (four riders)Rider Place M-PTS M1 M2 M3Cooper, Chayce 1st 5 2nd 2st 1stGoldstone, Bailey 2nd 8 1st 1nd CR:6Juriga, Lauren 3rd 9 4rd 4rd 2rdMchale-Boulter, Zoe 4th 10 3th 3th 3th

10 expert female (four riders)Rider Place M-PTS M1 M2 M3Erickson, Loclyn 1st 4 2nd 1st 1stCardinal, Kalaya 2nd 5 1sr 2nd 2ndTielen, Karsen 3rd 9 3rd 3rd 3rd

6 novice male (fi ve riders) Rider Place M-PTS M1 M2 M3Dobie, Caleb 1st 3 1st 1st 1stPavey, Connor 2nd 6 2nd 2nd 2ndDuyvestyn, Torben 3rd 9 3rd 3rd 3rdRamsay, Charlie 4th 12 4th 4th 4th

25 to 29 expert male (two riders) Rider Place M-PTS M1 M2 M3Palmer, James 1st 4 1st 2nd 1stYoung, Santiago 2nd 5 2nd 1st 2nd

Ridge Meadows BMX Aug. 3 results

Sports

Sports shorts

Pitt golfer in 13th placePitt Meadows golfer Kevin Kwon was in 13th place

after two rounds of the Canadian Junior Boys’ Golf Championships in Richmond on Wednesday.

Kwon was two over par after posting rounds of 75 and 71.

Those scores earned Kwon second place in the juvenile division as of Wednesday.

The third round began Thursday morning with the fi nal round scheduled for today.

Cater starts in ColombiaMaple Ridge’s Jocelyn Cater was the starting

pitcher when the Canadian Junior Women’s Na-tional Team opened their ISF Pan American Quali-fi er schedule in Bogota, Colombia.

The team won their fi rst exhibition game 11-6 over the host Colombians.

Cater and the fi ve other Canadian pitchers only gave up four hits and struck out 11 opponents, al-lowing three earned runs.

Canada built a 7-0 second inning advantage and had an 11-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, but gave up six runs in that inning before getting the last out.

Canada plays the United States today at 11 a.m. in their second exhibition game.

Soccer in the

sunKids

par-ticipate

in the Precision

Soccer camp last

week at Thomas

Haney second-

ary.

Robert

Mangelsdorf/

THE NEWS

The Ridge Meadows midget AAA Royals came second at the B.C. Minor Baseball Association pro-vincial championships in Kamloops last weekend.

They fi nished the tournament 3-2, beating out the Kamloops Riverdogs, Cloverdale Spurs and Vancouver Mounties.

But they were unable to defend their provincial title, losing their fi nal game 9-1 to the Victoria Mariners.

The Royals scored one run in the fourth inning, with one of the game’s MVP awards going to Roy-als’ catcher Patrick Bigelow.

The team ended their regular season 29-11, third place in the B.C. Minor Midget AAA League.

Royals take silver medal

Sports


Day at the beach(Left) Mahdi Matin sets the ball during a beach volleyball game with friends Sunday afternoon at Whonnock Lake; (above) his brother, Hani Matin (above), leaps to spike the ball.

August 6, 2010, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News

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