Keeping order on Alouette Lake. p3Salvation Army

Helps with schoolsupplies. p5

A man was rushed to hospital early Wednesday following a vi-cious slashing attack in Maple Ridge that may be linked to a marijuana-grow operation.

Ridge Meadows RCMP found the 24-year-old New Westminster resident lying bleeding on Dewd-ney Trunk Road near Laity Street after receiving a 911 call around 3:30 a.m.

George, who didn’t want to give his last name and who lives across the street, was startled by a bang minutes before.

“It was loud and frightening.“It was like a rocket. Then I

heard somebody yell ‘Joe or No’ and someone may have tried to put a hand over their mouth to muffl e the sound.”

Police said black two-door Hon-da with a loud muffl er was seen leaving the area quickly.

RCMP Insp. Derren Lench said the man was attacked with an “edged weapon.”

“It could have been a machete, an axe or a knife, we don’t really know,” he added.

The man had injuries to his head, legs and arms and was rushed to Royal Columbian Hos-pital in New Westminster where he remains.

Police closed Dewdney Trunk Road from Laity Street to 210th Street during the morning rush hour as a forensic team collected evidence that was strewn across a bloody sidewalk and street.

Offi cers also canvassed the neighbourhood.

Their investigation led them to a property at 21185 Dewdney Trunk Rd.

Police executed a search war-rant and found a marijuana-grow operation inside.

Lench said police don’t know why the man was attacked.

The fi rst offi cers on scene were able to speak to him but were unable to glean evidence that pointed to a suspect or other wit-nesses.

No weapon has been recovered.“We are trying to dig deeper

into the victim’s background to determine if there is any orga-nized crime or gang affi liation,” Lench added.

Undergoes surgery at Royal Columbian Hospital

THE NEWS

Man slashed in early hours

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

RCMP examine and bag evidence on the south side of Dewdney Trunk Road between Laity and 210th streets, Wednesday, after stabbing.

Arrests made in bar assault

Police have arrested two men in connection with an assault at a Ma-ple Ridge bar that left a father per-manently brain damaged.

Ridge Meadows RCMP confi rmed the men were taken into custody on Aug. 6 and questioned.

They have since been released but have yet to be charged.

Insp. Derren Lench said investiga-tors have recommended charges in their report to Crown counsel.

“The fi le is now in the hands of Crown counsel,” he added.

The incident took place outside the Wolf Bar at 22336 Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge, around 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 13.

Police said Delane Parent, 44, was examined at the scene by paramed-ics with the B.C. Ambulance Ser-vice, and was able to drive himself home as the injuries did not appear to be serious.

Two days later, on June 15, he was discovered lying semi-conscious in his living room by his brother André Parent, who was called by his brother’s co-workers when Del didn’t show up for work.

See Charges, p4

Friday, August 20, 2010 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢www.mapleridgenews.com

Beautiful Belize

Tropical gardens.p23

Opinion 6

Radio Haney 6

Court 8

Faith 14

Parenting 19

Home&gardening 23

Sports 41

Index

RCMP recommend charges

OnlineFor video, visit

www.mapleridgenews.com

MRNEWS

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

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

NEWS FILES

Andre Parent hands out photo of brother Delane, during June news conference.

Const. Chris Barr gives Const. Tony Eeftink a fi st bump, following a search

of a boat that leads to the discov-ery of a bounty of alcohol, enough to get the eight people on board pickled for a day.

A bottle of Grey Goose vodka, 26 ounces of Appletini and 48 cans of beer are poured into Alouette Lake.

“Boating and alcohol go hand in hand,” said Eeftink.”But people need to know they can’t have any liquor on board, unless you have a cubby or cabin.”

Dressed in full uniform, Eetink and Barr are sweating volumes on the lake. They’ve just come off a night shift, sneaking just a couple hours of sleep before heading out for a summer marine patrol on a B.C. Parks boat piloted by ranger Brian Roberts.

Throughout summer, RCMP will be at the Alouette Lake making sure everyone is following the rules, has a boat registration and safety equipment such as life jackets, a torch or fl ares and a fi re extinguisher on board.

They are also making sure people at the helm have a pleasure craft licence which is is manda-tory for boats with motors of 10 horsepower (7.5 kilowatts) or more, including personal water-crafts like Seadoos.

Despite spotting several viola-tions, Eetink and Barr are reluc-tant to hand out tickets.

Eeftink says he’s not out to ruin people’s day but will hand out a ticket and a fi ne of $205 if there are no life jackets on board .

“We are out mainly for the safety of the people,” said Eeft-ink, who is one of two offi cers at the Ridge Meadows detachment trained to do marine patrols.

“We want people to know about regulations on the water. Throughout summer, we will be out as often as we can.”

Traffi c police on Alouette Lake

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Park ranger Brian Roberts cruises the waters of Alouette Lake looking for boaters to make sure they comply with boating safety regulations. Sunday, he gave a lift to two Ridge Meadows mounties who did several checks during busy time on lake.

Staff at the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows School Dis-trict are crossing their fi ngers enrolment for the 2010/11 school year doesn’t plummet come September, lest the district be left with a budgetary mess to clean up.

Enrolment in the district has been steadily declining for years. Numbers for the Sep-tember 2009 head count show 15,368 students in the district, down from 15,536 in 2008.

S e c r e t a r y - t r e a s u r e r Wayne Jefferson says he ex-pects another modest drop in the number of students this year, but is holding out hope the decline is not worse than predicted.

Since school districts are funded on a per student ba-sis by the provincial govern-ment, a larger than-expected dip in enrollment could cre-ate budget problems.

“We’re hoping enrolment comes in where we are pre-dicting it to,” said Jefferson.

“But we’re confi dent we’ll have a balanced budget.”

The district closed down Riverside and Mount Cres-cent elementary schools in June due to falling enrol-ment, a move Jefferson ex-pects will save the district close to $900,000 annually.

Should the district need to fi nd savings in a hurry to balance the budget, Jeffer-son said they will sell off up to three unused properties owned by the district: the site of the former Arthur Peake Centre next to Golden Ears Elementary; an unused main-tenance yard next to Eric Langton Elementary School; and a vacant lot on Bonson Road in Pitt Meadows.

While the properties have yet to be appraised, Jeffer-son says they could net the district millions.

“These properties cer-tainly have value,” he said. “However, I don’t think we would put all three of them on the market at once.”

District hopes for strongenrolment

RCMP step up patrols on the water this summer

Hoping that numbers hold up in September

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

Most pleasure boats must carry:• life jacket• paddles;• an anchor;• a fi re extinguisher; and• a whistle or horn.• a fl oating or heaving line• fl ares and/or fl ashlight• manual bilge pump or bailer• navigation lights

Const. Chris Barr, left, and Const. Tony Eeft-ink chat with a boater.

Park ranger Brian Roberts holds a Seadoo in place as Const. Tony Eeftink checks registration for the personal watercraft.

Boating checklist is prepared for another vessel stopped.

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

Brother thankful for arrests

Doctors believe Del’s injuries were caused by a blow to the head or neck.

He is unable to walk or talk and is paralysed on his right side.

Del, who has a 14-year-old son 19-year-old daugh-ter, is expected to require care for the rest of his life.

His brother said witnesses came forward after hearing about Del’s plight in the news.

“Some people were willing to make statements that helped the police get to where they are right now,” said André Parent, who is thankful the men have been arrested and hopes they will soon be charged.

The owner of the Wolf Bar, Chris Fairfax said in July that Del and a friend came into the bar just as it was closing and asked to be sold alcohol.

They seemed drunk, were told to leave by bar staff, and complied. But Del began fi ghting with a customer as he walked out of the bar, said Fair-fax.

That’s when a doorman intervened, he added, and both he and Del went to the fl oor.

Fairfax said Del hit his head on a curb.

Charges from Front

News files

Delane Parent, 44, can no longer walk or talk.

Needy families in Ma-ple Ridge are receiving a little extra help this September with back-to-school expenses.

The Salvation Army is handing out backpacks fi lled with new school supplies to underprivi-leged children.

There are many fami-lies who can’t afford the cost of purchasing the long list of required items for their children, said Darrell Pilgrim, director of The Caring Place Ministries at the Salvation Army.

“We would love to be able to provide them with everything, but this is the basics to get them started,” he said.

“Even if we can just cut down half that list we’re happy.”

The packs are stuffed with binders, exercise books, ruled loose leaf paper, pencils, pens, erasers, rulers and highlighters.

Supplies are handed out to parents on a walk-in basis.

For the last few years, the Salvation Army has supported hundreds of underprivileged chil-dren.

Over that time, Pil-grim said the need for supplies has increased similar to the reliance on other programs like community meals.

Last year, the Salva-tion Army distributed about 85 backpacks to families in this area. This year’s goal is to support at least 100 kids with new supplies.

“The whole project is about sharing hope,” Pilgrim said.

“It’s about showing these children that we believe in them and try-ing to show them that we want to give them the dignity and respect that they deserve to start the school year.”

Financial donations can be dropped off at

the Salvation Army at 22188 Lougheed High-way.

Contributions help with purchasing addi-tional needed supplies that are not provided in the backpacks like cal-culators, geometry sets and pencil crayons.

Back to school, with Salvation ArmyBackpacks, supplies provided to needy kids

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Darrell Pilgrim, with The Caring Place Ministries at the Salvation Army, is helping kids go back to school with all the supplies and a new backpack. But the army is still look-ing for cash donations to buy more calculators, math sets and pencil crayons.

b y K e r r i e - A n n S c h o e n i tcontributor

THE NEWS/opinion

There have been moments, albeit they few, when one is less proud of being a Ca-nadian, than at other times.

How long for instance did it take the federal govern-ment, in the form of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to publicly apologize to the First Nations in Parliament in Ottawa, in front of hundreds of ex-school children for forcing about 150,000 aboriginal children to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools aimed at assimilating them? The schools operated from the late 19th century until the 1990s, although most of them shut in the 1970s.

Australia recently apologized for a similar policy.

And, incredibly, one can fi nd here and there the words genocide, Canada and First Nations in the same sentence. That may come as surprise to the more self-righteous Canadian.

In Maple Ridge, we fi nd another example of Canada’s less-than-humane approach.

It’s an indication that behind our veneer of melting pot advertising a sin-gularly sinister side to Canada lies not too deep from the surface.

A plaque reminding us of our failings here can be found on the Port Haney Wharf. It reads in part: “In January of 1942 Prime Minister Mackenzie King authorized the RCMP to register all Japanese people, including those born in Canada and Britain.

The local Japanese community was shocked. Some received this news after spending an evening volunteering for the Canadian war effort.

The Japanese were soon ordered to leave for internment, away from the B.C. coast.

“On April 24, 1942 the Maple Ridge Gazette reported that the last of 118 Japanese families had left the area, most heading to work on the sugar beet farms of Manitoba. Most had little reason to return to Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows. All their property and most of their belongings had been sold with proceeds to federal coffers. In 1949, the District of Maple Ridge voted to disallow their return.”

Quoting myself a few weeks back in this column: “The reality though is that even here, on the barely explored outskirts of one of the world’s fi nest cities, our daily lives are affected more by what occurs beyond our district than within it. We are, in a manner of speak-ing, the heirs apparent to someone else’s opinion.”

The arrival for processing at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre and the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women

of some 490 individuals who have es-caped their lives in Sri Lanka aboard the MV Sun Sea typifi es how opinions in a far-off place can impact us here.

The attitude of some in our community is that an argument in Sri Lanka has nothing to with us here in Canada, let alone Maple Ridge.

For others, the majority I suspect, this event represents a moment, where as a community, we can act either with dig-nity, caring and compassion – or a mo-ment for which one of our future federal leaders may be forced to stand up again to apologize on behalf of Canadians and Canada.

And yes, there is talk of more to come. There is talk of human traffi cking. There is talk of Tamil Tigers, waiting to pounce, as it were. As usual, there is no shortage of talk.

A great South African leader Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (1924 – 1978) spoke of the only race being the “human race” paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhi.

Notwithstanding who may or may not be aboard the MV Sun Sea, we are one with them and should afford them what help we can. I am not sure that prison facilities are the appropriate destination for these people.

One would have thought that immi-gration could have been a little more creative. More so as the MV Sun Sea’s passengers include 30 children. Must Canada now include the imprisonment of mothers and children in its policies?

A later apology can be avoided

Don’t lose focusIngrid RiceNews Views

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

Question of theweek:

Should the refugees from Sri Lanka be granted

asylum in Canada?

Yes: 14% – No: 85% 63 votes)

This week’s question: Have you become accustomed to the HST

implemented July 1?

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

With long-standing publication bans now lifted on evidence from the Robert William Pickton trial, the horror of his crimes is again front and centre.

So are society’s shortcomings.In light of new details, family members of the

missing women have renewed their calls for an inquiry into the police handling of the case.

But any shortcomings go beyond what the cops did or did not do.

The women Pickton murdered were victimized before they met their violent ends on a Port Co-quitlam pig farm.

Most came from chaotic family backgrounds and were shuttled through numerous foster homes during childhood.

Their needs for counselling and other profes-sional intervention were ignored, and they eas-ily fell prey to drug dealers and pimps.

Despite being highly visible – strolling the streets for “dates” to support their addictions or becoming frequent fl yers at the local lock-up as their risky lifestyles repeatedly roused trouble – the women were ignored.

When they went missing, nobody cared – save for their friends and loved ones.

The Pickton saga shined a harsh light on the lives of the women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the desperation of their existence al-most as disturbing as the details of their deaths.

While it’s too late for Pickton’s victims, the challenges for another generation of vulnerable women continue. Poverty, substance abuse and mental illness still wreak havoc, while housing and adequate health care are lacking.

When it came to recognizing the plight of a vulnerable demographic, it took a serial killer to command our collective attention.

Let’s not lose the focus once the Pickton stories fade away.

– Black PressTell us what you think @ www.mapleridgenews.com

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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 editor@mapleridgenews.com.

Letters welcome

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Sadly, I’ve heard some disparaging

comments from certain people in my community about the arrival of refu-gees from Sri Lanka.

But I say welcome to Canada, it is a great and tolerant country, which is built on many immigrants coming here over the last 300 years.

In fact, the only true inhabitants to this vast land are the aboriginal peo-ples. All the rest of us are immigrants, be it white or coloured.

Canada does have a history of refus-ing people in their time of need, like when the Jews were fl eeing Europe during the Second World War. One

example, Prime Minister Mackenzie King refused entry to a boatload of Jews when they were fleeing for their lives. Shame!

Unfortunately there are many more of these example in our history.

You don’t have to scratch too deep through the thin veneer to discover the latent racism that is still preva-lent in some of our population who oppose a group of brown people coming to Canada.

Remember, these people are flee-ing a horrific civil war in Sri Lanka which an estimated 70,000 people were killed or disappeared.

I do not blame them for wanting

a better life in Canada where they can raise their children in relative safety and peace.

I believe that’s what Canada is about, giving the people of the world who are fl eeing war zones a second chance with their lives.

So let’s open our hearts and minds to the plight of these poor Tamil immigrants who desperately need our understanding in their time of need.

I say, welcome to you Tamils who need a new life. Canada is a great and compassionate country to raise your families!

JOHN MCKENZIE

MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS:I am a Jamaican-born Canadian citi-

zen. I came to Canada in 1988 through the proper immigration channels.

My homeland was chaotic to say the least. When I drove down the streets of Kingston I didn’t stop at too many stop signs for fear of being car-jacked. I came to Canada for a better life. I never asked for a handout and I worked multiple jobs to save money to further my education.

Having recently heard of yet an-other boatload of refugees arriving on

our shores, I have to shake my head. Canada is a great country but I also be-lieve Canada is far too worried about its global reputation.

If the world handed out a “Miss Con-geniality” award, Canada would be the perpetual winner. Canada is too warm and fuzzy.

The former prime minister of Aus-tralia took a lot of negative feedback when he announced that unhappy immigrants were free to leave if they didn’t like Australia’s culture and language laws.

Some people went as far as calling him a racist but not once did his speech include any reference to colour.

I am proud to have earned my citi-zenship in Canada. I urge the Gov-ernment of Canada to take a firm hand and intercept these refugee ships, re-fuel them, and then send them on their way – as this is the only way we can filter out the ter-rorists that ride into Canada on the backs of the innocent.

LUCY ST. PIERRE

MAPLE RIDGE

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Once again, the biggest conspiracy theorist around,

Tom Fletcher has it all wrong (More shadows in fantasy garden, The News, Aug. 18).

As usual, he turns all the facts inside out, upside down – whatever it takes to make big business and ultra right wing government look like the victims, instead of the vil-

lains.The simple truth Fletcher

can’t seem to get is that this lunacy, as he calls it, is actually real, grassroots democracy.

As with all minority right-wing loons like Fletcher, they are quite happy when their right-wing hack politi-cians lie to the majority of vot-ers so they can steal an election and thus power, and are more than happy when those same

politicians use that power to im-plement their right-wing agendas on the unsuspecting, uncooperative electorate using that stolen power.

Democracy and mandates mean nothing to people like Fletcher.

The end justifi es the means and citizens’ rights mean nothing in their twisted vision of democracy.

WAYNE CLARK

MAPLE RIDGE

Fletcher wrong again: Fight HST movement is democracy in action

Easy to fi nd racism in Canada

Open up 200th Street ramp on to Golden Ears

We need a say on new off -leash dog parks

EDITOR, THE NEWS:Since the new Golden Ears Way was opened, I use

Bonson Road all the time to get to the new bridge, and I have to say, the traffi c calming is necessary.

Of course I’d much rather not travel Bonson Road because it passes two parks, one with a 30-kmh zone.

What I’d much rather do is continue down Ham-mond Road and on to the new road via the currently absurdly underused, bus-only, on-ramp on the circle at 200th Street.

In all the time that ramp has been open I’ve never seen a bus on it but I’ve seen several adventurous drivers dashing up it in the hopes of not getting caught.

Translink, (and Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge) should be ashamed for this and should be ashamed for allowing it to continue. If car use of that entrance and a proper exit to the same circle were included, the traffi c on Bonson would not need the calming – it would be far less than it is.

RICHARD PITT

PITT MEADOWS

Fled chaotic Jamaica for a better life here

NEWS FILES

Traffi c in area of Golden Ears Bridge could be improved by opening bus-only ramp from Hammond Road, says reader. Repairs to deck are almost done.

THE NEWS/letters

chat@www.mapleridgenews.com

Looking forward to cookbook

From: Locals Restaurant, posted on www.mapleridgenews.com.Re: From Greece, with love, to you (The News, Aug. 13)

Congratulation Helen and Basil. We have been using your olive oil for

many years now and have yet to find a better one. Thank you and great

success with the new cookbook!

Turn ship back,

we have our own problems

From: Matt Chester, posted on www.mapleridgenews.com.Re: Why not send ship on its way? (The News, Aug. 13)

Man you know, I always thought that I would hate to be the person

without open arms.

While my heart goes out to these people and their situation, I’m

afraid that there are so many others that are deserving of aid.

I wish I had the answers for all but unfortunately we at home here

in Canada have our own problems to solve before we are forced

into spending public funds, time and resources on this matter.

I really wish I didn’t feel that we should turn the boat away and

will feel guilty for the thought … but at the same time will stand

tall and hope. My ship is still sailing and I’m not being met with

any aid offered, although I am a Canadian.

EDITOR, THE NEWS:I am writing because I am

concerned and confused by what appears to be – ma-jor changes at Jerry Sulina Park with no public input, particularly from the people who use this park on a daily basis, year-round.

It seems that they are building a separate area (very quietly) where they intend to make dogs and their owners go.

Maybe this is what is needed, but we deserve a say.

If we are going to do ma-jor changes then we need a say in what those changes will be.

There are bikers who cause more problems than the dogs, but they are not being banished.

We also have a gentleman who arrived every day this summer with a little girl –

I’d guess her age at about four.

He allows her to play unsupervised in the river while he is busy fishing and complaining about the dogs in the river.

The dogs are supervised by their owners!

As well, he is building what appears to be a dam of sorts with rocks so he can have a pool for the little girl. I thought it was

against the law to change the river in any way.

But it seems everyone is too busy worrying about the dogs to notice much else. Never mind, correct the real problems.

JOANNE MORRIS

MAPLE RIDGE

Editor’s note: The District of Maple Ridge consulted

the public on off-leash areas.

“The simple truth Fletcher can’t seem to get is that this lunacy … is actually real, grassroots democracy.”

A Pitt Meadows man caught in a cross-border child porn investigation will spend at least two weeks in prison.

Ray Melville Murray faces the jail term for pleading guilty to one count each of possess-ing child pornography and storing a fi rearm contrary to regulation.

The child-porn of-fence carries a manda-tory minimum prison term of 14 days.

“I am troubled and fi nd it unsatisfactory that the Criminal Code provides a mandatory minimum sentence,” said Crown prosecu-tor Peter Benning at a sentencing hearing for Murray Wednesday in

Port Coquitlam Provin-cial Court.

Benning would have preferred Murray re-ceive a conditional sentence, which would allow him to serve the sentence in the com-munity.

Murray was charged with possessing and ac-cessing child porn, stor-ing a fi rearm contrary to regulation and three counts of possessing a prohibited weapon in January.

The 66-year-old man came to the attention of the RCMP’s Integrated Child Exploitation Unit last August after being identifi ed in an investi-gation involving police in England.

Offi cers with the Inte-grated Child Exploita-tion Unit conducted the search of his Pitt Mead-ows property on Nov. 24, which lead to the seizure of child porn and several prohibited weapons, including a “Shuriken,” or throw-ing star, knives and handguns, including

one that was loaded.Seven photographs

and two videos of child pornography were found on his computer.

Pumping techno mu-sic accompanied a vid-eo played in court for Judge Shehni Dossa, who requested the foot-age stop playing less than a minute into its broadcast.

“While Mr. Murray had no hand in making these images and had no intention to distrib-ute them, at the root is the exploitation and

abuse of children,” said Benning, who noted Murray has been co-operative throughout.

Besides the 14-day term, Crown is seeking a fi rearms prohibition and three years of pro-bation, with the fi rst year to be served under house arrest.

Henry Sarava, Mur-ray’s lawyer, agreed to the probation order but asked the judge to fore-go the fi rearms prohibi-tion because his client is a target shooter.

“It would not be con-trary to the public in-terest for him to contin-ue his hobby,” Sarava said.

He noted a psycho-logical assessment observed Murray’s remorse for the crime was genuine.

“He admitted to what he had done and took responsibility for his action,” Sarava added.

Crown stayed the charges of possessing prohibited weapons.

Murray will be sen-tenced next week.

At least two weeks in jail for child-porn possessionCrown prefers house arrest but law requiresprison time

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

“I am troubled and find it unsatisfactory that the Criminal Code provides a mandatory minimum sentence” Peter Benning,Crown prosecutor

A selection of illegal drugs was found in a Maple Ridge apartment Monday after police executed a search war-rant at the property.

Ridge Meadows RCMP Street Enforcement Unit found quantities of what they believe to be heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine after they entered the building in the 11700- block of 224th Street around 6:30 p.m.

A 27-year-old man and a 23-year-old wom-an were arrested.

Police are recom-mending both be charged with drug traf-fi cking. The woman was released, while the man suspect was held in police custody as he had violated parole.

Insp. Derren Lench said while conducting the search, a 43-year-old man came to the apartment to provide more illegal drugs for the couple to sell.

The man was taken into custody and po-lice seized what they believed to be metham-phetamine from him.

He will also be charged with drug traf-fi cking. The man was also wanted on a war-rant.

House B&EThieves made off

with a large loot ear-ly Wednesday after breaking into a house in Maple Ridge.

The theft happened around 3:30 a.m. on Bal-abanian Circle.

The thieves gained en-try to the home through a sliding door.

They stole a large fl at screen television, digi-tal cameras, a laptop computer and a wom-an’s purse.

Trailer theftRidge Meadows

RCMP are look-ing for a white 1999 Jayco trailer that was stolen from the driveway of a home on Gee Street in Ma-ple Ridge.

The theft happened Tuesday night or early Wednesday.

The tent trailer had British Columbia li-cence plates ULB86J

attached to it at the time of the theft.

Fishy fi ndA Maple Ridge resi-

dent called police Tues-day after discovering a bag of blood and guts in an alley.

Ridge Meadows RCMP said the bags were found behind business-es in the 22300-block of Lougheed Highway around 1 p.m.

As offi cers were ex-amining the contents of the garbage bags, the person who disposed them walked by, con-fi rming police suspi-cions that the contents were nothing more than the remnants of cleaned fi sh. Police re-turned the smelly gar-bage to the dumpster.

Marijuana seizedMore than 2,000

marijuana plants were seized by police Tues-day from two homes in Maple Ridge.

Ridge Meadows RC-MP’s Street Enforce-ment Unit executed the fi rst warrant at a home in the 22100 block of Cliff Avenue at 8:15 a.m.

More than 800 plants

were found in the house. The second search took place at 1:30 p.m. at a house in the 22500-block of 125th Avenue, where more than 1,200 marijuana plants were found.

Both fi les are still un-der investigation and no one has been arrested.

Assault chargesPolice arrested a Ma-

ple Ridge man Monday after he swung a knife at another man.

The incident took place around 8:20 p.m. in 12200-block of 224th Street.

When police arrived, the man was being restrained by several people.

The 23-year-old was taken into custody without incident and the knife was seized.

Police are recom-mending he be charged with assault.

Insp. Derren Lench said the suspect, who is well known to members of Ridge Meadows RCMP, will also have to answer to charges of failing to obey a court order.

The man was released in late July on several conditions including one that prohibited him from possessing any weapons.

Pot, heroin seized from apartmentSupplier alsoarrested

Work is ahead of schedule on Maple Ridge’s downtown.

A new sidewalk on the north side of Lougheed Highway between 222nd and 224th streets was supposed to be fi nished by Sept. 1, but dry weather has helped push completion to the end of this week, said Joe Dingwall, project manager. This means store-front parking will be restored on the north side for the fi rst time in two months.

“I know it’s been incon-venient during construc-tion but we’re almost there,” said Ineke Boek-horst, with the Maple Ridge Business Improve-ment Association.

“The district has bent over backwards to accom-modate store owners.

“The gain is we’ll end up with a beautiful downtown.”

Crews have also start-ed ripping up the old sidewalk on the south side of Lougheed.

Imperial Paving will retain a 1.2-metre sec-tion of the sidewalk next to the buildings during road work.

However, parking will be limited to the north side of Lougheed dur-ing this time. A tempo-rary parking lot behind the European Bakery on 224th Street has been created to help ease parking concerns.

This phase of the Downtown Enhance-ment Project, which includes rebuilding the old road along

Lougheed Highway be-tween 222nd and 224th streets, should wrap up by late October.

Crews still have to re-

place the sidewalks and road between McIntosh Avenue and Dewdney Truck Road. That hap-pens next spring.

Downtown work ahead of schedule

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Good weather allowed fast pouring of sidewalks.

b y K e r r i e - A n n S c h o e n i tcontributor

Fraser River sockeye salmon are coming in at an astonishing rate that’s surpassing even the rosy forecast of fi shery managers.

The Pacifi c Salmon Commission has steadi-ly increased its esti-mate of the number of incoming sockeye, now on track to exceed 14.5 million in total.

That’s more than the 11 million sockeye pro-jected and far better than the less than two million sockeye that returned in each of the past few di-sastrous years.

“Overall, the run is looking quite good,” said Barry Rosenberg-er, the federal fi sheries department’s director for the B.C. Interior.

Managers have OK’d more commercial fi sh-ery openings, including a new fi ve-hour open-ing last Wednesday for gillnetters on the Fraser River.

That’s in addition to ongoing catches of sock-eye by First Nations and

sports anglers.Rosenberger said the

aim is to catch another million fi sh in Canada, on top of the 1.7 million sockeye already har-vested by both Canadi-an and U.S. fi shermen.

The revised in-season forecasts issued Tues-day afternoon by the Pacifi c Salmon Com-mission upgraded the early summer-run sockeye to 2.6 million – the largest return on record for that part of the Fraser run.

Just 800,000 early summer sockeye had been forecast.

Summer-run sockeye are also higher than an-ticipated, at 3.3 million.

There’s still no in-season estimate of the number of late-run sockeye returning to the Fraser expected to make up the bulk of this year’s run.

B.C. Fisheries Surviv-al Coalition spokesman Phil Eidsvik said DFO isn’t allowing enough fi shing given the large run now underway.

If too many returning sockeye are let through to spawn, he said, over-competition on the spawning grounds could hurt future stocks.

Sockeye surging as run strength buildsCould reach 14.5 million

John Gordon/BLACK PRESS

Commercial sockeye fishery is back at Kanaka wharf.

b y J e f f N a g e lBlack Press

What gives you a sense of hope?

Isn’t that what we all strive to fi nd, is hope?

Hope that a sick per-son gets well, that our fi nances will sort out, that the roof doesn’t leak, that our children will be safe, that we get a job, that our life will be fulfi lled.

We hope the economy picks up, that our car survives another year, that our children fi nish school, that our hearts heal, and our souls are mended.

We hope for the health of our aging parents, we hope for a better house, a car or even just a pair of shoes. Many things we hope for, some come to be and some don’t.

I do wonder about the don’ts, but mainly focus on the ones that work out, because what else do we have? When we take note and are grateful for

the things we have, it gives us hope to con-tinue hoping.

If we focus on the “what if’s” and the disappoint-ments then the hope fades away.

“Hope de-ferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfi lled is a tree of life.” – (a wise man once said that).

You may be going through some trying times; maybe fi nances aren’t good, your health, operations, sicknesses, a death in the family, moving when you didn’t want to, losing a job, not liking your job, hoping you get a job.

Life … sometimes, that’s just all it is …it’s life. You’re not being punished for some sin, you’re not being singled out to be

picked on, life happens and we are in it.

So, if we put our hope in the things that are temporal we will be dis-appointed, be-cause things are always changing.

If we get so caught up in troubles of life, we

miss out on how to get through it. But if we put our hope in the One who grants it, then how can we be disappointed?

Yes, things will still happen, and most we don’t understand why, and some we never will.

But if we put our hope in God and trust that He wants the very best for us, just like any good parent does for their children, we can then see past the circumstances and be sustained and carried

through the tough times.

I’ve learned through the years that I truly don’t have my life in my own hands. There is someone far greater than I directing my path. Praise God.

Because when I di-rected my life, I found I got lost. I’ve learned to trust Him with my life and know that He has greater plans then I could imagine.

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” Ps 31:24 and “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him” Ps 62:5-6.

So when you want to hope for something, have hope in the one who strengthens you. You may come to realize how much He loves you and has good things for you. He will guide you and direct your path.

Wendy Townsend is pastor at Southgate Church.

Gratitude allows us to continue to hope

Acts of Faith Wendy Townsend

An small glass bottle that may have con-tained an explosive liq-uid caused the evacua-tion of businesses along River Road in Maple Ridge Tuesday.

The brown bottle was found around 11:30 a.m. in the cab of a truck which was transporting junk to the Maple Ridge garbage transfer station.

Mauricio Ravino called a friend who is a police offi cer after he noticed a label on the 150-millilitre bottle that read: “Danger Explo-sives!”

The friend told him to call police.

They responded quickly and cordoned off River Road while the Maple Ridge Fire Department evacuated businesses from Albion ferry dock to McKay Avenue.

RCMP’s explosives unit was called in and detonated the sub-stance around 1:30 p.m.

“I got to hear it,” said Ravino.

“The police said it was defi nitely something explosive. I’m lucky it didn’t blow up while I was driving with it.”

The RCMP don’t know

what the liquid inside the bottle was but said the detachment needed to take “appropriate precautions” in case it blew up near a Lafarge cement plant and cedar mill.

The railway tracks were closed and Translink buses were brought for the

evacuees.“We like to err on the

side of caution,” said Insp. Derren Lench.

“It might seem like an overabundance of safety but I rather have someone say why did you go through all that than have it explode and derail a train.”

‘Explosives’ bottle blasted on River Rd.Employeesevacuated as a precaution

News files

RCMP bomb squad gingerly remove bottle from truck Tuesday.

Spokesmen for both aboriginal fi shermen and sport fi shermen just want everyone to get along.

So on Friday, they spent the day on the Fraser River trying to educate both sides about how to act.

Dave Moore, exec-utive-director of the Fraser River Salmon Table Society, billed it the 2010 River Manners Tour which included a visit to Seabird Island. Along the way the group saw aboriginal fi sher-men working their nets and sport fi shermen at play. Catch reporting, catch monitoring and other issues also were discussed.

“We’re going to learn about each other’s fi shery, and get to know each other,” said Moore.

Ernie Crey of the Sto:lo Tribal Council is one of the organizers of the River Manners group, which has pro-duced a video and pam-phlets to clarify how the groups sharing the Fraser salmon should

get along. It’s available at outdoor sports stores and on YouTube.

The River Manners group started after last summer’s incident when Chehalis band Chief Willie Charlie was shot in the face with a pellet gun dur-ing a confrontation on the Fraser River.

The potential for violence was high, and Crey, Moore and others realized something had to be done to improve relations between the groups.

The River Manners group has a timely mes-sage, as the fi rst sock-eye salmon opening in four years sees fi sher-men standing virtually shoulder to shoulder on Fraser sand bars.

Murray Ned of the

Sumas Band was one of the native leaders in-volved Friday, and said “It’s been a long time coming, to get this co-operation.”

“What we’re doing today is getting along. It sounds like a simple thing, but it’s not,” said Ed George of the B.C. Wildlife Federation. He said such outings are great ice-breakers.

“Now we can sit in meetings together and tell bad jokes, because

we know who the other guy is.”

George said the group’s efforts are mak-ing a difference, and al-ready this year a poten-tially incident was dealt with because of better relations between the leadership of the groups fi shing the river.

The Angling Guide Association, the B.C. Federation of Drift Fishers and the Fraser Valley Salmon Society joined the tour.

Learn to get along on the Fraser RiverAboriginal, sports fi shermen talking

Contributed

Pamphlets were handed out last week to get fishing information out.

b y N e a l C o r b e t tBlack Press

Community Calendar

Community Calendar lists events in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Notices are

free to local non-profi t groups courtesy of The News. Drop off details to 22328 119 Ave., fax to 604-463-4741 or e-mail newsroom@mapleridgenews.com at least a week before the event. Include a contact name and number. (No submissions by phone.) Listings appear as space permits. For guaranteed publication, ask our classifi ed department at 604-467-1122 about non-profi t rates.

Thursday, Aug. 26• Gilbert and Sullivan’s

world famous comic operetta drops anchor for a dress re-hearsal at the Spirit Square in Pitt Meadows at 7 p.m. Free to attend.

Friday, Aug. 27• Gilbert and Sullivan’s

world famous comic operetta drops anchor at the Clarke Theatre in Mission at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, children 10 and under are free. Advance tickets available at the Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts and Hair Expressions 604-467- 6613.

Saturday, Aug. 28• Gilbert and Sullivan’s

world famous comic operetta drops anchor at the Clarke Theatre in Mission at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, children 10 and under are free. Advance tickets available at the Bergthorson Academy of Musi-cal Arts and Hair Expressions 604-467- 6613.

• The Maple Ridge Secondary School Class of 1980 is holding their 30-year reunion at the Maple Ridge Equestrian Centre Ranch Bar and Grill. Contact Janice at ajhazell@shaw.ca for more details and RSVP.

• Doggie Days comes to the Haney Farmers’ Market. The fun starts at 10:30 a.m. in the grassy area beside the Market. Bring your tallest,

shortest, best dressed dog. Aurelius Band will entertain the shoppers. There will be hot buttered corn, popcorn, cookies and more to snack on while you enjoy the morning. www.haneyfarmersmarket.org

• The Maple Ridge Better Breathers Club is holding its annual yard sale at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Legion on 224th and Brown Street. There will be board games, video games hundreds of VCR movies, toys, household do-dads and hundreds of other good things. Many boxes of donations have not been opened so our surprise will be your surprise.

Wednesday, Sept. 1

• The Emerald Pig Theatri-cal Society will be holding auditions for their production of Butterfl ies Are Free from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Fraser Room (upstairs) at Maple Ridge Library, 130-22470 Dewdney Trunk Road. Please call Sharon Malone at 604-476-1984 for more information or to book an audition time, or email emeraldpig@theatrebc.org

Thursday, Sept. 2• The Emerald Pig Theatri-

cal Society will be holding auditions for their production of Butterfl ies Are Free from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Fraser Room (upstairs) at Maple Ridge Library, 130-22470 Dewdney Trunk Road. Please call Sharon Malone at 604-476-1984 for more information or to book an audition time, or email emeraldpig@theatrebc.org

Tuesday, Sept. 7• Join the retired teachers

of School DIstrict No. 42 who will be celebrating the fi rst day of school at the Hell With The Bell buff et breakfast at the Maple Ridge Seniors’ Activity Centre, 12150 224th Street, at 10 a.m. Cost is $10. Newly retired teachers can attend for free. Please RSVP to Don Sears at 604 464-3886 or donsears@telus.net.

Saturday, Sept. 11• Join the Family Educa-

tion and Support Centre and the Affi liation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies at the Diversity Health Fair at the Ridge Meadows Seniors’ Centre, 12150 224th Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors can learn about healthy cook-ing and lifestyles, take part in fi tness classes, tap their foot to ethnic music, watch cultural dancers, speak with health care professionals, or sample ethnic foods. To learn more, call Angie at 604-476-2447 or email an-gie@hipstrategic.com.

Ongoing• The Ridge Meadows Hall

of Fame Society is now ac-cepting nominations for 2011 inductees. The Hall of Fame honours the achievements of Maple Ridge and Pitt Mead-ows residents in the fi elds of sports, the arts, business, education, and community volunteerism. Those consid-ered for the honour will have contributed to the community over a signifi cant number of years, bringing provincial, na-tional or international recogni-tion to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Nominations can be mailed to the Ridge Meadows Hall of Fame Society at #303 - 22213 Selkirk Avenue, Maple Ridge. Call 604-463-6595 for more information. Nomination deadline is October 5.

•Golden Ears United Soccer Club women’s teams are now accepting players for the fall season. There is space in Divisions 1, 3, and 4, as well as the 30-plus Division. Divi-sion 1 is best suited to former gold and Metro players. Ages 17 and up. Season runs from September to March, with reg-istration underway. For more information please contact Susan Carr at 604-467-8447 or via email at clascarr@shaw.ca.

• The Canadian Cancer Society is looking for a volun-teer driver dispatcher in Maple Ridge. Work from the comfort

of you home coordinating rides with volunteer drivers to transport cancer patients to and from treatment related appointments. Volunteers need to be well organized with good record keeping skills. Must have excellent people skills and telephone manner and the ability to communicate clearly and solve problems eff ectively. Time commitment is approximately 4 to 6 hours per week over a minimum one year term. To fi nd out more, please contact Vinyse Barberat vbarber@bc.cancer.ca or 604-215-5209.

• Debtor’s Anonymous meets Tuesdays, 8 to 9 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Church, 22165 Dewdney Trunk Road. Park and enter from the back of the building. Hope and recovery for debtors, compulsive spend-ers and under-earners. For more information, e-mail ma-pleridge@ debtorsanonymous.ca or call John 604-928-9697.

• Sizzlin’ outside? Refresh yourself with a cool story. Come to the Maple Ridge Public Library and enjoy stories, songs and fi ngerplays that will entertain and delight you. All ages are welcome. Storytimes begin at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through July. For more information, please call the Maple Ridge Public Library at 604-467-7417.

• Singles dance, at various locations, every Saturday night. Includes dinner and a live band. For more informa-tion call Doris at 604-465-4412.

• The Meadow Ridge Singers are accepting new members. Practices are Mon-days, 7 to 9:30 p.m. starting Sept 14. Two concerts per year. Contact Lonnie at 604-460-9331 for more information.

• The Pitt Meadows Senior Snooker Club is a non profi t group of seniors ages 55 and up who play daily at the Pitt Meadows Family Recreation Centre. The group is looking for new members. Contact Collin at 604-465-2391.

• The Gone Hooking Group (traditional rug hook-ing) will not be meeting again until Sept. 22 at the Lion’s Den. The group will be demonstrat-ing the craft all throughout the month of September at the ACT, where their work will be displayed.

• Health and wellness clinics are available every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Ridge Meadows Seniors’ Activity Centre, 12150 224th Street. Volunteer nurses check blood pressure, pharmacist and diabetic educators, and massage therapy. The Pitt Meadows health and wellness clinic meets every second Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pitt Meadows Seniors’ Lounge, 12027 Harris Road.

It’s a couple of weeks before school be-

gins again. In most schools, teachers are rolling in regularly, set-ting up their rooms and getting materi-als ready to go. Are the kids doing the same or is the beginning of school simply the beginning of new routines after a long summer of recre-ational routines?

The answer to this question will vary. Some students have spent the summer reading, writing, going to science or math camps or program-ming computers. Some students have gone to various sports camps or tournaments. Some have spent extraordi-nary amounts of time in front of the TV or computer.

Some have worked a part-time or full-time job and some have been laying in the ham-mock.

So what are the teachers preparing for? Diversity.

In just about any classroom, the range of skills, enthusiasm and work ethic is wide at the best of times.

By the end of a sum-mer, that range can be at its widest point, particularly when it comes to academically based skills. One of the

arguments for shorten-ing summer holidays or creating alterna-tive timetables so that students are not off for long periods of time has simply been that these huge gaps in time have created equally huge gaps in

skill levels. To non-

educators, teaching often seems simple. You show up in a class, toss out a few ideas, assign some work and watch the students blossom. If only that were true. More likely, you

show up in class and 10 per cent of the stu-dents are absent; the ideas you throw out go right over the heads of 50 per cent of the students; the assigned work is either not un-derstood or simply not done; some students blossom, some grow a bit and some never take root.

The biggest chal-lenge in teaching is not lesson planning, but creating lessons that can cover a range of skills and abilities, offering the weakest student an opportunity to succeed while at the same time providing enough challenge that the strongest student is not going home every day rolling his/her eyes and complaining of boredom.

In a class of 30 stu-dents, there are about fi ve individual lessons built into every group instruction!

As teachers begin their preparation, it is a good idea for parents

and students to do the same. After all, the narrower the range of needs, the greater the opportunity for every-one to work together and move forward.

Spending some time reading, reviewing a little of the math basics and getting to bed and getting up at the regular school time can contribute to the readiness necessary to limit the range and give all students an op-portunity to begin the year both excited and confi dent; the younger the child, the quicker that range narrows.

I know, I sound like the Grinch when I start talking about school routines two weeks before summer’s end.

Still, I’m a fi rm believer that a little preparation, in skills and routines, goes a long way to building confi dence when those fi rst lessons hit the desk and much of the work being asked for is fresh on the mind of a student.

Graham Hookey is

an educator and writer and can be contacted at ghookey@yahoo.com.

Summertime creates education gapsSome kids study and get sharp,others watch lots of TV

Parenting Graham Hookey

Ex-bus drivers and other former TransLink staff with as little as two years service enjoy free transit passes as a retirement bonus.

The arrangement is un-der fi re from critics who say it’s too generous.

More than 10,000 such free passes exist for current and retired employees and some of their family members.

Employees with at least two years service who retire from Trans-Link, Coast Mountain Bus Co. and the Tran-sit Police get a lifetime pass and can get a fam-ily pass for their spouse as well.

SkyTrain and West Coast Express workers are eligible for retiree passes after working fi ve years. Current staff also get passes.

TransLink spokes-man Ken Hardie said the free passes were negotiated as part union contracts years ago, when BC Transit ran the system.

“It doesn’t cost Trans-Link anything to issue these passes,” he said, suggesting TransLink would otherwise end up reimbursing em-ployees for company travel if they paid cash for tickets.

“We’re trying to pro-mote sustainable travel options for people,” Hardie added. “So ex-tending it to non-work related trips is a pretty sustainable move – those are cars that are not on the road.”

But Canadian Taxpay-ers Federation spokes-person Maureen Bader argues TransLink might recoup millions of dollars if staff paid their own way.

TransLink under fi re for freebiesb y J e f f N a g e lBlack Press

My two eldest daughters and I recently returned

from a memorable vacation in Belize and Guatemala.

Our fi rst stop was a jungle resort in the interior called Pook’s Hill. We almost didn’t make it there, as the forested slopes adjacent to the access had been recent-ly bulldozed by a Canadian investor planting hardwood trees, specifi cally teak (Tectona grandis) and mahogany (Swietenia). The exposed soils sloughed off the limestone hillsides in the rain, making a quagmire of the road – it wasn’t a proud moment to be a Cana-dian – but we still managed to get through.

The resort is built around a small Mayan ruin called a Plazuela or little plaza in Spanish. It was ba-sically the homestead of an affl uent Mayan family with its own shrine, sweatbath, mausoleums and masonry-platformed houses built around a central plaza of crushed limestone. All the modern buildings here are thatched with bay leaf palm (Sabal mauritiiformis), with the outdoor lounge taking some 8,000 leaves to cover the roof.

The surrounding forest was rife with wildlife such as toucans, Montezuma birds, kinkajou, deadly fer-de-lance snakes, cicadas and innumerable species of hummingbirds.

My favourite local guide was George, as he knew all the plant lore and most of the botanical names. One of the trees he introduced me to was the give-and-take

palm (Cryosophila staura-cantha) with its incredibly spiny trunk that often af-fl icts passers-by.

The heart of this palm contains natural antiseptic cotton to dress wounds, hence the common name. On one of our night hikes, George pointed out the leaf-cutter ants which work day and night, carrying

leaf portions 20 times their size in a continuous chain of supply. They strip the foliage of specifi c plants (completely denuding some areas) and stow it in their nests, eating the fungus that grows on the cut leaves.

Our fi rst real ad-venture was to the Cave of the Stone

Sepulcher, which is only ac-cessible by swimming and wading up to your chest until you reach the sacred Mayan site in the cavern.

Here, we took off our boots and walked in stock-ing feet while Hector our guide took us through the relics including altars, ceremonial ceramics and the bones (mostly skulls) of human sacrifi ces.

The highlight was the full skeletal remains of a young woman sacrifi ced to the rain god Chac. The woman is known as the Crystal Maiden because her bones are encased in calcium carbonate crystals, fused to the cave fl oor.

We also took a quick jaunt over the border into Guatemala to visit the ruins at Tikal. Our tour started late in the day, so we missed the morning crowds and actually had the grand plaza to our-selves for a short time.

The forests were team-ing with spider monkeys, coatimundi, tiny grey foxes and ocellated turkeys which resemble peacocks in colour. Towards the end of the day we climbed 75 metres to the top of the Temple of the Two-Headed Snake. Looking out over the jungle, I couldn’t help but be reminded t there was nothing left of this ancient Mayan city of 250,000 except

a few temples protruding through the canopy below. This once-great civilization failed as a result of climate change – a prolonged drought decimated their ability to feed themselves and their complex society of religion, government and trade collapsed with the demise of their agriculture.

One day, our entire class dove the Blue Hole, Belize’s famous submerged cave.

We went down to 45 metres where the huge stalactites appear.

I found the most remark-able part of Belize to be the people, as they possess a rare inner beauty.

Most Belizeans are mul-tilingual (Spanish, English, Kriol, Mayan dialects), and incredibly friendly. There are no racial divi-sions despite a melting pot of cultures that include

Meso-American, Spanish, Garinagu and European.

Quite simply there is no intolerance here because there is no one to be toler-ant of, everyone is accepted for who they are – and that is the real beauty of this unique country.

Mike Lascelle is a local nursery

manager and gardening author

(hebe_acer@hotmail.com).

Mike Lascelle photos

The grand plaza at Tikal, Guatemala.Blue cicada and ziricote tree, Cordia sebestena.

THE NEWS/home&gardening

Bewitched by the beauty of Belize

Gardening Mike Lascelle

For Maple Ridge’s Connor Redmond, being traded to the WHL’s Vancouver Gi-ants from the Red Deer Rebels last November was more than a home-coming, it was a sec-ond chance.

The Rebels took Red-mond 11th overall in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft, making him the highest pick to have ever come out of Maple Ridge after he led the Burnaby Winter Club to a Western Canadian Championship that

year. With high expec-tations he joined the Rebels for the 2008/09 season, notching just eight points in his rookie year.

After a successful ma-jor midget campaign the year previous with the Vancouver North East Chiefs, Redmond had trouble adjusting to the speed and skill of the WHL game.

Then there were in-juries. A separated shoulder, a concus-sion. Things weren’t going the they way

they were supposed to for the lanky forward.

“It was tough,” says Redmond. “There wasn’t any hard feel-ings, but it just wasn’t the right fi t for me there.”

The Giants gave up left winger Lane Sc-heidl to bring Red-mond home to the Lower Mainland. Gi-ants coach Don Hay said he felt Redmond hadn’t reached his po-tential, and a change of scenery might do him some good.

“When he became available, we were very interested,” said Hay. “We watched him when he was in bantam, and thought highly of him.”

Redmond notched

fi ve goals for the Gi-ants in 36 games last season, and Hay ex-pects big strides from Redmond this season.

“He was excited to be here, but he wasn’t comfortable with the systems yet,” he says. “I think going through a full camp with us will make a big differ-ence.”

The key thing for Redmond, Hay says, is regaining the con-fi dence he lost in Red Deer. In their exit meetings with the club at the end of the sea-son, Hay suggested Redmond take up box-ing in the off season.

“Boxing is a men-tally tough sport, and you have to train very hard - it’s not about the fi ghting,” says Hay. “The confi dence that he gains will help him on the ice.”

So in effort to toughen himself up, Redmond sought out the help of former Canadian Toughman champion Mike Heathfi eld. With a pro kickboxing and boxing career stretch-ing back more than 20 years, not to mention a stint in the Canadian Football League, Heath-fi eld knows tough, and black eyes and bloody noses can be a power-ful motivator.

“He’ll lay the beats to me to teach me a les-son,” says Redmond. “But if I can stand in

the ring with Mike, I can go toe-to-toe with anybody.”

Redmond’s off season has been anything but. After training with the Giants for three hours everyday, Redmond hits the bags and spars with Heathfi eld at his home in Maple Ridge.

Redmond’s already

packed close to 15 pounds onto his six-foot-one frame this summer, and he’s hop-ing to throw around that weight this sea-son.

“I think I’m a solid all-round, two-way player,” he says. “I can be a physical presence but I can move the

puck as well.”Redmond has set his

goals high this season: 20 goals, 20 assists, and 150 penalty minutes.

“I’m going to be look-ing for Gordie Howe hat-tricks,” he says. “If you want to be an agi-tator, you have to back it up.”

THE NEWS/sportsSection coordinator:Robert Mangelsdorf 604-467-1122 ext. 216newsroom@mapleridgenews.com

Contributed

Redmond in action with the Vancouver Giants last season.

Redmond looks to make impact with WHL Giants

Contributed

Connor Redmond and boxing coach Mike Heathfield take a breather after a sparring session.

Maple Ridge hockey product takesto the ring to improve on the rink

b y R o b e r t M a n g e l s d o r fstaff repor ter

See Redmond, p42

Having graduated high school this past summer, Redmond says he is looking for-ward to having more time to focus on hockey this season.

“There’s a defi nite mental advantage,” he said. “My focus is just hockey. I don’t have to stay up late doing homework

Hockey runs in Red-mond’s blood. His fa-ther, Craig Redmond, a defenceman, was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings sixth overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft and played

for Team Canada at the Moscow Winter Olym-pics that year. The el-der Redmond amassed 71 points with the Kings in parts of four seasons before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers as part of the Wayne Gretzky trade.

Mickey Redmond, colour analyst for the Detroit Red Wings and a former 50-goal scorer with the Red Wings in the 1970s, is also a dis-tant relative.

“My whole family has been really support-ive,” he says. “My dad has always been there, and he’s always given me great advice.”

The best piece of wis-dom?

“Play every shift like it’s your last,” says Red-mond.

Redmond follows in a long line of Maple Ridge-raised players to

put on a Giants jersey, including Mitch Bar-tley, Garet Hunt, and Mike Piluso.

Redmond, for his part, is fl ourishing under the Giants system so far.

“Don is really strict, and everything is very structured here,” he says. “My habits have really improved since I’ve been here I think. I mean, there’s a good reason why they are one of the best teams year after year.”

The time Redmond has put in this summer has not been lost on Hay.

“He’s got energy, en-thusiasm and commit-ment, and we’ve seen that he has worked hard off the ice this summer,” he says. “We hope he develops into the player we think he can be, but that’s in his hands right now.”

Sports

Robert Mangelsdorf/THE NEWS

Connor Redmond.

Redmond’s hockey roots run deepRedmond from p41

Yoo takes B.C. juvenile golf title

Meadows Garden Golf Club’s Anica Yoo took the B.C. Juvenile Girls’ Golf Championship by a single stroke Thursday, edging Valentina Trillo of Port Moody after she double-bogied the fi nal hole at Glen Meadows Golf and Country Club in Sidney.

“I was pretty consistent off the tee and in the fair-way,” said Yoo, 16, who broke the women’s course record on the fi rst day of play by one stroke with a round of 70. “A lot of my shots were straight and my good shots were really good.”

Yoo fi nished the three-round tournament with a three-over-par 219.

Trillo held a one stroke lead on Yoo coming into the fi nal hole of the three-day tournament, while Alix Kong of West Vancouver, the 2009 Bantam Champion, was hot on their heels after consecu-tive birdies on 16 and 17 to put her at four over.

However, Trillo was unable to hold on for the win, and took a six on the par-four 18th hole, giv-ing Yoo the one-stroke victory.

Swan-e-set Bay Resort’s Ally Shin fi nished in fi fth place after fi ring a fi nal round 76 to put her at eight over.

Maple Ridge’s Keanna Mason fi nished in 10th place after a rough fi nal round.

M a p l e R i d g e N e w sstaff repor ter

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B.C. Juvenile Golf ChampionshipsGlen Meadows Golf & Country Club, Victoria

Aug. 16-19Second round standings

GirlsPlace Name Hometown Club ScoreT1 Anica Yoo Port Coquitlam Meadow Gardens GC +2 70-76-146T1 Valentina Trillo Port Moody Fraser Valley Zone 3 +2 71-75-146T3 Alix Kong West Vancouver Capilano G&CC +4 74-74-148T3 Ally Shin Port Moody Swan-e-set Bay Resort +4 74-74-1485 Taylor Kim Surrey Fraser Valley Zone 3 +6 74-76-1506 Stephanie Wong Richmond Quilchena G&CC +7 78-73-1517 Keanna Mason Maple Ridge Fraser Valley Zone 3 +10 77-77-1548 Brooklyn Kraakman Deroche Mission G&CC +11 79-76-1559 Naomi Ko Victoria Olympic View GC +13 79-78-157T10 Emery Bardock Armstrong Thompson Okanagan +18 78-84-162T10 Emily Nicol Kelowna Kelowna G & CC +18 83-79-16212 Janelle Kraakman Deroche Sandpiper GC +20 82-82-16413 Ezzabella Hernandez Richmond Richmond CC +21 81-84-16514 Songeun Lee Surrey Swan-e-set Bay Resort +23 80-87-16715 Lana Gill Vancouver Marine Drive GC +24 82-86-168T16 Jessica Claggett Kelowna Two Eagles CG +28 85-87-172T16 Genevieve Nugent Vancouver Quilchena G&CC +28 82-90-172T18 Allison Lee Victoria Cedar Hill Municipal GC +32 81-95-176T18 Haley Kruse Victoria Victoria GC +32 90-86-176T18 Amanda Woida Squamish Squamish Valley G&CC +32 94-82-17621 Jessica Wong Victoria Victoria GC +36 89-91-18022 Carlie Whitwham Prince George Prince George G&CC +37 88-93-18123 Kirstin Jorgensen Prince George Prince George G&CC +40 97-87-18424 Emily Adams Ladysmith Mount Brenton GC +47 93-98-191

BoysPlace Name Hometown Club Score1 Curtis Chan Richmond Marine Drive GC -8 65-71-1362 Stuart Macdonald Vancouver Point Grey G&CC -2 70-72-142

T3 Wyatt Racette Burnaby Marine Drive GC +1 72-73-145T3 Josh Zhang Vancouver Shaughnessy G&CC +1 73-72-1455 Matthew Broughton Victoria Royal Colwood GC +2 74-72-146T6 Jordan Lu Vancouver Marine Drive GC +4 72-76-148T6 Donald Qiu Surrey Marine Drive GC +4 75-73-1488 Brandon Ortiz Westbank Kelowna G & CC +5 75-74-149T9 Sean Hay Victoria Cedar Hill Municipal GC +6 73-77-150T9 Taizhi Yang Surrey Swan-e-set Bay Resort +6 74-76-150T11 Chris Crisologo Richmond Marine Drive GC +7 79-72-151T11 Zach Anderson Nanaimo Nanaimo GC +7 78-73-151T11 Mark Valliere Nanaimo Morningstar GC +7 74-77-151T11 Ben Froese Kamloops Rivershore +7 74-77-151T15 Callum Robinson Langley Hazelmere CC +8 77-75-152T15 Trevor Garofano Coquitlam Pitt Meadows GC +8 78-74-152T15 Darren Day Victoria Royal Colwood GC +8 68-84-15218 Connor Gann Victoria Victoria GC +9 78-75-153T19 Jordon Hoodikoff Grand Forks Christina Lake GC +11 79-76-155T19 Sunny Li Surrey Morgan Creek GC +11 74-81-155T21 Jun Kang Port Moody Swan-e-set Bay Resort +12 81-75-156T21 Jack McGuinness Vancouver Marine Drive GC +12 80-76-156T21 Gunntas Sidhu Port Coquitlam Pitt Meadows GC +12 76-80-156T21 Nicholas Lyons West Vancouver Seymour G&CC +12 78-78-156T21 Greg Palmer Port Alberni Alberni GC +12 77-79-156T21 Hiro Minakawa Victoria Uplands GC +12 78-78-156T27 Jeff Riches Victoria Gorge Vale GC +13 76-81-157T27 Joel Robertson Coquitlam The Vancouver GC +13 76-81-157T27 Lucas Gatto Burnaby The Vancouver GC +13 73-84-157T27 Brayden Eriksen Parksville Pheasant Glen GR +13 77-80-157T27 Riley Peel Qualicum Beach Pheasant Glen GR +13 78-79-157T32 Joel Termuende Cranbrook Cranbrook GC +14 84-74-158T32 Sten Sundin Prince Rupert Prince Rupert +14 80-78-158T32 Evan Swift Victoria Royal Colwood GC +14 79-79-158T32 Devon Swallow West Kelowna Shannon Lake GC +14 76-82-158T32 Adam Struch Kamloops The Dunes +14 79-79-158 T37 Myles DeBrincat Coquitlam The Vancouver GC +15 79-80-159T37 Uday Suri West Kelowna Two Eagles CG +15 79-80-159

THE NEWS/scoreboardLower Mainland Baseball Association

Bob Bunnett DivisionTeams GP W L T Pts F AMaple Ridge Jerks 14 13 1 0 26 94 37Coquitlam Cardinals 12 9 2 1 19 84 40Burnaby Yankees 14 8 5 1 17 95 85Vancouver Mounties 14 8 6 0 16 103 69South Delta Padres 14 7 7 0 14 57 60Richmond Athletics 14 6 8 0 12 105 99New Westminster Red Sox 13 4 9 0 8 43 64Burnaby Brewers 15 3 12 0 6 44 123Tri-City Indians 15 1 14 0 2 27 102

Bob Bunnett DivisionTeams GP W L T Pts F ADelta Dodgers 13 11 2 0 22 104 27Delta Tigers 13 10 3 0 20 78 47Aldergrove Giants 14 9 4 1 19 91 83Langley Knights 15 9 6 0 18 74 57Chilliwack Cubs 14 6 7 1 13 81 89Langley Expos 13 6 7 0 12 71 59Newton Royals 15 7 8 0 14 87 82Ridge Meadows Twins 15 5 8 2 12 99 95North Delta Fighting Irish 15 1 14 0 2 25 144

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