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<h1 style="text-align: center;">chilliwack progress - articles - 2015</h1>
<h2>[subjects]&nbsp;</h2>
<ol>
<li>[<a href="http://www.theprogress.com/eeditions/?iid=i2015123004441910" target="_blank">2015-12-30</a>] YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-01]</li>
<ol>
<li>] WEATHER - winter storm hits chilliwack &nbsp;</li>
<li>] BUSINESS - Target store closes - US retailer leaves Canada 1 year after opening.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] CRIME - homicide - stuart ellis</li>
<li>] BUSINESS - canada post announces door to door delivery service scheduled to end in 2015-11. Chilliwack to be one of first communities to see service cut</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-02]</li>
<ol>
<li>] BUSINESS - fraser valley express announced, service to start on 2015-04-06, bus links downtown chilliwack to abbostford and langley, 80 minutes to downtown langley, approx. 222 minutes to twassen ferries with transfers</li>
<li>] BUSINESS - ufv appoints Gwen Point as second chancellor in school history</li>
<li>]&nbsp;ISSUE-HOMELESS&nbsp;- concerted efforts were made to bring homeless off the streets. After 2014 homelessness survey report was presented to Fraser Regional District. Report says Chilliwack saw a decrease of 34 percent in homeless population from 111 homeless counted in 2011 down to 73 in 2014.</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-03]</li>
<ol>
<li>] POLITICS - city proposes tax rate increase of 1.49%, lowest in lower mainlaind</li>
<li>] SPORTS - cheifs advance to second round of playoffs defeating coquitlam express</li>
<li>] PEOPLE - 3 cousins die in traffic accident on hwy 1</li>
<li>] ISSUE-YOUNG-ROAD-DYKE&nbsp;- young road residents protest against city plan to raise dyke by 1m&nbsp;</li>
<li>] CRIME-DRUGS - investigation arrests in drug trafficing ring based out of chilliwack&nbsp;</li>
<li>] PEOPLE - hundreds attend the funeral for local firefighter Brian Smyth who lost his live in the line of duty</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-04]</li>
<ol>
<li>] BUSINESS - dignitaries show up for rollout of new Fraser valley express bus service</li>
<li>] ISSUE-HOMELESS - new addition for 30 day homeless program at Ruth &amp; Naomis shelter, funded by Rotary Fraser club and city of Chilliwack</li>
<li>] ISSUE-YOUNG-ROAD-DYKE&nbsp;- local first nations join protest against young road dyke expansion.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] CRIME-ARMED-ROBBERY - rcmp arrest 2 men suspected in string of armed robberies in chilliwack/popkum between january and april</li>
<li>] ISSUE-BUSINESS&nbsp;- stunt plane pilot Dave Mathieson silenced by Transport Canada ruling citing he could no longer perform aerobatics under 2k feet due to proximity to "noise sensitive" or livestock areas. Supporters had a demonstration and&nbsp;</li>
<li>] PEOPLE - 3 chilliwack residents who were in Nepal when it was hit by a 7.8 earthquake on DATA - helped raise funds for survivors of the tragedy.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-05]</li>
<ol>
<li>] ISSUE-BUSINESS - Aevitis pulls plug on controversial plan to build hazardous waste recycling facility on shores of Fraser River, Aevitis president, Byron Day cites "mulitple hurdles" and a "never ending legal battle" as reasons for decision. City hall who had fought opponents of the project, was surprised by decision.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] ISSUE-PROPERTY - A long time problem property on Rotary street was raided by RCMP. Residents arrested and small quantity of drugs, drug parphanali and weapons were seized.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] CRIME-HOMICIDE - 4 peope die in murder suicide in Chilliwack/Langley. Rosedale Resident Randy Jantzen murders his sister, in her langely home and then murders his daughter and wife in their Rosedale home before killing himself. Jantzen posts his suicide letter on facebook.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] COMMUNITY - Brown Creek Wetlands becomes the latest addition to the Vedder River Trail network.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] BUSINESS - Rona announces it will take over former Target location in Chilliwack Mall, plans to move in 2016.</li>
<li>] POLITICS - city council rejects 800K offer by Kinder Morgan to offset the inconvenience of pipeline construction in Chilliwack. Money would have helped pay for 1M pedestrian bridge project. Council says it will defer its decision until the NEB makes it decision in regards to the twinning of the existing 60 yo pipeline</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-06]</li>
<ol>
<li>&gt;] COMMUNITY - Work begins on Community Forest Park Project which will 1 day transform the Eastern Hillsides into a vast network of trails. Trails will be for hiking, mountain biking, dog walking and horseback riding. To conincide with future development planned for Eastern Hillsides. Estimated cost of project is 102K, with half of the funding coming from the city. &nbsp;Idea is for a trail system connecting Bridal Veils falls Provincial Park with Eastern Hillsides with Elk/Thurston saddle and Ryder Lake.</li>
<li>] COMMUNITY -&nbsp;- Fire forces evacuation of 40 tenants from downtown apartment block near 9200 mary street. Building is undergoing repairs.</li>
<li>] COMMUNITY - at least 40 bags of asbestos was found illegally dumped on a Forestry Service Road near the entrance to Chipmunk Creek in the Chilliwack River Valley. Earlier this year a cabin cruiser boat was dumped on a side road in the same valley. Residents are actively watching for, recording and reporting all suspicous vehicles and activity in the area.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<li>[<a href="http://www.theprogress.com/eeditions/?iid=i20160101044313118" target="_blank">2016-01-01</a>] YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-07]&nbsp;</li>
<ol>
<li>] WEATHER - record breaking heat wave continues after hottest june in 120 years. lawn watering (stage 3 restrictions) and smoking restrictions put into place</li>
<li>] ENVIRONMENT - An Air quality advisory issued to metro vancouver was extended to the fraser valley due in part to smoke from forest fires</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - city increases road paving budget by 1M to 2.138 million.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - Vedder bridge replacement funds of 12.5M were approved</li>
<li>] ENVIRONMENT - illegal garbage dumpers can no longer plead ignorance. anti dumping signage was rolled out.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - worksafe bc rules that using traffic flaggers to control traffic at vedder bridge is unsafe.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - landing spray park is set to undergo renovation and expansion, starting next, ready for 2017</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-08]</li>
<ol>
<li>] SPORTS - local athlete Joanne Bunnin returns from the Special Olympics in LA,CA with 3 gold medals in weightlifting</li>
<li>] CRIME - Ria Rumph reports another goat stolen. 2 men were spotted loading the goat, this is the third goat Rumph has had stolen. RCMP are investigating wiht the help of the agri watch</li>
<li>] ENVIRONMENT - new toad crossing tunnel opens in Ryder lake.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] BUSINESS/ENVIRONMENT - Residence known as Shannon court was in ruins, contaminated with asbestos. Yale road site was shut down by worksafe bc due to concerns the contractor had failed to ensure the building was free of asbestos before the demolition began.</li>
<li>] BUSINESS/ENVIRONMENT - Old safeway building on main street to be demolishe. Voluntary compliance to demolish property by owner Sobeys within 90 days.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - city takes the next step to ban smoking in outdoor public places. Possible fines of $500.</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-09]&nbsp;</li>
<ol>
<li>] BUSINESS - Rogers foods will build new flour mill boosting its capacity by 80%.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - City would prefer special zone for growing medical marijuana. Province changes agricultural rules to identify federally licenced medical mj production as an allowable use.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - City will be picking up organic waste at curbside collection beginning in May of 2017.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - City staff looking to add more red tape to cities demolition process. geared to curb illegal dumping, improve safety of workers. new step for contractors to produce a hazardous materials report</li>
<li>&gt; ] BUSINESS - Chilliwack Film Commision gets a makever, rebranding as Chilliwack Creative Commission to broaden its horizons and incorporate other artistic elements beside Film and TV including Music, Publishing and Digital and Interactive media.&nbsp;</li>
<li>&gt; ] GOVERNMENT&nbsp;ISSUE-HOMELESS&nbsp;&nbsp;- City unveils how its going to take its fight against homelessness to the next level. Mayor Gaetz says a new action plan is underway by a multi-agency task force. "determined to map out bold new strategies, based on Housing First principles, ..." despite homeless #'s down 34% to 73 people in 2015.</li>
<li>] BUSINESS - Berryhill foods will build 35K sq ft expansion at the Kerr Avenue food processing site</li>
<li>] PEOPLE - long time chilliwack school trustee Martha Wiens passed aways. Served as trustee for over 20 years.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - School board rejects bonus cash offer from pipeline company Kinder Morgan</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-10]&nbsp;</li>
<ol>
<li>] GOVERNMENT COMMUNITY - Jim Neirs, neighborhood activist/author invited by City Council to share his experience in building more caring, more resilient and more responsive communities. His "trick" is to reclaim an reinvigorate neighborhoods by channeling the enthusiasm and inginuity of the people who live there, there is "incredible, untapped power in our communities.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT EDUCATION - School trustees make a small but significant change to their protocol to acknowledge local first nations history. At the beginning of each board meeting they will acknowledge that they are on unceded traditional Sto:lo territory.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT BUSINESS REAL-ESTATE - City Council considering bylaw revision to regulate footprint and location of homes within the ALR. Regulations are aimed at deterring the building of larger homes that are set back from the road with large driveways, that "meander" through the property.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT BUSINESS REAL-ESTATE - Chilliwack joins list of cities that joined work safe BC initiative to make demolition sites safer for workers. Demolition permits will only be issued after the city recieves written verification that a hazardous risk assessment has been completed by an occupation health and safety proffesional with experience in asbestos management.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT&nbsp;-Conservative MP Mark Strahl was re-elected in the federal election for the Chilliwack Hope riding. Nationally, the Conservative party was defeated by the Liberals, led by Justin Trudea, who will form a majority government winning 184 of 314 seats.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT EDUCATION - Chilliwack school district says it desperately needs a new elementary school according to a staff report. There are 404 new students this year, mostly in primary grades. Thats enough to fill an average size elementary school, if only they had one.</li>
<li>] COMMUNITY - welcome mat rolled out in Chilliwack River Valley. Volunteers have completed repairs to 70km of trails putting in new foot bridges, addressing erosion, clearing brush and upgrading trails</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT COMMUNITY - Residents around Bonny Park who fought hard to cut off access by the public, are gearing up to oppose a re-zoning proposal for a 10 lot subdivision on Riverside Drive. It all centers on a short lane way that backs onto Bonny Park. Vehicle access to the park could be re-opened for the first time in 15 years if it is approved.</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-11]&nbsp;</li>
<ol>
<li>] GOVERNMENT -&nbsp;FVRD&nbsp;will NOT support a run of the river hydro project proposed by WindRiver power corporation at Tamhihi creek based on strong community input against it. The board sought clarification from the minsisty as to how it could justify the trade offs against environmentally sensitive, recreationally rich area for more costly hydro, especially given the approval of the new site C damn.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT -&nbsp;city council&nbsp;set it site on the old safeway block at main and kipp. A rezoning sign is up and the building is ready to come down in preperation for the long awaited redevelopment. What different is the rezoning was not applicant driven but council itself spearheaded the rezoning appliciation, in a deliberate effort to make the zoning dovetail with vision of the downtown plan the official community plan. Council rezoned the entire block with multiple properties going from Commercial to high density multi-family residential and commercial, as well as a Comprehensive Development zoning.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT BUSINESS REAL-ESTATE -&nbsp;Demolition of the empty Safeway store began. Seen as a key peice of the revitalization of the downtown, city council tabled a resolution that would require its owners(Sobeys,Inc) to demolish the building within 90 days and sell the property.</li>
<li>] BUSINESS&nbsp;- The&nbsp;Agropur&nbsp;milk processing plant on Yale Road East will close in 2016 affecting 42 employees. Company cited the "optimization of its BC milk processing facilities" as the reason. The plant had a long history in Chilliwack as a sealtest plant and Milk Maid before that.</li>
<li>] PEOPLE -&nbsp;Mary Forstbaur&nbsp;passed away at the age of 66. Forstbaur was a founder of the organic farming world in Chilliwack and across BC&nbsp;</li>
<li>] WEATHER -&nbsp;October in Chilliwack was a record setting as the warmest recorded since record keeping began in 1895.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT EDUCATION -&nbsp;Chilliwack school district&nbsp;attracted 12 candidates for its Dec. 12 byelection.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT -&nbsp;City of Chilliwack&nbsp;is moving ahead with its dyke upgrading. The next section running through Hope River - Corbould Park is geared toward raising the elevation of the existing dyke by 1M to meet provincial standards. A RFEI went out on Oct. 19 to get engineering bids for the project.</li>
<li>] BUSINESS REAL-ESTATE -&nbsp;chilliwack real estate market transitioning from a slower market to significantly busier one. 288 Sales of SFD homes was up from 232 the previous Oct, a 24% increase. CADREB president, Travis Heppner says the inventory of properties is very low and that pushes up prices.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] WEATHER -&nbsp;a powerful storm hit chilliwack with gale force winds and heavy rains. More than 20 road closures and 75+ downed trees were reported in various parts of the city. The Fire Department fielded 100 calls in a 12 hour window - equivalent of 3 weeks of calls. Most were for downed power lines but some were for people trapped in elevators.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] PEOPLE -&nbsp;it is unknown how many&nbsp;syrian refugees&nbsp;will settle in chilliwack but volunteers and resources were quickly corralled with at least 2 local fundraising events organized. It is a huge amount of effort for a short period of time to complete that kind of resettlement effort says April Neave who coordinates Immigrant Services for Chilliwack Community Services. They are currently in a wait and see mode until the federal goverment announces further details of its plans.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT PEOPLE&nbsp;Chilliwack-Hope MP&nbsp;Mark Strahl&nbsp;is appointed to Conservative partys "shadow cabinet" as opposition critic for Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard. "I think it was a good fit for me" Strahl said</li>
<li>] BUSINESS&nbsp;-&nbsp;Tourism Chilliwack&nbsp;new promo video #ShareChilliwack goes viral. Video offer stunning ariel views and heart pumping scenes of white water rafting, hiking and mountain biking action. The video took on a life of its own earning thousands of views on social media afte the official launch at their Christmas breakfast, said Vanessa Oddy, Destination Marketing Manager with Tourism Chilliwack. "Its changing the perception of Chilliwack" . The video was produced by Inmist Media House and will be used to target the tourist market from Greater Vancouver and Washington State&nbsp;</li>
<li>] PEOPLE&nbsp;- a&nbsp;Syrian refugee family&nbsp;could be arriving in Chilliwack shortly. Rev Karen Medland of Carmen United church said 6 local churches had joined forces under the Eastern Fraser Valley Refugee Committee.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<li>YEAR-IN-REVIEW-[2015-12] &nbsp;</li>
<ol>
<li>]&nbsp;GOVERNMENT - City council asks federal government to reduce the maximum interest rates that can be charged on short term(aka payday) loans. The focus was businesses that offer predatory business practices offering cheque cashing services and charging very high fees.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT - Canadian PM Justin Trudeau calls for nothing less then a total renewal of the relationship between Canada and the First Nations. Local FN leaders response was that it was "refreshing".</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENT - metro Vancouver has abondoned its incinerator project at this points, says FVRD chair Sharon Gaetz. Vancouver press release announce changes of directing 30M for emissions upgrades to the existing Burnaby incinerator and not moving forward with a new incinerator.</li>
<li>] GOVERNMENT EDUCATION Bob Patterson is Chilliwacks newest school board trustee. The former teacher and administrator won the spot with 833 votes, 2nd place with 197 votes was Paula Dewitt.&nbsp;</li>
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<h2>[systems]</h2>
<ol>
<li>x] # 425 -&nbsp;<a href="/view/step?id=425" target="_blank">LIST-CATEGORIES-articles-local-news</a>&nbsp;- group articles by the following categories, including ... x] BUSINESS, ] real-estate, &nbsp;] POLITICS, ] POLITICS-ISSUE ] CRIME ] SPORTS ] ENTERTAINMENT ] COMMUNITY &nbsp;] LIFESTYLES ] OPINION ] LETTERS/COMMENTS ] world + ] ENVIRONMENT, ] GOVERNMENT, ] EDUCATION&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<h2>[people]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li>]&nbsp;</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>[events]</h2>
<ol>
<li>] EVENT fraser valley distillery festival @culturalcenter on-2016-01-29, $45</li>
<li>] EVENT chilliwack symphony - valentines feast @embassy restuarant/best western, on-2016-02-14, $65</li>
</ol>
<h2>[places]</h2>
<div style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal;"><ol>
<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://chilliwack.com/" target="_blank">chilliwack.com/</a>&nbsp;- city of chilliwack web site</li>
<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://chilliwack.com/garagesale" target="_blank">chilliwack.com/garagesale</a>&nbsp;- listing of houses involved in the cities annual garage sale event</li>
<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://chilliwackpropertymanagement.com/rental_properties.php" target="_blank">chilliwackpropertymanagement.com</a>&nbsp;- property rentals&nbsp;</li>
<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fvrl.bc.ca/" target="_blank">library</a>&nbsp;- chilliwack public library&nbsp;</li>
<li>]&nbsp;<a href="/view/sd33.bc,ca" target="_blank">chilliwack school district</a>&nbsp;- school district 33(sd33) website with complete listing of schools in the area</li>
<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fvdes.com/" target="_blank">fvdes</a>&nbsp;- fraser valley distance education services, online education&nbsp;</li>
<li>] fraser valley regional&nbsp;</li>
<li>] <a href="/view/task?id=5348" target="_blank">guide to chilliwack</a></li>
<li>] guide to chilliwack/restaurants</li>
<li>] <a href="/view/location?id=2" target="_blank">places-chilliwack</a>&nbsp;- listing of various businesses, services, restaurants, attraction located in Chilliwack,BC.</li>
<li>] RESTAURANT&nbsp;the well (chances casino) - buffett $18</li>
<li>] RESTAURANT jacks - aggaziz&nbsp;- sunday brunch buffett</li>
<li>] happy trails - vedder mounain biking trails - Ricky Federau (world champion mountain biker)</li>
<li>] fraser institute - BC middle school rankings, BC high school rankings</li>
</ol></div>