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Richmond RCMP are releasing few details about the death of a New Westminster man whose body was found in east Richmond on Sunday.
The body of Roman Danny Mann, 21, was "discovered in an area just off Westminster Highway" on Sunday around 10 a.m., police said.
Mann is known to police and was scheduled to stand trial in B.C. Supreme Court on Jan. 18 for kidnapping with intent, unlawful confinement and extortion relating to an incident in October 1996. Co-accused in the case was Bhupinder (also known as Bindy) Johal, who is alleged to have connections to the Lower Mainland drug trade.
Although a published media report indicated Mann was executed, Richmond RCMP Sgt. Willy Laurie said local investigators are only saying they suspect foul play.
Police investigators have indicated they won't release the manner in which Mann died for fear that would hamper their investigation. They won't even indicate exactly where his body was discovered, or who discovered the body.
"They have a number of things on the go right now," Laurie said.
The team investigating Mann's death is essentially the same as the one that investigated the murder of Brent Baltzer, he said. That murder is still unsolved, and police were relatively tight-lipped about details of that case.
At least eight local investigators are working "day and night" on the file, Laurie said.
New Westminster deputy police chief Lorne Zapotichny said his detachment is assisting Richmond RCMP in the investigation.
Police indicated there are currently no suspects, but were asking for the public's help in solving the case.
The homicide is the first in Richmond this year, but the two other murders involving locals have taken place since early September.
The body of Derek Chand Shankar, 19, was found under the Queensborough Bridge in New Westminster on Sept. 19. He was shot to death, police said.
Police said this week they have no new information to release on their investigation. However, New Westminster police have offered a $10,000 reward for information about the murder.
Just last week, two men wanted in the gangland-style slaying of Richmond's Vikash Chand, 26, were arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chand was executed while standing outside a Burnaby car dealership in October.
The outpouring of help from Richmond residents for a family victimized by a fire has been heartwarming.
"It's amazing," Phyllis Molinelli told The Review Monday. "A lot of people have called us."
Residents have called to make donations but couldn't because the Molinellis hadn't set up a trust fund for their two children and grandson, who lost everything in the Wednesday night fire on Sealord Place.
Donations can now be made at any branch of the Toronto Dominion Bank. Donors should refer to Transit No. 97250-004 when making a deposit.
The family lacked insurance in the rented two-storey house, and lost about $70,000 worth of property, including clothing, furniture and electronics.
A local hotel has offered to provide accommodations for the family of six for a couple of nights and the SPCA Thrift Store has rounded up a crib for the Molinelli's one-year-old grandson.
The Sealord Place fire likely started when an ember from a normally unused fireplace came in contact with something combustible. The family had been without power for more than a day thanks to last week's windstorm, and was using the fireplace to keep warm.
Big trucks are commonly chastised for being big-time air polluters.
Not the Kodiak. The makers of the Richmond-built heavy-duty truck were keen to make its first prototype vehicle a clean burner.
The Kodiak runs on both diesel and natural gas, making it a unique addition to the heavy-duty truck market, says Egon Frank, vice-president of Ursidae Manufacturing Ltd. on No. 5 Road.
The company hopes the truck will appeal to the those concerned about the environment. The trucks, made of 1/8-inch thick steel body, can be used as ambulances, garbage trucks, tow trucks, cement trucks and dump trucks. They're especially useful for off-road use, like hauling tools around on a farm or ranch, Frank said.
"What is really marvelous about it is that if somebody is way the hell out in the toolies and running out of fuel...you can bail into the local service station and fill up with diesel," Frank said.
The company has so far lined up two dealerships, one in Alberta - to sell to the oil exploration crews - and the other in Van Nuys, California.
The company is particularly interested taking advantage of California's move to use cleaner-burning vehicles. California state laws order that by the year 2004, 10 per cent of state vehicles must be low-emission vehicles.
The privately held company came into existence last spring, working out of a small 10,000-square-foot facility on No. 5 Road. So far, the Kodiak has generated plenty of interest, including from the Middle East and South Africa, he said.
Repeated traffic tie-ups has forced the city to conduct a traffic study of the Riverport and Highway 99 areas.
The city is teaming up with the provincial Transportation Financing Authority branch to hire a consultant to come up with ideas for alleviating traffic jams in the area, particularly around the Highway 99 overpass.
"A lot of the problems can be traced back from the freeway, in the p.m. peak (rush hour) because of the tunnel," said city traffic manager Gordon Chan. "So the problem is not so much to do with No. 5 Road and Steveston (Highway). This back-up is from the freeway."
The two agencies are in the process of hiring a traffic consultant. The study will look at both immediate changes and long-term ones which may include a complete re-do of the Highway 99 and Steveston Highway interchange, he noted.
"The overpass is just one of the problems," he said. "In a month or two we should have a better idea of what we can do in the interim."
The popularity of Riverport Business Park, home of the Zone Bowling Alley, SilverCity theatres, and Watermania, has caused plenty of problems of its own.
But Chan noted some immediate changes are under way, including further widening Steveston Highway from the Highway to the recreational facility. But that is dependent on the city receiving a federal infrastructure grant.
As well, the intersection of No. 6 Road and Steveston Highway will be re-configured and a new entrance lane will be built into the recreational facility from No. 6 Road, north of Steveston Highway.
But the city won't be widening the ditch-lined No. 6 Road because some of that land is located within the Agricultural Land Reserve and the cost to widen that would be too prohibitive, Chan said.
Meanwhile, west of Riverport and Highway 99, at the Ironwood Plaza, different traffic problems have surfaced. Employees of Ironwood Plaza are having difficulty finding parking spots and some have been ticketed by Imperial Parking Ltd., which patrols the mall's lot, for parking at the mall.
The mall's developers, Westbank Projects Ltd., has indicated to the city that it will try and come up with a solution. For now at least, employees of Ironwood won't be ticketed for parking in the mall lot, Westbank officials have informed the city, Chan said. Prior to that, employees of Ironwood were spotted parking in the residential areas around Ironwood.
Richmond's unique cultural diversity shouldn't simply be tolerated; it should be celebrated.
That's why Richmond impresario Jacqueline Lee-Son has helped organize Kaleidoscope: A World in our City, a week-long series of events and activities themed around cultural understanding and celebration.
The week is scheduled to kick off with a bang on June 25, 1999, during opening ceremonies sponsored by the Vancouver International Airport Authority and Cara Operations.
From open houses at local mosques and temples to samplings of sports, games and crafts from around the world, the week will encompass many members of the community.
Event chair Lee-Son said Kaleidoscope isn't intended to overshadow other cultural events like Multifest; it's meant to enhance and complement them.
The week culminates with the Steveston Salmon Festival and, appropriately enough, a swearing-in ceremony for new Canadian citizens.
There's been no shortage of participants or event sponsors who have come forward. The local school district, SUCCESS and the airport authority are all committed to it.
Kaleidoscope was the brainchild of the eight members of Richmond Sunrise Rotary Club's international committee. From there, the event has grown, and will likely continue to expand in the coming months. Lee-Son would like to see the event become an annual tradition.
Some groups, like the Richmond public library and the local school district, have committed to participating, but haven't determined exactly what they're going to do. That will all take shape as the event draws nearer, Lee-Son said.
Diversity will not be the only theme during the event.
What's shared in common by residents from different cultures will also be emphasized.
Organizers have drawn inspiration from other successful cultural events, like Folklorama in Winnipeg, and the heritage festival in Edmonton. They felt that a week-long celebration would increase awareness and raise the event's profile.
Community members interested in hopping on board and taking part are asked to call organizers at 448-0977.
Tony Branch was on his way to visit his stroke-paralyzed wife at Minoru Residence as nurses picketed outside Richmond Hospital Friday afternoon.
The current dispute between hospitals and nurses is hurting people, he said, and he's had enough of it.
Gasping for breath, a frustrated Branch told The Review Friday that Victoria needs to sink more money into the health care system.
Hospitals have cancelled elective surgeries in response to increasing job action on the part of nurses, who claim they are overworked.
That's delaying surgeries and affecting peoples' lives, he said.
Last year Branch was placed on a four-month waiting list for exploratory heart surgery. But a sudden attack pushed him to the front of the angioplasty list.
On Monday, Branch went in for more testing after he began having trouble breathing. He suspects it's his heart, and that means he may have to play the waiting game again.
The veteran of World War II doesn't blame nurses for the current dispute, and instead places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the provincial government.
"I'm not upset with the nurses at all. I agree with them. They deserve everything that they get because of the fabulous job they do. I would go out there and picket with them."
The health ministry needs to find enough resources to pay for additional nursing help and end the current dispute, he said.
Branch wonders how many people waiting on heart surgery don't make it at all, he said.
If someone dies because a medical procedure isn't performed in time, the health minister should be held responsible.
"I'm suffering a lot of stress."
At press time Friday, a union spokesperson said picket lines will likely continue to be up at Richmond Hospital throughout the weekend. That's despite the fact that a provincial mediator was appointed Thursday to get both sides back to the bargaining table. There have been no discussions between the health employers association and nurses' union for more than a week.
Bargaining will "likely" begin again this weekend, the spokesperson said. The nurses union executive will be meeting this weekend to decide on whether to continue to picket or escalate job action. That could include expanding pickets beyond the five hospitals currently affected.
City assets will not be on the treaty bargaining table.
That's the word from provincial government officials who learned that a delegation from the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee told Richmond city council to prepare a menu of city assets to bring to the treaty talks.
The delegation said a future treaty is unlikely to see city assets transferred to native bands, but the treaty settlement could include a "co-management" of some city services or assets with native bands.
Not so, says Peter Smith, spokesperson for the provincial Aboriginal Affairs Ministry.
"We are in no way talking about city assets or programs or services," he said Friday.
He acknowledged that the provincial government has asked for a list of "interests" from each Lower Mainland municipality. But those items are not to be negotiated away. Rather they will be used as guides so that when time comes to bargain with native bands - and possibly transfer some provincial or federal Crown lands to them - the transfer will only be done if it's also in the municipalities' interest.
"Co-management (deals) may get discussed at some treaty tables, but actually putting a city park on the treaty table for inclusion in the Treaty? No."
But David Didluck, a policy analyst with the treaty advisory office, said he isn't so sure.
Officially, yes, the province's position is that no city assets are to be negotiated, "but I'm not sure that is a realistic statement," he said Tuesday.
Warning bells went off in the advisory offices after the provincial government set aside some backlands near Roberts Bank in Tsawwassen for possible treaty negotiations.
"I guess we look at examples like that and start wondering if in fact municipal lands will somehow be on the table," Didluck said. "Because if there's limited available land in the urban settings for treaty settlements, then where are they going to get that land from?"
But Smith said if there's not enough Crown land to go around in the Lower Mainland, the bands will receive money instead.
Several council members were confused by Monday's meeting. Coun. Bill McNulty said later that it was his understanding that a native band can seek some control over Terra Nova's natural area or even Minoru Park.
Call it the Orient Express.
A new drive-thru Chinese restaurant tucked away in the corner of Ironwood Plaza may be the first of its kind in Canada.
Surrey's Dan Hultman was steering for the famed golden arches Thursday morning when the unique restaurant caught his eye.
Instead of opting for a McDonald's meal, he pointed his wheels in the direction of the new Happy Date Chinese restaurant, on No. 5 Road, just north of Steveston Highway.
It's believed to be the first Chinese drive-thru in the Lower Mainland, and possibly Canada.
"I think it's a great idea," Hultman said. "I was actually going to go to McDonald's when I spotted this place."
A representative from the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association said nobody she's contacted has ever heard of an Asian drive-thru.
"I think she's a pioneer," Louise Rosati said Friday.
For Happy Date restaurateur Dorothy Lee, the last four months have been a learning experience.
Although she owns another Happy Date restaurant in Vancouver, Lee had no experience running a drive-thru, unaware of the inherent challenges of the fast food industry.
With no Asian examples to follow, Lee was exploring uncharted waters, she said.
When the restaurant first opened in August, only about half a dozen cars per day rolled up to the drive-thru window. Many of those customers complained about the long wait for their food, some sitting in their cars for 20 minutes.
To cut down on those times, Lee looked at ways of pre-cooking menu items, in the same manner as conventional drive-thrus like Burger King and Wendy's pre-cook burgers.
But the pre-cooked Asian food tasted awful, Lee said.
So instead, Lee hired a cook to look after drive-thru orders only, and prioritized take-out orders over those from sit-down customers. The Asian cuisine - from pork congee with soya sauce chow mein to sweet and sour fish fillet burgers - are prepared the same way for customers inside the restaurant as those ordering from the drive-thru.
Lee had no intentions of being a pioneer.
"Originally we didn't realize there was a drive-thru."
The concept has worked well, with business rising to between 30 and 50 cars per day.
Ironically, its the Asian community that has been the slowest to accept the drive-thru concept.
More than three-quarters of drive-thru customers are non-Asians, she said.
Lee suspects that her Asian customers assume the meals on the menu are prepared differently for drive-thru customers, and aren't as delicious. That's why they opt to sit down.
"(The Chinese community) may think it's pre-prepared, but it's not."
Mark von Schellwitz, of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said Lee's restaurant is filling a need in a growing market for home meal replacements.
By offering a drive-thru, the restaurant is providing better service to customers who normally order take-out.
"I do think it's an innovative idea."
If the drive-thru continues to prosper, Lee said she'll consider opening other similar restaurants elsewhere. She's already fielded a few queries from the business community about the concept.
If not for the Windstorm of 1998, the Molinelli family might still have a home.
But a wind-aided power-outage indirectly helped start a $150,000 fire at their rented Sealord Place home Wednesday night, leaving the family of six without a roof over their heads.
Although the rented house was insured by the landlord, the contents were not, leaving the family with little more than the clothes on their backs.
"We're just going to have to start all over again," a shaken Michael Molinelli told The Review from inside his unlit, scorched home. Michael and his 15-year-old son Michael Jr. were salvaging what was left of their possessions in two bedrooms spared from the flames, but not the choking, thick smoke.
The family lost an estimated $70,000 worth of furniture, clothing and electronics in the blaze.
The Sealord Place neighbourhood went dark Monday night after 85-kilometre-per-hour winds blew through the Lower Mainland, downing dozens of local trees and tossing broken branches onto hydro lines.
The lack of electricity in their home prompted the Molinellis to fire up two fireplaces to fight off the bitter cold.
Then on Wednesday, on grandson Angelo's first birthday, the lights temporarily came back on, only to go dark again a few hours later. That forced the Molinellis to seek an alternate venue for Angelo's birthday party.
But on their way over to a relative's home, the family made a fatal mistake: a burning fireplace was left unattended.
Richmond Fire-Rescue's Gordon Gill suspects that either embers from the fireplace or a lit candle sparked the fire.
The fire began in the baby's bedroom and slowly spread to other parts of the two-storey home, Gill said Thursday afternoon.
The blaze claimed the lives of three beloved family pets trapped inside the home: Bella, a two-year-old Lab-Rottweiler cross, a dachshund named Ottis and Oscar the cat. Neighbours watched as fire fighters made a valiant attempt to save one of the dogs, using mouth-to-snout resuscitation, but to no avail.
Young Michael and Karen Molinelli, and one-year-old Angelo, lost all their clothing and personal possessions in the fire.
By Thursday afternoon, community members were stepping forward with help.
The SPCA Thrift store has rounded up a baby's crib and some clothing for Angelo and the rest of the family.
And the Vancouver Airport Marriott Hotel, at Minoru and Westminster Highway, has offered to put the family up for a couple of nights.
"We're glad to help out," said Marriott's Joanne Perschbacher.
In the meantime, the family of six is currently staying in a relative's two-bedroom home, but are looking for a place of their own.
"If we could find a house, it would be a godsend."
Phyllis Molinelli said the fire has been devastating for the family, which moved to Richmond from Kingston, Ontario, in July 1995. Lost in the fire was her dog and the family photos.
"We lost our whole life," she said. "We're just trying to get through this day."
Lynn Orstad, coordinator for the personal disaster assistance program, said family members will be given $150 each to purchase clothing.
"It's a sad fact that some tenants don't have content insurance."
It was just last July on Blundell Road when another home went up in flames, leaving the uninsured occupants without any possessions.
Anyone wishing to help out the Molinelli family is asked to call 277-5286. At press time, preparations were being made to set up a trust fund for the Molinelli children.
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