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Richmond' best and perhaps only shot of getting a SkyTrain rapid transit line just improved.
And it has nothing to do with Richmond. Rather, it was the Vancouver/Whistler Olympic bid which boosted Richmond's chances.
B.C.'s minister responsible for Transit Joy MacPhail first told The Review months ago that Richmond's long-standing need for a rapid transit line would finally be fast-tracked if the West Coast won the Olympic bid.
On Tuesday, after the second ballot, Vancouver was named the Canadian city to compete to eventually host the Games.
At the time, MacPhail said the rapid transit line, most likely SkyTrain, would need to be built before 2003 so organizers can showcase Vancouver and all its amenities to the International Olympic Committee which will ultimately decide which city will host the games.
A man wielding a knife robbed the Petro Canada gas station at No. 5 and Bridgeport Roads Sunday night at 8 p.m.
The suspect wore a white balaclava during the robbery and was driving a stolen white van.
Richmond RCMP recovered the stolen van and a cash register taken from the gas station, but hadn't made any arrests at press time.
Several Asian-looking males brandishing machetes and handguns robbed the L.M. Shiatsu Centre on Buswell Drive Saturday night.
The robbers forced staff and customers to the ground and collected wallets, jewelry, cellular phones and identification during the heist. There were no injuries.
The suspects were last seen fleeing in a blue Hyundai-model car.
Richmond RCMP are investigating a Saturday morning accident near the south arm of the Arthur Laing Bridge.
The accident occurred around 3 a.m. when a 1996 Mercedes E320 spun out of control and crashed into a concrete barrier while heading north on Russ Baker Way toward the bridge.
A female passenger in the car was taken to Vancouver Hospital with life-threatening injuries. She suffered numerous broken bones, but is expected to survive, police said.
A male passenger also suffered life-threatening injuries when he was thrown from the vehicle and crushed against a concrete divider after the Mercedes rolled into him.
The driver of the vehicle, Vancouver's Wai Kit Ian Lai, 23, was arrested at the scene and police are considering laying charges.
The two passengers were Lai's brother and his brother's girlfriend, both also from Vancouver.
Richmond RCMP said that alcohol was a factor in the accident, and speed may also have played a role.
Police are asking witnesses to the accident to contact Const. Andre Turcotte at 278-1212.
It's been more than two months since the body of Richmond's Derek Chand Shankar was found under the Queensborough bridge in New Westminster.
But New Westminster police haven't been able to get any closer to finding his murderer.
That's why they're now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for his death.
They're hoping the reward will breath new life into the investigation, and prompt someone who knows something to step forward with helpful information.
Shankar was shot to death before his body was dumped at the foot of Wood
Street. His body was discovered by a boater around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 19."The investigative team has been working extremely hard and putting in long hours, however their leads and information to assist them is promptly coming to an end," a New Westminster police press release states.
Anyone with information about Shankar's murder is asked to call 517-2485.
Shankar was a McNair grad and was only 19 at the time of his death. His family last reported seeing him the day before the murder.
Richmond schools received $3.6 million for four local projects, the education ministry announced.
The projects are for additions at John G. Diefenbaker, R.C. Talmey and Walter Lee elementary schools. The fourth project is for a land purchase for an additional site at Harry Anderson elementary.
All told, the monies will provide for an additional 425 student spaces and six fewer portables, minister Paul Ramsey stated.
The funding announcement means that work on a total 13 schools and 100 additions for B.C. schools will begin six months ahead of school.
The total amount for government spending on school construction now tops $655 million so far for 1998. That's the largest school construction budget in history, the government claims. The announcement is part of a $176 million funding package, the second in a five-year plan to reduce the number of portables in B.C.
The public will decide whether home telephone bills should be increased in order to make metro Vancouver a 100-per-cent toll-free calling zone.
The Greater Vancouver Regional District approved a BC Tel proposal Friday to eliminate long-distance charges within GVRD boundaries. That decision sets the stage for a public referendum on the question, expected some time in mid-1999.
BC Tel's proposal would see residents in most communities pay $1.75 more per month, per phone line. In exchange, all long-distance charges from Lions Bay to Langley would be removed, ending a system most believe to be inequitable and even irrational. Vancouver, Richmond, New Westminster and some Burnaby BC Tel customers would pay just 50 cents more, on grounds that they would gain toll-free access only to Bowen Island. Other areas would gain 14 to 49 per cent more toll-free numbers.
The GVRD vote was far from unanimous, as many politicians contend that the bid does nothing for the disparity in phone bills between communities.
For instance, Vancouver residents pay about $22 a month for a regular phone line, while White Rock customers pay $27. Two other rate levels exist, and some argued that a negative GVRD vote could be used as leverage in efforts to persuade BC Tel to adopt a single, region-wide rate.
The men suspected of having gunned down a local man outside a Burnaby car dealership in October have been arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Haddi Binahmad, 24, and Shane Kelly Shoemaker, 23, were spotted by a casino employee on Tuesday. The employee then called Las Vegas police detectives who made the arrests.
The pair are suspected of the execution-style slaying of Richmond's Vikash Chand, 26. He was shot in broad daylight on Oct. 7 while serving a 15-month drug sentence on an electronic monitoring program.
Binahmad and Shoemaker were wanted on Canada-wide warrants and apparently fled the Lower Mainland to avoid police.
Burnaby RCMP sent out descriptions of the suspects to a number of cities including Las Vegas.
Richmond RCMP are warning women to be extra cautious while carrying their purses in light of a pair of recent purse snatchings.
Women shouldn't wear their purses over their shoulders, or leave them unattended in a shopping cart, RCMP Sgt. Willy Laurie warned.
While walking through parking lots, women should be aware of their surroundings and watch for suspicious people and vehicles, he said in a press release.
Thieves are known to target women walking alone, he said.
The provincial government is now calling on others to continue funding the debris trap.
The government's forestry ministry issued the call earlier this month, urging other interested parties like park boards, port authorities, local municipalities, industries and boaters to pay to keep the service running.
The debris trap is the large log boom between Agassiz and Hope that collects debris, logs and other materials before it can flow down river and wash-up on local beaches and endanger boating traffic.
The log boom was shut down recently after the provicial government cut its share of funding from $180,000 to $45,000 because it claimed it had no jurisdiction in the matter. That forced the other two funding partners at the time the federal government and a group of forestry industry companies to bail out of the program.
Dunlop-Beaufort Canada Ltd., acting through its division of DBC Marine Safety Systems, received a $831,187 contract to supply the Department of National Defence with life-rafts.
The 20-person life-rafts will be sent to Victoria and Halifax.
The contract is said to have maintained 18 jobs at the facility.
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