Vandalism, theft problem needs urgent response

Martin van den Hemel, staff reporter

Richmond school board trustee Chris Evans said Wednesday afternoon all trustees appear to be determined to do something judging from comments made at Monday’s school board meeting.

In the past few years, the cost of vandalism has skyrocketed, with last year’s figure reaching nearly $200,000.

Whether it’s video cameras, electrified fencing, flashing alarms, or global position trackers on expensive electronics, all options will be explored by a working group of stakeholders in the coming months, Evans said.

When asked whether a decision on an action plan could be in place by summer—when vandalism and theft at schools seems to be a particular problem—Evans said that’s a distinct possibility.

“There’s a real sense of urgency I think with this committee.”

But the school board wants to ensure that members of the community have a chance to express their concerns about any plan.

With regard to the issue of video cameras, Evans said she’s aware some members of the community may be concerned about privacy and worried about being monitored around the clock.

Installing video cameras isn’t a simple black-and-white process, Evans said.

Many decisions must be made in terms of their use.

Should they run continuously day and night? Should they be hidden or obvious? Should signs be put up alerting people to the presence of cameras? Should recorded images be erased every day or should they be kept in archives for a week or a month? Should the cameras be in all hallways, or just at entrances?

It’s these types of questions that the sub-committee will try to answer in the coming weeks, Evans said.

Experts will also be brought in to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various solutions, she said.

Mock-up of an art move

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

Using a wooden mock-up of the public art piece located on the plaza at city hall, several locations were tested as the mayor, and councillors Malcolm Brodie, Harold Steves, Lyn Greenhill and Linda Barnes watched.

Council voted 5-4 in December to move the art from the plaza onto the west berm. Councillors Barnes, Kiichi Kumagai, Ken Johnston and Derek Dang opposed the move.

After considering several alternatives Monday, the councillors confirmed the west berm location as the best one.

The artist, Elizabeth Roy, chose last month to disown SPAN, saying the context of the piece is central to its value, and that by moving the art is was “destroyed.” According to her contract with the city, she can choose to remove her name from the work, as well as the name of the work itself.

Chuck Gale, manager of the city’s community safety division, said he is waiting for a formal submission from Roy in that regard, and will then request an interpretation of the contract from the city solicitor.

Gale said they will not move the artwork until after Elizabeth Roy’s show at the Richmond Art Gallery, Public Art: Conception to Courtyard, concludes mid-March. The show begins Feb. 15 and runs until March 17.

Council turns down application for rave hall

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

The society, the non-profit organization which owns the hall, had applied to the city to be added to the city’s official list of rave-friendly locations.

The hall is located at 11460 Horseshoe Way, a light industrial area behind Ironwood Plaza.

Following the request, several neighbours spoke out in opposition, saying the society had done little to curb parking, litter and vandalism problems stemming from current parties on the site.

In light of the decision to sell, and the fact the Gujarati Society of B.C. people did not hold a required public information meeting, council voted to deny the application for the after-hours sanction.

But Coun. Lyn Green-hill said the neighbours’ issues still remain unsolved until the building is sold.

“We still have no way to deal with the (parties) that end at two o’clock,” she said.

One option put forth was to require the society to have a business license, which would give the city more power to enforce regulations.

(Recent changes to the Municipal Act mean that the city can now require non-profit organizations to have business licenses.)

Coun. Malcolm Brodie expressed concern that requiring a license for just one non-profit organization might not be a fair approach.

“Is it opening a can of worms to give notice to this facility that we expect a business license?” Brodie said.

He added that if Bobby Ghirra (who runs the two city-sanctioned rave halls) had to have a business license, it should follow that the same would be true for the Gujarati Society.

Peschisolido pans heating relief program

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

“People are getting money who shouldn’t, and people who deserve it are not getting it,” said the Canadian Alliance MP, who is the Opposition critic for National Revenue.

In October of last year, the Liberal government announced it would provide $1.4 billion in relief for heating expenses, based on everyone who qualified for the Goods and Services Tax rebate in 1999. About 8.6 million Canadians qualify. Cheques for either $125 or $250 began arriving at households last week.

But Peschisolido said there is a serious flaw in the method the Liberal government is using to divvy up the cash: it’s not being restricted to those who have been directly hit by the rise in heating costs.

“People who have passed away are getting these cheques, people who are prisoners are getting the cheques,” he said. “Canada Customs and Revenue Agency has no idea what’s going on.”

Cheques are being deposited directly in prisoners’ accounts, he said, so officials have no way of getting it back.

“I get a sense this is going to be a huge issue.”

Peschisolido said he will seek some answers in the House of Commons this week. The appropriate way to give people a break on their heating bills would be to eliminate the GST on heating bills, he said.

“That would have provided more savings than this 125 or 250 (dollars). It would actually be targeted to the people that are using it.”

New staff promised for palliative outreach

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

Richmond Health Services is hiring a nurse specialist and a social worker in the next few weeks, to assist people who choose to spend their final days in the community, rather than the hospital.

At any given time, there are at least 300 Richmond residents in palliative care, meaning they have nine to 12 months left to live. On-call nurses are available during the day until 9 p.m., and around-the-clock when a person is in their final days.

The new services will build on an existing continuum of care, according to Gene Durnin, community care services administrator for Richmond Health Services.

“Virtually wherever you live in Richmond, palliative care services have been, and will continue to be, available,” Durnin said.

The new nurse specialist will train the nurses that do visits in the community, and will also intervene in more complex cases.

The specialist will also provide expertise in pain management, and assist families in understanding the patient’s/client’s health status.

The social worker will be brought on board to help families deal with the many issues associated with a person’s death.

“The intent is to make people comfortable in their last days of living,” Durnin said.

“It isn’t just for the client, but (also) for the client’s loved ones.”

The Salvation Army plans to offer another alternative to hospital-based palliative care in the near future.

It has received city approval to open a hospice on No. 4 Road between Granville Avenue and Alberta Road.

The Salvation Army is currently seeking capital donations for the free-standing facility, Durnin said.

“The objective in the hospice is to make it as home-like as possible,” he said.

Walking through it all

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

Be it the birthday of the deceased, a wedding anniversary, or the obvious one: the day they died.

But the bereavement walking group is celebrating an anniversary of hope this month and the first birthday of recovered happiness.

A year ago this week, Mary Alice Skinner started the walking group.

The retired social worker came out from Ontario shortly after she lost her grandson when he was run down by the WestCoast Express in 1997.

“I knew when I came here, I’d better talk to somebody,” Skinner said. “When I started to feel more human, I felt I’d better do something.”

So when Irene Evans at the Richmond Hospice Association suggested the idea of a walking group, the 71-year-old retiree jumped at the chance.

What started as the “Tuesday Walking Group” has expanded to a Saturday walk as well, with as many as 10 to 15 people coming out to each one.

“I find the walking group seems to be a nice support for people,” Skinner said.

“It certainly doesn’t meet everybody’s needs, but it can be helpful. It’s almost a more casual kind of support. People don’t feel put on the spot.”

And although the members are brought together for a tragic reason, there’s often a lot of laughter, and joy that is shared among the members.

“It’s a way to forget about grieving,” she said. “We have a lot of fun.”

The walks start at London Landing, and proceed along the dike to the east. There’s usually a slow group and a fast group, and Skinner adds that there are some members of the group don’t even walk, but meet up with the walkers afterward at the River Dance Cafe—the traditional finale.

The group offers a chance to meet new people during a painful time, and can offer an outlet outside the immediate family, who may not understand that grieving can be a lengthy, if not lifelong, process.

“Sometimes they expect you to get over it,” Skinner said. “You learn to live with it. You don’t get over it.”

Skinner said the walks, like grieving, are rain or shine.

“You can’t stop for the rain.”

To find out more about joining in, contact Richmond Hospice Association at 279-7140.

GVRD likes Richmond’s green guide

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

The Greater Vancouver Regional District has picked up on the city’s new Environmental Purchasing Policy, and is planning to adopt it beyond our city’s borders. The policy, created in September of 2000, is intended to “increase the development and awareness of environmentally sound products and services,” according to the document.

It is a guide for staff to use when purchasing, to help them make environmentally wise choices.

At a meeting of the GVRD in December, the regional board decided the GVRD should review their own purchasing policies in light of Richmond’s guide.

They also decided to work with Richmond staff to develop a series of training workshops for purchasing staff in Richmond, the GVRD and all the member municipalities.

The training workshops are vital, said Suzanne Bycraft, the city’s manager of environmental programs.

Documents like this are often left on the shelf and go unused, she said.

“What we really want to do is put it in the hands of the people who do the purchasing,” said Bycraft.

The City of Richmond’s Environmental Purchas-ing Policy states that “staff will review their contracts and tender specifications for goods and services, to ensure that wherever possible and economically feasible, specifications are amended to provide for consideration of environmental characteristics.”

In particular, this would tend to give preference for products that have been through an independent certification process.

“A lot of companies have gone through the process of having their products certified, and we want to give them due credit,” Bycraft added.

Making music is Kidd’s play

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

The 30-year-old trumpeter comes out, week after week, playing his part—solid—and is content to be out of the spotlight.

“You’re always secondary,” he said about playing trumpet in an orchestra, where the strings usually get more limelight. “You have to accept that you’re not the shining light.”

Kidd and his fellow orchestra members will be performing Vienna on the Fraser this weekend, a concert featuring works by many of the composers who gravitated to Vienna in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Although he rarely plays a feature role, Kidd gets his satisfaction from how it all blends together. It’s one of his favourite aspects of playing in the 40-member ensemble.

“Sitting there and being a part of it and listening, it’s nice to be in the process,” he said.

He compares the rehearsal process to watching a game of baseball.

“When you’re playing it, you’re never really bored. When you’re watching it, it can really drag on.”

The conductor of the orchestra, Christopher Robertson, said Kidd is agreeable and takes a studious approach to his role in the orchestra.

“He’s quiet, but I think he runs deep,” Robertson said. “He’s decisive about things. When he decides what he thinks, he’s forthright.”

Kidd, who teaches at Eric Hamber Secondary in Vancouver, is rare in a way, because he has played in bands ever since he was 10 years old. Many people leaving high school, let “life” get in the way, and let music fall by the wayside.

Kidd said he never felt that music could be his career, but “I thought ‘what a waste of time to just drop it.’”

“I thought I’d do my best to keep it up,” the Steveston High grad said.

After high school, he joined the Fireman’s Band, where he played for two years.

“I didn’t really fit in. I was too young.”

But 10 years ago, he joined the Orchestra, and said that keeping music in his life has helped him keep perspective. Kidd teaches social studies and also leads a “resource room” for difficult students for a number of blocks each week. The orchestra commitment has given him a sense of balance.

“I could have quit, many times, saying ‘I can’t do this right now,’ he said, referring to the orchestra. “I’m glad I didn’t, as it is a stress reliever or another mode of expression. I think it’s made me a stronger overall person.”

Robertson said the Richmond Community Orchestra and Chorus Association is trying to promote the idea of continuing with music beyond high school. The satisfaction that comes from it is immeasurable, he said.

“There are opportunities to continue your esthetic life. I certainly appreciate the efforts (the orchestra members) put out week after week. I know why they come—because this is thrilling. Playing is really exciting.”

Vienna on the Fraser features the works of Wolfgang Mozart and Johann Strauss Jr. Soloists James Lee, Josephine Lee and Lynne Piening will also perform. It takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Richmond Alliance Church (11371 No. 3 Rd.). For tickets, call 276-2747.

Smile, vandals

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

So far, steps taken to combat the expensive and growing problem of broken windows, portable classroom fires, graffiti and stolen computers haven’t met with much success.

In one case, a special film was applied to windows at secondary schools in the hope that that would cut down on the number of smashed windows.

So far, that hasn’t worked either.

But at one local high school, a few well-placed video cameras appear to have made a world of difference.

Since being installed eight months ago, the school hasn’t been hit with any vandalism or graffiti.

(The Richmond Review was asked not to name the school due to fears that would make the school a target.)

Kent Chappell, principal of the high school, installed the modest three-camera system at a cost of less than $5,000.

The cameras monitor the entrance areas to the school and are hooked up to a VCR.

Chappell said schools are largely unsecured between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the weekdays, when they are left open to accommodate students attending night school classes.

Without any security, anybody can wander into the school and search for valuable equipment such as state-of-the-art computers.

Statistics from the past few years indicates the problem of vandalism at schools is quickly spiralling out of control.

Last year, damage topped $190,000, up 24 per cent from 1999’s total of $153,438. 1999’s total was nearly 25 per cent more than that of 1998, continuing a general trend that has seen the cost of vandalism sharply rise from relatively modest levels in the early 1990s.

Since 1991, the total cost of vandalism at Richmond schools has topped $1.2 million. But the largest portion of that total ($757,556) has occurred over the past five years alone.

“The issue is huge and I’m putting a Band-Aid on it,” Chappell said.

Chappell noted that before he installed the video cameras, he consulted with the school’s staff, students and parents, all of whom were comfortable with the idea and supportive.

School board trustee Sue Halsey-Brandt said she too supports the idea of exploring video camera surveillance as an option. There’s no question in her mind that something needs to be done to combat vandalism.

“I was really quite shocked at the extent of it,” Halsey-Brandt said of the vandalism figures. “I at first glance could not see a reason why we wouldn’t do this. To me it doesn’t make any sense to not support something like this.”

If the school board voted to approve video cameras at schools, Halsey-Brandt said it would be up to each individual school to decide if and how to install the video cameras based on feedback from its stakeholders.

How would such a video security system be paid for?

Halsey-Brandt said she isn’t sure, but feels that if trustees decide that the expense will wind up saving the district in the long-run, it could be incorporated into the district’s budget.

According to Garry McLean, manager of school district facilities, there were six break-ins over an 18-day span at schools between Dec. 19 and Jan. 7, during which 11 iMac computers were stolen, along with other electronics including printers, scanners and a television. Each incident resulted in the district having to absorb a $3,000 deductible.

In many cases, such as when playground equipment is torched, it is left up to Parent Advisory Committees to fundraise for the replacement of the damaged equipment. Damage of less than $3,000 isn’t covered by insurance.

Earlier this month, members of the school district’s facilities and building committee were asked by Richmond school board to discuss the feasibility of installing video surveillance equipment, and other options, “as a standard provision outside of and/or in district facilities as a means of deterring acts of vandalism.”

The committee is expected to advise the school board on Monday that it should form a special adhoc working committee comprising representatives of elementary and secondary schools along with district staff to come up with recommendations to the board.

Chappell agreed the installation of cameras is potentially controversial, with privacy bound to be at the top of some people’s list of concerns. But he’s already considered those implications and has taken steps to address them at his school.

Chappell feels the security system has already paid for itself.

Chappel said the cost of equipping all local schools isn’t as prohibitive as some may think.

On average, he estimates it would cost about $5,000 per school.

RECENT SCHOOL BREAK-INS

•Dec. 19 - Blair Elementary: glass breakage and three iMac computers stolen

•Dec. 19 - Kidd Elementary: glass breakage, one iMac stolen, another damaged

•Dec. 24 - London Secondary: glass breakage, two printers, TV, VCR, scanner stolen

•Dec. 24 - McNair Secondary: glass breakage, attempted computer theft

•Dec. 31 - Quilchena Elementary: broken door, five iMac computers stolen

•Jan. 7 - Spul’u’kwuks Elementary: glass breakage, DVD iMac and iMac stolen

There’s a fat cat in town

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Pacificat Voyager, the last of three fast ferries to come out of the CFI shipyard in North Vancouver, is shrink-wrapped and sitting in the Fraser River near the George Massey Tunnel.

“It’s missing a bow on top and it could have been sold as a Christmas present,” joked Liberal MLA and transportation critic Doug Symons this week.

The thing is, after almost a year on the market, it hasn’t been sold at all.

The other two ferries are docked at Departure Bay in Nanaimo, and are used for additional service on the weekends and as needed. All three are for sale.

Symons figures the NDP government will unload all three for $100 million, a far cry from the $450 million it took to build them.

Add all the maintenance problems they’ve had, and that figure could be as high as half a billion dollars, Symons adds.

“It’s 20 cents on the dollar that they’re going to get back,” he said.

The firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers is in charge of the sale.

A BC Ferries spokesperson said that there will be no announcement about the sale process until a sale has been made.

In the meantime, Richmondites can admire the fruit of their hard-earned tax dollars, located at the Deas Dock Refit Complex, on Rice Mill Road.

The fast ferries, a pet project of former NDP premier Glen Clark, were mothballed after a history of cost overruns and service problems.

Joint venture unlikely

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

School district secretary treasurer Ken Morris told the district’s facilities and building committee the city had inquired about starting discussions on a joint venture involving the replacement of Richmond Secondary.

Funding has been approved by the Ministry of Education for that project, Morris said, and the city appears to be interested in looking at building a community centre alongside the school.

But Morris said it’s too late in the game to begin those discussions if the district hopes to have the secondary school open to students by September 2003.

When asked whether there’s a window of opportunity for such a partnership, Morris said: “I don’t think there is one. I don’t even think there’s a door.”

Morris said discussions involving the Cambie project delayed the building of that school/community centre by about a year because three different groups were involved.

If the city and the City Centre Community Association were to begin discussions about a similar project at Richmond High, that project could also be delayed.

Ted Townsend, spokesperson for the city, said that as far as he’s aware, the city isn’t currently pursuing this option although representatives from the City Centre Community Association may have expressed an interest in a partnership.

“We’re not convinced that’s where we want a city centre community centre,” Townsend said.

He added the city has been looking at options for building a city centre community centre for a long time.

Morris said building the replacement for Richmond High is a top priority, adding that the existing facility has exceeded its life expectancy.

Casino numbers up last year despite city’s smoking ban

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

According to the latest numbers out of Victoria, gaming revenue actually appears to have increased at the Richmond casino since the local no-smoking bylaw took effect on Jan. 1, 2000.

Numbers from the ministry responsible for gaming show that in the six-month span from July 1 and Dec. 31, 2000, the City of Richmond received more than $913,000, its 10-per-cent share of gaming revenues from the local casino operation. In 1999, the City received about $931,000 in the seven-month period ending Dec. 31.

Great Canadian vice-president Jacee Schaefer has repeatedly claimed that her business has been seriously hurt by the smoking ban.

Schaefer said more advertising and marketing are to be credited for last year’s better-than-expected numbers. She would not reveal how much money was spent on the extra promotions.

“We’re pleased to see all of these things made a difference,” Schaefer said.

Despite last year’s figures, she maintained the local bylaw is hurting business.

“We still know the majority of players would like to smoke.”

Steps have been taken to make it more comfortable for smokers to go outside, she said.

Aside from a small shelter near a casino exit, Great Canadian has placed some heaters nearby.

In the latest round of revenue sharing, the City of Richmond received more than half a million dollars for the three-month period ending Dec. 31 thanks to the local casino.

Richmond received $508,896, up more than 25 per cent from the previous quarter, when it received just $404,290.

There has been a steady increase in revenues at the casino, rising from $365,000 for the first quarter to $508,000 for the final quarter, an increase of nearly 40 per cent.

Schaefer said if slot machines were put in place in Richmond, the city would see its share of the revenues skyrocket.

In New Westminster and Burnaby, one-arm bandits have been a hit, generating about $1.5 million for each of the two cities in 2000.

Local governments that host casinos receive 10 per cent of the revenues generated by the casino. In total, local governments in B.C. received more than $7.3 million.

High heating prices hitting greenhouses hard

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

And consumers will eventually see a difference in prices at the checkstand.

Rick Grootendorst, owner of No. 7 Road’s Grootendorst Flowerland Nursery, said he’s had to shut down about 100,000 square feet of greenhouse space because it’s too expensive to keep them sufficiently heated for the plants he normally grows there.

Just two years ago, it cost him about $130,000 to heat a quarter million square feet of greenhouse space. The current increases have almost tripled that cost.

Grootendorst normally grows bedding plants, poinsettias and potted chrysanthemums, but said he will be switching to cool crops that don’t require as much heat later this year. Although a little more than a third of his greenhouse space is empty, that will change in March when he starts to grow the alternative crops.

Grootendorst said since the prices only recently escalated, it won’t be until the end of the year that greenhouses feel the pinch. So far he hasn’t had to make layoffs.

With greenhouses turning to cooler crops, that means the cost of certain popular plants like red poinsettias will likely escalate as fewer greenhouses will be growing the plant which requires high temperatures.

It could also mean a glut of some plants if greenhouses turn to the same alternatives to poinsettias.

But not all nurseries and greenhouses are impacted equally by the rise in heating costs.

Peter Levelton from East Richmond Nurseries on Westminster Highway said although his heating bills may double, it’s not likely to lead to a big difference in prices, amounting to a five per cent increase or less.

Levelton said he normally grows a hardier variety of plants and as a result they don’t require as much heat.

Grootendorst said he and other greenhouse owners are exploring alternate heating fuels such as coal, but that hasn’t been allowed by the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which is studying the issue. GVRD air quality control department’s Bob Smith said the GVRD recognizes the need to maintain air quality while not causing job loss at the same time.

Eating disorders can be a family affair

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

But that’s what she was told: let go.

The Richmond mother and her daughter have been struggling with her daughter’s eating disorder for seven years, and are proof that the life-threatening condition not only attacks the individual, but the whole family.

A local eating disorder network will be hosting a forum on Thursday, and will have a variety of speakers on hand who will tell of first-hand experiences and provide information and resources.

Carol’s daughter’s anorexia showed up when she was 14, and had many of the trademark signals. She made excuses to miss dinner, was exercising obsessively, and was fixated on her image.

“Her room was plastered with pictures of models, just like wallpaper,” Carol said. But she didn’t really realize that her daughter had a serious problem until she saw how thin she had become.

It’s been seven years, and Carol’s daughter is still struggling with an eating disorder. What was anorexia (straight starvation) at 14 is now bulimia-rexia, which includes vomiting.

However, even though dangerous habits persist, there has been improvement. Her daughter, 5㤓”, once weighed 100 pounds. She’s now at an average weight.

Over the seven years, the obsessive nature was shared by both daughter and mother, Carol said. It became like a vicious cycle, she said, because her daughter—having the defiance only a teenager can have—went further to the extreme.

The saviour for Carol came in the form of a doctor at the St. Paul’s Eating Disorder Clinic, who said ‘this is what your job is, and this is what your job isn’t.’ For the first time, Carol let go.

“It was such a relief to have him say this to me, I just cried. It was a huge weight off my shoulder.”

She backed off on the nagging. And, these days she tries to give her daughter the unconditional love she needs, and to draw the line when her 21-year-old does something that impacts her mom directly.

Feb. 4-10 is Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Richmond Eating Disorder Awareness and Action Network is holding an information session at Richmond Cultural Centre’s lecture hall 7 p.m. Thursday.

Hospital hopes for funding booster shot

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

The Health Ministry will soon release nearly $20 million to Vancouver/Richmond Health Board as part of the Health Action Plan and, with a minor caveat, will allow the health board to decide where the money goes.

After Richmond received only two per cent ($350,000) of the capital equipment money coming from the province to the region last fall, a local doctor blew the whistle. The ensuing controversy convinced the health board to scrape up $500,000 more. Dr. Andrew Jakubowski said at the time it was an improvement, but a small one. (A later installment brought the total to $1,040,000).

According to Richmond Hospital chief operating officer Ron Climenhaga, the province has agreed to allow more local control over the capital equipment purse strings. Other hospital boards within the health region had similar complaints following the fall allocation, he said.

As a result, chief financial officers from hospitals across the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board region are meeting in the next few weeks to hammer out a fair way to distribute any new capital funds.

“They’re trying to find the magic number and they’re very close to achieving that,” Climenhaga said.

The number will not be allocated on a per capita basis, he said, because Vancouver provides a number of services and educational functions that are regional in nature. But it will be “fair and equitable.”

The action plan money will have some small strings attached, with certain monies to be directed to MRIs, for instance. But the bulk of the money will be open to the discretion of the health board, and its new capital funding formula. Climenhaga anticipates the formula will be created “in a very short time.”

He said increased local control that the health board has won will not be limited to this one allocation:

“I believe we have set a pattern.”

Mayor Greg Halsey-Brandt welcomed the news.

“The publicity sent the message to Victoria that this is not the way to do business,” he said. “The (health board) should make decisions about which equipment gets funding.”

Local senior still missing after bingo night

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Hilda Raby, 84, described by police as an independent and active senior, has been missing since the evening of Saturday, Jan. 20.

On that night, Raby had gone to play bingo with her niece at a Vancouver bingo hall. At the end of the night, Raby, who was driving a dark red 1986 Oldsmobile Calais four-door sedan, dropped off her niece at 11 p.m. at her niece’s Vancouver home near 49th Avenue and Chester Street.

That was the last time Raby was seen by her family.

But it wasn’t until a week later that she was reported to police as missing.

Yesterday, Richmond RCMP investigators planned to take to the skies in their effort to locate Raby.

Richmond RCMP Const. Peter Thiessen said an RCMP helicopter was going to be used to try and locate the missing Richmond resident.

He said that police were going to try to trace the possible routes Raby might have taken to get back home after dropping off her niece. Among the routes to be checked are the Knight Street Bridge, the Oak Street Bridge and the Arthur Laing Bridge.

Thiessen said that as of Wednesday morning, police had received a number of tips thanks to media coverage, but none have proven to be substantive. Police are following up all of those tips to eliminate them, he said.

Thiessen explained that because of Raby’s independent, self-sufficient lifestyle, her family wasn’t always in contact with her every day.

So it wasn’t until Saturday, Jan. 27, when neighbours called, that Raby’s family learned she hadn’t been seen for a week.

“All checks indicate that she simply disappeared.”

Thiessen said as many as five police officers are actively investigating the case. It is being treated seriously, he said, and foul play has not been ruled out.

Thiessen said Raby hadn’t won any bingo money on the night of her disappearance, but her niece did. But Thiessen wouldn’t say how much money the niece won other than to say it was less than a couple of hundred dollars.

So far, police checks have failed to uncover anything unusual.

Thiessen said that the day after her disappearance, the newspaper was still sitting on the steps of her home.

Since Raby’s disappearance, no money has been withdrawn from her bank account, Thiessen said. Police have made calls to local hospitals and B.C. Ferries, to no avail. The investigation is also looking at any waterways the car may have crashed into.

Police feel that if they can locate Raby’s missing car, which bears B.C. licence plate number NAD-164, that will be the key to solving the disappearance.

It isn’t know what route Raby took to get to her home, in the 9000 block of Glenallen Drive near Garden City and Francis roads, where she lives alone.

Raby was last seen wearing an oatmeal coloured fleece jacket with a collar, light maroon jogging pants, a blouse and flat shoes.

She stands about five feet tall and weighs about 110 pounds. She also uses a walker.

Police noted Raby does not suffer from any serious medical problems.

Cannery nets a slough of artifacts

As it closed down its operations over the past few years, Packers has set aside numerous objects of value in terms of West Coast fishing heritage.

They recently donated several fishing artifacts to 10 B.C.-based museums, including Gulf of Georgia, London Farm, Britannia Heritage Shipyard and the Steveston Museum.

Among the 90 items donated were labelling machines, lead pots, and wooden fish slicers.

“It was a very generous donation,” said Lynne Waller, collections officer at the Georgia Cannery.

“It turned out to be 75 objects of tremendous value to us.”

The Cannery has two items already prepared to display when they re-open in April.

One is a sign about 40 to 50 years old that outlines the provincial health regulations in the fish packing plant.

The other is a fletching board, a triangular rig used to hoist up large halibut to be filleted.

Packers’ vice-president Richard Gregory said he believes the artifacts will enhance collections of the local museums and assist in the continuing education of B.C.’s fishing history.

The donations are part of a larger heritage plan for the company, which includes the preservation of the Phoenix Net Loft for the use of the fishing industry, and the commission of drawings of the Cannery buildings on the Packers’ site for archival purposes.

Trade and exhibition centre plan forges ahead

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

In a few weeks, representatives of Tourism Richmond will be informed of how long it will take to decide who the future owner of the property at Garden City Way and Westminster Highway will be.

Tourism Richmond hopes it will be the city.

The local group submitted a plan to the city in December to develop a $63-million trade and exhibition centre on a portion of the 133-acre site.

Although it is commonly referred to as the MoT (Ministry of Transport) lands, the Coast Guard facilities on the site are under the auspices of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Jim Wild, the department’s director of realty and facilities, said he will have a time line for the divestiture process prepared within the next two weeks.

“We are working on the schedule as we speak,” Wild said.

The process should take between 18 months and two years, he said.

Divestiture requires a number of different steps, he added, and consideration must be given to other federal department uses and also the native land claims made on the site.

But there is strong indication that the Coast Guard is moving.

“I think it’s pretty clear to most people (that) we don’t need these antennas on that piece of property,” he said. “They can be somewhere else.

“In the end, we’re looking at divestiture of the site.”

Tourism Richmond’s executive director Rob Tivy is hopeful that the land will revert to the City of Richmond, and pave the way for their proposal.

“The fact that they’re looking is very encouraging,” he said.

Tourism Richmond’s vision for the site discusses a number of uses for the remainder of the site, such as high tech, business, education and recreation.

Local sports groups would also like to see playing fields on the site.

Blockwatch’s Scott says so long

Martin van den Hemel, staff reporter

Yesterday was Scott’s last day after a 13-year career working for the city and seven years working on Blockwatch.

RCMP Const. Ed Ryhal said most people don’t realize that Scott spent countless unpaid hours after work building the program.

“We’re going to miss her that’s for sure,” Ryhal said Wednesday. “Without her we wouldn’t have had a Blockwatch program.”

Ryhal credited Scott for the “phenomenal” inroads she made in convincing Richmond’s Asian community to participate in the program. Scott also helped dispel the perception among the Chinese that crime is worse than it truly is.

“I feel that I’ve been so lucky to experience such an incredible career,” Scott said. “It’s so diverse, you’ve got a little bit of everything. You never get bored.”

Scott recalls her first day on the job seven years ago, when the Blockwatch program consisted of little more than a single binder and nine or 10 files.

At the time, about 90 homes were signed up for the program with about 11 captains.

Today, some 9,000 homes and 350 Blockwatch captains help keep an eye on neighbourhoods across the city, reporting crimes such as break-ins and assaults and even sometimes tipping off police about marijuana grow operations in rented houses. The quarterly newsletters is published in both English and Cantonese.

Scott’s role has been to foster stronger relationships between the community and the police in an effort to reduce crime and make the city a safer place to live.

Police now have a large network of eyes and ears to draw information from.

A shining example of the success brought on by the hard work of Lyn Scott and her team of volunteers is the Oaks neighbourhood, near Cambie and Garden City roads.

Just five years, only two streets in the area were active in the program and some 50 people participated in a block party at the time.

Now nearly every street in the area is part of Blockwatch and some 340 people took part in last year’s block party.

“Those are the rewards for me,” Scott says of seeing such a dramatic turnaround.

Although it was a difficult decision to retire, Scott says the Blockwatch program will remain near and dear to her heart.

“This has been my baby. It’s been really hard for me to pull away.”

So what will she do with her free time?

Scott says she’s still got plenty on her plate and will remain active in the community.

Scott is currently the president of the Blockwatch Society of B.C., a non-profit volunteer agency that fundraises for Blockwatch programs throughout the province. She is also a member of the Richmond Singers choir and is a breast-cancer survivor who will take part in the Dragon Boat races later this year.

Part of the success of the Blockwatch program is that there is a network of volunteers in place to maintain it, tackling such tasks as updating information about new neighbours that have moved in to an area, Scott says. All of the hard work has kept the program from becoming stagnant.

Whenever a break-in occurs in an area, the captains are informed and so are nearby residents. One of the keys is to constantly give neighbourhoods feedback and information and thereby keep their interest.

For many years, The Richmond Review has published a weekly break-and-enter map that has helped keep locals informed of crime trends.

Scott will be replaced by another co-ordinator and an assistant.

The Blockwatch office, located at the temporary city hall site on Elmbridge Way, can be reached at 207-4790.

New addition proposed to ‘Garden’ city

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

Next Monday, councillors will consider whether to renew the three-year community garden pilot project located at 6080 River Rd. At the same time, they will also look at a proposal to build a second garden on city property at 13871 No. 3 Road —a triangular plot next to London Farm at Dyke Road.

Judging by the wait list for the current garden, which opened in July of 1999, a second could be an instant success.

Fifty-nine families participate in the program at the River Road site, and there is an additional 80 families hoping for a plot, said city community garden co-ordinator Mike Redpath said. Each plot at River Road is three metres by seven metres.

The benefits of community gardening are many, Redpath said. It provides a place for gardeners to enjoy the activity of organic gardening, and is also a place to learn gardening techniques from others and to socialize.

Participants in the program are expected to take responsibility for the entire site. Several such “clean-up” events are held each year.

The River Road gardeners range from beginners to professionals, Redpath said, and some of the resident experts offer workshops on occasion. There are also theme gardens, too. A “water-wise” garden is landscaped to maximize runoff and is home to plants that require minimal watering. A compost demonstration garden also gives people a chance to see how home and garden organics can be used to enhance the soil.

According to Redpath, volunteer labour could be used to prepare the new garden site, and any city costs for the new garden could be paid for with the $25 per plot fee. If approved Monday, staff will develop a detailed outline of the design and costs involved to bring the project to fruition.

Several sponsors participated in the River Road Community Garden, including the 692 Air Canada Squadron, Home Depot and the East Richmond Community Association.

Mom, Dad: I’m writing a play about you

Chris Bryan, staff reporter

Loosely, he adds.

“I do like to exploit my own family for my own gain,” Chan said with a laugh.

Mom, Dad is a semi-autobiographical account of Chan’s own nine-year long experience bringing his parents around to the idea that his relationship with a white girl was more than just a phase. Five years ago, as his parents were finally coming around, and were accepting Michelle’s (the white girl) role in his life, the couple announced their engagement.

“She’d just had her wisdom teeth pulled, and I was looking at her as she drooled into some chicken soup, and I said (to myself) ‘I can’t resist’” Chan said.

At about the same time, Mom, Dad premiered as a one-act play in Toronto. It later evolved into the full production it is today. The play is two plays is one, Chan says: a bold, in-your-face comedy that intersects with a domestic, kitchen sink drama.

It’s the story of a young man who has to stand up to his parents, and also a comedy satire of a Oriental B-movie called the Yellow Claw. The play jumps back and forth between the two realities, with the cast playing the same characters in both worlds.

To the Edmonton performance, Chan took his parents.

“I remember being a nervous wreck that night,” he said. “I actually sat four or five rows behind them and watched the show.”

His mom, the staunch traditionalist and the one who was most resistant to his cross-cultural marriage, patted him on the head and said he did a good job.

“My dad just grunted and said ‘How much money did you make?’” Chan said.

The play hit close to home for Chan’s family, but it also has a resonance beyond their household.

“I’ve had people come up from different backgrounds and say ‘that story was our story’” Chan said.

And to Chan’s surprise, the play has struck a chord in surprising circles. At a recent performance in Winnipeg, a Ukrainian couple approached him after the show and say that Mom, Dad was their story.

At first, Chan was confused: they both shared the same nationality. But the man’s family had recently arrived in Canada, while the woman’s family had been here three generations.

“They didn’t see her as a true Ukrainian because she’d spent too much time in Canada,” Chan said.

The play may strike a chord with many in the audience, when it makes its Richmond visit starting this week.

“I think anyone can identify with this story,” he said. “It’s for anyone who’s gone through this painful experience. You’ve fallen in love and your parents can’t accept this person. And you have to stand up (for yourself).”

Mom, Dad, I’m Living With a White Girl starts tonight (Thursday) at Gateway Theatre. Performances run nightly until Feb. 17, including a Singles Night Feb. 14.

For tickets, call 270-1812.

Singer celebrates release of third CD

Don Fennell, staff reporter

But Cherelle Jardine prefers to think she has her own style.

“I don’t want to sacrifice my integrity and it’s been a slow momentum for me,” she said in a 1999 interview, while wrapping up work on her third CD, Bleeding Water.

It’s taken a while, but Bleeding Water is finally hitting music stores. It’s already getting air time on several stations, including being featured on Z-95, and a release party is planned Saturday at Richards on Richards.

The album is a departure for her as a storyteller, but retains the pop/rock sound fans are familiar with. It adds a bolder mix of lyrical worldliness and emotional vision, she says.

Co-written with John Peacox, Jardine brought in some of the most respected names in Canadian music to help interpret her songs including Bazil Donovan (Blue Rodeo), David Sinclaire (Sarah McLachlan), Gerry Adolphe (Chilliwack, Jim Byrnes) and Steve Hall (Farmers Daughter).

The road to a musical career began early for the Richmond singer, who at eight was introduced to the piano at a friend house and was immediately hooked. At 14 she wrote her first song and three years later learned to play the guitar.

Aside from all of three vocal lessons in her life, she remains self-taught in music nothing “lessons are good to begin with, to give you the fundamentals, but it’s also important to explore what your heart and mind say, without rules, without restrictions.”

After a brief stint with AZ IZ in 1992, Jardine decided to pursue a solo career. Her first break came by seizing the opportunity to trade volunteer time at Bullfrog Studios for studio time, allowing her to record her debut release; 1993’s Wanna Be With You, a six-song demo. She also took advantage of every opportunity to play wherever and whenever she could, gaining more confidence along the way.

In 1994, Jardine released her first full-length CD Born Naked which earn praise from promoter Bruce Allen. Her second CD was 1998’s Something Good is Happening.

Active behind the scene of B.C.’s music community, having been voted president of the Pacific Songwriter’s Association in 1996, she also co-founded the Pacific Alliance of Independent Recording Artists, a non-profit society which co-ordinates the efforts of its members to network, support and promote their individual projects.

The release of Bleeding Water has done little to slow Jardine down. She continues to write up a storm and believes the more you write the better you write.

“Talk to any of the artists who’ve made it, whatever that means, and there are no overnight successes. Everyone’s been in the business at least 10 years.”

Artists have a brush at the border

Alex Browne, MetroValley News

Sheltering under dripping umbrellas and canopies at the Peace Arch, they set to for an hour and a half of furious brushwork on what they claim is the first ever cross-border painting.

The work, blending acrylic painting and printmaking techniques, is intended to symbolize the universality of art, and attract attention to a new website for artists.

Called allartists.net it was set up by Chow and other members of the Group of Eight, who display their work at Richmond’s Raymond Chow Art Gallery. Five of them, including Chen, his sister Nancy, Mike Hughes, Wanda Griffiths and Carol Gellant will exhibit their works at a special event Feb. 10 at Chow’s Tsawwassen home, focused on another of the prolific artist and musicianís obsessions, the infamous First World War dancer/spy Mata Hari (see sidebar).

The cross-border painting, a panorama of the border landscape—which also includes print impressions of fish from both the United States and Canada—will be on display and available for purchase at the event.

“We thought it was a neat thing to do,” said the indefatigable and humourous Chow, who braved the drizzle with Chen to make a preliminary sketch of the scene.

“Really and truly there is no such thing as borders for artists,” he said.

“That’s the point of the website—we’re trying to include as many artists as possible.”

As he and Chen drew their sketch plan in the rain, it was hard not to see the element of the ridiculous in the scene, particularly as the same area of park was also occupied by members of the Native Youth Movement protesting in support of Leonard Peltier.

Observing the protesters cooking over a fire, Chow smiled wryly.

“We wanted caviar and trout,” he said.

“We just got rain and hamburgers.”

Chow and Chen wanted to finish the painting within the allotted hour and a half, and judging by their swift and sure brushwork, they were on target.

“We’re using acrylic, as it’s water soluble and not harmful to the environment,” Chow said.

The two artists pointed out that, with their use of Chinese, acrylic and even foam brushes, and the help of Chen’s sister Nancy, an expert printmaker, they were also mixing elements of both Chinese and Western art to cross even more borders.

“I challenge friends and other artists to paint with us,” said Chow—and while there were no takers on this particular occasion, he’s optimistic that other such symbolic cross-border events can be staged; a collaboration between Nancy Chen and a woman artist in the U.S., for example.

Both Chow’s visual and musical talents will be put to work on his multi-media Mata Hari project, which he expects will take him some 18 months.

He confesses to a long-time fascination with the dancer, a famous courtesan of the era, who crossed more than a few borders herself.

The French executed her in 1917 for spying for the Germans, but Chow said she was actually spying for the French, who have since admitted there was insufficient evidence of treason.

“The point is whether or not German officers were speaking in their sleep,” Chow said, adding the jealousy of the spy’s French boyfriend was probably a big factor in her demise.

He’s just wild about Hari

Danica Wolfe, MetroValley News

Hats Off—Hats on For Mata Hari, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at the artist’s home (1089 Pacific Dr., Tsawwassen) will offer a glimpse into the life of the infamous First World War dancer, who was executed as a spy by the French.

“Mata Hari’s father was a milliner, so we’re including a collection of period hats,” Chow said.

The presentation will include live jazz by the Bob Aitken Trio and hats will be modelled by dancers from Richmond Academy of Dance. A portion of proceeds from a live and silent auction of artwork will go to Richmond Dance Society and McKee House Seniors Recreation Centre.

Guests at Hats Off—Hats on For Mata Hari will also have opportunity to win Chow’s 1974 450 SL Mercedes convertible by buying one of his original drawings or paintings.

One of the evening’s highlights will be a performance recreating Mata Hari’s dance work by international dancer Amy Hamilton (Joosten).

Hamilton, 23, a native of Richmond, began dancing at the age of three. She performed her first first ballet solo for Vancouver Ballet Society with Reid Anderson and Lynn Seymour in attendance when she was five-years-old.

Hamilton was selected years later to be part of a touring dance group where she travelled and performed at theatres in Japan. She has also performed at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Orlando’s Disney World, and Universal Studios in Los Angeles.

Most recently Hamilton has been employed with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as a shipboard dancer and has been given the title of “Dance Captain.”

For tickets to this free arts event, call Chow at 277-4887 or 274-3587, or Susan Enefer at 536-5339.