Body of missing hiker found
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
The body of a Richmond man missing near Kitimat since Aug. 25 has been found.
Christopher Markoff's body was found Tuesday around noon, lodged in a crevice near the glacier on the top of Mount Elizabeth near Kitimat.
Markoff, 22, and his hiking partner Christina Huckvale, 23, of Vancouver, set off on a day-long hike on Sunday, Aug. 25. Friends became worried when they didn't return on time and a search was launched.
Huckvale's body was found four days later at the bottom of a 150-metre cliff.
The two bodies were found "not far from each other, but on other sides of the mountain," Kitimat RCMP's Cpl. Carl Johnston. Mount Elizabeth is about 10 kilometres northeast of Kitimat, he said.
The area searched this week by the mountaineering specialists had earlier been identified as a highly-probable location for Markoff's body, but poor weather and treacherous terrain barred search efforts until this week.
Markoff and Huckvale were summer employees for Alcan in Kitimat.
Markoff's family could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.
Broadcast centre in doubt for Richmond
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
Members of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid Committee are discussing this month whether it is feasible to have a separate International Broadcast Centre in Richmond as part of their final bid.
Olympic bid spokesperson Sam Corea said the International Olympic Committee said Vancouver's bid could be weakened if it doesn't adequately address how the media will operate on two sites separated by several kilometres.
"They said they understand Vancouver is proposing split venues, and we want to know more how you plan to transport people between them," Corea said.
Vancouver was told Aug. 28 that it is on the shortlist of candidates to host the 2010 Winter Olympicsa list of four that could soon shrink to three following a negative result in a referendum in Bern, Switzerland.
The working report prepared by the International Olympic Committee provides extensive direction to the bidders about areas of concern. One concern is the International Broadcast Centre, and the plan to have it separate from the Main Press Centre, to be located in the Vancouver Convention Centre downtown.
The Broadcast Centre would be the site where most broadcast media would set up their anchor desks. Until now, the bid committee has eyed Tourism Richmond's proposed trade and exhibition centre, located on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada lands near Alderbridge and Garden City, as the ideal site.
But that is now up for debate.
"The status of that particular facility remains undecided for the bid book," he said.
Tourism Richmond executive director Rob Tivy said he isn't worried about the possibility of losing the broadcast centre.
"Our project does not hinge on the Olympic bid by any stretch of the imagination," Tivy said. "Yes, it would be nice to have them as a tenant."
Corea said if the Richmond facility isn't used for media, there are numerous other needs, such as a volunteer centre or processing facility for the accreditation of media, officials and athletes, that the facility could satisfy.
"You always need space at the Olympic Games. If it doesn't turn out to be a broadcast centre you still need space."
Tivy said he's sure whoever ends up operating the trade and exhibition centre would be thrilled to work with the olympic group. Richmond has two great selling points, he said: proximity to the airport and plenty of hotels.
"We're offering 4,500 bedrooms at a time," Tivy said. "To be able to do that kind of housing is big."
The bid committee will finish its bid book sometime this fall, for submission to the IOC in January.
The winning candidate for the 2010 Winter Games will be announced July 2, 2003.
Pair remain in custody
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
A Richmond Provincial Court judge will announce Monday the date on which she will rule on whether to grant bail to two young men charged in the death of RCMP Const. Jimmy Ng.
Judge E.J. McKinnon heard presentations Tuesday and Wednesday from Crown Counsel Grant Wong and the two lawyers representing Ying Hua (David) Guian and Yau Chung (Stuart) Chan.
Both men are charged with criminal negligence causing death and leaving the scene of an accident. The crash happened on Sept. 15.
Police said they were investigating whether the pair were street racing at the time of the accident. But witnesses said speed was involved and that the driver of the new Honda Civic ran a red light when he broadsided the cruiser driven by Ng.
The court issued a ban on publication of information heard at this week's hearing.
Richmond federal ridings slated to change for next election
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
Proposed changes to federal electoral boundaries could benefit Richmond MP Joe Peschisolido.
If approved, the Liberal MP will gain Steveston from Delta-South Richmond MP John Cummins, and Cummins will gain most of East Richmond. The B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission is a three-member non-political board that has been set the task of balancing the province's federal ridings at about 108,000 in each.
Peschisolido acknowledges the limitation, but says he will appeal in the House of Commons to have as much of East Richmond stay in his riding as possible.
"In my presentations I'm going to try to convince them to expand that formula," Peschisolido said.
If approved, the Richmond riding will go from 136,893 (2001 Census) to 113,648. The new Delta riding would shrink from 124,881 to 108,123.
The shapes of ridings are changing nation-wide. In April, commissions were struck in each province and territory. If the changes are approved, the Richmond will be divided east-west rather than north-south.
Alliance MP John Cummins' riding, now Delta-South Richmond, will be renamed Delta-East Richmond. Everything east of Garden City between the North Arm and Williams Road will be part of Cummins' riding, as will everything south of Williams and east of No. 3 Road. Steveston will switch hands, with everything west of No. 3 going to Peschisolido.
Peschisolido, who was elected a Canadian Alliance MP, but has since crossed the floor to the Liberals, said he doubts the new boundaries will have much of an impact on election results next time around.
"So much has changed, and so much will change," Peschisolido said. "There's going to be a lot of issues that will come up. People vote for a variety of reasons. If you do your job, you get re-elected."
While Cummins says "everything, in a sense, is political in Ottawa," he doubts the boundary changes were calculated with anyone's benefit in mind.
Political scientist Patrick Smith said the creation of the electoral boundaries commission in the 1960s helped eliminate political interventionwhich was commonplace in Canada's early days.
Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, would run elections in different areas on different days, beginning with the polls he was most likely to win. Smith said this created a perception of momentum.
Another notable incident came in provincial politics, in which Grace McCarthy's riding of Vancouver-Little Mountain received a small finger of pro-Socred territory in an adjacent riding to help McCarthy scrape by. It became known as "Gracie's finger."
Cummins' concern about the proposed changes centres on rural ridings in northern British Columbia, where the number of ridings is being reduced from 10 to 9.
"The guy in Skeena has a huge geographic area," Cummins said. "It's just a huge, unmanageable riding."
Smith agreed the commission's drive to balance the numbers has led to "some real oddities," particularly, ridings that don't acknowledge municipal, or even geographic, boundaries.
For instance, Burnaby-Douglas MP Svend Robinson's riding, if changed, will include parts of North Vancouver.
These changes are proposed for 2004, in time for the next federal election. Because of population increases, two more MPs will be added in B.C. to bring the total to 36.
The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for British Columbia, which oversees the changes in the province, consists of a judge and two professors of political science. They will compile a report to be presented to the Chief Electoral Officer and the House of Commons early next year.
A public hearing will be held the Best Western Hotel, Room 167, 7751 Westminster Highway, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m.
Many lessons learned from 9/11
Mock plane crash helps emergency responders practice plans
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
Should an airplane crash in the waters off Vancouver International Airport, both rescuers and victims will benefit from the lessons learned following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. last year.
On Tuesday, emergency responders from across the Lower Mainland participated in such a disaster scenario called Operation Low Tide, an annual exercise designed to ensure airport staff and emergency responders are well prepared.
Bruce Harford, superintendent for the B.C. Ambulance Service, said the original exercise was scheduled for a year ago, but in the aftermath of Sept. 11, it was cancelled.
That gave organizers time to add a few twists to the exercise, but more importantly, it gave the heads of the ambulance, police, fire department and other emergency agencies a chance to soak up the lessons learned during the emergency response to the Sept. 11 attacks, Harford said.
The heads of these agencies have attended symposium courses that analyzed "what was done right and what was done wrong" in those two cities, Harford said.
On Tuesday, the scene that was played out involved fictitious Air Canada flight OOOON arriving from Toronto. Emergency officials are informed the plane, with 240 people on board, is experiencing problems and will try to make an emergency landing in just 30 minutes. Rescuers, paramedics and police are quickly dispatched, along with the Coast Guard, which hooks up floatation platforms to its Talon helicopters in the event the plane doesn't make it to the runway. And indeed, the plane goes down near Iona Beach, which served as the staging area for the mock event.
As the likely first responders, the Coast Guard hovercraft arrives at the scene and plucks people, played by Richmond high school students, from the floatation devices bobbing a few hundreds meters from shore where the media and analysts observe. These analysts will report their findings in the coming weeks to help identify shortcomings in order to fix them.
The first batch of victims is brought ashore by hovercraft, where they are quickly assessed on the beach for their injuries and loaded by stretchers aboard waiting ambulances. The police secure the rescue area to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Harford said weather usually is the biggest obstacle in any rescue. This scenario took place on a sunny and warm day, but Harford said rain and snow can make it more of a challenge for both rescuers and victims, putting much stress on both.
"Everything is done the same way, but it's much more of a strain," Harford said.
All aspects of a disaster response were practised, including airline staff comforting and caring for family and friends waiting for loved ones at the airport terminal. Local hospitals prepared to receive a large number of casualties, while police deployed land search teams for survivors, debris and evidence. Even the Salvation Army van was present to provide rescuers coffee and sustenance.
Richmond is raking in the development dollars
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
Development in Richmond is beginning to resemble the heady days of the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to city staff.
The city has already assessed $12 million in development cost charges on new development between January and mid-September of this yearfar surpassing the $6 million projected in the city's five year financial plan for the whole year.
"There's a lot of activity, and in terms of DCC numbers it's up with the early `90s," said Joe Erceg, development applications manager.
Erceg said he expects by year-end the total for 2002 will be about $15 million. By comparison, the city took in $4.5 million in 2001, $6 million in 2000 and $3.6 million the year before.
Although new development is distributed through numerous projects across the city, the majority is in the city centre area, Erceg said. About $1 million was received from Onni Group for its residential development on the former site of the No. 5 Branch Legion on Westminster Highway near No. 3 Road. Another residential property being built by Bosa Development at St. Albans and Granville brought in about $670,000.
Although the development of the B.C. Packers site will include 750 residential units and has made significant progress in the past year, most of the development charges will not be coming in until at least next year.
"The bulk of the B.C. Packers (project) is yet to come," Erceg said. "It's not in these numbers."
Foremost experts to talk autism at local conference
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
Many of North America's brightest minds will be in Richmond this weekend to participate in an autism conference that is expected to draw some 300 people.
One of the special guest speakers will be Kim Peek, a super savant on whom the central autistic character from the film Rain Man (played by Dustin Hoffman) was based.
The three-day conference, organized by the Mainstream Association for Proactive Community Living and partly funded by the province of B.C., will give parents access to the latest information about autism, research, support services and treatment options.
Parents will also be introduced to the province's new individualized funding formula that will empower them to chose among treatment options for their children, said Kathy Fournier, spokeswoman for the community living association.
Some parents are searching for an explanation for the apparent sharp increase in the prevalence of autism in North America over the past two decades. Incidence levels have reportedly gone from one in 10,000 two decades ago to as much as one in 150 today.
Is there a toxic environmental agent to blame? Or has increased awareness of the developmental disorder resulted in a corresponding jump in diagnoses?
B.C. has seen its autism numbers skyrocket more than 10 times from 150 in the 1986/87 school year to 1,521 in 2001-2002, according to the B.C. Ministry of Education.
The ministry funds students who are purely autistic, and the incidence levels appear to be slowly surging.
For B.C.'s Grade 12 students, only about 1 in 833 is autistic, but among Kindergarten students, that number is about 1 in 255.
Behavioural psychologist Dr. Doug Lee, one of the experts speaking at the conference, said he doesn't buy the argument there is an explosion in the incidence of autism. Lee designs treatments for children with autism and has been in practice since 1978.
"It's pure speculation," Lee said, noting that the comprehensive scientific studies that determined the incidence rate 20 years ago haven't been replicated recently to determine what change, if any, has occurred.
"The cheaper the research, the higher the rate," Lee said of the scientific studies that claim to show an increase.
Lee will be speaking about the latest research into autism and will provide a cautionary tale. There's seemingly a new autism therapy every week, he said, and parents need to be wary of the snake oil salesman. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.
The conference, which is already filled up, runs Friday through Sunday at the Executive Airport Plaza.
Test drive of the future
Philip Raphael, Staff Reporter
Science fiction journals of the 1950s had suburbanites eating meals in pill form, communicating via video telephone, and commuting by flying cars.
While vitamin supplements and Internet web cameras are mainstream, the cars of today don't fly.
But at Richmond City Hall, staff recently began testing out the cutting edge of gravity-anchored automobileshybrids.
The term `hybrid' refers to the fact the cars, a pair of Toyota Prius models, and two Honda Civic Hybrids, are run on a combination of gasoline power and battery. At start-up and low speeds the battery provides power, while a lean-running, gasoline powerplant drives the cars at higher speeds. Regenerative braking technology also adds extra juice for the battery.
The decision to try out the four sedans, which don't distinguish themselves as anything more than a regular automobile, came from a move to help reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions, said Jeff Day, the city's general manager of engineering and public works.
Initially, the four cars will be used by a variety of city staff who require short duration transport in the normal course of their day.
"Ultimately, in the future employees like city inspectors, who do lots of stop-and-go driving in the city, will be the ones possibly driving vehicles like these," Day said.
The city chose hybrid technology from two competing manufacturers to determine which model suits the city's needs and goals the best.
Both rack up decent fuel consumption numbers, about five litres of fuel per 100 kilometres which is about 30 per cent better than gasoline-only equivalents. And the hybrids belch out about half the emissions.
The four hybrids are leased for a period of four years, and both cost roughly what the city spends on typical fleet cars. The Toyota carries a price tag of $25,332, and the Honda is slightly less at $24,393.
Day said the hybrid technology was chosen over purely electric cars, which boast zero emissions, because the hybrids offers seamless operation.
"You don't have to plug these cars in to recharge the batteries. So there's no danger of getting stuck somewhere."
This is not the first time the city has tried out alternate fuel vehicles in its fleet. In the past, natural gas equipped trucks were employed, but they were dropped after soaring natural gas costs eroded their cost effectiveness, Day said.
A bog among us
Tia Abell, Staff Reporter
Past a large white sign with the words "No Trespassing," down a well-worn, spongy path, lies a wide-open space filled with soft hummocks of sphagnum moss, patches of sticky, carnivorous sundews and bushes laden with dusky blueberries.
It's a bit of irony that what may be Richmond's best example of bog habitat sits unprotected, right next door to the Richmond Nature Park.
Owned by the Department of National Defense, the large track of land bordered by Shell Road, No. 4 Road, Alderbridge Way and Westminster Hwy. is a focus of an intensive life science inventory by the Richmond Nature Park Society's ecology committee.
Armed with government permits, about 40 volunteers are pulling on gumboots to assess the plants, waterfowl, insects, birds, amphibians, microorganisms and the general health of Richmond bogs, including the Department of National Defence, or DND, lands and the nature park.
"The outcome will be a compiled report on one of the most detailed inventories on a local bog, so it's kind of critical," says Rose Klinkenberg, an ecologist and director for the Richmond Nature Park Society. "We have a lot of expertsthat's the key here."
A draft copy is expected to be finished by the end of autumn. The federal government requested a copy of the reportwhat will be done with the information isn't known, Klinkenberg says.
"A lot of these DND properties are coming to the attention of researchers because they're not developed. That's why we want to do the research now."
If, someday, the land is proposed for development, the ecology committee can then present their findings, she adds. "There's no question the DND bog is the best piece of bog in Richmond."
Terry Taylor, a botany instructor as well as one of the society's directors, agrees with Klinkenberg on the DND bog's significanceespecially in comparison to what's left in the area.
"In the point of view of bog habitat, the Richmond Nature Park is no longer the way it used to be."
Once a boggy place, bogs are rare now in Richmondas well as in the rest of the Lower Mainland and Western North America.
A bog is an acidic, nutrient-poor wetland, often because of sphagnum moss (also known as peat moss) which pumps hydrogen atoms into the water and takes out nutrients. Few fungi and bacteria can survive these conditions, meaning little breakdown of dead matter and a resulting lack of nitrogen in the soil. Because of this, the plants and organisms living in a bog are highly specialized, unique life forms, often with genetic differences between separate populations.
Taylor says the DND land has a better bog because of a combination of factors: the water table doesn't drop as much as in the park, and in the past, the land has been cleared of scrub and trees.
The nature park has lost some of its bogginess because of drainage and invading species like hemlock, birch and non-native blueberries which crowd out bog-specific species and impose their own changes on the environment.
"The ecologically ideal thing in the (Richmond Nature Park) is to have controlled fires to burn off scrub for the sphagnum moss. But it's an urban social problemwith a controlled fire how do you keep it going where you want it to?"
Karen Golinski, one of the project volunteers and a University of Victoria graduate student doing a doctorate in peatland ecology, developed a review of the Burns Bog ecosystem for the government in March of 2000.
While examining old maps, she found a dramatic change in bog habitat in the Lower Mainland during the past 75 years: the Lower Mainland has lost about 66 per cent of its bog habitat, while Richmond may have lost as much as 90 per cent or morebecause of drainage, highways and agriculture.
"Those communities have been lost, there could have been rare, unusual things lost," she says.
"For some plants to breed, sometimes they need other populations. There's hardly anything left now, yet every little bit is valuable in terms of plant species."
So far no development plans seem to be in place for the DND lands, unlike a neighboring parcel of formerly boggy green-space owned by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Located within the boundaries of Garden City, No. 4 Road, Alderbridge Way and Westminster Highway, the shorn land was declared "surplus" to the government and interested parties were offered the opportunity to make their interest known. The city is eyeing that site for a trade and exhibition centre and sports fieldsif the federal government agrees to divest the land to the city.
The city's general manager of urban development, David McLellan, says Richmond would be interested in acquiring the DND plot.
"We've always indicated to the DND we'd be interested in some use of the land. It might be nice to clear land for playing fields."
But Taylor sees a lot of value in preserving the land as is.
Besides serving as a sort of biodiversity bank by hosting a rich variety of bog-loving plants and animals, migratory birds, and future botanical and microbe discoveries, the land is already a popularalthough illicitrecreational area because of its blueberry patches.
"(The DND bog is) certainly important for maintaining a green belt habitat in this urban area," Taylor says. "People say we can't afford to have this (unused land) anymorethis gets us into the debate of how much can we afford to lose."
Introducing the Golden Village
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
There's Steveston, Burkeville, Hamilton and now, the Golden Village.
The name applies to the district dominated by Asian shopping centres in north Richmond bounded by No. 3, Garden City, Sea Island and Alderbridge, and was the winner of Tourism Richmond's naming contest.
"The name is a great fit and will work well in promotional campaigns targeted to both tourists and locals alike," said Paolo Gallina, marketing manager.
Richmond resident Edmond Chow's entry was chosen from among the 400 submitted, and he took home a satellite TV system, courtesy of Genius Communications Centre. Runners-up also received a number of prizes, including hotels stays, whale watching and gift baskets. Tourism Richmond plans to use the new name in its advertising campaigns.
Putting their reels to reel
Fraser River Fiddlers cut their first CD
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
Lorraine Grescoe was on a trip to Nova Scotia more than 10 years ago when she stumbled on something special.
Not only was there music everywhere she turned, but there were few boundaries.
"I was amazed to see these kids playing with their mothers and fathers and grandfathers on the streets," says the Richmond musician and music teacher. "And they just looked like they were having so much fun."
In an effort to bring some of that joy back home, she established a fiddle group that eventually became the Fraser River Fiddlers. It consisted of Grescoe's violin studentsshe used to play in the Winnipeg Symphony herselfand she leads the group at no charge.
"People say I'm crazy, but I'm not," she says. "I get so much pleasure out of it."
The group ranges in age from nine to 13, and even features a five-year-old on a few tunes every now and then.
They play everything from jigs and reels to waltzes, polkas and popular contemporary songs, and all are featured on their first, eponymous CD that was produced in time for this summer's Tall Ships festival.
The CD is a testimony to the group's impressive range and maturity of sound. Included are songs you'd hear at a good ol' Maritime kitchen party, as well as well-known songs such as "Amazing Grace," "Morning Has Broken" and "Santa Lucia"a song Grescoe said was a big hit at a recent performance at Vancouver's Italian Cultural Centre.
"When we played `Santa Lucia,' the women cried," she says.
And there have been other great moments, too, she says, where the group has brought something out of its audience.
Performing at a dinner for Special Olympics participants last spring, an attendee started singing along with "Red River Valley." Grescoe and the children in the group didn't think much of it at the time, but the young man's caregiver was astounded.
"He said `I had no idea he could speak, and I had no idea he could sing,'" Grescoe says, adding that the young man may have been autistic.
The majority of the fiddlers' performances take place in seniors homes. Grescoe said seniors are often subjected to "awful music," as though they don't expect anything better.
Grescoe said the CD project was the idea of a parent who came to see the group play, and was so impressed he offered to pay to have the CD made.
The group put together 47 minutes of music in only four-and-a-half hours in the studioan impressive feat in the recording industryand many songs required only one take.
"They were so excited that day and so well behaved," says Grescoe, who has been teaching violin for 20 years.
After the post-production mixing was complete, the group was thrilled by the results.
"Their faces, their eyes, were sparkling," Grescoe said.
Many CDs were sold during the Richmond Tall Ships Festival and 350 of the 500 have already gone, she added.
Oscar Lam, 10, said it was exciting to make a CD, and says his favourite song is "Boil Them Cabbage Down."
Lam won the PNE Talent Search this year for classical piano, but loves what the fiddle has to offer.
"I get to try new things. Sometimes you get to play on other people's violins, sometimes you do tricks," Lam says, referring to the added things the group throws in to spice up performances.
Kenny Wong says he loves the reels and jigs, because they're fun, and likes the calm that comes from playing in a fiddle group.
"I helps me relax," says the 12-year-old, also a talent search winner.
Grescoe says the group has been quite stable over the years, but as the students get into high school, they often quit as other responsibilities compete for time.
"I don't know what I'll do when they all turn 13," she says, adding she originally planned to restrict the group to pre-teens. "If they want to stay, they'll stay."
Grescoe says the kids in the group get a lot from playing, as do the audiences. But they're not alone.
"I have a passion for any music," Grescoe says. "It's helped me through difficult times in my life."
"The music keeps me young."
The Fraser River Fiddlers CD is available at Noteworthy Music (6760 No. 3 Rd.) or Richmond Music School (11371 No. 3 Rd.).
Parents moved by public outpouring
Const. Jimmy Ng's mother and father thank community for support
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
The parents of Richmond RCMP Const. Jimmy Ng expressed their thanks Friday for the community's outpouring of support following their son's tragic death last Sunday morning.
Ng died when his police cruiser was T-boned by a high-performance Honda Civic that witnesses say sped through a red light around 2:45 a.m. Sunday.
In a statement read out by Anthony Ng, a family friend, Dr. Chris Ng and his wife Therese said they were moved by the number of people whose lives were touched by their son.
"We have been equally overwhelmed by the unprecedented display of respect and dignity that the community has shown for our son. To discover that so many of you shared our love and affection for Jimmy is a great comfort to us and is an honour to his memory."
Ng's goal in life was to be a policeman, something he never lost focus of, they said.
"We remember the sense of extreme pride and accomplishment that he felt on the day that he graduated from the training academy in Regina.
"And while his death is so senseless and needless, we are given a sense of great comfort and peace knowing that Jimmy died doing what he truly loved to do."
"This is without question the darkest time in our family's life. Not only was Jim our only son, he was our only child.
"He was everything to us and now, more than ever, we feel the need to carry on the legacy that Jimmy had started."
The Ngs said they don't want their son's death to be in vain.
"For all of you who have voiced the need to make changes so that our personal tragedy will not be repeated for other families, you will have our support. No change is too small or insignificant to consider if it can prevent even one needless death on our roads. It is time for the senseless deaths on our streets to stop."
"As the healing process for our family continues, we will be there to support you so that Jimmy's legacy of giving, caring and positive change will not be forgotten or lost."
Thousands were expected to attend Ng's funeral service Saturday afternoon.
More charges for second driver
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
The driver of the get-away car involved in Sunday's high-speed crash that claimed the life of a Mountie is now facing more time in jail.
On Thursday, police increased the charges against Ying Hua David Guian to include criminal negligence causing death. He had previously been charged with dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Guian allegedly helped Yau Chung (Stuart) Chan flee the scene of the crash.
Police are investigating whether Chan and Guian were street racing at the time.
Richmond RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said there's a possibility that a third person may be charged in connection with the accident.
Richmond RCMP Const. Jimmy Ng died Sunday morning when his police cruiser was T-boned by a 2003 Honda Civic that witnesses say was running a red light at No. 3 Road and Williams.
A memorial service will be held for Ng on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Bethany Baptist Church, 22680 Westminster Hwy.
SPEEDING: THE DEADLY FACTS
compiled by Martin van den Hemel
Richmond RCMP Const. Jimmy Ng died when his police cruiser was T-boned by a speeding car allegedly running a red light. Two drivers have been charged.
Police suspect speed was a factor in the crash that killed Richmond's Michael James Cobb, 33, in late June.
Two Richmond teens were fined $430 each and suspended from driving for three months for racing down No. 4 Road during rush hour in June.
A Surrey mother was killed on Westminster Highway in late May when an expensive Mercedes Benz slammed into the back of her Buick. Her husband and two children survived, but were also injured. Coquitlam's Yuan Chang (Ray) Cheng, 22 is charged with criminal negligence causing death, three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, impaired driving causing death, three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and failing to provide a blood and/or breath sample. There is a currently a warrant out for his arrest.
Two Richmond youth received one-year driving prohibitions after racing their high-powered cars on a quiet stretch of road north of the Vancouver International Airport last March. One car flipped into a five-foot deep ditch, but there were no injuries.
Two drivers involved in a fatal Valentine's Day street racing accident earlier this year received two year driving prohibitions. Richmond's Danny Chew, 23, and Vancouver's Jackie Cheung, 20, died in the accident that also involved two other cars.
Hugh Boyd Secondary School student Joseph Lui, 18, died in June of 2001 after losing control of his new BMW while racing another car on Alderbridge Way, near Garden City. Police have charged Vancouver's Eric Kin Hang Ho with criminal negligence and leaving the scene of an accident. There is an arrest warrant out for Ho, who has never appeared in court.
Racing clubs: a healthy alternative?
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
Hyedie Hashimoto loves speed.
"It's addictive," says the 24-year-old Richmond resident.
Hashimoto has watched street races in a lot of the favourite spots, like Iona Island, and out in the industrial area around Ironwood mall.
But these days, she skips the culture of illegal races and tests the limits of her own 1990 Miata on a sanctioned track at Boundary Bay Airport. Hashimoto is among the 300 members of the Vancouver Chinese Motorsports Club, one of three such clubs based in the Lower Mainland.
"It's a controlled environment and you actually get fair competition," said Hashimoto. "It much more enjoyable."
And the demand for space to race legally is growing, insists club president Farzaan Kassam. People have a need for speed, they love the thrill, he says, and there's a painful shortage of space.
"You can't find solutions unless you have a place to play," says Kassam, who believes that clubs like his are a healthy alternative to the illegal variant.
"The competitions are awesome," he says. "It's so much fun."
On a recent cool, spring Saturday morning, about 30 cars are cueing up for their first heats of the day. It's a cross-section of the driving worldshort, tall, fat, thin. There's beefy Corvettes, road-hugging Celicas with racing stripes and gaping tailpipes, factory-spec family sedans and hatchbacks.
Each car races in its own class, according to capability. The rest is up to the driver.
Kassam puts on his helmet, and gives me the spare, and we climb into his midnight blue 1991 Porsche 911 Turbo. Today we're running a course marked out with cones on a patch of old tarmac about the size of two football fields. Spotters in fluorescent vests are stationed at intervals around the course to ensure drivers clear all the cones cleanly. Surrounding the asphalt is grass. It's a forgiving environment: cars race against time, and if one was to lose control, there isn't much to collide with.
Kassam said in the 20 years of the club's history there has never been a serious injury.
Drivers receive a map of the course in the morning and, otherwise, they take their first run cold. Today's course is typical of the kind of event the club hosts, but they also hold a 1/4 mile drag racing event at Mission Speedway each year.
The bell sounds and the car bursts forward from the mark, slaloming between the cones. I expect to be knocked around a little and am surprised by how in control the car feels. Kassam accelerates rapidly and I sink deep into the seat, but when he gears down for a sharp turn, I remain tightly in place.
There's no squealing of tires, no jarring or sudden movements. We race to the line with the best time of the day.
I feel an adrenaline high as I step out of the car.
"You felt how fun it is," Kassam says. "Why would you do it on the street?"
At the end of the day, the times are all published on the internet, providing gloating privileges to the winner.
There are a couple of 16-year-olds in the club, many fall into the 18-30 category, and there are several who are older.
Hai Foo, 60, just joined the club courtesy of his nephew, Darren, who signed him up for the compulsory Velocity Driver Training course. More than 100 people took two-day course last year, which includes a classroom session and a track session.
Darren, 25, said he wanted his uncle to know how to drive his powerful new cara burgundy Porsche Carrerasafely.
"I just wanted to get him to learn the limits of the car in a safe environment," Darren said. "You learn respect."
Darren says learning those limits on the Boundary Bay tarmac can prevent serious injury.
"If you spin, it's a real eye-opener," Darren said. "I'm glad I did it here, and not somewhere where there's poles around."
At a forum on street racing held at Hugh Boyd secondary last April, several confessed street racers complained that Mission Raceway was too crowded, and said they wouldn't race illegally if they had other options.
Richmond-raised Cara Johnston, who has travelled the world speaking on the dangers of speed since her sister, Mairin, was killed in a speed-related crash, said she supported alternatives.
"I'd be the first person to support a controlled environment so you can race," she told the assembled crowd.
When asked if his club has considered a policy banning known street racers, Kassam says he doesn't think it would help. To his knowledge, there is only one club member who is also a street racer.
"If we have a policy that kicks this guy out, what is he going to do? He's going to go back to the street. But here I can sit him down and talk to him."
"I don't know if that's right, but that's what I prefer to do."
But Hashimoto doubts whether clubs like Vancouver Motorsports can draw people away from illegal street racing.
"If people want to do it, they're still going to," she said.
Vancouver Chinese Motorsports Club is open to drivers of all ages and, despite its name, all ethnic groups. The next racing events for the club are Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 at Boundary Bay Airport, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Racing Clubs
Vancouver Chinese Motorsports Club www.bcmc.ca
University of B.C. Sports Car Club www.ubcscc.com
Burnaby Coquitlam Motorsports Association www.bcautoslalom.com
The Sports Car Club of British Columbia www.sccbc.net
How the U.S. cracks down on speed
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
The fascination with speed and cars has been a part of North America's popular culture for decades. But some cities south of the border are using new techniques to slow down street racers and their fans.
Cruising around in your car to show off, tweaking an engine for more speed or tinting the windows for attitude goes back to the days of James Dean, who died on Sept. 30, 1955 on a lonely stretch of California Highway while racing his silver Porsche Spyder.
Muscle cars with tweaked V-8 engines and fat tires were an icon of the '60s and '70s, when drag racing was an inescapable part of growing up.
But things changed with the advent of cheap import cars in the early 1980s, which offered a new low-cost fuel-efficient alternative that would become known as the import scene.
Jon Hu, the 27-year-old chief executive officer of the Internet website urbanasian.compopular among street racers in the Pacific Northwestsaid these imports opened the racing culture to a whole new segment of the population.
Instead of the domestic cars that offered raw power at the expense of fuel economy, the imports were lighter, more reliable, longer lasting and easier on gas. Imports also had mass appeal because of the availability of after-market products, such as different colour light bulbs, rims, springs, wheels and tires, which personalized each vehicle.
Contrary to popular belief, most street racers are hard working people who save their money for their hobby, said Hu, who lives in Washington State where street racing has become as much of a problem as in the Lower Mainland.
Last December, a 19-year-old man died after crashing his motorcycle in what police say was a street racing-related incident. Some 100 cars were gathered near the scene of the accident in Seattle.
In Los Angeles County, a dozen deaths were linked to hot roding over a one-year span and that sparked a public outcry and eventually legislative changes. Now, even watching preparations for street racing is a misdemeanor offence, with fines of up to $500 and as long as six months in jail. In the suburb of Ontario, police were allowed to ticket both racers and spectators.
Hu is among those who disagree that hard-handed police tactics will put a stop to street racing.
"Every day another kid turns 16 and gets a licence. From our perspective, we wish the authorities would have taken a different route."
San Diego is employing the type of alternative Hu wants.
Under a state-funded program, the city hosts drag racing on two one-eighth mile tracks in the parking lot of an athletics stadium (www.racelegal.com).
Hu said his website does not endorse street racing, but he understands why it happens.
"It's all about ego," Hu said.
He recalls an incident where he was lined up at a red light in his 100-horsepower Honda Civic Hatchback, alongside a kid driving a Ford Mustang GT.
Hu said he could have raced the Mustang, but chose not to.
"It doesn't matter to me, it's not worth it," Hu said about the risk of getting hurt or hurting someone else.
Maturity and experience played a role in his decision, he said.
And with new drivers hitting the road every day, he said decisions about racing boil down to maturity and responsibility.
Hu said when he was younger, he recalls his friends egging him on by saying "`Look what he did to you. Are you going to let him get away with that?' You don't want to lose face."
"Peer pressure, that's part of growing up."
So how do you stop street racing?
Hu said there is no simple answer, but said an organized venue is a start. But that's not the end all solution as there are always going to be "bad apples" who will chose to race on the streets in spite of having a nearby option.
Young drivers also need to be taught the limits of their cars, he said, and that's the responsibility of their parents, the community at large and the police.
A stricter graduated licensing system might also help, he said.
But ultimately, it's up to each driver to make the right decision, he said.
Arts council may sue the city
Group alleges its livelihood lost when programs taken over
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
Richmond Community Arts Council is threatening to take the City of Richmond to court.
The conflict arose last summer when, on short notice, the city relinquished the arts council of its role delivering arts programs at Richmond Cultural Centre, a city-owned facility.
"We've hired a lawyer, and we're quite prepared to sue the city for breach of contract," arts council president Barbara Williams said.
The council is a non-profit organization "committed to the encouragement and advancement of the arts within Richmond," and was established in 1970. It was one of the groups behind the successful push to build Richmond Cultural Centre, which includes the city's library, museum and art gallery. In 1992, it began operating studios and classes in the facility. In 1994, the council signed an operating agreement with the city to run the art centre on site, with the assistance of city staff and resources.
Registration fees for the courses represented the majority of the council's annual revenues, and the takeover immediately created a severe cashflow problem. In 1999/2000, they accounted for $175,446 of $250,712 in total revenues.
Williams said the city's decision followed a disagreement between an instructor and the council. The instructor billed the council an amount three times what it had anticipated, and it didn't immediately pay the bill.
"We didn't refuse to pay it, we asked for more information," said Williams, a board member at the time, who became president last fall.
The instructor took the issue directly to the citywhich functions at arm's length from the arts counciland claimed the council wasn't paying its bills.
City cultural services manager Jane Fernyhough said unpaid bills were simply one of several problems the city observed at the arts council in a short period of time.
"There were other refusals to meet their obligations."
And the board at the time was unwilling to meet with the city and discuss the matter, she added. "This was not a planned, premeditated move. It was a culmination of a series of things."
Other sources close to the situation allege there were a number of cases at the time where artists were not receiving payment for items sold at the gift shop, Presents in the Park, run by the council. Also, some instructors allegedly were not being reimbursed for supplies.
Fernyhough would neither confirm or deny, but said all outstanding debts have "been taken care of."
Williams concedes that there had been some problems at the arts council, and dissension at the board level.
And past members of the arts council say the non-profit group has been struggling for several years to find a clear mandatea problem that has resulted in confusion, misunderstandings, and possibly, the recent conflict with the city.
"I think the bottom line was, there was never a proper agreement," said Sheineen Nathoo, who joined the council in 1999, and resigned as executive director in June.
But Nathoo said in her time with the arts council, the organization's responsibilities were never made clear.
"It was very ambiguous for the board, what their role actually was," she said. "They were just told to not spend the money, whereas the city expected them to be leaders in the cultural community."
Jim Howard was managing director for six months in 2000, and says he quickly realized the organization was struggling with a "conflicting philosophy."
"I didn't want anything to do with the crap that was going on," Howard said. "There just wasn't cohesiveness there. I don't think it had a direction at the time."
Nathoo said the arts council may have lost its way gradually, over the years, as other arts groups emerged with similar areas of interest, such as Gateway Theatre and the Richmond Art Gallery.
Williams suspects the city took over the arts programs as a way to fund its arts strategy, which is currently being developed through workshops with stakeholders and is expected to come to council this fall.
"I have a feeling...that this had been discussed behind closed doors for a long time."
Williams has been attending the meetings and is pleased by some of what she sees, but is also concerned about whether the arts council will still have a mandate.
Fernyhough said the arts council could continue to play a central role, and could help in the delivery of the plans and initiatives outlined in the arts strategy.
Coun. Linda Barnes, the council liaison to the arts council, said the arts strategy could reinvigorate an arts group that has for many years struggled for a clear sense of direction.
For now, Williams says the biggest challenge the arts council faces is finding new ways to raise money.
"Or we decide it isn't worth fighting about, and fold our tent and disappear."
Fernyhough said she hopes the city and the arts council can find a resolution without resorting to the courts.
"It's certainly a waste of everyone's time and money to be litigating over this."
Fishing for business
Long-time fishermen turn to charters to stay afloat
Philip Raphael, Staff Reporter
When you can't go fishing for salmon, you drop your lines and hopefully lure the tourists.
That's the strategy three Steveston fishermen have been using for the past five years as opportunities to land a worthwhile salmon catch have dwindled or even become nonexistent, and the charter business has grown to be more than just a way of making ends meet. It has, for some, become a necessity to stay financially buoyant.
The trio of Steveston-based fishermen, Lloyd Nakade, Rick Thompson and Bob Morimoto, joined forces in 1997 after spending more than three decades in the fishing industry to form Steveston Seabreeze Adventures.
During their time as commercial fishermen they rode the industry's highs and lows, but began to see their livelihoods slip away and future opportunities diminish when federal fishery authorities started paring down the number of licence holders who were competing for a perceived dwindling resource.
"I've been fishing since I was a kid," said Nakade, who would go out with his father, who was a shipwright. "During the summer holidays I'd go fishing with him. In those days you could fish for about six or seven days a week. Not like now when you're lucky if you get two days out of the whole year."
Fishing also runs deep in Morimoto's family. He would go out with his father and uncle when he was young.
"I worked on a packer when I was 16. And by the time I was 18, I bought my first boat," he said.
While that rapid ascension is almost unheard of today, Morimoto said, "You can still fish for a living in the north, but here in the south, it's not life as it used to be."
Finding themselves in a similar plight with hundreds of other fishermen who had to eke out an existence filled with massive overhead costs and little chance to fish, the three explored the charter business.
"When the government started to buy back some of the licences, we thought, hey let's sell them so we can keep our boats and take people fishing," Morimoto said.
Each of them now runs their 12-passenger, 40-foot, aluminum-hulled super skiffs in a dual role as a charter boat as well as herring season commercial fishboat. The charter season stretches from April to October.
And surprisingly, many of their customers are locals, some of whom own their own boats, but find it more cost effective to charter a vessel than run their own.
The majority of their charters ferry customers to the Gulf Islands, running from Gabriola to Saturna Islands.
"It's scenic and sheltered. It works well because the boat is fast enough (about 22 knots) to get you out there in about one hour and 15 minutes," Thompson said. "And that leaves you a good day's fishing before you have to come back.
"We want to do more whale watching, more of the eco-tourism thing like river cruising and sports fishing, although that's also getting increasingly more difficult to do these days," Thompson added.
The cost per person runs around $80, depending on the number of people in a party, for a charter that lasts roughly eight hours.
Today, the split between commercial fishing and the charter work is approaching an even keel.
"But it's sometimes hard to say," Thompson said. "With the fishing industry the way it is now there's a lot of fluctuation between the good and the bad years. But we do about 50 per cent fishing and 50 per cent charters.
"It's looking like a growing business, because when you can't go fishing, what else can you do."
This season, the charter side of their business experienced an upswing thanks to the influx of visitors to Steveston for the Richmond Tall Ships 2002 event.
"Tall ships was our saving grace this year," Thompson said of the Aug. 8-12 event.
"We got a lot of interest from people wanting to charter the boats, and that filled the gaps in our schedule, allowed us to pay some bills, and held us together.
"Overall, the charter business has kept us out on the water doing what we love the most. And we just hope that we can build on it."
Business Notes
Steveston Seabreeze Adventures
Tel: 604-272-7200
Fax: 604-272-7999
Web site: www.seabreezeadventures.com
Senior gets 'new' tricycle after old one stolen
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
Richmond's cycling granny is smiling once again.
Last month, The Richmond Review featured the story of Bela Krejci, an 89-year-old resident whose specialized tricycle was stolen from the secured underground parkade of her Buswell Road apartment.
The theft was devastating for Krejci, who had just undergone hip replacement surgery. The tricycle was her only means of doing errands, such as shopping for groceries, and exercising.
When Richmond's Joseph Ng read about Krejci's plight in The Richmond Review, he immediately thought of his father.
Ng's father Kuen passed away in August and had a barely-used tricycle that was now just weathering away in the back yard. Ng contacted Paul Vesicek, Krejci's son-in-law, and gave the tricycle to Krejci.
"I was very happy that there are good people out there who responded in a very nice fashion," Vesicek said this week. Another person also offered the use of a tricycle, but that tricycle wasn't the right fit.
Ng said his family was glad to help out, something that made them "feel very great."
City to set pet store regulations
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
For the first time, Richmond pet stores will be regulated to ensure the health and welfare of the animals they sell.
At general purposes committee Monday, council gave unanimous approval for a set of bylaw amendments addressing how animals in pet stores are stored, handled and cared for.
"In conducting our research, staff were somewhat amazed that, with the exception of...the City of North Vancouver, no other Lower Mainland municipalities have any regulations in place," Alan Clark, zoning manager, wrote in his report.
Under the new regulations, pet store operators must ensure the employees who care for the animals have proper knowledge and training for the task. In addition to ensuring the basics of proper living conditions, feeding and sanitary conditions, pet store operators are also required to provide a segregated area for injured or ill animals and ensure their veterinary care.
The regulations were developed on the recommendation of the city's Cat and Dog Companion Animal Task Force, and in consultation with the SPCA.
Pet store operators will also be required to keep a record of all animals offered for sale, including where the animals come from.
This information will assist the SPCA in ensuring animals are not obtained through "puppy mills," breeding facilities where the emphasis is on volume, and living and sanitary conditions are often substandard.
"We just want to make sure the animals are well taken care of," Clark said.
2002 Landscape and Gardens Contest
Richmond's gardens get saluted
The winners of the City of Richmond's 2002 Landscape and Gardens Contest were announced at a special awards ceremony at Gateway Theatre on Thursday.
There were 126 entrants in 21 different categories.
Alternative Garden
Watergarden/Commercial
1st place-Hawaiian Botanicals
Watergarden/Backyard Pond
Legacy awardColin McIvor
1. Jan Collins and John Pedersen
2. Donna Smith
Honourable mentionsDan Cunningham, Mike Plecash
Commercial/Institutional
Business Park
1. Crestwood Corporate Centre, Darcy Brabbins
2. Sun Life Financial-Airport Executive Park, Alpha Equities
3. Richmond Corporate Centre
Community Facility
1. North Fraser Port Authority
2. Steveston Residence
Golf Course
1. Country Meadows Golf Course
Hotel
1. Accent Inns-Airport location
Restaurant
1. Delgado's Restaurant
2. Legends Pub
Shopping Centre or Small Business Store Front
1. Prickly Pear Garden
2. Steveston Heritage Market
3. Kenny Hu and Tracy Wong
Church or Temple
LegacyInternational Buddhist Society
1. Our Saviour Lutheran Church (Edita Whipple)
2. Richmond Presbyterian Church (Mary Zwick)
3. St.Joseph The Worker (Ms. Haverly)
Residential
Front
Child or Youth's Garden
Andrew Starchuk
Deon Maxwell
Matthew Starchuk
Jared Starchuk
Gaby Tesnim & Marina c/o Gaby Fawkes
Front and Back Garden
LegacyGuy Carscadden
1. Monica Soumans
2. Basil & Selma Kallner
3. Jasbir Gill
Front Garden Only
1. Wite Dietlein
2. John Vanderhoek
3. Laurie & David Gillis
Honourable MentionPhyllis Aubbe
Back Garden Only
LegacyNoelle Sarrazin
1. Kim & Tony Burns
2. Don & Rita Kennett
3. Gilles & Nancy Breton
Individual Apartment
1. Liz Van Hest
2. Katarina Neufeld
3. Audrey Tereposky
Honourable mentionNora Kitchen
Individual Townhouse
1. Edita Whipple
2. Eszter Vigh-Szekely
3. Maryann MacLean
Honourable mentionLynne Brooks
Townhouse Complex
1. Quilchena Green/Laurie Maranda
2. Huntly Wynd Estates
3. Osterley Park/Bill Foster
Apartment Complex
1. Apple Greene Park/Norman Parker
2. Brigantine Square/Helen Healey
3. Stornoway/Jennifer Luce
Community Gardening
Allotment Plot
1.. Peter Krueger
2. Margarete Bergmann
3. Rosemarie Behr
Fish boat festival returning
Steveston visitors will get chance to get first hand look at boats
Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter
A fish boat is a fish boat, right?
For anyone who's walked down the docks, they know fish boats come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with each feature serving a unique purpose.
On Sept. 27 and 28, up to 15 boats, everything from crab boats to seiners, will be open to the public during the 2nd annual Steveston Fish Boat Festival.
The festival this year is sponsored by the Steveston Rotary Club, said Pat Branch, one of the event's organizers.
"You'll be able to go on the boats, talk to the captains and find out everything you ever wanted to know about the fishing industry," she said.
The boats will be stationed at Steveston Landing, and can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. School groups will visit on Friday again this year, and have already received information packages about the event, Branch said.
Last year, about 1,000 people attended the event, she added.
"We're hoping to do better than that this year."
Festival entrance is by donation.
Patient looks for pet that was given away
After spending four months in hospital, woman learned her dog had been given away
Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter
Richmond's Nancie Pierce is on the road to a full recovery but wishes her best friend was along for the ride.
Last April, Pierce's heart stopped while she was at work, and an ensuing fall left her in a coma for two weeks.
She spent the next four months convalescing in hospital, but upon her release earlier this month she received some awful news; her dog Amber, an 11-year-old husky/wolf cross, and chihuahua Megan, had been given away.
Shortly after her accident, Pierce's colleagues at work chipped in enough money to have her two dogs cared for by a kennel for a month.
But when that money ran out, and Pierce was still in hospital, her friend, also a dog owner, took the pair in. When that arrangement didn't work out because the dogs didn't get along, the friend took Pierce's pets to the pound.
That was three months ago and now Pierce, who was released from hospital on Sept. 2, is hoping to track down the person who adopted Amber.
Pierce is comfortable with the fact that Megan has been placed in a good home, but is eager to get Amber back.
She's willing to buy that person another dog of their choice, even if it costs her a few hundred dollars.
"She's kind of human. I have conversations with her. She's a beautiful dog."
Pierce, who doesn't like to walk alone, said her recovery would be sped up by Amber's return. She thinks Amber was adopted by someone living in the New Westminster or Coquitlam area.
"I miss her."
Anyone with information about Amber is asked to call Pierce at 604-272-4056, or page Pierce's friend York at 604-623-8973.
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