Halloween goons rough up resident

Man viciously attacked by several thugs

Tia Abell, Staff Reporter

Halloween night was filled with horror for Kostyantin Rogozin and his wife after he was pulled from his car and smashed in the face with brass knuckles.

Now Richmond RCMP hope some of the many witnesses will come forward with information on the attackersmost of whom are thought to have come from a party in the 8600 block of Bennett Road.

At 9:45 p.m. on Friday, Rogozin and his wife, Valentina, were driving home southbound on St. Albans Road (at Bennett) when the windshield of their burgundy Mazda 626 was egged. When Valentina Rogozin, who was driving, stopped the car because of poor visibility, the car was surrounded by about 15 to 20 young adults. One man opened the passenger door.

Rogozin told what happened next during a press conference at the Richmond RCMP detachment yesterday.

Five days after the attack, the Richmond resident's eyes still have black circles below them, his nose is swollen and slightly crooked, and he has a thick purple wound that required eight stitches running down the centre of his forehead.

"I told them, what are you doing, you guys?" Rogozin said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Immediately he hit me with a punch to my face; this guy had brass knuckles...it was so painful and the blood flowed into my eye.

"Then one of these attackers took my right leg and tried to pull me from the car."

Two men took turns punching Kostyantin rapidly in the face. Rogozin struggled to keep himself in the car while being pummeled and pulled by three men, and called to his wife to drive.

"I told her to please go, but she stayed without moving until they gave us some space. She said she was afraid to damage one of them."

She honked the horn and other cars drove by, but no one stopped. Rogozin doesn't blame them.

"I understand (why) they don't stop when a car with 15 people are around it, it's very dangerous to stop."

Asked what he thinks about his attackers, Rogozin said he doesn't know them but they are probably people without goals in life.

"These people damage me but they (have) punched themselves already."

About $3,000 damage was done to the car by others in the groupincluding womenas the attack progressed. Today, Rogozin is on leave from work and is taking pain killers and antidepressants. He says he still can't sleep well because he sees his attackers' "painted faces" before his eyes and suffers from headaches and nausea.

Rogozin was accompanied by his 14-year-old son, Kostyantin, during the press conference. His wife was supposed to attend but was still too distraught from the attack.

RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said the beating was "a random, unprovoked vicious attack by a group of cowards. There were many individuals who witnessed this attack and know who is responsible. We are urging these individuals to think of what they would feel if this happened to one of their family members. They were just driving home and were suddenly swarmed by 15-20 people...any one of us could experience this."

Thiessen said swarming attacks aren't common in Richmond.

"The community doesn't need to be concerned that a group of individuals are roaming around the community assaulting people."

Rogozin, who immigrated to Richmond from Russia in 1996, said his family was still proud to be Canadian.

"We believe this is the safest country in the world. Unfortunately I was involved in this attack and feel it is my duty to tell (the public) because of this violence."

Asked what he thought would happen if he had been pulled from the car, Rogozin said, "I think they would kill me."

Several of the people are thought to have returned to the party after the attack.

The suspects include three Caucasian males and one Asian male aged 20 to 22 and clean-shaven.

One Caucasian male was about 5-foot-8, thin, with short brown wavy hair and was wearing a yellow T-shirt and white sneakers; another was about the same height and weight but had a round face and medium-length dark, straight hair.

He wore a dark blue jacket and dark pants.

The third Caucasian male was about 5'9", with a long face, medium-length brown wavy hair, thin build, and wore a dark jacket with a light sweater underneath.

The Asian male was about 5'8" and had medium-length dark hair. He was wearing a dark suit.

Police ask anyone with information to call Const. Carla Rivard at 604-278-1212 or Crimestoppers at 604-669-TIPS.

Access to city complaint report denied

A request by The Richmond Review for a copy of Paul Fairweather's report on his investigation into complaints of harassment and wrongdoing in the city's public works department has been denied.

Fairweather was hired by the city in response to several allegations of misconduct, including falsifying timesheets, unnecessary use of and double- and triple-paying contractors.

When the investigation was complete, a press release was issued by the city stating the allegations could not be substantiated. However, Fairweather's executive summary, obtained by the Review acknowledged the merit of some allegations and the presence of erroneous timesheets and documents suggesting multiple billing for hired equipment. But in the first instance, Fairweather wrote it was impossible to identify the responsible individuals and in the second case, the documents were "contradicted by other, more reliable records."

The Review's request for the entire 34-page report was made last month, under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

A letter from city clerk Richard McKenna states:

"Mr. Fairweather, a partner in the law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, was retained as legal counsel for the City of Richmond to conduct an investigation and to provide legal advice to the city based on his findings.

"The requested report is subject to solicitor client privilege and is therefore withheld in its entirety under Section 14 of the (Act)."

Province won't intervene in Riverport dispute

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

The province will not intervene in a dispute between the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the City of Richmond regarding a redevelopment plan at Riverport.

The regional district had asked the province to resolve whether a proposed residential development in the area required a GVRD-approved amendment to Richmond's Regional Context Statement.

This statement is Richmond's blueprint of where it will focus future growth. All GVRD municipalities have prepared similar statements to assist with the planning of future regional infrastructure such as roads and transit.

Richmond's statement discourages residential development in areas not previously established and supported by full infrastructure and services. The proposed project calls for 240 units of rental housing and condominiums, as well as athletes' dormitories and offices.

The City of Richmond initially had asked the GVRD to approve an amendment to its context statement, and it was rejected by a narrow margin. But after receiving legal opinion, the city accepted a new, and slightly different, rezoning application from the proponent and decided that it conformed to the regional context statementand hence did not require regional approval.

The province has confirmed that the power is in Richmond's hands.

"It is the (Community Services) Ministry's conclusion that the onus is on Richmond to either trigger dispute resolution or to make a local decision that a change to its Official Community Plan is consistent with its regional context statement," the minister, George Abbott, wrote in a letter to GVRD board chair Marvin Hunt.

Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the minister's letter affirms the position of city council.

"Our council has always been confident that the city's position was consistent with the defined process and the intent of the legislation," Brodie said in a prepared statement. "Land use always remains an area of local jurisdiction."

The Riverport project is scheduled to come forward for final review by council on Monday.

Councillor hopes city has energy to find savings

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Coun. Rob Howard is hoping to see some energy efficient initiatives added to the capital budget when deliberations of the 2004 budgets continue Nov. 18.

Howard pointed to upgrades such as adding solar heating for the pools at Watermania and Minoru Aquatic Centre ($200,000) and other Power Smart projects totalling an additional $673,000.

But the city hasn't completed working out the business case yet. Although these items are not listed in the staff report under "recommended," he'd like to see the money set aside, in case the savings projections prove accurate and the savings offset the costs.

"That's my hope," Howard said.

He added that he wasn't prepared to support a further investment of $250,000 in the Britannia Heritage Shipyard (a recommended item) until he'd seen "the overall business plan."

The proposed 2004 capital plan has a value of $40.5 million. It is funded solely through collected development cost charges and casino funding.

Recommended projects include road, water main and drainage works totalling $17.5 million. Also included is the Brighouse library renovation ($2.9 million) and the replacement of the Minoru Park fieldhouse and caretaker suite ($565,000).

City council is expected to debate the capital, utility and operating budgets at the Nov. 18 meeting.

Richmond has `big city' challenges

Tia Abell, Staff Reporter

Results from early childhood development research conducted last February in Richmond show a higher level of poverty here than the popular stereotype would suggest, says Richmond's acting superintendent of schools.

Bruce Beairstro summarized the results from the Early Development Indicator Assessment at Monday's Richmond school board meeting.

Conducted by Clyde Hertzman, the research is meant to show the readiness of children in Richmond to enter Kindergarten.

"This is a snapshot of Kindergarten, a good example of the power and weakness of data," Beairstro said, noting the information needed to be studied and interpreted. "The thing doesn't speak for itself."

Regarding poverty, Beairstro said the study showed Richmond's rate of poverty was higher than Surrey's or Burnaby's.

"(Hertzman) says there's such a focus on Vancouver, to the neglect of other communities," Beairsto said.

"If you want a more rational allocation of resources you need to look at (all communities)."

The research measures children at risk through their families (income, parent education and parenting style), the safety of their neighbourhood, and their access to quality care including child care, medical programs and family support programs.

While the findings show good levels in physical health in Richmond families, the number of children who are at risk according to the EDI scale is surprisingly high and contrary to the image of Richmond children as not experiencing the same risks as those in Vancouver.

Richmond children show "big city" behavioral challenges at levels similar to Vancouver, and socialization difficulties less than Vancouver but more than shown in typical rural communities, the report said.

The research also shows between nine per cent and 32 per cent of children in Richmond were vulnerable in one or more of the risk-indication areas.

Beairstro said the findings indicate governments should look not only at the percentage of children at risk, but at the total of number of children in each neighbourhood when assessing the need for early childhood services.

"There are at-risk children in every community."

Other points particular to Richmond include a high and relatively uniform level of education among parents compared to other communities; a low transiency level; and an extremely high number of households where English is not the primary language.

Beairstro noted that soon each school in Richmond would receive its own data.

The research is based on a 40-year study conducted in Britain that concluded influences and experiences in preschool years have a lasting effect through a person's lifetime.

According to a study conducted by the Richmond Community Services Advisory Council last year, more than one-fifth of Richmond residents live below the poverty line.

Rideau Park area residents given hope for parking problem

Tia Abell, Staff Reporter

Residents of Rideau Park are at least partly appeased regarding possible traffic generated by their new adult learning centre.

That's thanks to trustees Chak Au and Patricia Whittaker's suggestions during Monday's school board meeting to seek an agreement for parking space with Broadmoor Baptist Church.

"(The church) is within walking distance of the school and I counted about 110 parking spaces there," Au said. "The church may say no, but I think this is worth exploring."

The centre of the controversy, the Rideau Park Adult Learning Centre sits within three subdivisions and occupies the former Rideau Park Elementary School.

The school was among four school sites closed last summer by the school district for budgetary reasons due to declining enrolment.

This week, the centre's first adult education courses beganalthough low enrolment made only one class certain to run.

Rideau Park Community Committee spokesperson Rick Townsend said he feels the meeting marked the first time the trustees have listened to resident's concerns regarding possible heavy traffic, lack of parking, and the lack of stated limits for the centre's growth.

"There are only 20 parking spots in the school's lots and they think 80 to 100 cars may come through," Townsend said. "We asked, where are you going to put them, in front of our homes?"

Another worry for residents was the lack of clear communication, he said.

Townsend emphasized that the Rideau Park Community Committee was only against the centre's location, not continuing education.

Bruce Beairstro, the district's acting superintendent of schools, said it was impossible to know how problematic the traffic situation would be beforehand, and that the district would monitor the situation.

Seagull delays Air China flight

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

A China Air 747 carrying 401 passengers and crew was forced to abort a takeoff Tuesday morning when a seagull collided with the plane's windshield.

"The pilot quickly slammed on the brakes, so to speak," said Ali Hounsell, spokesperson with the Vancouver International Airport Authority.

At about 11:45 a.m., the plane was taking off on the south runway in the direction of Georgia Strait when the incident occurred. Hounsell was unable to say whether the plane's nose was already lifting at the time.

"He was going at a good clip," she said.

The pilot redirected the plane to the right onto a taxiway, blowing two tires in the process.

The plane had not been unloaded as of 2 p.m., and was being taxied in so the tires could be replaced, Hounsell said. The plane was also to be inspected to determine whether it was safe to continue, or whether the flight should be cancelled.

Bird-plane collisions are common at the airport, and almost always without any concern of danger to the aircraft.

There have been 56 strikes reported by pilots so far this year, Hounsell said. This is a significant decrease from the last three years, which have averaged about 92 at this time, she added.

Hounsell said this is likely the worst incident involving birds this year.

Conflicts between birds and aircraft can have very serious consequence, besides the obvious impact on the birds. In the worst cases, their bodies can smash a windshield or interfere with engines.

"That's why we undertake a comprehensive wildlife program at the airport," Hounsell said.

Airport staff adjust the habitat around the runways to make it unattractive for birds, for instance. They also employ devices, such as noisemakers, do move the birds away.

And if other methods prove unsuccessful, the birds are killed.

The airport's record on total bird kills is actually declining. According to statistics released in March 2002, the totals declined from 3,234 in 1999 to 2,793 in 2000, to 1,239 in 2001. Most of the kills for 2001 were ducks (546), crows (162) and starlings (146).

Author takes Ralphy to space

Wanda Chow, MetroValley News

Unlike most students, when Trevor Lai asked a question in business classes at Simon Fraser University, it was usually related to something he was grappling with in real life.

Lai, after all, has been writing, illustrating and publishing his own series of children's books since he was 17. Now 23, Lai says he made the most of the resources available to him while he completed his degree, in which he majored in business administration and marketing and minored in publishing.

After graduating from SFU earlier this year, the Richmond resident says he had the choice of getting a well-paying job or finally pursuing his passion for creating children's books on a full-time basis. He chose the latter. "Now I'm going to try this for real."

Lai, who grew up in Burnaby, is far from a starving artist, however. He splits his time as co-owner of a Burnaby-based Web design company, Trillenium Design, and as a children's author and entrepreneur, currently focused on his series of Ralphy the Rhino books published through his own company, Kidmagine Books. The series includes Ralphy the Rhino and Ralphy's Dino-Adventure.

Last weekend, he was the featured author for the B.C. region celebrations of Canadian Children's Book Week in Vancouver, where the latest installment, Ralphy in Space! Part 1, was launched.

It's a far cry from Lai's start in 1998 with his first book: 20 hand-painted copies of the first Ralphy volume. Since then, he estimates he'll have sold a total of 20,000 copies of his various works by the end of this year, including 12,000 copies of a Captain C crime prevention book he produced for the RCMP and 8,000 copies of the Ralphy books.

Like a true entrepreneur, he's managed to get his books into about 100 bookstores across the country, including about 80 Chapters-Indigo stores. He does readings at schools and says he answers all his fan mail, and even incorporates their ideas into his work. In fact, Ralphy in Space includes turtle siblings Tim and Tiffany, based on fans he met during a reading at McKenzie school in Vancouver.

From the beginning, Lai's focus has been on being his own boss. Last weekend's book launch is a prime example, he said. It all started when he decided to host an event to mark Ralphy's fifth anniversary. He utilized some of the contacts he's made over the years and "all the pieces fell into place ...It's a microcosm of what's happened with my publishing career, I guess. I wanted to do things on my own."

He is appreciative of the help he's had along the way. Lai notes that he has kept in touch with his Grade 12 English teacher, Lorraine Meltzer, who served as editor of Ralphy in Space. Even she became attached enough to the characters and book that they had to call in a more objective opinion, Lai's older sister Leslie. He credits her with pointing out some weaknesses in earlier drafts which he rectified.

Eventually, he hopes to develop other books featuring a stable of characters he's got on the backburner, and to produce products in other media, such as television and video games, something his young fans have been asking about.

For now, he's enjoying being his own boss, noting the latest book includes a fold-out illustration which let him spread his creative wings.

"It costs more, but I get to decide the budget. It's all about freedom—creative freedom, social freedom, financial freedom."

Bridging Lulu's past with the present

Tia Abell, Staff Reporter

• River Crossings at Richmond Museum (7700 Minoru Gate)
• Opens tonight and runs to June 2004
• The museum is open weekdays 9 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. and weekends, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Info: 604-231-6457.

Those who don't remember the 1950s may be surprised to learn that at one time, folks thought the $16-million George Massey Tunnel was a foolish expenditure.

That was back in 1959 when the tunnel opened $7 million over budget and to apparently low usage, according to Marilyn Clayton, exhibit co-ordinator at Richmond Museum.

"Photos were published showing the tunnel's toll booth with only a couple of cars in the line," Clayton says.

"People questioned whether this was a wise thing to build at such an expenditurebut now we could have used a tunnel twice as big."

Such is the luxury of hindsight, a quality in large supply in Richmond Museum's new show opening today: River Crossings, an exhibit of Richmond's 15 crossings including bridges, ferries and the tunnel, past and present.

At the exhibit's entrance, a wooden foot bridge sets the theme, backed up by a Vancouver Maritime Museum model of the MS Motor Princess, the pre-B.C. Ferries ferry that ran from Steveston to Sidney on Vancouver Island. The show also includes a mural-sized GIS (Geographic Information Systems) image of Richmond and its bridges, done with help from the city's planning department, as well as archival photographs of bridges long gone.

Clayton notes Richmond has become a booming community since the late 1950sthe time when the Oak Street Bridge (1957) and the tunnel (1959) were built.

"The combination of these two has made transportation from Vancouver easier. If you think about the population explosion, it's happened in less than 45 years. That's why people should come (to the exhibit)to see the changes in the crossings of our waterways with bridges and tunnels. The technological changes are huge."

The $10 million Oak Street Bridge signaled the demise of the Marpole Bridge, an old wooden swing bridge designed for horse and wagon and known in the 1930s as the "most opened bridge in North America."

The first bridge linking Richmond with Vancouver, the Marpole Bridge was initially built in 1889but required rebuilding several times after being wiped out by wayward barges and ice floes.

Its swing mechanism was also notoriously unreliable and frequently tested tempers.

Thus after the opening of the Oak Street Bridge, the Marpole Bridge was towed to Seymour Creek, cut apart and recycled into ramps. Today, the $23-million Arthur Laing Bridge (1976) crosses the Fraser in nearly the same spot.

The second bridge connecting Richmond with Vancouver was the Fraser Avenue Bridge, built in 1894. Also known as the North Arm Bridge, the No. 5 Road Bridge and the Twigg Island Bridge, it was another shaky wooden swing bridge victimized by ice and out-of-control barges.

"This exhibit shows the history of bridge engineering," Clayton says. "A lot of old bridges had centre spans low to the water, so they had to be swing bridges. But because of this, they caused bottlenecks on the roads when they were closed, or bottlenecks on the rivers when they were open.

"The oldtimers remember waiting to cross the bridges."

Ferries, too, used to be integral to transportation in Richmond. Before a tunnel crossing was ever dreamt of by the Delta machine shop owner and MLA George Massey, the Woodwards Landing ferry (1914 - 1959) connected Richmond and Delta. Ferries also transported farmers and others to markets in Marpole and New Westminster.

"Before the tunnel," Clayton says, "people took the ferry or they drove up Enderby hill to New Westminster. If it got really foggy, you'd get stuck and have to stay in town."

The most recent bridge build in the Richmond area is the No. 2 Road Bridge, opened in 1993 at a cost of $39 million. Built with massive underpinnings, it's said to be earthquake proof.

"Just to see the technological changes, the materials, advancements and stipulations through (the history of crossings) is very interesting," Clayton says. "A big part about how our community has changed is because of access to the islands."

—Bob Sexsmith discusses "On Crossing the Fraser" as part of the museum's Island Heritage Talks Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.

The flying fiddler

Kenny Wong wins major national youth talent contest

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Kenny Wong has found a faithful companion in the fiddle.

Two years ago, it was there with him in the palliative care ward when his father, James, was dying of liver cancer.

"Kenny used to go to the hospital every day after school and play for his dad and any patients around," says Lorraine Grescoe, who has taught the 13-year-old violin since he was six. "They loved him."

Kenny played some "slow and sad" music but also a lot of lively fiddle tunes, too. He says he enjoyed doing it "because it allowed my dad to enjoy my music, too."

His fiddle was also there last Friday night, when he learned that he had placed first in the 14th annual National Youth Talent Awards held in Regina, Sask. The award, for youth 13-23, came with a cash prize of $3,000which Kenny can add to the $3,000 he won at the qualifier, the PNE Youth Talent Search in August.

Kenny is one of those kids who thrives in a specific area, but excels in many others, too. He's a student in the enriched program of McNair's Mini School, and until now has consistently earned top marks in his classes. He also recently received a trophy recognizing him as the top all-around Navy League Cadet.

On the fiddle, he helps form the core of the Fraser River Fiddlers, the Richmond-based kids fiddle group which Grescoe leads.

"He really loves the violin," she says. "He's pretty good at everything, and I think the violin offers a bit of a challenge."

Kenny says he loves classical music, but "mostly a variety because I love all kinds of music."

That's why he chose to play William Kroll's "Banjo and Fiddle" for solo violin in Regina, a song that combines both fiddling and classical styles.

"I think that's my favourite song that I've played so far," he says.

Kenny is currently tutoring a group of six new fiddlers (seven- and eight-year-olds) at Grescoe's house on Saturdays, schooling them in how to play as an ensemble, and also to learn the choreography.

Grescoe describes an incident a few weeks ago:

"I came downstairs because it was so quiet and I said `what's going on?'"

She soon realized they were still playing. The group of them were playing "Waltzing Matilda" and Kenny had challenged them to see how low they could play.

"They were playing super quiet, because it says diminuendo (gradually diminish) at the end. He wanted to see how quiet they could get," she says.

"They loved it. He's a real leader. I think so, anyway. He gives you the impression he's terribly serious but he really does have quite a sense of humour."

His sister, Winnie, 14, often accompanies him on the pianoas she did in Regina.

"I like playing with my brother," she says. "It's just the connection we have playing together. It's a lot of fun, too."

She's now teaching him piano, as he is required to have Grade 6 level piano in order to receive standing as an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto.

He's already completed his harmony and history requirements, Grescoe says.

"It's (almost) unheard of that somebody so young would complete this," she says, in reference to the lofty accreditation, and adding that his sister's help has been instrumental.

"She's very much a part of his success, I think."

Kenny agrees.

Grescoe says she knows Kenny's dad is watching.

And he's proud.

—Wong is the second Richmond resident in two years to win the contest, which helped launch the careers of singer Michael BublŽ, and country music recording artist Lisa Brokop.

In 2001, the winner was singer Lisa Ehrlich of Richmond.

Kenny Wong's rendition of William Kroll's `Banjo and Fiddle' for solo violin won him the 14th annual National Youth Talent Awards held in Regina, Sask.

Dive team surfaces

New rescue group now fully equipped, has backup team

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

A new, full service dive team that became fully operational last week comes 15 months too late for the five people who died in the Cap Rouge II disaster.

But Canadian Coast Guard officials are confident a new, 24-hour dive team based at their Sea Island base will save lives in the future, and will justify the additional $1.2 million cost.

"This is something the people of British Columbia demanded," said Terry Tebb, the Coast Guard's regional director, at a press conference Thursday.

The change is significant, and makes the base unique in Canada as having the only "full service" dive rescue team. This means there are always a three-person dive team and a second three-person backup team on duty, 24 hours a day.

A week ago, the last of 18 new divers completed their seven-week training course, bringing the full complement to 24. Before, because of labour code regulations, high risk callssuch as with an overturned vessel and the risk of entanglement in riggingcould require the calling in of a backup crew from as far away as Comox.

On Aug. 13, 2002, five Galiano Island residents were killed when the fishing boat Cap Rouge II flipped over about 12 kilometres off Steveston.

Divers responded, but were prevented from entering the submerged ship because of Coast Guard policy.

With backup immediately available, the decision to enter an overturned vessel can now be made on the spot, Tebb said.

Crews are also equipped with surface-air, which means less-bulky equipment to carry on their backs. It eliminates the need to monitor a pressure gauge and, most of all, it means they can stay below the surface indefinitely.

Training for new divers included underwater salvageinvolving such things as cutting chains underwater with zero visibilityand five days of rescue scenarios, "rescuing people alive" from submerged vehicles, downed aircraft and capsized vessels.

Delta-South Richmond Canadian Alliance MP John Cummins said it's inaccurate to call the new dive team full service because the base isn't fully effective without a second hovercraft, which won't arrive until spring.

The vessel on site, the Siyay, requires servicing from time-to-time and cannot be expected to be available for 24 hour duty, Cummins added.

Cummins also said the new vessel is not equipped with a bow rampsomething he says is essential for divers.

"If there's not an adequate dive platform, then the announcement is meaningless," he said.

Meanwhile, senior dive instructor Tim McFarlane said morale among the divers is very high and they are enthusiastic about the upgraded program.

"We embraced the whole thing," he said. "I can assure you...they have absolute passion to do this type of work."

If this team had been in place 15 months ago, could any lives have been saved?

"I don't believe so," Tebb said, adding that there were no air pockets found in the boat, making survival highly unlikely. "The Transport Safety (Board's) report is being released on the 20th of November. That report should answer these questions."

According to McFarlane, when crews are called out to an overturned vessel, the first thing they do is assess the stability of the vessel: Is it sinking or buoyant? Then they ensure that all the boat's rigging and entryways are secured.

If these checks are confirmed, the diver would enter the submerged vessel.

Tebb didn't have much to say about why it took more than a year to bring the new program into service.

"It's a public policy decision for starters," he said, adding that there are reasons why there is no program like it in the country, citing the cost and high risk to personnel.

Richmond Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido said the team is very important for Rich-mond and Coast Guard base upgrades could bring the city to the "forefront of a lot of innovative work" in future.

The Norman conquest

Norman Wrigglesworth celebrates 20 years of sending an anti-tobacco surface-to-air missive

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

On a United Airlines flight to Miami about eight years ago, Norman Wrigglesworth was disturbed by a man smoking a cigarette.

He said as much, and the man stopped.

But 20 minutes later, the man was smoking again.

"I threw my juice at him," recalls Richmond's foremost non-smoking crusader and watchdog against government wastage. "But I missed him, and I got two ladies."

In that case, the women forgave him. But to his chagrin, the airline refused to take action against the smoking man.

Norman wears his non-smoking crusade on his sleeve, and he also wears it in a home made badge on his yellow rain-slicker, in a nickel-sized button on his time-worn blue baseball cap and most of all, in the "world largest non-smoking sign" he has on the roof of his home at 5540 No. 1 Rd.

On Wednesday afternoon, about 50 residents and children from Thompson and Spul'u'kwuks elementary schools came out for a cake-cutting ceremony to honour the sign's 20th anniversary.

Norman, who once ran for mayor, is known to many in Richmond, and is a frequent speaker to Richmond city council. He is quick to point out anything he feels smacks of frivolous spending, large or small.

But when it comes to smoking, he's particularly keen on speaking his mind.

On a cruise a few years ago, he admonished a woman for smoking in the non-smoking section. A couple days later two men, presumably her friends, threw Norman in the swimming pool.

He tells the story almost wistfully, his blue eyes seeming to twinkle above a boyish grin that always seems to smack of just a little mischief.

On Wednesday, a five-piece band played. Norman sang "Sons of the Sea," a Scottish song from his days serving as an able seaman in England's Royal Navy during the Second World War. And they cut a cake that Norman commissioned from the foods class at Richmond High, iced with a non-smoking sign and the words "cancer stick" on the cigarette.

Unfortunately, the event won't make the Guinness Book of World Recordssomething Norman's been aiming at for years.

"I was hoping to get a huge crowd there to have the Biggest Cake-Cutting Ceremony but it fizzled out," he laments.

He's already tried to get his non-smoking sign (12-feet, one inch in diameter!) in the book.

But ironically, Norman says, the biggest sign is 485 feet or so and "it's promoting cigarettes, you see."

Born in South Kirby, Yorkshire more than 77 years ago, Norman has overcome odds that suggest conquering smoking might just be possible.

Living hungry in the "Dirty Thirties," he says he found the best food scraps in the trash bin next to the post office. The postmen, he says, threw out the nicest bread. At the age of 10, he was fatherless, when his dad, a signalman for London Northeastern Railways, was killed on the job. Norman ended up in an orphanage, a place he says was touted as the best in the England.

"I said `My God if that's the best, God help the worst.'"

Norman's job was to polish the floors. "The headmaster would wallop you on the backside with a big cane, good or bad," he says.

But it was there that he learned the value of conserving: to save hot water it was always two-to-a-tub and the kids were in bed at dusk to save electricity.

"I guess (it was) the early teaching," he confirms. "Waste not want not, you see."

He was 17 when he joined the Navy. Tobacco was supplied cheap, and it was there that Norman developed the filthy habit.

He came to Canada in 1953, and Richmond became his home in 1956, the year he married his wife, Shirley.

But the beginning of his other defining passion came about 20 years later, in the office of his doctor. Norman was complaining of a "flu or something" and the doctor said something similar to what smokers have heard the world over.

"He said `Norman, you must quit smoking or you'll die. It's no good for you.'"

Norman quit immediately.

"It was just like pointing a gun at me."

Today, the retired carpenter is a walking advertisement for good health. He's been on bike tours in Japan, New Zealand, Arizona, the Netherlands and Australia, and often can be seen cycling all over Richmond. He takes cruises in the Caribbean and the Baltic Sea.

He does both ballroom and square dancing. He belongs to a singing group.

It's clear that the anti-smoking crusadewhich started mere months after he kicked the habitwill continue indefinitely.

Helicopter pilots based at Sea Island have told Norman they sometimes use his roof-top sign as a navigation device, knowing their landing pad is across the water.

Perhaps someday that will be the sign's purpose and nothing more.

City seeks public input on Imperial waterfront

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

by

Staff Reporter

Residents will soon be asked their opinion of three visions for a plot of city-owned land on the Steveston waterfront, the former site of B.C. Packers' Imperial Cannery.

In a recent workshop, consultants and city staff prepared the three options for the site, all incorporating commercial and residential development.

Development applications manager Joe Erceg predicts the public will be impressed with the proposals.

"We're pretty keen about this," he said. "It's a wonderful piece of waterfront."

Two public meetings are expected to be held later this month. The input gleaned will be incorporated into an "optimal scenario" for the site, Erceg said.

Coun. Harold Steves said most of the proposals include marina facilities.

Also, all three plans suggest putting buildings on piles on the water lots, which are located immediately east of the foot of No. 1 Road, he added.

"The big question is how you pay for these things" Steves said. "And one way is to put housing on a pier."

Though Steves said the idea of having residential development over the water "didn't excite me very much," he added that he "thought all three of (the proposals) were pretty good."

Steves assured that regardless, any city-led development on this property would include a public walkway around its perimeter.

The three options are being presented as an alternative to the original area plan, which designates the site for mixed maritime use, largely light industrial zoning for enterprises geared to the fishing industry.

But both Steves and Erceg said supply-type businesses appear to be consolidating or shutting their doors, and other uses for the area should be considered.

As the ideas are still in the concept phase, no developers are being considered at this time.

In October 2002, local developer Doug Day pitched a plan to build a restaurant, marina and fish market on the property.

At the time, Day said he had engaged as partner Brent Davies, who owns the Coal Harbour restaurant Cardero's, the Teahouse in Stanley Park, Season's in Queen Elizabeth Park and the Sandbar on Granville Island.

Where special children come to play

But Carefree Society needs volunteers to keep going

Tia Abell, Staff Reporter

The first time Lynda Bennett saw her two-year-old daughter Kira play was at the Carefree Society's playgroup.

"When my daughter first came here, it was like a room full of grandmasI shouldn't discriminate because there are grandpas toobut it was all that warmth and love. I could see them hugging kids, changing diapers, and as a new mom they shushed me away and said, `no, you take a break.'"

While her now four-year-old daughter is recovering from the stroke she had as an infant, Bennett says the Carefree Society helped her family survive the tough times.

And she's just one parent among many who have relied upon the twice weekly playgroup for more than 33 years.

Designed for children aged three and under who have special needs or who come from families with special needs, the program offers welcome respite to parents and caregivers.

"Every child here has a story," says Bennett, the society's co-ordinator. "There's a reason for every child who's here. For families with children with special needs, it gives their families a break. These women are so humble, but they're the reason my family survived."

Yet this volunteer-run resource may not be available much longer.

The wait list has nine names on itbut that's only because they've stopped taking more.

"Our core of volunteers is shrinking," Bennett says. "How we see it, we're going to be out of business in the next 12 months."

The problem is twofold. First, fewer volunteers are coming in. Fewer still can make the regular time commitment needed to support Carefree and its one-to-one ratio of volunteers to children with special needs.

Eddie Bevandick, a Carefree volunteer for 21 years, says getting new volunteers is the main problem.

"When we started, we took over from the older gals but we're not getting a new base (of volunteers)."

In the past, the group has had as many as 20 volunteers; now Carefree has about 14 regulars, five who are expected to retire from volunteering come January.

Bennett says the average age of the society's volunteers will soon be 69 or 70. Younger volunteers often have jobs or are in school and don't have much time.

"It's a different world today, grandparents are caring for kids or travelling, there's so much for them to do, we don't have the seniors coming that we used to. Carefree used to operate quietly, but now we're putting the word out that we need volunteers to continue."

If Carefree wasn't able to continue, it would be a loss on several levels. Not only does the playgroup offer respite for parents and loving attention for the kids, it offers group therapy with various health professionals such as speech therapists, physical and occupational therapists and infant development specialists.

Antonia Rozario, a community health nurse who regularly comes to the playgroup, says children with developmental or speech delays see great improvements at the sessions.

"There's a six month delay on health program speech therapybut here they can have it. They're being enriched and their families are getting support. And it's good for the parents. You know you're not alone if you have a child who's not speaking."

Carefree is also good for the volunteers.

A Carefree volunteer for 24 years, Betty Freeman says at first some of the children can't speak or walk.

"You see such improvement in these kids after a few months," she says. "You feel you give the parents so much assistance, some of (the children) don't get out much."

Peggy Little, the society's president, says she loves the kids and enjoys the camaraderie with the other volunteers.

"I feel sure three are people out there who don't know we exist, but you have to love kids, and some of our kids have problems; you have to be able to cope. But I think we get as much out of this as do the children. Carlos stood up for the first time without support today. That's a big rush when you see that."

Perhaps one of the "Grandpas" Bennett referred to earlier, George Atkinson, outlines the benefits to volunteering best. Atkinson has volunteered as a driver for three yearsalthough its clear he's happy to do more than drive, including sitting at the snack table and making youngsters smile.

"Once you start here you can't leave," he says. "You see what you can do for these kids and you see what they can do for you. It's addictive."

For volunteering information, call Lynda Bennett, 604-271-9115, or send an e-mail to carefreeplaygroup@shaw.ca.

Volunteering on the decline in Richmond

In Richmond, the proportion of the volunteering population appears to be less.

A Volunteer Richmond survey in 2001 showed only 14 per cent of local residents older than 15 volunteer (about 18,000 people); however, out of the 380 non-profit societies surveyed, only 40 per cent responded.

This statistic may not give an accurate picture of Richmond's volunteers, says Lorena Campos, volunteer services manager at Volunteer Richmond.

"Only 40 per cent replied, there must be a margin of error, but the numbers are going down and the trends are changing, too. We see people looking for more sporadic projects, not long term volunteering commitments. The youth are often exploring career options or doing their CAPP (Career and Personal Planning program) hours. Most surveys show a small number of people are doing more."

One of the greatest declines is among those with university degreesfrom 48 to 39 per cent. The majority of volunteers are women (about 65 per cent), and most are between age 35 and 50.

—by Tia Abell

Municipalities dream of Olympic gold

Cities, businesses seek to profit from Games

Julia Caranci, MetroValley News

Is there gold in the Games?

Lower Mainland municipalities and businesses are gambling the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic Games will mark an economic boom region-wide.

Premier Gordon Campbell says the key to benefiting from the Games is to start early.

"The Olympics presents an opportunity, but it does not present a guarantee. The earlier you start, the better."

To date, more than 80 communities in B.C. have local Olympic committees, including virtually every municipality in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

The committees are formed by the province, and include local MLAs, Chambers of Commerce and residents. Their purpose is to spearhead local efforts to capitalize on the Games.

Sam Corea, spokesperson for the 2010 transition committee, said the main areas municipalities should focus on are tourism and attracting business opportunities.

For example, the province has promised $40 million in capital funds for live link-up sites (stadiums featuring live television coverage of the Olympic events). A community can apply for funding to expand a sport facility and utilize it for broadcasts during the Games.

Communities can also "adopt" a team from a particular country, inviting athletes to practice there in preparation for the Games, Corea said.

The province is also developing a home-stay program where residents can offer their homes to families of athletes before and during the Games.

Campbell said putting on the Games will require much infrastructure, including training facilities, competition venues, accommodation, and sundry items- everything from sports equipment to bedding to hand-warmers.

A bidding process will take place starting in 2007 to supply the myriad items needed by athletes, trainers, families and visitors during the games.

Also, thousands of skilled tradespeople will be required to build the venues, hotels and convention centres for the athletes and several hundred thousand visitors.

In all, $510 million has been set aside to construct, renovate and expand facilities for the Games.

More than 250,000 jobs will be generated in areas such as tourism, construction and the service industry40 per cent of the newly created jobs will be outside the Lower Mainland, Campbell said.

Ultimately, Corea says it will be up to municipalities to gain what they can from the Games.

"Communities that sit back and do nothing will sit back and do nothing," he said. "They will watch the Games."

Example of items required by 2002 Winter Games Organizing Committee:

• 7,847 bath mats
• 2,342 candlesticks
• 1,769 fire extinguisher
• 2,000 night stands
• 7,709 pillows
• 7,500 hockey pucks

Fast facts:

• Television audience for the Games: 2 billion
• Total 2010 operating budget: $1.3 billion
• Number of volunteers required: 25,000
• Dates: Olympic Winter Games: February 12-28, 2010
• Paralympic Winter Games: March 12-21, 2010

AirCare fees reduced

Drivers to pay $1 less, exemptions extended

Julia Caranci , MetroValley News

TransLink's board approved a recommendation this week to reduce AirCare test fees and extend new vehicle exemptions beginning Jan. 1, 2004.

Test fees be dropped from $24 to $23, and from $48 to $47 biannually for 1992 and newer vehicles.

Also, the new vehicle exemption will be extended from two to three model years.

The regional transportation authority must reduce the vehicle emission testing program's $6.7 million and climbing surplus.

AirCare should not be running either a surplus or a deficit, as provincial government rules prohibit the use of test fees for anything other than funding the program.

The new measures are expected to reduce the surplus to about $2.8 million by Aug. 31, 2006.

Test fees and exemptions may be adjusted again before 2006 to further reduce the surfeit.

AirCare has seen higher than expected revenues because there are more new vehicles on the road.

As well, thousands of drivers each year have their vehicles tested more than once.

Coming full circle

Green family celebrates 50 years in automotive business with wheel restoration service

Philip Raphael, Staff Reporter

Bob Green's Richmond-based family business has been going around in circles for 50 years. And that's just the way he likes it.

Green's Automotive Ltd. (2165 - 21331 Gordon Way) recently celebrated five decades in operation during which time it has evolved from a hot rod shop started in 1953 by his father Blackie Green, who specialized in produced customized and race-ready cars, to today where it is one of a few independent firms that do wheel repairs and re-finishing.

Green said his father was a self-taught jack of all trades who had a passion for tweaking and restoring cars that began in a backyard garage in Vancouver.

He was also the first to open an automated car wash in the city in the Marpole area. But just as that is an accomplishment by itself, Green said his father actually built the majority of the operation's equipment and fitted it into the family's garage which was converted into a car wash.

"He was quite an entrepreneur, and all self taught," Green said. "Apart from a motor that powered the whole thing, and the Fuller Brushes he used to clean the cars, he built the entire workings."

Green began working in the family business when he was 12 and learned first-hand from his father how to weld.

But as soon as he was old enough, his father encouraged the young Green to learn the trade properly at a firm where he receive formal training.

But after a few years, Green became dissatisfied with the direction of his career and asked Blackie if he could come back to work with him in the family shop.

"And he said, `Why did it take you so long?'"

As the 1960s wound down and the economy slowed, the demand and interest for hot rods waned. So, the business had to adapt and find another avenue in the industry.

And that shifted the Greens into the wheel repair and widening business, something they had already been doing, but now focused on to make it their main pursuit.

The only speed bump in the road was that Transportation Ministry regulations, which hadn't been updated since the 1950s, did not take into account improvements in technology that made wheel repairs safe and reliable.

"We led that change," Green said. "We showed them the repairs we could make."

And that has made not only good business sense for the company but its clients as well, especially those with expensive performance cars that have wheels costing upwards of $1,000 a piece.

Green said a repair shop like his can restore a damaged wheel to its former appearance and function for a fraction of its original cost.

The following decade, the 1970s, also meant more changes for the business, including moving the business to Richmond.

Green said his father, who passed away in 1981, hoped the new surroundings would draw business from the community, as well as those already established clients from Vancouver.

And as the business grew, the shop moved from location to location in Richmond, each time getting slightly larger where today it covers about 5,000-square-feet and employs nine people.

So, what's on the road to the next 50 years in business?

Green said his childrenhis daughter works in the front office and his son is shop foremanare prepared to take on the responsibility of running the business when he retires, and likely the challenge of producing originally designed wheels, from start to finish, in their on shop.

"I can see the shop building its own wheels. We have the capability and technology."

Business Notes:

Green's Automotive Ltd.

2165 - 21331 Gordon Way

Web Site: www.greensautomotive.com

Cranberry growers predict record crop

Big bounty harvested for the second straight year

Tia Abell, Staff Reporter

Growers predict a record cranberry crop for B.C. this year, says Rick Ball, manager of the receiving station at Ocean Spray, a farmers' co-operative.

If this sounds familiar, it's because Ball told The Richmond Review the same thing during the 2002 harvest.

"This year's spring and summer had good weather for pollinating and crop development. Last year was also a record year and I think we will be breaking that record, although we still have a few weeks to go."

Ball says the price is also expected to be up.

"Inventories are down and sales are up. I think this year (the price) will be over 30 cents U.S. per pound."

More than 1,700 acres of farmland in Richmond are devoted to cranberries, representing about 40 farmers.

Art Savage, whose family has farmed cranberries in Richmond since 1955, is optimistic that cranberry prices will continue to rise. While he says his crop isn't better than last yearmostly because of bushes that need to be replacedit still amassed 15 tonnes per acre.

"Only thing I can say is the crop is very goodthe rains were hard on us when we were trying to get on the fields but we finished up today."

How big will the crop be? Ralph May, a partner in a cranberry farm and former member of the Ocean Spray board of directors, says "it would appear the B.C. crop will be around 80 million pounds."

If the price estimate is correct, the crop could be worth more than $32 million Canadian.

"It's not what it was five years ago but better than three years ago."

Growers should be receiving between 25 to 30˘ U.S. a pound this year.

That's up from a low of 12˘ in 1999 but down from a healthy high of 58˘ a pound in 1998.

May notes mild temperatures last winter helped ensure a stronger crop as well as the fact that many newer plant varieties are coming into full maturity now.

"Also, the colour of the fruit is very good this year. You don't need a frost for the colour like many people think you do."

The harvest for white cranberries began Aug. 18 and continued through mid-September. It's Richmond's second crop of the pale berries, popular for their smooth taste.

The red berry harvest began Oct. 6 and is nearly complete.

Aside from a crop "dry-picked" for produce shelves (for home-cooked sauces and other treats) cranberries are typically harvested by flooding. May says although road damage hindered some farmers in their harvesting efforts, the recent heavy rainfall was not harmful to the cranberry crops.

A box full of good

Chris Bryan , Staff Reporter

A few goodies in a box can go a long way.

Richmond's Yolanda Hall is calling on local residents to pitch in and fill a shoebox with small toys, hard candy, hygiene items, school supplies, and even handwritten notes to be sent to children in the developing world.

Hall herself will be going to Nicauragua in January to help distribute the boxes in several towns.

"It's among the people, sleeping in the sleeping bag in a tent, connecting with the people where they're at," says Hall, who will be paying all her own expenses.

The distribution is called Operation Christmas Child, and is run by the charity Samaritan's Purse. Last year, almost 740,000 boxes were collected in Canada for distribution.

Hall is one of 17 Canadians going to Nicauragua, where they will visit several villages, giving out the boxes and setting up medical day clinics.

This year, Samaritan's Purse expects to collect seven million gift boxes worldwide. Since it began, Operation Christmas Child has distributed more than 24 million gift boxes to children in 125 countries.

To drop off a gift box or to obtain an empty box, visit any Safeway store or the Richmond Bethel Church, 10200 No. 5 Rd.

The deadline is Nov. 15.

RADAT raises addiction awareness

Don Fennell, Staff Reporter

November is Addictions Awareness Month in Richmond.

Whether its drug, alcohol, gambling or any other compulsive behaviour, addiction directly affects everyone in the community.

Richmond Alcohol and Drug Action Team's goal is to help end the cycle of addiction, but says such a reality is only possible if the community unites in creating awareness and support.

"(Addictions Awareness Month) helps to create public awareness where we can get the community to focus on a certain issue, which also helps promote awareness of it," says RADAT worker Esther Oh.

Oh says a cornerstone toward prevention is that the message is consistent and carries onnot just the consistency of the message but how it is delivered.

"If what we're teaching in the elementary schools stops there for instance, then obviously it's not as effective as if parents have the same awareness and the message spreads though a wider community."

Holding different functions at various venues helps to reach a wider audience, Oh adds.

One major event will be the Prevention Education and Awareness through Community Efforts Experience on Nov. 24. The aim is to bring the community together to demonstrate support for friends, family, and colleagues affected by addiction. The event begins with a candlelight walk and ends with performances by students on issues related to addictions at Gateway Theatre from 6 to 10 p.m.

Those interested in performing may call 604-270-9220 before Nov. 20.

Other events include a display at Richmond Centre Monday and Tuesday, a seminar on supporting someone to overcome addiction Nov. 13 at at Richmond Cultural Centre, and an open-mike forum Nov. 19 at Kwantlen University College.