Citynow NOW debuts newlook Accusedpleadsnotguiltytomurder

Ibrahim Ali’s first-degree murder trial started Wednesday in BC Supreme Court inVancouver

CorneliaNaylor

cnaylor@burnabynow

com

The man accused of first-degree murder in the death of a Burnaby teen pleaded not guilty to the charge in BC Supreme Court inVancouver Wednesday.

The victim, whose name cannot be reported under a publication ban, was reported missing in July 2017.

The victim’s body was disovered less than two hours later in Burnaby’s Central Park.

Ali, who arrived in Canada as a privately sponsored refugee three months before the victim’s death, was charged more than one year later, on Sept. 8, 2018.

His jury trial began

Wednesday morning

After a number of pretrial matters, Ali, through an Arabic and Kurdish interpreter, was asked to plead guilty or not guilty

“I did not kill (the victim),” he said Justice Lance Bernard asked Ali twice whether he was pleading guilty or not guilty

“I did not kill (the victim),” Ali repeated twice more

Bernard said he would take that to mean Ali was entering a not-guilty plea, and Ali agreed

Bernard then began his instructions to the jury

He said the jury would be dismissed for the day after the end of his instructions at Burnaby NOW press time and returnThursday morning

Districtsystemcouldheatupto30,000homes,citysays

Continued from page 1 electricity With the new district energy system, more steam will be recovered to heat water, which will be pumped through regional pipes to neighbourhood energy centres in Metrotown and Edmonds

Those two neighbourhoods will be the primary service areas, as the town centres are expected to host almost half of the city’s new homes over the next 20 years, according to a staff report

The neighbourhood energy centres, which will be about the size of “a small house” according to city staff, will distribute the heat from regional pipes to individual buildings and add heat using natural gas boilers when needed.

New residential buildings will swap roof-based mechanical equipment for large refrigerator-sized energy transfer stations in the basement that exchange the thermal energy from the pipes to the building’s heating system.

The project is part of the city’s climate action goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around 38 per cent of Burnaby’s carbon emissions come from buildings.The city expects to reduce about 82 per cent of CO2 equivalent annually when compared to business as usual, about 22,400 tonnes of CO2e.

Service connection to the utility is expected in 2026.

The system could heat up to 30,000 homes, mostly in multifamily complexes, once in full operation, according to the city

The city estimates 92 per cent of the annual heating demand for Metrotown and 94 per cent of that for Edmonds can be supplied by heat from theWTEF

Burnaby is planning future service expansion to the area betweenWillingdon Avenue, south of the Trans-Canada Highway and the Kingsway corridor between Metrotown and Edmonds.

For decades, the Burnaby NOW has published important stories about civic government, local accomplishments and community concerns, as well as sports, arts and business

Today,Thursday, April 6, when the print edition drops on doorsteps it will look a little different.

The new design by our production team freshens the look of the paper while the new square format will save on printing costs and reduce the paper’s environmental impact.

The NOW will continue to publish the best of local journalism and photography while also providing an easy-to-read format for those who prefer to get their news in print.

For additional local stories, as well as B.C., national and world news, BusinessWire, real estate news, opinion and more, be sure to read our digital edition at www.burnaby now.com.

The utility won’t service any neighbourhoods north of theTrans-Canada Highway

The heat will be provided at or below market rates and would be rolled out over 25 years, with the majority of service provided between 2030 and 2040, according to staff at a development committee on March 8

Burnaby will initially be the owner and operator of the utility, as a branch of the engineering department

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