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120 YEARS YOUR COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER
1891-2011
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • F R I D AY, J A N U A R Y 2 1 , 2 0 1 1
Suspect charged in Planje murder Robert Freeman The Progress Steven Kenneth Frederickson, charged with the second-degree murder of Robert Jan-Planje, appeared briefly in Chilliwack provincial court Wednesday as friends and family of both men looked on. Frederickson, who is hearing- and speechimpaired, indicated to the judge he understood his case was adjourned to a Feb. 1 video appearance with his lawyer. The 44-year-old man was arrested Tuesday just moments after he made bail and was released from custody on earlier assault charges involving Planje. Planje, 64, had been missing since the morning of Dec. 13, 2010 when the Chilliwack RCMP were called to his home in the Rainbow Estates trailer park to check on his well-being. When police attended they found no one at the residence. However, there were signs of an altercation. A search for Planje began along Ballam Road in Chilliwack, where police had found items linked to his home, but his body was not found until Dec. 30 near Hope by a local resident walking his dog. An autopsy confirmed Planje’s identity, and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team determined he was the victim of a homicide. Planje was not known to the police, but he was well-known in Chilliwack as the secretary of the Gypsy Project, which offered help for the homeless. Planje knew Frederickson through an earlier relationship with his mother, and he had taken him into his mobile home on a temporary basis. A funeral service for Planje was held Sunday in Chilliwack. Police said although the case is now before the courts, they are still interested in obtaining any additional information people may have about Frederickson or Planje. Anyone with information can call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-IHIT. Anonymous calls can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222TIPS. rfreeman@theprogress.com
Promontory Road – one of two access roads to the hillside Ryder Lake community – was closed following “deep soil failure” on Monday. GREG KNILL/ PROGRESS
Frustration over Promontory road closure Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Ryder Lake residents forced to detour around some emergency road work on Promontory Road are getting frustrated with the inconvenience. But it looks like it will be several weeks before things get back to normal. A six- to eight-inch slump caused by “deep soil failure” took out a chunk of the roadway on Monday morning, city officials reported. They immediately closed Promontory to all traffic in both directions from Sylvan Road to Extrom Road. The section they have to fix measured more than 70 metres long, and it cracked
along the painted line. The upshot is that many residents have to take the narrow and winding Elkview Road to get home until the road repair work is done. “It’s adding an extra half hour a day onto our trips up and down the hill,” said Sparrow Road resident Shannon Thornton. Everyone who lives on either Extrom Road or Thornton Road is affected if they use Promontor y Road. That accounts for at least 30 households, and maybe 100 people in all, she estimated. “We hope they manage to re-open one lane soon,” said Thornton. She wonders if the road failure had something to do with the city’s resurfacing project
completed nearby a few years the repairs underway, and the ago. city commissioned geotechniIt exposed an underground cal engineering firm, Levelton spring and the water “popped Consultants, to get the bottom up right through the pave- of the road failure incident. ment,” Thornton recalled. Drilling tests by the geo“As someone who has lived techs have since confirmed the up here 35 years I can tell you slump was caused by “deep we never had a soil failure” which problem until they could not have video-online] been caused by or exposed this little creek.” prevented by any She watched www.theprogress.com work done at the the road work at surface, according the time, thinking to staff. that the water would one day They are actively looking for “undermine” the road. ways to allow locals to access However, city officials said residences cut off by the road that is not the case in this work in the interim, but it is instance. unlikely that a single lane of On Monday, an equipment traffic will be opened. operator from Strohmaier’s Continued: ROAD/ p17 Excavating was hired to get
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