The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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Neighbours
Sports
Divas
Class act
Hockey
On stage with Emily Hamel
Philly kid on Chiefs blue line
The many faces of Bonnie Kilroe
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 • T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 8 , 2 0 1 1
Misconduct charges stayed against local teacher But his career ‘changed forever’ by allegations: Midzain Robert Freeman The Progress Sexual misconduct charges against a Chilliwack elementary school teacher have been stayed, but the ordeal isn’t over for Jason Epp, who must now face a review by the B.C. College of Teachers. And that body has a lower standard than the criminal courts, determining wrong-doing on a “balance of probabilities” rather than “reasonable doubt.” But no matter what the college decides, Epp’s teaching career is “changed forever,” Katharin Midzain, president of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association, said Thursday. “We want teachers who are abusing children out of the system, but we want a process in place to be allowed to happen before the public crucifixion begins,” she said. Chilliwack school district officials called the Chilliwack RCMP on May 4 last year to report a single allegation of sexual assault made against Epp, and he was arrested on May 12, according to a police news release. The next day, May 13, Crown counsel approved two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference of a person under 16, according to the release. But after more than a year of further police investigation, which included interviews with 130-140 students, parents and school staff, Crown counsel abruptly decided last Wednesday to stay the charges against Epp, just days before a trial scheduled for Sep. 19 was to start. Crown counsel Wendy van Tongeren Continued: EPP/ p32
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Tana Mussell and Dan Kelly are two local graduates from a ground-breaking Environmental Tech course who were also just hired on by Seven Generations Environmental Services, a company owned by local Sto:lo. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Doors opening for environmental techs Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Tana Mussell of Chilliwack has gained a whole new appreciation for the mysterious world of erosion and sediment control. She’s also stoked by the career options opening up since acquiring a new skill set from the Environmental Technician certificate course she just took. “There is nothing like waking up in the morning and being excited about learning more about this program, and about a future career,” Mussell told The Progress during the training. “I gained knowledge and skills in areas I didn’t know existed
before, like erosion and sediment control, or plant identification.” Mussell is one of several specialized trainees who just completed an intensified course by Vancouver Island University, which included a field stint in Chilliwack. It was part of a unique training partnership forged by Seven Generations Environmental Services, owned by six local Sto:lo communities with an eye to the future. The company was created in part to fill the demand for an environmental monitoring team at BC Hydro’s new Interior to Lower Mainland (ILM) Transmission Project.
Tana Mussell and Dan Kelly were two of the trainees from the Chilliwack area and surrounding Sto:lo communities, among 18 accepted into the training course. “I would like to say how grateful I am to have had some of the best instructors in B.C. training us, and how thankful I am to the six Sto:lo chiefs and to Seven Generation, for creating this extraordinary opportunity for myself and my classmates,” said Kelly. He’s hoping his background and enthusiasm will be of assistance as he takes on his new role as project supervisor. “The training really opened doors for me,” he said.
“It’s been exciting and I think it’s about time that First Nations start up their own environmental companies for themselves like this.” Mussell was recently handpicked as crew leader for the project, and said she realized, when putting together her resumé for the project, that she already had a passion for and a little research experience in the field of fish biology. “I was always interested in the environment, so this just made sense,” she explained. The students graduated on Aug. 31 with an Environmental Continued: ENVIRO/ p6