BETTY FOX REMEMBERED
Betty Fox: The right mom for a tough job By Richard Dal Monte THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Betty Fox was a tough lady. No, check that. Betty Fox was a mom who had to be tough. Four kids, three boys. Working-class Port Coquitlam. Her second-youngest son is diagnosed with cancer. His leg is amputated. That’s enough to deal with. That’s
THE WEDNESDAY
enough for a lifetime. But the boy pushes. He saw things in the cancer ward. Just going on with his life minus one leg isn’t enough. In the kitchen of their PoCo home a day after he completes a 17-mile run, he tells her his plan to run across Canada — a marathon a day on one good leg and a prosthesis to raise money for cancer research. see ‘IF IT WASN’T FOR HIM,’ page A3
2010 WINNER
JUNE 22, 2011 www.tricitynews.com
TRI-CITY NEWS Scouts’ honour in PoMo
Charles’ layers of colour
SEE LIFE, PAGE A16
SEE ARTS, PAGE A33
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 A Good Read/A19 Sports/A37
Big bucks for fewer city staff By Janis Warren THE TRI-CITY NEWS
CRAIG HODGE/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Condolence book at PoCo centre Port Coquitlam’s most famous mom will be commemorated in a book of condolences. The city of PoCo will help locals share their thoughts in a book that will be presented to the family of Betty Fox, who died last Friday. The book will recognize the significant contributions Fox made to PoCo. Mother of the late Terry Fox, Betty Fox was a crusader for cancer research who devoted the last 30 years to the cause.
The city’s book of condolences will be available for signing at the customer service desk at the PoCo rec complex at 2150 Wilson Ave. until the end of the month during the following hours: weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. People may also express their condolences online at www.terryfox.org.
Terry Fox secondary school students Cynthia Hui, Sarah Novicki, Tobi Owbowale, Sydnie Clerkson and Rachel Cavallarin make a card of condolences Tuesday for the Fox family, which lost matriarch Betty Fox last Friday.
Coquitlam city hall has about the same payroll as it did two years ago but fewer people are on it. According to a report released this week, 86 city employees took home more than $100,000 in 2010 versus 49 in 2008 — a difference of 37 staff members. At Monday’s city council meeting, Coquitlam’s financial services manager, Sheena MacLeod, talked about the belt-tightening city hall has faced during the global economic meltdown, including not filling vacant jobs. “We have come through a pretty difficult few years,” she said, noting the 2011 finances are expected to fare better. But leaving jobs open has not come without costs. Yesterday, Mayor Richard Stewart acknowledged the city has had to pay staff for
PAY TO PARK? Coquitlam looks at pay parking along Pinetree; PoMo ponders it at Rocky Point. See A7 & A8 taking on larger workloads. “We have been managing vacancies very strictly,” he said. “It does mean that you end up back-filling with people serving two positions or more. “You end up getting more of your employees but it’s not sustainable,” he added. “You end up burning them out... Some of the new positions may well be related to the burst of [development] activity we’ve had this year.” see $85K IN EXPENSES, EXPENSES, page A9