Friday, July 15, 2011 Tri-City News

Page 1

THE FRIDAY

2010 WINNER

JULY 15, 2011 www.tricitynews.com

TRI-CITY NEWS Talking carbon tax

Music in the park

SEE FACE TO FACE, PAGE 11

SEE THINGS-TO-DO GUIDE, PAGE 21

INSIDE Letters/12 Spotlight/34 Brian Minter/40 Sports/49

Taking it back

PoMo will apply to TransLink for control over Murray, Clarke and Guildford Way By Todd Coyne THE TR-CITY NEWS

JENNIFER GAUTHIER/THE TRI-CITY NEWS

Volunteers Doug Vandendurg and Allen Upton install window trim during the Home Team Challenge project at Louise Henwood’s Western Drive residence. Henwood has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and her neighbours helped ease her family’s burden by fixing up the family home. For story, see page 3.

No bus service? Cheaper levy Transit-poor areas should get a break — mayors By Jeff Nagel BLACK PRESS

A proposed vehicle levy to finance transit upgrades should charge motorists more if they live in frequently served Vancouver and less in transitpoor areas with no real alternative to driving, some mayors say. The regional mayors council voted last week to pay for the Evergreen Line and a package of broader transit upgrades through a two-cent hike in the gas tax, coupled with at least one other to-be-determined source. see GRADUATED, G U , page g 4

Victim had gang ties By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS

Police have identified the man who was shot to death on a pathway near Spuraway Avenue in the Ranch Park area of Coquitlam last week. Members of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said Christopher James Krake of Coquitlam was known to associate with gang members and was with another murder victim, Chris Reddy, when he was shot late last month. Police believe the 24-year-old’s connection to what they called the “criminal lifestyle” was a contributing factor in his death. IHIT spokesperson Sgt. Jennifer Pound told The Tri-City News that police were in touch with associates of both the men but would not confirm whether more people were in danger of gang violence.

“ T h e r e h ave n’ t b e e n a n y w a r n ings through the media,” she said. “[Investigators] are in touch with associates and speaking with people that know these two individuals. It is something they would be looking into.” Krake had run-ins with police in the past. In 2008 he was sentenced to 12 months in jail given and a lifetime firearms prohibition for two counts of possession for the purposes of trafficking. He was to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Wednesday on charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and flight from a peace officer. His body was found on a wooded trail c o n n e c t i n g S p u r aw ay Ave nu e w i t h Meadowbrook elementary school near the intersection of Ranch Park Way last Wednesday morning. see ASSOCIATE, SSOC , page g 8

TransLink’s refusal to build the Murray-Clarke Connector is just the latest episode in what Port Moody councillors are calling “decades” of neglect at the hands of the transit authority. In response, city council voted Tuesday to take its ball and go home. With a lone dissenting vote from Coun. Diana Dilworth, Port Moody’s mayor and council voted in favour of a motion to “immediately commence action to initiate the process to remove the Port Moody section of Guildford Way and all of Murray and Clarke streets from the MRN [TransLink’s major roads network].” That means city staff will try to take b a c k M u r r ay a n d Clarke streets — which h av e b e e n u n d e r TransLink’s authority as regional arterial roads since 1996 — and make them municipal streets on which the city would have sole jurisdiction to alter traffic flow. ROCKWELL And while deliberately hindering through-traffic on Murray and Clarke streets isn’t council’s motivation for reclaiming the busy commuter corridor, the message from council was clear: once Murray and Clarke streets are reclaimed for the best interests of Port Moody residents, Coquitlam commuters and others who travel through the city on their daily commute, may want to avoid it in the future. TransLink’s director of roads, Sany Zein, said Port Moody’s request to withdraw from the MRN is a move without precedent. “A municipality coming to us and saying they want a road taken off the MRN outright hasn’t really happened before as far as we know, looking through our records, but we’ll work with the city on developing an appropriate process,” he said. Coun. Karen Rockwell was specific about what areas would likely be most impacted by any changes favouring local traffic through the Murray-Clarke corridor.

see TRAFFIC C DIVERTED,, page g 155


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