THE WEDNESDAY
OCT. 20, 2010
2010 WINNER
www.tricitynews.com
TRI-CITY NEWS On stage in Tri-Cities
Hockey, football & more
SEE ARTS, PAGE A27
SEE SPORTS, PAGE A30
INSIDE Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 A Good Read/A17 Community Calendar/A21
Drivers stopped by the dozen New driving regs one month old By Sarah Payne THE TRI-CITY NEWS
CRAIG HODGE/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Tri-City drivers are finding out just how stiff new penalties are for impaired driving and excessive speeding. Canada’s toughest driving legislation came into effect Sept. 20 and, in the past month, local police have slapped hefty fines and towed the vehicles of dozens of motorists who were found to be impaired or driving too fast. C o q u i t l a m RC M P reported in the first month 24 drivers with a blood alcohol content over 0.08, a failed test that comes with a 90-day driving prohibition, a 30-day vehicle impoundment and a $500 fine. One driver refused to provide a breath sample, which carries the same penalty as a failed test.
Pasquale Gnocato is a mason bee expert who will be giving a talk Saturday at Coquitlam’s Inspiration garden on the prolific pollinators. The PoCo resident has been raising blue orchard mason bees for more than a decade and is an advocate for the hard-working, non-stinging creatures that pollinate flowers, crops and fruit trees. See story, page A16.
see PENALTIES, S, page g A6 6
Some fancy footwork at Fox theatre A packed house cheered on dancers – both experienced and novice – in the first annual Dancing with our Stars, a fundraiser for Crossroads Hospice. And the winners are...? See page A13
‘We want Evergreen,’ PoCo tells Metro Van And council wants it in transit line’s first phase By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Port Coquitlam wants Metro Va n c o u ve r t o i n c l u d e a n Evergreen Line station in its downtown as part of the district’s regional growth plan. On Monday night at a special council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to ask Metro to include a rapid transit exten-
sion to PoCo as one of its transportation goals in the Regional Growth Strategy. And the city would like to see the station built MOORE as part of the first phase of the Evergreen Line construction. “We know its the 11th hour,” said Mayor Greg Moore, “But we feel it is important to make our position clear.” A quiet lobbying effort for the
PoCo station has been underway for a while, Moore said. He and city staff met with the provincial minister of transportation and letters have been sent to the premier’s office explaining the need to bring the Evergreen Line to the municipality. “We aren’t a council that gets on a soap box and negotiates out in the media all the time,” he said. “This is just another opportunity to let Metro Vancouver know how important this is for us.” see TURN U NORTH, O , page g A9 9