IHIT investigators were at Fletcher and Yale Rd. Tuesday.

Jack Kouwenhoven in his garden in March 2015.

We lost Jack Kouwenhoven on September 29, 2019. Our condolences thoughts and prayers go out to to his family in this time of grief. The following story is about a trip through Jack's slice of horticultural heaven.

Fire Captain, crew and RCMP outside the home on Mayfair Ave. Saturday

n Oct 19, 2019, at approximately 8 pm the Chilliwack Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire located in the 46000-block of Mayfair Ave.

The homeowner had a freezer plugged into an extension cord which was coiled up and had a box placed over it. This arrangement allowed the extension cord to overheat and start the fire.

The home owner noticed smoke from the attached garage. Upon further investigation, the owner witnessed fire in the area where the extension cord was located and called 911, then grabbed a container full of water and successfully extinguished the fire.

Firefighters responded from Halls 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6 and on arrival, reported seeing light smoke within the single-storey residential home.

When the crews entered, they noticed the home was charged with smoke. Upon entering the attached garage, they saw fire damage to storage items and the stairs leading to the home.

Fire crews proceeded with overhaul and salvage operations and were able to ventilate the structure and the residents were allowed back into the home.

There were no civilian and or firefighter injuries.

Chilliwack Fire Department wants to remind home owners and tenants, that major appliances (refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, microwave ovens, etc.) should be plugged directly into a wall outlet. Never use an extension cord with a major appliance—it can easily overheat and start a fire

ocal print media are once again picking on small news outlets and citizen journalists hoping to discredit as many people in the community as possible in one fell swoop with their hue and cry of "Fake News". Most people didn't even know the term "fake news" until Donald Trump began using it on mainstream media—the same ones who are now attacking small news outlets and the community writers at large. Except when it comes to community news, people always have had a general mistrust of mainstream media.

It's time to suit up. Print media has finally woken up from their slumber now and is fighting for air in a dirge of online news. There's nothing they can do except fight back with pitch fork mentality and insidious print campaigns against alternative online news sources and community writers.

No matter what print media tries to tell you, there's nothing fake about community news. They're trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle. It's the same everywhere not just in Chilliwack. There's been a paradigm shift to people taking charge of their own news. A lot of it has to do with social media. They see things through a different prism now.

People have been telling me for years how The Progress newspaper has been ignoring them. They've even gone into their office. So they turned to The Voice to be heard and read in the community. They call me up because they want a story investigated. I wished I was more than one person. That's the way it's been. Now print media is remorseful and wants to bring those people back in the fold. They don't forget.

The Voice has been an alternative news source for ten years. It's community-driven in that much of what's in it is written by members of the community. It's a bastion of free speech. A union.

I'm a certified publisher meaning I went to college for a year to  get certified. I've been publishing for about 30 years. I began producing small newspapers, mags and setting type in Vancouver.

I don't masquerade as a journalist. I'm a hack reporter writing items based on what I see and what people tell me. I'm not a photographer. I take photos. Once in a while I'll write something to keep things flowing on The Valley Voice. I am a publisher. Sometimes I make a mistake in reporting. I'm human. I work alone and do make errors. If you can do better than I challenge you to do that. I don't have editors to scan and correct items I write up like The Progress does. So I have to walk away from it and come back to it later with a fresh mind and even then I miss things.

I go with what I've got; what I see, what people tell me and what I know. If you're going to write about something then you have to know what it is you're writing about. Print media makes that mistake all the time. It's called "Yellow Journalism". Many times The Progress print letters that reflect in positive ways about themselves. Sometimes you'd swear they're writing the letters to the editors themselves.

Print media is having a difficult time transitioning over to digital. We're seeing more and more bare knuckle ads attacking citizen journalism. They want to be the ones people run to for information—even if its a skating party down at the rink or a book sale. It's just tofu.

The Progress can't fit it all on one page. I can hang community posters here on all one page.  They're important and very effective. It's a big job and takes hours but you have to like what you do to get it done. Print media can't do that because they're using a different type of web code called HTML5. I'm using the old code.

Most of The Progress' information has to be hidden under buttons and buttons and buttons and sentences now. They know that people don't chase a lot of news underneath buttons. They see how many clicks each button gets using their Control Panel.

The Progress drops tracking cookies on you. I don't put cookies on people's computers because it's not my business what they look at here or anywhere else.

Print media knows they've got a war on their hands and again they're lashing out at residents in the community trying to make people feel guilty and that they're the only one with "real" access to information. Everyone else is supposed to be stuck in a digital gulag.

Turning people away is not what community-driven news websites are about. This is Chilliwack not New York. The Progress wants to be the only game in town. You have to feel for them. Seriously.

The Progress people are good people. They've got several writers who need to pay mortgages that may be out of work or have to find alternative jobs in the near future. They'll have to be creative. Lashing out at people isn't very creative. It's like kids fighting over a toy in a sandbox. They're muddying the waters insinuating we're surrounded all the time by fake news.

Black Press is suffering. So the first thing they do is come out swinging and attack. They devote full pages with lots of white space and text knocked out.

The Voice isn't a big deal and I don't run around acting like it's a big deal. It's an alternative to mainstream media.

I would put my name on stories that take hours  to write but I don't like seeing my name all over the place on the website. I'm not a narcissist. I don't need my smiling face next to a story. I don't put my name on photos that I've gone and stood out at 3 am in the rain for. The satisfaction is there in the picture.

Print media don't have to get out of bed at 3 am because they know when they come into work in the morning they are going to have 50 photos of a fire or something to choose from in their inbox. The Progress has been getting off easy.  Maybe once a month they'll give away $30 for a photo if someone is lucky. Maybe they'll start printing something like "We pay for photos!" The next time there's a fire or an accident at night after hours check the name on the photo. It's not anyone from The Progress.

People naturally gravitate to print media because they want to see their faces and stories on hard copy. Another reason The Progress is having difficulty adjusting is  because people want their news in one or two paragraphs. Not these magnanimous brick walls of copy featuring stories that most people wouldn't read or have no interest in except the people and friends they're featuring. It's like reading the bible.

Print media outfits like The Progress are part of the hue and cry against community news reporting. They don't have a choke hold now on what was all theirs in the past. The Progress' mantra is 100 years publishing. That was hard copy.

Now with the spectre of online news, they're extolling the virtues of websites apparently dedicated to spotting fake news. They're assuming people are dense so they need to tell them how to spot fake news. We know it's a bunch of Bravo Sierra. These are simple tricks designed to lash out at any other media source other than their own sanitized and corporate-influenced narratives.

We know times have changed and sadly print media is going to have to take their lumps instead of trying to strangle the community with high priced ads. I will miss the days of hard copy. I worked for one outfit that we had to do the paste-up on windows because we didn't have a light table. But the sense of pride was there.

It harkens back to when the guys were smearing ink on the old Heidelberg presses to the delivery kids, the community loves them. They're great people but they're going to need to start focusing on advertising materials instead of blindly lashing out at the community with their buckshot attacks.

Print media, mainstream and small news outlets rely almost totally on you for their news. I'm just one little fish swimming in a sea of sharks, but can you imagine the possibilities if a whole school rose up against them? We need to stick together to get our news straight, timely and in a way that works for us. Despite what The Progress is saying, people are still going to soldier on with their tailor-made online news.

Instead of running campaigns against fake news, run campaigns to plant trees and pay for them. Save a tree. Get your news online.

rostate Cancer Support Group Chilliwack. Prostate Health Awareness Information. Do you or someone you know have Prostate issues? Free Information and Awareness Group Meetings.

Mt. Cheam Lions Hall , Chilliwack, BC
Our next meeting will be at 7 pm on Thursday November 7, 2019, at 45580 Spadina Ave.

Our speaker will be Senior Research Scientist Dr Nathan Lack. He will be talking about novel drug targets to treat aggressive late-stage prostate cancer using genomics techniques in combination with classical pharmacology. Open discussion to follow. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss any prostate issues and visit with a number of PC survivors after the presentation. Coffee and refreshments will be available and everyone is welcome. Questions? Dale Erikson (604) 824-5506 Marc Gosselin (778) 255-2544

edder/Chilliwack - Salmon season is now in full swing!! Coho and Chinook fishing has been phenomenal in the mid to lower river for the last week. This recent rain bought water levels up and should spread the fish out and bring a good push of fresh arrivals into the river system. Chum Salmon are starting to show up in the lower reaches and should just build in numbers in the next couple weeks.

Reports are courtesy of Berry's Baits.

The train arrives in Agassiz Dec 16

anadian Pacific (CP) is proud to announce the performer lineup and schedule for the 2019 CP Holiday Train program. Entering its 21st year, the train uses music and community spirit to raise money and generate healthy food donations for food banks in communities along CP's network. Since 1999, the program has helped raise $15.8 million and collect 4.5 million pounds of food in Canada.

In Agassiz see country music star Terri Clark December 16  in Agassiz across from the Agra Centre on Pioneer Avenue, West of Highway 9. The train arrives at 5:30 pm and the show begins at 5:45 pm to 6:15 pm.

For more information and how to donate, visit the Holiday Train here.

Rob Bogunovic is a local Social Justice school teacher and politician.  He studied at UBC with Justin Trudeau and together they shared the highest marks.

Voice: I guess you'll be glad when it's over next week with this campaigning business, you must be exhausted.

RB: Well as I've said a campaign in some ways its both sprint and marathon in the Electoral District Association (EDA) so that's going to continue so win or lose we're going to be working to build and move forward. I'm very proud of the work the guys did on this campaign. Read more here.

The Green Party elections sign remained intact after a vehicle rolled into the ditch at Prest Road.

eports a vehicle rolled over into a ditch at Prest Road and First Ave. around 2 pm Thursday.

A learning lesson for this new driver. The people inside managed to scramble out and thankfully there were no serious injuries, just some bumps and bruises. More often than not when a vehicle goes into a ditch it rolls. They were fortunate there wasn't any water in the ditch.

The Prest Road and First Ave. has an infamous history and drivers always need to be careful there with the ditches and the uncontrolled train crossing.

Trees will be cared for the first two years and tracked by GPS.

t was 85 years ago that Rotary came to Chilliwack. The Rotary Club of Chilliwack is celebrating this occasion by planting at least 85 trees this fall and is providing opportunities for the community to take part and dedicate trees to commemorate special people.

Club President Michael Berger said, “We’re excited to offer this opportunity to the people of Chilliwack. We think that people will love having a tree that they can watch grow and change with the seasons, and that they will be able to commemorate a special person in their life.”

For only $185, community members can choose from a list of trees and locations, and use it to honour a loved one by planting an 85 FOR 85 tree.

The City of Chilliwack, School District # 33, Sto:lo Nation, the University of the Fraser Valley, and the Ministry of Forests are all contributing suitable public space to plant trees, and Rotary is approaching businesses to determine if there is more suitable space for trees. Cannor Nursery is providing the trees and has significantly discounted the price in order to make the trees affordable.

“Trees are an important part of beautifying our community, and they are important resources for birds and other wildlife. They also help mitigate the effects of climate change by producing more oxygen and sequestering carbon,” said Debora Soutar, 85 FOR 85 project chair.

As a tree patron, you may choose to participate in the actual planting or have one of the Rotary volunteers do it. Plantings will take place on selected weekends in October and November, along with some in Spring 2020.

After planting, the trees will be have a watering bag attached, and will be cared and maintained for the first two years after planting. As well, Rotarians will digitally record the planted trees with their GPS coordinates, species, the patron’s name, and dedication details. This database will be available in an app to allow any one interested in visiting a specific tree more information.
 

Visit Rotary for more information or to purchase an 85 FOR 85 tree.

Palmer asks military and RCMP veterans to sign the petition

hy? You were asked repeatedly by approved petitions to have your government created a Canadian Military Volunteer Service Medal for all Veterans' and had four years to do it, yet you and your party ignored these petitions even when read in the House of Commons more than 30 times. Why is this? Vote ABL and ABC, Vote for anybody but Liberal/Conservative.

Now, you and the Liberal party, after ignoring the Veterans want us to do something for you?

NO MEDAL = NO VOTE.

If the Liberals and for that matter the Conservatives can't listen to we the people, then by your example, we won't listen to you the Liberals, nor the Conservatives. Why should we?

A petition calling for the creation of a Canadian Military Volunteer Service Medal for all Veterans was sanctioned by the Clerk of Petitions and over 30 times, this petition with tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Canadians who signed it, the petition was approved again and again by the Clerk of Petitions and read in the House of Commons, yes over 30 times, and every time both the Conservatives and Liberals ignored it, they would not listen to the pleas of the people.

So Liberals and Conservatives, as indicated by your established example of not listening to we the people, then we the people will not listen to you. Sign the petition here.

Mark Denton from Langley holds an oversized cheque marking his big win.

ark Denton’s dream of purchasing a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition is about to become a reality after the Langley resident matched all four Extra numbers in the October 9, 2019 Lotto 6/49 draw to win $500,000.

The vehicle, familiar to fans of the 1977 film, Smokey and the Bandit, is a favourite of Denton’s and the lottery winner said it’s on the top of his list of celebratory purchases.

“I’ve always wanted one that looks exactly like it, in gold and black,” says Denton. “I think that’s one little gift I’m going to give myself.” Denton, who purchased his ticket at the Walnut Grove Pub and Bistro, was at home when he checked the winning numbers on bclc.com.
 

“When I saw that someone in Langley had won, I thought ‘I better check my ticket,’” says Denton. “I said to my wife ‘some guy in Langley won a half million’… sure enough, that ‘some guy’ was me.”
 

In addition to purchasing the ’77 Trans Am, Denton said he may consider a move to Vancouver Island.

Say ‘Yes’ to the Extra for the chance to win up to $500,000. Extra is available with Daily Grand, Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max, and BC/49 at any BCLC lottery retailer or at PlayNow.com.

Heather McQuillan and her 10 month old son Maverick has often been with his mom on the campaign trail.

eather McQuillan is a family advocate and worker’s rights activist who knows the difference having a union negotiating for her can make. She believes that government should be negotiating for its people rather than for corporations. She believes in getting involved and doing the work for change. As a film technician, she works 60 hours a week, and, if elected, intends to bring that same dedication to representing Chilliwack.

As a member and representative for IATSE local 891, the film technician’s Union (and one of the largest local’s in the industry) she has at a local and international level working with the Young Workers Committee, the Human Rights Committee and the Women’s committee.

Heather is the founder of Mom’s in Film Canada, a non profit that advocates for families in the film industry. They have lobbied both provincial and federal legislations that support families working to develop good childcare options and to clarify and enforce reasonable accommodation and parental leave in atypical working situations.

She is the primary caregiver for her mother who has Parkinson’s disease. This has led her to seeing how much work there is in creating easy access for seniors and those with disabilities. She is proud to represent a platform that has built to support people in living with dignity by expanding medicare, creating universal Pharmacare, Dental and eye coverage.

Growing up in Saskatchewan has given her a particularly clear understanding of the way agriculture business will be affected by transition to green energy. It is part of the reason she chose to run in Chilliwack. She is passionate about advocating for agricultural businesses and making sure families can comfortably transition and believes the NDP has a great plan for it.

Chilliwack real estate agent Linda Sexsmith (l) and friend at their last adventure.

ur Fraser Valley Treasure Hunters were out on another adventure last week.

Nine people made the trip to Sunshine Valley, formerly named Tashme, an unincorporated settlement and former Japanese Canadian internment camp on the Crowsnest Highway between the town of Hope and the entrance to Manning Park in the Cascade Mountains of British Columbia.

"It wasn't one of Canada's proudest moments but at the time it seemed like a great idea and besides the Americans were doing it as well," said Fraser Valley Treasure Hunters group founder Mark Lewis. "We were fortunate, Bob Martin had a friend who had a friend, the owner of a good chunk of the land that the camp was built on."

"The hunt was a blast but also staggering at the same time, there was 9 of us and we could of easily taken another 20 and not crossed paths and that was only on one side of the highway," added Lewis.

The area they hunted was vast and they could have 20 people hunting and still not interfere with each other.

Lewis said they didn't find a lot. One person located a British cigarette lighter that was likely from the camp.

A jackknife and British lighter were some of the items found.

"Dennis found a small jackknife, but we're not absolutely sure if it came from the era," said Lewis. "I found a boar hair brush that either belonged to an officer in the camp or one of the Japanese ladies, but I need to go back and see if I can find the rest of the kit."

According to Lewis, the club had a had a great time which is the most important thing.

"Maybe we can go back next year for a weekend, we'll see." he concluded.

If you're interested in joining the group for some fun and exercise you can connect on Facebook here. Learn more on their website here. Watch a Youtube video here.
 

There's gold in them thar links!
 

Chilliwack city councillors Bud Mercer, Sue Knott and Jeff Sheilds at City Hall Tuesday.

o pot or not. That's what was on Tuesday's City Hall council meeting. Council rejected an application to rezone the area around the Jolly Miller Pub for C9. The C9 zones are specially designated areas so businesses can sell marijuana.

Councillor Sue Knott said there are "enough" already. The other's echoed that sentiment. The recurring theme in that vacuous environment is "echo".

The buzz is that the C9 zones are new and to sell marijuana then rezoning is necessary. By denying this application council is denying business. It's basically unconstitutional and discriminatory to deny C9s because there are "enough" already. There has to be other reasons.

Not far away is Buddy's smoke shop that sells vaping products. Buddy's was looking for a store manager at $25/hr.

Would council say no if a company wanted a new gas station with the 150 heavy chemicals associated to gasoline like benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylenes in a riparian area like the one adjacent to the casino?

Okay, enough already. City staff presented council with maps and parameters of the planned Cyclevision bicycle lanes. Generally, you're going to see buffered bike lanes with stripes, on Broadway, Airport and Hopedale Rd. You'll see parking spots dissolve on one side of the streets in all cases. Approximately $750,000 has been worked into the 2019 budget. The City will begin working on the painting this year if weather permits or in the spring.

The City is stocking up on road salt. Lafarge came in as the low bidder.

Council passed a motion to spend $345,000 on a new Finning Cat excavator. Nice. Coun. Sue Knott asked about Sourcewell a co-op type of buying club the City used that can save people and organizations money and staff said it do that.

One of the biggest items on Tuesday's agenda were the 10 new breathing apparatuses, for ever $128,000 for the fire department. They're called self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), air cylinders and related equipment. Chief Josephson told council that they saved around $7000.

Keeping firefighters safe is a priority. If they're going to save lives they need to be safe themselves. Have you ever wondered where the fire department gets some of it's equipment?

In case you wanted to set up you're own fire hall see here for information Rocky Mountain Phoenix.

Council endorsed a 52-unit housing development at 44521 Sherry Drive. Hopefully that won't add to the possibility of creating a bubble should housing prices plunge if the Stock Market went from bull to bear.

There was talk about the Chilliwack Mall area rebuild and renovations with the prospect of residential construction in the future. Apparently there are about 673 parking stalls. Coun. Lum asked if there were any that were for EV charging stations.

Staff indicated that any stipulations like that would need to be worked into the contract prior to it being signed-off on. Mayor Popove said that they could look into it as long as it didn't slow down the project progress. There was no word if there would be a charge for using the electric charging stations.

Simpson rated one of the top 30 acoustic players of all time by Gibson Guitarists.

n Friday, October 18, the Harrison Festival Society presents the 1st concert in its 42nd Season of the Performing Arts, with a rare west coast appearance by legendary British folk guitarist and singer Martin Simpson.

40 years after he recorded his first album, Golden Vanity, in 1976, Martin Simpson is well established as a masterful and influential artist of the highest calibre. Equally at home playing English traditional folk, American folk and blues, and his own compositions, he is consistently named as one of the very finest fingerstyle guitar players in the world.

Martin Simpson is listed in Gibson Guitars’ Top 30 acoustic guitarists of all time. He has had the most nominations of any performer in the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, an astonishing 32 times, 13 of those as Musician of the Year, winning that particular accolade twice.

The show begins at 8:00pm with doors opening at 7:30pm. Tickets for Martin Simpson are $25.00 and can be purchased online at www.harrisonfestival.com, by phone at 604.796.3664 or in person at the Ranger Station Art Gallery in Harrison and Agassiz Shoppers Drug Mart on Pioneer Ave.

First responders laddered up to access the suite from the exterior

irst responders were called out to the 4700-block Victoria Ave around 10 pm Monday after reports that an elderly woman had fallen and couldn't get up. Apparently she was behind locked doors.

Firefighters can break in doors pretty quickly but in cases like this they don't want to kick doors and ruined to the point where it can't be secured after if the person is going to be taken to the hospital. The same thing goes for a balcony door.

A concerned neighbour across the street said the woman fell the night before as well. There's no word on her condition.

eing a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you and me up, takes us in, and washes all the dirt off of us. He opens us up, touches us deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff—including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves a new smiling face and puts His light inside us to shine for all the world to see. This was passed on to me from another pumpkin. Now, it is your turn to pass it to a pumpkin. I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch. Happy Fall!