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A man has been charged with murder in relation to the death of Ryan St Ange of Abbotsford.

26 year old Shayne Vauthrin turned himself in to police and appeared in court earlier this week.

Saint Ange was found dead in his home on January 14th.

No cause of death has been released but investigators say it wasn’t gang or drug related.

Meanwhile the identity of Abbotsford’s second murder victim has been releasd.

31 year old Jimmy Chau of Edmonton was found dead in a field near Farmer road on Sunday.

Police believe this was a targeted and gang related killing.

Metro Vancouver may end up scaling back on any future waste to energy facility.

Chair Greg Moore says food waste collection programs have vastly cut down on the amount of garbage going to landfills.

The most recent report says that rather than dealing with half a million tonnes per year, any facility could be looking at between 250 and 400 thousand tonnes.

Abbotsford Councillor Patricia Ross has been a firm opponent to any waste to energy facility.

She says the concern about a smaller scale project is that it might not be subject to the same standards.

“There’s a certain threshold where, if they’re below that threshold they don’t have to go through a full on environmental assessment process, and it wouldn’t necessarily be very public.”

She also says regardless of size any waste to energy building is still a source of pollution.

Monday’s Abby Council debate on the property tax increase played out a little like Goldilocks and the Three bears.

Council approved in principle a 1.72% increase which some felt was too much, others worried it was too small, and others felt it was just right.

There was a push from some Councillors to make further cuts and try for a zero percent increase, while Councillor Patricia Ross warned that the cuts and deferrals already made could come back to hurt the City down the road.

In the end it was passed with a 5-4 vote, although the tax increase number could still be changed as further budget information is considered.

Council still has to decide on Ledgeview Golf Course’s request for 250 thousand dollars.

They’ve sent the matter to staff and will hear a report March 5th.

However the increase does include a transit expansion and fee for service grants

Six of the agencies that made fee for service requests received the same amount as last year, including Agrifair.

The MSA museum society got an extra 25 thousand dollars because they had to move some of their collections when UFV took over the basement of the Clearbrook library.

And Restorative Justice picked up an additional 20 thousand, with most of Council voicing support for the program.

About a dozen people got up to speak last night at the public hearing in Abbotsford for Chances’ application for a liquor license.
All but one spoke in favour of allowing it. One resident exclaimed that he didn’t need Council to make moral decisions for him, while another quite bluntly told Council to “get into the 21st century, mind your own freaking business, and don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.”

Council gave the application second and third reading, with Councillor Simon Gibson the lone opposing vote.
He says Council was elected to stand up for the values they believe in.

“If it was the case that council members would simply support everything that came forward, then we wouldn’t need a council.  All we need is bureaucrats or staff.  Although I realize that sometimes we can be subject to criticism, I think it’s important that we stand up for what we believe in.”

Gibson also voted against revisiting the issue of adding more slot machines.
However the rest of council decided to have another look, and at a future meeting they’ll vote once again on whether to go to public hearing on that.

Investigators are saying the body found in a field near Farmer road was the victim of a homicide.

Sergeant Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says they still don’t have a lot of details.

“We still have yet to identify the deceased. An autopsy will be done so hopefully that will shed some light onto what happened such as how this homicide occurred, how long the deceased has been in that area”

Pound says the victim is a man between 20 and 30 years old but they haven’t identified him yet.

She says it’s too early to tell whether this was a targeted killing.

Homicide investigators have now been called in after a man’s body was discovered in Abbotsford yesterday morning.
A man was driving along Farmer Road near Mackenzie and spotted the body in a field at about 9:30am.
Constable Ian Macdonald says things look suspicious, so that’s why IHIT has taken over the investigation.

“On the surface of it, for an adult man to be found on a property that he has no attachment to, metres away from the roadway and deceased…that in and of itself is enough to deem it suspicious.”

An autopsy will be done to identify the body, as well as determine a cause of death.

Bowl for Kids Sake starts up next week in Chilliwack, with dates also scheduled in March for Abbotsford, Hope, and Maple Ridge.
Anyone is welcome to sign a team up for a time slot and collect pledges, with money going to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Executive director David Sheach says money raised stays local.

“All of the money that’s raised comes and stays in BBBS serving kids and families in the Fraser Valley.  You can put together a team of friends or colleagues or neighbors of 4 or 5 people….or raising some pledge money from friends or family, and come on out for a couple of hours.  We put on a great event for you, and there are some incentive prizes.”

For information on registering go to:  http://www.mentoringworks.ca/en/Home/default.aspx

Chilliwack – Chillibowl Lanes
22-Feb Wednesday 5-7pm & 7:30-9:30pm
24-Feb Friday 5-7pm & 7:30-9:30pm
27-Feb Monday 5-7pm & 7:30-9:30pm
29-Feb Wednesday 5-7pm & 7:30-9:30pm

Hope – Sunshine Lanes
2-Mar Friday 5-7pm & 7:30-9:30pm

Abbotsford – Dogwood Bowling and Billiards
8-Mar Thursday 12-2pm
9-Mar Friday 12-2pm & 5-7pm & 7:30-9:30pm

Abbotsford – Galaxy Bowl
30-Mar Friday 12-2pm & 4-6pm & 7-9pm
31-Mar Saturday 6-8pm

Maple Ridge – REVS
3-Mar Saturday 6-8pm
7-Mar Wednesday 5:30-7:30pm

P: 604-852-3331 E: Janis.Mitchell@BigBrothersBigSisters.ca

A Chilliwack teacher was arrested by RCMP this morning.

He has  been charged with luring a child, a charge that refers to someone using a computer system to communicate with a child under 16 year old for purposes of inviting sexual touching or sexual interference.

According to the school district he has not taught since December, although there’s no word on whether that’s because of the investigation.

Both the police and school district say there’s no indication any children were harmed or that any are at risk.

A publication ban is in place on the identity of the victim and accused.

Agrifair organizers want to assure everyone that the 100 year old festival will go ahead as planned.

There was speculation the fair might be cancelled from lack of funding when organizers asked Abbotsford Council for two hundred thousand dollars instead of the usual 50 thousand.

However president Ernie Silveri says the request was for worst case scenario.

He says it looks like they’ll get 80 thousand dollars from provincial gaming money and, assuming the City matches funding from last year, things will be fine.

Silveri says there’s a lot of support from the community and they expect to get some sponsorship money to help out with funding the fair.

The upcoming takeover of Zellers stores by Target has Zellers workers worried about their future.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union has been speaking on behalf of the workers, and spokesman Kevin Chimmin tells us Target won’t be retaining anyone after the conversion.

“They’re free to apply to continue working there once it’s turned into a Target, just like everybody else.  But even if they are hired, they aren’t given any assurance that their years of service…their wages, their benefits would be recognized.”

The issue is currently before the Labour Relations Board.
The ministry of labour says the board will review all relevant regulations including the employment standards act.