http://www.starfm.com

Agassiz RCMP say 50 yr old William Johnathan Orders of Burnaby, the pilot who was involved in this weekends tragic hang gliding accident in the valley, has been arrested and formally charged with obstructing justice.  The charge is related to an allegation that he withheld potential key evidence that police say could help determine whether he played a role in any wrongdoing.  27 yr old Lenami Godinez of Vancouver slipped from the glider shortly after takeoff Saturday from above Mt. Woodside between Agassiz and Harrison Mills.  She fell approx. 300m to her death.

“What exactly happened as far as why she fell is still under investigation” says RCMP Cpl. Tammy Hollingsworth.  “We are hoping that investigation will answer that question as well as other questions we may all have.  This is an absolutely tragic accident, there are really no other words to describe it.”

No one should be surprised by the latest secondary school rankings from the Fraser Institute.  Not a lot of educators put stock in the rankings, saying there are a lot of indicators that go what’s considered a good school.  Fraser Institute uses 7, including exam marks and graduation rates.  Based on that, once again, private schools did the best, although in this report, 14 of the fastest improving schools are public.  280 schools were ranked, and in Chilliwack, Timothy Christian is highest ranked at #10, Highroad Academy is #25, and Unity Christian is #42.  Sardis is the top public school at #119.  Chilliwack Secondary is #144, and GW Graham is #181.

In Abbotsford, the top ranked are MEI at #28, and Abby Christian at #30. Yale is the top public school at #98, WJ Mouat is #108, Bateman is #126, and Abby Collegiate is #252.  Mission Secondary ranked near the bottom at #264.

To view the entire list, go here:

http://britishcolumbia.compareschoolrankings.org/secondary/SchoolsByRankLocationName.aspx

How to deal with problems of substance abuse in a community can be a very contentious issue.
Fraser Health advocates harm reduction centres where they can educate on the dangers of overdose and provide clean needles.  As we told you last week, Abbotsford has a bylaw that bans these strategies.
Chilliwack has had harm reduction for a decade, and Mayor Sharon Gaetz says she thinks it is important to provide  different solutions in a community.

“And I get the fact that people think it’s enabling drug addicts…they can die with a clean needle in their arm as much as they can with a dirty needle they got from the streets, but we want to lessen the chances and keep people alive and Fraser Health has told us this is the best way to do so.”

Abbotsford Council has in the past resisted going down the road, but Fraser Health is trying to encourage them to change their stance.

Those in the gliding community are still in shock after a woman plummeted from a hang glider near Agassiz on Saturday.
Mounties and the BC Coroners Service are both looking at what went wrong.
Just a few seconds in to a tandem flight with an experienced pilot, 27-year-old Lenami Godinez of Vancouver slipped off the glider, and fell 984 ft to her death.  It was her first time gliding, and it was an anniversary gift from her boyfriend.
Coroner Barb McClintock says at this time it appears it was simply a terrible accident.

“We have at the moment, just like everybody else I suspect, a lot of questions and not very many answers yet.  But we do hope and plan to get all the answers we can.  The first question, obviously, is what went wrong in the first place, and then how could this go wrong?”

RCMP Sgt. Mark Pelz says everyone involved is co-operating with the investigation at this time.

“All avenues are open.  Obviously criminal, civil and/or just a bad accident are all possibilities here so with an open mind, we’re investigating as we normally would.”

He says the pilot is emotionally broken, and it’s very sad to see.

McClintock adds they are looking into whether safety recommendations need to be made for the hang gliding industry.

Searchers have found the body of a woman who fell during a tandem hang gliding excursion between Agassiz and Harrison Mills today.  She and a professional glider took off from Mt. Woodside this afternoon, but she came loose from her straps shortly after takeoff at approx. 984 feet.  Jason Warner, who is the safety director for the Hang Glider and Para Glider Association of Canada, tells our sister station News 1130 that the pilot was experienced, and is obviously distraught by what has happened.  He says it’s actually a very safe sport, and it’s a shock when something this rare happens.  It took crews a number of hours to locate the her body.  The glider itself is being looked at to see if it was to blame for the accident.

The Crown wants eight years in prison and a 15-year driving ban for Brent Parent.

The 42 year old Langley man was convicted of three charges including criminal negligence causing death in January.

21 year old Silas O’Brien was killed in March of 2008 in what has been described as a road rage incident.

The truck he was in was forced off the road on Hwy 16 in Aldergrove, and he was hit and killed when the other driver came back to the scene.

Parent pleaded not guilty, saying he didn’t know anyone was hit, until he heard news reports about it the next day.

However the prosecution maintained that Parent ran the truck off the road initially because the driver had “high-beamed” him.

During today’s sentencing hearing Crown brought up Parent’s 64 driving infractions, and said Parent was caught for going 108 km/h in a 60km/h zone on the two year anniversary of O’Brien’s death.

Defense says because of Parent’s remorse and lack of substance abuse he should serve 3 to 4 years.

Crown is asking for a 21 year prison sentence for Jarrod Bacon.

He and father in law Wayne Scott were convicted in February for conspiring to traffic cocaine.

The two were arrested in a sting operation when a police agent negotiated a deal for 100 kg of cocaine.

Crown Counsel said Bacon made his intentions clear to distribute the drugs, and also pointed out that Bacon lied to the court during his testimony.

Jeff Ray, Bacon’s lawyer, said that since his client was arrested in a police operation, no actual drugs existed and therefore there was no threat of drugs being distributed.

Ray said 8 years would be a more appropriate sentence.

The judge is not expected to make his decision today.

There’s a military parade happening in Garrison on Sunday.  Canada Lands Director of Planning Randy Fasan says it’s to mark the completion of the Legacy Walk.

“When we set out on the project back when we zoned it in 2003, one of our commitments was to commemorate the 56 year history of CFB Chilliwack, and in a series of phases as we developed the roads and the parks, we installed commemorative elements that tell the story of life on the base, including the origins of the street names, which we reused.”

There will be an RCMP honour guard, 20 flagbearers from the Legion, followed by a drum and pipe band.  It goes from 1-2:30 on Sunday, and starts on Keith Wilson just west of the Garrison Crossing entrance.

Fasan says the infrastructure investment for the award winning Garrison development is all done.  All that’s left are some multi family land sales, and then some sprucing up of grass boulevards and street trees, which will happen over the next year and a half.

He made no enemies and kept to himself.
35-year-old Karver Morford’s parents are baffled by their son’s killing and are still pleading for answers, 18 months later.
Judy McCormick says her son struggled with epilepsy, and chose to live a reclusive life near Ryder Lake.

“He had no reason to feel unsafe living there and his home should have been his sanctuary, not the scene of his brutal and senseless murder.  But that home was invaded, and in the end, the only thing taken was the only thing of value…his life.”

Karver’s body was found by his father.  He was not linked to crime but police believe the killing was targetted.  IHIT has a group of “persons of interest” in mind, but can’t say much more, and won’t say how Karver died.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Yarrow Eco-Village yet, Vivian Vaillant says you should leave some time open on Sunday.

“On Sunday you can come on out and get a tour of the Eco-Village.  I know a lot of people still don’t know what we’re up to and what we’re about.  So we’re doing another open house, this is our 3rd annual.  We do kids activities, tours of the farm, and we’ll be touring people through some of our green-built homes and showing people what we’re building next.”

What they want to build next is a barn, and they’re trying to raise $30,000 for it.  But it’s not your average fundraiser, because you will get something back for your donation, ranging from heritage seeds, to organic produce to your own barn dance if you donate $500 or more.  The plan is, once they have the money, to hold a community barn raising, where people pull up the barn themselves.

“And there hasn’t been one of these as far as we can tell.  We’ve been to the museum and we’ve looked around.  If you know anyone who has ever been involved with a barn raising in the Yarrow or Chilliwack area, we are actively searching for information and pictures.”

For all the information, go to yarrowecovillage.ca or follow them on facebook.