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ICBC is giving drivers, cyclists and pedestrians a visual of where they need to be more careful on their commute.

ICBC’s Mark Jan Vrem says their new interactive maps show the worst intersections for accidents over the past 5 years.

“We get requests for this kind of data all the time, from the media, from the public, from various stakeholders. So knowing that the data is useful for our customers and our stakeholders we’ve decided to make the database available to them in a very user friendly fashion.”

The worst intersection in Abbotsford is Sumas Way at Lonzo, right by the westbound onramp with 611 crashes over the last five years. Runner up is the Mount Lehman freeway onramp.

In Chilliwack Luckakuck and Vedder is tops, with 333 crashes. Promontory and Vedder is second.

And in Mission the intersection of highway 11, Lougheed highway, and the Cedar Valley Connecter is the runaway winner with 489 accidents.

You can view the maps at icbc dot com through the newsroom link under Stats and facts.

Metro Vancouver’s proposed waste to energy facility is going to be a huge project if it does go ahead, and Metro now wants some federal and provincial help to build it.
Even though the project details haven’t been finalized, they’ve applied for funding through P3 Canada, since the deadline is coming up and they want to get the application in for consideration.
Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan has said he thinks the cost of financing the project will be too high if Metro uses a public private partnership model.
Metro’s Zero Waste Committee chair Malcolm Brodie tells us that is a valid concern.

“It’s very unlikely that the private sector can provide financing for this project, which would be more cost effective than what the public can do through the municipal finance authority.  But I have no aversion to leaving the financing piece in there so it will get full analysis.”

Brodie says Metro is also looking at a P3 model for the design, build, and operation components.

Pet owners in Maple Ridge have been warned that there is a disgusting individual(s) going around killing and mutilating cats, and it looks like they’re back at work again, with the discovery of 2 more animals.
The BC SPCA says one cat was found by an elementary school on 230th Street yesterday afternoon. The body of a calico was found along 221st Street.

More than two dozen cats have been found since last June, now 9 in the past week alone. In one case, the tail of a cat was put in front of a missing cat poster.

The SPCA has issued a warning people in Maple Ridge, especially between 217 and 230 Streets, to keep their cats inside.

The Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce presented a motion on vacant and derelict buildings at the BC Chamber AGM on the weekend.
The chamber wants local governments to be able to do something about owners who leave buildings empty, like the old downtown Safeway.
Chamber executive director Patti MacAhonic says after a bit of negotiating the BC Chamber came up with two recommendations for the province.

“And that is that the provincial government #1) amend the community charter to give municipalities the option of introducing tools and strategies to motivate the owners of derelict properties to improve and maintain such properties, and then #2) clearly define what constitutes a derelict property.”

MacAhonic says buildings like the abandoned former Safeway downtown can be like a black hole in the business community.

If the province approves it, then municipalities would be able to draft a bylaw.

Chilliwack RCMP are looking for a bunch of mischief-makers who threw rocks through windows over the weekend.

Between May 26th and 28th windows were broken at a dental clinic on Young road, in cars at Valley Toyota, a home on Alexander Avenue, and in Robertson elementary.

And those are just the ones reported to RCMP, police patrols have shown many other businesses have been hit as well.

It looks like the work was mostly done at night, and police are asking for people to give them a call if they seen anything out of the ordinary.

Session four in Chilliwack RCMP’s weekly information sessions for people impacted by domestic violence goes this morning.
Corporal Tammy Hollingsworth says this week the presenter will be a legal advocate from the Ann Davis Transition Society.

“She’s going to be talking about the role of an advocate and working with men and women who are trying to navigate family law disputes.  She’s going to be discussing some of the common concerns people bring to her including custody access and building communication between partners.”

Hollingsworth says will also touch on alternative dispute resolution options.
As always the session starts at 10:30 at Chilliwack Community Services.

Its a big day for Mignon Tsai of Abbotsford.  The 12 yr old Chief Dan George Middle School student is not in class today, but she’s got a good reason.  She’s competing for a spot in the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland.  278 students, from a field of millions, have made it to the final 2 days.  There are 3 Canadians in this competition, including Jennifer Mong of St. Johns NL, who Tsai lost out to in the Canadian national competition.  Tomorrow is the final round, where a winner will be crowned.

Crown has decided to lay more serious charges than those originally recommended against an RCMP officer involved in a fatal crash near Agassiz last year.

On July 12th Constable Jordan Braid was driving out to a call when he was involved in a collision with another car on Lougheed highway near Bodnar road.

According to an investigation by Abbotsford Police, Constable Braid did not have his emergency lights running and allegedly crossed into oncoming traffic.

The driver of the other vehicle, 20 year old Steve Genberg, died a few days later in hospital.

In March Abby police recommended charges of driving without due care, but on Friday Crown swore in charges of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

It was a busy weekend for members of the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils.  They held their AGM, and passed no fewer than 16 resolutions.  One of the more high profile ones is a recommendation that each school board remove w-fi from 3 local schools.
Resolution 17 calls for those schools to be equipped with wired computers and telephones for personal educational and administrative purposes.  They cite mounting evidence that this wireless technology can cause a wide range of health issues.  But Gord Byers, President of the Chilliwack District Parent Advisory Council says the school district has already done their budget and isn’t sure this is the best use of the resources.

“I’m worried about the implications of going down this road, because we’ve got other areas that need the funds.  We’ve got students that have different styles of learning.  They need more funds to get the extra help.  Now, if we turn around and ask the schools and they agree to do this, then we have to spend an extra $300,000 to retrofit these buildings, and that’s money that could be put towards kids.”

He says he’s not opposed to looking at the health impacts of wi-fi on our kids, but the research to this point isn’t conclusive.  Resolution 18 is calling for school boards to stop allowing the installation of wi-fi, where other technology is feasible.

Meantime, Byers says there were some other important resolutions passed this weekend as well, including a plan to lobby the province for the return of all Special Education, Special Needs, and ESL Targeted Funding.  Provincial targeted funding was withdrawn in 2002, replacing it with untargeted funding distributed into student basic allocation that districts could then spend at their ‘direction and discretion.’  The problem with that is that districts can’t track where exactly that money is being spent.

There’s also a resolution in there that would allow students to switch highschools and continue to compete on their new school’s sports teams.  Current regulations bar these kids from BC senior sports competitions, and the BCCPAC doesn’t think that’s fair.

To view a full list of the resolutions that were on the agenda this weekend, click: http://tinyurl.com/d26aefq

At Monday’s Council meeting the issue of harm reduction strategies took centre stage, bringing out strong feelings on both sides of the issue.
Currently the City has a bylaw banning harm reduction strategies like needle exchanges.
Brian Gross from the Supporting Wellness and Reducing Harm Committee gave an impassioned speech.

“Harm reduction acknowledges that rubbing someone’s nose in their weaknesses does not make them stronger.  Harm reduction introduces positive change into people’s lives.  Every time an injection drug user unwraps a clean rig, they have an opportunity to think about why.”

Meanwhile Chuck Doucette from the Drug Prevention Network of Canada had different thoughts.
Doucette says a lot of the strategies don’t reduce harm, but rather prolong the misery caused by addiction.
He also says properly funded prevention and abstinence programs are the way to go.
Fraser Health presented a plan to bring in needle collection initiatives and needle exchange sites.

However mayor Bruce Banman says Fraser Health didn’t bring enough to the table.

“It’s fine for Fraser Health to ask us to re-look at this, but to not offer a detox centre as part of the solution…that just doesn’t wash with me.  They need to be part of the solution, and we need a detox centre in this city if it’s that important to them to have this reduction.”

Council will seek more public consultation before deciding what they want to do with the bylaw.