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Search efforts resumed Monday for a man who fell into the Fraser River north of Yale.

The 67 year old Hope man was fishing on Saturday south of the Saddle Rock Tunnel when he slipped on the rocks.

He was not wearing a flotation device.

Search and rescue and local police searched both the river and the land, and were joined Monday by RCMP air services from Kamloops.

RCMP ask anyone going near a river bank to wear a flotation device, saying it can help save lives if a person falls into the fast flowing waters.

The pipe-up network is inviting people in Chilliwack to come out to a walk tomorrow to raise awareness about their concerns regarding Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand the pipeline running through the lower mainland.
Organizer Wendy Major says with the pipe transporting bitumen there are huge health risks if there is a leak.
She says many aren’t aware of exactly where the pipe goes.

“There are a lot of people who find that the pipeline goes through their backyard.  It goes through Watson school in the back playground area, and it continues all the way over to the Vedder River near the Heron Reserve and the salmon spawning beds.”

People will meet at the playground at Watson elementary at 1 PM and walk the path of the pipe.

Meantime, BC Environment Minister Terry Lake says Kinder Morgan will have to beef up oil spill prevention and response if it wants the province to support the company’s pipeline expansion proposal, which would twin the current one running through the valley.
Lake also says some of the conditions outlined for approval of the North Gateway project will also be applied to Kinder Morgan’s proposal.

Auditor General John Doyle

UFV political science expert Hamish Telford says the auditor general’s findings on irregularities in the BC legislatures accounting practices are a serious issue.

But he says we shouldn’t take them out of context.

Telford says it doesn’t seem to be a case of deliberate misdeed.

“The auditor general said that he didn’t think there was any wrongdoing here. We’re not talking about a case of fraud and so on.  It’s just a question of accounting penny for penny how the money is spent and he wants the legislature to do a better job.”

Telford says since both the NDP and Liberals are to blame he thinks it’s unlikely this will become an election issue in the fall.

NDP leader Adrian Dix says the province needs to bring in a province wide screening program to test for colorectal cancer.

Dix was at the UFV Canada Education Park on Friday, talking about how important early detection is to save lives.

He says from a financial point of view, detecting and removing polyps before they become tumors will mean a lot of health care savings down the road.

“I think it makes a lot of sense in terms of rate of return for the health care system because of the avoided costs of more serious treatment required with late detection, and of course with the reduced mortality rates associated with colorectal cancer.”

Dix says while long term there would be substantial savings, short term there would be start up costs but he says it’s important enough that the government needs to find the money in the budget.

Currently the province has set up pilot screening programs in Vancouver, Penticton, and Powell River.

Young road in downtown Chilliwack was a busy place for Criminals through July.

According to Chilliwack RCMP, Young between First ave and Lewis saw 16 property crimes between July 9th and 22nd.

It was the usual mix of break and enters, theft from vehicle, and auto theft.

The only other main hotspot reported was the Watson/Glen Park area, with six reported property crimes.

RCMP remind you that locking your door, even if you’re only away from your car for a minute, can make you much less likely to be a victim.

Not nearly as many people are connected to farming in this area as there used to be, but it’s important to know about the research being done in terms of food production.  The Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Agassiz is one of 2 sites in BC, and biologist Victoria Brooks says what you might not know is that the centre has been there for 126 years.

“When the need was seen within the federal government in the 1800s that we needed more formal research carried out, we were picked as one of the 5 sites in Canada….we were picked as being very different from the other sites.  The Fraser Valley is one of the most productive agriculture areas in the world, let alone in Canada.”

They’re hosting an open house this Saturday from 9am to 4pm.  You can explore the links between science and farming through interactive tours, exhibits and activities.  There will also be some free food and a cake cutting.  It’s located off Hwy 7 near Hot Springs Rd.  The event coincides with the Slow Food Cycle Tour in the eastern valley this weekend, but everyone is invited to attend the open house.

A woman’s claim that she was sexually assaulted by two South Asian men in downtown Abbotsford in February has turned out to be a fabrication.
Constable Ian MacDonald says when making up her story she drew on some real observations she had made of people and cars in the area.

“Certainly when we created some composite sketches and we released the description of the vehicle we got numerous tips as a result.  It was only when there were some inconsistencies that were drawn out from the investigation that we were able to confront the alleged victim with some of the inconsistencies.”

MacDonald says it’s possible the woman was looking for attention, and once the investigation got rolling it was tough for her to confess the truth.
He says phony allegations are frustrating because it ties up a lot of resources that could be used to go after legitimate threats to public safety.

However, MacDonald says it’s unlikely they will be pursuing charges against the woman.

69% of Abbotsford residents surveyed in a recent Ipsos-Reid poll think they get good value for their taxes.
But that’s below the provincial average of 78%.
More than half of people asked say they’d rather cut services than see an increase in taxes.
Councillor Patricia Ross says that surprises her.

“Of course they want their taxes kept low, but maybe what should have been asked was ‘what services that YOU use would you be willing to sacrifice?’ That’s a different question, and you would get a very different answer.”

Municipal services is now the most common top of mind community issue compared to last year’s survey.  The number of people ranking crime as the top issue has decreased 21% in the last 2 years, and Ross says that’s a huge testament to the great work being done by the Abbotsford Police force.

New provincial anti-metal theft laws mean scrap metal dealers need to get identity information from sellers, so that police can track them down if they think the metal was stolen.
The dealers will also file daily reports with police, which can be compared to theft lists.
Corporal Tammy Hollingsworth with the Chilliwack RCMP says she’s not sure it will solve the problem completely but says it’s a good start.

“Metal theft is one of those things that is just difficult to investigate.  It’s hard to determine if it’s stolen or not, so having these dealers take IDs, obtain license plates….that’s definitely going to make it easier for police to track down that stolen property if it was taken to a scrapyard. “

There has been a lot of wire theft by people looking to make a quick buck.
Telus is a frequent target, and some service outages have been attributed to people stealing cables.

RCMP are looking for the public’s help to find a missing 16 year old girl from Hope.

Jessica Weber was last seen locally om July 8th at her home.

Police believed she hitched rides with truck drivers to Alberta and was at a friend’s place in Wetaskiwin Alberta July 9th.

She contacted a friend in Campbell River and said she was in Alberta on July 17th, but has not been in touch with her family.

Police say she lives a high risk lifestyle and has gone missing before.

She’s described as 5 foot 4, 96 pounds, with brown eyes and brown shoulder length hair.