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The Cultus Lake park board has voted unanimously to bring public question period back to the board meetings.

The board suspended question period in June, a decision that proved extremely controversial among residents.

However it was brought back by park board commissioner Charlotte Hall.

Hall also suggested changing the question period bylaw to give the board the option of shutting it down, and to allow only questions and no commentary.

However the board voted 4-3 in favour of simply restoring the original bylaw.

Board chair Bob McCrea says given the number of letters from the public asking to reinstate question period, he’s glad to see it back.

Kids at Abbotsford Middle School and Chilliwack Central Community School will have a chance to be mentored by older athletes during some after school sports sessions over the next few weeks.

It’s part of a program launched by Pacificsport Fraser Valley, an organization dedicated to helping local athletes achieve success and getting introducing sports to youth.

Sport Participation Coordinator Eric Sinker says getting time with a mentor can be a valuable experience.

“I think it really puts it in perspective for the young child, who has an opportunity to learn from someone who is a teenager and someone early in their twenties so that way they can relate their experiences and be that face for that sport to help link them into that local organization.”

The initiative was made possible with funding from the Abbotsford Heat foundation.

An emergency in the home can be a scary thing if you’re not prepared for it, and even more so for young children.

The BC Ambulance Service says it’s important to teach children how to dial 911, and more importantly what to say to dispatch, if an adult has a medical problem.

Michal Fedeles with the BC Ambulance Service says even children as young as four can learn what to do.

He says children are very curious when they see ambulances, and you can use that as a starting point.

“Young children easily understand what the purpose of an ambulance is, so I think a natural extension of that is how do you get that help, how do you call? Call 911. Here’s the phone, let’s play with it. Let’s have a conversation.”

Fedeles says using fun role-play can teach a child what he or she needs to do without making it scary.

The era of fake and bake is over for anyone under 18 in BC.

New rules went into effect on Monday banning minors from using tanning beds.

Canadian Cancer Society BC Yukon CEO Barbara Kaminski says she applauds the move, saying young people are at higher risk from tanning beds.

“In fact it’s been indicated through the research that if people use indoor tanning equipment before the age of 35, and particularly when they’re in their teenage and early twenties, the risk of malignant melanoma could increase by as much as 87%.”

However Kaminski does say UV rays can help people with bad skin conditions and says there are exemptions in the law for people who have prescriptions from their doctor.

It was a pretty quick Chilliwack city council meeting yesterday, but they managed to get a fair amount done.  They approved rezoning to allow Chilliwack Ford to use part of the old UFV north campus to connect an access road to Meadowbrook Drive.  It’s on the back end of the campus and wouldn’t been seen from Yale Rd.  Staff also say this will have no impact on future development of the area, and they will be looking to put together a comprehensive plan for future site development.

Council also approved the formation of an Agricultural Advisory Committee to provide input on land use proposals that affect agriculture. The Chilliwack AAP (agriculture area plan) was adopted back in June, and this committee consisting of 10 members appointed by council, will look towards implementation of that plan.

City staff have also presented an update on the Official Community Plan review. The 1998 OCP is under review and the city is looking for public input on how best to tackle key issues that must be addressed over the next 30 years as the city grows and develops.  Karen Stanton with the planning department says they will be reaching out to the community at different events like Chiefs games, through social media and a website called Placespeak, and also by meeting with various community groups and going into schools.  They will also be holding a series of public open houses, and the 1st will be Nov 22nd at UFV, while the 2nd will be at Evergreen Hall on the 26th.

You can keep tabs on the OCP process by checking this page.

For more than 30 years the Chilliwack Rotary club has held an enormous book sale, and it’s on all this week.
Organizer Ian Meissner says they have thousands of books of all kinds.

“They’re all sorted into categories.  We have over 14,000 children’s books.  We have something for just about everyone.”

The sale is at Chilliwack Mall until 8 today and tomorrow, and 9 Thursday and Friday.
Money raised from the sale will help pay for Rotary projects in the community.

For more information, click here

A 67 year old Chilliwack woman was killed in a car accident in Abbotsford Monday morning on the highway 11 bypass just south of the Old Clayburn Rd. overpass.
The accident was reportedly a head on collision between a van and a car.
The woman driving the car was taken to hospital but succumbed to her injuries.
The man from Mission who was driving the van was airlifted to hospital for treatment and is recovering.
The road was closed for several hours while police went over the scene, and the investigation is ongoing.

RCMP are looking for a trucker, who knowingly or unknowingly hit someone this weekend to come forward.  Either way, they didn’t stay at the scene.  It happened around 6pm Saturday along Hwy 7 near Seabird Island.  A group of 3 people were out jogging EB when one of them, a 42 yr old man, was hit by a tractor trailer.  Witnesses say the truck briefly slowed down, and then continued on EB on Hwy 7.  The describe it as a red or brown rig pulling a white or silver trailer.  The victim sustained serious, but not life threatening injuries.

Police are also asking anyone that may have witnessed the collision, the tractor trailer unit or has any details in regards to this matter to contact Cst. Collins of Fraser Valley Traffic Services at 604-702-4039.

Participaction has launched a “Bring Back Play” campaign to try to get more kids involved in traditional outdoor games like hide and seek and red rover.
The group, which has a mandate of increasing physical activity in Canadians, released a study that shows that only 19 percent of kids surveyed regularly play the outdoor games that their parents did.
Participaction president Kelly Murumets  says there are a few reasons why, including more time in front of the TV or computer.

“Definitely that screen time is a huge barrier.  A second barrier is that parents are worried about the safety of their kids.  They feel like their kids aren’t safe if they’re running around outside unsupervised.”

Parents can download an app at participaction.com with lots of game ideas that they can bring to the park with their kids.

There will be no shortage of garage sales to hit up in Chilliwack tomorrow.  The city is facilitating their annual fall “City Wide Garage Sale, where everyone having a sale signs up on their website, and they produce a master list.  Janet Demarcke  says they have a list of all the addresses as well as a map.

“It’s so easy to find the homes in your neighborhood, you could hit 10 of them within an hour because they’re all kind of linked.  And (the list) also breaks it down in terms of what they’re selling, so if what you’re looking for are just appliances or just furniture, this makes it very easy for you.”

There are 130 sales happening in town tomorrow, and the city is encouraging those holding a sale to give to charity whatever they can’t sell.  The city wide garage sale is from 8:30 to 1:30…check chilliwack.com for the list and the map.