Tuesday May 1, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 35))
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PAN judged best in Canada Peace Arch News was named the country’s best large community newspaper Thursday evening by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. The CCNA announced the award at a gala in Toronto, giving Peace Arch News highest marks out of 50 entries in the 25,000-and-over circulation category. The adjudication was based on several criteria, including range of coverage, quality of writing, Member photography, layout and CCNA advertising design. Second-place honours went to Mountain News in Hamilton, Ont., and third prize went to PAN’s sister paper, Surrey/North Delta Leader, which won gold for best front page. Thursday’s announcement followed several accolades received by PAN in recent weeks. Earlier this month, PAN was named the province’s best overall newspaper in its distribution category – for the second year in a row – by B.C. & Yukon Community Newspapers Association judges, and members of PAN’s writing staff received international honours by the U.S.based Local Media Association. “It’s an incredible testament to the perseverance and dedication of our entire team to our readers, especially given the heartbreak we suffered last year,” said longtime ad manager Rita Walters, who was named publisher last fall following the sudden death of communitychampion Linda Klitch. “We take great pride that the newspaper we present to our readers and business partners in our community has been judged so highly by our peers.” Receiving the award in Toronto, Black Press COO Rick O’Connor, a South Surrey resident, dedicated the award to Klitch’s memory.
Green pride: When it comes to protecting the environment, Surrey’s Deb Jack – named the city’s Good Citizen of thee Year – has it down to an art. see pagee 9
Neighbours frustrated by repeated standoffs in quiet neighbourhood
ERT swarms home three times Dan Ferguson Staff Reporter
Residents of a normally quiet South Surrey neighbourhood estimate more than a dozen police officers – including heavily armed members of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) – swarmed their street Saturday evening.
It was the third time in less than three weeks that police have been called to the same rental property in the 16400-block of 10 Avenue, a small older house hidden behind overgrown hedges. All three times, it was the result of reported screaming and vandalism inside the house. Twice, the
26-year-old male occupant was forcibly removed from the scene following a standoff with police. In the most recent incident, RCMP closed 10 Avenue near 164 Street to all but local traffic around 10 p.m. after neighbours heard loud noises inside the house. “Howling and wailing and bash-
ing,” is how one resident remembers the disturbance. “It was eerie.” An RCMP report indicates a man had punched out several windows. He was described in the report as “heavily intoxicated” and suffering from “mental-health issues.” see page 4
Tracy Holmes photo
Neil Midgley was among residents who had to flee their Vinewood apartment units, after a fire broke out on the ground floor Thursday morning.
59 suites evacuated in White Rock apartment fire
‘Flames were as high as the building’ Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Two people were taken to hospital Thursday after an early-morning fire broke out in a White Rock apartment building, causing extensive damage. But the city’s fire chief says it was sheer luck that the blaze didn’t end in tragedy – given that the smoke alarm in the unit where it started wasn’t working. “(She was) a very fortunate resident to have made her way out of that suite… she woke to
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the smell of smoke,” Chief Phil Lemire said. Residents of the Vinewood – an older, threestorey wood-frame complex in the 14900block of Vine Avenue – were alerted to trouble around 6:25 a.m. April 26, as building alarms sounded and smoke filled the hallways. Second-floor resident Neil Midgley said he heard a bang, then the sound of breaking glass, before the alarms went off. “There was like a really loud explosion,” he said, noting his first thought was that a nearby transformer had blown.
He quickly realized it was much more. “I went out on my balcony, looked down and the apartment one below and over, the flames were as high as the building. I got my clothes, then the alarm bells went off.” Midgley said he had to stoop to avoid the smoke that quickly filled his suite. Byron Robertson, who lives in a second-floor unit on the building’s east side, said it was the third time alarms have gone off in the building in the past month. see page 4
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