THURSDAY
MARQUEE MATCH-UP
Kayla Bruce and the No. 1-ranked UFV women’s volleyball team host the defending national champs
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A46
JANUARY 31, 2013
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Muzzling measures for berry cannons?
Draft bylaw would place new restrictions on bird scare devices A5 BIG MOVE FOR MCC
No chickens in the city
A4 Mennonite Central Committee will invest $10 million in new building
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Alex BUTLER Abbotsford News
After losing her job last June, Tanya Buskell needed a new project to focus on. She started keeping hens in her backyard – a hobby she describes as therapeutic. But on Jan. 15, Buskell received a phone call from a bylaw officer, informing her that raising chickens contravenes the city’s zoning bylaw. Her hens, kept in her yard on Semlin Place in east Abbotsford, must be gone within 30 days. “I think it’s really ironic that here we are, the ‘City in the Country,’ and you can have chickens in Vancouver but you can’t have chickens in Abbotsford.” Abbotsford’s zoning bylaw states the “keeping of animals, birds, fish, insects and reptiles, other than as domestic house pets, is prohibited.” Vancouver has allowed backyard flocks since 2010, restricted to four hens and no roosters at a single-family home, along with rules for proper care and management. Buskell said she agrees with such conditions. She informed her neighbours when she got her flock of about 10 hens, and some like to bring their children to see the chickens. Continued on A5
A14 Board of education looks at two options for school start, holidays
LIONS ROAR IN DELTA A52 Top-ranked Yale boys hoopsters win tournament gold
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Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A9
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Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A46
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Viewpoint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8
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Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A57
ALEX BUTLER Abbotsford News
Tanya Buskell feeds her backyard chickens with the help of her neighbour, Lily.
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