Tuesday
September 24, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 77 77) 7)) 7
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
For the kids: A team of emergency services personnel will set out on an 800-km km bicycle trip Thursday to raise funds ds for pediatric cancer programs and research. i see page e 13
Father ‘tickled pink’ with son’s release
125-day sentence for assault Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A man who admitted to helping beat and kick his friend unconscious over a $250 amp says he is “getting too old” to continue with the lifestyle drugs led him to. “My dad’s here and he needs me,” Tyrone McDougall told Judge Ellen Gordon Friday in Surrey Provincial Court, shortly before he was sentenced. “I’m going to make the best of the chance I’m given.” McDougall, 34, pleaded guilty in December to assault and assault causing bodily harm in connection with the attack, which occurred May 22, 2012 in White Rock and prompted a police raid two days later. He was one of two men arrested for the crime; his co-accused, Robert Dean Orr, was sentenced in December to nine months in jail. Friday, Crown Angela Lee told Gordon that McDougall, Orr and the attack victim were all drug users at the time of the offence. She said the incident occurred when McDougall and Orr went to a White Rock home to collect on proceeds from the sale of an amplifier, and found the equipment had been “sold” for crystal meth. Those proceeds were shared between two men who lived at the home, she said. After learning about the sale, McDougall punched one man in the face and then he and Orr waited until the friend who had shared the drugs came home. At that time, both McDougall and Orr “began assaulting (the friend) without warning, simultaneously.” They punched and kicked him until he lost consciousness, then repeated the beating when the man woke up, again until he lost consciousness, Lee said. Photos shown to the court showed the badly bruised and swollen victim in a neck brace. In asking Gordon to impose a sixmonth jail term and one year probai see page 4
Changing of the guard
Boaz Joseph photo
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR5)‘s new rescue vessel, Vigilant II, is lowered into the water at Crescent Beach Marina on Sept. 21. Funds to purchase the rigid-hull inflatable (approximately $320,000) were raised over the past six years, largely from within the community.
Transport Canada train-safety suggestions similar to those that followed 1997 fatality: Baldwin
Mayor ‘will resist’ rail fencing Tracy Holmes
“I just thought that would be the kind of solution I would come up with if I were in Suggestions to improve pedestrian safety Ottawa and I had never been here before. I around White Rock’s waterfront train tracks would go through my list of possible soluare not sitting well with the tions and just (reiterate) them city’s mayor. ❝The largest change and that would be it.” Wayne Baldwin said Thursday has to be the individual Baldwin said he “will resist, that Transport Canada has pro- who is trespassing on fully” if the agency insists on posed signal arms, fencing and “fencing and unnecessary arms private property.❞ warning lights and sounds for and so on.” Gus Melonas the promenade – suggestions A Transport Canada spokesthat he described as impractical BNSF person told Peace Arch News and reactionary, triggered by last week that a joint review the July 14 train death of jogger Anita Lewis. requested of the city and BNSF focuses on “They were making suggestions that we current whistling exemptions in the area, should seriously consider this kind of thing and involves “reviewing signage, signals and and talk with them about it,” Baldwin said, fencing to protect pedestrians and vehicles, dismissing them as ineffective and generic. and to determine if any changes are needed Staff Reporter
to mitigate public safety and rail-safety risks.” The agency’s own review of the sightlines, signage and train operation at the crossing where Lewis was killed found all of the elements to be in compliance with the Railway Safety Act and associated rules. Lewis, 42, was hit by a passenger train as she jogged across the tracks in the 15600block of Marine Drive at about 9:45 p.m. July 14. Despite efforts of off-duty emergency responders in the area, she did not survive. An Amtrak spokesperson told PAN the following day that the crosswalk where Lewis was hit “has no protection.” “There are no gates or whistles or anything,” Vernae Graham said. At the request of the city, overnight train i see page 2
See page BORDER GOLD CORP.
Local Produce Season has arrived at Kin’s!