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october 2 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
Petitioners for marijuana reform are objecting to Translink’s move to bar them from skyTrain stations. See Page A10
Tech theft tops crime trends Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
MArIo bArteL/NeWSLeADer
sue mitchell and Jag matharu compare features on their smart phones as they man the table for the bonsor 55+ computer club at the opening of the new bonsor seniors Centre on nelson avenue on saturday.
Canadian women to be based here Grant Granger
ggranger@burnabynewsleader.com
The Canadian women’s soccer squad will train out of Burnaby’s Fortius Sport and Health Centre as it prepares for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Canada and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The team, which was led to a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London by Burnaby
native Christine Sinclair and head significant impact on our Women’s coach John Herdman, will even National Team Program and I reside in the Fortius Lodge rooms believe will help us reach the goals at the $61-million facility that also we’ve set for ourselves in the key houses sports medicine and years ahead.” training facilities. Along with access to “We’re delighted to form the Fortius Pitch, which is this collaborative training connected to Burnaby Lake partnership and to have the Sports Complex West, the opportunity to base our team will also be able to use SINcLAIr training camps, programs its double gymnasium and and team staff in Burnaby,” other training and medical said Herdman. facilities. “Having these amenities and “The facility was purpose-built services under one roof will have a to deliver the widest range of sport
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and exercise medicine and training services to national teams and performance athletes, but also to serve young people and adults of all ages in their pursuit of sport and active, healthy living,” said Lynda Cannell, Fortius chief operating officer. “Having the Canadian Women’s National Team Program make us its training home will be a terrific showcase of what our facilities and team of practitioners and training specialists can do.” newsroom@burnabynewsleader.com
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Ask Burnaby Chief Supt. Dave Critchley what’s changed in crime trends over the past 20 years of policing and he’s quick to talk about the advent of smartphones, the Internet and social networking tools. Smartphones, iPads and tablets didn’t exist before. Now they’re the largest growing target for thieves and robbers. From January to June this year, there were 125 robberies in Burnaby, compared to 157 during the same period in 2012, he said. The reduction was mainly from a drop in robberies of businesses. Of those, 99 were classified as personal robberies in 2012 and 98 in 2013. The numbers of those cases involving smartphones was also surprisingly consistent— 62 in 2012 and 63 so far this year. With such electronic devices, “we’ve created an opportunity for criminals to take advantage of,” he said. “It’s all about risk and mitigating it.” People using such devices simply aren’t as aware as they should be of their surroundings. “It’s as simple as walking down the street looking at your cellphone, walking into a lamppost or into traffic,” he said. see uNDerLyING, A3