Tuesday October 8, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 81)
V O I C E
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W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
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Experienced in the arts: Nina McLachlan, 92, doesn’t let a little thing like age get in the way of her passion. She painted a mural for her retirement home and still runs a ceramics business. i see page 11
Murder-for-hire plot alleged
No calls from FBI Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Pandamonium
Derek Hayes Photography/Tourism White Rock photo
A seemingly contemplative panda gazes towards White Rock pier during a break from entertaining crowds along the waterfront, which was adorned with hundreds of glowing Chinese lanterns. The figure was spotted along the shorelines last weekend as part of the city’s first Moon Festival, organized in conjunction with the White Rock Chinese Arts Centre.
Elected officials differ on proposed changes to their remuneration
City staff urge council pay bumps Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
White Rock staff say a review of politicians’ salaries has determined the city’s elected officials are not adequately paid compared to their peers in similar-sized municipalities. And while they’re proposing a pay boost to take effect as soon as council signs off – including a 20 per cent jump in the
mayor’s salary alone – opinions are mixed as to whether the amount of the increase is appropriate and just when it should kick in, if at all. For Coun. Helen Fathers, the main issue is the percentage difference between the mayor’s and councillors’ pay – an issue that is not specifically addressed by changes staff proposed in an Oct. 7 report to the governance and legislation committee.
Coun. Al Campbell agreed the matter is also about percentages, as well as a recognition that the job entails significantly more work than it has in the past. “We don’t have a big population, but we have a lot going on,” he said. At the same time, it’s more about the inequity between the two rates than the actual pay received, he said. i see page 2
International reports of a murder-for-hire that allegedly targeted an unidentified White Rock family man have flooded the Internet. But the widely reported story has not prompted many calls to the seaside city’s police detachment. Staff Sgt. Lesli Roseberry told Peace Arch News that local RCMP officers did not have any requests from the FBI for their cooperation in the investigation that led to Wednesday’s arrest in San Francisco of a man suspected of masterminding an anonymous online empire – entitled Silk Road – where everything from illicit drugs and weapons to fake IDs could be purchased. In addition to running the underground Internet marketplace, the 29-yearold is accused by the FBI of trying to hire someone to kill a local site user by the name of Friendly- Ross Ulbricht Chemist last spring. The conspiracy charge alleged target had reportedly threatened to reveal the identities of thousands of other users unless he was paid $500,000. “If they conducted an investigation, it was done without our local assets, that’s for sure,” Roseberry said last week. While the execution was reportedly confirmed to the accused, Roseberry said White Rock has been murder-free for years. “We haven’t had any sort of homicide files in at least over a decade, and we have no outstanding missing-person files,” she said. Aside from PAN’s inquiry, the detachment had, as of Thursday afternoon, received one media call since word of the arrest broke. “All the fellow asked apparently (was), ‘have you had any homicides there?’ and (the sergeant) said ‘no, not in over a decade.’ That was the extent of the conversation,” Roseberry said. According to U.S. court files, Ross William Ulbricht – a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts – is charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, attempted witness murder, use of interstate commerce facilities in commission of murder-for-hire and aiding and abetting.
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