B.C. Views B.C. back in black, deep in debt. p6
Local athletes medal at Summer Games. p19
THE NEWS
Arts&life Create art inspired by gelato. p16
www.mapleridgenews.com Wednesday, July 23, 2014 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · Delivery: 604-466-6397
Becker back to run for Pitt mayor Former councillor lost to Deb Walters in 2011 election by M on i sh a M ar ti n s staff reporter
A former Pitt Meadows councillor who lost his mayoralty bid to Deb Walters in the last election declared Tuesday that he will again challenge her for the job. “It’s about transparency and fis- Becker cal management at city hall,” John Becker said as he launched his campaign to unseat the city’s first female mayor. Becker received 1,202 votes in the 2011 civic election, 823 less than Walters’ 2,025. A lawyer, he spent the past three years studying for an executive MBA through Simon Fraser University.
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Smokin’ show
See Mayor, p5
Gary Ward performs in his MX2 aircraft, a high energy monoplane, during the Airport Day air show in Pitt Meadows on Sunday. See more, p3.
Berry farmers predicting record crop Production expected to increase 25 per cent by Ne i l Co r b e t t staff reporter
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
In recent years, an increasing number of farms have been re-planted from other crops to blueberries.
The farmers of Pitt Meadows are anticipating a record-setting blueberry crop this summer. “It’s another bumper crop,” said Pitt Meadows farmer Gary Purewal. Purewal owns one of the largest blueberry operations in Pitt
Meadows, and farms 1,500 acres (600 hectares) across the Lower Mainland. It is a fast growing sector of the agri-economy. In recent years, an increasing number of farms have been re-planted from other crops to blueberries, and plants are maturing and becoming their most productive. Combine that with near-perfect growing conditions, and some industry analysts are predicting that this year’s harvest will blow away last year’s record 54.5 mil-
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lion kilograms by as much as 25 per cent. Purewal said he has a field in Coquitlam that yielded 400,000 pounds in its first pick last year (180,000 kg), but this year he was astounded at its productivity – he just finished taking off over a million pounds (480,000 kg). Overall, he estimates his production on all fields is up by 25 per cent on the first pick. “The reason, I think, has been climate and pollination,” he said. “The weather was conducive for pollination.”
Debbie Etsell, the executive director of the B.C. Blueberry Council, said the perfect weather goes right back to a fall that was good for winterizing plants, a mild winter and spring, “and now we’ve got the sunshine.” Another factor, she explained, is that in the past eight years there has been a great deal of planting of new high bush blueberries in the Fraser Valley. It takes three years before they are productive, and 10 years before they reach maturity and full production. See Berries, p3
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