LOCAL CRIME RATE ON THE DECLINE, YET STILL ONE OF VALLEY’S HIGHEST Stats Can says y Chilliwack’s 2014 rate on par with Surrey
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THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2015
Chilliwack teacher announces resignation in blog post
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Museum show looks at sport history
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Beef Dip
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Fresh shaved Canadian beef roasted in house
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TRADITION ON DISPLAY
Loves the work, but says B.C. system broken
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Federal election chatter takes off
Grassroots group looks to increase engagement and keep candidates focused on local issues
BY GREG LAYCHAK glaychak@chilliwacktimes.com
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veteran support teacher in Chilliwack announced her resignation from her job—and British Columbia—in a Huffpost blog entry Friday, citing shrinking resources and growing class sizes as main reasons for leaving the provincial education system. Cecelia Griffiths wrote paradoxically in her headline that she loves being a B.C. teacher so much that she had to quit her most recent job at Sardis secondary. Griffiths has become so frustrated with increasing paperwork and meetings that keep her away from contact time with students that she is leaving her family behind to move to the Yukon. “I am leaving my husband behind to sell our house, and I am leaving three children and five grandchildren,” she wrote in her latest contribution to the Huffpost British Columbia Blog. “I will fly home every chance I get, but I won’t be here for their birthdays, Christmas concerts, and holidays. This is heartbreaking for me, because for me, my family is everything.” But there, she expects to at least get { See TEACHER, page A4 }
BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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› For more photos visit www.chilliwacktimes.com Greg Laychak/TIMES
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Russell Cardinal competes in the men’s traditional category in the Spirit of the People Powwow Saturday at Tzeachten sports field. It took Cardinal 15 years to make his costume. Visit www. chilliwacktimes.com and the Chilliwack Times Facebook page to see more photos.
ith a federal election 81 days off, local candidates are ramping up the door-knocking and the rhetoric. And if you expect the discourse this time around in Chilliwack to be set on national issues and federal leaders as it often is—a Harper-Mulcair-Trudeau conversation—a group of citizens hopes to increase engagement and focus instead on local issues and local candidates. The grassroots organization called Chilliwack Votes, set to formally announce its existence in the coming days, plans to host all-candidates meetings and launch a website where weekly questions will be asked and election information facts will be posted. The group’s mission statement: “To inspire and engage both constituents and candidates, in a dialogue that speaks to the issues of Chilliwack-Hope.” And while the dropping of the writ could happen as early as next week, those looking to knock off the Conservative dynasty in Chilliwack have been
604.792.5151 8645 Young Rd. Chilliwack www.jadamandsons.com
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