Friday
November 6, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 89)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Score! Singer-songwriter and former NHL draft pick Chad Brownlee was a highlight of Tuesday’s Nite of Champions, when more than $98,000 was raised for KidSport. i see page 11
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
Proposals include extending Morgan Elementary catchment south of 32 Avenue
School crowding to shift boundaries Sheila Reynolds Black Press
Extreme overcrowding at schools in some areas of Surrey – and a lack of new building money from Victoria – is forcing the district to change elementary-school catchment areas in several neighbourhoods. One of three proposed boundary changes to be considered is intended to alleviate
current and continued growth at Sunnyside Elementary by having students in the northernmost section of its catchment area cross busy 32 Avenue to Morgan Elementary. Sunnyside, located in the Grandview Heights area of South Surrey, has one portable on the way. Morgan has three but currently has a two-classroom addition being built. A new elementary school and high school in
the Grandview area top the Surrey School District’s capital funding wish list, but provincial money has yet to be granted for those projects. Another proposed change would shift students in the northeastern section of the Woodward Hill Elementary catchment area to Goldstone Park Elementary, and students in the south end of the Goldstone catchment to Cambridge Elementary.
The change is intended to ease the continued space constraints and enrolment growth at Woodward Hill, located in an area of south Newton where housing development is brisk. While one of the school district’s high priority requests to Victoria is to build an addition at Woodward Hill, funding has not been announced. i see page 4
Property crime drops
Assaults skyrocket Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Tracy Holmes photo
Nicolas Halford, 7, and sister Sasha visit with Denise Darrell at Sources’ Women’s Place, where Nicolas delivered $200 raised at his birthday party.
Women’s Place to put seven-year-old’s donation to good use
Birthday wish inspires new kids club Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
The thoughtfulness of a White Rock boy has inspired a new club at Women’s Place. Nicolas’ Birthday Club was officially established on Tuesday, when Nicolas Halford dropped by the 20 Avenue facility with his mom and little sister to hand over 10 $20-bills to Denise Darrell, Sources’ director of women, seniors and community services. “You started something and it’s very special,”
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Darrell told Nicolas, “so you’re going to have your own birthday club, with your own name.” The fund – which Darrell noted is the first she knows of, at Women’s Place, started by a child – will help clients of Source’s traumacounselling program who can’t afford to buy birthday presents for their own children. It all started when Nicolas was getting ready to celebrate his seventh birthday on Oct. 4. He knew he could easily have topped up his own stock of toys with gifts from his guests.
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Instead, he asked those who attended his pool party to give cash that he could donate to a worthy cause. “I have so much,” the White Rock Elementary student told Peace Arch News on his tour of a Women’s Place play area dedicated to children. Mom Holly Halford said the acknowledgment grew from discussions at home and school around sharing and helping others in the community who may not be as fortunate. i see page 4
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DR. AVI SAHOTA
DR. KAREN SAHOTA
Violent crime in Surrey continues to soar, while property crime is taking a big drop, according to third-quarter statistics released by the RCMP. Violent crime jumped by 40 per cent in the first three quarters of this year, when compared to the same period last year. Much of that can be explained by an increase in assaults, which skyrocketed by about 500 in the first nine months of this year. Robberies were up by about 100 during that period as well. Attempted murders more than doubled to 28 from eight, and sex assaults were up to 228 from 164 – a jump of 39 per cent. Abduction and kidnapping went up to 47 so far in 2015 from 30 in the first three-quarters of last year. Overall, homicides were down 59 per cent, to seven from 17, and were either unchanged or down in the city’s five policing districts. The good news for Surrey is that property crime continues to plunge, down by nine per cent overall, with residential break-andenters decreasing by 18 per cent in the first three quarters of this year, business break-and-enters down 14 per cent, and break-and-enters overall decreasing by 17 per cent. The biggest jump in violent crime during this period was in policing District 4 (Cloverdale and Port i see page 4