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Aunt Leah’s on the job PAGE 3
Delivery 604-942-3081 • Wednesday, December 15, 2010
RCMP praise those who pitch in PAGE 11
Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com LAKE DREDGING
Turtles to blame for overrun Efforts to protect endangered turtles added close to $5 million for lake project Janaya Fuller-Evans
staff reporter
The Burnaby Lake dredging project cost nearly $5 million more than expected, according to Mayor Derek Corrigan, because of environmental protection measures. The project, which originally had a budget of $16 million, is now estimated at $20.567 million, plus HST according to a report from Burnaby’s director of engineering. This was because additional precautions had to be met, to ensure the endangered Western painted turtle population in the lake would not be affected by the dredging. The provincial Ministry of Environment stepped in last year, requiring that the turtles be monitored with radar and sonar, to ensure the animals were not overwintering in the lake while sediment from the lake was removed. “We bought ground-penetrating radar equipment, Corrigan said, “and it came out after all that work – there were no overwintering turtles.” “All this money was spent,” he said. “There were absolutely no turtles in the sediment.” The turtles move to the lake’s tributaries during the winter, according to information obtained by the monitoring equipment, and stay in the shallow water even during particularly cold days. “They’re smarter than some scientists I know,” Corrigan said of the turtles. Turtles Page 9
Gabrielle Beer/burnaby now
Bah humbug: Barry Swanson, left, and Spike McKinley, right, stand outside their Cliff Avenue home after the recent theft of two reindeer and a train from their annual Christmas light display.
Not in the Christmas spirit Thieves take off with family’s North Burnaby light display Alfie Lau
staff reporter
The Grinch who stole Christmas made an early appearance in North Burnaby this week. Late on the night of Dec. 7 or early in the morning on Dec. 8, two LED-lit deer and one LED-lit train disappeared from Spike McKinley and Barry Swanson’s house. “The crazy thing is they (the displays) were right outside our bedroom window, and we didn’t hear anything,” said Swanson, who’s gradually added items to
their Cliff Avenue Christmas display during the past three years. “The automatic lights go out at midnight, and Spike goes to work before 6 a.m. so it had to happen during that time.” Swanson said the items are irreplaceable – he bought the deer for $100 each and the train for $50 – but that’s not what has him distressed. “It’s such a shame because it goes against the spirit of Christmas,” said Swanson. “This is definitely not in the spirit of Christmas.” Swanson said the displays were sufficiently large that he suspects it took more than one person to do the Grinch’s work. Swanson called the police, but he doesn’t think there’s much they can do; the only thing he hopes for is the safe
Missing: The deer and train decorations were stolen from the yard. return of his deer and train. “We still have the lights around the windows, the lit-up mailbox and the candy canes,” said Swanson.