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For whom the bells toll: reporter goes undercover
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Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com MORE THAN 30 CHARGES
Crime ring stopped cold: cops Alfie Lau
staff reporter
Three men, including a 20-year-old Burnaby man, are in custody and a fourth is being sought after an 11-month joint investigation by Lower Mainland police forces. The men have been charged in a series of break-and-enters that police say include more than $100,000 in property crime and a significant amount of fraud. The three men charged are Van Huynh, a 20-year-old Burnaby resident who is charged with 11 counts of breakand-enter, one count of fraud, one count of possession of a forged credit card and two counts of robbery; Daniel Justin Coletta, a 21-year-old Coquitlam resident who is charged with two counts of fraud, two counts of possession of a forged credit card, three counts of break-andenter, two counts of robbery, and one count for possession of a weapon (bear spray); and Hyung Suk Kim, a 20-yearold Vancouver resident who is charged with eight counts of break-and-enter. The police are also seeking Ryan Matthew Christensen, 20, of no fixed address, who is wanted on a warrant for one count of robbery. The arrests come after an 11-month joint investigation led by the Burnaby RCMP’s strike force team and involved police examining hundreds of files in Vancouver, West Vancouver, Surrey, Port Moody and Burnaby. “These are well-dressed young men who look like SFU students, not drugaddicted gang members with tattoos,” said Burnaby RCMP Sgt. Andy LeClair, head of the Burnaby RCMP police strike force team. Crime Page 5
Larry Wright/burnaby now
Concerned: John Berry, chair of the Burnaby District Youth Soccer Association, at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex – West. The group is taking issue with council’s decision to introduce fees for youth sports clubs playing on artificial turf fields.
Politicians fail on fields Youth soccer advocates say council doesn’t understand that fee hikes create hardship Janaya Fuller-Evans
staff reporter
City council does not understand the underlying issues for young athletes in Burnaby, according to members of the Burnaby District Youth Soccer Association. Rick Pasin, a director with the association, and John Berry, the group’s chair, spoke about some of the issues regarding council’s decision to introduce fees for
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Peter Julian, MP
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youth sports clubs playing on artificial turf fields in the city. In particular, the mayor and councillors’ comments at last week’s council meeting – regarding other field options in Burnaby – were misleading, Pasin said. The all-weather fields, which Mayor Derek Corrigan pointed out were still available to the clubs without the new fees, are often unusable in the winter, Pasin explained. “Many of the grass and gravel fields are in complete disrepair,” he said, adding that the grass fields are closed in inclement weather and the gravel fields have potholes, which makes it dangerous for the kids to play on, especially when it is icy.
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He also refuted Coun. Nick Volkow’s comments regarding the Cliff Avenue United Football Club, of which Pasin is a board member, and what it spends on indoor field time at Canlan Burnaby 8 Rinks. Because the program at 8 Rinks is for the five-to-six year-olds, Pasin said, Canlan negotiated a very reasonable rate with the club years ago. Once the club started using the indoor field to train its young players, keeping them out of the elements, enrolment in the club went up from 800 to 1,800, he said. Pasin also said the technical directors Fields Page 10
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