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Alex is a poster boy
Prairie life revisited
Five-year-old with Down syndrome is a shining example of what potential can be reached when help is given to children with mental disabilities.
A grain elevator turned historical museum on the eastern edge of Alberta takes visitors on a climb through time, illustrating prairie life.
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Baby, you can drive my Smart taxi BY ALAN CAMPBELL
acampbell@richmond-news.com
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Need a ride? Reporter Michelle Hopkins leaves the Richmond News parking lot to test drive the Smart Fortwo ‘taxi’. If you see it around the city this weekend, call it over and it’ll take you anywhere in Metro Vancouver — for free.
If you see a little yellow Smart car dressed up like a taxi in Richmond this weekend, hail it over and you’ll get a free ride. Mercedes, which makes the car, has promised to take you anywhere you want to go in Metro Vancouver, as long as you sign a waiver and show your driving licence. The aim is to dispel people’s perceptions about the Smart Fortwo cars being unsafe and uncomfortable to drive due to their size. To put the mini-taxi to the test, the News used its own Michelle Hopkins as the Guinea pig. “I didn’t anticipate how it drives and how sturdy it feels,” said Hopkins, who drives a BMW, after scooting around the city centre. “I was also surprised by how easy it shifts from automatic to standard without a clutch pedal.” Jill Grant, Mercedes Canada marketing specialist, said the promotion kicked off on Monday in Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby and will last until Monday, Oct. 4. “We’re not going to take people on 100 kilometre trips, but we’ll take them wherever they want to go, within reason,” Grant added.
COURT
Child sex offender not welcome at Rosewood Towers Kevin Fanning, 50, convicted of sexual exploitation is free on bail pending next week’s sentencing
A child sex offender awaiting sentence has moved back into his old apartment — just a few metres from families and half a block from an elementary school. Kevin Fanning, 50, pleaded guilty earlier this year to sexual exploitation offences involving two teenage boys in Richmond. He was released on bail, with a series of strict conditions, and is set to be sentenced next week. $
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When the charges came to light at the end of last year, Fanning moved out of his BC Housingrented apartment at Rosewood Towers to live with family in Surrey. But residents and neighbours of the building on 6220 Blundell Rd. were shocked to discover this week that Fanning — a former foster home night relief worker — had moved back into to his old apartment, in the same grounds as Rosewood Village, which is teaming with young families.
Concerns were also expressed about Fanning being allowed to live so close to Blundell elementary and a park that’s frequented daily by young kids. “(Rosewood Towers) is an adult only building, but it’s in the grounds of a family complex,” said a worried mom of two young boys, who asked not to be named. “There’s also a park right next door where children play and an elementary school just half a block away. “I would have thought he
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wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near children or parks.” Richmond RCMP is aware of Fanning’s return to the city and confirmed to the News that his liberty is, indeed, subject to a string of conditions, such as: a curfew; having no contact with the victims; not being allowed in public parks, swimming areas, day cares, school grounds or community centres and not being allowed to communicate with persons under 18 or be alone with persons under 18.
8171 Westminster Hwy. (at Buswell, one block east of No. 3 Rd.) Walkway access also from Save-On Foods parking lot
Mon-Sat 8:45-6:30 Sun 10-5 (604) 780-4959
“We go to that park almost every day and we live very close by and (Fanning living there) cannot be right,” said the mom. “Will my boys be safe?” One Rosewood Towers resident said he was very surprised to see Fanning return to the building this week. “He disappeared last year when the charges came out, but I noticed on Monday he’s back,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous. see Resident page 4 07283111
BY A LAN CAMPBELL
acampbell@richmond-news.com