News Editorial Letters Around Town BC Lions Sports Classified
3 8 9 14 16 17 20
Songs of sorrow
Coaching Marathon
Paul O’Brien brings his songs of Canada’s past to Steveston this Friday as a part of the Music At The
Rod Jensen is looking forward to an overdue family vacation after coaching two high-profile lacrosse team in the past nine months.
Cannery Open Air series.
W
YOUR
SOURCE
FOR
LOCAL
E
3 D
N
SPORTS
17
E
S
D
A
,
NEWS
Y
,
,
A
U
W E AT H E R
G
U
AND
S
T
2 5 ,
2 0 1 0
E N T E RTA I N M E N T
!
WWW
SCHOOL
CHUNG CHOW/ RICHMOND NEWS
Public education not free for all
Benson Chu, 6, tries his hands on a hand-drill at the Maritime Festival at Britannia Heritage Shipyards last weekend. Out on the water, visitors were welcome to take the Juanita for a spin. Check out more festival pictures online at www. richmond-news. com.
Mom told to pay up for 12-year-old’s education BY NELSON BENNETT
acampbell@richmond-news.com
Blind leads city to the light Disabled man convinces council to install voice messaging at crosswalks
BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
A blind man who launched a Human Rights Tribunal claim against the City of Richmond has agreed to drop his complaint. The City of Richmond has agreed to Rob Sleath’s demands that it install verbal messaging at pedestrian crosswalks for the visually impaired. In return, Sleath has agreed to put his human rights complaint in abeyance, until a pilot project confirms the new system works the way it is supposed to. His complaint was to be heard by the Human Rights Tribunal this week, starting Monday. “It has been set aside for now, and as far as I’m concerned, the $
$ $
$
.RICHMOND-NEWS.COM
matter is settled,” said Sleath. “The city, I think, has finally realized that this is the right thing to do.” “We’ve come to an agreement and we’re pleased with the agreement we’ve come to,” says city hall spokesperson Cynthia Lockrey. In recent years, the city has installed roughly 60 lighted pedestrian crosswalks at high traffic areas. They are of little use to the blind, who not only have a hard time locating the crosswalks in the first place, but also have no way of knowing if amber lights have started to flash. Sleath pressed the city to retrofit the crosswalks with audible way finding, and Coun. Evelina
Halsey-Brandt helped convene a special meeting to address Sleath’s concerns. The city agreed to set aside $150,000 to upgrade the crosswalks, but Sleath and the city’s engineering department were at odds over the kind of system to use. Sleath insisted on verbal messaging that would tell blind users what street they were on and when the lights were flashing. The city wanted to use a non-verbal sound. In an agreement signed with Sleath, the city has agreed to go with a verbal message system. The city will install the new system at five crosswalks, three of which are on No. 3 Road on Westminster Highway, and Saba
$
$
Beer, Wine, Pop, Juice, Water
It's worth
RICHMOND BOTTLE DEPOT
it.
=$
and Cook roads. Two more will be established elsewhere in the city centre. The new systems will be tested between Sept. 17 and Nov. 30. Once the testing is done, other crosswalks in the city will be retrofitted with the new system. The new systems will emit a sound that will let pedestrians know when they are approaching the crosswalk and help guide them to the activation button. The poles will be equipped with braille. Once activated, there will be a verbal message that tells pedestrians what street they are on. It will also say something to the effect of “amber light now flashing, use caution. Vehicles may not stop immediately.”
The B.C. education system may have a lot of things going for it, but it’s not free, as one single mom living in Richmond recently learned. Amy Si, who is not a Canadian citizen, has been told by the Richmond School District she must pay $12,400 or her 12year-old daughter will not be able to attend school this year. She doesn’t understand why she must pay. After all, she didn’t have to pay last year. “I don’t know if they made a mistake, or changed their policy,” she told the News. The answer is that the district did make a mistake, and it has no intention of repeating it. “When we discover the margin of error, we have a civic duty to repair that,” said Mike Kliman, a district administrator for International Student Programs at the Richmond School District. “We are working towards closing loopholes. We are going back through files and rechecking.” “Her daughter has already had a year of free education that she shouldn’t have,” says Denise Buckoll, who is in charge of publicly funded international students. Richmond’s International Student Program has about 400 students who pay full tuition ($12,400) and about 300 who are publicly funded because their parents either work here or study at an accredited post-secondary institute. Si is neither a Canadian citizen nor permanent resident. Nor does she have a valid permit to work in B.C., which means she has no right to enroll her daughter in school here, unless she pays the full cost of tuition. “Even if she gets a work permit, it’s not likely that she’s going to use it because she’s pregnant and is probably going to raise a child,” Kliman said. see Mom page 4
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
07283111
Index