CKNW Vancouver News

Decommissioning of old Port Mann hits milestone

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:19:00 GMT

A milestone in the decommissioning of the old Port Mann Bridge.

Greg Johnston with Transportation Investment Corporation says crews have removed the deck and most of the girders at the north-end approach.

"when both approaches are done crews will have enough room to continue work on the final two lanes and the cycling and pedestrian path on the new port mann bridge," says Johnston.

Later this summer crews will start to dismantle the main span arch.

It will be cut into segments and lowered onto barges on the Fraser River.

BC bridges are safe: Province's top bridge engineer

Sat, 25 May 2013 02:53:00 GMT

In light of the Washington State bridge collapse the chief bridge engineer for the Transportation Ministry is re-assuring British Columbians our bridges are safe.

Kevin Baskin says BC has what he calls a 'robust' system in place to carry out inspections on the ministry's 2700 bridges.

Baskin says BC bridges are inspected once a year. Washington State bridges are inspected every two years.

"Our bridges are very safe our ministry has a robust system for inspections and for giving permits for oversize and overweight vehicles on our infrastructure," says Baskin.

As well, Baskin says the large bridges are monitored by maintenance crews every day.

Public hearing to be held into allegations against transit police officer

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:13:00 GMT

The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has ordered a public hearing into allegations of abuse of authority, deceit and discreditable conduct by a transit police officer.

It was three years ago the OPCC ordered an investigation into allegations of professional misconduct by Constable Ken Jansen.

It was alleged that in April of 2010 while at Surrey Memorial Hospital Constable Jansen and an RCMP officer used unnecessary or excessive force on Robert Booker.

At a disciplinary hearing Jansen was given an eight day suspension without pay for abuse of authority and discreditable conduct while the deceit allegations were dismissed.

However the police complaint commissioner has now decided on a public hearing saying it may be necessary to examine and cross-examine witnesses.

UPDATES: BC Government to change bargaining mandate with teachers to reflect its goal of 10 year deal

CKNW News Staff | Email news tips to nwnews@cknw.com — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:20:00 GMT

A day after the premier told reporters she would take a wait and see approach, leaked letters from the Ministry of Education show a 10 year deal will be the mandate at the table.

In a letter to the employer group, the BC Public School Employers Association, the ministry says a change in the bargaining mandate is pending.

The letter from Deputy Education Minister James Gorman says the new direction will better reflect the re-elected governments values, which means the premier's ten year deal.

In another letter to the BC teachers union, the education ministry advises the TF the new direction will significantly affect current talks.

The teachers' union and the employer have been quietly negotiating for months under a bargaining agreement was struck between the two sides.

Under the agreement the goal is to get a new deal done by July, but it is likely now what were civil talks are about to revert to form.

Below is the letter from the Ministry of Education to BCPSEA that was leaked to the media.

Dear Mr. Chell:

We write with regard to the recent provincial election and its potential impact on the current negotiations underway with the BC Teachers’ Federation.

You were sent a bargaining direction letter on behalf of BCPSEA, co-signed by the Deputy Minister of Education and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Sector Employers’ Council Secretariat, on February 15, 2013. With the election of a new government we are mindful of the BC Liberal election platform commitment “...to immediately begin discussions with BCPSEA and the BC Teachers’ Federation to achieve a 10 year collective agreement” after the election.

In light of this commitment, we write to advise that you should expect to receive a letter rescinding the previous bargaining direction letter and replacing it with one more reflective of the newly elected government’s priorities. This fact should be shared with the BC Teachers’ Federation in advance of further bargaining. The parties may wish to reconsider their upcoming bargaining dates until further direction is received.

We will arrange for you to meet with our respective Ministers to discuss next steps as soon as possible. We expect a new Cabinet to be appointed sometime in June.

Sincerely yours,

James Gorman Deputy Minister

Meanwhile, BC Teachers Federation President Susan Lambert says she was shocked to learn about the government position through the media.

Now that the news has sunk it a bit, Lambert says she's disappointed.

"so in terms of the process unfortunately it seems to conform to the same pattern of this government prior to the election and I'm quite disappointed in that but in terms of the ten year collective agreement being proposed we've only had one meeting with this government on this idea and that was in February with then minister Don McRae," says Lambert.

Lambert says there's nothing in the ten year deal that addresses class size or special-needs learning.

Avoiding civic by-elections not as easy as first pitched

Shane Woodford | Email news tips to shane.woodford@corusent.com — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:23:00 GMT

A Surrey city councillor turned Liberal MLA says there is no simple solution to avoiding costly civic by-elections despite what Premier Christy Clark said yesterday.

Marvin Hunt says there are more questions than answers when it comes to councillors just taking an unpaid leave of absence until the new year, before officially resigning.

"I found out about that just recently so we are going to get our municipal clerk to check with their city clerk to figure out how that was done and then check with out lawyers and make sure that, that is a proper process that we can use because it is sort of news to me but I understand Abbotsford has done this previously with those who have gone to the federal level of government."

Hunt says there is only one other option to avoid a civic by-election.

"Well the other one is just living through it all and working through which is what I said I am willing to do but it is trying to find out what the alternatives are and we are certainly doing our homework to know what that is."

Hunt says it is now a case of gathering as much information as possible.

"It is one of those ones that you work your way through it and as we get more information then we can talk to people about it but it is like I want to know whether we can properly do that and how it is done so that we can then take that information to our council."

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts has said it would cost the city up to $900,000 to hold a by-election to replace Hunt.

Yesterday the premier said councillors turned MLAs could take unpaid leave and then resign from civic posts closer to next years municipal vote removing the need to have civic by-elections.

Police offer condolences to family of murder victim

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:20:00 GMT

Local police are offering condolences to the family of a murder victim in Mexico.... who worked in West Vancouver.

Lynn Earl was a district by-law officer before spending three years as a police constable.

She left the force in 1996.

The body of the 60-year old was found near her home in the Playa del Carmen area of Mexico.

Investigators are not saying how she was murdered, but they have identified her as a retired RCMP officer.

No arrests have been made.

Kinder Morgan puts some of its cards on the table

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:17:00 GMT

Kinder Morgan Canada has given the National Energy Board updated plans to expand the 60-year old Trans Mountain pipeline.

However the formal application is slated to be filed by the end of the year.

Twinning the pipeline between Alberta's Strathcona county and Burnaby will boost capacity to 890-thousand barrels a day.

Kinder Morgan's Carey Johanesson admits the project, worth more than five billion dollars, was a key issue leading up to last week's provincial election. "We're going to work with whichever government people in BC have elected. We've been having meetings with the government on the regulatory side. We've been meeting with the BC Oil and Gas Commission and BC Environmental Assessment Office and a number of the agencies and you'll see that's going to continue."

Johannesson says work continues to make the formal application by the end of this year.

"It's going to be a huge effort to pull this application together. There's a lot of work we need to do from a scientific and engineering perspective and environmental perspective, as well as all the work we need to do on the stakeholder side and aboriginal side. You've got to include all of that information into the application, so that's really the driver for it." NDP leader Adrian Dix ran into trouble when he announced he would not support the original project, unless improvements were made.

Mounties investigating after homemade trap injures dog

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:10:00 GMT

Police in North Vancouver are investigating after a dog was injured by a homemade trap near the Grouse Grind.

It happened Thursday along the Powerline Trail.

The trap --made of red meat laced with several barbed hooks-- was hanging from a tree.

The dog was found writhing on the ground... with the baited meat hanging from its mouth.

The injuries were not life-threatening, but the dog spent four hours at the North Shore Veterinary Clinic.

Tests have confirmed the bait was not poisoned.

Concerns have been raised the trap was set by someone disturbed by dogs being walked in the area.

Update: Bridge on I-5 collapses

Terry Bell | Email news tips to tbell@cknw.com — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:58:00 GMT

It's looks like an over-sized truck may be responsible for the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge near Mt. Vernon, Washington.

Authorities have detained a semi and trailer with it's pilot car a short distance from the span. The incident spilled vehicles and their occupants into the cold river water.

At last count, three people have been retrieved by Sherrif's Deputy's. State Troopers say there have been no fatalities.

State Highway 9 is the suggested alternate route. The collapse will raise questions about America's infrastructure, which has been a popular issue with U-S President Barack Obama, who earlier this year warned against ``raggedy'' roads and wants to focus more money on rebuilding to improve the economy.

The truck that hit the bridge was Canadian.

Global BC's John Daly reports it was driven by William Scott from Spruce Grove, Alberta, and he was hauling a very large piece of machinery down to Vancouver, Washington.

Daly tells Philip Till on the CKNW Morning News the trucker apparently was trying to use both southbound lanes when crossing the bridge.

"It makes sense that he was trying to take the middle lane. There's an unconfirmed report that there was another vehicle, either overtaking him, or very close to the side. He was able to get across."

The trucker works for Mullen Trucking south of Calgary.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency for three counties affected by the bridge collapse.

Inslee says the traffic chaos alone is reason to make the declaration.

State officials are looking for a temporary bridge to use in the short term, but even that could be weeks away leaving a major link between Vancouver and Seattle severed for a while yet.

Prison time for a tax cheater

CKNW News Staff | Email news tips to nwnews@cknw.com — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:45:00 GMT

A Surrey man is going to spend up to three and a half years in prison for tax fraud.

Mark Andrew Rosie has also been fined more than $142-thousand.

In December, he was convicted of 11 charges.

Investigators with the Canada Revenue Agency caught him manipulating the records of other taxpayers, so he could collect their refund cheques.

His victims included his friends and vulnerable addicts.

He would use a third party to obtain their personal information in exchange for drugs.

The maximum penalty for tax fraud is five years.