BCIT Broadcast News

Surrey stripmall fire

Jennifer Ferguson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:03:17 +0000

Half a dozen businesses are destroyed after a massive fire this morning at a Surrey stripmall.

It took nearly 50 firefighters with 13 trucks to battle the fire at Forest Hill Plaza located at 8318 Scott Road.

According to fire officials, firefighters were alerted to the fire at about 3:20 this morning. When they arrived they discovered the floor was already compromised and it was unsafe for them to proceed any further into the building.

John Caviglia, Deputy Chief of the Surrey Fire Department says it’s one of the largest fires they have seen in a while.

“It’s involving about 5 or 6 commercial businesses, a couple restaurants, a money exchange and a couple of other businesses that are on the main floor. Plus the storage areas in the basement and on the 3^rd floor up above.”

Caviglia says no firefighters were injured and there were no occupants in the building at the time of the blaze. It took them over four hours to get the fire contained.

Fire investigators will begin looking into the cause of the fire on Friday.

Reported by: Jennifer Ferguson

Pedestrian finds body of homeless man in North Vancouver

Connor Denoon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:59:12 +0000

A pedestrian walking in North Vancouver made a startling discovery when they came across an unresponsive male lying under a blanket. The finding was made near Cotton Drive and Kennard Ave in a heavily bushed area about 20 feet from the road.

“This is a very sad ending to an individual’s life,” commented Cpl. Richard De Jong of the North Vancouver RCMP. “Our police and our community service partners continue to actively reach out to those found in need of assistance.”

The BC Coroners Service and the RCMP Forensic Services teams were called to assist in the ongoing investigation. The man has not been identified, but appears to be approximately 60-years of age. Both teams do not believe foul play is involved, however the investigation is ongoing and an autopsy will be conducted to define the exact cause of death.

For The Record: Comedian Graham Clark – February 2nd, 2012

Justin Morissette — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:45:26 +0000

Vancouver ComedyFest is fast upon us, getting underway on Wednesday, February 15th. And while this year’s festival is bringing a number of world class acts to Vancouver, they’ll be sharing the stage with some of the best this city has to offer. Graham Clark has been named Vancouver’s Best Comic in The Georgia Straight’s year-end awards numerous times over the years, and with good reason — he’s a local treasure.

Today he stopped by For The Record to discuss his life in comedy, the way Vancouver’s comedy scene has matured over the years, and the artistic applications of a great bushy beard.

For The Record – Graham Clark

One of Graham Clark's many beard-paintings. Robots are common subject.

You can see him perform this Saturday at The Rio Theatre in a comedy benefit show to support the venue.

Vancouver city summit

Jennifer Ferguson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:23:07 +0000

The two-day Vancouver cities summit has just finished and not a moment too soon.

Vancouver fired its city planner Brent Todarian on Tuesday and is looking for a new direction.

Cities from across the world attended the summit. The goal was to improve services by sharing information.

“It’s both a networking opportunity and a big learning experience about what other cities are doing and what other companies are partnering in that collaboration” says Mayor Gregor Robertson.

Whether or not any of these ideas will be tried out is still to be seen.

Reported by: Dean Brookstone

Yellow Media to close eight Canpages offices in BC, Alberta and Ontario

Connor Denoon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:14:13 +0000

Yellow Pages and Canpages logos

Montreal based Yellow Media announced yesterday that they will be closing eight of their Canpages offices in BC, Alberta and Ontario. The company says they are doing so in an effort to streamline operations and logistics of the corporation. Yellow Media, who owns Canpages, says the offices that are being closed will be integrated into the larger Yellow Media conglomerate.

The announcement comes after declining print-ad sales for the Canadian telephone book giant, which in turn is due to more people going online to find contact information. Canpages, used to be the main rival of Yellow Media before the company was acquired in 2010. A Yellow Media spokesperson has stated that logistically it does not make sense for the two companies to be competitors in the same markets.

The Canpages website will remain up and running and the consolidation will help the company focus on its online and web app services. The head office of Canpages in Burnaby would not comment to media at this time as they remain tight lipped over details of the integration.

Pitt Meadows homicide victim identified

Jennifer Ferguson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:31:18 +0000

The body of the male found in Pitt Meadows has been identified as 26 year-old Brandon Howson of Maple Ridge.

His body was discovered on January 31 face down in a muddy field by a passerby. Police were able to confirm his death was a suspected homicide.

Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokesperson, Jennifer Pound says,

“Mr. Howson is known to police and it appears that this homicide was targeted, however, it is too early to speak to motive or gang affiliation.”

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward and speak with investigators.

Off-duty RCMP officer rescues 2-year old girl from submerged car

Connor Denoon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:20:30 +0000

Alyse's car, overturned in a ditch off Highway 17 in Delta

An off duty RCMP officer rescued a 2-year old girl from an upside down, partially submerged vehicle in Delta yesterday morning. The incident occurred when a 25-year old mother of two swerved off of Highway 17 trying to avoid a family of ducks waddling across the road.

Police have only identified the woman by her first name, Alyse, and her 6-year old son Jordan. She reported losing control of her car which eventually came to rest overturned and partially submerged in a deep, overgrown, water filled ditch that runs adjacent to the highway.

“We were stuck inside and I wasn’t sure how we’d get out,” says Alyse. “Once I realized we were upside down I tried unsuccessfully to open the door. Then I told Jordan to open the rear passenger door and go get help.” Jordan made his way up the ditch to the highway, when Constable Aaron Jabs and his wife saw the wet boy while they were traveling south on Highway 17.

Jabs pulled over, who Alyse later realized is an RCMP officer, ran from the car and freed the trapped 2-year old girl from the freezing water. When asked about his heroic actions that morning, Constable Jabs responded, “I did what any off-duty RCMP officer would do in the same situation. I made sure they all got out of the car as quickly as possible, called 911, and then kept them all safe until emergency crews could arrive.”

Alyse and her children were immediately rushed to hospital to be treated for minor injuries including possible cases of hypothermia. The family has since been released from hospital, and all are now safe at home.

Rookie Canuck making huge impact

Connor Denoon — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:28:06 +0000

Rookie Cody Hodgson

The recent emergence of Cody Hodgson is turning heads in Vancouver right now. After being injured for a large portion of last year, the rookie didn’t have a consistent roster spot until this season.

Hodgson has played in all 50 games this year, scoring 14 goals and 16 assists. To put those numbers in perspective, Hodgson is currently sitting at fourth in rookie scoring, and second in rookie goals.

After scoring his fourteenth goal of the season last night, teammate David Booth had nothing but praise for the 21 year old, saying, “Cody’s been great for us, putting the puck in when we need him to.”

Hodgson’s stats are particularly impressive due to the fact his ice-time is very limited. He is centering the third line for the Canucks and averaging just under thirteen minutes of ice time per game. Teammate Ryan Kesler on the other hand, has the same amount of goals as Hodgson, but gets seven minutes of ice time more per game.

Reported by Carlee Babcock

Peggy Nash unveils access to post-secondary education plan

Connor Denoon — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:23:57 +0000

Opposition to increasing tuition costs has Vancouver Community College students out protesting in a national day of action demanding that fees be lowered. Federal NDP leadership candidate Peggy Nash was at VCC to weigh in on the debate, and made an announcement that will surely become a part of her platform for her federal party leadership bid.

While at VCC, Nash unveiled her ideas to increase accessibility to post-secondary education and to alleviate student debt loans. Nash commented, “If we want education to be accessible we have to target tuition costs.”

Her plan includes creating legislation, or a post-secondary education act and establishing a dedicated transfer payment for students trying to pay for their education.

Facebook Goes Public

Connor Denoon — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:48:04 +0000

Facebook Logo

When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook eight years ago, he probably didn’t anticipate it would become the world’s largest social media site. Now, the multi-billion-dollar company is so big that it is being forced to go public.

This means that through an open stock exchange, people will be able to buy shares of the company. Zuckerberg tried to stay private as long as he could, but Facebook has too many shareholders within the corporation. As the Securities and Exchange Commission rule from 1964 states, any private company with more than 500 shareholders of record must go public.

This means Facebook will have to file detailed financial reports on a consistent basis. The amount of money, however, that it should pour in will likely outweigh the paperwork in this case. Similar to Apple and Microsoft being each other’s top competitors in the open stock exchange, Facebook going public will cause a new rivalry between it and Google.

Reported by Carlee Babcock