A Liberal government would make education a top priority, cancel the Conservative government's $6-billion corporate tax cut, tackle Canada's $56-billion deficit, introduce a program that would pay people to take time off work to care for sick or dying family members and decriminalize marijuana possession. Those were among the pledges made by federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff at a town hall meeting at Richmond secondary school Friday. In exchange, he asked all students who will be 18 for the next federal election to vote. [continues 811 words]
Brodie: 'I'm sure with some adjustments we'll be able to carry on ... it's been quite an effective program." A bylaw that helped the City of Richmond shut down 91 marijuana grow ops is being suspended due to concerns it may be unconstitutional. In a ruling last week, the Appeal Court of B.C. found the Safety Standards Act -- a provincial statute that gives force to the city's Electrical and Fire Safety Inspection bylaw -- violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by allowing for warrantless searches by municipal teams of fire and electrical inspectors looking for hazards related to marijuana grow operations. [continues 669 words]
Homicide investigators have reason to suspect someone was with Alex Nunez the night he was murdered, and are hoping that person, or those people, will come forward and help them solve the crime. The 27-year-old Richmond man was found dead in Surrey on Nov. 25. Police would not release the victim's name, although they confirmed he was known to police. The Vancouver Sun identified the victim as Alex Nunez, who is also identified in a Facebook memorial. Nunez was found dead in the backyard of a house that turned out to be a marijuana grow operation in the early hours of Nov. 25. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) confirmed the victim had been shot, but would not say how many times. [continues 446 words]
The sentencing of a man charged in connection with a marijuana grow operation is a story that a local judge says has become all too familiar. It's a story about immigrants with limited English language skills who immerse themselves in ethnic enclaves, fail to prosper and then get sucked into the criminal underworld. Shi Jiang was handed a 15-month conditional sentence Wednesday for his part in a large grow-op found by police -- somewhat by accident. It is a story that is so familiar that Judge Ron Fratkin already knew the backstory, even as Jiang's lawyer was explaining how his client -- described as a hard working immigrant -- got lured into criminal activity. [continues 415 words]
Last year, when the Turning Point Society withdrew a rezoning application for a housing project for recovering addicts, it sounded like it was Turning Point's idea. But documents obtained by the News under the Freedom of Information Act show it wasn't the society's idea at all -- it was done under pressure from city hall, which made it clear city staff and council would reject the proposal. In a news release she hastily cobbled together in June 2008 while on vacation in Utah, Brenda Plant, executive director for the society, wrote that she had decided to withdraw the application. [continues 595 words]
Can sniffing a Sharpie get you high? Does smoking pot make you a better musician? Are energy drinks completely harmless? That's a sample of the questions Richmond high school students asked, and then answered, based on their own research, in an addiction prevention program offered in local high schools called Peer 2 Peer. The answers they came up with, incidentally, were "yes," "no" and "no" respectively. The big question now on students' minds may be: Will the Peer 2 Peer program continue? [continues 462 words]
Richmondite Steve Carver Was 14 When He Attended the 3-Day Show "We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." Woodstock, Joni Mitchell Forty years ago today, 14-year-old Steve Carver arrived at a 600-acre farm in New York State for an outdoor concert. Little did he know the Woodstock Music Festival would become the cultural apogee of the '60s. "I turned 15 there -- it was my birthday party," says the 55-year-old Richmond resident. "Nobody dreamed it would have turned out to be what it was. It was just mind-blowing, the amount of people who were there. [continues 771 words]
A bylaw that gave police a back door entry to marijuana grow ops by using public safety as a justification for home inspections violates the Charter of Rights, says a B.C. Supreme Court judge. But whether the ruling stops inspections of homes by RCMP in Richmond is up in the air, according to Mayor Malcolm Brodie. A recent court ruling on Surrey's Electrical Safety bylaw could have implications for a similar bylaw in Richmond. The ruling was in response to a complaint by Jason Arkinstall, a Surrey homeowner who was subjected to a search under the electrical safety bylaw. [continues 553 words]
Three Accused All Attempt to Distance Themselves From House Where Plants Found The trial of a man and woman accused of subjecting their young children to the dangers of a marijuana grow operation that was targeted by thieves wrapped up Wednesday. Wen Yan Wu and Wan Hong Lee, the children's parents, were charged in Jan. 6 2006, after police responded to reports of a home invasion and found more than 900 plants in a house on Bridgeport Road. A woman said to be the children's aunt -- Wen Ying Wu -- was also charged. [continues 452 words]
The chair of the city's community safety committee is standing behind a bylaw that targets residential marijuana grow-ops, despite strong public reaction against it. Earlier this week, the News reported Lee and Fay Jensen were subjected to a search of their home by the RCMP and city officials under the city's electrical safety inspection program. The bylaw is aimed at addressing hazards resulting from the rewiring that is often done to power marijuana grow operations. A monthly $200 electrical bill triggered an inspection of the Jensens' home on Jan. 30. The inspection, one of 106 to take place so far, revealed neither a grow-op nor any problems with the Jensens' electrical system. [continues 399 words]
City Bylaw Allows RCMP, Fire to Inspect Home If Hydro Use Deemed High If the Jensen family is guilty of anything, it's that they are ordinary, say Fay and Lee Jensen. They run a business in Vancouver, pay their taxes and volunteer their time. They admit they use a lot of electricity but didn't think that might be a crime, until last week, when the RCMP showed up at their home on Goldstream Drive. "It was such a bizarre experience," Fay Jensen said of an inspection involving the RCMP, Richmond Fire-Rescue and City of Richmond. [continues 1136 words]
'We are really, really affected by this,' says neighbour Several homeowners in Richmond have been forced from their homes, and may face large electrical inspection and or repair bills, thanks to pot growers who rerouted power without their knowledge. Richmond RCMP executed search warrants on Jan. 24 at seven homes believed to be connected to a "cell" of pot growers. "Investigators believe that this group is family-based or at least an extended family-based operation, working in cooperation with one another to hold Richmond properties for the purposes of growing and trafficking marijuana," an RCMP news release states. [continues 409 words]
'We've Chopped The Head Off The Snake. We've Got Right To The Top On This One' Six Richmond residents have been arrested and at least two properties here seized in what police describe as one of the biggest organized crime busts in B.C. history. The arrests were part of a major multi-jurisdictional investigation that has resulted in 36 arrests in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, including Yong Long Ye of Vancouver -- the alleged kingpin of an international drug smuggling ring. [continues 683 words]
Two former Richmond First councillors have come out against a proposed group home for recovering addicts on Ash Street. Kiichi Kumagai, who lost his seat in the last civic election, and Ken Johnston, who ran on the same slate but was not elected, issued a joint press release Wednesday opposing the Turning Point Society's expansion plans. It is not the proposal per se that Kumagai opposes, but the scale. "It is the size. It is overkill," he said. "Local residents in the Ash neighbourhood have a right to be concerned," Johnston said in a press release. "Support is needed for individuals with addiction problems, but putting such a large scale institution in to the middle of a single-family community is simply not appropriate." [continues 551 words]
Dave doesn't look like a typical crack addict. A tennis instructor and university graduate, he started smoking crack about a year-and-a-half ago. It didn't take long to hit bottom. Before he decided to get clean, he was virtually homeless and had been in jail twice. "I didn't sleep on the streets or in a box or anything like that," he says. "But I was homeless. I had people after me because I owed them money." [continues 737 words]
RICHMOND - A 38-year-old Richmond man is in hospital recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in a marijuana growing operation ripoff Saturday night. The man was shot in the stomach after three masked men reportedly kicked in the door of the house where he lives at 3551 Sexsmith Rd. looking for pot. Police did find marijuana growing in a garage behind the dilapidated house. "There was about a 200-plant grow-op in an outbuilding," said RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen. "Whether there will be charges laid against the victim is not clear at this point." [continues 109 words]
A 38-year-old Richmond man is still in hospital recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in a marijuana grow rip operation Saturday night. The man was shot in the stomach after three masked men reportedly kicked in the door of the house where he lives around 9 p.m. looking for pot. Police did, in fact, find marijuana growing in a garage behind the dilapidated house. "There was approximately a 200-plant grow op in an outbuilding," said RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen. "Whether there will be charges laid against the victim, it's not clear at this point." [continues 270 words]
It's a simple equation. Drugs plus guns equals violent crime. Repeal the prohibition on drugs, and replace it with a health-based regulatory framework, and you will see all manner of crimes - including handgun violence - drop dramatically, says Dr. Rick Mathias, Green Party candidate for Richmond. "Prohibition has failed," he says. Mathias, who teaches public health at the University of B.C., is a member of the British Columbia Health Officers Council, which published a paper on repealing prohibition on drugs. [continues 769 words]
What does same sex-marriage have to do with crystal meth and crime? That's what some Richmond residents were left wondering earlier this week when a leaflet from the office of Calgary West Conservative MP Rob Anders began showing up in their mailboxes. The survey bears a masked man with a gun on the front, under the question: "Are you concerned about the impact of the Crystal Meth epidemic in your community?" The mailer concludes: "Tell Paul Martin to get tough on crime by filling out this questionnaire." [continues 431 words]
A Richmond realtor is in police custody, along with five other men that include two Chinese nationals, following a raid on two drug labs in Richmond. And police say the operations are likely linked to organized crime. Albert Luk, a realtor with Sutton Group Seafair Realty, turned himself in to police Thursday afternoon after a raid on his home at 6651 No. 5 Road. RCMP also raided a second home owned by Luk, at 5111 Steveston Hwy., yesterday. Police say the house does not appear to have been lived in. [continues 905 words]
