DECEMBER

Dec. 4

Lyle Collie resigned as the Chilliwack constituency association president of the BC Conservative Party after being censured by the party. Since the party's annual general meeting, most of the local executive had also resigned.

"I was looking at the direction the party was going and it was not the way I expected when I first joined up," Collie told the Times.

In September, the party's candidate in the April byelection announced his defection to the BC Liberals and in October, vice-president Ben Besler announced his departure.

Dec. 4

As a thank you for saving him and his two fishing buddies a month prior, Vancouver chef Josh Wolfe brought his catering trailer to the Agassiz headquarters of Kent-Harrison Search and Rescue for a lunch of fried ling cod or sockey and fries, chicken sandwiches, seafood chowder poutine and more.

Wolfe and his friends were rescued Oct. 29 after torrential rains quickly raised the level of the Chehalis River and stranded the fishermen.

Dec. 6

The donation of the Paramount Theatre to the City of Chilliwack looked less like a gift when it was revealed that there was a $350,000 price tag to demolish the building.

The Paramount was slated to cost $343,000 to demolish, while it was to cost $130,000 to bring down the adjacent Ewert Building. With tax and other costs, the Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation was due to pay a total of around $550,00 to raze the two buildings.

Dec. 6

Chilliwack MLA John Les handed Diamond Jubilee Medals to four prominent residents at a ceremony at the coast hotel.

The four recipients were: Chilliwack Museum and archives director Ron Denman; dairy technologist and Environment Canada volunteer weather observer Roger Pannett; prolific volunteer Marian Dyck; and realtor and Ruth & Naomi's Street Mission board chair Wayne Massey.

Dec. 11

The sad story of BMO Bank of Montreal's move out of Five Corners and downtown Chilliwack had a happy ending as the financial institution donated the building to the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV).

The Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation also promised to contribute up to $650,000 to renovate the building, which will host UFV classes by next fall.

Dec. 11

Parents lobbying for early French immersion in the Chilliwack school district said a survey aimed at gauging interest might get lost in the Christmas shuffle.

"It's a crazy time of year to have this study," said Jocelyn Thomas, president of the Chilliwack chapter of Canadian Parents for French.

The survey, which came in both online and paper formats, was released Dec. 4. Responses were due Dec. 18 for the paper survey and Dec. 21 for the electronic one.

Dec. 13

A local police dog named Cargo who guarded the prime minister, sniffed for explosives, patrolled major world summits and helped track down a lost senior with Alzheimer's died less than a month before he was slated to retire.

Cargo, who was born in 2003 in the Czech Republic and enlisted in the RCMP's breeding program, also sired 20 litters of puppies, worked on the EnCanada pipeline bombings investigation and starred in an RCMP recruiting commercial.

Dec. 13

Clandestine, unhealthy, unethical, dysfunction, tragic-Chilliwack school board trustees exchanged some peppery language while debating three motions aimed at "streamlining" their policy-making role.

The motions called for an interim process for developing policy until the board hammers out a new governance model with the help of education consultant Craig Melvin. But the debate highlighted a chronic rift on the board.

Dec. 18

The Fraser Valley Regional District seized on inconsistent test results on toxic fly ash from Metro Vancouver's Burnaby incinerator as further evidence that burning garbage is a bad idea.

Ash samples taken in the summer were found to have leachable cadmium above acceptable levels, results that were later questioned by follow-up tests. The uncertainty led Metro's manager of solid waste Paul Henderson to question the test they use.

Dec. 20

Three levels of government were at Chilliwack City Hall to announce $2.34 million in upgrades to the city's dike system.

Funding of $780,000 came from each of the federal government's Economic Action Plan, the province's Flood Protection Program and the city.

Dec. 20

The province appointed former Lieutenant Governer Steven Point of Chilliwack to "champion" recommendations made in Wally Oppal's missing women report.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond appointed Point to chair a new advisory committee on the safety and security of vulnerable women. Among the findings in the 1,448-page report was the recommendation to establish a regional police force.

Dec. 24

A Chilliwack woman who watched in despair as nine cheap vehicles died on her over the past two years was the winner of the Times ninth annual Christmas Car Giveaway.

Tara Patrick was handed the keys to a fully refurbished 2002 Toyota Sienna. Before getting the car, the single mother of four had resigned herself to the inevitable and imminent demise of her Chevy Blazer.