JANUARY

Jan. 5

Much to her mother's surprise, seven-pound-one-ounce Brooklyn Ruth Friesen arrived just after midnight on Jan. 1.

Mom Sarah had been so sick with the flu on Dec. 31, she couldn't differentiate between contractions and upset stomach. Nevertheless, a healthy Brooklyn Ruth arrived at 1: 39 a.m., making her Chilliwack's New Year's Baby.

Jan. 5

Rosedale traditional community school students were up extra early on Jan. 3 as they moved into their shiny, new 7,500-square-metre school.

The recently completed kindergarten-to-Grade 9 school officially opened with the new year.

Jan. 5

Former federal and provincial NDP candidate Gwen O'Mahony announced she would seek the nomination for the party in the Chilliwack-Hope byelection caused by the retirement of Barry Penner.

Jan. 10

Chilliwack's mayor and city councillors quietly gave themselves 11 and 16 per cent pay hikes 12 months prior thanks to a funding formula that creates a feedback loop of ever-increasing paycheques.

That's because remuneration for Chilliwack's municipal politicians is based on 11 other B.C. communities, some of which use a similar formula.

Chilliwack's municipal politicians remain some of the lowest paid in the Lower Mainland.

Jan. 10

University of the Fraser Valley professor and former Times columnist John Martin was acclaimed as the BC Conservative Party's candidate for the Chilliwack-Hope byelection.

Jan. 12

Federal Conservative Party insider Laurie Throness stepped forward to run for the BC Liberal nomination for the Chilliwack-Hope byelection.

The former Chuck Strahl staffer had a decidedly conservative bent and said he was concerned about the possibility of vote-splitting on the right given Martin's entry in the race.

Jan. 17 NDP leader Adrian Dix visited to Chilliwack in support of the Chilliwack-Hope nomination race between Gwen O'Mahony, Dennis Adamson and Kathleen Stephany.

Dix said he wanted to maintain a positive campaign and he suggested that while Chilliwack-Hope was long a BC Liberal stronghold, he thought the NDP had a chance.

Jan. 17

The Cultus Lake Park Board's new batch of commissioners got off to a bumpy start as the three of the newly elected board members faced off against the rest of the board.

In a move referred to as "petty games" by former board chair Sacha Peter, with the absence of one commissioner, new electees Larry Payeur, Malcolm Shanks and Bob McRea tried to engage in a series of endless 3-3 votes to select a board chair.

Eventually, a recess was called in the meeting and the three re-elected commissioners went home.

Jan. 19

A civilian RCMP pilot was killed in a helicopter crash near Cultus Lake.

David Brolin, 46, was the sole occupant of the Air 5 helicopter and had just completed a training exercise and was returning to base when the crash occurred.

Police blocked the forestry road closest to the scene of the crash.

Jan. 19

Winter hit Chilliwack with a wallop, leading to road closures, power outages, class cancellations and

JANUARY, from page 3

some serious costs to city hall.

Total snowfall for Jan. 16 was 28.8 centimetres and the dump cost approximately half a million dollars in just a few days.

Jan. 24

After a period of dormancy, and under the revitalization of new owners, Chilliwack's Old Yale Brewing Company was back in business.

With new backers, microbrewery founder Larry Caza Makers was back making his award-winning Sasquatch Stout, Old Yale Pale Ale and Sergeant's IPA.

Jan. 24

The saga of the Paramount Theatre continued as two proposals submitted to the city were rejected by city hall.

Revolution Church and Protocol Developments each responded to the RFP for the city-owned building but neither had "appropriate management and financial plans," according to a city staff report.

Jan. 26

Despite the bizarre opposition-which ran counter to his election campaign-from school board trustee Barry Neufeld, the Chilliwack district voted to go ahead with a feasibility study for a French immersion program.

Jan. 26

A Chilliwack businessman who advised students that payment of tax is tantamount to slavery and is voluntary was convicted on a slew of tax evasion charges.

Russell Porisky and his common-law wife Elaine Gould were found guilty of failing to pay taxes on $1,127,185 of income they earned while operating Paradigm Education Group, a company urging students to operate as "natural persons."

Jan. 31

Gwen O'Mahony won the NDP nomination on the first ballot to represent Chilliwack-Hope in the byelection called to replace Barry Penner.