FREE TRANSIT
Women served by Talitha Koum will receive free public transit tickets after TransLink this month granted $2,500 worth of Compass passes to the society, which runs two recovery homes in Coquitlam.
LIGHTS, ACTION
Coquitlam’s traffic operations engineer Bernard Tung accepted an award this month from the Applied Sciences Technologists & Technicians of BC for updating the city’s communications network.
NEW BOARD
Matt Burton, SD43 Trustee Carol Cahoon, Stephanie Clarke and Jim Walker last week were elected to a new board of directors for the Children of the Street Society. Zachariah Guy (not in photo) was also voted to be part of the team.
BIZ SUPPORT
Shannon Mitchell (left), publisher and sales manager of The Tri-City News, joined Michael Hind and Wendy Mein of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce at the 25th annual Treasures of Christmas gala last Saturday for Crossroads Hospice Society.
POLICE, CORRECTIONS
A Port Moody police constable earned an award of meritorious service this month from B.C. Lt.-Gen. Janet Austin and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, Port Coquitlam’s MLA. Const. Jason Maschke received the accolade for his off-duty heroism, providing lifesaving aid to the driver of a serious motor vehicle collision.
He was selected for the recognition by officials from the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General’s Police Services Division. The award was presented by the 37th annual Police Honours Night at Government House in Victoria. Meanwhile, Austen and Farnworth also recently honoured 17 BC Corrections staff with national awards — two of them from the Tri-Cities. Corrections exemplary service medals and bars were presented Nicole Hermansen (Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver) and Fiona Lawrence (Downtown Community Court).
COLLEGE CASH
Seven college students from the Tri-Cities scooped $5,000 each this month to help them with transferring to universities. Coquitlam’s Jin Pai, Marisa Letteri and Sage Sarabosing are moving from Douglas College to UBC while Miradee Chua is off to UVic from Langara College. And, from Port Coquitlam, Bailey Gutsche, Jackie McCurrach and Jaime Wong are also transferring from Douglas College to study at SFU and UBC. In total, 171 undergrads around B.C. won the transfer scholarships, awarded by the Irving K Barber BC Scholarship Society. “Supporting students who transfer between post-secondary institutions makes their pathway to success more affordable,” said Melanie Mark, B.C.’s Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, in a press release. “As someone who benefitted by starting off in college and graduating from university, I know the value of transferring credits.”
INNOVATION PRIZE
School District 43 clinched the K-12 school system innovator of the year award for leadership at the Pan-Canadian Ed. Tech Summit, it was announced at the regular school board meeting last week. Supt. Patricia Gartland led a SD43 team that was the keynote speaker at the event, talking about school design.
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