Ladner Seeking Vision Endorsement for Mayor? Semi-Nude Suspect Flees from Taco Del Mar to Surrey, Students Call for bag ban

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De Genova Accuses Ladner of Seeking Vision Endorsement

According to a recent post in the Tyee, there has been some significant back-room wrangling between the Non Partisan Association's Peter Ladner and Vision Vancouver. “Non-Partisan Association Councillor Peter Ladner recently met unsuccessfully with a leader of rival Vision Vancouver party to seek that party's mayoral endorsement.” The allegations were leveled by Allan De Genova who is considering his own run for mayor under the Vision banner. The post also reveals that “Ladner now is widely expected to seek a nomination to run for mayor for the NPA.”

All parties have confirmed that a meeting between Ladner and Vision co-chair Mike Magee, but there remains debate as to who was actually seeking who's endorsement. De Genova declared, “Peter did meet with Vision not too long ago, and I know he left the meeting feeling that things didn't come together the way he wanted." Ladner responded to the Tyee's inquiry through a voicemail and he dismissed the meeting as merely “a casual conversation with an old friend, not a formal meeting or negotiation.” There has been significant amount of speculation regarding Vancouver's next mayoral election and the highly-charged political atmosphere that dominates municipal politics looks set to continue for many months to come.

Semi-Nude Man Fled to Surrey in Taxi

The latest post from the Chinese in Vancouver blog sheds a significant amount of light on the main suspect in the Broadway explosion that leveled several businesses and sent debris flying down the street. Reportedly, the suspect was clad only in a leather jacket (covering the lower part of his body) and smelled “faintly of gasoline” according to the cab driver who picked him up. While the sight of a semi-nude man requesting a cab ride to Surrey is not an unheard of occurrence for cab drivers, the suspect was refused a ride by his first cab driver, although he then managed to order an additional taxi which ultimately took him to his destination.

The post contains an interview with the second cab driver Kwok Yee Cheung, “Cheung asked the man if he was OK, he said he was beaten up by someone. The man was described as an Indo-Canadian man in his 40s. Cheung took the man to Newton where he was greeted by another Indo-Canadian man who paid the $57 taxi fare.” It has been confirmed that the person who paid the taxi fare is not the part-owner of the Taco Del Mar location where the explosion took place. The post reports that he is cooperating with police. The suspect remains in hospital with burns over 40% of his body.

Georgia Straight Most Read Paper Downtown

The Oldtown News blog, written by Jamie Lee Hamilton, has congratulated the Georgia Straight for being officially declared the most widely-circulated paper in the city. Hamilton declared, “Bravo to the Georgia Straight for having the distinction and honour of being the highest read newspaper in Downtown Vancouver, City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver region.” The Straight has been ubiquitous for decades and boasts work from some of Vancouver and the world's most talented journalists.

Hamilton observed that the Straight had been considered the paper of choice ever since the “days of the infamous Q.Q. and his page 69 column.” According to the post, the pats on the back should go squarely to the paper's editor. “This goes to show that owner Dan McLeod and his A-list team of writers led by the best and smartest news Editor in this country, Charlie Smith, are in tune with citizens of this city and region.”

Students Support Phasing out of Plastic Bags

The Langley Free Press blog has reported that Kwantlen University College students have called for a plastic bag ban and have instituted a petition to call attention to their cause. “The petition collected over 700 signatures in support of a tax to discourage the unnecessary use of the bags.” The post quotes group spokesperson Ashley Bangsund declaring that “We asked for a tax because we thought it was one of the ways to reduce the excessive use of the bags, but we support any measure, including this motion, that produces the same final effect.”

The origins of the campaign are traced back to an environmental studies class project at the school. According to the group, Canadians consume over 55 million plastic bags every year, most of which wind up in landfills. Additionally, “hundred of thousand of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.” The petition is still available online.

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