One man’s trash, one woman’s gold

Looking down from the Tri-Cities Traffic Copter I advise you to avoid Spring and Elgin streets in Port Moody if you can.

Coming up today we’ve got big garbage and a real softball of a story. But first I want to thank the more than 800 readers who filled out our survey and are helping shape their local news.

One big finding? You want us to tell local, in-depth under-reported stories that might not be covered by other outlets.

Click here to read the results

We will be announcing some exciting stuff over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Take it to the street Port Coquitlam residents can now book free curbside pickup for six big unwanted, unwieldy items over the next year.

The program – which is open to single-family homes and multi-family units that pay a garbage levy – can schedule two pickups for as many as three items, allowing residents to toss furniture, sealed mattresses, tires, exercise equipment and other junk that seemed like a good idea the time.

Book a date: 

• Online: portcoquitlam.ca/largeitem
• Email: info@cleanstartbc.ca 
• Phone: 1-855-297-8278

A seven-day turnaround time is expected.

Items that won’t be picked up:

• Sinks
• Flooring
• Car parts
• Glass
• Electronics
• Hazardous waste
• Tree stumps

The one-year pilot project, operated by CleanStart BC, is intended to curb illegal dumping and ensure items are donated when possible and properly disposed of when not.

“This new program will make it easier and more convenient for our residents to dispose of their unwanted items by giving them flexibility to choose the day of pick up that fits with their schedule,” Mayor Brad West stated in a press release.

Concrete news A bit chunk of industrial space is coming to 1725 Coast Meridian Road near the Northern Gold Foods, following a unanimous vote from Port Coquitlam council last week.

The Benefit The addition should create jobs and boost the economy, according to council.

The breakdown:

• Building type: Concrete 
• Size: 85,000 square feet 
• Site size: 9.25 acres between Industrial and Kingsway Avenues
• Lot coverage: will go from 42 to 60 percent
• Trees: The expansion means removing 12 trees (four of which are dead) and adding 25 new trees.
• Extra parking: the applicant will add 74 parking stalls – 10 fewer than usually required. According to an analysis supplied by the applicant, larger industrial tenants tend to need fewer parking spots.
• Applicant: Conwest Group of Companies

Prior additions were added to the site in 2001 and 2011 

What is it: The 2021 Festival du Bois is a free online music festival, based in Maillardville / Coquitlam, celebrating all things French Canadian.

• The festival started Friday April 16th and goes until April 30th.

Performers include Innu singer/songwriter Florent Vollant, the electrifying zydeco of Le Winston Band, Pierre Schryer and Andy Hillhouse, and fiddle dynamo, Jocelyn Pettit. Check out the list of artists.

Is it kid friendly? Absolutely. There’s special Children’s Programming for kids of all ages.

How to watch: All free online concerts and performances can be watched online here.

She picks up her right foot – not quite stomping but planting it hard enough to make any nearby bug reconsider his life choices. The bat whips through the air at 66.6 miles per hour.

This is not training. This is what Jennifer Salling does with her downtime.

“The girls give me a hard time about that,” the Port Coquitlam shortstop laughs. “Being immersed in softball right now is my therapy.”

Florida then, should be the ultimate restorative.

Salling and her Softball Canada teammates live out of a half-dozen Fort Myers AirBnBs and spend five or six days a week on the diamond as they prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Softball is life here,” Salling says. “All day, ever day.”

Salling and many of her teammates are in possession of something unique: a second last chance.

Losing twice

In 2008, Team Canada was one win away from the Olympic podium. 

“I’ll never forget that hit,” Salling says. 

A bloop hit arced out of the infield. Australia was in. Canada was out.

“We were just so close to earning a medal,” Salling reminisces.

Teams can rebound after losing a game. It’s a lot harder to rebound after your game is lost.

Softball was bounced from the Olympics after 2008 – devastating for a team with so much potential.

“I think with the youth of our team [their average age is 24], the next one would have been the big one,” coach Lori Sippel told the National Post at the time.

Eight years passed. Salling was halfway through graduate school and considering a coaching career when she found out that, owing to softball’s immense popularity in Japan, her sport was coming back for one more Olympics. 

“I was 20 years old in 2008,” Salling says. “Having another opportunity to do it a little bit differently than I did in 2008 . . . was a big motivator.”

The Big One

She’s more experienced now. She knows the importance of preparing “with intention” and she sees that commitment up and down the roster.

“Now more than ever I think Softball Canada believes we can win a gold medal.”

Following an exhibition schedule the team is set to fly out to Japan in July.

For Salling, there’s a joy in trying to master something as impossible to master as softball.

“I’ve never experienced burnout,” she says. “I don’t think I ever will with softball.”

New cases in Fraser Health: 1,845 

Business closures between April 12 and 18

• Quality Saw and Knife – Port Coquitlam
• Fitness World Suter Brook in Port Moody
• Western Canada Coatings in Port Coquitlam
• McDonalds on Ottawa Street in Port Coquitlam
• The Keg Steakhouse and Bar on Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam
• Joey Coquitlam on Lougheed Highway

School exposures: Fraser Health reported outbreaks in 22 schools between April 6 and 14. Schools are listed alphabetically.

Birchland Elementary, Centennial Secondary, Central Community Elementary, C’usqunela Elementary, Eagle Mountain Middle, Ecole Citadel Middle, Ecole Dr. Charles Best Secondary, Ecole Glen Elementary, Ecole Glenayre Elementary, Ecole Kilmer Elementary, Ecole Pitt River Middle, Ecole Rochester Elementary, Ecole Riverside Secondary, Gleneagle Secondary , Heritage Woods Secondary, Hillcrest Middle, Minnekhada Middle, Pinetree Secondary, Pinetree Way Elementary, Summit Middle, Suwa’lkh School, Terry Fox Secondary

The rest of B.C.

• New cases: 2,960 (over three days)
• Deaths: 8
• Active cases: 9,353
• Current hospitalizations: 441
• Patients in intensive care: 138
• Total cases: 120,040
• Total deaths: 1,538
• Recoveries: 108,919
• Vaccines administered: 1,380,160

Happening in the Tri-Cities

• Coquitlam RCMP to host webinar on violence in relationships tonight

• Coquitlam library hosting virtual teen poetry slam April 28 

• Tri-Cities region hosting virtual town hall on food security April 22

• Port Moody offering pre-recorded virtual yoga classes

Other news around town

• Silent treatment Rogers outage stretches from coast to coast 

• Three months on, Trina Hunt still missing

• Liberals pledge $30 billion over five years for early learning and child care 

• No tickets following English Bay beach party 

Good news for fans of frosty treats this week as Rocky Point Ice Cream is set to open a production facility on Murray Street that can churn out 750 litres of ice cream an hour. 

• The facility is set to open April 27.

Kudos to Mario Bartel of the Tri-City News for getting the scoop. (I know, I know, I’m sorry.)