Frankly Speaking

On Friday, Langley will become the latest Lower Mainland community to see two of its community newspapers become one. The Langley Advance Times will begin publication that day, with the amalgamation of The Advance  (which began in 1931) and The Times (which started 50 years later, in 1981). Both have been owned by Black Press Media since 2015. There is still another community newspaper in Langley - the Aldergrove Star , also published by Black Press Media. It is based in Aldergrove, and serves the eastern portion of Langley and western portion of Abbotsford. The move to amalgamate makes sense, and will actually provide better news coverage. The news staff at the two newspapers have laboured heroically since each went to once-a-week publication, but there is no doubt they have been stretched on many occasions. I have the highest regard for Roxanne Hooper, editor of the new publication. We worked together many years ago at the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News , and she is not only ...

Sunday’s fatal crash involving a car and a train at the Langley Bypass crossing was the second in just over three years on the Canadian Pacific rail corridor to take the lives of elderly Langley residents. In September, 2015, an ambulance was hit by a train at the Crush Crescent crossing, killing the 87-year-old patient inside. Sunday’s terrible tragedy involving a car and a train needn’t have happened. The crash, detailed in this Langley Times story https://www.langleytimes.com/news/watch-two-seniors-reportedly-hit-and-killed-by-train-in-langley/ , took place on a sunny December morning. The victims, a 90-year-old man and an 88-year-old woman, were in a vehicle that somehow became stranded on the Langley Bypass crossing. The crew of the westbound CN coal train had no ability to stop the train, which would have weighed in excess of 10,000 tons. The train pushed the car the couple were riding in close to a kilometre down the tracks before it stopped. The couple were identified on M...

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Bays Blackhall, a tireless volunteer in Langley and one of the most knowledgeable people on Fort Langley's rich history. She died unexpectedly at Ridge Meadows Hospital on Tuesday, April 18 In particular, she was a tireless promoter of the unique place that Sir James Douglas holds in B.C. and Fort Langley history, as the first governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia. She also often volunteered at the Fort Langley CN station, one of my favourite buildings. It was saved from the wrecking ball by heritage advocates more than 30 years ago. Langley Times reporter Dan Ferguson has written a story on her passing, as has Matthew Claxton of The Langley Advance. Her family and many friends will gather to remember her on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Fort Langley Community Hall, another building that was very dear to her heart. She was a regular writer of letters to the editor over my 17 years as editor of The Times, and I always enj...

One of these three people will serve as B.C.'s next premier. We will likely know which one has won the voters' approval for the job sometime late in the evening on Tuesday, May 9. At top is BC Liberal leader Christy Clark, who has been premier since 2011. In the middle is NDP leader John Horgan. At the bottom is Green Party leader Andrew Weaver. I was privileged to be asked to moderate an all-candidates' meeting for candidates in the two main Langley ridings, sponsored by Langley Seniors Community Action Table. It was organized by Marilyn Fischer and other memers of the round table. They did a superb job. It took place today (April 19) at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Langley City. About 90 seniors, plus two members each of Langley City and Langley Township councils, were on hand. Eight of the nine candidates in the Langley and Langley East ridings were on hand. Inder Johal, the NDP candidate in Langley East, was sick and unable to attend. Unlike m...

Roy Clancy, who was the original editor of The Langley Times when it began publication in 1981, passed away on Sunday in Calgary. The cause was "a swift battle with cancer." He was 63. An obituary in today's National Post noted that he was a "consummate journalist with a keen eye for the written word." He had worked for the Calgary Sun for more than 25 years, as editorial page editor and columnist. He came to Langley to help launch a competitor to the long-established Langley Advance , which has been in operation since 1931. Publisher Gerry Maginn and his business partner and brother-in-law Stan Fenton decided to take on The Advance , even though it was a tough time to start a newspaper. Interest rates were at record highs and unemployment numbers were also high. Some people were actually losing their homes in Langley because of an inability to pay their mortgages. The Times was a free-distribution tabloid, with a visual and written style very different f...

The byelection to select a new councillor in the City of Langley takes place this Saturday. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Douglas Recreation Centre. The byelection is to fill the seat of the late councillor Dave Hall, who resigned in November due to a battle with cancer. Sadly, he passed away in January. Normally, byelections attract little interest from voters. When a byelection takes place in the City of Langley (a rarity), a municipality where there is rarely more than 20 per cent turnout in general elections, chances are it will be doubly ignored by most people. Such may not be the case this time. What has made the difference? Simply the fact that there are nine candidates seeking office, far more than any observer had expected. Each brings supporters with them, and the number of candidates (and signs) has many people in the City talking. I served as moderator at the lone all-candidates meeting, held Monday at Langley Seniors Resource Centre. After hearing all of them...

Truth and reconciliation is coming to Langley this weekend - and hopefully it will come to many more communities across Canada. Former Langley school trustee Cecelia Reekie, who is part of the Haisla First Nation, is spearheading an event at Yorkson Creek Middle School which will feature as guest speaker Wab Kinew, who has been a living example of the power of reconciliation, both in his own family and in his work as a broadcaster and filmmaker. His book "The Reason You Walk" provides a large number of examples of the brokenness and damage caused by past Canadian policies towards First Nations people. It also details; how his family has coped with the ever-present damage caused by residential schools, broken relationships, lost aboriginal languages, physical and sexual abuse and many other things. It makes clear how the dysfunction caused by the forced removal of children from their families continues through the generations - but it also offers a great deal of hope. Langle...

Frank Bucholtz photo B.C.'s Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley area is one of the most beautiful and blessed areas in the entire world, in my humble and far from objective opinion. This photo of the Golden Ears mountains, covered in fresh snow, was taken Dec. 29.   A happy new year to everyone. Thanks for checking out my blog posts, if only occasionally. I appreciate the support and feedback. I've posted 57 times this year, with almost all of them coming after retiring from The Langley Times as editor on June 30. I wanted to keep an oar in the water, and like almost all writers, I'm happiest when putting something together. Blogging offers the previously unparalleled opportunity to put your thoughts together and post the completed item online for anyone to see. You then find out, in a very specific way, if what you write and think about strikes any chords with people. Most of the subjects I've posted on are quite local in nature. That's my area of experti...

Frank Bucholtz photo Jose Figueroa and his daughter face a battery of television cameras Wednesday, after he was given freedom from deportation by Canada Border Services Agency. He has been taking refuge at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church for the past two years. Jose Figueroa walked out of Walnut Grove Lutheran Church today (Dec. 23), on his 49th birthday. He is a free man. More than two years after taking sanctuary, the Langley City man, who has been in Canada for 18 years, was finally assured by the federal government that he would not be arrested and deported to his native El Salvador. An earlier decision said he was a member of what Canada once considered a terrorist organization. That organization is now the democratically-elected government of El Salvador. There was a large turnout this afternoon to see him symbolically walk out of the church, then go back inside for some intensive media coverage. The media deserves a lot of credit for the ongoing publicity they have given ...

This is my last pre-election post, but it's the one I have thought about the longest. It started to germinate when I cleaned out my desk at The Langley Times in June, after 17 years as editor. One of the files I came across was entitled  "Velmagate." Reporters love to attach the suffix "gate" to ongoing issues that have the whiff of political scandal to them. This of course goes back to the granddaddy of all recent political scandals and the likely high water mark in the journalism world - Watergate. There have been plenty of "gates" at The Times and doubtless at almost every other mainstream media outlet in North America. I don't know how Canadians are going to vote on Monday. Like many people, I am guessing that the Liberals will win, but I freely admit that much of that guessing is based on talking heads, who in turn base their opinion and guesses on polls. As I have noted before, polls have been notoriously inaccurate in many recent electi...

Today is the final day of my 17 years as editor of The Langley Times. Here's some thoughts about the many interesting people I've worked with and encountered over the years, as published in The Times' July 1 edition. As a 37-year career in community newspapers winds down this week, it’s time for me to thank all those who have made it possible. First, I wish to thank all those who have passed on good wishes over the past few weeks, and in particular those who honoured me with their attendance at a retirement party last week at Langley Golf Centre. Many thanks to publisher Jean Hincks, incoming editor Brenda Anderson and assistant ad manager Kelly Myers in particular, for their hard work in organizing a very special event. Second, many thanks to the great group of people I have worked with at The Times. Brenda is taking over as editor. She has been here for all the time I’ve held this position, and a bit longer. She knows the community well and will do a great ...

It is with both a sense of sadness and excitement that I pass on the news that I will be retiring from my position as Langley Times editor at the end of this month. I have held this position for almost 17 years — far longer than I had initially anticipated. There are two reasons — the terrific people I work with at The Times, and all the amazing people in Langley whom we are privileged to write about and photograph each week. The community newspaper business is very different from most media businesses. Our job is to present news and information to our readers which helps them get to know this community and its goings-on, from information that is just not easily available to them elsewhere. Some people think there is no need for print media any longer, given the advances in technology. There is no shortage of information on the internet, and it is easier than ever to get at, with new mobile devices coming out all the time. However, I challenge them to check out what th...