Given the recent shenanigans in Ottawa, I was disappointed to see the Globe & Mail, the Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers all endorse Steven Harper’s Conservatives. In New Westminster, the Tenth to the Fraser editorial board endorses the NDP.

For a second month in a row NWEP and Tenth to the Fraser will be teaming up to host a special Election Edition of the popular New Westminster Green Drinks. The event will be held on a special night, Monday May 2nd (election night), from 5:30-late at The Heritage Grill Back Room, New Westminster.

Our kids can eat lunch in 15 minutes, but should they? New Westminster District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) wants to double the eating time for elementary and middle school children from 15 minutes to 30 minutes so that our kids can have more time to chew. In this week’s New West Wednesday, let’s talk about lunch: do you agree with DPAC that kids need more time to eat?

I try to eat a heathy breakfast of oatmeal and fruit most mornings. While this is probably what i should be eating, sometimes I crave something a bit more. Since moving to the other side of downtown, I’ve been frequenting Couzies on Carnarvon.

In New West, we certainly know how to celebrate! This year there are two days of Easter fun! There is, of course, the annual Antique Car and Easter Parade on Sunday, but with the re-opening of the River Market this year, there are now festivities on Saturday for everyone to enjoy, especially if family lunches and dinners take you out of the action in Queen’s Park on Sunday.

The all-candidates event co-hosted by New Westminster Environmental Partners, NEXT New West and Tenth to the Fraser went swimmingly tonight, with seven out of the eight candidates representing the Conservatives, NDP, Liberals and Greens showing up to mix and mingle with local voters.

Just an FYI for parents of babies & toddlers and other regulars at the public health office: the New Westminster Public Health Unit is relocating to Uptown from its current home at 537 Carnarvon.

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s New West Wednesday about first impressions of the city. In honour of the upcoming federal election and the all-candidates meet & greet happening today at La Rustica, this week we’ll talk politics. Specifically: what do you vote for?
Note that I did not say who, though if you want to reveal your choice you’re welcome to do so. What I’ve got in mind is a few steps before you put a name to your vote, when you work out what issues truly matter …

Queens Park and Quayside aren’t the only neighbourhoods in New Westminster with a neighbourhood wide garage sale! Mark May 7th from 9AM to 3PM on your calendar and check out the Massey Victory Heights neighbourhood for great deals.
Where is Massey Victory Heights, you ask? Way over on the eastern tip of New Westminster, you can find the MVH neighbourhood. It is the area south of 10th Avenue and north of 8th Avenue, east of McBride and west of Columbia Street E, plus the two blocks bounded by Craig Avenue and Colby …

In just a few days New Westminster residents will notice local business areas lighting up purple. That’s because April 19-23 is the 2nd Annual Purple Light Nights campaign to raise awareness of violence against women.
The campaign was started last year by the New Westminster Community Action Committee for Women who Experience Violence (CAC), a group made up of representatives from the community organizations who work with women experiencing abuse.
Why purple? According to Lorrie Wasyliw, Executive Director of Monarch Place Transition House and Co-Chair of the New West CAC, purple is …

Rather than set up a typical all-candidates meeting full of speechifying and, well, politicking, Tenth to the Fraser, N.E.X.T. New West (a networking & social club for young professionals in the city) and New Westminster Environmental Partners have teamed up to organize a special non-partisan Green Drinks – Election Edition meet & greet with candidates. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 20 from 6-9pm at La Rustica, 228 6th Street. All residents are welcome to join us.

First impressions count. But they don’t always stick. What were your first impressions of New Westminster? Has your opinion changed over time?

Hume Park Elementary has been on the chopping block multiple times (a few examples: in 2009, and again in 2010), and each time dedicated parents come to its’ defense and each time Hume Park gets voted to stay open and each time everyone breaths a sigh of relief.  Yesterday, I read that, once again, a trustee is putting forward a motion to consolidate Hume Park with it’s bigger brother up the hill, Richard McBride Elementary. The motion won’t get voted on without another trustee to second it but if it passes, once again …

The Army & Navy Shoe Sale is always a sure sign of spring. It brings back memories of our annual shopping excursions to the New West store when I was a kid. When my sister and I were young, Mom started the tradition of annual shoe shopping, just us girls, wide eyed at the rows upon rows of shoes, so many options it was overwhelming. This year’s Army & Navy shoe sale starts Wednesday, April 27 at 8 a.m

One of my favourite things about running Tenth to the Fraser is reading what my New West neighbours have to say about our town. In the hopes of inspiring more discussion about our city, I’d like to announce a new feature on Tenth to the Fraser: New West Wednesdays. What do you think should be the first topic for discussion?

A little while ago we launched our first ever readership survey on Tenth to the Fraser. We had a great response, with 44 of you taking the time to share your thoughts on the website. I shared some of the preliminary response in an earlier blog post, and as promised, here are the full results.

TransLink has been undergoing a “service rationalization” process for the past year. This is part of a complete service review the Provincial government has mandated before any consideration is given to approving other revenue streams for TransLink. Until now, this has been a fairly abstract concept when it came to transit services on the road, however as we are about to learn, “rationalization” means cuts to basic services in New Westminster.