Good afternoon, Langley. It is a partly sunny Thursday with a high near 24 C, and the long-range forecast has us climbing toward 31 C by the middle of next week, so enjoy the mild stretch while it lasts.
Today's roundup leads with Langley City Council approving a $1.25 million tender to replace the failing roof and exterior walls of the 20-plus-year-old Fire Hall, a building that has been letting water in since at least 2024. Council also received a letter from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment pressing the City on heat resilience, from rental cooling to tree canopy to public cool centres, which staff have been directed to answer.
Over in the Township, an Aldergrove cemetery is asking to convert part of its grounds into a temporary truck parking lot, and staff have rightly flagged that grieving families deserve notice before anything moves forward.
KPU Cloverdale is picking up 462 of the province's 5,000 new trades-training seats, a welcome investment as the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain build ramps up demand for skilled labour. New UBC research out of Summerland confirms what watershed advocates have been saying for years, that clear-cut logging measurably worsens downstream flood risk for communities like ours.
On the lighter side, the Tears of Joy Hot Sauce Expo returns Aug. 8 with a new kids corn eating contest, and Ocean Wise is touring four Langley library branches in early August with hands-on whale education.
We also have a practical guide to the patchwork of wildfire alert apps every B.C. traveller should have on their phone, and the Vancouver Giants have picked up 20-year-old Delta native Derek Thurston from the Saskatoon Blades to shore up their blue line.
Langley City Fire Hall gets $1.25M in urgent repairs after two decades of leaks
Langley City Council has approved a tender worth $1,245,257 to Hodgson King & Marble Ltd. to replace failing exterior walls and the entire roof of the City's 20-plus-year-old Fire Hall.
Assessments dating back to 2024 found the building envelope, particularly the brick facade and roofing, was breaking down and letting water in.
The contract also covers upgrades to roof access, electrical systems, and lighting, work that should have been addressed long before deterioration reached this point.
At the same meeting, Council received a letter from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment asking what the City is doing to cool rental units, expand tree canopy, and set up public cool centres. Staff have been directed to respond.
Council also greenlit staff travel to a water meter users' conference in Ontario at a cost of $2,500.
Aldergrove cemetery pitches truck parking lot, families to be consulted first
An Aldergrove cemetery operator is asking Langley Township for permission to convert part of its grounds into a temporary parking lot for large trucks.
Township staff have flagged that families with loved ones interred at the site should be notified before any decision is finalized, a basic courtesy that reflects the weight of what a cemetery is meant to be.
The proposal raises broader questions about industrial land pressures in Aldergrove and how commercial trucking needs are pushing into unexpected corners of the community.
No final decision has been made.
Township OKs crane easements for neighbouring 199 Street builds
The Township of Langley announced plans to grant two easements over its own land at 7851 199 Street in Willoughby. The easements will let construction move forward on the two properties next door.
The property to the north is owned by Gloriental 1 Developments Ltd., which will pay $1 plus mutual promises. The property to the south is owned by Maryalice Ann Wood, who will pay a small fee plus mutual promises.
Both easements allow builders to swing cranes over the Township's land. They also allow builders to install shoring tie-backs underground. Tie-backs are anchors that hold back the walls of a construction pit so it does not cave in.
The Township parcel sits right next to 7883 199 Street. That is where the Township is helping build a six-storey workforce housing project with Edgar Equitable Housing Corporation and BC Builds. BC Builds is a provincial program that builds rental homes for people like nurses, teachers, and tradespeople who can no longer afford market rent.
The notice is required under Sections 26 and 94 of the Community Charter. That law sets out how a municipality must tell the public when it gives up part of its rights to a piece of land.
Easements like these are common in busy neighbourhoods where new buildings go up close to their property lines. They are the kind of quiet coordination that makes it possible to keep building homes in fast-growing areas like Willoughby.
KPU Cloverdale gets 462 new trades training seats
British Columbia is adding 5,000 trades-training spaces across the province for 2026-27, with 462 of those seats going to Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Cloverdale campus.
Premier David Eby announced the funding at KPU on July 28, bringing the university's total trades capacity to 1,762 seats.
The province is investing $241 million over three years to expand access to apprenticeship programs.
Post-Secondary Education Minister Jessie Sunner said the new seats will help meet demand for skilled workers on major local projects, including the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain.
The funding targets high-demand trades like construction electricians, millwrights, plumbers, and construction craft workers, with the goal of shortening apprenticeship wait lists and drawing more young people into the trades.
Langley hot sauce expo adds kids corn eating contest
The second annual Tears of Joy Hot Sauce Expo returns to Langley on Saturday, Aug. 8, with a new kids corn eating contest joining the lineup.
The family-friendly contest kicks off at 10:15 a.m. and is open to kids 16 and younger, with age-based prize packs up for grabs.
For those who want the heat, the popular hot pepper eating contest is back, featuring Ontario's Mike Jack Eats Heat attempting a Guinness World Record.
The expo runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Langley Riders Society grounds and features 80 vendors, live music from Muppet Boys and Chief State, food trucks, face painting, and knife sharpening.
The Langley Food Bank will be on site collecting donations at the gate, building on last year's haul of over $700 and three full bins of food.
Organizer Neal Sherriff said the event drew about 1,000 people in its debut year and he is leaning into what worked rather than reinventing the recipe.
Ocean Wise whale tour visits Langley libraries in August
Ocean Wise is touring 19 Fraser Valley Regional Library branches through Aug. 7, bringing hands-on whale education to families across the region.
The Wonderful Whales program is free, all-ages, and requires no registration.
Each stop opens with a 20-minute interactive presentation on why whales matter to ocean health, their cultural significance to Indigenous nations, and the threats they face from noise pollution, overfishing, and vessel strikes.
Families can then visit artifact stations, hold a real whalebone, and put questions to Ocean Wise educators.
Four Langley-area branches are on the schedule: City of Langley Library on Aug. 4, Muriel Arnason Library at Willowbrook that afternoon, Fort Langley Library on Aug. 6, and Murrayville Library later that day.
It is worth noting that Ocean Wise's separate seafood recommendation program has drawn scrutiny from the conservation partnership SeaChoice, which has flagged misleading use of the Ocean Wise label by corporate partners tied to open-net Atlantic salmon farming, a practice that poses documented risks to the same Pacific coast whale populations the tour highlights.
UBC study confirms clear-cut logging worsens flood risk in B.C.
New UBC research conducted near Summerland has found clear evidence that clear-cut logging significantly increases downstream flood risk, adding to a growing body of science that industry and provincial regulators have been slow to act on.
Researchers documented how the removal of mature forest cover alters snowmelt patterns and runoff, sending more water downstream faster during peak flow periods.
The findings have direct implications for Fraser Valley communities, including Langley, that sit downstream of logged watersheds and face escalating flood exposure.
Environmental groups have long argued that industrial logging practices are being subsidized by the public through disaster recovery costs, a pattern this study helps quantify.
The wildfire alert apps every B.C. traveller should have
B.C. has no single emergency alert system for wildfires, and knowing which app your community uses can make the difference in an evacuation.
The national Alert Ready system can push notifications to phones, radios, and TVs, but it has been used for only three wildfire events so far this season and requires local governments to formally request activation.
Most municipalities instead rely on one of three systems: Alertable, Voyent Alert!, or Connect Rocket.
Alertable is the most widely used and covers Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and much of the Interior, with location tracking that makes it especially useful for travellers.
Voyent Alert! is common in the Interior and on Vancouver Island but requires manual location entry and mixes emergency alerts with routine municipal notices.
Connect Rocket, used in places like Prince George and the Comox Valley, sends texts, calls, or emails rather than app notifications, and users must register for each community separately.
The BC Wildfire Service app does not send alerts but offers a live provincial fire map and is a useful companion tool for anyone travelling or living near fire-prone areas this summer.
Vancouver Giants acquire Derek Thurston from Saskatoon
The Vancouver Giants have acquired 20-year-old defenceman Derek Thurston from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2027 WHL Draft.
Thurston, a Delta native, brings 131 games of regular-season WHL experience, with 26 points and a plus-11 rating over his career.
He posted a career-best 22 points in 67 games during the 2024-25 season with Saskatoon.
Head Coach and General Manager Michael Dyck said the 6-foot-1 blueliner adds presence and experience to the Giants' defence corps.
Thurston is a product of Delta Hockey Academy, where he won a U17 Prep championship in 2022 and was named CSSHL U16 Top Defenceman.
He will reunite with current Giants forward Jakob Oreskovic, a former DHA teammate.
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