Paul Henderson

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Former Main Street Church executive pastor John Vermeer was convicted of two counts each of accessing and possessing child pornography on April 30, 2021. Judge Andrea Ormiston sentenced him to 14 months jail followed by 18 months probation on Oct. 13, 2021. (File)

Chilliwack church pastor sentenced to 14 months jail in child porn case

‘Mr. Vermeer possessed some of the most offensive, harmful and depraved forms of abuse on children’: judge

Former Main Street Church executive pastor John Vermeer was convicted of two counts each of accessing and possessing child pornography on April 30, 2021. Judge Andrea Ormiston sentenced him to 14 months jail followed by 18 months probation on Oct. 13, 2021. (File)
The new Abbotsford Law Courts. (John Morrow/ Abbotsford News file)

Drugs, guns found after driver makes legal U-turn in Chilliwack not admissable, judge rules

Officer who thought all U-turns are illegal pursued driver leading to several charter breaches

The new Abbotsford Law Courts. (John Morrow/ Abbotsford News file)
Teresa Hedekar by the front door of her Chilliwack home on Oct. 4, 2021, a door that was busted down by RCMP Emergency Response Team officers on April 13, 2021 looking for a suspect hiding in her basement suite. Hedekar is out hundreds of dollars because the RCMP refuse to pay for the damage. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

When the B.C. RCMP bust down your door, who pays for it?

A Chilliwack woman learned the hard way that even as an innocent homeowner she’s on the hook

Teresa Hedekar by the front door of her Chilliwack home on Oct. 4, 2021, a door that was busted down by RCMP Emergency Response Team officers on April 13, 2021 looking for a suspect hiding in her basement suite. Hedekar is out hundreds of dollars because the RCMP refuse to pay for the damage. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
Screenshot of Pastor James Butler giving a sermon at Free Grace Baptist Church in Chilliwack on Nov. 22, 2020. Butler is one of three Chilliwack pastors facing violation tickets between them for holding services in violation of public health orders, tickets they are fighting in court. (YouTube)

Trial dates set for 3 Chilliwack pastors accused of violating public health orders

Fines of $2,300 each were issued for holding church services in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions

Screenshot of Pastor James Butler giving a sermon at Free Grace Baptist Church in Chilliwack on Nov. 22, 2020. Butler is one of three Chilliwack pastors facing violation tickets between them for holding services in violation of public health orders, tickets they are fighting in court. (YouTube)
Still from a video of workers loading birds into crates at an Abbotsford egg farm on July 15, 2020, according to Janice Soranno who provided the video to the media. (Vimeo)

B.C. chicken-catching company pleads guilty to animal abuse

Whether charges will be dropped against Ontario-based Sofina still uncertain

Still from a video of workers loading birds into crates at an Abbotsford egg farm on July 15, 2020, according to Janice Soranno who provided the video to the media. (Vimeo)
Anti-vaxxer protesters harassing visitors to a Chilliwack brewery on Sept. 23, 2021 where the NDP government caucus had a meeting. (Submitted)

Anti-vaccine protesters harass visitors outside Chilliwack brewery hosting NDP event

Location targeted as the location of a provincial NDP caucus event, innocent customers mocked

Anti-vaxxer protesters harassing visitors to a Chilliwack brewery on Sept. 23, 2021 where the NDP government caucus had a meeting. (Submitted)
Chilliwack RCMP officers at the scene of a report of shots fired at Wellington Avenue and Main Street shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2021. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

UPDATE: RCMP Emergency Response Team respond to shots fired in downtown Chilliwack

One man in custody after ERT officers broke in to the room where a suspect was hiding

Chilliwack RCMP officers at the scene of a report of shots fired at Wellington Avenue and Main Street shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2021. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
Allison, Tyler and six-year-old Samantha Donovan at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver in 2016. (Submitted)

How Cops for Cancer helped one B.C. family’s childhood cancer journey

Samantha Donovan’s family was able to stay together during her treatment thanks to the charity

Allison, Tyler and six-year-old Samantha Donovan at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver in 2016. (Submitted)
Chilliwack General Hospital emergency room physician Dr. Marc Greidanus (left) with a sign that says “We Need Nurses” on the front and “STAT” on the back, at a rally to support nurses in front of Chilliwack MLA Dan Coulter’s constituency office on Sept. 17, 2021. (Margaret Reid photo)

Chilliwack ER doctor says hospitals face a staffing crisis in nursing

‘A nurse showing up to work today is often expected to do the work of 2 people’

Chilliwack General Hospital emergency room physician Dr. Marc Greidanus (left) with a sign that says “We Need Nurses” on the front and “STAT” on the back, at a rally to support nurses in front of Chilliwack MLA Dan Coulter’s constituency office on Sept. 17, 2021. (Margaret Reid photo)
Former B.C. attorney general and MLA Barry Penner said on Aug. 26, 2021 that if Dr. Bonnie Henry won’t mandate vaccinations for teachers, the Chilliwack Board of Education should. He is seen here outside Cheam elementary in Chilliwack on Aug. 27, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

Former B.C. attorney general Barry Penner wants to see mandatory vaccinations for teachers

Father of 2 school kids, Penner says the province won’t order it so the Chilliwack school board should

Former B.C. attorney general and MLA Barry Penner said on Aug. 26, 2021 that if Dr. Bonnie Henry won’t mandate vaccinations for teachers, the Chilliwack Board of Education should. He is seen here outside Cheam elementary in Chilliwack on Aug. 27, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
Former Chilliwack Giants volunteer treasurer Josh Cahoon pleaded guilty to fraud on June 29, 2021 for stealing $29,000 from the Chilliwack Giants youth football organization. (Facebook)

Fraser Valley youth football volunteer pleads guilty to fraud for stealing $29,000

Josh Cahoon stole from Chilliwack Giants while acting as treasurer

Former Chilliwack Giants volunteer treasurer Josh Cahoon pleaded guilty to fraud on June 29, 2021 for stealing $29,000 from the Chilliwack Giants youth football organization. (Facebook)
Bonnie Ball of Chilliwack, pictured her with her dog Trudy on July 26, 2021, was the victim of a telephone fraud costing her $44,000. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

Telephone fraudster tricks Fraser Valley senior out of $44,000

Convinced by scammer her grandson was arrested and needed bail money

Bonnie Ball of Chilliwack, pictured her with her dog Trudy on July 26, 2021, was the victim of a telephone fraud costing her $44,000. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
This chicken barn in Rosedale in Chilliwack burned to the ground in under an hour on July 27, 2021. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

UPDATE: Chickens killed in large barn fire on Chilliwack property; 2nd blaze since 2020

Firefighters couldn’t save anything as barn burned to the ground in under an hour

This chicken barn in Rosedale in Chilliwack burned to the ground in under an hour on July 27, 2021. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
A Chilliwack man has filed a lawsuit against Archbishop J. Michael Miller and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for sexual abuse and assault he alleges he suffered at a Bible camp on Gambier Island in the 1970s. (Archbishop J. Michael Miller/Facebook)

B.C. man sues Vancouver Catholicarchbishop for alleged sexual abuse in 1970s

Sexual abuse alleged to have occurred at Bible camp on Gambier Island

A Chilliwack man has filed a lawsuit against Archbishop J. Michael Miller and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for sexual abuse and assault he alleges he suffered at a Bible camp on Gambier Island in the 1970s. (Archbishop J. Michael Miller/Facebook)
Kasey Johnny, pictured here in Boothroyd on July 1, 2021, has many friends and family in Lytton she said she hadn’t heard from after the devastating fire that destroyed much of the town on June 30, 2021. (Jessica Peters/ Chilliwack Progress)

‘I’m leaving all this behind’: Lytton resident recounts escaping home amid wildfire

Fraser Canyon residents share stories of scrambling to get away with no word on family and friends

Kasey Johnny, pictured here in Boothroyd on July 1, 2021, has many friends and family in Lytton she said she hadn’t heard from after the devastating fire that destroyed much of the town on June 30, 2021. (Jessica Peters/ Chilliwack Progress)
Steven Gauthier was convicted in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster on Feb. 5, 2020 of aggravated sexual assault for having sex with a woman while HIV positive and not informing her of his infection. He was sentenced to four years in prison on June 25, 2021. (Facebook)

4-year sentence for Chilliwack man who failed to disclose HIV status to sexual partner

Steven Gauthier convicted of aggravated sexual assault in BC Supreme Court

Steven Gauthier was convicted in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster on Feb. 5, 2020 of aggravated sexual assault for having sex with a woman while HIV positive and not informing her of his infection. He was sentenced to four years in prison on June 25, 2021. (Facebook)
RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team officers on the Soowahlie reserve near Cultus Lake on Nov. 1, 2019 where the body of 26-year-old Jordan Christopher Smyth was found. As of this week, charged with one count each of murder is David Allen Geoghegan and Darius Calvin Ray Commodore. (Paul Henderson/ Progress file)

Murder charges laid in connection with Halloween homicide near Cultus Lake

Prolific offenders Darius Commodore and David Geoghegan charged with killing Jordan Smyth in 2019

RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team officers on the Soowahlie reserve near Cultus Lake on Nov. 1, 2019 where the body of 26-year-old Jordan Christopher Smyth was found. As of this week, charged with one count each of murder is David Allen Geoghegan and Darius Calvin Ray Commodore. (Paul Henderson/ Progress file)
The merganser sculpture with head missing at the entrance of Cultus Lake Provincial Park on June 23, 2021. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

Solving the mystery of the headless Cultus Lake Provincial Park duck statue

No it’s not a loon, and no it wasn’t stolen

The merganser sculpture with head missing at the entrance of Cultus Lake Provincial Park on June 23, 2021. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
The Eleven Mile Creek fire southeast of Hope was visible from Highway 3 on June 22, 2021. (BC Wildfire Service photo)

UPDATE: ‘Out of control’ fire at Eleven Mile Creek near Hope up to 35 hectares

52 firefighters, 4 helicopters and 1 water tender assigned to the blaze 13 kilometres from Hope

The Eleven Mile Creek fire southeast of Hope was visible from Highway 3 on June 22, 2021. (BC Wildfire Service photo)
Chilliwack secondary school’s principal is apologizing after a quote equating graduation with the end of slavery in the U.S. was included in the 2020-2021 yearbook. (Screenshot from submitted SnapChat)

B.C. student’s yearbook quote equates grad to end of slavery; principal cites editing error

Black former student ‘disgusted’ as CSS principal apologizes for what is called an editing error

Chilliwack secondary school’s principal is apologizing after a quote equating graduation with the end of slavery in the U.S. was included in the 2020-2021 yearbook. (Screenshot from submitted SnapChat)