Welfare Gave Parents Money on Wednesday for Back-to-School Supplies

Wednesday, July 23rd was welfare day. But this month's welfare cheque included a bonus to buy children back to school supplies. Here was how the government explained it in an insert with the cheque:

"This cheque includes the school start-up supplement. This supplement is $84 for each child aged 5-11 years and $116 for each child aged 12-18 years."

Why was the back to school supplement was dispersed so early? It could have been included with the next welfare cheque which will be issued on August 27th. This being a five-week welfare month -- most welfare months are four weeks long -- people will be tempted to dip into their back to school money just to get through the month.

The government also announced in the insert with the cheques that they have yet again changed the name of the ministry which hands out welfare cheques. It is now the Ministry of Housing and Social Development.

Firemen Return on Saturday to Site of Thursday Night's Fire at Homeless Man's "Home"

On Saturday night, four fire trucks returned to the site of Thursday night's fire at a homeless man's home. As I arrived, the last fire truck was leaving.

Firemen Douse Flames in Homeless Man's "Home"

A spot where a homeless man was living in an alley off Main St. between National and Prior Streets -- just north of the Pacific Central train and bus station -- went up in flames Thursday night around 10 p.m. "A homeless man and his girlfriend got into a fight and she came back and set his place on fire", explained a man standing behind the boarded up American Hotel next door watching the firemen.

Five fire trucks (one pictured above), a white van marked "Fire Investigation", an ambulance and at least three police cars arrived in the alley. A pedestrian said the smoke was about 50 feet in the air before the firemen hosed the site down. "The firemen had it out in no time", he said.

A dark-haired, forty-something, mustached man of Middle Eastern descent stood in front of the nearby T-Rex corner store on Main St. -- Muslims run that store -- talking to two other men as they looked in the direction of the smoke. "I hope some bums died," he said. "I hope all those bums died."


Remains of homeless man's place after firemen hosed it down.

Fire Inspector examines scene of fire. A charred post from the fire can be seen in foreground.

Firemen chat after Inspector finishes up.

Firemen chat in the alley.

Firemen Return on Saturday to Site of Fire

More Theft of Service on Ethel Whitty's Watch

On Thursday afternoon, Carnegie closed the third floor computer room leaving scores of Downtown Eastsiders without public computers. Carnegie is funded to keep that service open and has staff on the payroll to ensure it is kept open.

Why was the computer room closed for at least four hours in the middle of a work day? Ethel Whitty's office is just metres from that computer room and she passes it when walking to the washroom. Ask her why it was closed?

Firemen Climb onto Roof of Best Pizza to put out Fire

It's the second time it's happened. Late Monday afternoon, something on fire was thrown from the Balmoral Hotel at 159 Hastings onto the roof of Best Pizza next door at 151 Hastings. It was a sweltering sunny day. Four fire trucks and an ambulance arrived.

Three firemen climbed onto the roof of the pizza joint. A fireman later told two Vancouver Police constables -- police arrived after the firemen had finished their work -- that there was lots of trash and needles on the roof.

After the fire risk was over, a Muslim man -- one resident says he thinks the guy is Kurdish -- who runs Best Pizza, made a point of walking up to one of the firemen to thank the fire crew for coming.

Lots of Downtown Eastsiders buy pizza slices at Best Pizza -- they sell for about $1.25. A few customers claim to have been short changed there though, and one fellow says he found a couple of worthless foreign coins in his change.

Skip Everall Hit on his Bike

Have you wondered why Skip Everall, Security Co-ordinator at Carnegie Center, hasn't been at work since his day off on Canada Day? He was hit by a car while riding his bike on the afternoon of Wed. July 2. But he wasn't seriously injured and will return.

Here's a tip for ICBC. Don't believe a word Everall says.

Everall has been caught lying in a barring case of a female Carnegie member from the Seniors Lounge for standing up to the notoriously abusive coffee seller, Devor, who has been yelling at her for ten years. The Enquirer will be reporting on this issue later. This woman, who was sitting on the Carnegie patio sipping green tea when she learned that Everall had been banged by a car, said, "I wanna talk to ICBC....They should look at his history of lying."

In addition to this woman's barring, Everall has become notorious for personally supervising the barring on fraudulent pretenses of William Simpson from the Carneige Learning Center by Co-ordinator Lucy Alderson. Everall demonstrated that he was not a man of integrity when he refused to provide Simpson with the reasons for the barring in writing.

The woman sitting on the outdoor patio at Carnegie today -- that would be the woman mentioned above who was barred from the Seniors -- was wondering out loud if Everall had been wearing a helmet when he got hit. She saw Skip on the day she was barred (he had evaded telling her she was barred but she suspected something was up); he was talking to Carnegie receptionist Dan Feeney on Main St. and when he saw her, she recalls, he averted his eyes and took off on his bike, going west on Pender. "I noticed he wasn't wearing a helmet."

She said repeatedly between sips of tea that ICBC should not accept statements by Everall or give him a pay out without first examining his history of lying.