We have been taking a look back at the headlines that shaped the Royal City in 2011. Our Year in Review began Dec. 28 and continued Dec. 30. Starting below, here is the third and final instalment of our look back at 2011:
SEPTEMBER
Forty female hockey players beat the Guinness World Record for playing the longest hockey game in the world. The marathon game, which raised funds for cystic fibrosis, was played in the name of Eva Markvoort. The New Westminster resident had been chosen as the spokesperson for the fundraising campaign but died a few months later at the age of 25.
Education Minister George Abbott visits New Westminster, where he sees the district's new modular classrooms and meets with the district parents' advisory council to discuss concerns such as when the city's new schools will be built.
A grey Audi is spotted leaving the boardwalk and entering the road, after several people reported someone driving on the Westminster Quay boardwalk. A Vancouver man is charged with impaired driving.
The Royal City Farmers Market is teaming up with River Market to bring farmers' market goodness to the Quay. The farmers market will move its winter market, which runs from November to April, to River Market.
New Westminster Youth Centre celebrates the one-year anniversary of opening in Moody Park. While it thought it might be able to get 500 members in its first year, membership had surpassed 700.
New Westminster families are among those who protest cutbacks to programs for people with developmental disabilities.
George Ryan celebrates a life in music with a retrospective concert of the works he's done throughout his career, including those from Holy Trinity Cathedral.
A month after corralling a 1.22-metrelong corn snake into a box in Queen's Park, someone hands parks staff a box containing a 38-centimetre ball python that they said they'd found in the park. Both snakes are turned over to the Reptile Rescue Adoption and Education Society.
The School District No. 40 Business Company climbs out of the red and expects to finish off repaying its $1 million loan from the school district in 2012.
The City of New Westminster breaks ground for its new multi-use civic centre, which will be built at the corner of Columbia and Eighth streets. The $35million civic centre is scheduled to open in 2013.
MP Peter Julian decides against running for the leadership of the federal New Democrats, after mulling over the prospect for several weeks. A leadership race will take place to replace Jack Layton, who died of cancer in August.
Auditor General John Doyle visits with New Westminster school trustees, but few details are known about his private meeting with school district officials. The auditor general's office had been reviewing the governance and financial management processes at the school district, the Royal City Education Foundation and the School District Business Company.
New Westminster School District will be reporting a deficit to the Ministry of Education for the second time in three years. The deficit is attributed to three major factors that occurred late in the school year and had financial implications for the district, including costs associated with class size legislation, unanticipated teacher sick days and teacheron-call costs.
OCTOBER
Royal Columbian Hospital is taking a new approach to organ donation to help lower the number of people who die while waiting for a transplant. It's among three hospitals that will bring an organ donation coordinator on board.
New Westminster police seek the public's help after a man is stabbed downtown. Police had attended a large gathering in the area of Columbia and Church streets when they were alerted to the stabbing that took place early on a Saturday morning.
Union Gospel Mission dishes out 283 turkey dinners at its Thanksgiving dinner. The meal is the kickoff event for Homelessness Action Week.
New Westminster resident JJ Lee is named as a finalist in the Governor General's Literary Awards, which recognize Canada's best work in English and French. He's one of five finalists in the non-fiction, English category for his book, The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son and a Suit.
Brent Atkinson announces he won't be seeking re-election in November's civic election after 31 years as a trustee. He said the past three years haven't been as personally rewarding as in the past because of conflicts at the board level, so he'd rather concentrate on some of his business and family commitments.
Former city councillor and MLA Chuck Puchmayr announces he'll be making a run for city council. Puchmayr had served as MLA until 2009, when he left politics, underwent a lifesaving liver transplant and focused on his health.
Douglas College sets a new enrolment record for the second year in a row. More than half of the college's students attend the Royal Avenue campus.
Former residents of Woodlands school celebrate the demolition of the Centre Block tower, a place that holds horrific memories of abuse for some former residents.
Activist Paul Mulangu launches a hunger strike and protest outside the now-closed Centre for Integration of African Immigrants on Carnarvon Street - at the same time he announces he's running for city council.
He's protesting what he says is government abandonment of his non-profit and unfairly being kicked out of the rented space.
New Westminster Public Library closes for a day after bedbugs are discovered in its collection. A live bedbug and several dead ones were found at the library, which was then visited by a bedbug-sniffing dog and treated for bedbugs.
A man is shot multiple times outside the Victoria Hill development on Halloween night in what is being described by police as a targeted attack.
NOVEMBER
Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse opens its first store in British Columbia in Queensborough. The retailer sets up shop on the site that was formerly home to Western Forest Products mill and is next to Starlight Casino.
The Columbia Theatre is ready for its debut - 84 years after the curtains first went up at the theatre - when it reopens after a massive renovation.
New Westminster MLA Dawn Black and MPs Peter Julian and Fin Donnelly are quite open about which candidates they'll be supporting in the civic election as evidenced by the recorded messages and brochures published that indicate they'll be supporting local labour candidates.
Rhoda Kaellis Residence holds its grand opening. Located at the former Garfield Hotel site, the facility will be run by the Lookout Emergency Aid Society and will provide 24 units of supportive housing for men with a history of homelessness, mental health issues and substance abuse.
Wayne Wright is re-elected to his fourth term as New Westminster's mayor, beating out three challengers seeking his seat. His win came after he got 62 per cent of support from voters.
Former city councillor and MLA Chuck Puchmayr is re-elected to city council, and longtime councillor Bob Osterman loses the seat he's held for 15 years. Incumbents Jonathan Cote, Bill Harper, Jaimie McEvoy, Betty McIntosh and Lorrie Williams retain their seats.
Newcomers Jonina Campbell and David Phelan top the polls in the school board elections. Also elected are newcomer MaryAnn Mortensen and incumbents Casey Cook, Michael Ewen, Lisa Graham and James Janzen, while incumbent Jim Goring is unsuccessful in his bid for re-election.
The New Westminster Animal Shelter puts down all of the cats in its care after they contract a highly infectious feline virus. All of the shelter's 26 cats tested positive for the virus; one died of the virus and the rest were euthanized.
Organizers of the Sinterklaas Festival cancel the longtime event after concerns are raised that Zwarte Piet is racist. While organizers had originally planned to hold the Sinterklaas festival without Black Peter in his usual form, they couldn't find something that would work for everyone and cancelled this year's festival.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in New Westminster. While in Vancouver for the Grey Cup, Harper enjoys a private tour of the facility during his downtime.
DECEMBER
Two men face more than 40 charges after an alleged spree of auto break-ins at nine apartment complexes around the city.
Police allege that the suspects stole valuables in many of the cars and also intended to steal some of the vehicles.
New Westminster school trustees discover they may have only one trustee who isn't in a potential conflict of interest with the B.C. Public School Employers' Association. MaryAnn Mortensen is the only trustee without a clear conflict of interest for the elected positions, and she hasn't accepted the position because she's not sure what the position entails, as she's a new trustee.
A man is charged with sexual assault after a woman awaiting treatment in the emergency department of Royal Columbian hospital is assaulted. The man was kissing the woman and after she worked up the courage to tell him to stop, he left the room and she called for a nurse. Hospital staff restrained the man until police arrived.
New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Fin Donnelly introduces a private member's bill that seeks to ban the import of shark fins into Canada.
New Westminster ranks 15th on Maclean's magazine's most dangerous cities in Canada list. The ranking takes into account crime severity percentage as compared to the Canadian average, a violent crime ranking and a non-violent crime ranking to come up with an overall ranking.
A New Westminster family is touched by the outpouring of support after their Moody Park area home is damaged in a fire.
JULY:
Royal City Youth Soccer Club left the 5District Westminster district for the 4District league.
Casey Cook became the new commissioner of the Western Lacrosse Association, taking over the reigns from outgoing commish Ernie Truant.
Kamila Rogic-McLeand and Jamie Wandell were named New Westminster Secondary's female and male athletes of the year.
Dante St. Prix placed third at the Canadian junior national judo championships.
B.C. finished third at the under-18 Football Canada Cup in Lethbridge, Alta.
New Westminster won the A1 bronze medal at the B.C. bantam lacrosse championships.
Monica Podgorski was named The Record high school athlete of the year.
Laurette Ticong shared in an u-15 girls' basketball title at Basketball B.C.'s 3-on-3 tournament in Richmond.
New Westminster intermediate boys won a fourth career A1 minor lacrosse title with a 16-4 win over Coquitlam.
Simon Fraser University co-head men's field lacrosse coach, Jef Cathrea, resigned from his post.
Hyack club swimmer Sherry Liu qualified for the Pan American Games after a secondplace finish in women's 800-metre freestyle at Canadian summer nationals.
B.C. midget and bantam girls' lacrosse teams both won silver medals at the Canadian championships in New Westminster.
AUGUST:
B.C. earned silver medal at the Canadian bantam boys' lacrosse championships. The midget and peewee boys' teams both took bronze.
Matthew Buchanan and Hayden Goss received Burnaby Mountain Selects scholar athlete awards.
The New Westminster Salmonbellies lost the Western Lacrosse Association best-of-seven playoff in six games to the Langley Thunder.
Jackson Schaefer was named to Canada's under-17 national water polo team for the Pan American championships. Canada wound up in fifth place.
Tyler Richards was named the top goalie in the Western Lacrosse Association. Salmonbellies teammates Ian Hawksbee and Curtis Manning were named along with Richards to the first team.
Katrina Heinonen garnered four Division 6 gold medals, including a provincial record in the 50-metre butterfly, at the B.C. Summer Swimming Championships.
SEPTEMBER:
B.C. defeated six-time champion Team Ontario for the first time ever, winning the Alumni Cup 11-10 at the field lacrosse nationals in Burnaby.
BCIT student Patrick Switzer won an unprecedented fourth downhill skateboard World Cup race in Calgary.
Sapperton Rovers and Vancouver United affiliated in a Vancouver Metro Soccer League development. The club will be known as Rovers United.
The New Westminster Hyacks held onto the Kushnir Boot, beating South Delta 16-13 in high school varsity AAA football.
Douglas College volleyball player Rex Fenton won a gold medal at the Canadian under-21 national beach volleyball championships.
The Burnaby Velodrome Club postponed the Burnaby 4Days track event until 2012.
Kevin Crowley was made the No. 1 pick in the National Lacrosse League by the Philadelphia Wings.
Matthew van der Eyden was named to the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps FC under-17 residency soccer program.
OCTOBER:
Kevin Martin won a sixth Westcoast Curling Classic with a 5-2 win over Mike McEwen at the Royal City club.
Mixed badminton pair Melody Liang of Douglas College and partner Jon Vandervet won the B.C. Open.
Kyle Turris was reported to have asked the Phoenix Coyotes for a trade.
Goalie Frankie Scigliano signed a one-year pro contract with the National Lacrosse League Calgary Roughnecks.
The New Westminster Minor Lacrosse Association was named the association of the year at the B.C. Lacrosse Association annual general meeting in Whistler.
The Royal City Hyacks finished the junior bantam community football season with a perfect 9-0 record.
NOVEMBER:
Master's Taekwondo martial artist Tumai Baptiste won a gold medal at the B.C. Master's Cup in the featherweight division. Rowena Lau won gold at finweight.
Kyle Madden was named the B.C. high school football AAA Eastern conference defensive MVP for a second consecutive year.
Emily Weeks placed third in the 20-to-24 female age class at the International Triathlon Union world championships.
More Year in Review in Friday, January 6 Record
