Dealing Better with Mental Illness will reduce Crime, Local Author wins Les-bi-gay Book Award: VancouverIAM

This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from VancouverIAM where you will find the best blogs from Vancouver, BC as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Almost Half of VPD Time is Spent on Dealing with the Mentally Ill

Vancouver City Councillor Peter Ladner reports on a study by the Vancouver Police Department that reveals “30-50% of their time is spent dealing with people suffering from mental illness.” Ladner believes that “with some better institutional treatment for the mentally ill, we could escape the tragic stat that 40% of the drug addicts in Vancouver are mentally ill, and 100% of the mentally ill in the Downtown East side are addicted.”

It’s not widely celebrated that recent “strategic thinking” by the VPD “is having a positive effect on crime rates.” If you look at stats from the Police Services branch of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, “Vancouver's crime rate has dropped by 40% over the past decade… and we are now at one of the lowest points in recent memory.” Ladner states in his post that “this improvement is comparable to the reductions in the New York City crime rate which have been heralded internationally.”

Vancouver Author Wins ALA Stonewall Honor Book Award

Commercial Drive Live sends kudos to Vancouver literary artist Ivan E. Coyote, whose book Bow Grip recently won the ALA Stonewall Honor Book Award, “the first and most enduring award for lesbigay books. The award is “sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table.” Isabel Miller's Patience and Sarah received the first award in 1971. Since then, “a total of forty-eight books have been honored for exceptional merit relating to the gay / lesbian / bisexual / transgendered experience.”

The post calls Ivan E. Coyote “one of North America’s most beguiling storytellers.” Coyote is the author of three story collections, including Loose End, “which was shortlisted for the Ferro-Grumley Award for Fiction in 2006.” Bow Grip, published by Arsenal Pulp Press, is Coyote’s first novel. It is “is a breathtaking story about love and loneliness.” The plot takes the form of a “good-hearted, small-town mechanic” who “struggles to deal with a wife who has left him for another woman until a used cello and an acquaintance’s suicide attempt compel him to make some changes in his life.”

Romantic Dining at its Best on Grouse Mountain

Ben of Chow Times reviews what he considers to be “the best” of all Dine Out Vancouver restaurants that he’s booked: The Observatory on Grouse Mounain. There is a $35 prix-fixe dinne, which includes “the Sky Ride gondola ride up the Grouse Mountain and a show too.” Apparently, the price also includes “a sleigh ride and skating on the pond.” To ride up Grouse is actually $27, so “this $35 dinner is simply best value for money.” The Sky Ride travels every 15 minutes and only takes minutes to get up to the chalet.

Ben writes in his post that the view from the top is “stunning at night” and “is what makes Vancouver so beautiful.” The Observatory, Grouse’s fine dining restaurant, is located at 3,700 ft. The dress code is “business casual” and the service is “impeccable.” And while it was freezing cold outside, it was “warm and cozy” inside. “The place is unbelievably quiet and not surprising because of the romantic setting.” About half the tables have views, which is why many people want to dine there. It has an extensive wine “book” of 24 pages long. The price of the dinner, $100 “was worth every cent,” although one could spend over $1,000 on one bottle of wine. “We highly recommend The Observatory on Grouse, especially for those of you who wanted to have a special, quiet, romantic moment.”

West End Residents Host Forum on Burrard Bridge Expansion

Blogging for WERA, the West End Resident Association, Brent reminds us that WERA is “hosting a public forum on the Burrard Bridge” issue on Thursday February 21 in the Fletcher Challenge Room at SFU. The city is “proposing to widen the Burrard Bridge to accommodate single occupancy vehicles.” Currently, the conditions are “unsafe and uncomfortable for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit.” These growing numbers of people must be “accommodated and encouraged” in order for Vancouver to Eco-Densify and “to mitigate impacts from Climate Change and Peak Oil.”

According to Brent, the forum will host a panel “that will speak to the various perspectives of this project including heritage, the business community, cyclists and sustainable transportation.” There will also be a public “question and answer period.”

More information on the issue and the form may be found in the post.

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VancouverIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit VancouverIAM.com.