We know that COVID-19 continued to dominate most of our lives again in 2021.
But we didn’t want to remind you, so here’s a little resume of all the other news that made the headlines during the year:
Deadly three days
2021 kicked off in deadly fashion in Richmond when two men were shot dead just three days apart.
The men were the latest victims in a series of gang-related shootings that occurred across Metro Vancouver.
Shots were heard in Steveston Community Park near Garry Street and Fentiman Place on the evening of Jan. 7 and officers arrived to find 29-year-old Anees Mohammed, a Vancouver resident — with gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital but later died of his injuries.
Just three days later, shots were fired again in Richmond — this time in City Centre, where Dilraj Johal, who was in his 20s, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a condo near Lansdowne and No. 3 roads. He, too, later died of his injuries in hospital.
Both men were known to police and their shootings are believed to be targeted.
Animal charity feud
In March, a public feud surfaced between a Richmond-based animal charity and a pet owner — which started with a fundraiser to save a sick dog’s life.
It centred around a RAPS Animal Hospital fundraiser to help pay for a $10,000 operation for Robyn Wilson’s sick dog Rhoda.
Wilson claimed she’d made repeated attempts to find out how much money had been raised for Rhoda, only to be told by RAPS that the campaign “wasn’t going well.”
She began to question RAPS, via an email trail which she shared with the Richmond News, on how much had been raised.
RAPS’ CEO, Eyal Lichtmann, vehemently denied Wilson had been kept in the dark over the fundraiser’s running total and dismissed her as being “distraught.”
Wilson eventually got her dog treated for its heart condition at a different hospital.
Anti-racism rally
March also saw some Richmondites taking to the streets of Vancouver to help protest the deadly mass shootings in Atlanta, U.S. and increased violence against Asians in the past year.
Jessica Yan and James Wu made protest signs to attend the “Stop Asian Hate” rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza.
The rally was in reaction to a deadly shooting in Atlanta, where a White gunman shot and killed eight people, including six Asian-American women at three massage parlours.
Hobbs wins seat on city council
May saw a Richmond city council by-election, which was sparked after former councillor Kelly Greene successfully ran as an MLA for the NDP in the provincial election.
Ten candidates vied for the vacant seat, which was eventually won by former police officer Andy Hobbs.
Bhullar lifts MMA world title
May also saw Richmond honour its new MMA world champion, in the shape of former Olympic wrestler Arjan Bhullar.
Bhullar won the heavyweight world title belt in Singapore at the ONE Championship fight.
The Richmond native had to keep his big news secret though from people outside his inner circle, as the fight was pre-recorded and he had signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) not to tell a soul.
Dunfee snatches bronze
In August, Richmond’s own Evan Dunfee became a local hero when he stretched every sinew in his body to rally from a distant fourth place in the 50K race walk at the Tokyo Olympics.
In the shadow of the finishing line, Dunfee snatched the bronze medal that he was so cruelly robbed of at the Rio Games in 2016.
Richmond flips to red
In September, a snap federal election saw both of Richmond’s Conservative ridings flip to red.
The Liberals’ Parm Bains ousted one-term Tory MP Kenny Chiu in Steveston-Richmond East, while rookie Liberal Wilson Miao unseated 73-year-old veteran Alice Wong, who had won four previous elections.
Oh my gourd!
In October, Richmond resident Dave Chan achieved a lifetime dream when his massive pumpkin weighed in at 1,911 pounds, smashing the B.C. record by 368 pounds.
His previous best was a mere 1,379 and he beat the competition by a whopping 800 or so pounds to record his giant as the 25th largest in the world.
Dark day on the roads
November saw one of Richmond’s darkest days on the road, when two people died inside 24 hours.
A horrific crash at Westminster Highway and No. 4 Road saw a blue Kenworth truck carrying fish colliding with a white BMW sedan. One person was pronounced dead at the scene and three others were taken to hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries.
The other accident at Alderbridge Way and No. 3 Road involved a grey SUV colliding with a school bus. The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene, while the school bus driver was apparently uninjured.
Fortunately, there were no children on board the bus at the time.
