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One spring night in 1989, a few teenage buddies were cruising around downtown Vancouver in a yellow 1980 Mustang, listening to Judas Priest, cranked up real loud.

Two of the friends out that night, Kenny and Glen, had attended elementary school together in Vancouver and recently graduated from high school together. They didn’t know at the time they’d find themselves 29 years later as political opponents.

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Looking back after almost three decades, the former friends disagree on whether Glen Chernen was in the car driven by Ken Sim when it was pulled over by police.

But what happened on Pender Street the night of April 2, 1989 — and later that year in provincial court — is probably less relevant to next month’s Vancouver election than what happened recently when a decades-old driving infraction was dragged up.

The story adds to a debate that’s continued through this election campaign about what parts of a candidates’ history are relevant to a public discussion of their ability to hold office. It also underscores how Vancouver, in some ways, still seems like a small town where everyone’s connected.