PQBeat: A discussion with MAC executive director Jennifer Bate

Jennifer Bate, executive director of the McMillan Arts Centre in Parksville. (Peter McCully photo)
Podcast: Talk includes upcoming exhibitions and events at McMillan Arts Centre (MAC) in Parksville
Randy Bachman on stage at Vancouver Island Musicfest. (Facebook photo)

PODCAST: Randy Bachman, every song, every guitar has a story
The signal says walk, but piles of icy snow say otherwise at the corner of Blanshard and Broughton in Victoria after a December 2022 snowfall. (Black Press Media file photo)

‘No access’: B.C. residents with disabilities keep cautious eye on snowy forecasts
High praise: Awards salute the best of the best cannabis brands + marketing

High praise: Awards salute the best of the best cannabis brands + marketing
Knowledge is power: New guidebooks map accessible PNW trails

Knowledge is power: New guidebooks map accessible PNW trails

File Photo.

Integrated Major Crime Unit investigates homicide on Quadra Island
Parents of two-year-old Gracie Ackley said her condition steadily worsened while they spent hours waiting for assistance at the Langley Memorial Hospital ER on Jan. 26. (Ackley family - used with permission)

Parents say they waited hours for help at B.C. ER while their daughter’s condition worsened
A B.C. woman who had to have her heart replaced is sharing her story to draw attention to the impact heart disease has on women in Canada. In this file photo a surgery is performed in the operating room in Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children on November 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

B.C. woman whose heart stopped at 19 looks to spread awareness to others
Ensuring Indigenous patients have access to cancer care, and feel safe when accessing this care, is critical to closing the care gap, says Warren Clarmont, Director, Indigenous Cancer Control, BC Cancer, and Member of the Gitanmaax Band of the Gitxsan First Nation.

Overcoming Indigenous Barriers to Cancer Care Benefits Us All
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    A B.C. teacher who worked at two schools in Peace River was suspended for four weeks, after the commissioner for teacher regulation found he made racist comments to coworkers and yelled at students. (Pixabay)

    B.C. teacher suspended over racist remarks to coworkers, yelling at students

    Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, has joined the office of Dr. Bonnie Henry as deputy provincial health officer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

    Alberta’s former top doctor joins Dr. Bonnie Henry’s office in B.C.

    Passengers walk past Air Canada and WestJet planes at Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

    WestJet temporarily suspends service from 3 Canadian cities to Europe

    FILE - Beyoncé appears at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

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    News
    Home sales in Greater Vancouver are predicted to stay in line with last year’s slower pace, while prices will inch up slightly. Office towers, condos and apartment buildings are seen in downtown and the West End of Vancouver, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

    Greater Vancouver home sales to flatten while prices inch up, forecast says

    Average home price this year is expected to climb slightly to $1.2 million

    A pouch containing crystallized methamphetamine and a homemade pipe are shown March 21, 2006, in Window Rock, Ariz. Decriminalization of some hard drugs began in B.C. on Tuesday after the federal government granted B.C.’s request for an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act as part of a plan to combat an overdose crisis that has claimed over 11,000 lives since 2016.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Matt York

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    Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users handing out ‘know your rights’ cards in wake of new policy

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    Community
    Kayla Castellarin of the BC SPCA Alberni-Clayoquot Branch feeds Herby the cat some treats on his first birthday, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Staff decorated Herby’s living quarters for the occasion. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

    Herby the black cat seeks fur-ever home on Vancouver Island

    Alberni-Clayoquot SPCA staff throw party for one-year old cat who has spent 70-plus days in care

     

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    Sports
    Diego Maffia, an Oak Bay Secondary Alum, led the Vikes men’s basketball team as they swept Thompson Rivers University on Jan. 27 and 28. (Courtesy of the University of Victoria Vikes)

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    UVic’s sweep of Thompson Rivers helps vault them bank into the one-seed

    NFL quarterback Tom Brady, a cast member and producer of “80 for Brady,” looks down the carpet at the premiere of the film, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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    Entertainment
    Lauren Spencer-Smith, seen performing in Toronto during last year’s Juno Awards broadcast, has been nominated for Artist of the Year and TikTok Juno Fan Choice for this year’s awards show in March. (iPhoto/CARAS photo)

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    19-year-old pitted against Michael Bublé, The Weeknd, and Avril Lavigne for top award

    This cover image released by Crown/Penguin Random House shows "The Light We Carry" by Michelle Obama. Obama's recent celebrity-filled book tour will soon become a podcast. Audible announced Wednesday that the former first lady will launch the "Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast" on March 7. (Crown/PRH via AP)

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    Business
    Joel Chudleigh, Strathcona Hotel and Sticky Wicket’s sales and catering manager outside the property on January 24, 2023. (Brendan Mayer/News Staff)

    Island man collects a lifetime of stories during 52 years at iconic Victoria hotel

    Joel Chudleigh started working at the Strathcona Hotel as a shoeshine boy in 1970

    BLK MKT by Avant won the 2022 Cannabis Brand of the Year Canada. (blk-mkt.ca)

    High praise for Kelowna cannabis brand

    BLK MKT won the 2022 Cannabis Brand of the Year by ADCANN

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    Obituaries

    Lou Biggemann

    Jan 29th, 2023

    Pauline Marie Gray

    Jan 24th, 2023

    Trevor Wood

    Jan 23rd, 2023

    Margaret Robinson

    Jan 22nd, 2023

    Nancy Margaret Shaver

    Jan 16th, 2023

    John Russell Vinden

    Jan 14th, 2023

    See Celebrations of Life See More Obituaries 

    Opinion

    Jock Finlayson is a senior policy advisor with the Business Council of British Columbia. Jock Finlayson

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      A strata council enacted a bylaw to restrict out-of-wedlock relationships. (Pexels photo)

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      Case raises the question of whether strata bylaws should be able to restrict certain relationships

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      Ann Makosinski is currently collecting perspectives to inform her pending book The Inventing Mindset, alongside finishing that degree at UVic and judging a major Samsung STEM competition. (Christine van Reeuwk/News Staff)

      Vancouver Island’s former Google science wonder kid now a modern Renaissance woman

      10 years later, Ann Makosinski looks to pen her first book – The Inventing Mindset

      Wendy Mitchell is meticulous in labelling which species produce which dye. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

      Magic of mushrooms adding a world of colour for Vancouver Island woman

      Metchosin’s Wendy Mitchell is using mushrooms to make dyes, ink and paper

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      Life
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          Jeff and his Ears to You team bring their production right to your door, rolling out the red carpet to ensure you can hear the soundtrack to your life at any volume.

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