Don Descoteau

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The Crash Test Dummies bring their international tour to Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre for two shows, Aug. 22 and 23. (Crashtestdummies.com)

Twice the ‘90s fun as the Crash Test Dummies collide with Vancouver Island

Band with roots in Winnipeg reintroducing the hits to longtime fans and newbies in 2 Island cities

The Crash Test Dummies bring their international tour to Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre for two shows, Aug. 22 and 23. (Crashtestdummies.com)
Visitors check out vintage Fords on the legislature grounds during the Northwest Deuce Days show and shine on the Inner Harbour Sunday. Don Descoteau/Victoria News Staff

PHOTOS: Northwest Deuce Days deals Victoria a winning hand

Triennial event packs Inner Harbour area for Sunday show and shine

Visitors check out vintage Fords on the legislature grounds during the Northwest Deuce Days show and shine on the Inner Harbour Sunday. Don Descoteau/Victoria News Staff
Chief Petty Officer First Class Tim Blonde has been removed from his position as formation chief petty officer of Maritime Forces Pacific after an investigation into comments he is said to have made about a junior officer during a social event at CFB Esquimalt in May. (Photo by LS Laurance Clarke/Royal Canadian Navy)

Navy strips Island-based sailor of leadership role for inappropriate comments

Tim Blonde was serving as Formation Chief Petty Officer of Maritime Forces Pacific

Chief Petty Officer First Class Tim Blonde has been removed from his position as formation chief petty officer of Maritime Forces Pacific after an investigation into comments he is said to have made about a junior officer during a social event at CFB Esquimalt in May. (Photo by LS Laurance Clarke/Royal Canadian Navy)
Dave Saunders, former Colwood mayor and an advocate for increased long-term care solutions on the West Shore, is using the Saunders Family Foundation to lobby for a new approach to community health care. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

VIDEO: Vancouver Island team proposing real solutions to B.C.’s family doctor crisis

Integrated approach to community health care promoted by former Colwood mayor

Dave Saunders, former Colwood mayor and an advocate for increased long-term care solutions on the West Shore, is using the Saunders Family Foundation to lobby for a new approach to community health care. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)
Rowing Canada Aviron president Carol Purcer speaks at Elk Lake in Saanich during an announcement of funding benefiting rowing programs on Tuesday (July 5). (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

Rowing community on Vancouver Island welcomes restart funding

Funding coming for grassroots programs, national training centre infrastructure

Rowing Canada Aviron president Carol Purcer speaks at Elk Lake in Saanich during an announcement of funding benefiting rowing programs on Tuesday (July 5). (Don Descoteau/News Staff)
Saanich Police Department Chief Const. Dean Duthie addresses media during a Tuesday (July 5) briefing on the conditions of three Saanich officers wounded while responding as members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team to a bank robbery on June 28. Three Victoria officers with GVERT were also injured in the response. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

UPDATE: Two Saanich officers still in hospital one week after fatal bank shootout

Chief reconsiders naming officers after speaking with them and families

Saanich Police Department Chief Const. Dean Duthie addresses media during a Tuesday (July 5) briefing on the conditions of three Saanich officers wounded while responding as members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team to a bank robbery on June 28. Three Victoria officers with GVERT were also injured in the response. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)
Mathew and Isaac Auchterlonie, the 22-year-old brothers from Duncan B.C. killed by police outside a Greater Victoria bank June 28 in Saanich, each made previous contact with the Canadian Armed Forces. (Courtesy of BC RCMP)

Vancouver Island bank heist brothers sampled Canadian military, never served: CAF

Mathew Auchterlonie applied but failed aptitude test, Isaac did Soldier for a Day

Mathew and Isaac Auchterlonie, the 22-year-old brothers from Duncan B.C. killed by police outside a Greater Victoria bank June 28 in Saanich, each made previous contact with the Canadian Armed Forces. (Courtesy of BC RCMP)
Saanich Police Department Chief Dean Duthie speaks to the media Thursday (June 30) to provide an update on the investigation into a bank robbery in Saanich Tuesday (June 28) which left two suspects dead and six police officers injured. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)

VIDEO: Police, coroners working to identify suspects in Saanich bank shootout

Police looking for information on vehicle believed to be associated with suspects

Saanich Police Department Chief Dean Duthie speaks to the media Thursday (June 30) to provide an update on the investigation into a bank robbery in Saanich Tuesday (June 28) which left two suspects dead and six police officers injured. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)
Colorado Avalanche centre Alex Newhook is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a regular-season goal in March. Newhook, a former Victoria Grizzlies star, won a Stanley Cup on Sunday with the Avs following a 2-1 win over two-time defending champion Tampa Bay. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Alex Newhook second former Victoria Grizzlies player in 3 years to hoist Stanley Cup

The pride of St. John’s, Colorado Avalanche centre joins Blues’ Bozak on short list

Colorado Avalanche centre Alex Newhook is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a regular-season goal in March. Newhook, a former Victoria Grizzlies star, won a Stanley Cup on Sunday with the Avs following a 2-1 win over two-time defending champion Tampa Bay. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Saanich police and fire boats were kept busy at Elk Lake on June 25 with two rescues involving four children. (File photo courtesy Saanich Police Department)

4 children rescued far from shore during busy day at Saanich’s Elk Lake

Incidents prompt water safety warning from Saanich police

Saanich police and fire boats were kept busy at Elk Lake on June 25 with two rescues involving four children. (File photo courtesy Saanich Police Department)
The rapid pace of growth in B.C. urban centres like Langford, seen here in 2021 along the Peatt Road corridor, has prompted B.C.’s Urban Mayors Caucus to ask the federal government to consider releasing funds sooner that target projects that improve housing affordability and transportation. (Google Street View)

B.C. urban mayors ask feds to expand housing affordability, transportation funding

Caucus co-chair Lisa Helps of Victoria outlines list of B.C. requests in letter

The rapid pace of growth in B.C. urban centres like Langford, seen here in 2021 along the Peatt Road corridor, has prompted B.C.’s Urban Mayors Caucus to ask the federal government to consider releasing funds sooner that target projects that improve housing affordability and transportation. (Google Street View)
Direct University of Victoria activities, those of its students and alumni, added an estimated $3.3 billion to B.C.’s economy for the 2019-20 fiscal year, according to a new independent study. (Black Press Media file photo)

University of Victoria drives billions of dollars on Vancouver Island: study

UVic adds $3.3 billion to provincial economy, benefits extend through society

Direct University of Victoria activities, those of its students and alumni, added an estimated $3.3 billion to B.C.’s economy for the 2019-20 fiscal year, according to a new independent study. (Black Press Media file photo)
St. Michaels University School student Dave Duru hopes to study medicine at Cambridge University in the U.K., which has accepted him into its direct-entry medicine program. (Courtesy SMUS)

U.K.’s iconic Cambridge calls to highly touted Vancouver Island high school student

Saanich teen Dave Duru one of 22 international students accepted for unique medicine program

St. Michaels University School student Dave Duru hopes to study medicine at Cambridge University in the U.K., which has accepted him into its direct-entry medicine program. (Courtesy SMUS)
Western tent caterpillars in a cluster at the tip of a branch at ground level. The silky tents are often found high in trees, where the direct sunlight warms up the larvae. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

Tent caterpillar season returns: here’s how Vancouver Island can battle back

Manual removal method the easiest, but targeted natural insecticides available

Western tent caterpillars in a cluster at the tip of a branch at ground level. The silky tents are often found high in trees, where the direct sunlight warms up the larvae. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)
Volunteer swimming sport coordinators Donna Tyrrell, husband Dan Tyrrell, Wei Xiao and horseshoes coordinator Bob McCauley help celebrate the countdown to Greater Victoria’s 55-Plus BC Games, at Berwick Royal Oak on June 7.

PHOTOS: Days counting down for 55-Plus BC Games on south Vancouver Island

Cauldron lighting at Saanich seniors residence June 7 marked 99 days to the Games

Volunteer swimming sport coordinators Donna Tyrrell, husband Dan Tyrrell, Wei Xiao and horseshoes coordinator Bob McCauley help celebrate the countdown to Greater Victoria’s 55-Plus BC Games, at Berwick Royal Oak on June 7.
The Royal Canadian Navy sail training vessel HMCS Oriole, photographed in 2018. A past crew member has been convicted in Victoria on three separate charges relating to assaults against a cadet during a 2006 West Coast cruise to and from Alaska. The vessel is now based in Halifax. (Courtesy Department of National Defence)

Retired HMCS Oriole crew member convicted in Victoria of sexual assault, other charges

Retired Royal Canadian Navy NCO James R. Levesque begins sentencing hearing July 9

The Royal Canadian Navy sail training vessel HMCS Oriole, photographed in 2018. A past crew member has been convicted in Victoria on three separate charges relating to assaults against a cadet during a 2006 West Coast cruise to and from Alaska. The vessel is now based in Halifax. (Courtesy Department of National Defence)
An ecstatic Boardworks diver Renee Batalla embraces coach Tommy McLeod after winning gold in the women’s 10-metre platform event in the 2022 Diving Canada Summer Senior National Championships at Saanich Commonwealth Place. (Antoine Saito/Courtesy of Diving Canada)

Boardworks crew shines as Vancouver Island hosts Diving Canada nationals

Double gold for Bryden Hattie, surprise gold in 10-metre platform for Renee Batalla

An ecstatic Boardworks diver Renee Batalla embraces coach Tommy McLeod after winning gold in the women’s 10-metre platform event in the 2022 Diving Canada Summer Senior National Championships at Saanich Commonwealth Place. (Antoine Saito/Courtesy of Diving Canada)
Boardworks diver and Claremont secondary student Carson Paul pictured just off the platform. He is one of seven local athletes competing in the Summer National Championships at Saanich Commonwealth Place May 27 to 29. (Photo by Lawrence Lu/courtesy of Boardworks)

Canadian Olympian glad to be home, diving in front of family, friends in Saanich

Past year tumultuous for Celina Toth, at 30 the ‘mom’ on the Boardworks crew

Boardworks diver and Claremont secondary student Carson Paul pictured just off the platform. He is one of seven local athletes competing in the Summer National Championships at Saanich Commonwealth Place May 27 to 29. (Photo by Lawrence Lu/courtesy of Boardworks)
The invasive shiny geranium, distinguishable by its red, smooth stem and glossy leaves, is a plant species being closely monitored in the Capital Region District. (Bruce Newhouse/King County Department of Environment)

Invasive shiny geranium starts to make inroads into the South Island

Officials count on landowners, general public to report sightings of plant

The invasive shiny geranium, distinguishable by its red, smooth stem and glossy leaves, is a plant species being closely monitored in the Capital Region District. (Bruce Newhouse/King County Department of Environment)
Saanich Police Department Const. Aaron Grewal receives his 2022 Tour de Rock team jersey from Lily Lecinana of Sooke, a childhood cancer survivor and former junior rider. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

VIDEO: Tour de Rock rebirth: 2022 rider team unveiled at south Island school

Riders for Sept. 24 to Oct. 7 fundraising tour hail from around Vancouver Island

Saanich Police Department Const. Aaron Grewal receives his 2022 Tour de Rock team jersey from Lily Lecinana of Sooke, a childhood cancer survivor and former junior rider. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)