Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District

The Beaver Creek Fire Hall, located on Beaver Creek Road. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)

Police arrest intruder wearing firefighter gear in firehall

Man faces multiple charges in Alberni-area firehall break-in

 

Reverend Brenda Nestegaard Paul prepares to record a worship session at Trinity Anglican/ Lutheran Church in Port Alberni. Nestegaard Paul has been creative in keeping her congregation connected through COVID-19. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Island faith leaders voice opposition to churches defying COVID-19 restrictions

‘The church is not just a building,’ says Vancouver Island pastor

 

A sign at the entrance to Ty-Histanis asks visitors to stay out of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Andrew Bailey photo)

Nuu-chah-nulth nations on Vancouver Island hit hard by COVID-19

Eight nations dealing with positive tests, hospitalizations and death

 

Coombs Country Candy founders Lenore Bailey and Murray Lawlor, left, manager Leanne Hewitt, Community Futures Alberni-Clayoquot executive director Lori Camire and CFAC board chair Susan Payne celebrate the sale of the famed candy shop to CFAC on Nov. 1, 2020. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Coombs Country Candy sold

Unique deal with Community Futures Alberni-Clayoquot will ensure store stays open

Coombs Country Candy founders Lenore Bailey and Murray Lawlor, left, manager Leanne Hewitt, Community Futures Alberni-Clayoquot executive director Lori Camire and CFAC board chair Susan Payne celebrate the sale of the famed candy shop to CFAC on Nov. 1, 2020. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Scott Fraser, MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim, stands with his family. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)

Mid Island-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser won’t seek re-election

Fraser one of two MLAs to announce intentions as election rumours swirl in B.C.

Scott Fraser, MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim, stands with his family. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)
The bus involved in a crash on Bamfield Road on Friday, Sept. 13 is towed away from the scene. PHOTO COURTESY CTV NEWS VANCOUVER ISLAND

Province announces $30M plan for deadly Vancouver Island logging road

Gov’t announcement comes as first anniversary of UVic student deaths approaches

The bus involved in a crash on Bamfield Road on Friday, Sept. 13 is towed away from the scene. PHOTO COURTESY CTV NEWS VANCOUVER ISLAND
Hole in the Wall is a popular outdoor destination with tourists in Port Alberni, but parking to access the area is causing concern. (KATYA SLEPIAN/ AV News file photo)

Port Alberni’s Hole in the Wall creates safety concerns

Access to the site is through private lands owned by Mosaic Forest Management

Hole in the Wall is a popular outdoor destination with tourists in Port Alberni, but parking to access the area is causing concern. (KATYA SLEPIAN/ AV News file photo)
(Black Press Media file photo)

Bus service between Port Alberni, East Vancouver Island considered

Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District and City of Port Alberni to discuss service

(Black Press Media file photo)
A CH-149 Cormorant military search and rescue helicopter flies down the runway at 19 Wing Comox in March 2020. (PHOTO COURTESY MIKE KAEHLER, RCAF HISTORIAN)

Airforce search and rescue helicopter drops in at Cameron Lake for training

Distinctive yellow CH-149 Cormorant turns heads after using Island lake for impromptu hoist

A CH-149 Cormorant military search and rescue helicopter flies down the runway at 19 Wing Comox in March 2020. (PHOTO COURTESY MIKE KAEHLER, RCAF HISTORIAN)
Fred Thompson of Port Alberni was part of a crew logging near Jennis Bay when he spied a face cut into a rockface that was ‘too perfect’ to be natural. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Alberni man discovers a mystery in a rock face

Fred Thompson said ‘face’ revealed in rock after area was logged has to be man made

Fred Thompson of Port Alberni was part of a crew logging near Jennis Bay when he spied a face cut into a rockface that was ‘too perfect’ to be natural. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
A map shows where Mainroad Contracting will create a temporary access to Highway 4 near Whiskey Creek Co-Op to facilitate construction on a nearby rural road. (MAP COURTESY MAINROAD CONTRACTING)

Road construction will affect Highway 4 traffic between Qualicum and Port Alberni

Temporary detour onto Highway 4 in Whiskey Creek for culvert work starts Aug. 4, 2020

A map shows where Mainroad Contracting will create a temporary access to Highway 4 near Whiskey Creek Co-Op to facilitate construction on a nearby rural road. (MAP COURTESY MAINROAD CONTRACTING)
Lieutenant Ron Suits was a firefighter with Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department for four and a half years until he died while working a fire on July 16, 2020. (PHOTO COURTESY SPROAT LAKE VFD)

Vancouver Island fire departments to hold service for fallen firefighter

Sproat Lake volunteer firefighter Lt. Ron Suits died at the scene of a barn fire on July 16

Lieutenant Ron Suits was a firefighter with Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department for four and a half years until he died while working a fire on July 16, 2020. (PHOTO COURTESY SPROAT LAKE VFD)
Lieutenant Ron Suits was a firefighter with Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department for four and a half years until he died while working a fire on July 16, 2020. (PHOTO COURTESY SPROAT LAKE VFD)

Vancouver Island firefighters mourn one of their own

Volunteer firefighter Lt. Ron Suits remembered as one who loved to help others

Lieutenant Ron Suits was a firefighter with Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department for four and a half years until he died while working a fire on July 16, 2020. (PHOTO COURTESY SPROAT LAKE VFD)
Cherry Creek Volunteer Fire Department Chief Lucas Banton pours water on a barn fire on McCoy Lake Road on July 16, 2020. Crews from four fire departments in the Alberni Valley worked through the night to extinguish the fire, which caught in a hay barn at Tooth Acres, owned by retired dentist Dr. Fritz Zens. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Vancouver Island firefighter dies at scene of barn blaze

The volunteer firefighter suffered a medical emergency after arriving to assist

Cherry Creek Volunteer Fire Department Chief Lucas Banton pours water on a barn fire on McCoy Lake Road on July 16, 2020. Crews from four fire departments in the Alberni Valley worked through the night to extinguish the fire, which caught in a hay barn at Tooth Acres, owned by retired dentist Dr. Fritz Zens. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
All four Alberni Valley fire departments responded to a barn fire on McCoy Lake Road on Thursday, July 16. (SUSAN QUINN / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Fire destroys barn at Vancouver Island hobby farm

Fire started while farmers at the farm west of Port Alberni were cutting hay

All four Alberni Valley fire departments responded to a barn fire on McCoy Lake Road on Thursday, July 16. (SUSAN QUINN / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
Cattle graze in a field at Arrowvale Farm and Campground on Hector Road near Port Alberni, B.C. (MIKE YOUDS/ Special to the News)

Island region one of three granted small-scale slaughter licensing status

Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District farmers can now apply for abattoir licence

Cattle graze in a field at Arrowvale Farm and Campground on Hector Road near Port Alberni, B.C. (MIKE YOUDS/ Special to the News)
Coulson Aviation rolls out the Coulson-Unical CU-47, an aerial firefighting conversion similar to Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook, in early March at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport. (PHOTO COURTESY COULSON AVIATION)

PROGRESS 2020: Coulson Aviation keeps growing

Port Alberni is the hub of administration for the global aviation company

Coulson Aviation rolls out the Coulson-Unical CU-47, an aerial firefighting conversion similar to Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook, in early March at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport. (PHOTO COURTESY COULSON AVIATION)
Stan Coleman from Huu-ay-aht First Nations escaped serious injury but his car totalled when dust obscured his vision while driving on Bamfield Road, and he collided with the back of a logging truck. (PHOTO COURTESY STAN COLEMAN)

Vancouver Island First Nations urge caution driving Bamfield Road after serious crash

Dust obscured driver’s vision on logging road with destructive reputation

Stan Coleman from Huu-ay-aht First Nations escaped serious injury but his car totalled when dust obscured his vision while driving on Bamfield Road, and he collided with the back of a logging truck. (PHOTO COURTESY STAN COLEMAN)
A screenshot from the video shared on social media, showing a white pickup truck driving through the Tseshaht First Nation reserve. (SCREENSHOT)

Qualicum Beach man arrested over racist incident at Tseshaht First Nation

Port Alberni RCMP said the man turned himself in

A screenshot from the video shared on social media, showing a white pickup truck driving through the Tseshaht First Nation reserve. (SCREENSHOT)
San Group owners Suki, left, and Kamal Sanghera and general manager Bruce Molander oversee operations at San’s new mill in Port Alberni, San Group Specialty Mill. The company purchased the shuttered Chalwood Forest Products operation on Hector Road. (April 24, 2020) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

San Group buys specialty sawmill in Port Alberni

Forestry company continues work on Island expansion plans

San Group owners Suki, left, and Kamal Sanghera and general manager Bruce Molander oversee operations at San’s new mill in Port Alberni, San Group Specialty Mill. The company purchased the shuttered Chalwood Forest Products operation on Hector Road. (April 24, 2020) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)