PORT ALBERNI

A small fire smokes behind the horseshoe club’s office in Dry Creek Park on Friday, July 30, 2021. Three witnesses saw smoke suddenly begin billowing from behind the building and called 911. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Fire in Port Alberni’s Dry Creek Park quickly extinguished

Urban park has been site of half a dozen fires during B.C.’s hot, dry spell

 

Retired RCMP Staff Sgt. Dale Djos was in Port Alberni on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 to receive a Commanding Officer’s Commendation, presented by Port Alberni RCMP Inspector Eric Rochette, left. Retired journalist Shayne Morrow, right, wrote a book titled The Bulldog and the Helix about Djos’s efforts to solve a pair of murders in the city. Djos was one of three people to receive similar awards. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Island RCMP officers honoured for roles in solving high-profile cold case murders

Carolyn Lee and Jessica States murders happened 20 years apart in Port Alberni

 

John Edmondson from Bread of Life Society in Port Alberni stands across from the Beaufort Hotel building. The Bread of Life and Lookout Society are partnering to buy the building and turn it into a full-service facility for people who are hard to house. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Bread of Life partners with Vancouver society to buy Beaufort Hotel

Lookout, BOL plan $6.5M low barrier housing facility for Port Alberni

 

Graham Hughes of Port Alberni, who organized a protest against Port Alberni’s shelter society, is released from holding cells at the Port Alberni RCMP station after being arrested earlier in the morning on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. Hughes and other protesters have been ordered to take down their tent city. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Supreme Court orders Literacy Alberni, employee to pay $344,000 in defamation suit

B.C. judge calls for removal of online posts about Port Alberni Shelter Society

Graham Hughes of Port Alberni, who organized a protest against Port Alberni’s shelter society, is released from holding cells at the Port Alberni RCMP station after being arrested earlier in the morning on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. Hughes and other protesters have been ordered to take down their tent city. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Michael Lee, MLA for Vancouver-Langara and candidate for the B.C. Liberal Party leadership, stops at the Port Alberni waterfront during a tour of Vancouver Island, July 15, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

B.C. Liberals must rebuild party trust, says leadership candidate

Michael Lee brings message of inclusivity, unity to Vancouver Island campaign tour

Michael Lee, MLA for Vancouver-Langara and candidate for the B.C. Liberal Party leadership, stops at the Port Alberni waterfront during a tour of Vancouver Island, July 15, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Workers on the Somass Sawmill site load equipment from the mill onto a flatdeck on Friday, July 15, 2021. A worker on the site said Western Forest Products is moving equipment to other mills it owns. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

City of Port Alberni looks at options for Somass Sawmill property

No word on negotiations, but sawmill has been busy with activity

Workers on the Somass Sawmill site load equipment from the mill onto a flatdeck on Friday, July 15, 2021. A worker on the site said Western Forest Products is moving equipment to other mills it owns. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Commercial gillnet fisher Ryan Daynes repairs his net from the Lily M. on one of the wharf fingers at Centennial Pier, Port Alberni, on June 24, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Commercial salmon fishers left high and dry over sudden DFO closures

Island MP calls on federal fisheries minister to provide financial relief

Commercial gillnet fisher Ryan Daynes repairs his net from the Lily M. on one of the wharf fingers at Centennial Pier, Port Alberni, on June 24, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Mike Slaco, owner of Electron Metalworks, works on a large-scale piece of Tseshaht First Nation-designed artwork that will be incorporated into the side of the Harbour Quay Clocktower once it is refurbished. Slaco is working with the City of Port Alberni on the project. (RACHEL THEUS PHOTO)

Central Island city applies for grants as cost to repair iconic clock tower grow

Port Alberni’s new plan is to replace clock with metal-panelled ‘story tower’

Mike Slaco, owner of Electron Metalworks, works on a large-scale piece of Tseshaht First Nation-designed artwork that will be incorporated into the side of the Harbour Quay Clocktower once it is refurbished. Slaco is working with the City of Port Alberni on the project. (RACHEL THEUS PHOTO)
A firefighter with Port Alberni Fire Department mops up a fire in Dry Creek Park early Tuesday, July 13, 2021. It was the second fire crews attended in a few hours in Dry Creek. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)

Port Alberni man arrested for arson as RCMP investigate rash of wildfires

Charges ‘not necessarily’ connected to human-caused fires in forested areas

A firefighter with Port Alberni Fire Department mops up a fire in Dry Creek Park early Tuesday, July 13, 2021. It was the second fire crews attended in a few hours in Dry Creek. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)
San Group owners Kamal Sanghera, left, Suki Sanghera and Paul Deol (from the Langley operation) announce $100 million in investments in their Port Alberni forestry operations on June 2, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Langley-based San Group donates lumber to help rebuild fire-ravaged village of Lytton

Donation follows on heels of Surrey’s Teal-Jones’s challenge to suppliers

San Group owners Kamal Sanghera, left, Suki Sanghera and Paul Deol (from the Langley operation) announce $100 million in investments in their Port Alberni forestry operations on June 2, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
A firefighter with Port Alberni Fire Department mops up a fire in Dry Creek Park early Tuesday, July 13, 2021. It was the second fire crews attended in a few hours in Dry Creek. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)

Port Alberni RCMP investigate rash of fires in Dry Creek Park

Port Alberni Fire Department says all the fires have been ‘human-caused’

A firefighter with Port Alberni Fire Department mops up a fire in Dry Creek Park early Tuesday, July 13, 2021. It was the second fire crews attended in a few hours in Dry Creek. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)
(BCLC image)

$200K lotto ticket purchased in Port Alberni

The $27 million Lotto Max jackpot was not won

(BCLC image)
Students make a “tiny home” sign with their hands as part of the Tiny Home Challenge at John Paul II Catholic School. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Vancouver Island school gets visit from Netflix show hosts for tiny home competition

Pilot Tiny Home elective was offered for Grades 4-7

Students make a “tiny home” sign with their hands as part of the Tiny Home Challenge at John Paul II Catholic School. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
A firefighter with Port Alberni Fire Department knocks down a small wildfire next to the whistle stop station behind the Best Western Barclay Hotel Plus on Roger Street, next to the train tracks, Monday, July 12, 2021. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)

Port Alberni fire crews back at Dry Creek Park for another brush fire

Message about extreme fire danger ‘not resonating’ with public, says PAFD fire chief

A firefighter with Port Alberni Fire Department knocks down a small wildfire next to the whistle stop station behind the Best Western Barclay Hotel Plus on Roger Street, next to the train tracks, Monday, July 12, 2021. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)
Firefighters in the Alberni Valley are concerned about the elevated fire danger during the heat wave. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

No formal wildfire evacuation plan exists yet for Alberni Valley

City, ACRD, First Nations planning evacuation routes, process for region

Firefighters in the Alberni Valley are concerned about the elevated fire danger during the heat wave. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
(NEWS FILE PHOTO)

RCMP intercept stolen vehicle on its way into Port Alberni

Vehicle was stolen from the Duncan area

(NEWS FILE PHOTO)
West Coast General Hospital, as depicted sometime between 1913-1915, was a two-storey building with two wings connected by a central piece. The hospital was located near the spot where the Port Alberni RCMP building is today, and underwent a few renovations over the years. This is one of 24,000 photos contained in the Alberni Valley Museum's online archives, available at https://portalberni.pastperfectonline.com. (PHOTO PN00108 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)

LOOK BACK: Alberni Valley hit by Spanish flu in 1918

Some things change, while others stay the same

West Coast General Hospital, as depicted sometime between 1913-1915, was a two-storey building with two wings connected by a central piece. The hospital was located near the spot where the Port Alberni RCMP building is today, and underwent a few renovations over the years. This is one of 24,000 photos contained in the Alberni Valley Museum's online archives, available at https://portalberni.pastperfectonline.com. (PHOTO PN00108 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)
Fresh out of the paint shop sporting its new livery, a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter owned by Coulson Aviation leaves California to help fight wildfires in British Columbia. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)

B.C.-based Coulson Aviation signs contract to fight fires in province’s Interior

Water-bombing helicopter currently stationed near Kamloops

Fresh out of the paint shop sporting its new livery, a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter owned by Coulson Aviation leaves California to help fight wildfires in British Columbia. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)
Keneesha Bordian was surprised to walk into her south Port Alberni backyard and spot a cougar seeking shade underneath a hedge. (PHOTO COURTESY KENEESHA BORDIAN)

Cougar spotted lounging under cedar hedge in Port Alberni neighbourhood

WildSafe BC cautions people to keep small pets indoors, supervise kids outdoors

Keneesha Bordian was surprised to walk into her south Port Alberni backyard and spot a cougar seeking shade underneath a hedge. (PHOTO COURTESY KENEESHA BORDIAN)
A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Coroner’s inquest suggests creation of wellness centre in Port Alberni

Recommendation one of 24 made after B.C. teen’s death in 2016

A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)