PORT ALBERNI

Workers secure equipment on a flatdeck at the Somass Sawmill site on Friday, July 15, 2021. The mill has not been in operation since 2017. (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

 

Commercial gillnetter Lily M. is tied up at Centennial Pier on June 24, 2021 so her captain, Ryan Daynes, can repair some holes in his net. (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

 

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)

Vancouver Island man arrested for arson as RCMP investigate rash of wildfires

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

 

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)
(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)
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)
A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue vessel patrols the waters around Port Alberni. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)

Fisherman rescued after falling overboard in Alberni Inlet

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station, Coast Guard assisted in efforts

A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue vessel patrols the waters around Port Alberni. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)
Port Alberni’s RCMP station on Morton Street. (GOOGLE EARTH PHOTO)

Guards’ timelines show gaps in care of jailed B.C. teen

Former RCMP OIC brought in change following Jocelyn George’s death

Port Alberni’s RCMP station on Morton Street. (GOOGLE EARTH PHOTO)
The fishing vessel Sunderoey, one of two freezer trawlers owned by Independent Seafood Canada Corporation, is docked at Berth 1 at Port Alberni Terminals on Monday, June 21, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Two treated in ammonia leak aboard ship in Alberni harbour

Fishing vessel evacuated, as firefighters ensured the ship had been adequately vented

The fishing vessel Sunderoey, one of two freezer trawlers owned by Independent Seafood Canada Corporation, is docked at Berth 1 at Port Alberni Terminals on Monday, June 21, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
DriveBC had a notification up about the closure of Highway 4 near the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce overnight June 24, 2021. (SCREENSHOT)

One dead after accident on Highway 4 in Port Alberni

Highway 4 was closed for several hours overnight

DriveBC had a notification up about the closure of Highway 4 near the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce overnight June 24, 2021. (SCREENSHOT)
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)

B.C. teen suffered from ‘acute case’ of myocarditis due to drug use: inquest

Doctors testify to Jocelyn George’s medical state when she arrived in ICU

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)
A coroner’s inquest is taking place at the Capitol Theatre. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

B.C. teen refused earlier trip to hospital, coroner’s inquest hears

RCMP were called a second time after complaint against Jocelyn George

A coroner’s inquest is taking place at the Capitol Theatre. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY Council members and witnesses from the Hupacasath First Nation, left, and Tseshaht First Nation, right, prepare to raise their respective flags in front of Port Alberni City Hall on Monday, June 21, 2021. The flags will permanently fly as part of the city’s reconciliation work. See more coverage from the flag raising ceremony on page A5. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Vancouver Island First Nations flags to fly permanently at city hall

Addition of flags are one Port Alberni response to reconciliation

CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY Council members and witnesses from the Hupacasath First Nation, left, and Tseshaht First Nation, right, prepare to raise their respective flags in front of Port Alberni City Hall on Monday, June 21, 2021. The flags will permanently fly as part of the city’s reconciliation work. See more coverage from the flag raising ceremony on page A5. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
The Somass Sawmill sits idle in early May 2021. While the kilns have been in use occasionally, and the lot has been used to store woodchips this spring, the mill has been curtailed since July 27, 2017. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Port Alberni to expropriate Somass Sawmill from Western Forest Products

Sawmill has been ‘indefinitely’ curtailed since 2017

The Somass Sawmill sits idle in early May 2021. While the kilns have been in use occasionally, and the lot has been used to store woodchips this spring, the mill has been curtailed since July 27, 2017. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
A coroner’s inquest will be taking place at the Capitol Theatre in Port Alberni for the next week. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Teen B.C. mom who died following police custody recalled as ‘friend to many’

Police sent Jocelyn George to hospital after intoxication had gone ‘beyond the realm’ of normal detox

A coroner’s inquest will be taking place at the Capitol Theatre in Port Alberni for the next week. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
Port Alberni court house (Alberni Valley News)

Inquest set into 2016 death of B.C. teen after a day spent in police custody

18-year-old Jocelyn George died of heart failure in hospital after spending time in jail cell

Port Alberni court house (Alberni Valley News)
The School District 70 administration office in Port Alberni. AV NEWS FILE PHOTO

Talking vaping with students against principal’s orders gets B.C. teacher reprimanded

Conversations took place at a secondary school in School District 70 Pacific Rim

The School District 70 administration office in Port Alberni. AV NEWS FILE PHOTO
‘Strength from Within’ is a sculpture by artist Connie Watts that stands next to the Tseshaht Longhouse, on the site of the former Alberni Indian Residential School (AIRS). It commemorates survivors and those who did not make it home. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)

Island First Nation asks for healing centre at site of former residential school

MP Gord Johns supports Tseshaht First Nation’s request

‘Strength from Within’ is a sculpture by artist Connie Watts that stands next to the Tseshaht Longhouse, on the site of the former Alberni Indian Residential School (AIRS). It commemorates survivors and those who did not make it home. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)
Island Heath has issued an overdose advisory for Port Alberni. If someone has overdosed, administering naloxone can help. File photo

Overdose advisory issued for Port Alberni, Cowichan

Island Health warns of increased number of overdoses

Island Heath has issued an overdose advisory for Port Alberni. If someone has overdosed, administering naloxone can help. File photo