Up front: Cowichan again asked to answer burning question On stage: Second Jackson Cup arrives much more quickly
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Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Duncan teen dead in dawn hit-and-run
Major tax shift divided in two After heated meeting: North Cowichan poised to proceed with first half of a $275 tax shift from industry to homeowners
Boys Road incident: woman turns self in to police the next day
Celina Albany
Krista Siefken
News Leader Pictorial
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News Leader Pictorial
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eventeen-year-old Duncan boy Daniel Hopkins has been identi¿ed as the victim of Sunday morning’s hit-andrun on Boys Road. A 24-year-old Duncan woman, meanwhile, was held in police custody for about 12 hours after she turned herself in to the RCMP in connection with the incident. Police say she was held on charges of failing to remain at the scene of an accident under the Criminal Code of Canada, and was released from custody at about 8:30 p.m. Monday. She is scheduled to appear in court on June 5. Mounties, meanwhile, say they’re continuing to actively investigate the crash that killed Hopkins. Police had located him lying on the road with serious injuries at about 5:30 a.m. on Sunday. He was transported by ambulance to Cowichan District Hospital, and then moved to Victoria General Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition and placed on life support. He died as a result of his injuries just before 8 p.m. on Sunday. About 24 hours after Hopkins was hit, a woman arrived at the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Detachment and told police that she was involved. “Police are currently investigating the female’s claims as well as to what extent she may have been involved. In addition, police have seized a suspect vehicle for examination,” Cpl. Kevin Day said in a press release late Monday morning. South Island Traf¿c Services and the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP are working with an Island District Reconstructionist and the Criminal Crash Investigation Team to determine what happened. Police have requested the family’s privacy be respected during its time of grief and loss. Anyone with information about the fatal hitand-run is asked to contact the North Cowichan/ Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522 or Crime StopAn investigator examines the scene in the aftermath of a Boys Road collision that killed Daniel Hopkins. pers at 1-800-222-8477.
Andrew Leong
orth Cowichan residents will be paying for a tax shift away from Crofton’s Catalyst mill. But it will probably be spread across two years. That was the message a packed house heard Monday night during a lengthy and heated budget meeting hosted by council on a variety of tax options aimed at reducing North Cowichan’s dependence on the troubled Crofton mill. Councillors eventually recommended a complete overhaul of the municipality’s tax structure that will reduce the tax rate for heavy industry, light industry, forestry and farming, and increase it for business, recreation, utilities and residential. Heavy industry and residential will be the areas facing the most signi¿cant change. A decrease of about $2.7 million for heavy industry (mostly the Kate Marsh: not if, but when mill) will be paid for by an increase of $275 to the average homeowner, half of which will be felt this year. The tax shift needs to happen, according to council, because economic times have changed 10-fold. Councillor John Koury said getting this tax shift underway immediately will save the community from being a one-horse town tied to the failing mill. “We need to have a major, major growth spurt in this community,” Koury said. “The goal here is to become less reliant on industry. “I see the way we’re struggling and that a big hit is really gonna hurt,” said Councillor Barb Lines. “We need to move away from our dependence on a single industry.” According to Councillor Kate Marsh, it is not a matter of if the mill will shut down, it’s a matter of when. “A $275 tax shift would really level everything out. I want us to sell this community and try our darnedest,” Marsh said as she swayed between the $275 over two budgets and biting the bullet now so North Cowichan isn’t in “this dire straight” in the near future. more on page 6