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Vol. 27 No. 37
COMOX VALLEY RECORD Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Overnight camping trips off, says SD71
GREEN IN BIGS IGS
Taylor Green is hitting again for Milwaukee. ■ B9
VIOLINIST BACK
Jeremy Potts is no stranger to the Valley music scene. Growing up in Courtenay he began his violin studies at the age of six with Mary Hill, and frequently participated in the Comox Valley Music Festival, earning top prizes in his category. At the age of 13 he studied with Marie-Andre Grey in Parksville and then finally with Dr. Calvin Dyck.
... Complete story on ■ B1
FINDER ■ Weather
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■ Editorial
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■ Opinion
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■ Arts
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■ Classified
May 9, 2012
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Record Staff School District 71 has told all Comox Valley schools to cancel all overnight camping trips. The announcement — written by assistant superintendent Sheila Shanahan and posted on SD71’s website Monday — directs all schools to cancel overnight camping trips scheduled to take place between now and the end of the school year. “Principals and vice-principals are required to be available in the schools and are unable to provide supervision for students on overnight trips or events,” wrote Shanahan in the letter. “As these are school-sanctioned events, without school district staff in attendance, they cannot occur.” Teachers recently voted to withdraw from extracurricular activities as a way to legally protest Bill 22, the Education Improvement Act. Shanahan added there could be opportunities for schools to organize alternate activities during the day when teachers are available to supervise students, but she expects some disappointment. “We do not expect that this news will be taken easily; it is of course disappointing for our students,” said Shanahan. Graduation ceremonies are typically supervised by secondary school administrators and they will continue to do so, according to the letter. Parents have helped with the ceremonies in the past. Schools will provide specific information to parents and students about individual school events that may be affected. Parents can contact their child’s school with questions. See Friday’s Record for further details.
ARTS MUSICAL MORNING Emerging from the Comox Valley Art Gallery basement, local children’s entertainer Captain Thunderpants entertains a crowd of all ages as part of the Elevate the Arts festival. The day-long festival Saturday featured visual art, craft, design, music, photography and more at multiple venues throughout downtown Courtenay. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK
Construction of hospital outlined Renée Andor Record Staff
The City of Courtenay’s rezoning process shouldn’t bump the construction timeline of the new Comox Valley Hospital off track, according to the Vancouver Island Health Authority. “I have no concerns at all,” said VIHA project director Grant Hollett as he presented council with an in-depth report on the Comox Valley Hospital project Monday. “Our timeframe, as long as we can have zoning review, zoning process run its course before the end of this calendar year, that will align very nicely with our anticipated timelines.”
According to Hollett, a rezoning application for land at the corner of Lerwick and Ryan roads will be submitted to the City in June. Public consultation, which includes a public hearing, open houses and information session, is estimated to start in June and run through to September or October. Hollett said VIHA hopes to have rezoning of the land finished by late fall. City director of planning services Peter Crawford noted 11 acres of land will come from North Island College, and 2.37 will come from Courtenay. Both properties must be rezoned, but the rezoning process will be tied together in one application.
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Hollett confirmed VIHA accepts the city’s proposed price for the land — which is $8.67 per square foot or $895,822 in total — though no sales agreement has officially been signed yet. The City-owned land is a playing field along Lerwick Road to the north of the NIC land. City director of community services Randy Wiwchar explained the City could not talk to the sports field user groups before the chosen hospital site was announced, but will now discuss options with them. The estimated date to vacate the field is mid2014. Hollett presented an indica... see NEW ■ A2