VICTORIANEWS VICTORIA NEWS
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Plant protection
Jazz is in the air
The city is looking into a plan to protect rare species on the Dallas Road bluffs. Page A3
The 2012 TD Victoria JazzFest gets down to business this week at various venues around town. Page A16
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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Shoeshine stand sparks street-level debate on Fort St. Councillor working to adapt bylaws to allow vending on public land Roszan Holmen News staff
Jill Goodson knew she risked getting a ticket, but she was ready for an argument. Last week, she set up her red shoe-shine kit, her tiny black chair and a taller chair for customers in the 700 -block of Fort St. A paper sign taped to the chair’s legs read “Jill’s Jazzed-Up Shoes; shoe shine by donation.” Shoe shiners used to line Broad Street 50 years ago, she said. “It kind of went out of fashion a bit, so I’m trying to revive what was very historical in Victoria, with a modern twist.” The city, however, isn’t ready for such a revival. On June 8, the bylaw department formally denied her request for a busker’s licence. Goodson, however, isn’t giving up. The public supports me, she insisted from “her spot” at the mid-block crosswalk near Vancity last Thursday afternoon. Her protest quickly evolved into a spontaneous, public debate. Shortly after 2 p.m., bylaw officers arrived on scene. A soft-spoken officer named John Kitson assured Goodson that he wouldn’t write her a
ticket – at least not this time. Instead, he upped his previous verbal warning with a written warning. “I have to politely ask you to pack up and leave,” he told her. Goodson asked to stay. “It’s a form of protest,” she argued. Kitson refused, but the exchange was respectful. “John has got to know me almost on a personal level,” Goodson explained, after agreeing to pack up. The small crowd that gathered, however, had something else to say. “I support you!” said a passing pedestrian. A man driving by with the window rolled down said the same, giving a thumbs up. A man in a suit confronted the officer: “Don’t you feel bad?” he demanded. Only one naysayer raised his voice. “Bum!” muttered an older man before shuffling off. But he’s likely not Goodson’s only opponent. “We have received complaints,” confirmed Kitson. Standing back, a second officer photographed the hubbub. PLEASE SEE: Street vendor, Page A12
Dirty Carpets?
Erin McCracken/News staff
Next stop, food bank Dave Guthrie, B.C. Transit operations manager, adds soup cans to a bin of food donations at the Mustard Seed food bank on Monday, as volunteers unstuff a B.C. Transit double-decker bus behind him. The bus company’s annual Stuff the Bus food drive generated $10,620 in food and cash donations last Friday. The community efforts help the food bank as it comes into what is traditionally a slow time for donations.
THE PAST MEETS THE PRESENT Naval base visitors get crash course in historical, current operations Erin McCracken News staff
Ghost stories, a booby-trapped wall, gun batteries, warships and buildings from a bygone era are just some of the highlights meant to captivate visitors to CFB Esquimalt. Elena Lopez and Drew Danelesko
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sity of Victoria political science student had never been to the secure dockyard at CFB Esquimalt before taking on her current position. “You don’t realize how much active work is actually going on here,” she says. Victoria resident Danelesko, a fourth-year UVic student, was drawn to the role for different reasons. “I’m a history student, so being a tour guide (allows me to) relate that same enthusiasm that I have for history to other people,” he says. PLEASE SEE: Base tours, Page A10
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have the unique summer job of taking the public on behind-the-scenes guided bus and walking tours of the navy base, which began May 22 and continue until late August. Last summer, about 1,600 people toured the base. “I kind of wanted to know a little bit more about the military, since it was a big part of my childhood,” Esquimalt resident Lopez, whose father is a naval officer at the base, says of her reasons for applying for the job. Though she has long been immersed in military life, the Univer-
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