30th Anniversary Series
The Parksville Qualicum Beach News Tuesday, July 31, 2012
C3
Community in Review ~ 1995
City man shot dead
TOP STORIES • January, 1995: Parksville Residents Association holds it first meeting. They will be looking at all the issues concerning Parksville residents, most of which are related to growth. • February: School District 69 submits specifications for a new secondary school in Qualicum Beach.
Parksville RCMP began a probe of an incident in November which saw a 43-year-old city man shot to death at his home. The body of Larry James Hansen was found at his Accacia Street home. Police say the man died after suffering a single gunshot wound. Police and forensic experts raced to the scene and an autopsy was conducted. That wasn’t the only foul play in the area. Also proceedings began against the man accused of killing Helen Dunlop, 79, who was found strangled to death at her Corfield Ave. home in 1993. It was believed that a shoelace was the murder weapon used in the killing. Charged with her murder was Delmar Warren French, 28.
• March: North Island Wildlife Recovery Association has a rare visitor — a burrowing owl. These owls are very rare on Vancouver Island. • April: Members of Nanoose First Nation and their supporters begin a blockade on the Craig Bay Estates development on the outskirts of Parksville. • April: District 69 copes with tragedy after the suicide deaths of two young people who attended Oceanside Middle School. • May: Qualicum Beach was alive with chili lovers and ice cube watchers, as the second annual Fire and Ice celebration hit the village. The event attracted about 5,000 people. • June: The water spray park in the community park in Parksville is closed after an estimated $15,000 damage caused by five vandals. • July: A surcharge of 20 per cent will be charged to out-of-town swimmers at the Ravensong Aquatic Centre. • August: Shaw Cable packs up their office and relocates to Nanaimo. However, the move frees up more time for the station to be out in District 69. • September: At the RDN board meeting on Sept. 12, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, French Creek, Lantzville and Nanoose Bay decide to go together in the referendum for the $49 million regional water supply system. • October: A sod-turning ceremony occurred Sept. 28 for the new $9.7 million Springwood Middle School in Parksville. • October: A B.C. Supreme Court jury began to hear details of the 1993 murder of Helen Dunlop. Delmar Warren French, 28, is charged with first degree murder. He was later found guilty and given 25 years in jail.
A conservation officer tags the ear of a sedated cougar which was treed, tranquilized and removed unharmed from Springwood Park.
The News shrinks The Parksville Qualicum Beach News downsized its pages in November from its former broadsheet format. The size of the paper was reduced by two inches in height. The move came as the price of newsprint soared and the supply of newsprint dried up. “Newsprint costs havwe more than doubled since Feburary of 1994,” said Island Publishers vicepresident Manfred Tempelmayr. Most major newspapers had already made the convrersion to a smaller format in response to the price hike.
The move, he added, was made to protect the consumer from having to bear the brunt of the increased costs and help reduce the demands on British Columbia forests. The change was not expected to impact page design or layout and would make the paper easier to handle, as well as reduce the amount of wood fibre used to produce it. The reduction in newsprint supply came after Fletcher Challenge and MacMillan Bloedel announced plans to reduce the amount of newsprint they produce in order to make more premium grades of paper in their facilities.
Unplayable lie at the Morningstar golf course was the sight that greeted golfers venturing out after a windstorm ripped through the area.
Congratulations Parksville Qualicum Beach News! on being an outstanding community newspaper for 30 years! We appreciate your past and ongoing support and promotion of our recreation and parks facilities and programs. Oceanside Place Arena 250.248.3252 Ravensong Aquatic Centre 250.752.5014 See our website for more information www.rdn.bc.ca/recreation