WEDNESDAY
August 15, 2012
A division of
Vol. 27 No. 65
COMOX VALLEY RECORD
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HELP THE HUNGRY
A new artists’ group is supporting the food bank. ■ 14
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Pipeline proposal opposed Scott Stanfield Record Staff
MAKING THE CUT
Mark Valliere finished in a four-way tie for 39th at the 2012 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship at Camelot Golf and Country Club in Cumberland, Ont. The 108th playing of the venerable Golf Canada event was held Aug. 7-10. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., carded a final-round, even-par 72 to win the title for the second consecutive year. Valliere, who plays out of Crown Isle in Courtenay, shot rollercoaster rounds of 71-75-71-76 to finish at +5 293. ... Complete story on ■ 18
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INSIDE
Alison Taplay is concerned about tanker accidents, oil spills and even terrorism that could threaten more than 1,000 kilometres of pipeline constructed in an earthquake zone. Geraldine Kenny questions if the public or the applicant will pay cleanup costs when and if an oil spill occurs. They were two of about 20 speakers at a community hearing for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project on Friday at the Comox Community Centre, where the National Energy Board had conducted hearings in March. Enbridge proposes to ship upwards of 500,000 barrels of oil per day from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat in northern B.C. At first she thought the idea ludicrous, but Taplay fears the pipeline could be a target for terrorism. “We all need to adapt our thinking to these new realities,” she said. Taplay also noted Enbridge’s “poor record of responding in a timely manner” to spills two years ago in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan and more recently in Wisconsin. She asked the NEB to protect the coast and the public from a project driven in her opinion by “corporate greed.” Kenny, who operates a B&B on Quadra Island, feels the proposal defies common sense. “An oil spill on our coast would shut down the coastal tourism industry for decades, let alone those depending on marine life for food,” she said. “If he (Enbridge) was my plumber, I would fire him. If Air Canada or Lufthansa had Enbridge’s safety record, they would be out of business.” Taplay and Kenny both feel the Enbridge proposal dishonours First Nations that oppose the ... see MORE HEARINGS ■ 2
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Comox Valley Olympians historical Earle Couper Record Staff
They didn’t medal, but they did make Canadian Olympic history. Comox Valley athletes Cam Levins and Geoff Kabush were both in action on the final weekend of the 2012 Summer Games in London. At the Olympic stadium on Saturday, distance runner Levins became the first Canadian in 100 years to run in the men’s 5,000metre final. Battling illness, he finished 14th in the 15-man field.
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IMPROVING WITH AGE, Geoff Kabush posted a personal best — and best-ever Canadian — eighth-place finish in men’s cross-country mountain biking. It was the Courtenay competitor’s third Olympic appearance. PHOTO BY ROBERT JONES
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On Sunday, cross-country cyclist Kabush finished a solid eighth in his 50-rider event at Hadleigh Farm, the best men’s Olympic mountain bike result in Canadian history. Competing in his third Olympics, Kabush topped his previous best Games result, ninth in Sydney in 2000. In a race to the wire, Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic edged Swiss rider Nino Schurter by a single second. Italy’s Marco Aurelio Fontana took the bronze, riding the final few kilometres without a bicycle seat. The winning time was one hour,
29 minutes, seven seconds. Kabush finished in 1:30.43, just 1:36 behind Kulhavy, after trying to track lead groups of three and then five riders. “I just wasn’t able to get in that lead group,” the Courtenay competitor told the media. “But I was close, maybe just lacking the little bit of snap to get up there with the leaders,” he said. “I really felt comfortable and confident on the starting line. It was a close race and there are so many variables and things that can change the course of a race,” ... see REALITY SHORT ■ 3
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