FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2012
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
RUNNING AGROUND
OUCH, THAT HURTS!
Sailboat skipper faces challenge near French Creek
Removing unwanted hair by waxing not just for women any longer
A21
B1
Foreign students crammed Some of these Korean youngsters were living in a basement with no windows LISSA ALEXANDER reporter@pqbnews.com
Nineteen Korean children and their supervisors were living in a single family home in Nanoose Bay earlier this year as part of District 69’s International Student Program (ISP). The issue of “dormitory homes” used for housing international students came to light recently when the district released an ISP review, which was contracted to a consultant. The consultant raised a number of concerns in the review regarding the houses, which are apparently in both Bowser and Nanoose Bay. The consultant reported the district has signed an exclusive contract with one individual for all Korean recruiting, and this agent is officially in charge of the management of the Korean students. The consultant’s other concerns included lack of house inspections by the homestay coordinator and criminal record checks being done on supervisors. Tom Armet, manager of building, bylaw and emergency planning at the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) said the RDN became involved as a result of a community inquiry into the Nanoose Bay home in January of this year, and he sent staff to inspect the home. Armet said there were some children housed in the basement without proper windows for egress so they had to be moved to other areas of the house. See KERSHAW, page A6
NEIL HORNER PHOTO
VICTIM: Sheila Abbott shows off one of the $600 bags of coffee she bought from two people saying they were collecting donations for the United Way. Police confirmed the United Way does not ask for support in this manner.
Sophisticated scam Local business person bilked of $1,800 in elaborate scheme
NEIL HORNER news@pqbnews.com
Sheila Abbott really likes Tim Horton’s coffee, but she’s not willing to fork out $600 for a pot of it. However, that’s what the Parksville business owner calculates she spent when scammers came to her door on Saturday, purporting to be collecting money for the United Way. “Two very nice, clean-cut young people came to the door wearing United Way T-shirts, looking for donations,” she said. “I asked to see their credentials but they both had badges with the little United Way rainbow and a name,
along with a phone number and an identification number.” The pair said if Abbott donated to the charity, they would give her a bag of coffee, while if she gave $20 or more she would get three bags. “They were very slick,” she said. “They said they were just married and asked about my business.” Abbott gave them a $20 donation, which they took on a portable debit card machine — or what they told her was one. The machine even spat out a receipt that said it was from the United Way.
See SCAMMERS, page A6
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