THURSDAY MARCH 28, 2013
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COUGAR ANNIE
100 YEARS OF ROTARY SERVICE
One-woman play tells the story of a remarkable character
Members of local clubs celebrate decades of good works in this region
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INSIDE
LITERACY
Funding restored
‘I’m a happy girl,’ says BLT coordinator Deborah Davenport LISSA ALEXANDER reporter@pqbnews.com
Thirty-five thousand dollars in funding has been restored to the region’s literacy organization, Building Learning Together. The announcement came Monday by Education Minister Don McRae at a conference in Vancouver, stating the government would provide the provincial literacy organization Decoda with a $1 million grant, allowing it to reinstate previously- promised funds to 55 B.C. communities. “I’m very thrilled to see that the government is acknowledging the significance of literacy and learning in our province,” said Community Literacy Coordinator Deborah Davenport. “I’m a happy girl.” The NEWS reported last Thursday that BLT was told in January it would not be receiving any funds from Decoda this year. BLT was planning to eliminate a number of local services related to literacy this June, including the Learning Technology Centre at the new Family Place and the BLT2Go Outreach Bus. Those programs will now run as planned. See LITERACY, page A7
Off the rails? NEIL HORNER
news@pqbnews.com
The dream of restoring rail service to Vancouver Island may be inspirational, but at some point people need to stop dreaming and get serious about making something happen, says Dave Willie. The Qualicum Beach director for the Regional District of Nanaimo, says there needs to be some form of “drop-dead” date for the current proposal. In an interview this week, Willie said that while all the money requested by the Island Corridor Foundation to restore the track for service has been obtained, the regional district’s portion — $945,000 — is slated to remain in a trust fund and will only become available when VIA Rail resumes service.
See DIFFERENT, page A7
JOHN HARDING PHOTO
SAD DAY AT THE BEACH: Residents of Admiral Tryon Blvd. in Parksville, and visitor Sean La Croix of Calgary (above) were saddened to find this sea lion washed up on the beach in front of their homes Tuesday.
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