Data questioned Superintendent responds to parents’ concerns. Page 16 Raiders return Junior football club earns berth in nationals. Page 25 Home reno Haliburton Street sees revitalization of notorious house. Page 3
Contemporary dance Page 13
Celebrating
1988
2013
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013
VOL. 25, NO. 61
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Tax exemption for aspengrove clawed back
I
lANTZvillE THiRD municipality to rescind tax break.
By TamaRa CunningHam ThE NEwS BULLETiN
CHRIS BUSH/THe NewS BUlleTIN
Scary Harry (Andy Karcher), left, Hacksaw Duggan (Travis English) and Bloater Bill (Riel Pearce) are among the flesh-eating and otherwise berserk characters lurking in the woods south of Nanaimo with Company Z Paintball Adventures this Halloween in a live theatre performance that has participants fighting and running for their lives.
Halloween events aim to horrify, terrorize By CHRis BusH ThE NEwS BULLETiN
T
he thing that lurked under your bed when you were a kid? It was real and there’s a real possibility you’ll come face to face with it at Beban Park. There’s no “happily ever after” waiting at the end of Scary Tales, this year’s show at Island Haunt Productions’ Haunted House at the Vancouver Island Exhibition grounds in Beban Park. Twisted children’s tales will awaken those terrors you thought you’d safely entombed in your childhood and have them scrabbling from their hiding places to claw in the darkness at your
mind and soul. “We let people decide how suitable it is for their children,” said Kerry Kass, Island Haunt Productions co-owner. “We’re not for the faint at heart, that’s for sure.” Scenes and actors place their grisly stamp on nursery rhymes and give that special extra something missing from the slightly sanitized modern versions of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Never before have things gone quite so horrifically for Little Red Riding Hood and, oh, if you’re tempted by Little Miss Muffet to join her on her tuffet to share some of her curds and whey? Not a good idea. “We’re actually just making
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them the way they were meant to be,” Kass said. Visiting hours are 7-11 p.m. until Halloween night (Oct. 31). Cost is $9 per person and Island Haunt Productions will donate the admission cost of anyone who can’t make it all the way through Scary Tales to the charity of their choice. Strangely, Kass wasn’t prepared to say what became of previous visitors who chickened out part way through the house. For more information, please visit www.islandhaunt.com. Meanwhile, rumour has it there are some nasty things shambling around in the woods south of Nanaimo. u See ‘SHOPPING’ /6
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Aspengrove School is calling on the province to take tax exemption decisions for private schools out of the hands of municipalities, after Lantzville officials voted to tax its property holdings. The District of Lantzville has opted to uphold a September decision to deny Aspengrove a $6,070 tax exemption next year, making the institution the third independent school in B.C. to pay taxes on its holdings. The move has not only sparked a tax fight that’s making its way to the legislature, but generated new debate about whether municipalities should give tax breaks to independent schools. According to Lantzville council members, the municipality is already required to give tax exemptions for independent school buildings, but they have the right to decide if they should also give tax breaks for the rest of the property, like parking lots and playgrounds. The majority of council members decided against an exemption for 2014, citing financial restraints and low
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participation in the school by Lantzville students. Twelve per cent of the school population is currently from the rural community. Taxpayers who already pay for public schools through municipal taxes, would essentially be paying an additional education tax for the private institution and the subsidy, “would be going to 80-something per cent of people that don’t live in the community,” said Coun. Graham Savage. However, school executives charge that the district is being closed-minded and unappreciative of what it offers the community in terms of attracting new residents and providing educational choices for families. Now as a result of the decision, the institution could face a total $14,000 to $20,000 annual tax bill and potential program cuts within its $2.5-million budget. Board member Iain McIver said the higher cost to the school will mean the difference between hiring a teacher, giving a teacher a raise or giving children access to its International Baccalaureate program through bursaries. There will be “tremendous hardship” ahead – highlighting exactly the reason why the province needs to make tax exemptions mandatory for all independent schools’ property holdings, he said. u See ‘SCHOOL’ /4
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