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THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 25, NO. 82
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Flu strain resurfaces on Island
I
meDiCAl heAlTh officer makes recommendation that people be immunized against illness. By TamaRa CunnIngham THe NewS BULLeTiN
CHRIS BUSH/THe NewS BUlleTIN
The South Downtown Waterfront Committee has a few ideas about how the waterfront will serve the community in the future. A report, to be released by the committee will detail guiding principles for the area’s development over the next 30 to 40 years.
City’s waterfront vision revealed in report’s release By KaRL yu THe NewS BULLeTiN
A vision of downtown Nanaimo’s waterfront will be revealed with the release of a report by the South Downtown Waterfront Committee. The committee’s mandate is to create guiding principles and a vision for the waterfront’s future and the final report represents the culmination of about seven months of work. The process included meetings and presentations from various groups, dealing with everything from transportation to economics. Committee chairman David Witty said there was a need to complete such a report as the waterfront area represents one of Nanaimo’s most important building opportunities – one that is unparalleled in Nanaimo’s history.
“The vision and guiding principles are meant to frame conversations over the next 30 to 40 years about development in that area, the idea being the framing principles are really the filter through which ideas should be fed and to try and get some consistency so that we’re really thinking about future generations and it’s quite a long-term vision,” Witty said. Consultation with the community was crucial and Witty said feedback from a harbour fair event in October was particularly useful, with 300 attendees able to get information and tour parts of the waterfront they wouldn’t normally be able to access. Committee members and consultants had a chance to converse with residents. The committee chairman said public access to the waterfront was
Quality & Service at Budget Prices Wisecrack Of The Week
Opportunities always look better going than coming.
an important theme during public engagement. The harbour as an employment hub and area for mixeduse development – residential, commercial, work-live studio space, etc. – were also topics of note. The committee was comprised of the public and other stakeholders and saw representation from the City of Nanaimo, Regional District of Nanaimo, Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association, advisory planning committee, economic development corporation, port authority, Vancouver Island University and South End Community Association. The final report presentation will take place Saturday (Jan. 11) at the Port Theatre at 2 p.m. More information is available at www.southdowntownwaterfront.ca. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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Island Health is urging flu shots as adults become the “unusual” target of severe cases of H1N1. Forty-eight people have been hospitalized across the Island Health region with the H1N1 flu strain since the start of the outbreak in December, including more than a dozen in Nanaimo. Nine people are currently battling the illness at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, with one influenza-related death recorded so far. Island Health says the person who died was under the age of 65 with pre-existing health conditions, but did not release any further details. According to Dr. Paul Hasselback, central Island medical health officer, death is a tragic but not uncommon result of the flu. Influenza is a serious illness that can kill and puts more people in the hospital annually than any other communicable disease in the country, he said, adding “we kind of forget that during mild years.” This season H1N1 – the same virus that became a global pandemic in 2009 – has emerged as the dominant flu strain with 42.5 per cent of respiratory illnesses testing positive for the influenza by the end of December, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. While there are no more cases of the flu than the average year over the last decade, Hasselback says the age of those hit the hardest is different. Last week, two-thirds of the people hospitalized in Nanaimo were under the age of 65. u See ‘HEALTH’ /5
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