THURSDAYFEBRUARY 6, 2014
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
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Your guide to Family Day fun in Parksville Qualicum Beach
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DRUG BUST IN QUALICUM
‘Store’ is dismantled Drugs and liquor sold
• AFDFuels.ca
primarily to youth, say RCMP LISSA ALEXANDER
reporter@pqbnews.com
A Qualicum Beach residence set up like a “grocery store” of drugs and alcohol for youth was recently dismantled by police. Staff Sgt. Brian Hunter told Qualicum Beach council Monday night an arrest was made Jan. 24 at a home on Mill Road after a search warrant had been obtained. “This individual adult male was selling drugs, various drugs, liquor, primarily to the youth of your community,” Hunter told council during his semi-annual report about crime stats. “It was set up like a grocery store, price tags were on there, come on in and do your shopping — it was disgusting.” The man allegedly responsible will now be held accountable within the justice system, Hunter said. He underlined to council that it’s important to know that this type of situation does exist in the community and that parents need to talk to kids when appropriate. If behavior seems odd, Hunter said parents need to ask tough questions, adding any information about the selling of drugs is helpful to the local detachment.
PARKSVILLE CITY COUNCIL
No $ for INfilm JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
Carrie Powell-Davidson’s motion to support the Vancouver Island North Film Commission with $5,000 in taxpayer money failed in a close city council vote on Monday night. And she said she hopes her city council colleagues don’t regret turning their backs on this potential revenue generator for Parksville. See MERCER REPORT, page A36
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JOHN HARDING PHOTO
From left, Allan Iwanyshyn, Tammy Dunakin and Beverly Ness mingle with some of the goats they would like to put to work munching unwanted vegetation in Parksville.
Weed-eating goats considered JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
Move over Goats on the Roof — some of your cousins may soon be munching Scotch Broom on city boulevards. Parksville city council heard Monday night from a business that wants to set up shop in the city, a weed service of sorts that employs hungry goats. Representatives of Goats on the Hoof, an affiliate of U.S.-based RentA-Ruminant, made a presentation
to Parksville city council on Monday night. The local people who want to start the business here, Beverly Ness and Allan Iwanyshyn, can’t be issued a business licence unless council makes changes, exceptions or amends a city bylaw that states it’s unlawful to keep goats in the city limits. The business may also need city permission to have a live-in trailer beside the area being munched while the goats do their job. In the end, council directed staff to come back with a report to a future
council meeting on how, and if, this business idea could work in Parksville. Before that, councillors were treated to what a few of them later described as an interesting and entertaining presentation. Iwanyshyn brought Tammy Dunakin from Washington state to make the presentation to council. Dunakin described herself as the “owner and chief wrangler” of a company called Goats on the Hoof Vegetation Management. See GOATS EAT BROOM, page A36
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