THURSDAYMARCH 27, 2014
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The Diane Lines Trio plays TOSH on March 30
EXPANSION PLANS ON HOLD FOR NOW Oceanside Hospice wants to build a much larger facility in Qualicum Beach
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AWARDS BEING OFFERED
Calling all Korea vets Thankful nation wants to express appreciation AUREN RUVINSKY writer@pqbnews.com
There is a special commemorative award available to Korean War veterans, and local Legions are looking for vets. Legions are looking for anyone who served in Korea from 1950-55 and their families, to apply for the Korean Ambassador for Peace Medal, an expression of appreciation from the Korean government to Canadian service men and women. “It is very important to the people of Korea and it meant a lot to me to get it,” said Qualicum Beach resident Lee Faulkner, who served in Korea in 1952-53. Faulkner said he doesn’t want to put himself forward as the local representative, admitting he has been dealing with a lot of emotions brought back by returns to South Korea in 2003 and last year for the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the end of the war. But, as he points out, he and his fellow veterans are in their 80s and there are fewer and fewer of them around, and he considers the medal important enough to publicly encourage people to apply. There are no figures about the number of Korean veterans in the area. According to Veterans Affairs there are 9,900 surviving Canadian veterans out of the 26,791 who served. The Parksville and Qualicum Beach Legions each say they only have one active member who served in Korea, but they say they know there are others in the area, and since the medal can also be awarded posthumously, families are encouraged to apply. The medal was originally presented to veterans who returned to South Korea through the Revisit Program and has since expanded to all Korean veterans. See HERE’S HOW TO APPLY, page A3
TYSON TAYLOR PHOTO
PLAY BALL: The Parksville Royals are set to start the 2014 B.C. Premier Baseball League season April 12 in Victoria. Their home opener is April 26. Above, during a split squad game at Inouye-Wallace Field in Nanaimo this week, Owen Kelly is tagged out at third base. See story in today’s sports section.
REGIONAL DISTRICT PONDERS CHANGE
ICF non-confidence motion coming Parksville Coun. Marc Lefebvre has put the Regional District of Nanaimo board of directors on notice regarding the future of the Island Corridor Foundation. At Tuesday night’s regular RDN board meeting, Lefebvre, the city’s representative to the board, put forward a notice of motion addressing what he called “the serious ongoing deterioration of the rail line.”
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ment with VIA Rail, lack of information on how current taxpayers dollars and ICF revenues are being spent on unnecessary repairs to the rail infrastructure, the RDN board has lost confidence in the existing administration of the ICF. Therefore be it resolved that: • in order to resolve this situation the RDN proposes a meeting of all First Nations and Regional Districts to convene and discuss the future of the ICF; See DISTRICTS MEETING, page A4
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The last passenger service on the rail line was in 2011 after Via Rail and Southern Rail discontinued service due to the disrepair of the line. The ICF has been negotiating with VIA Rail to re-start the service, without success. Lefebvre’s motion seemed directed at the ICF’s administration: “Due to the serious ongoing deterioration of the rail line, lack of realistic capital funding dollars, the inability to negotiate an agree-
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