Up front: End of Echo Heights saga one rubber stamp away News: Report cards, grad at risk in escalating teacher’s dispute?
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Friday, May 23, 2014
Paige gets five months for leaving the scene of 2012 traffic fatality Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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orna Paige has been sentenced to five months in jail and given a one-year driving ban for leaving the scene of the April 1, 2012 hit-andrun that killed Daniel Hopkins Paige told police the day after the incident that she was the one who ran Hopkins over and expressed shock upon being told he had died. The facts of the case demanded a six- to ninemonth jail sentence according to Crown lawyer Scott Van Alstine. But the lawyer for Paige, the Duncan woman who pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to stop at an accident scene involving death in this case, argued a conditional sentence would be more appropriate. Scott Sheets cited Paige’s lack of any criminal record, her community standing as a longhouse dancer and VIU student, and her remorse for her crime upon reporting to the police station the morning of April 2. He noted the accident scene was dark and Hopkins was wearing dark clothing on the night he was struck. Autopsy reports also indicate Hopkins was intoxicated by about three times the legal limit, and may have been staggering on Boys Road when he was hit. Van Alstine, meanwhile, cited case law supporting his position, and also requested a period of probation, and the one-year driving suspension for Paige, who is ending an earlier two-year road ban. “This is a very serious offence involving the loss of life of a young man,” he said. “Mr. Hopkins was left alone in the dark of night. He could have been hit by another vehicle.” Mounties found Hopkins, 17, at about 5:30 a.m., seriously injured on Boys, just past the old Silver Park Chinese restaurant and trailer park — about 150 yards from where Boys intersects with the Island Highway. He was taken to Victoria General Hospital and placed on life support, but died at about 8 p.m. from head trauma. The court heard Paige, then 24, had been drinking at a house party, then travelled west in her Chevy Blazer on Boys Road. She presented at the police station the next morning. Sheets stressed no measurable impairment was available and Paige made no admission of alcohol having any effect on her ability to operate her SUV. “Her crime is leaving the scene. We’re not sentencing her for causing this young man’s death,” Sheets said.
For the love of dance
Let’s dance: get behind the scenes as teachers, parents and students prepare for the grand finale
Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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n stage, all went smoothly. Little girls in tutus, big girls in pointe shoes; hiphop crews and solo routines; tap-dancing work by dozens of Barre None Dance Studio students — each flowed across the T. Gil Bunch stage in seamless fashion. Their May 10 presentation, called Breathe With Me, kicked off the valley’s traditional month of year-end dance recitals. Given the range of ages and experience on stage, a nervous, attentive packed house — including company owner Kelli McLeod, her instructors, their pupils, family and friends — should have expected some stage glitches. But act after act moved like a Swiss watch during the big night. Perhaps that was not surprising, given the troupe’s commitment to months of disciplined rehearsal at home, and in the studio. “Not being ready? That’s not an option,” Caitlin Bruce stated during a busy May 7 dress rehearsal. So it figured precious few flubs were reported by the super-critical insiders when their recital wrapped, despite some close calls. “I thought I was going to mess up in my attack dance, but I didn’t,” commented Kathleen Hyde-Lay. “My costume got caught in my (hair) beret,” stated Makayla Roberts. more on page 13
“Not being ready? That’s not an option.”
Caitlin Bruce Peter W. Rusland
Kelli McLeod (in the BN shirt at right) and her team lead a flock of Barre None dancers through preparation and rehearsals for their recent year-end show Breathe With Me at the T. Gil Bunch Centre in Mill Bay.
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