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Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Search for senior to resume today
Kent back on the campaign trail
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Missing since Sept. 21: Man vanishes while believed to be hiking
Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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earch efforts to find missing local senior Tony Morley were slated to resume today, police say. RCMP Cpl. Krista Hobday said North Cowichan/Duncan Mounties were to meet Cowichan Search-and-Rescue members at 2 p.m. Tuesday to plan how best to continue combing the Maple Mountain trail area for the hiker who vanished Sept. 21. Crews stood down early this week to help look for a person around Ladysmith and are set to resume scouring for Morley. “They will be discussing what has been done to date, the new resources — when they will be arriving, and bring them up to speed, etc. — and how they will be deployed tomorrow,” Hobday told the News Leader Pictorial by email yesterday. No active search was planned for Tuesday. Investigation shows Morley, 79, left Duncan’s Walmart at approximately 4:25 p.m. a week ago Sunday and parked his vehicle, a Tony Morley: 2008 Acura, near the staging area of with daughter Maple Mountain, off Osborne Bay Road — where he apparently hikes regularly, the RCMP has stated. “The vehicle was locked and undamaged so it is believed Mr. Morley left there of his own accord, and possibly went for a walk,” Hobday’s earlier release says. Morley’s daughter, Vanessa Marie Fischer, has been unavailable for comment about her dad’s disappearance. However, her workmates at Cowichan Station’s Pioneer House restaurant — where Fischer is a floor manager — are covering her shifts during the crisis. “We’re all pretty distressed,” said Cheri Dodge. “We’re all praying for (Tony).” Cowichan Search and Rescue members were actively looking for him by foot and air last week. “We are asking the public nearby to check their outbuildings and fence lines in case Mr. Morley sought shelter there,” Hobday said. Mounties have checked local hospitals for him, without luck, she added. Morley is described as Caucasian with grey, balding hair, and a very thin build. He was last seen wearing a white shirt. His family said he is in the early stages of dementia, and has had recent heart surgery, but is otherwise healthy and active. If you have seen him recently, contact the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.
Peter W. Rusland
The folks at Savour Cowichan set a colourful and tasty table for visitors during their twin kickoff events —Barge On In and Sip, Savour and Support this weekend in Mill Bay. For more on the debut of the rebranded festival, see page 3.
nity and progress. Words on the banner of the City of Duncan and words Mayor Phil Kent says he takes to heart. Yesterday, Kent announced his intentions to run again for a fourth term at the helm of the city. “My leadership style is to embrace the diversity of perspectives that makes up our community, and connect and harness those to achieve a shared vision,” Kent said in a media release. “We have worked hard to ensure that public engagement and Phil Kent: transparency is at the centre unity and progress of our city’s initiatives and policy.” He cited fiscal responsibility, road, water and sewer upgrades, flood mitigation, downtown beautification, the VIU campus, the pool and the visitors info centre as achievements under his watch. Kent is the first to publicly declare for the mayor’s chair in Duncan.
Lefebure confirms he will run for re-election Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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reserving North Cowichan’s environment to promote a new municipal economy is the major plank in Jon Lefebure’s bid for a fourth term in the mayor’s chair. “The environment can sustain our new economy,” said Lefebure, 63, who was re-elected in 2011 after losing in 2008. “We can be a tourist destination for wine and culinary, and outdoor tourism.” He touted mountain-bike trails, bucolic views, clean water, kayaking, hiking, fertile farmlands, and a rich arts sector as honey-
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pots to attract beehives of growth. “If we preserve our rural landscape, and selectively make areas available for recreational tourism, we have a great future. “People will come to live here and invest in businesses for that reason,” he said. “Many companies out there can locate anywhere, so they look for the best location with the best amenities to lure employees. “I think it is a vision completely different from a conventional view that promotes development anywhere and anytime. We must use smart growth and guard our environment.” Lefebure himself is on guard from political challenges launched by mayoral
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hopefuls John Koury, and Damir Wallener. He was upbeat about B.C.’s new four-year civic terms after serving as a councillor elected in 1999, then as mayor in 2002, 2005, and 2011. Jon Lefebure: “A four-year term is more to do good for getting things done, and it allows more stability for an extra year. I’m very happy with it.” And he happily answered Cowichan Taxbusters’ beefs about municipal tax waste. more on page 5