THURSDAYJANUARY 15, 2015
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Silver 2013 General Excellence
WHALERS HIT HARDWOOD
FOGHORN ROLLS IN FROM PORTLAND
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Rural dance music comes to Qualicum Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 28
Senior boys’ basketball ramps up at Ballenas Secondary
NEW LOOK FOR COMMUNITY PARK
City may need to alter plans Concession is closed, season is approaching, but no RFP call yet JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
The City of Parksville may need to think outside the box as it ponders lease arrangements to replace the now-defunct concession with food-truck pads in Community Park, says a local food truck owner. Extreme Eatz owner Mark Chandler said food trucks are mobile by nature and many need to follow festivals and do private catering to make ends meet. “More and more, trucks are getting into events and catering,” said Chandler, the driving force behind the fledgling Vancouver Island Food Trucks Association. “When you can do both, the truck really pays.” In June of last year, city council passed a motion to spend $290,000 to renovate and convert the existing concession to washrooms and change stalls only, and to build pads for lease to mobile food vendors. The concession’s lease in previous years called on it to operate seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., from May Long Weekend to Thanksgiving. With that season starting in about four months, the city has yet to call for proposals from food truck vendors and construction hasn’t started on the washroom facility or the pads. “We’re trying to meet, best we can, the summer expectations for Community Park,” Mike Squire, the city’s director of operations, said this week. “We are just finalizing the drawings to get the building permit.” See ROTATION, page A6
Seaweed in Spotlight It’s a story that dominated news in Bowser/Deep Bay in 2014 and promises to create more controversy this year. Thousands of tonnes of seaweed are being taken off the beaches near Bowser/Deep Bay. Many residents are opposed to the practice. A Ministry of Agriculture report of the effect of the harvest is expected in March. In today’s Thursday Spotlight, reporter Candace Wu takes a closer look at the controversies surrounding the harvest. See THURSDAY SPOTLIGHT, page A5
TYSON TAYLOR PHOTO
RANKED FOURTH IN CANADA: Qualicum Beach’s Aubrey ‘Bam Bam’ Morrow was recently named the 2014 Canadian Boxiana Western Region Fighter of the Year. Morrow, shown above during recent fight in Nanaimo, won both his fights in 2014 after a hiatus from the ring. His record stands at 7-1, with six of those wins coming by way of knockout. Morrow is currently the fourth ranked Super Middleweight boxer in the country and a title shot could be coming soon.
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