Harbour watch
Volunteer organization keeps eye out on the water. Page 7
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015
VOL. 26, NO. 89
Luck o’ the Irish Hailey Vandoorn, left, and Layne Krausher of Carlos O’Bryan’s pub will be serving up green beer and other St. Patrick’s Day cheer today (March 17). St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Nanaimo include an Irish Rovers concert at the Port Theatre that will be simulcast at Diana Krall Plaza. For a story on the concert, please see page 11. CHRIS BUSH THe NewS BUlleTIN
Mill shootings preliminary hearing over, trial date to be set BY KaRL YU THE NEwS BULLETiN
A trial date for the accused in last April’s shooting at Nanaimo’s Western Forest Products mill is expected to be established next month. Kevin Douglas Addison, 47 at the time of the incident, stands
charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The preliminary hearing, held to determine if there’s sufficient evidence for trial, concluded Friday morning, with April 13 set to fix a date for the trial. John Gustafson, Addison’s legal coun-
sel, couldn’t comment about specifics, but trial by jury is a possibility. “By law, murder’s presumed to go before a jury,” said Gustafson. “There’s a procedure where a jury can be removed, but that’s with consent of all parties involved and we’re not at that stage yet.”
Like Gustafson, Scott Van Alstine, Crown counsel, couldn’t offer much of a comment, but he did estimate the trial could occur in the fall. “That would seem to me to be the earliest, but I have to know the schedule of the defence counsel, the court schedule, those kinds
of things all come into play,” said Van Alstine. While Addison was present for the preliminary hearing, Gustafson said the accused usually doesn’t have to appear in person for administrative appearances, such as pre-trial conferences and fixing a date. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
City now without oncologist I RETIREMENT LEAVES a void in cancer care for patients on mid-island. BY TaMaRa CUNNINgHaM THE NEwS BULLETiN
The B.C. Cancer Agency has no plans to replace Nanaimo’s nowretired medical oncologist, making Victoria the only city Island patients can go to see a cancer specialist. “It’s just not good enough,” said Bette Ainsworth, a volunteer at Nanaimo’s cancer clinic and a cancer survivor, who points out that sick patients as far away as Port Hardy and remote northern communities have to travel to the southernmost tip of the Island for an in-person appointment with a medical oncologist. That wasn’t the case four years ago when Dr. Carole Most became the only medical oncologist based north of the Malahat, but local access was scaled back in 2013. Now that Most has retired, the B.C. Cancer Agency reports it has no plans for a cancer specialist to take on the once-weekly clinic visits in Nanaimo. Nor are there any plans to decentralize the 15 oncologists based out of Victoria. Ainsworth and cancer patient Jocelyn Pedersen, who have both previously spoken up about the need for in-person access to a medical oncologist, are renewing calls to see the return of a cancer specialist to the mid-Island. See ‘CANCER’ /5
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