Best of three Series all tied up at two
games apiece between Nanaimo and Penticton. PAGE 36
C&S TRANSMISSION SPECIALTIES LTD.
“EXPERT SERVICE SERVED RIGHT”
6852 Mart Rd. LANTZVILLE
www.nanaimobulletin.com
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015
VOL. 26, NO. 98
Biker sentenced to five years for extortion plot
Council asks for stay on Colliery dam order BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
The City of Nanaimo will fight the province’s order to remediate the Colliery dams. Nanaimo city council voted 8-1 at an open meeting Monday to request a stay against the provincial order for the dams and file an appeal with the Environmental Appeal Board. It will also send the Dam Safety Section a beautification and dam-hardening remediation proposal, which is anticipated to address potential safety hazards and add extra features, like an amphitheatre and wheelchair ALTERNATE OVERTOPPING ramp, for method from engineering less than $3 firm GSI introduced as million. possible solution to Coun. Jim Colliery dam remediation. Kipp introThe city is asking the duced the Dam Safety Section for idea – an a stay on its order to alternaremediate the century-old tive overstructures. topping method from the engineering firm GSI – which he said is part of an effort to come up with a solution that’s acceptable. It’s a credible method and least expensive and least intrusive, according to supporter Coun. Bill Bestwick, who called for a stay and appeal based on the information and the need for time to pursue the option. It’s unknown if council will be able to get a stay, which, if granted, would prevent the city from having to do remediation while the province’s order is in dispute. The stay is estimated to cost $20,000 to $40,000 to prepare and the city’s solicitor has advised it’s difficult to get. City bureaucrats are also not convinced the province will accept the alternative option.
I
BY KARL YU
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
I just paid my taxes with a smile but they wanted cash.
Road worthy
Blake Wood, right, and his Grade 8 classmate Wyatt Dorman prepare to join teacher Luc Begin on stationary bikes to fundraise for the fight against cancer at Nanaimo District Secondary School last week. The day’s pedalling drew $2,015.90. Since 2007, staff and students at the school have raised more than $11,000 for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Begin will join hundreds of other cyclists for the ride, which follows a course from Vancouver to Seattle on Aug. 29-30. For more information or to donate, please visit the ride website at www.conquercancer.ca.
Quality & Service at Budget Prices Quote Of The Week
HELLS ANGELS member Robert Frederick Widdifield sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court. THE NEWS BULLETIN
Quickfacts
See ‘FIRM’ /9
250.390.1871
An admitted senior member of the Nanaimo Hells Angels was given a five-year prison sentence by a B.C. Supreme Court judge Tuesday. Judge Robin Baird ruled that Robert Frederick Widdifield, 63, was part of, although not personally involved in, an October 2010 extortion plot with an alleged member of the Hells Angels and a pair of associates. A man was forced to pay $160,000 and had a yacht taken as a result. As part of his sentence, Widdifield was ordered to pay $120,000 restitution for the boat and also had a lifetime weapons ban imposed. Crown counsel sought six to eight years in prison and John Green, defence lawyer, sought two and a half to three years, but Baird said five to six was appropriate. The judge took into account Widdifield’s
IS SHINING N U S E H T W O N OISTURE M E S O H T E C A REPL WS. RIDDEN WINDO TIMATE. S E E E R F A R CALL US FO 3900 ISLAND HWY. N.
| 250.758.3374
modest criminal record, good behaviour during nearly five years on bail waiting for the case to go to trial, as well as the substantial restitution payment. Despite a long-standing association with biker gangs, Baird said Widdifield had a “fairly minor and dated” criminal record, including charges of assault from the 1970s and ’90s. Baird also took into consideration that Widdifield is the centre of his family’s life. He is in a long-term marriage and raised three daughters, who Baird said, “seemed to be successfully launched in reputable, law-abiding directions.” Charges against Widdifield were stayed in June 2013, citing court delays, but Crown successfully appealed to the B.C. Supreme Court and the trial took place last fall. Tuesday’s sentencing hearing was adjourned from March. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
No need to go to ICBC, come directly to us!
| www.budgetglass.com