Gazette NORTH ISLAND
Publications Mail Agreement No. 391275
50th Year No. 26
June 25, 2015
• RESCUE
Quick-thinking Sayward RCMP credited with rescue. Page 3
• GREY...
A grey whale has been spotted hanging around Port McNeill. Page 7
• VAULTING...
Port McNeill Dentist does double duty competing. Page 18 OPINION Page 4 LETTERS Page 5 SPORTS Page 18-21 CLASSIFIEDS Page 22-23
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Hardy couple wins $2 million
By Hannah Griffin Reporter “I couldn’t sleep all night,� Bob Roulston says of the night of June 10. Bob’s wife Louise adds that the past week has been quite unusual. That evening Bob was checking his BC/49 lottery numbers online as he always does when he saw the numbers he and Louise have been playing for years were on the screen in front of him - 11,19,24,35,36,43. He called Louise over, and told her that it seemed they had just won a lot of money. “I thought it was $2-3,000, but he turned around and said, ‘we won $2 million!’�, recalls Louise. “I’m still feeling kind of numb. It’s hard to believe!� It was too late to bring their ticket in, so Bob and Louise got through a mostly sleepless, excited night and headed to Blair Thorpe in Port Hardy first thing the following morning to submit their winning ticket, a $2 million prize. Sitting in the living room of their bright, tidy Storey’s Beach home, Bob and Louise say they plan to invest most of the winnings. Not too many people have come
Submitted Photo
Bob and Louise Roulston from Port Hardy just won $2 million
out of the woodwork as often happens when people win the lottery, but they have been fielding calls from investors down Island. The two have not put too
much thought yet into how they plan to treat themselves with the winnings. Parents to three grown children, Louise, a retired employee at
Monk Office Supplies, and Bob, a former mine worker, answer quickly when asked if they consider themselves lucky. “Definitely.�
Potential changes to bus routes By Hannah Griffin Reporter An application has been made for a bus service reduction that could directly affect the travel needs of North Island residents. Greyhound Canada Transportation has applied to the B.C. Passenger Board to eliminate two routes that service this remote part of Vancouver Island. The application, made public in a mid-June bulletin from the B.C.
Passenger Transportation Board, proposed eliminating Routes F, U, and W from Greyhound Canada’s service. Route F services the Alberta border and Highway 93, Route U services Nanaimo to Campbell River, and Route W services Campbell River to Port Hardy. Route W includes stops in Sayward, Woss, Port McNeill, the Port Alice Junction, and Port Hardy.
While a lack of bus service to half of the island may seem like a dire development for North Island residents, another bus company has made a simultaneous application. Tofino Bus Services Inc. has proposed to add two new routes. The proposed Route 4 would service Nanaimo to Campbell River, and Route 5 would service Campbell River to Port Hardy. The minimum frequency of the buses travelling these two proposed
new routes would be the same or greater than the previous under Greyhound Canada. “The idea is that Tofino will take over the Greyhound services,� says Jan Broocke, director and secretary to the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board. At the time the elimination of these routes is in the application stage of the process. Written comments can be sent to the B.C. Passenger Board by mail or email by July 2.
Port Hardy Return It Center is now part of the PPP Program
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Return-It to Win
April 22 to July 21, 2015
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