NANAIMO REGION
Meteor showers set to light up the night sky Stargazers who stay up late will be rewarded with a cosmic display from the heavens this week. A3
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Open heart
Teen who kissed CBC reporter apologizes
Smiling youngster Judah udah Avis is in the midst off ries multiple heart surgeries
A 17-year-old at the Squamish Valley Music Festival says he’s sorry for his actions. A6
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The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Tuesday, August 11, 2015 SHIPPING
Gabriolans display AnchorRage Residents form flotilla of vessels designed to show displeasure with freighters anchoring off coast DARRELL BELLAART DAILY NEWS
A flotilla of Gabriola Island sailors sent a message to the shipping industry against anchoring massive freighters off their coast. Eighty vessels formed the outline of a single ship 300 metres long in a flotilla Sunday. It was staged by Island residents after recently learning the B.C. Chamber of Shipping wants to create five anchorages for ships up to 300 metres long east of Gabriola. Residents don’t want the waters off their semi-rural Island to be a staging area for industrial ships waiting to load coal and grain before sailing for Asia. Organizers were pleased with
the turnout for the event. “It was the whole community,” said Franz Gigl, a founding member of Gabriola AnchorRage. “It was fishermen, recreational boaters, kayakers, sailors — you name it. And a huge crowd stood on shore and watched everything. The whole community was involved.” He estimated between 400 and 500 people took part in the demonstration. Gabriola has a permanent population of 4,500 on the Island, which swells to 5,000 in summer. Gigl, who recently moved to Gabriola with his wife, said temporary residents who live on the island in summer are soundly behind the protest against freighters. “For me it was interesting to
find out the sportfishers are really against it,” he said. “Sixty per cent of fishermen here are from Vancouver. They’re against it because it’s a prime fishing area and they don’t want to turn this into a commercial parking lot for freighters.” A need for more anchorages in B.C., off Gabriola, plus three in English Bay, was made public in a B.C. Chamber of Shipping report. The report also calls for creation of a fee system that would encourage owners to use Nanaimo anchorages instead of outer anchorages, which are fee-free. Darrell.Bellaart @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4235
A variety of vessels formed a flotilla off Gabriola Island to show the community’s displeasure with the anchoring of massive freighters off their coast. [DON BUTT PHOTO]
» Accident Rising diabetes, obesity rates put some at risk Some groups of ethnic Canadians are especially vulnerable, a new study has shown. » Health, B1
Harper, Tories double down on anti-terrorism
Conservative leader says NDP, Liberals would fight overseas by ‘dropping aid on dead people.’ » Nation & World, A7
Workers used cranes to right a tractor trailer that toppled on Bowen Road at Pryde Street Monday. It caused traffic headaches for more than six hours. [DARRELL BELLAART/DAILY NEWS]
Local unemployment rate lower than average
Trades courses at Vancouver Island University are helping Nanaimo workers find local jobs. » Nanaimo Region, A5
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Mainly sunny High 30, Low 18 Details A2
Truck overturns, snarls traffic in Nanaimo DARRELL BELLAART DAILY NEWS
A tractor-trailer unit overturned on Bowen Road early Monday, creating headaches for commuters, shoppers and businesses in the Quarterway area. The truck toppled in front of the 7-Eleven store at Bush street just before 7 a.m. The shipping container being towed was thrown across the meridian and into the left-hand Local news .................... A3-5 Markets ................................A2 B.C. news ............................. A6
turning lane for Bowen Road traffic to turn onto Bush. Vehicle traffic was detoured onto Bush Street, and traffic came to a crawl on the single-lane residential street. Businesses were also affected. “It’s definitely a lot slower,” said Michelle McMillin, a server at nearby Quarterway Pub. “We didn’t have anybody come in until about (1:30 p.m.) Usually people have lunch — they come
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in for a quick bite, but today it was pretty quiet.” A large, heavy piece of apparently new equipment, which several witnesses described as an industrial plastic injection machine, probably shifted inside the shipping container, causing it to tip, said Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong of the Nanaimo RCMP. Two large, truck-mounted cranes were used to lift the equipment onto a flatbed
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trailer, to haul away, then the shipping container was righted and removed. Barricades were removed and Bowen was re-opened to traffic again at around 1 p.m. The driver was not injured. Nanaimo RCMP did not say if charges were being considered in the mishap. Darrell.Bellaart @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4235
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