Reel art
Peetz celebrates 90 years with unique fishing reels Page A9
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NEWS: Missing man being investigated for fraud /A5 ARTS: Gingerbread competition kicks off /A10 SPORTS: Cougars mark ninth straight win /A20
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VICTORIANEWS Wednesday, November 25, 2015
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Problem apartment reported to forfeiture office Pamela Roth Victoria News
A Wark Street apartment building with a history of violence and drug activity has been reported by police to the province’s civil forfeiture office (CFO). Since the investigation is ongoing, Victoria police won’t release any details about the property, but a quarterly report states it has generated significant disruption to the surrounding neighbourhood for years, with officers investigating a number of serious offenses including assaults, drug trafficking and weapons calls. Officers from patrol, strike force, the crime reduction unit and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team have all attended the building on multiple occasions. Police have attempted to work with the property owner to clean up the building, but say efforts to solve the problems have been resisted. PlEASE SEE: Apartment, Page A3
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Night reflections The legislature building and the old CPR Steamship Terminal building are reflected in the waters of the Inner Harbour as their outside lights are turned on just after sunset.
James Bay library getting closer to reality Kendra Wong Victoria News
The City of Victoria has approved a 7,500-square foot neighbourhood library branch in James Bay, in theory. During budget discussions on Friday, council voted unanimously to approve the branch at the maximum size recommended by the Greater Victoria Public Library Board and the James Bay Community Association based on
public feedback received a few months ago. “It is a 20-year-old promise for some sort of community amenity in James Bay,” said Marg Gardiner, president of the James Bay Community Association. “This would provide more of a public realm place.” She added the branch could potentially be multi-purpose, providing a full range of services to the community. As part of the 1994 Victoria
Accord, the province and the city agreed to establish a vision and plan for Capital Park and other small parcels of land located behind the legislature, which would include community amenities such as a library. An agreement between developer Jawl Properties and the city, allows the city to lease space for the library. But council hasn’t given the entire project the green light yet and are only supporting it in
theory. Council would have to potentially lease the space for an estimated $300,000 a year (at market rent), with roughly $110,000 in staffing costs, which would be shared between the municipalities on the library board. Some of the cost would have to come out of the 2017 budget. PlEASE SEE: Support for library, Page A12
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