THE
Record TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016
VOLUME 31 | NO. 03
COMOX VALLEY
$1.25
Comox Valley loses a friend
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NEWS TV time for local business
Woodland Flooring, an award-winning business in Comox, is going to be featured this spring on the W Network’s Love It or List It Vacation Homes. ■ P3
Record season Christmas campaign
St. Joseph’s General Hospital Foundation announced that its 2015 Christmas campaign raised a record-breaking amount of $167,000. The total accounts for $10,000 more than the previous high, set in 2014, with over $30,000 coming from online donations. ■ P3
Landfill set to flare up
A new landfill gas flare system is expected to begin operating this month at the Cumberland dump, part of the first phase of the Comox Valley landfill closure project. ■ P4
ARTS Paris returns to the Comox Valley
A vehicle is pulled from the estuary along Dyke Road Sunday morning, as Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue volunteers search for more evidence in the background. An elderly woman was extricated from the car and succumbed to her injuries.
PHOTO BY CTV VANCOUVER ISLAND
Single vehicle incident claims life ■ Erin Haluschak erin.haluschak @comoxvalleyrecord.com
A 72-year-old Courtenay woman was pulled from her vehicle submerged in the water off of Dyke (Comox) Road early Sunday morning. She was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Comox where she was pronounced deceased. Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue and the Courtenay Fire Department attended the incident around 6:45 a.m., where CVGSAR
members entered the Courtenay River estuary and located the woman inside her vehicle. “We were able to reach in on the passenger side and pull her out,” explained Paul Berry, information officer/SAR manager for the organization, and added she was not conscious when members reached her in the water. Six swift water rescue technicians aided in the rescue, which Berry said was in “a very slow-moving tidal drawout.” Comox Valley RCMP reported a passing motorist spotted what they believed to be the vehicle’s hazard lights flashing in the water. They noted it is still unknown what direction the grey 2011 Toyota Rav 4
was travelling or where the vehicle left the roadway prior to ending up in the water. Berry added once rescuers pulled the woman to shore, members returned for another check of the vehicle to ensure she was the sole occupant. While he added CVGSAR members train year-round for incidents both on the ground and in water, he said most water incidents involve surface searching, and it was the first incident in his 16 years with the team which involved a submerged vehicle. Anyone with information about the vehicle leading up to the accident or other information which may assist the investigation, is asked to to contact Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321.
Georgia Straight Jazz Society continues its exciting 2016 calendar with a return performance by Harvey Paris Quintet, in response to the terrific demand for a second performance following their show last autumn. ■ P19
Bates Beach gets into the swing
Season 3 of the Bates Beach Music Series at the Little Red Church continues Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 with a not-to-be-missed performance featuring Swing Street, the six-piece combo that really swings. ■ P19
SPORTS Tributes pour in for Shaw The Tuesday sports section has been dedicated to the memory of longtime Record outdoors columnist Ralph Shaw, who passed away unexpectedly last Thursday. ■ P17
FEATURES Business Classifieds
■ P20 ■ P21
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