TUESDAY MARCH 1, 2016
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PRODIGY STILL PLAYING
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Now 37, teenage piano phenom juggles job, family
Qualicum Beach hosts B.C. Mixed Curling Championships starting Thursday
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COMPLIANCE DIRECTORS RESIGN
Coal mine not likely Coal Watch says residents deserve closure on this issue JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
With the en masse resignation of its board of directors, Compliance Energy Corporation has signalled the end of the proposed Raven Coal Mine project, said the president of a Mid-Island watchdog group. Compliance announced in a news release Friday that its board of directors, in its entirety, had resigned. The company also announced its major Korean and Japanese partners have withdrawn from the project and that its only secured creditor has demanded repayment of a loan. In the news release, the company said the provincial Environmental Assessment Office’s “protracted process of developing an acceptable Application Information Requirements for the project, followed by the EAO’s resistance in accepting a fully developed application for stakeholder review, has made it impossible to raise further funds, attract alternate partners or to sell the project.” John Snyder, president of Comox-based Coal Watch said Monday it’s now up to the EAO to put the final nail in the coffin of this project. For the final chapter of this saga to be written, it requires the EAO to use its discretionary powers to terminate the Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Raven Coal Mine Project, said a Coal Watch news release. “For over six years the clouds of uncertainty surrounding this ill-conceived coal mine project have had a negative impact on the residents in the communities directly impacted by the project,” said Snyder. “The residents in these communities demand and deserve closure on the Raven Coal Project issue.” See SEEKING THE FINAL CHAPTER, page A8
J.R. RARDON PHOTO
Members of the Wounded Warriors team arrive at Parksville Legion on Friday afternoon. For more photos from the event, see page A5 and visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT PTSD
Warriors run through the region AUREN RUVINSKY
writer@pqbnews.com
The Wounded Warrior Run is meant to gain awareness of, and connect people with, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and they certainly gain attention as they run through Vancouver Island communities, often with a police escort. “It’s no longer just about stepping through the fear or stigma,” run founder Allan Kobayashi told the roughly 40 people at their stop at the Qualicum Beach Legion Friday, “it’s about the feeling of acceptance at places like this, that it’s okay to be me.” “It’s about awareness for PTSD, but
it’s also about encouraging people to come out and share,” agreed fellow runner Geoff Harshaw. He said that while there will always be some aspect of ‘just man up and take it,’ among the armed and emergency services, the run is about “getting past that stigma, that you don’t have to just tough it out, you can connect with other people and try to deal with it.” He said in his 15 years as an army reserve and military firefighter he has seen a noticeable improvement, which really picked up a few years after people came back from Afghanistan and
were visibly struggling with issues. The pair where part of the six member team doing the 600km relay run down Vancouver Island from Port Hardy to Victoria in just seven days. The run stopped at Legions all along the way, and while the organizers insist the focus is on the awareness, they say the generosity of the Legions and public means they ended up raising over $40,000 last year for the important cause. To donate, or for more information, visit www.woundedwarriorrunbc.com and their Facebook page. See MORE PHOTOS, page A5
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