Susie Quinn

Colin Murray is one of about a dozen homeowners and businesses on Franklin River Road that were cut off from the city’s water supply for more than 24 hours after a logging truck left the road and crashed into a main water supply pipe on that road, Thursday, March 9, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

City will begin review after truck crash cuts off main water supply to Port Alberni

Watermain was repaired and restrictions lifted within 30 hours of incident

Colin Murray is one of about a dozen homeowners and businesses on Franklin River Road that were cut off from the city’s water supply for more than 24 hours after a logging truck left the road and crashed into a main water supply pipe on that road, Thursday, March 9, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Raylene Watts, left, and Alex Tuele, both from Fanny Bay, visit the Port Alberni waterfront looking for treasure on Wednesday, March 9, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Treasure seekers scour British Columbia for pot of ‘gold’

B.C.-based scavenger hunt offered $1,000 if someone could solve five riddles

Raylene Watts, left, and Alex Tuele, both from Fanny Bay, visit the Port Alberni waterfront looking for treasure on Wednesday, March 9, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
City of Port Alberni workers and contractors replace a section of the city’s main water supply pipe the morning of March 10, 2023. A logging truck left Franklin River Road the previous afternoon and crashed on top of the pipe, severing it and damaging approximately 10 metres of the waterpipe. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

City crews work through night to fix Port Alberni water supply, hope to finish today

Some homes without water since the pipe was severed in logging truck crash; restrictions in place

City of Port Alberni workers and contractors replace a section of the city’s main water supply pipe the morning of March 10, 2023. A logging truck left Franklin River Road the previous afternoon and crashed on top of the pipe, severing it and damaging approximately 10 metres of the waterpipe. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
A logging truck crash on Franklin River Road on the outskirts of Port Alberni has damaged the city’s main water line. (SUSAN QUINN / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Port Alberni under emergency water restrictions after logging truck crash

Incident severed city’s main water supply line; restrictions in place ‘until further notice’

A logging truck crash on Franklin River Road on the outskirts of Port Alberni has damaged the city’s main water line. (SUSAN QUINN / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
Kayla Castellarin of the BC SPCA Alberni-Clayoquot Branch feeds Herby the cat some treats on his first birthday, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Staff decorated Herby’s living quarters for the occasion. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Herby the black cat seeks fur-ever home on Vancouver Island

Alberni-Clayoquot SPCA staff throw party for one-year old cat who has spent 70-plus days in care

Kayla Castellarin of the BC SPCA Alberni-Clayoquot Branch feeds Herby the cat some treats on his first birthday, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Staff decorated Herby’s living quarters for the occasion. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Port Alberni Fire Department crews attend to a fire at the Beaufort Hotel on Angus Street, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. (ELENA RARDON/ Alberni Valley News)

20 residents of low-income building in Port Alberni displaced after fire

No injuries, but water damage forces residents into emergency housing

Port Alberni Fire Department crews attend to a fire at the Beaufort Hotel on Angus Street, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. (ELENA RARDON/ Alberni Valley News)
An RCMP member photographs the scene of an incident where a pedestrian was struck on Redford Street at Sixth Avenue early Jan. 3, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Pedestrian dies after being struck by vehicle on busy Port Alberni road

Two lanes of Redford Street were closed for several hours Jan. 3

An RCMP member photographs the scene of an incident where a pedestrian was struck on Redford Street at Sixth Avenue early Jan. 3, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Flames burst from a house in the 3500-block of 10th Avenue in Port Alberni, early on New Year’s Day. (PAFD VIDEO SCREENSHOT)

One person sent to hospital in New Year’s Day house fire

Three fire departments called to battle heavy flame from Port Alberni residence

Flames burst from a house in the 3500-block of 10th Avenue in Port Alberni, early on New Year’s Day. (PAFD VIDEO SCREENSHOT)
A fire investigator from Port Alberni Fire Department examines the aftermath of a Boxing Day fire at a home on Haslam Lane, Dec. 27, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Four people escape Boxing Day house fire in Port Alberni

Son starts fundraiser for mother, who lost everything in early-morning blaze

A fire investigator from Port Alberni Fire Department examines the aftermath of a Boxing Day fire at a home on Haslam Lane, Dec. 27, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
École Alberni Elementary School teachers Tammy Petrone and Sonia Organ wear tinsel as part of the teachers’ Christmas video, sung to Run-D.M.C.’s ‘Christmas in Hollis.’ (VIDEO SCREENSHOT)

Vancouver Island teachers’ Christmas video goes viral

École Alberni Elementary staff gets into the spirit with hip hop-inspired antics

École Alberni Elementary School teachers Tammy Petrone and Sonia Organ wear tinsel as part of the teachers’ Christmas video, sung to Run-D.M.C.’s ‘Christmas in Hollis.’ (VIDEO SCREENSHOT)
Tom Verbrugge and his son Mica have the bonfire stoked and the hotdogs ready to roast when Tom’s Trees Christmas tree farm opens on Nov. 26, 2022. (PHOTO COURTESY TOM VERBRUGGE)

It’s beginning to look a lot more expensive for a Christmas tree this year

Variety of factors contributing, effect on Islanders will vary depending on where you shop

Tom Verbrugge and his son Mica have the bonfire stoked and the hotdogs ready to roast when Tom’s Trees Christmas tree farm opens on Nov. 26, 2022. (PHOTO COURTESY TOM VERBRUGGE)
Kenn Whiteman takes a trip down memory lane sorting through his collection of 263 nutcrackers in his dining room. The collection takes up three rooms in his home. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Fine craftsmanship in a nutcracker leads to 45-year obsession for Port Alberni man

‘Nutcracker king’ hopes to find new home for his expansive collection

Kenn Whiteman takes a trip down memory lane sorting through his collection of 263 nutcrackers in his dining room. The collection takes up three rooms in his home. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Alberni Pacific Division (APD) Sawmill, owned by Western Forest Products, is located on Port Alberni’s waterfront. (AV NEWS FILE PHOTO)

Western Forest Products shuts Port Alberni sawmill for six months

Extended curtailment was unexpected, says Steelworkers Union rep

Alberni Pacific Division (APD) Sawmill, owned by Western Forest Products, is located on Port Alberni’s waterfront. (AV NEWS FILE PHOTO)
The sun sets behind the Somass River at Victoria Quay in Port Alberni. (Elena Rardon / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Port Alberni continues to lead B.C’s October heat parade and shatter many records

Century-old records fall away as mid-Island city sees temperatures in upper 20s Celsius

The sun sets behind the Somass River at Victoria Quay in Port Alberni. (Elena Rardon / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
Robbie Jai, left, unit chief for the Parksville Ambulance Station, presents Ed Francoeur, centre, and Tyler Ruel of Port Alberni with Vital Links awards for saving golfer Fred Fredrickson after he collapsed at Alberni Golf Course on Sept. 13, 2020. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Island golfers honoured saving man who went into cardiac arrest on the course

Ed Francoeur, Tyler Ruel saved fellow golfer after he went into cardiac arrest in 2020

Robbie Jai, left, unit chief for the Parksville Ambulance Station, presents Ed Francoeur, centre, and Tyler Ruel of Port Alberni with Vital Links awards for saving golfer Fred Fredrickson after he collapsed at Alberni Golf Course on Sept. 13, 2020. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
The ‘Every child matters’ barricade painted at the entrance to the ‘Orange Bridge’ (Riverbend Bridge) was vandalized sometime in the evening of Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Vandals paint racial slur on Port Alberni’s ‘Orange Bridge’ hours after reconciliation walk

Tseshaht First Nation denounces act, says there is ‘zero tolerance’ for racism in community

The ‘Every child matters’ barricade painted at the entrance to the ‘Orange Bridge’ (Riverbend Bridge) was vandalized sometime in the evening of Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Students from Tammi Greenwood’s Grade 5/6 class at Haahuupayak School wave to drivers from the newly painted portion of the Orange Bridge (Riverbend Bridge) over the Somass River, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2002. (PHOTO COURTESY TAMMI GREENWOOD)

Port Alberni’s iconic ‘Orange Bridge’ turns orange again for Truth and Reconciliation

Tseshaht First Nation hopes bright orange accents will change narrative of bridge

Students from Tammi Greenwood’s Grade 5/6 class at Haahuupayak School wave to drivers from the newly painted portion of the Orange Bridge (Riverbend Bridge) over the Somass River, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2002. (PHOTO COURTESY TAMMI GREENWOOD)
Brandon Cairney was declared missing in October 2017. He was found alive in September 2022 in Burnaby, B.C., but claims he is not Cairney. (RCMP PHOTO)

Port Alberni man missing for five years resurfaces, but denies he is Brandon Cairney

Mystery unfolds in Island Crime podcast update on men missing from Vancouver Island

Brandon Cairney was declared missing in October 2017. He was found alive in September 2022 in Burnaby, B.C., but claims he is not Cairney. (RCMP PHOTO)
A stream of water from the Harbour Chieftain fireboat can be seen as crews fight a fire aboard a 35-foot aluminum work vessel in the Alberni Harbour on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. (PHOTO COURTESY JOANNA STANGOWITZ)

Man forced to jump into Alberni Harbour after boat explodes

Black smoke, flames were visible for kilometres

A stream of water from the Harbour Chieftain fireboat can be seen as crews fight a fire aboard a 35-foot aluminum work vessel in the Alberni Harbour on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. (PHOTO COURTESY JOANNA STANGOWITZ)
First responders from BC EHS, Port Alberni Fire Department and Alberni Valley Rescue Squad retrieve a woman who had fallen around 30 metres at Stamp River Provincial Park on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (ALBERNI VALLEY RESCUE SQUAD PHOTO)

Tourist airlifted to hospital after falling 40 feet down embankment at Stamp River Provincial Park

Rope rescue teams from Port Alberni, Qualicum Beach extricate woman from bank by Stamp Falls

First responders from BC EHS, Port Alberni Fire Department and Alberni Valley Rescue Squad retrieve a woman who had fallen around 30 metres at Stamp River Provincial Park on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (ALBERNI VALLEY RESCUE SQUAD PHOTO)