Susie Quinn

Family and friends reported James Vezina of Port Alberni missing on May 31, 2022. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)

UPDATE: Missing Port Alberni man found safe by search and rescue volunteers

Family and friends reported that James Vezina has been missing since May 31

Family and friends reported James Vezina of Port Alberni missing on May 31, 2022. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)
Two wooden barns that are part of the Alberni District Fall Fairgrounds go up in flames in the early morning hours of May 17, 2022. (PHOTO COURTESY PETER HESSE)

Suspicious fire destroys two empty horse barns at Port Alberni’s fall fairgrounds

It’s the third suspicious fire in the past six months at the site, officials say

Two wooden barns that are part of the Alberni District Fall Fairgrounds go up in flames in the early morning hours of May 17, 2022. (PHOTO COURTESY PETER HESSE)
Asger Bentzen and his friend Liz Huff were walking on the grounds at Tsawaayuus Rainbow Gardens on April 26, 2022 when Asger spotted this special ‘adventure’ rock along the path. The rock originated in Port Angeles, Wash. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Retired geologist discovers travelling ‘adventure rock’ in Port Alberni

Rock originated in Port Angeles, travels Vancouver Island

Asger Bentzen and his friend Liz Huff were walking on the grounds at Tsawaayuus Rainbow Gardens on April 26, 2022 when Asger spotted this special ‘adventure’ rock along the path. The rock originated in Port Angeles, Wash. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
There were nearly 400 earthquakes recorded in Canada in the month of April 2022. (MAP COURTESY EARTHQUAKES CANADA)

400 and counting: Vancouver Island epicentre of a busy earthquake month in Canada

Few regions in Canada escape Earth’s shake, rattle and roll, says seismologist

There were nearly 400 earthquakes recorded in Canada in the month of April 2022. (MAP COURTESY EARTHQUAKES CANADA)
Alberni Valley Bulldogs’ captain Stephen Castagna digs the puck out from a crowd behind the Langley Rivermen’s net late in the third period of Game 5 of the BC Hockey League’s Coastal Conference semifinal, April 22, 2022 at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Commentator banned from BC Hockey League after on-air racial comment

Incident happened live during BCHL TV broadcast of junior A playoff game in Port Alberni

Alberni Valley Bulldogs’ captain Stephen Castagna digs the puck out from a crowd behind the Langley Rivermen’s net late in the third period of Game 5 of the BC Hockey League’s Coastal Conference semifinal, April 22, 2022 at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Brent Fedirchuk, right, receives the 2016 Wayne Demoskoff Volunteer of the Year award from sponsor Peter Mugleston of the Best Western Barclay Plus Hotel at the Funtastic Alberni/ Okee Dokee Slopitch tournament. (PHOTO COURTESY FUNTASTIC ALBERNI)

Vancouver Island helicopter pilot mourned after fatal crash

Brent Fedirchuk, from Port Alberni, died April 6 in a helicopter crash north of Sayward

Brent Fedirchuk, right, receives the 2016 Wayne Demoskoff Volunteer of the Year award from sponsor Peter Mugleston of the Best Western Barclay Plus Hotel at the Funtastic Alberni/ Okee Dokee Slopitch tournament. (PHOTO COURTESY FUNTASTIC ALBERNI)
A Port Alberni RCMP member talks to a paramedics working on a young cyclist hit on 14th Avenue on Friday, April 8, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Vancouver Island youth suffers head injuries in bicycle versus car collision

RCMP renews calls for motorcycle, bicycle riders to wear helmets after Port Alberni incident

A Port Alberni RCMP member talks to a paramedics working on a young cyclist hit on 14th Avenue on Friday, April 8, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Nicola-Cree Belcourt’s family members hold posters of the young woman near the place in Port Alberni where her body was found on April 2, 2022. Her family is appealing to anyone with information on her death to please come forward. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Family of woman found dead in Port Alberni ‘call her home’ with Indigenous ceremony

Port Alberni RCMP are still looking for video, information into Merritt woman’s death

Nicola-Cree Belcourt’s family members hold posters of the young woman near the place in Port Alberni where her body was found on April 2, 2022. Her family is appealing to anyone with information on her death to please come forward. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Patrick Lucas and his mother, Florence (Judy) Campbell, hold a framed print featuring Lucas’s son Dontay Patrick, at a vigil March 22, 2022 at Victoria Quay in Port Alberni. Dontay Lucas died four years ago at age six. Father Patrick is still waiting for answers from the RCMP about his son’s death. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

‘His life mattered’: Island family waits for answers 4 years after little boy’s death

Family of deceased six-year-old Dontay-Patrick Lucas with vigil at Port Alberni’s Victoria Quay

Patrick Lucas and his mother, Florence (Judy) Campbell, hold a framed print featuring Lucas’s son Dontay Patrick, at a vigil March 22, 2022 at Victoria Quay in Port Alberni. Dontay Lucas died four years ago at age six. Father Patrick is still waiting for answers from the RCMP about his son’s death. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Gaylene Ruel, left, and owner Brad DeClercq from Starboard Grill, and former Little Bavaria owner Kathy Krznaric prepare pierogi for the final stretch of the Ukrainian feast at Starboard on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (ELLIOT DREW/ Alberni Valley News)

5,000 Island pierogi and 2,000 Island cabbage rolls raise $16,000 for Ukrainian aid

Starboard Grill week-long fundraiser creates special meals to help in humanitarian effort

Gaylene Ruel, left, and owner Brad DeClercq from Starboard Grill, and former Little Bavaria owner Kathy Krznaric prepare pierogi for the final stretch of the Ukrainian feast at Starboard on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (ELLIOT DREW/ Alberni Valley News)
Ukrainian members of the 2008-09 Canada World Youth exchange dress in their traditional clothing for an event in Port Alberni 13 years ago. (PHOTO COURTESY BEN SCHEIDEGGER)

Canada-Ukraine exchange students return to B.C. town to help and to remember

2008-09 Canada World Youth students spent three months in Ukraine and three months in Alberni

Ukrainian members of the 2008-09 Canada World Youth exchange dress in their traditional clothing for an event in Port Alberni 13 years ago. (PHOTO COURTESY BEN SCHEIDEGGER)
The Port Alberni Wounded Warriors team, led by Dave Nesbitt in front, runs down Third Avenue during a practice run in 2021. The team will be arriving in Port Alberni on March 3, 2022 for a fundraiser dinner at the Legion. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Pair of Vancouver Island first responders run with Wounded Warriors

Maria Marciano, Dave Nesbitt and team taking part in annual Island-wide mental health trek

The Port Alberni Wounded Warriors team, led by Dave Nesbitt in front, runs down Third Avenue during a practice run in 2021. The team will be arriving in Port Alberni on March 3, 2022 for a fundraiser dinner at the Legion. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
Jacqueline Windh and David Gilbert in June 2019 teamed up with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Spanish Embassy and some Nuu-chah-nulth partners to undertake an historical expedition of Vancouver’s northwest coast. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Vancouver Island scientist gets national honour for coastal exploration

Royal Canadian Geographical Society honours Jacqueline Windh with medal

Jacqueline Windh and David Gilbert in June 2019 teamed up with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Spanish Embassy and some Nuu-chah-nulth partners to undertake an historical expedition of Vancouver’s northwest coast. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Emergency responders on scene at an apartment fire on Port Alberni’s Gertrude Street. Susie Quinn/Alberni Valley News

Residents displaced after Port Alberni apartment fire

One unit receives ‘extensive’ damage, two cats perish, fire chief said

Emergency responders on scene at an apartment fire on Port Alberni’s Gertrude Street. Susie Quinn/Alberni Valley News
Sean Baxandall was driving south of Campbell River when he saw a bright flash of light (centre of screen) moving fast through the sky on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (SCREENSHOT FROM VIDEO)

VIDEO: Loud boom, bright light likely a meteor, says Vancouver Island seismologist

Island-wide reports are tell-tale signs of an exploding meteor

Sean Baxandall was driving south of Campbell River when he saw a bright flash of light (centre of screen) moving fast through the sky on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (SCREENSHOT FROM VIDEO)
Mount Arrowsmith on Vancouver Island. (Nancy Randall photo)

Was bright light and loud boom over Vancouver Island caused by a meteor?

People from Victoria to Campbell River and Tofino report flash of light in sky on Dec. 12

Mount Arrowsmith on Vancouver Island. (Nancy Randall photo)
Brad Cyr is a third-generation logger from Port Hardy who began working a union job as a grapple yarder in Port Alberni in December. He brought his concerns and a freshly cut slice from a stump to the ‘Stand Up for Forestry’ rally on Johnston Road Dec. 9, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

B.C. loggers rally to protest government deferral plan for old-growth logging

Forestry workers, families mass in Port Alberni to speak out about move’s far-reaching effects

Brad Cyr is a third-generation logger from Port Hardy who began working a union job as a grapple yarder in Port Alberni in December. He brought his concerns and a freshly cut slice from a stump to the ‘Stand Up for Forestry’ rally on Johnston Road Dec. 9, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Port Alberni RCMP and BC Ambulance members attend to a person on Fourth Avenue on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Port Alberni RCMP investigate fatality after car suddenly pulls over to curb

Block between Burde and Bute Streets is closed to traffic

Port Alberni RCMP and BC Ambulance members attend to a person on Fourth Avenue on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
‘Road flooded’ signs in the 3500-block of Fourth Avenue caution drivers who are trying to get around in heavy rain on Sept. 17, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Heavy rainfall in Port Alberni came close to setting records

First real storm of September overwhelmed waterways in central Island city

‘Road flooded’ signs in the 3500-block of Fourth Avenue caution drivers who are trying to get around in heavy rain on Sept. 17, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Carver Tim Paul, left, talks with a collaborator prior to the ‘closing the eyes’ ceremony for n’aasn’aas?aqsa Aug. 13, 2021 at the Maritime Discovery Centre. The totem will be unveiled in its final resting place near Victoria Quay on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

New home for Indigenous language totem pole in Port Alberni

Language pole was a joint carving project in partnership with the United Nations

Carver Tim Paul, left, talks with a collaborator prior to the ‘closing the eyes’ ceremony for n’aasn’aas?aqsa Aug. 13, 2021 at the Maritime Discovery Centre. The totem will be unveiled in its final resting place near Victoria Quay on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)