Susie Quinn

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Darleen Watts, president of the Westcoast Native Healthcare Society turns over some soil to Haa’yuups (Ron Hamilton) during a ceremonial ground-breaking for a new building at Tsawaayuus-Rainbow Gardens on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Site manager Gerri Thomas looks on. The event had to be moved indoors after a rain squall soaked the area shortly before everything was about to begin outside. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Tsawaayuus-Rainbow Gardens expanding with five-storey apartment

Port Alberni-based complex will add independent living units for seniors

Darleen Watts, president of the Westcoast Native Healthcare Society turns over some soil to Haa’yuups (Ron Hamilton) during a ceremonial ground-breaking for a new building at Tsawaayuus-Rainbow Gardens on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Site manager Gerri Thomas looks on. The event had to be moved indoors after a rain squall soaked the area shortly before everything was about to begin outside. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
The Somass Sawmill sits idle in early May 2021. While the kilns have been in use occasionally, and the lot has been used to store woodchips this spring, the mill has been curtailed since July 27, 2017. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Port Alberni to expropriate Somass Sawmill from Western Forest Products

Sawmill has been ‘indefinitely’ curtailed since 2017

The Somass Sawmill sits idle in early May 2021. While the kilns have been in use occasionally, and the lot has been used to store woodchips this spring, the mill has been curtailed since July 27, 2017. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY Council members and witnesses from the Hupacasath First Nation, left, and Tseshaht First Nation, right, prepare to raise their respective flags in front of Port Alberni City Hall on Monday, June 21, 2021. The flags will permanently fly as part of the city’s reconciliation work. See more coverage from the flag raising ceremony on page A5. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Hupacasath, Tseshaht First Nations flags to fly at Port Alberni City Hall

Addition of permanent Indigenous flags are a response to reconciliation

CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY Council members and witnesses from the Hupacasath First Nation, left, and Tseshaht First Nation, right, prepare to raise their respective flags in front of Port Alberni City Hall on Monday, June 21, 2021. The flags will permanently fly as part of the city’s reconciliation work. See more coverage from the flag raising ceremony on page A5. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Two ambulances and a medevac helicopter are on scene at Taylor River Flats rest area on Highway 4 due to a serious motor vehicle incident. (PHOTO COURTESY MAGGIE BROWN)

Highway 4 reopens after accident at Taylor River Flats

Multi-vehicle crash had closed highway to west coast

Two ambulances and a medevac helicopter are on scene at Taylor River Flats rest area on Highway 4 due to a serious motor vehicle incident. (PHOTO COURTESY MAGGIE BROWN)
Haahuupayak School teacher Heather Lucas, left, talks to her Grade 5/6 class about the blessing ceremony they are about to perform to honour the school’s new outdoor education space, June 10, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

New learning area gives Haahuupayak School students room to connect with nature

Students bless outdoor learning space

Haahuupayak School teacher Heather Lucas, left, talks to her Grade 5/6 class about the blessing ceremony they are about to perform to honour the school’s new outdoor education space, June 10, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
EJ Dunn principal Darrin Olson, left, and Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Councils Richard Samuel, right, present Trey Kyte, second from left, with his Grades 2-3 Spring Festival 2021 winning poster. With them are Kytes fellow banner painters Liam Horbatch, Sybil Purwins and Macen Avery. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

SD70’s biennial First Nations spring festival goes virtual for 2021

Alberni Valley schools showcase Indigenous learnings from past year

EJ Dunn principal Darrin Olson, left, and Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Councils Richard Samuel, right, present Trey Kyte, second from left, with his Grades 2-3 Spring Festival 2021 winning poster. With them are Kytes fellow banner painters Liam Horbatch, Sybil Purwins and Macen Avery. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Two dozen people line Johnston Road in front of Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Josie Osborne’s office during a province-wide protest against old growth logging, June 10, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

B.C. must cease old-growth logging, say Port Alberni protesters

Deferral isn’t enough, say advocates

Two dozen people line Johnston Road in front of Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Josie Osborne’s office during a province-wide protest against old growth logging, June 10, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Port Alberni RCMP officer in command Insp. Eric Rochette presents longtime community policing volunteer Louie Aumair with a OIC appreciation certificate. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Port Alberni RCMP honour longtime volunteer

First responders receive support from broader community

Port Alberni RCMP officer in command Insp. Eric Rochette presents longtime community policing volunteer Louie Aumair with a OIC appreciation certificate. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Shanna Ramm of Mosaic is the first person to graduate with a Bachelor of Disability Management from Pacific Coast University-Workplace Health Sciences. Her convocation took place virtually on Dec. 1, 2020. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

PROGRESS 2021: Pacific Coast University celebrates with milestones

Alberni institution earns $6M return-to-work grant from province

Shanna Ramm of Mosaic is the first person to graduate with a Bachelor of Disability Management from Pacific Coast University-Workplace Health Sciences. Her convocation took place virtually on Dec. 1, 2020. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
The front entrance of West Coast General Hospital features a roundabout and a garden. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

PROGRESS 2021: West Coast General Hospital sees changing of the guard

New doctors are establishing practices in Port Alberni

The front entrance of West Coast General Hospital features a roundabout and a garden. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
New building developments, such as this one on Anderson Avenue, are popping up all over the Alberni Valley as the housing market continues to heat up. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

PROGRESS 2021: Port Alberni faces unique challenges with housing

Island city seen as one of the most desirable for homebuyers, but where does that leave residents

New building developments, such as this one on Anderson Avenue, are popping up all over the Alberni Valley as the housing market continues to heat up. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Jennifer Weightman of Port Alberni started working at the Coulson Sawmill, now owned by San Group, on the green chain when she was a teenager. Now she is the sole operator of the new hewsaw. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

PROGRESS 2021: Moving up from the green chain to the green machine

Jennifer Weightman runs San Group’s new hewsaw at Coulson Sawmill

Jennifer Weightman of Port Alberni started working at the Coulson Sawmill, now owned by San Group, on the green chain when she was a teenager. Now she is the sole operator of the new hewsaw. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Cairam “Khai” Allam is a welder/ fabricator with Canadian Maritime Engineering in Port Alberni, B.C. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

PROGRESS 2021: Port Alberni welder wanted to work for CME, so she learned new trade

Shipbuilding company has more than doubled in two years, predicts more growth

Cairam “Khai” Allam is a welder/ fabricator with Canadian Maritime Engineering in Port Alberni, B.C. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
The beach at Canal Waterfront Park in Port Alberni is closed due to high bacterial counts. (June 9, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Canal Beach closed to swimming due to high bacterial counts

This is the third advisory for the beach in three years

The beach at Canal Waterfront Park in Port Alberni is closed due to high bacterial counts. (June 9, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
The Mount Rainier is moored at Port Alberni Port Authority’s Berth 3 to receive a load of raw logs on May 28. Berth 3 will become busier after San Group announced June 2 it has reached a deal to ship finished lumber products. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

PROGRESS 2021: Lumber returns to Port Alberni’s deep sea port

San Group, Port Alberni Port Authority announce multi-million-dollar shipping deal

The Mount Rainier is moored at Port Alberni Port Authority’s Berth 3 to receive a load of raw logs on May 28. Berth 3 will become busier after San Group announced June 2 it has reached a deal to ship finished lumber products. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Plastic bottles collected during the cleanup and brand audit at Kits Beach on Coast Salish Territory, Vancouver, B.C., on Sept. 21, 2019. (Greenpeace)

Alberni Aquarium holds shoreline cleanup June 12

Track your trash and win a prize

Plastic bottles collected during the cleanup and brand audit at Kits Beach on Coast Salish Territory, Vancouver, B.C., on Sept. 21, 2019. (Greenpeace)
Trish Cusson of Bikes For Kids, left, brings bicycles for Candice Roberts from Cycle Alberni and Sonja Whitehead, a teacher from Wood School, for the Wood School bike program. The bikes replace some that were stolen from a storage shed earlier in 2021. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Nanaimo’s Bikes for Kids helps replace bikes stolen from Port Alberni school

A kids’ cycling program in Nanaimo has donated bicycles to Wood School…

Trish Cusson of Bikes For Kids, left, brings bicycles for Candice Roberts from Cycle Alberni and Sonja Whitehead, a teacher from Wood School, for the Wood School bike program. The bikes replace some that were stolen from a storage shed earlier in 2021. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Fire crews from Port Alberni Fire Department, Cherry Creek, Beaver Creek and Sproat Lake volunteer departments and BC Ambulance respond to a fire at Harbourview Apartments on Third Avenue, Saturday, June 5, 2021. (ELENA RARDON/ Alberni Valley News)

One person sent to hospital in Port Alberni apartment fire

Several tenants from Harbourview Apartments receive temporary housing after blaze

Fire crews from Port Alberni Fire Department, Cherry Creek, Beaver Creek and Sproat Lake volunteer departments and BC Ambulance respond to a fire at Harbourview Apartments on Third Avenue, Saturday, June 5, 2021. (ELENA RARDON/ Alberni Valley News)
The boat launch at the Water Street Wharf will be closed Thursday, June 3, 2021 so the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) can work on its pier. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Boat launch closes June 3 for spill response base construction

Parking lot behind Port Boat House will also be affected

The boat launch at the Water Street Wharf will be closed Thursday, June 3, 2021 so the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) can work on its pier. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
San Group owners Kamal Sanghera, left, Suki Sanghera and Paul Deol (from the Langley operation) announce $100 million in investments in their Port Alberni forestry operations on June 2, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

San Group will invest $100M in four forestry-based projects in Port Alberni

Deal includes $50M to start shipping lumber instead of raw logs from Island port

San Group owners Kamal Sanghera, left, Suki Sanghera and Paul Deol (from the Langley operation) announce $100 million in investments in their Port Alberni forestry operations on June 2, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)