Columnists

A motorhome sits amid the burnt debris in the Village of Lytton, B.C. on Friday, July 9, 2021 following a massive wildfire that tore through the town destroying 90 per cent of it. (Jenna Hauck/ Black Press Media)

OPINION: The Village of Lytton turned to ashes in moments

‘We drive by piles of ash and crumbled brick. What used to be there?’ writes Jenna Hauck

“Occupy the Shelter” protesters set up a covered area, propane heaters and some tents in front of Our Home on Eighth, Port Alberni’s multi-service shelter, to protest the way homelessness is being dealt with. Oct. 25, 2020 (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Alberni’s homeless housing issue is on mute

Now is the time to talk about housing homeless, not once winter hits

Contractors continue to work on the low energy housing project being built on Maitland Street at Eighth Avenue in Port Alberni. Feb. 19, 2021 (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Who’s buying homes in Port Alberni? You’d be surprised

Housing has many facets in the Alberni Valley, popular with Island buyers

A map created by the Ministry of Forests shows the activity of the Bea Fire in Beaverdell, B.C. in 1989, including one house in particular (at bottom right) that was nearly completely surrounded by flames. (Ministry of Forests)

COLUMN: Looking back on historic fire that nearly destroyed a B.C. town

Enormous firefighting effort saved Beaverdell from destruction in 1989

A map created by the Ministry of Forests shows the activity of the Bea Fire in Beaverdell, B.C. in 1989, including one house in particular (at bottom right) that was nearly completely surrounded by flames. (Ministry of Forests)
Smoke from wildfires burning in the U.S. fills the air as the Grouse Mountain tram transports people down the mountain, in North Vancouver, B.C,, on Saturday, September 12, 2020. The World Air Quality Index, a non-profit that tracks air quality from monitoring stations around the world, rated Vancouver’s air quality as the second worst in the world Saturday. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Prepare for the worst: 10 steps to get ready for wildfire smoke

The summer of 2021 has the potential to be worse than any wildfire season before it

Smoke from wildfires burning in the U.S. fills the air as the Grouse Mountain tram transports people down the mountain, in North Vancouver, B.C,, on Saturday, September 12, 2020. The World Air Quality Index, a non-profit that tracks air quality from monitoring stations around the world, rated Vancouver’s air quality as the second worst in the world Saturday. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
River Bend Bridge has gone through different iterations since it was first built circa 1910. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

QUINN’S QUIPS: How much does a name matter?

The debate about the Orange Bridge in Port Alberni isn’t new…

River Bend Bridge has gone through different iterations since it was first built circa 1910. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Trooper Douglas Mar (family name Mah) of Port Alberni, pictured in his Royal Canadian Forces uniform in 1944, is Robinson (Rob) Mah's brother. (PHOTO COURTESY MAH FAMILY)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Second Mah brother known for efforts in Second World War

Douglas Mah was part of secret unit of Chinese Canadian soldiers

Trooper Douglas Mar (family name Mah) of Port Alberni, pictured in his Royal Canadian Forces uniform in 1944, is Robinson (Rob) Mah's brother. (PHOTO COURTESY MAH FAMILY)
Rob Mah was just 20 when he hosted Strictly Jazz, a radio show on CJAV radio in Port Alberni, B.C. A fan of the Big Band era of music, he spun a lot of Dixieland jazz on his show. (PHOTO COURTESY MAH FAMILY)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Radio station’s 75th brings memories to Mah family

Celebrating the late Rob Mah’s victories timely for national Asian heritage month

Rob Mah was just 20 when he hosted Strictly Jazz, a radio show on CJAV radio in Port Alberni, B.C. A fan of the Big Band era of music, he spun a lot of Dixieland jazz on his show. (PHOTO COURTESY MAH FAMILY)
British Columbia Premier John Horgan highlights a paragraph as Finance Minister Selina Robinson tables the budget in a speech in the legislative assembly at the provincial legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

FINLAYSON: 3 takeaways from the new B.C. budget

‘Perhaps most notable is what’s happened in the labour market since last spring’

  • May 10, 2021
British Columbia Premier John Horgan highlights a paragraph as Finance Minister Selina Robinson tables the budget in a speech in the legislative assembly at the provincial legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns gives a thumbs up to active transportation during a presentation of the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce's Bike SEAT program at McLean Mill National Historic site in Port Alberni on April 16, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

QUINN’S QUIPS: MP Gord Johns takes victory ride for cycling strategy

Johns gained a reputation as the bicycle-riding MP during his first year

Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns gives a thumbs up to active transportation during a presentation of the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce's Bike SEAT program at McLean Mill National Historic site in Port Alberni on April 16, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Medical staff is shown preparing a patient outside a hospital in New Delhi. From the start of the pandemic, there have been 19.9 million cases of COVID-19 reported in India until May 3, 2021. 16.3 million have recovered, and there have been 219,000 deaths. (Photo submitted by Vivek)

Column: Let’s uplift the heroes in India’s battle against COVID-19

India reported over 360,000 infections on Monday, May 3

Medical staff is shown preparing a patient outside a hospital in New Delhi. From the start of the pandemic, there have been 19.9 million cases of COVID-19 reported in India until May 3, 2021. 16.3 million have recovered, and there have been 219,000 deaths. (Photo submitted by Vivek)
Chronicle Editor, Cole Schisler taking part in the ageing senses challenge. (Kara Olson photo)

Schisler: Try actually walking a mile in an elder’s shoes

Workday spent with artificially aged senses a real eye-opener

Chronicle Editor, Cole Schisler taking part in the ageing senses challenge. (Kara Olson photo)
A photo and flowers are seen during a funeral service for Humboldt Broncos’ Logan Boulet in Lethbridge, Alta. on Saturday, April 14, 2018. The Alberta hometown for a victim of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash will name an arena after him, and will also make an exception to a decades-old rule that prohibited its mayor from issuing proclamations. Councillors in Lethbridge voted unanimously Monday to approve a name change that will see Adams Park Ice Centre become Logan Boulet Arena. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Rossiter

QUINN’S QUIPS: Take two minutes and give the gift of life

April 7 is Green Shirt Day in Canada, celebrating organ donor awareness

A photo and flowers are seen during a funeral service for Humboldt Broncos’ Logan Boulet in Lethbridge, Alta. on Saturday, April 14, 2018. The Alberta hometown for a victim of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash will name an arena after him, and will also make an exception to a decades-old rule that prohibited its mayor from issuing proclamations. Councillors in Lethbridge voted unanimously Monday to approve a name change that will see Adams Park Ice Centre become Logan Boulet Arena. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Rossiter
Demonstrators have rallied In light of recent increased reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in the Bay Area. (Ekevara Kitpowsong/S.F. Examiner file photo)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Anti-Asian racism hits home for Alberni Valley News editor

I will always be proud of my Asian heritage, and I will always speak out against racism…

Demonstrators have rallied In light of recent increased reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in the Bay Area. (Ekevara Kitpowsong/S.F. Examiner file photo)
Alberni Valley News editor Susie Quinn’s late father Peter, right, and his friend Eldon Oja pause for a photo with the late Babe Gunn during a trip to Gunn’s gallery in the Alberni Valley in 2003. (PHOTO COURTESY QUINN FAMILY)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Respect for rock carving runs in the family

The late sculptor Babe Gunn was a big influence in many ways

Alberni Valley News editor Susie Quinn’s late father Peter, right, and his friend Eldon Oja pause for a photo with the late Babe Gunn during a trip to Gunn’s gallery in the Alberni Valley in 2003. (PHOTO COURTESY QUINN FAMILY)
A nurse prepares to vaccinate healthcare workers at a COVID-19 drive-thru immunization site in Coquitlam in this image supplied to the media by Fraser Health on March 8, 2021. (Fraser Health)

OPINION: Helping a 97-year-old man get his COVID vaccination appointment

Call centre inundated with 1.7 million calls while there are just 50,000 folks over 90 in B.C.

A nurse prepares to vaccinate healthcare workers at a COVID-19 drive-thru immunization site in Coquitlam in this image supplied to the media by Fraser Health on March 8, 2021. (Fraser Health)
FILE - In this Friday, Jan 1, 2021 file photo, a lorry driver's documents are scanned on a phone as he passes a checkpoint for the train through the Eurotunnel link with Europe in Folkestone, England. One month after Britain made a New Year split from the European Union's economic embrace, businesses that once traded freely are getting used to frustrating checks, delays and red tape. Meat exporters say shipments have rotted in trucks awaiting European health checks. Scottish fishermen have protested at Parliament over the catch they can no longer sell to the continent because of byzantine new paperwork. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

FINLAYSON: Government should focus on strengthening B.C.’s leading export industries

To revive the economy, this piece in the strategy is integral, writes Jock Finlayson

  • Mar 1, 2021
FILE - In this Friday, Jan 1, 2021 file photo, a lorry driver's documents are scanned on a phone as he passes a checkpoint for the train through the Eurotunnel link with Europe in Folkestone, England. One month after Britain made a New Year split from the European Union's economic embrace, businesses that once traded freely are getting used to frustrating checks, delays and red tape. Meat exporters say shipments have rotted in trucks awaiting European health checks. Scottish fishermen have protested at Parliament over the catch they can no longer sell to the continent because of byzantine new paperwork. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
Sheila Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions in B.C. (B.C. Government photo)

MALCOLMSON: 2020 left us grappling with overdose tragedy and working for change

B.C.’s Addictions Minister reflects on visit to Overdose Prevention Society in Vancouver

  • Feb 12, 2021
Sheila Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions in B.C. (B.C. Government photo)
The 10,000-ton freighter S.S. Sampep can be seen burning in the Alberni Inlet in front of the assembly wharf fire of Aug. 28, 1947. Port Alberni’s waterfront has constantly changed thanks to fire (among other reasons) in the last 100 years. (PHOTO PN05146 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)

QUINN’S QUIPS: Fire changes the face of a city, not its determination

Port Alberni has survived some big blazes

The 10,000-ton freighter S.S. Sampep can be seen burning in the Alberni Inlet in front of the assembly wharf fire of Aug. 28, 1947. Port Alberni’s waterfront has constantly changed thanks to fire (among other reasons) in the last 100 years. (PHOTO PN05146 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)
When Janis Joseph of Port Alberni saw a social media post about another community doing a ‘heart hunt’, she thought it was a perfect activity for ‘the Community With a Heart.’ (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Tools exist to help parents stay connected with their kids through pandemic

Community advocate offers tips to help families navigate mental health around COVID-19

  • Jan 28, 2021
When Janis Joseph of Port Alberni saw a social media post about another community doing a ‘heart hunt’, she thought it was a perfect activity for ‘the Community With a Heart.’ (SUBMITTED PHOTO)