A new cedar carving is gracing the halls of Eighth Avenue Learning Centre in Port Alberni that will remind future generations how the students of 2026 learned about collaboration, planning and problem solving through the creation of an enduring piece of art.

The tall piece, probably about eight feet tall, is called mamuukst̓ałin – Working Together. Funded through Island Health, the project brought together students taking Kristin Russell’s land-based learning class, who planned the piece under the guidance of three gifted artists.

A cleansing light rain fell as survivors of the Alberni Indian Residential School gathered for a somber ceremony at the memorial sculpture near Maht Mahs. They were there at the invitation of Tseshaht First Nation to remember those that didn’t make it home from residential school.

The ceremony was centered around the 5th anniversary of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwepemc (Kamloops Indian Band) announcement of the discovery of 215 unmarked burials on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

The plume of smoke that towered over Port Alberni in August 2025 has long disappeared, but an undercurrent of anxiety remains among residents as the region braces for another wildfire season.

The Supreme Court of Canada has created a new civil legal tool that allows survivors of intimate partner violence to sue their abusers for financial damages. 

Writing for the majority of the judges, Justice Nicholas Kasirer found in a decision released on May 15, in the case of Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, that existing torts are not enough to address the full harm caused by intimate partner violence.

Fastening yellow paper event wristbands on fans at the entrance to the Alberni Athletic Hall, Port Alberni resident Graham Hughes committed four days over the May long weekend to volunteer at the third annual Tseshaht Lightning Open basketball tournament. 

This year, the open tournament brought together 75 teams and roughly 28,000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from all over British Columbia. It’s now considered one of region’s largest sport events, selling out accommodation in the Alberni Valley with spill over into Qualicum, Parksville and Nanaimo.

A recent study of British Columbia Chinook salmon found that the species’ food chain varies by location and season. 

The study, led by PhD student Wesley Greentree in partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation, analyzed thousands of salmon stomachs collected by recreational anglers as part of the Adult Salmon Diet Program. The findings, recently published in Fisheries Oceanography, show that salmon diets are closely linked to location and seasonal change.  

If you are an elder with long-time connections to Port Alberni, you probably know about the heartbreaking story of 12-year-old Carolyn Lee who disappeared on her way home from dance class. Sadly, she was found murdered on a rural property at the edge of town on April 14, 1977.

Producers from Vancouver-based Diamondhead Films are exploring the case as part of a project they call Exhibit 21: A Haunting True-Crime Series Traces a 20-Year Hunt for Justice in a small town in British Columbia.