The Highway 4 – Kennedy Hill Improvement Project remains slated to be substantially complete this fall, with finishing touches outside of the roadway continuing throughout the winter. 

Drivers travelling on Highway 4 can still expect delays as the road improvement project enters the final stages of construction. The project is approximately 90 per cent complete.

When entering another nation’s territory by canoe, it was critical to ask permission to land before coming to shore.

This is part of the explanation given by Tseshaht member Robert Watts to a large group of high school students, who came to the water for the final section of a multi-disciplinary learning unit on the science of buoyancy, teamwork and cultural identity.

Described as a “new podcast about memory, power and the journey to find truth,” Taapwaywin: Talking about what we know and what we believe is the latest project from the University of Victoria Libraries. Hosted by associate university librarian Ry Moran, the podcast aims to speak with elders, knowledge keepers, and others from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to tell stories and highlight the experiences of Aboriginal people.

The students of 8th Avenue Learning Centre, which offers an alternative education program for high school, will soon be building a Nuu-chah-nulth-style smokehouse on the grounds of the school thanks to a grant from Community Futures Fund.

Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) is buzzing with excitement as students, parents, and teachers gather to welcome the newest additions to the school, grade eights. 

Jackie Chambers, one of the student success teachers at ADSS, said the evening was an important way to connect students and families to the high school.

Pacheedaht First Nation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Teal Cedar Products Ltd. that they hope will build on an existing relationship between the nation and the company. Chief Jeff Jones says the MOU, signed Sept. 8, will facilitate dialogue between the parties allowing them to explore economic development opportunities while balancing PFN interest in stewarding the lands water and resources of its territories.

Improving mental health supports when dealing with repeat criminal offenders and random violent attacks is at the forefront of an expert-led report that provided 28 recommendations to the provincial government.

Expert consultants Amanda Butler and Doug LePard say the recommendations should help keep people and communities safe by connecting repeat offenders with the supports they need to break out of that cycle.

In a small city that can be seen as a microcosm of Canada’s movement towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, Port Alberni’s residents poured onto its streets Sept. 30, clad in orange to mark the day of recognition.

But during the evening of the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a collective spirit of understanding and support became tainted when an “Every Child Matters” slogan painted on a Port Alberni landmark was vandalized with a racist slur.

A court ruling has put a young Tseshaht girl into the custody of her grandparents, moving one Indigenous child out of foster care, while thousands remain in a system that is being compared to the removal of children during the residential school era.

Judge Alexander Wolf cited the decision as an example of what needs to happen more if the number of Indigenous children in care are to decline, an issue that is particularly relevant on Sept. 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.