The Alberni District Secondary’s Sr Girls basketball team placed second to Pacific Christian School (PCS) 41-73 at Totem 68 after a fast-paced game of battling up and down the court, using their sense of teamwork and communication to their advantage.

“I was hoping we were [going to] get to this spot,” said Hayleigh Watts of Tseshaht, before going on court for her final game on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Going into the game Watts, who was awarded All Star for Totem 68 alongside her teammate Ella McDougal, knew it would be tough playing PCS.

The whole gymnasium of Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) was filled shoulder to shoulder erupting in cheer as ADSS Sr Boys Basketball team fought for third place in Totem 68. Both teams played as though every second counted, battling to the very last, but ADSS stole the win 76-71 against Ballenas.

Vancouver Island is facing record-setting freezing temperatures, raising concerns for the safety of the homeless population.

On Thursday, Jan. 11, the first night of the cold snap, bone chilling temperatures began dropping before sunset. By 7 p.m. Port Alberni’s warming centres were offering hot drinks and a place to get out of the bitter cold, but people were still milling around on the streets with the temperature at minus 3 C. By morning, the temperature dropped to minus 10 C with wind chill factoring in at minus 19 C, according to local weather reports.

“Your paper needs a name” was spread across the top of the first Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper in big bold letters on January 24, 1974. The idea of the newspaper was conceived by the West Coast District Council of Indian Chiefs in the hope of improving communication between the First Nations governments and the council, reads the front-page story, an idea that has now spanned 50 years.

In just over a year, a new 48-unit independent living apartment building located on the Tsawaayuus Rainbow Gardens Campus of Care in Port Alberni has helped low-to-moderate income Indigenous elders and seniors with disabilities overcome housing barriers while building a community.

“There is definitely [a] community developing amongst the residents that… were new to each other when they moved in, and now they're friends,” said Art Van Volsen, building manager of the apartment complex, Huupsitas.

For Noelani Watts of Tseshaht, she watched her first Totem when she was in Grade 6, which inspired her to be involved in the tournament as a cheerleader.

“I just remember watching all the Totem spirit candidates and seeing the cheerleaders and being like, ‘I can't wait to be in high school’,” said Watts. “I wish I could go back to that first time watching Totem again and just get… those butterflies of all the people around you and how exciting it is.”

This year intensive projects are underway off Vancouver Island’s coast to take a closer look at the health of salmon species - including research into the controversial angling practice of catch and release.

Brooklyn Doiron, a Tseshaht and Ahousaht player on Alberni District Secondary’s senior boys basketball team, will be going into his second year playing at Totem, with a lot of hard work and a bigger role to fill.

“I'm excited because I have a way bigger role this year,” said Doiron. “I've gotten a lot better at basketball, [I’ve] been working on my game.”

Last year Doiron supported the team through the tournament as they stole the Totem title, 59-51, against defending champions Carihi.

On Dec. 25 Highway 4 saw its first highly anticipated unexpected closure when rocks and debris fell along Cameron Lake. Less than 24 hours later, the highway reopened allowing community members of Port Alberni and beyond to travel again.

“Even prior to the Cameron Bluffs fire, Highway 4 has always had [a history of] materials [coming] down periodically,” said Janelle Staite, regional deputy director for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI). “It is a very long and steep slope in the area.”