Hesquiaht First Nation’s Mariella Huebner was one of seven Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) Grade 12 students to run for the Totem Spirit award this year. 

As part of her campaign, Huebner organized a Christmas community toy drive for the Salvation Army and volunteered at the hospital.   

“We all have so much to offer in our own unique way. I didn’t really care about winning. Winning was giving the opportunity to be allowed to run for Totem Spirit,” said Huebner on Totem 70 finals day.

Totem fans trickled in slowly, starting with the senior girls final at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10, which saw Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Dolphins outshoot Victoria’s Pacific Christian Pacers 88-73 to win a Totem 70 trophy. 

Dolphins head coach Shayne Pfeiffer said his team pushed hard throughout the three-day basketball tournament. They opened with a 50-44 win over Alberni Storm girls on Thursday.

“We are really proud of them. It’s always a circled date on our calendar to be here at Totem and to go away with gold medals is just icing on the cake,” said coach Pfeiffer.

British Columbia’s police oversight agency has determined that officers acted appropriately when they shot a Tla-o-qui-aht woman after responding to a domestic disturbance call in 2021.

While it wasn’t the worst fire season in B.C. history, the 2025 wildfires of central Vancouver Island impacted the lives of far more residents than in previous years. 

The two wildfires near Port Alberni proved that west coast communities are vulnerable when it comes to road access. While one fire burned at Cameron Lake another fire broke out on Franklin River Road, cutting Port Alberni off from the provincially-established emergency detour route.

The West Coast General’s ICU remains closed a month a half after a staffing shortage forced the hospital to scale back critical care services - but three nurses have been hired to help with the situation, with several more candidates being considered.

Time to rock the tie-dye and bell-bottoms you Totem fans because this coming January 8, 9 and 10, Alberni District Secondary School’s (ADSS) legendary Totem high school basketball tournament is turning 70. 

Mariella Huebner says the whole weekend is going to be ‘70s themed. She is one of eight Grade 12 students vying for the Totem Spirit award. 

The Hesquiaht Descendants are confident they can improve upon their performance from last February at the upcoming All Native Basketball Tournament.

The women’s squad is gearing up for the 2026 tourney, which will be staged in Prince Rupert from Feb. 14-21.

The tournament, which will celebrate its 66th edition next year, is one of the most prestigious Indigenous hoops events in British Columbia.

The maximum of 64 squads will compete in the 2026 tourney. Clubs will be divided into five divisions.

For 30-minutes each week, students in Ucluelet Secondary School’s (USS) Reading for Pleasure are whisked away to the library to cozy up with a book and eat healthy snacks.

No phones. No social media. The only AI in the room is All Imagination.

“The key is to have books that they actually want to read,” said USS librarian and English department chair Lucas Anderson. “A lot of the books were outdated and not connecting with the kids.”

The public bus service connecting Tofino and Ucluelet is expanding in the new year.

Starting Jan. 4, 2026, West Coast Transit riders will benefit from more frequent midday trips and a late-night service will also be reintroduced, with buses departing Ucluelet at 9:20 p.m. and Tofino at 10:25 p.m. 

Operated by BC Transit and the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD), the West Coast Transit System has stops in Tofino, Ucluelet, Long Beach, the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ community of hitaću, and the Tla-o-qui-aht communities of Esowista and Ty-histanis.

It’s been just over fifty years since the 1975 International Conference of Indigenous Peoples was held on Tseshaht territory – a gathering for international Aboriginal solidarity that took place in the former Alberni Indian Residential School. 

Indigenous representatives from 19 countries attended the inaugural conference, which made up about 260 participants and 135 observers.