vancouverisland

Restaurant owners Oura and Kymon Giakoumakis visit the PQB News/VI Free Daily studio. (Peter McCully photo)

PODCAST: COVID-19 pandemic hits Island’s food service industry hard

Pair of Vancouver Island restaurant owners share thoughts and advice

 

Gordon Cyr and his family run Bee Canadian have been raising mason bees for 20 years and provide homeowners across the Island with pollinators every spring. (Black Press Media file photo)

Island company rents out 135,000 mason bees despite the impacts of COVID-19

Bee Canadian delivers pollinators to renters in pandemic-friendly fashion

 

Dan LaRocque visits the PQB News/VI Free Daily studio. (Peter McCully photo)

Podcast: Protect yourself online with some expert tips on security, digital literacy

Vancouver Island’s Dan LaRocque helps seniors and others safely navigate the internet

 

A bald eagle, rehabilitated at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington, has been released into the wild. (NIWRA screen cap)

VIDEO: Rehabilitated B.C. bald eagle released into the wild

Annual North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre event in Errington held virtually due to COVID-19

A bald eagle, rehabilitated at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington, has been released into the wild. (NIWRA screen cap)
Dorothee Kieser, president of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association and a volunteer at Milner Gardens and Woodland in Qualicum Beach (Submitted photo)

Podcast: Getting your green thumb ready for Vancouver Island’s gardening season

Timely tips from Dorothee Kieser of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association

Dorothee Kieser, president of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association and a volunteer at Milner Gardens and Woodland in Qualicum Beach (Submitted photo)
Three people were taken to hospital after a pickup truck and a sedan collided on the Trans-Canada Highway near Nanaimo Airport on Saturday, March 13. (Black Press file photo)

Three people injured in highway crash in front of Nanaimo Airport

Sedan and pickup collided Saturday at Trans-Canada Highway and Timberlands Road

Three people were taken to hospital after a pickup truck and a sedan collided on the Trans-Canada Highway near Nanaimo Airport on Saturday, March 13. (Black Press file photo)
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the Weir family who lost their Errington home in a fire. (Facebook page photo)

Neighbours, friends quick to assist Vancouver Island family that lost home in raging fire

GoFundMe accounts set up for Weir family

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the Weir family who lost their Errington home in a fire. (Facebook page photo)
Mohammad Shafi of Parksville has retired after 70 years in the shoe business. (Facebook photo)

Retiring B.C. shoe store owner donates his entire inventory to Salvation Army

Shafi, 91, retires after more than 70 years in the business

Mohammad Shafi of Parksville has retired after 70 years in the shoe business. (Facebook photo)
A fishing boat goes through a group of sea lions during the start of the herring run in Parksville Qualicum Beach on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Michael Briones photo)

Herring run now underway in Parksville Qualicum Beach region

PHOTOS: Dozens of onlookers, photographers take in the early action

A fishing boat goes through a group of sea lions during the start of the herring run in Parksville Qualicum Beach on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Michael Briones photo)
Westwood Lake is one of a number of popular Nanaimo fihing holes recently stocked with catchable-size rainbow trout from the Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery.

There are fresh fish to catch in Nanaimo’s lakes

Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery released thousands of catchable-size rainbow trout this week

Westwood Lake is one of a number of popular Nanaimo fihing holes recently stocked with catchable-size rainbow trout from the Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery.
This poster, spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19 restrictions, has been popping up in communities across Vancouver Island.

UPDATED: Poster popping up in Island communities falsely claiming COVID restrictions are over

Unattributed poster claims COVID restrictions ended March 1; Island Health responds

This poster, spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19 restrictions, has been popping up in communities across Vancouver Island.
The current boat used by Rugged Coast Research Society for remote shoreline cleanup operations will be replaced by a landing craft that will allow society members to haul four times as much marine garbage per trip from Vancouver Island’s remote shorelines. (Agathe Bernard photo/Rugged Coast Research Society)

Nanaimo-based research group needs bigger boat for coastal cleanups

Rugged Coast Research Society raising cash for landing craft to pull trash from remote shorelines

The current boat used by Rugged Coast Research Society for remote shoreline cleanup operations will be replaced by a landing craft that will allow society members to haul four times as much marine garbage per trip from Vancouver Island’s remote shorelines. (Agathe Bernard photo/Rugged Coast Research Society)
Eric Hjorliefson, Mark Abma and Chris Rubens climb for their powder on Mount Cain. Matchstick Productions image.

VIDEO: New Mt. Cain ski documentary eye-candy for powder lovers

A freeskiing documentary set at Vancouver Island’s Mount Cain is making waves…

Eric Hjorliefson, Mark Abma and Chris Rubens climb for their powder on Mount Cain. Matchstick Productions image.
Wounded Warriors runner Marissa Morison, representing BC Ambulance Service, runs through Sooke, B.C. on Feb. 7, 2021 during a practice run for the main event. The Vancouver Island run has been tentatively rescheduled to April 11-18. (PHOTO COURTESY JOHN PENNER, JOHN’S PHOTOGRAPHY)

Wounded Warriors reschedule Vancouver Island run to April

Annual February relay run forced to postpone due to COVID-19

Wounded Warriors runner Marissa Morison, representing BC Ambulance Service, runs through Sooke, B.C. on Feb. 7, 2021 during a practice run for the main event. The Vancouver Island run has been tentatively rescheduled to April 11-18. (PHOTO COURTESY JOHN PENNER, JOHN’S PHOTOGRAPHY)
The 2021 Brant Wildlife Festival marks 31 years of raising awareness of our natural landscapes and the species that rely on them. Fern Fennell photo

Brant Wildlife Festival wings its way to local beaches, marshes, backyards + beyond

While the distinctive black-and-white Brant geese are the “poster birds” of the…

The 2021 Brant Wildlife Festival marks 31 years of raising awareness of our natural landscapes and the species that rely on them. Fern Fennell photo
Chris Herbert in the PQB News/VI Free Daily studio. (Peter McCully photo)

PQBeat: Writer Chris Hebert discusses the wine scene on Vancouver Island and around B.C.

Podcast: Talk also includes food pairings, tips for beginners and more

Chris Herbert in the PQB News/VI Free Daily studio. (Peter McCully photo)
A red dress hangs on the side of the highway near Campbell River. Groups on Vancouver Island are hanging red dresses at prominent locations to raise awareness about Missing/Murdered Indigenous women on the island. (Photo by Binny Paul/Campbell River Mirror)

Red dresses hang across Vancouver Island to keep missing women front of mind

Advocates concerned incidents of Vancouver Island Murdered/Missing Women & Girls under-reported

A red dress hangs on the side of the highway near Campbell River. Groups on Vancouver Island are hanging red dresses at prominent locations to raise awareness about Missing/Murdered Indigenous women on the island. (Photo by Binny Paul/Campbell River Mirror)
Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from ‘Gilligan’s Island’) aboard the ‘SS Minnow’. (Photo submitted, courtesy Ken Schley)

Gilligan’s Podcast: tales of Mary Ann and more with co-owner of the ‘SS Minnow’

Podcast: Quality Foods founding partner a co-owner of iconic ‘Gilligan’s Island’ boat

Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from ‘Gilligan’s Island’) aboard the ‘SS Minnow’. (Photo submitted, courtesy Ken Schley)
A Vancouver Island teacher has started a petition imploring B.C. Premier John Horgan to close provincial borders to non-essential travel and enforce stricter quarantine measures for travellers. (B.C. government)

Teacher launches petition for B.C. to close provincial border, impose stricter quarantine

Province says what works elsewhere may not work here

A Vancouver Island teacher has started a petition imploring B.C. Premier John Horgan to close provincial borders to non-essential travel and enforce stricter quarantine measures for travellers. (B.C. government)
Aquaculture employee from Vancouver Island, Michelle, poses with a comment that she received on social media. Facebook group Women in Canadian Salmon Farming started an online campaign #enoughisenough to highlight the harassment they were facing online after debates about Discovery Islands fish farms intensified on social media. (Submitted photo)

Female aquaculture employees report online bullying, say divisive debate has turned sexist

Vancouver Island’s female aquaculture employees start #enoughisenough to address misogynistic comments aimed at them

Aquaculture employee from Vancouver Island, Michelle, poses with a comment that she received on social media. Facebook group Women in Canadian Salmon Farming started an online campaign #enoughisenough to highlight the harassment they were facing online after debates about Discovery Islands fish farms intensified on social media. (Submitted photo)