Parksville

Arrowsmith Search and Rescue helped locate a cyclist who got lost in a trail in Nanoose Bay on June 1, 2020. (ASAR photo)

Search and rescue crews help locate 62-year-old Nanoose Bay mountain biker

RCMP: Man got lost on trail and did right thing by calling for assistance

Arrowsmith Search and Rescue helped locate a cyclist who got lost in a trail in Nanoose Bay on June 1, 2020. (ASAR photo)
Ivy Ha, co-owner of Ivy Nails & Spa with husband Brian Yoon are happy to receive so much support and kindness from customers like Carol Carr after their salon was vandalized twice just days apart. (Michael Briones photo)

‘Proud to be in Canada’: Immigrant owners of vandalized Island business grateful for support

Parksville salon damaged twice within days

Ivy Ha, co-owner of Ivy Nails & Spa with husband Brian Yoon are happy to receive so much support and kindness from customers like Carol Carr after their salon was vandalized twice just days apart. (Michael Briones photo)
Englishman River Falls Provincial Park will re-open May 14. (Michael Briones photo)

Vancouver Island’s provincial parks ready to reopen

Visitors advised to follow physical distancing protocols as day use returns to selected parks May 14

Englishman River Falls Provincial Park will re-open May 14. (Michael Briones photo)
Vancouver Island Regional Library has signed up more thant 1,300 new members since it launched its online card registration March 17. (File photo)

COVID-19: Interest in digital offerings soars in Vancouver Island libraries

More than 1,300 people sign up for online membership

Vancouver Island Regional Library has signed up more thant 1,300 new members since it launched its online card registration March 17. (File photo)
Restoring rail service on the Island was discussed at the Island Corridor Foundation’s town hall meeting at the Beach Club in Parksville on Thursday. ��� Michael Briones photo

Vancouver Island First Nation calls for repurposing of E&N rail line

Suggestion: ‘A level, accessible, paved trail that connects communities and promotes recreation’

Restoring rail service on the Island was discussed at the Island Corridor Foundation’s town hall meeting at the Beach Club in Parksville on Thursday. ��� Michael Briones photo
Nanoose Volunteer Fire Department firefighters hosed down a pile of garbage that was hauled out from a semi-trailer that caught fire at the Parksville weigh station on Tuesday, April 28. (Michael Briones photo)

Trailer trash catches fire at Parksville weigh station

Excavator used to haul out garbage for Nanoose fire crews to hose down

Nanoose Volunteer Fire Department firefighters hosed down a pile of garbage that was hauled out from a semi-trailer that caught fire at the Parksville weigh station on Tuesday, April 28. (Michael Briones photo)
St. Anne’s Church in Parksville. (File photo)

COVID-19: Parksville’s homeless no longer sleeping in the graveyard

Majority of those camped outside St. Anne’s church have been provided with hotel rooms

St. Anne’s Church in Parksville. (File photo)
The latest cub at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre, Crumpet, is fed milk via syringe. (NIWRA photo)

Crumpet the orphaned bear cub recovering at Vancouver Island wildlife centre

Baby bruin found weak and underweight in Qualicum Beach

The latest cub at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre, Crumpet, is fed milk via syringe. (NIWRA photo)
Rev. Christine Muise at St. Anne’s Church on Jan. 8 in Parksville. (Cloe Logan photo)

COVID-19: Shelter-seeking B.C. homeless group resorts to sleeping in graveyard

People to camp near Parksville church at night as group looks for assistance

Rev. Christine Muise at St. Anne’s Church on Jan. 8 in Parksville. (Cloe Logan photo)
Fire crews attended an early-morning blaze at Parksville’s Rod & Gun Bar and Grill on Saturday, April 18. (PFD photo)

Early-morning blaze breaks out at historic Vancouver Island pub

Crews quickly contain fire at Parksville’s Rod & Gun

Fire crews attended an early-morning blaze at Parksville’s Rod & Gun Bar and Grill on Saturday, April 18. (PFD photo)
A Jimi Hendrix-inspired sand sculpture by Peter Vogelaar pictured at the Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition. The competition will now return in 2021, after the 2020 Parksville Beach Festival has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (File photo)

Castles in the sand: Parksville Beach Festival latest big Island event sunk by the pandemic

International sand sculpting competition among events sidelined

A Jimi Hendrix-inspired sand sculpture by Peter Vogelaar pictured at the Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition. The competition will now return in 2021, after the 2020 Parksville Beach Festival has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (File photo)
Peter and Marcia Kent with their children, Ryder and Hunter, and dog Koda. (Submitted photo)

Stranger offers Vancouver Island beach house to self-isolating ER nurse

B.C. woman helps worker ‘sacrificing hugs with her boys to help complete strangers’

Peter and Marcia Kent with their children, Ryder and Hunter, and dog Koda. (Submitted photo)
Pauline Gray waves to her neighbours while on a special ride in a 1930 Model T on her 90th birthday. (Michael Briones photo)

COVID-19: Vancouver Islander celebrates 90th birthday with Model T ride as neighbours line streets

WATCH: Pandemic ruined plans for a party, so Pauline Gray’s friends got creative

Pauline Gray waves to her neighbours while on a special ride in a 1930 Model T on her 90th birthday. (Michael Briones photo)
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. cleared the Oceanside RCMP of wrongdoing connected to a September 2019 suicide attempt. (Photo by Tom Zytaruk)

Independent investigation praises RCMP actions in Vancouver Island suicide attempt

Man hurt in incident that took place near Nanoose Bay in September of 2019

  • Apr 2, 2020
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. cleared the Oceanside RCMP of wrongdoing connected to a September 2019 suicide attempt. (Photo by Tom Zytaruk)
Boarding the plane in Kunming, where former Parksville resident Mark Conway had his layover on his journey back to China. (Submitted photo)

B.C. man returns to isolation in China nearly two months after fleeing COVID-19 scare

Mark Conway details harrowing journey, intense quarantine protocol

Boarding the plane in Kunming, where former Parksville resident Mark Conway had his layover on his journey back to China. (Submitted photo)
A social distancing infographic gives advice to keep people healthy. (Black Press file photo)

COVID-19: Island councillor makes social distancing a sign of the times

Qualicum Beach’s Scott Harrison has signs printed for area businesses

A social distancing infographic gives advice to keep people healthy. (Black Press file photo)
Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns (Photo submitted)

Podcast: A chat with Gord Johns, MP for Courtenay-Alberni

Listen: VIFD editor Philip Wolf and Johns talk COVID-19, fisheries, Indigenous issues and more

  • Mar 22, 2020
Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns (Photo submitted)
Bronwen Menzies wants to lift up the spirits in her community by seeing homes lit up with Christmas lights. (Submitted photo)

COVID-19: Vancouver Island woman aims to bring some light to difficult situation

Menzies encourages residents to decorate their homes with Christmas lights

Bronwen Menzies wants to lift up the spirits in her community by seeing homes lit up with Christmas lights. (Submitted photo)
No one was injured when this car drove into the office of Marlin Travel in Parksville. (Helen Dyck photo)

Car crashes into Vancouver Island travel agency building

Staff shaken but police in Parksville report no injuries in the mishap

No one was injured when this car drove into the office of Marlin Travel in Parksville. (Helen Dyck photo)
St. Anne’s Church in Parksville. (Cloe Logan photo)

‘I bawled, it was heartbreaking’: Parksville homeless shelter forced to close due to COVID-19 concerns

Reverend at St. Anne’s Church pleads for government’s assistance, facility doesn’t pass health standard

St. Anne’s Church in Parksville. (Cloe Logan photo)