25 years ago in the Undercurrent
- The front page featured a story from CANFOR Communications detailing the steps taken to ensure that their Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (HSPP) mill would beat the provinces imposed pollution clean-up deadline of December 31, 1991. CANFOR’s vice president, Kirke MacMillan, stressed that by July of 1990, “HSPP will have virtually eliminated chlorine dioxins and furans from the Port Mellon mill’s effluent and products.” The modernization plans were started in the fall of 1987 and included $88 million in environmental protection equipment, an activated sludge secondary treatment system and the only oxygen delignification system announced in the province at the time.
- Regular Undercurrent contributor, Laura Cochrane posed the question, “Where do those darn carpenter ants come from?” Cochrane explained the even though the ants are destructive and it’s difficult to kill them, one almost gets a sense of guilt when attempting to kill them as their personalities seem to shine through at their frantic escape attempts. Her final statement on this?“If only they were smart enough to stay outside the house, there wouldn’t be a problem…”
20 years ago in the Undercurrent
- The next Bowen Island town hall meeting was scheduled to be a free-for-all meeting. GVRD Director Ross Carter indicated the Islands elected officials had promised a session in which community members could raise their own concerns with their elected representatives. The meeting was to be held on May 28 at 10am.
15 years ago in the Undercurrent
- The front page story featured an article and photo about the new transit system that would be coming to Bowen on May 31. Peter King was the successful bidder on the contract to operate the transit system for TransLink and had been working on the concept for nine years. The GVRD directors gave major credit to King, saying this step would not have been possible without him.
- A local island tradition known as “Beerfest” was, an out of control party. The party had originally happened 4 years prior as a birthday party but by 1999 had become an unauthorized bash for off-island brawl enthusiasts. Numerous fights occurred and at some point during the night the General Store was burglarized. The fighting and drinking continued into Sunday morning with RCMP and ferry workers seizing booze as revelers boarded the ferry home. RCMP said that most local youths, “had enough sense not to go” and that they would work with the community to put an end to the party.
- 10 years ago in the Undercurrent
- The Cape Roger Curtis sale was near closure. Wolfgang Duntz, acting on behalf of the buyers, told the Undercurrent that indeed a deal had been struck but that there were, “still a few loose ends,”. The buyers were reported to be 4 people, two “Germans from Germany and two Chinese businessmen,” who were “long time B.C. residents”. The Germans were “Alfred and his mother”. They lived in Germany and their last name was Hahne. Both had been involved in other Bowen projects with Duntz. As for plans for the property, all parties involved were at the listening stage and Duntz suggested that he wouldn’t be surprise if they “considered it as a long term holding.” Doug Hooper, working with the Cape Roger Curtis Trust Society to find a way to conserve the land, remained optimistic that all was not lost as a result of the sale. “…We hope to put the case forward about the Cape, not just locally but regionally. And the trust society will continue to work with buyers to secure ecological and recreational land.”
- Approved community grants were called into question. Councillors Leigh and Wrinch took issue with $500 being awarded to an “Alzheimer’s club” when the club had no history and was not a registered society.
10 years ago in the Undercurrent
- The Cape Roger Curtis sale was near closure. Wolfgang Duntz, acting on behalf of the buyers, told the Undercurrent that indeed a deal had been struck but that there were, “still a few loose ends,”. The buyers were reported to be 4 people, two “Germans from Germany and two Chinese businessmen,” who were “long time B.C. residents”. The Germans were “Alfred and his mother”. They lived in Germany and their last name was Hahne. Both had been involved in other Bowen projects with Duntz. As for plans for the property, all parties involved were at the listening stage and Duntz suggested that he wouldn’t be surprise if they “considered it as a long term holding.” Doug Hooper, working with the Cape Roger Curtis Trust Society to find a way to conserve the land, remained optimistic that all was not lost as a result of the sale. “…We hope to put the case forward about the Cape, not just locally but regionally. And the trust society will continue to work with buyers to secure ecological and recreational land.”
- Approved community grants were called into question. Councillors Leigh and Wrinch took issue with $500 being awarded to an “Alzheimer’s club” when the club had no history and was not a registered society.
