By Roy L Hales
Cortes Islanders will choose their next regional Director on October 20, 2018. There is a sense in which both candidates are seeking re-election. George Sirk was our representative from 1996 until 2005. Our current director, Noba Anderson, has been in office since 2008. In the first of two interviews with the candidates, I ask why re-elect Noba Anderson as our Regional Director?
Bernie Anderson and Leila Gmeiner had big expectations in the Spring of 1978. For the past two years, they had been homesteading in the wilderness of Toba Inlet, British Columbia. Then a friend offered them the use of his fishing boat. They had to make the monthly payments to the bank of course, but any profits beyond that were theirs to keep. Nobody could foresee they would be catching English Fish & Chips.
Continue reading Catching English Fish & ChipsHer artistic roots go back to Vienna, while Russian troops still occupied part of the city. Years later, cast as the female lead in “As You Like It,” she found a much more fulfilling role than centre stage. She will be performing it again at this summer’s Lip Sync. Lella Gmeiner is the Queen of the Green Room.
Continue reading Lella, Queen Of The GreenroomHis musical roots go back to the McCarthy era, when the United States was purging itself of anything that could be labelled communist. Pete Seeger gave him tips on how to play the guitar. He was a member of the psychedelic rock band Mad River, which released two albums in San Francisco before it disbanded in 1969. On Cortes Island, he is somewhat of a musical icon. In addition to being a songwriter, he is one of the key organizers of Lovefest and the face of CKTZ’s Lip Syncs for the past decade. In this morning’s interview, Rick Bockner talks about paths of beauty.
Continue reading Rick Bockner: Paths of BeautyThere are good reasons that boaters are not allowed to dump chemicals, sewage and other debris in Carrington Bay, Cortes Bay, Gorge Harbour, Squirrel Cove, or Manson’s Landing. “[Cortes Island] has the best oysters in the area, [possibly] because it is supposed to have such pristine clean water,” says Julia Rendall, President of the 13 member Bee Islets Growers Corporation. She explained that violations “could close us down and if we are closed down I think we have to have three tests, three weeks in a row, clear. So it could, in theory, close you down for about a month.” Cortes Island’s unique environmental features resulted in the creation of several marine parks. Contamination is a concern for all islanders, whether they are shellfish harvesters or not. These areas are currently designated as “No Discharge Zones” under federal regulations. Never-the-less, violations periodically do occur and a recent incident illustrates the difficulties of trying to stop recreational boaters from polluting Cortes Islands protected areas.
Continue reading Stop Recreational Boaters From Polluting Cortes Islands Protected Areas
