Island Opinion - October 6, 2008 - Dear Editor, The Editor, Dear Editor, The Editor, The Editor, The Editor,

I was on holidays when Bruce informed you he would no longer be writing for the Sounder; “effective immediately” with no notice. Just a few days earlier we had signed an agreement with a wonderful young couple from Wainwright, Alberta who will be taking over the Sounder. This will enable you to rightfully retire after many years at the helm. I had urged the new owners to communicate with our key contributors their vision and plans on taking over and the next week they did just that. Unfortunately, Bruce had already made the decision to stop writing and even had plans to enter the publishing business. It would appear to the community that Bruce had left writing for the Sounder due to the new owners coming in and their decision to do a greater amount of writing themselves. This is not true, as Bruce has had his plans in the works for months and his decision to discontinue writing for the Sounder was his alone. It is unfortunate that with over seven years of support from you and from Bill he would stop writing without notice. I think he was hoping to make a statement that he was upset that the Sounder was being sold. Bruce, even though you’ve burnt this bridge, I wish you all the best in your new endeavour. «more»

I was recently contacted by a resident on Gabriola Island who was very concerned about the amount of garbage burning being carried out by local residents using burn barrels. There is currently no local Bylaw in place through the RDN to deal with this type of activity on Gabriola Island. «more»

I’m responding to Mr. Marten’s letter regarding election sign destruction that was published in the Cowichan News Leader on Saturday. «more»

Over the last few weeks, many election campaign signs put up on Gabriola have been torn down or destroyed. I am distressed and depressed by this attack on free speech. «more»

Just to let you know that the Lunch Bunch has installed a second camera on the Gabriola Ferry Cam website. There is now an extended view of the lineup. This time with a view towards the stop sign on Taylor Bay Road. This will hopefully give more time for planning to make the ferry, especially for those further away. Additionally, the original camera was replaced with one with an automatic aperture so the early morning and dusk views will be more visible. The first camera is being used on the stop sign view. «more»

We’d like to let Gabriolans know that we have closed our business, Global Havens, formerly Gabriola Island Vacation Rentals. Because of the new bylaws introduced by the Islands Trust regarding vacation rentals, our company dwindled until it was no longer viable. «more»