Zoe Ducklow

The Capital Regional District has issued a boil water advisory for the Wilderness Mountain Water Service Area in East Sooke. (Katja Just - Pixabay.com)

B.C. commercial groundwater users have to register, start paying for water

New rules take effect March 2022 and will effect about 20,000 well users

The Capital Regional District has issued a boil water advisory for the Wilderness Mountain Water Service Area in East Sooke. (Katja Just - Pixabay.com)
Moms Stop the Harm have tied ribbons around lamp posts with pictures of loved ones who have died from drug overdoses. The ribbons are both a memorial and call for action. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Purple ribbons put spotlight on opioid crisis grief, as B.C. families plead for more support

Lack of support is driving deaths, because people waiting for help turn to toxic supply

Moms Stop the Harm have tied ribbons around lamp posts with pictures of loved ones who have died from drug overdoses. The ribbons are both a memorial and call for action. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Lia Versaevel of Cowichan will run as the Green candidate for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. (Submitted)

UPDATED: Lia Versaevel nominated as Green candidate for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding

Green Party of Canada members voted between three candidates

Lia Versaevel of Cowichan will run as the Green candidate for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. (Submitted)
RCMP officers wait for protesters in tripods, sleeping dragons and coffins to voluntarily remove themselves earlier this summer in a remote part of southwest Vancouver Island. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. old growth protesters accuse RCMP of aggression after use of pepper spray

‘They’re trying to make it scary to be out there,’ says lawyer for protesters

RCMP officers wait for protesters in tripods, sleeping dragons and coffins to voluntarily remove themselves earlier this summer in a remote part of southwest Vancouver Island. (Black Press Media file photo)
West Shore lawyer Valerie Hemminger Long accepted a two-week suspension for handing out MDMA to two Halloween party guests in 2019. (File contributed/Pathway Legal Law Corporation)

Greater Victoria lawyer suspended for sharing MDMA at a Halloween party

Not the first hearing for Valorie Hemminger Long, whose 2-week suspension starts Aug. 28

West Shore lawyer Valerie Hemminger Long accepted a two-week suspension for handing out MDMA to two Halloween party guests in 2019. (File contributed/Pathway Legal Law Corporation)
Mobile security gurard Judy Dreger has all she wants in her camper van, with lots of space for her buddies Dexter (left) and Raffi. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

#vanlife not just for influencers, says Colwood security guard

Overnight security plus a place to sleep a win-win for van dweller

Mobile security gurard Judy Dreger has all she wants in her camper van, with lots of space for her buddies Dexter (left) and Raffi. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
No rain = dry grass. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Drought falls just three days short of Greater Victoria record

The longest stretch without rain in region was 54 days in 2017, rain ended recent run at 51 days

No rain = dry grass. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Jacquie Bartlett with a photo of her mother before things went awry. (Zoe Ducklow/New Staff)

‘Please tell someone:’ B.C. woman whose mother was murdered begs abuse survivors to get help

‘I didn’t believe this could happen to my mom either, but it did’

Jacquie Bartlett with a photo of her mother before things went awry. (Zoe Ducklow/New Staff)
Kristy Sivorot and her son Griffin with Juniper, a lame, pregnant cow she bought from a large dairy operation to nurse back to health. Juniper gave birth to Junior, a bull calf, on July 21 and is doing well. (Zoe Ducklow - Sooke News Mirror)

Vancouver Island’s women hobby farmers part of a growing food revolution

Raising livestock and families: the young women farmers of Sooke share their stories

Kristy Sivorot and her son Griffin with Juniper, a lame, pregnant cow she bought from a large dairy operation to nurse back to health. Juniper gave birth to Junior, a bull calf, on July 21 and is doing well. (Zoe Ducklow - Sooke News Mirror)
Some of the more than 400 people arrested at Fairy Creek Watershed blockades may face criminal charges. (Zoe Ducklow/Black Press Media)

Fairy Creek logging protesters may face criminal charges

B.C. Prosecution Service to review each case, will lay charges where evidence is sufficient

Some of the more than 400 people arrested at Fairy Creek Watershed blockades may face criminal charges. (Zoe Ducklow/Black Press Media)
A protester lies in a sleeping dragon hold at the Waterfall blockade in June in the Fairy Creek Watershed, while police confer in the background. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Logging company calls for criminal charges against B.C. old growth protesters

Mass civil disobedience at the Fairy Creek blockades undermining the rule of law, Teal Cedar claims

A protester lies in a sleeping dragon hold at the Waterfall blockade in June in the Fairy Creek Watershed, while police confer in the background. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)

Cast in bronze, then into Victoria’s Inner Harbour: So who was James Cook?

Likeness of British maritime explorer commissioned in 1976, forcibly removed on July 1

Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)
Protesters have occupied blockades in the Fairy Creek watershed and surrounding forests for months, trying to stop old-growth trees from being logged. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Pacheedaht Elder politely refuses First Nation’s request to leave Fairy Creek

Bill Jones says protesters will minimize activity, but stay until until logging ceases

Protesters have occupied blockades in the Fairy Creek watershed and surrounding forests for months, trying to stop old-growth trees from being logged. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Elders for Ancient Trees insist that the court affirm the right of access, Jackie Larkin tells a gathered crowd at the legislature on June 28. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Elder group heading to Victoria court to protest RCMP exclusion zones at Fairy Creek

Seniors say their right to public access and peaceful protest have been violated

Elders for Ancient Trees insist that the court affirm the right of access, Jackie Larkin tells a gathered crowd at the legislature on June 28. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Athena and Venus, ready to ride. (Zoe Ducklow - Sooke News Mirror)

Goggling double-dog motorcycle sidecar brings smiles to B.C. commuters

Athena and Venus are all teeth and smiles from their Harley-Davidson sidecar

Athena and Venus, ready to ride. (Zoe Ducklow - Sooke News Mirror)
Flowers and candles were laid on the driveway of the Weber home, where Kerri Weber was found dead in November 2020. (Black Press Media file photo)

Greater Victoria man to stand trial for death of his wife last November

Ken Weber is charged with second-degree murder of his wife, Kerri Weber

Flowers and candles were laid on the driveway of the Weber home, where Kerri Weber was found dead in November 2020. (Black Press Media file photo)
Willow, Rowan and Monkey (camp names) wrestled through the complex issues of civil disobedience and protesting logging when each of them feels very pro forestry — except for old-growth. They’d just come back from a night operation of building hard blocks at a blockade. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Behind the line at Fairy Creek: Inside B.C.’s old growth forest battleground

There’s surprising activity happening behind the lines at the Fairy Creek old-growth protest sites

Willow, Rowan and Monkey (camp names) wrestled through the complex issues of civil disobedience and protesting logging when each of them feels very pro forestry — except for old-growth. They’d just come back from a night operation of building hard blocks at a blockade. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Willow, Rowan and Monkey (camp names) wrestled through the complex issues of civil disobedience and protesting logging when each of them feels very pro forestry — except for old-growth. They’d just come back from a night operation of building hard blocks at a blockade. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

Behind the line at Fairy Creek: Inside B.C.’s old growth forest battleground

There’s surprising activity happening behind the lines at the Fairy Creek old-growth protest sites

Willow, Rowan and Monkey (camp names) wrestled through the complex issues of civil disobedience and protesting logging when each of them feels very pro forestry — except for old-growth. They’d just come back from a night operation of building hard blocks at a blockade. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Andreea Pirvu, 26, sat on a tripod for about four hours on Wednesday. Sgt. Elenore Sturko said Pirvu started getting drowsy from the heat, which is one reason why they chose not to extract. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Andreea Pirvu, 26, sat on a tripod for about four hours on Wednesday. Sgt. Elenore Sturko said Pirvu started getting drowsy from the heat, which is one reason why they chose not to extract. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)
Ayana Benning, 5, and her brother Tulsie Benning, 4, marched up with their signs and parents to join the celebration at Braden Main forest service road, where the police exclusion line was breached May 29. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)

RCMP arrest all but one at Fairy Creek blockade, protesters take it back next day

Crowds of supporters and a car of elders breached the police line

Ayana Benning, 5, and her brother Tulsie Benning, 4, marched up with their signs and parents to join the celebration at Braden Main forest service road, where the police exclusion line was breached May 29. (Zoe Ducklow/News Staff)