Five years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Paul Krismer did not "begrudge" a young cougar that attacked his four-year-old son Paul Daniel. In fact, the Comox Valley father said the unprovoked attack at Schopen Lake Provincial Park north of Campbell River was simply an isolated incident.
Conservation officers said the year-old cougar was in search of food when the boy was playing on the beach a few metres from where Krismer was fishing.
"In my view he saved his own life. He hunched over and tucked his head in and that likely saved him," said Krismer, who jumped on the cat and kicked it before it retreated into the bush.
Paul suffered a puncture wound at the back of his head and cuts to his head and back.
Ten years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Bar owners and managers lifted their glasses to the B.C. government for delaying implementation of a workplace smoking ban.
Bars, restaurants and nightclubs were supposed to implement the WCB ban Sept. 10. But the Liberals said it would a committee of 30 MLAs until April 30 to further review the non-smoking rules to make them more business-friendly.
The ban, created to protect workers from second-hand smoke, was already in place in most workplaces in B.C. The hospitality industry had fought anti-smoking regulations from Day 1, saying the ban would destroy businesses.
Fifteen years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
As debuts go, this was a beauty.
Competing in his first track meet, 57-year-old Adam Simpson of Courtenay scooped two golds, a silver and bronze at the Canadian masters track championships at UVic.
"The 10k and 5k were my best times," Simpson said of his gold medal races.
Running the 800m and 1,500m for the first time, he won a bronze and silver respectively.
A recreational distance runner, Simpson competed in the 55-59 bracket.
"I was happy," he said.
Twenty years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
The Blackfin is back.
Almost seven months to the day it burned to the ground, the popular pub was slated to reopen at its same location in Comox.
"We're very happy with the way it went together," said co-owner Murray Erickson, noting efforts made to recreate the pub exactly the way it was before the early-morning Jan. 31 blaze caused about $600,000 damage.
Restoration work was estimated at about $625,000.
Twenty five years ago this week in the Comox Valley Record:
Accident rates on the Island Highway were no worse than similar highways in B.C., according to the Highways Department.
Between January 1980 and '86, one or more people died in each of the 136 fatal accidents recorded on the highway from Victoria to Campbell River. 47 fatal accidents occurred on the 120km stretch from Parksville to Campbell River, a section considered dangerous. According to statistics, the worst intersection is at 21 St. in Courtenay where 114 accidents, including 30 with injury, occurred over five years.