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Staples Canada has been committed to supporting communities across the country ever since it opened its first store, and at no time is this more apparent than back-to-school time. "We're a very successful company, and we've been very blessed that way," Steve Matyas, president of Staples Canada, said last week as he visited the Courtenay store as part of a province-wide tour during the busy back-to-school rush. "We've had a lot of good breaks since we started in 1991.

Remembered as the man who "never gave up on anything," Catherine Bell recalls Jack Layton as a friend and mentor who was unlike any other leader she met. Bell, a former Vancouver Island North NDP MP and three-time candidate, said Tuesday the federal NDP leader who died at his Toronto home early Monday morning was "a dynamic person, who was personal and engaging. Jack was who he was; he didn't put on any airs."

Bellstar Hotels & Resorts announced Monday it will manage a multi-million-dollar residential resort that Howard Land Group is proposing for the Comox waterfront.

B.C.'s high school grads were leaving millions in scholarship money on the table by not writing optional final exams, so the education ministry has changed the system to make sure the aid gets to students who do well on mandatory tests.

Two businesses in Cumberland along with two in Courtenay have received counterfeit Canadian currency in $100 denominations recently.

The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) is asking users of Comox Lake to exercise extreme caution during the installation of a 1.5-kilometre water line from Tuesday, August 23 until this Friday weather permitting.

Tributes are pouring in for federal New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, who died of cancer early Monday at age 61. Layton's death comes just months after Layton led the NDP to Official Opposition status in Canadian Parliament, a first for the party.

Tourists are lining up at U.S. border crossings instead of heading to B.C.'s favourite coastal getaways, and summer traffic on BC Ferries is down about four per cent as a result.

Feds scale back monitoring for Fukushima nuke fallout

The Friends of Strathcona Park are inviting people to experience exactly what they love about the park during a free day-long festival this Saturday. Day hikes, kayaking, massage and First Nations storytelling are just a few of the free, low-impact activities planned for the Strathcona Wilderness Festival, which takes place Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Buttle Lake