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April 2012: Year in review

A collection of the top stories from this month last year.
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Kathleen Cote and Shayna Wigman of Port McNeill offer a mix of reactions to their spin on the Scrambler ride during the carnival in Port Hardy.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority expanded its Mt. Waddington health care team with the addition of two new nurse practitioners for Port Hardy.

The two new positions were posted on the VIHA website and added to the two nurse practitioners already providing primary health care services in the community.

“These new nurse practitioner positions in Port Hardy are a part of VIHA’s ongoing commitment to work with the Mt. Waddington Local Working Group (LWG) to develop a community-led plan to strengthen and stabilize health services in Mt. Waddington,” said Howard Waldner, VIHA President and CEO.

Port McNeill-raised singer Georgia Murray enjoyed a triumphant homecoming Saturday. And she wasn't alone.

Murray, who competed last season in CBC's Cover Me Canada music competition, returned to the North Island to headline a pair of well-received and stylistically diverse concerts at Gate House Theatre.

Georgia Murray and Friends, which included performances by singer-songwriter Ashleigh Eymann and violinist Kytami, was part of the Raise the Roof series to benefit renovations to St. John Gualbert (A-Frame) Church.

A single bullet from a .30-06 rifle ended the life of a cougar believed to be responsible for the death of at least one North Island pet.

"Based on the proximity of where I got it over in Fort Rupert and the same age characteristics, I believe it is the same adult male cougar that took River," said Tanner Beck, who recently replaced Tim Schumacher as the North Island's love conservation officer.

River, a year and-a-half old black-and-white Boston terrier, was snatched in front owner D'Arcy Deacon from their Storey's Beach property March 12.

Deacon told the Gazette he'd been working in his yard when a cougar leapt over a four-ft fence, landed about six-ft inside and where it grabbed the roughly 15-lb dog, before the big cat jumped and landed about six-feet outside the same fence.

Deacon, armed with a machete, gave a short chase, but quickly lost sight of the cougar.

 

"It was just too fast," he said.