A Port Alice man received 14 days in jail after being convicted of accessing child pornography on a computer at work.
David Morgan was charged in 2009 after an employee at Neucel Specialty Cellulose discovered four pages of depicting 51 pornographic images of pre-teen girls on a company printer. The images were described as being at lower end of the range of child pornography with images that depicted girls aged six to 10 in sexually suggestive poses.
In addition to time behind bars, Morgan received two years of probation.
• More than 250 people honoured Janet Wasden at her retirement party honouring her 33 years of caring for seniors at the non-profit ‘Maya’ant Centre. As a community health representative from Namgis First Nation, Wasden was a busy woman working with the seniors Monday to Friday doing footcare, planning seniors luncheons, portering seniors to doctor and dentist appointments, driving the senior women to Aquafit at Port Hardy pool, helping with income tax and wills, and driving the seniors to Aunt Mary’s (Mary Jane Hanuse) home for Kwakwala hymn singing and the planning of the annual bazaar at Christ Church.
Friends and family traveled from Tsulquate, Kingcome, Gilford Island, Quatsino, Fort Rupert and Sointula to honour Wasden.
• When the tri-island Quadra Queen II ferry couldn’t deliver because of an electrical failure, North Islanders pulled together to make sure Cormorant and Malcolm Islands got what they needed.
BC Ferries commissioned the Naiad Explorer, owned by Mackay’s Whale Watching in Port McNeill, to fill the void.
The Naiad followed the regular ferry schedule, with some additional runs to accommodate the morning rush of commuters and students, to transport passengers between the island communities.
“It was really nice,” said Donna Mackay. “We got to visit with everybody from all the communities. No one seemed too upset and they were really pleased to be getting to their destination faster.“
• In the spirit of sisterhood, the Port Hardy Twinning Society raised $3,500 for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
• A local doctor was disciplined for unprofessional conduct, said the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
Dr. Margaret Jane Clelland, a general practitioner at the Port McNeill Medical Clinic, admitted unprofessional conduct in an incident in March 2009, when she issued prescriptions to an individual when she knew the prescribed medications were not for that patient’s personal use, said a press release from the college. As part of her penalty, Clellend consented to having her status transferred from full – general/family practice class to the conditional – disciplined class.
• A Zeballos woman who stabbed her common-law husband in the heart was found not guilty of manslaughter.
Family and friends of Marguerite John gasped in Campbell River court as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Douglas Halfyard rendered the verdict.
• The Gazette’s own editorial cartoonist was recognized as one of the best in the country. Lawrence Woodall was awarded silver at the Canadian Community Newspapers Association awards in the Best Local Cartoon category, for his winning entry that depicted Santa following “pooper scooper” bylaws with his reindeer.