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Tuesday September 16, 2014
Volume 20, No. 74
Homeowner ‘numb’ after Cumberland fire destroys brand new house Two tenants and a dog escape 30-foot flames and natural gas danger By Drew A. Penner Echo Staff
Local artist Andy Everson shows the dazzling silver coin version of his design that has a holographic finish.
Local First Nations artist has work selected by Royal Canadian Mint By Michael Briones Echo Staff Andy Everson has designed an artwork that has literally become the jewel of his many creations. The Comox Valley artist was selected by the Royal Canadian Mint to create a design for its Interconnection series that celebrates the relationships between Canada’s three natural realms: land, sky, and sea. The first installment of the 3-part series is dedicated to “Land.” The beautifully minted pure gold coin is now for sale for $1,299.95 with a limited mintage of only 1,500. Everson, a K’ómoks First Nation drummer and ceremonial dancer, was one of several artists who were invited to submit a design for the RCM’s coin project a year ago. He said he feels honoured to be chosen. “It’s an actual Canadian coin and I feel privileged to have that,” said Everson. “When I was doing it I was thinking about my grandmother who used to love anything that was Canadian, kind of with the queen on it. She loved new coins. I just know that if she was still alive, that she would have been really proud of what I have created. The coins are going to be a lasting legacy for my artwork and my art career.” It didn’t take long for Everson to create his vision for the required theme. He needed to come up with three designs. “There’s not a lot of turnaround time so it was fairly quick,” he said. “I had a pretty tight schedule to meet their deadline. It took me a couple of weeks. The first one was probably the hardest because of not having done anything for the mint before. And when they asked me to do a couple more, it made a little more sense to go with this piece and I was able to come up with the ideas of having three different kind of worlds - land world, sky world and sea world.” The 12-ounce 99.99 per cent solid gold coin that has a $200 face value, bears Everson’s striking
Brian Tobacca deals with emergencies on a daily basis as part of his job at the hospital, but when he was called down to the ER in the middle of his break on Saturday just after 6 a.m., it was for a different kind of crisis. His brand new Cumberland home on Kendal Avenue was being devoured by 30-foot flames and there was nothing he could do to stop it. “I’m pretty numb, really,” he said Monday, surveying the black charcoal that has taken the place of walls and empty spaces that can be found where a roof once stood. “Everything’s gone. It’s a strange thing.” Cindy Handyside had been in her home just one house up the hill with her husband and daughter, and was woken up by her alarm at 6 a.m. She decided to sleep in a bit, but that plan was scrapped when she was startled by an unexpected noise coming from somewhere outside. “I just heard ‘BANG! BANG! BANG!” she said, noting she thought someone might be doing blasting work. “I just saw glowing coming from Brian’s house.” Handyside ran downstairs and by the time she got outside she saw a man booting in Tobacca’s side door. “It was pretty hot for first thing in the morning,” she said. “It was brutal.” (Continued on page 3)
CV teachers to stage open forum Wednesday on school issues By Michael Briones Echo Staff
Gold collector’s coin designed by Andy Everson - first in a group of 3 design that highlights Everson’s native American K’ómoks and Kwakwaka’wakw ancestors. While the design focuses on the land, it also relates to Canada’s four seasons. “It’s all done in traditional First Nations art style with a contemporary flair to it as I’m apt to do,”
said Everson. “It’s a beaver design. I really wanted something that represents Canada and the beaver has long been the symbol of Canada. I thought it was perfect as it shows the hard-working nature of Canadians.” (Continued on page 2)
Comox Valley teachers are hosting an open forum that’s aimed at informing parents and community members about class size and composition, and other school concerns they’re facing on the job. “We teachers want the opportunity to engage the public to let them know what life is like in the classroom,” said Nick Moore, president of Comox Valley District Teachers Association. “With class size and composition being one of our defining issues in this round of negotiations, it has come to our attention that a lot of people do not understand what that means.” The Community Forum on Education will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 7-9 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay. “We want to give people the opportunity to come out and talk to the teachers,” said Moore. “So we’re asking the community to attend.” It will be a town hall style dialogue. There will be a panel of teachers, who will meet the public. They will get two to three minutes to briefly introduce themselves, what they teach and what it’s like for them inside the classroom. Following that, Moore said, they will open the floor for questions and discussions to the public. “We are anticipating there will be lots of political negotiation types of questions and I will be there to handle any of those,” said Moore. “We are also expecting some haters and some bashers there.” Moore said they’re hoping that with both the BC Teachers’ Federation and the BC Public School Employers Association back in the negotiating table with mediator Vince Reddy, an agreement could be reached soon. “We’re at a very critical juncture right now and basically if things break down it’s going to be really bad.”
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