Feb 10 - The final, final, final flight

Good morning !

If you missed it yesterday: Victoria will be getting a new pool. The Crystal Pool referendum this weekend resulted in a firm “Yes" by the public.

For all the details, read the full story at Capital Daily on the referendum.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌤 2 / -4

Tomorrow: ☀️ 1 / -4

Day after: ☀️ 3 / -4

7-day forecast

NEWS

Philippine Mars finally makes it to US

On its third try, the Island's Coulson Aviation has flown the last of the historic Mars water bombers to San Francisco. The Philippine Mars flew there from Port Alberni's Sproat Lake yesterday. Its end destination is the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ, where Coulson has donated it.

The retired water bomber is now, like its sibling last summer, headed to its final home at a museum. In August the Hawaii Mars plane’s landing in Patricia Bay went as planned and put it nearly on the doorstep of its new home at the peninsula's BC Aviation Museum. But the Philippine Mars had two failed flights in Dec.

First its departure from Port Alberni stopped due to a concern with an oil pressure regulator in an engine. It swapped in an engine from the Hawaii and got the go-ahead to fly off from Sproat Lake above a crowd of 6,000.

But it aborted that flight due to a problem with a different engine, landing in Pat Bay. It ended up being towed back to Sproat and ultimately took this final flight with multiple engines from its sibling Hawaii, which had been used much less than Philippine before final retirement. In the days before this last flight, the plane and its engines were kept warm and easy to go by Coulson's grounds supervisor and his son, 11, who camped out on board.

Headed back to site of its original role 

It was 81 years ago last month that the Philippine debuted, flying cargo over the Pacific for the US in WW2. But in BC these JRM-3s are known for their lives after 1958, when they were converted into the iconic red firefighting planes able to drop 25,000+ litres of water.

The bomber originally was slated to go on from SF to Alameda Lagoon, where it had been a navy plane in its past career, then on to San Diego Bay near the USS Midway Museum. Then, finally, it will go to Arizona and be partly disassembled to be moved into the museum. 

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⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Wind chill could reach -9 this morning and again overnight.

Expect sun this week, but rain this weekend.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Record-high number of storm outages last year

BC Hydro says that 1.4M of its customers lost power last year due to weather—the highest in its history and part of a broader five-year trend of increasing storms and outages.

Much of last year's total—about a million—came from Nov. and Dec. storms that the utility provider says were among the top 5 largest of the decades.

The late-year storms included those on election weekend (which caused fatal flooding past Sooke); the “bomb cyclone” system in Nov.; and Dec. windstorms. Even back in Jan. 2024, what was mostly a mild winter still featured a windstorm that sent trees into multiple Westshore homes. 

Overall Sooke and the communities further up the western coastline have been particularly affected by this rise in extreme weather, and the district has been looking at ways to try to address this fallout. 

The BC Hydro report also cited years of drought as a reason why so much vegetation is coming down when storms do hit. 

BC Hydro says it has managed to offset this rise by making its response times faster. It specifically cited restoring power to 315K out of 320K affected customers within 24 hours after a Dec. 2024 storm.

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⭐️ Capital Picks

🏒 A few hours left to bid on the fun fan-designed Victoria Royals jerseys that fundraise for BC Children's Hospital & Children’s Miracle Network. [Auction]

⚖️ Get back on the road. The experienced lawyers at Acumen Law Corporation will give you the best legal support for your driving prohibition case.*

🌅 A magical sunset over Witty's Lagoon [Doug Clement photo]

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🗞️ In Other News

Central Saanich needs to build 1,117 units, its report finds
The district sent its Housing Targets Progress report to the province last week. Last year the district updated zoning bylaws and development application processes, and saw 304 units. [Peninsula News Review]

UVic swimmers win 10 events at West Coast Collegiate competition
After this past weekend's Saanich-hosted event, the Vikes now prepare to head to the national competition a month from now in Toronto. [Weekend recap]

San Group creditor wants to also liquidate Kingsley Group
RBC is owed $107M by the company that ran Alberni mills, and now wants to take control of the Coombs-area company that did trucking for San Group. A Kingsley director says that suggestions that money was moved by San to Kingsley improperly are unwarranted and vindictive. [CHEK]

US to impose tariffs of 25% on Canadian aluminum & steel
President Trump said yesterday that he would start imposing these material-based tariffs against various countries today—despite last week's 30-day deferral of planned tariffs against Canada as a whole. [CBC]

🗓️ Things to do

🗓 Black History Month events continue this week, including today at Royal Roads. [Capital Daily]

🍽 Community Dinner at Gordon United Church, 935 Goldstream Ave. in Langford is at 5pm. All welcome.

🧠 Cafe Scientifique: What's in our guts? This UVic-led free public lecture explains intestines, immune systems, and gut health. Weds. 7pm at Hermann's and streaming online.

🧘‍♀️ Galentine's Yoga for a Cause: Yoga class and pool / hot tub time at Bear Mountain on Feb. 15 to fundraise for the Goldstream Food Bank. [Info]

📖 Plans for Family Day weekend? Emily Carr House, on Saturday, Feb. 15 from 10am-3pm, is holding an event with stories and crafts inspired by historic toys and pastimes. Entry is by donation, limited parking on site (additional free parking at Beacon Hill Park, a short walk away).

🎭 Ride The Cyclone: The Canadian College of Performing Arts’ Studio Ensemble presents this home-grown musical sensation about six teens looking for a story. Performance Hall, Oak Bay. Until Feb. 15.

👀 In Case You Missed It

Bike theft has dropped to lowest point since 2011. [Capital Daily]

Shadow of broader economic instability played role in local referendum saga. [Capital Daily]

Dry January: Last month had the least Jan. precipitation since 1985. [YYJ Weather Records]

Friday’s headlines: Study police liaisons, BC human rights commissioner urges; North Saanich players pickle judicial review request; CFL coming back. [Feb. 7]

“Is this Narnia?” The snowy landscapes around Port Renfrew. [TJ Watt photos]

Yates restaurant Sult Pierogi closing on Wed. [CHEK]

Snowy running of the goats at Beacon Hill Park. [Kids’ Farm]

Super Bowl: Philly easily beats Kansas City, 40-22, denying Chiefs' three-peat. [AP]