Sept 4 - Local food truck hit hard by vandals

Good morning !

The smoky skies we dealt with yesterday are expected to clear today, but fog will be rolling in later tonight, keeping things a little hazy. Thankfully, by tomorrow we’ll have mostly sunny skies and high temperatures—summer isn’t over yet!

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ☁️ 24 / 14

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 25 / 14

Day after: 🌧️ 22 / 14

NEWS

Local food truck business targeted multiple times by vandals this summer

Many restaurants in Victoria have been struggling over the last five years. Local businesses have shuttered due to high rents, staffing issues, and the many problems brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If all that wasn’t enough to deal with, one local restauranteur has been put through the ringer with vandalism—and they suspect someone might be targeting them.

Greek n’ Go, a family-owned, Victoria-based food truck vendor that serves traditional Greek food around the city—with permanent locations on Cook in Victoria and Keating in Saanichton—has been hit by vandals multiple times this summer.

“We’ve had one blow after another,” Eirini Sypsa, co-owner of Greek n’ Go, told Capital Daily. “All three of our trucks were hit within weeks of each other. The first major act happened earlier this year, and since then it feels like it hasn’t stopped.”

In June, a person broke into one of their trucks and was caught on camera taking items. On different occasions in July, someone removed the electricity cord from a truck, stole and destroyed Sypsa’s work items, broke a truck’s door handles, and stole their tablets (essential for handling orders from delivery apps). 

Last week, a large rock was thrown at their truck on Cook and its main electricity cord was cut. 

All three Greek n’ Go vehicles, including their catering truck used for events—like last weekend’s Saanich Fair, where they served up meals—have been targeted. Sypsa said that this is why she finds it “hard to believe it’s random.”

“It couldn’t just be bad luck. It felt personal, like someone was trying to destroy what we worked so hard to build.”

All of these crimes were reported to the police, but Sypsa says her team was told by officers that there weren’t any suspects and not enough proof to do something about it. 

“They believe it isn't vandalism,” Sypsa said. “That part is heartbreaking, we feel unprotected and alone, even though we’re doing everything right.”

Read on to find out the cost of the damage—and how you can support this family-run business while they recover.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Traffic light offline at Esquimalt and Lampson today and tomorrow, 9am-4pm. [Township of Esquimalt]

Water restrictions updated in CRD electoral districts. [CRD]

NEWS

Salmon, trout returning to Saanich’s Gabo Creek

Restoration crews have been working on the fish-bearing waterway for two full summers now, as part of their plan to improve the Colquitz River Watershed. 

By this time last year, in partnership with Peninsula Streams & Shorelines, Saanich said it had restored roughly 200 metres of the creek just south of Royal Oak, and now they’ve just completed a further 170 metres.

“These efforts are already paying off,” the district said in a release.

“Nearly 270 young coho salmon were counted in the restored area this year, compared to none the year before.”

With its slow-moving water and shaded pools which provide shelter during hot summers, Gabo Creek acts as a nursery for coho salmon fry and coastal cutthroat trout, the district said. 

“Over time, however, urbanization, sediment build-up, and dredging stripped away much of the natural habitat salmon need to survive.”

Over three weeks in July and August, crews removed 10 truckloads of sediment; added two truckloads of spawning gravel; installed 25 stumps and 14 large poplar logs to provide shelter and bank stability; placed 37 yards of cobblestones and four truckloads of blast rock; and cleared old log jams and garbage to restore the water’s natural flow. 

Saanich crews also spent weeks prepping the site for hiker access and said they will return with Peninsula Streams & Shorelines in a few weeks to restore native plants and trees.

“Before restoration, only 35 cutthroat trout were found in the project area, with no coho fry recorded,” Saanich said in a release.

“Just one year later, monitoring found nearly 270 coho fry alongside 35 cutthroat trout, a remarkable sign of recovery.”

Alix Link, the district’s manager of urban forestry, natural areas, and community stewardship, says the project has been a major success. 

“Work like this ensures Saanich’s natural park areas are supported and can flourish for years to come,” Link said.

NEWS

Westshore family tries to recover a family heirloom lamp mistakenly dropped off at Value Village

Ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes is famously said to have carried a lamp in the daylight, searching for an honest man.

A Langford family finds itself doing something similar, only in reverse: they’re looking for an honest person who may have their hand-carved wooden lamp, a family antique that mistakenly was taken and sold at Victoria’s Value Village.

“The lamp is our earliest known heirloom linking generations of my family’s tradition of artistic craftsmanship,” Suzanne Robillard says.

Last Sunday, in “the chaos of moving,” Robillard’s brothers accidentally donated the lamp, which was crafted by their great-great-grandfather Clovis Sénécal, who was chief draughtsman for the Geological Survey of Canada in the early 1900s. 

“We immediately went to Value Village to see if it was still there, and they said they had several lamps for sale around Monday, which were all gone, so presumably, our lamp was sold,” Robillard tells Capital Daily.

She’s hoping the buyer surfaces and contacts her family using this email address: [email protected]

Well before satellite imaging and “perhaps in a room lit by the very same lamp we are hoping to recover”, Robillard says, her great-great-grandpa hand-drew detailed geological maps of an emerging Canadian geography, including maps of Victoria, Duncan, and Nanaimo. 

Today, many of his official works are preserved in major archives, including this one from Yale University’s Beinecke Library: 

“To me and my dad, the lamp represents a direct thread linking us to our ancestors, as we both work on art of our own,” Robillard says.

The lamp may have played a part in more of the family’s artistic proficiencies.

Clovis’s son, Ernest Sénécal, was a painter who depicted landscapes of Quebec’s Gaspé region, including its dramatic coastlines. His daughter, Marie—Robillard’s grandmother—was “a skilled watercolour artist, known locally in Victoria for her delicate landscapes and botanical studies.”

This story ran for our Insiders on Aug. 31. Consider becoming an Insider today and be the first to receive stories every Sunday.

SPONSORED BY HELEN EDWARDS

Tickets now on sale for the Health + Homecoming Gala!

This special evening will feature great food, live music, dancing, auctions and more. Saturday, September 27, 5:30pm at the Hotel Grand Pacific.

Money raised will help build the Dr. Joe Haegert Community Health Centre at Crosstown– providing barrier-free medical and mental health services to those who fall through the cracks of our healthcare system.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🍖🍺 Esquimalt Ribfest begins tomorrow. [Bullen Park]

🛳️ Snag a reso: This Facebook group acts as a marketplace for unused BC Ferry reservations. 

📸 Old postcard shows historic downtown Nanaimo in the early 20th century. [Facebook photo]

📽️ Mission Impossible outdoors: Friday, Sept. 12 movie in Langford. [Starlight Stadium]

🗞️ In Other News

Victoria council to consider reducing city’s parking supply
Tonight, the city council is expected to discuss a staff report that recommends reducing the number of parking spaces in the city, possibly adding a parkade, and loosening developers’ parking requirements—allowing them to offer bus passes or car-sharing membership instead of a place to park. The city also could accept cash toward its active transportation fund for each parking space not installed in new developments. [CHEK] 

Final public consultation begins on Quadra-McKenzie neighbourhood plan
Saanich residents have another month to have their say on the plan to set parameters for building along the two major roadways. An online survey is now live and will remain open until the end of the month. There will be webinars Sept.10-16 and open houses on Sept. 17, 21, and 23 at Saanich Municipal Hall. Pop-up info sessions are also in the works. Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock said the plan, which will determine land use, density, and traffic patterns, will be finalized early next year. [Times Colonist]

John Horgan Campus in Langford opens for post-secondary students
The new education hub at Peatt and Goldstream welcomed its first students this week, melding affiliations with Royal Roads, Camosun, UVic, the Justice Institute of BC, and the Sooke School District. The $108M campus, which one student described as “very beautiful, lots of wood, very modern,” gives Westshore students closer access to post-secondary education. [Black Press]

SPONSORED BY UVIC CONTINUING STUDIES

Show up skilled and confident!

Sharpen your skills with online professional development through Continuing Studies at UVic.

🗓️ Things to do

🛍️ Bastion Square Market: Browse local vendors and artisans in Victoria's historic square, daily through September. 11am-5pm. [Info]

🎨 Craft & Connect: Drop in to work on your own project or try something new at Luther Court Society today. 3-4pm. [Info]

🎵 Shanise: Enjoy live music, food trucks, games and outdoor activities at Ship Point today. 5-6:30pm. [Info]

🛍️ Sidney Street Market: Browse unique vendors, enjoy live entertainment, and grab a bite to eat on Beacon Avenue today. 5:30-8:30pm. [Info]

🎞️ Social Impact Movie Club: Join or Die: Watch a thought-provoking documentary about community building and social connection in Americaat theDock–Centre for Social Impact today. 6-9:30pm. [Info]

🧘 Drift: A Floating Sound Meditation: Experience deep relaxation with sound healing in a warm, tranquil pool at The Parkside Hotel & Spa today. 9pm. [Info]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Wednesday’s headlines: Seven Island wildfires sparked over the weekend; UVic trials AI tools; Hullo Ferries workers say hello to job action. [Sept. 3]

BCGEU strike: BC civil servants begin their job action with downtown rally. [Capital Daily]

Sooke School District vice principal suspended for ‘aggressively’ removing a student from a school. [CHEK]

Arrested in the US: members of Victoria band Dayglo Abortions. [Times Colonist]

Free art class: Access self-paced arts and crafts classes with a GV Public Library card. [GVPL]

BC Summer Reading Club complete: The seven-week reading program is finished; kids who have participated can pick up their medals at any Greater Victoria Public Library branch. [GVPL]

Western red-backed salamanders seen near Royal Roads. [Facebook photos]

That’s it!

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