May 17 - Bylaw officers come down on Pandora campers

Good morning !

I’m a longtime fanatic of the Expos so I’m pretty stoked to see the HarbourCats have modelled their new home white uniforms after the former (hopefully one day returning) Montreal baseball team.
Well-played, ‘Cats.

Our top story comes from downtown where police and bylaw officers cleared an area on Pandora yesterday morning. They told campers to take down their tents and leave. Staffers at Our House a few metres away, say it was pretty dramatic stuff. The mayor says it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

— Mark

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

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NEWS

 Bylaw officers clear Pandora encampment in surprise sweep

People camping on Pandora and outreach workers at nearby Our Place Society were surprised yesterday morning when bylaw officers conducted a “sweep” and removed nearly all tents and items.  

According to Grant McKenzie, communications director for Our Place—which owns the land where the people were camping—between 30 and 50 tents were removed, leaving only three standing as of dinner time last night. McKenzie said he couldn’t determine whether those tents were there before the sweep.

He tells Capital Daily he saw bylaw officers gather tents and personal items and put them into a truck to be impounded, he assumed. 

Mayor Marianne Alto said the removal of tents on Pandora was not out of the ordinary and that it seemed larger because bylaw officers weren’t able to attend to the street during the week. But McKenzie says this was different.

“It seemed like a much deeper sweep than normal,” said McKenzie. “Normally, bylaw does come down once or twice a week and does clean up around the area, because it definitely gets messy. But this one—moving all the tents and stuff out of Pandora definitely caught us by surprise.”

It was the third sweep to clear out encampments in the city in the last week. Outreach workers say all that does is undo their efforts to get people off the street permanently.

Read the full story by Robyn Bell here.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Free menstrual products available now at Central Saanich public facilities. 

Elk/Beaver Lake blue-green algae bloom advisory. [Still in effect] 

Traffic advisory: Trench work will take place on Rocky Point in Metchosin between Lombard and Windover May 21-27.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

FOOD

Vic’s Marilena named among Canada’s best restaurants

Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants—a definitive list of the country's finest, released yearly—has just dropped, with several establishments in Victoria getting recognition.

Most notably, Marilena Cafe and Raw Bar on Douglas landed first place in Canada’s Best New Restaurant category. The restaurant operated by Top Table group has gained immense popularity since it opened last June. 

Three local cocktail bars were also named to the best 50 bars list. Clive's Classic Lounge took the number 15 spot, while Citrus & Cane and Humboldt Bar ranked 29th and 36th respectively.        

Read more about how these establishments were recognized on the national scale in Tasting Victoria.

SPONSORED BY BELFRY THEATRE

The Lehman Trilogy closes on Sunday

"May just be the best theatre I’ve ever seen and that’s a lot of theatre from NYC to Montreal and Berlin and back!! The acting was just beyond, ‘exemplary’ hardly cuts it. The set design—pure genius. Direction is seamless! Absolutely magnificent, a once-in-a-lifetime piece of genius and so relevant! Beautifully executed."

The Belfry's production of The Lehman Trilogy closes May 19.

Pay-what-you-want tickets are available for most performances.

⭐️ Capital Picks

💒 Pop-Up Weddings! Get Married for Free. [Sidney by the Sea]

🔱 Trawling the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: The Ocean Cleanup project, which departs from Victoria, posted this video of a recent haul.

📈 Join over 2000 subscribers getting the latest insights on our region's pressing economic issues like housing, health care, and more from South Island Prosperity Partnership’s weekly newsletter.*

🍽️ John’s Place celebrating 40 years with monthly promotions leading up to its October birthday. 

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🗞️ In Other News

Douglas bus lanes may be extended and could go 24/7 
Victoria’s city council will consider lengthening the bus lanes south to Humboldt—which would involve removing a lane and reducing parking. Yesterday, the committee of the whole agreed to move forward with making the peak-hour bus lanes between Herald and Hillside bus-only a full-time thing. If passed by the council, the change could happen this year. [CHEK]

UVic president makes statement following arrest on campus
Kevin Hall said First Peoples House—where a man threatened staff with a knife and was arrested on Tue.—will remain closed today. As for the pro-Palestinian encampment—unrelated to the incident—Hall repeated that the university supports peaceful demonstrations but that is tempered with the idea that everyone on campus has the right to feel safe. [Statement]

Solar storm picked up on deep sea compasses
We saw the aurora borealis in the sky last weekend, but there was also some magic motion happening in the ocean. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) recorded magnetic shifts up to 2.7km below the ocean’s surface. Folger Passage subsea site recorded the most dramatic disturbance, with the direction of its compass shifting in a range of +30 to -30 degrees, which is a big deal in the undersea data world. [UVic] 

Investigation continues one year after Oak Bay worker’s death
It was one year ago today Oak Bay public works employee Steve Seekins was killed on the job after an SUV struck him at a high speed near Bowker Park. Saanich Police, BC Coroners Service, and WorkSafe BC have been investigating since then, though no new information has been made public. [Victoria News]

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🗓️ Things to do

🩰 Swan Lake: Ballet Victoria will perform the classic Tchaikovsky ballet at the Royal Theatre. Today, 7:30pm. Tomorrow. 2pm. 

🏒 Watch Canucks-Oilers at Save-On-Foods rink: The TV broadcast will air at the local hockey arena. Tickets $10, with proceeds to the Moose Hide Campaign. Tomorrow. 6pm.

🍻 Highland Games: The games are on for the 161st year at Topaz Park. Tomorrow and Sun. [Info]

🎵 What the World Needs Now … Music, Love & Laughter. A fun and inspiring celebration of community with live music, comedy, and magic. Sat. May 25. 7pm. [Info]

🏮Awakening Chinatown Festival: Celebrate the 22nd Asian Heritage Month in Chinatown with a day of captivating performances, arts, and crafts. Fisgard. Sun. May 26. 12pm-5:30pm. [Info]

🎡 Luxton Spring Fair: Check out the rides, games, and carnival snacks at this fair in Langford. Today and tomorrow 3-10pm. Tomorrow and Sun. 12-10pm. [Info]

🎧 Voulez-Vous: Super Taste DJs presents a disco and new wave dance party at Capital Ballroom. Today. 10pm-2am. 

🎻 CelloFest: Cellist Paul Marleyn will be joined by pianist Monica Pfau and cellists Brian Yoon and Amy Laing for a concert at Alix Goolden Performance Hall. Today. Doors 7pm. Show 7:30pm. 

🎷 Noedy HD Quintet: Saxophonist Noedy Hechavarria Duharte will be joined by trumpeter Alexander Brown, pianist Rafael Zaldival, bassist Jonathan Boudreau, and drummer Hans Verhoeven at Hermann’s Jazz Club. Today. Doors 5:30pm. Show 7pm. 

🎵 Folk rock and a little emo rock: Spank Williams, Autonomous Apes, God Loves Rabbits, and Poppa Don Gernie will perform at the Victoria Event Centre. Today. Doors 8pm. Show 8:30pm.

📽️ One Life at Cinecenta: The biographical film starring Anthony Hopkins will be shown at the UVic theatre. Today. 5pm and 7:10pm. 

👀 In Case You Missed It

Thursday’s headlines: Cancer recovery centre to open next year; Saanich asks for secondary suite exemption in rural areas; Drivers caught doing double the speed limit; And more. [May 16] 

BC Ferries expects more passengers, fewer crew shortages. [Capital Daily] 

Pickleballers hold sound test in Oak Bay, hoping to save North Saanich court. [Capital Daily] 

How a UVic student died after overdosing in her dorm. [Times Colonist]

Rental building electrification incentives. [Victoria] [Saanich]

Russell Peters is coming to Vic! Tickets on sale. [Nov. 2]

That’s it!

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