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Turning Parking Pressure Into Community Funding on Salt Spring Island

As Salt Spring Island heads into the busy summer season, parking in and around Ganges becomes increasingly challenging — particularly on Saturday Market days, when roadsides and nearby neighbourhoods often fill with parked vehicles. Now, a creative new community partnership is transforming that challenge into an opportunity. Ganges Village Marketplace (“GVM”) — home to Country Grocer and other local businesses — has partnered with the Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce to introduce a new designated paid parking area on Fulford-Ganges Road, across from Drake Road, at the former construction staging site. The initiative will help provide much-needed additional parking for busy Saturday Market days, helping reduce roadside and illegal parking while improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike. The project is an important step toward easing long-standing traffic pressures during the height of the summer season. But beyond solving a practical community issu…
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What's on This Week on CHIR-Fm

Lots of great talk and music coming your way this week on CHIR-FM, including interviews with Peri Lavender of the Salt Spring Apple Company, The Geezers comedy duo, Thetis Island author/activist Ann Erickson, and Galliano skipper George Harris, as well as recorded highlights from the recent Ladies of Jazz concerts. Tune in to 107.9 FM (or 102.1 FM in the South End) or stream the station online to hear more than 20 unique local programs on the Voice of the Gulf Islands. 
Sunday (May 17) 3-4 p.m: Harmonic Expeditions with Mike Chin will air excerpts of the Ladies of Jazz concerts recorded at the Harbour House over Mother's Day weekend. If you missed it, this is your chance to catch some of the best tunes from this fun celebratory event featuring singers Sue Neumann, Wanda Nowicki, Sima Rehn, Nomi Lyons, Hannah Brown, Tonya Horoky-Cooper, Suzanne Gay and Rose McGuire. Tuesday (May 19) 10-11 a.m: On TRUpreneur, host David Crouch will be in conversation with Peri Lavender …
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Lessons From Ground Zero

Salt Spring has decisions ahead that will reverberate for years to come: the Trust Policy Statement, the Official Community Plan review, housing, and climate adaptation. These are not abstract policy debates. They will shape what kinds of homes, services and neighbourhoods we make room for, whether teachers, nurses, tradespeople, young families and service workers can keep living here, and how we respond to drought, fire risk, water security and shoreline change. These are not small matters. They are choices our children will live with. They deserve more than another Facebook argument and another meeting where many of the people most affected cannot be there. I do not say that to dismiss the people who show up. Many care deeply about Salt Spring and have given years of volunteer time and civic attention to local governance. That matters. But attendance is not the same thing as representation. A democracy cannot be reduced to who has the most flexible Tuesday morning calen…
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Eat My Dust: Dirt Roads on Salt Spring

Hey, good Salt Springers driving on dirt roads, please slow down in sight of people on foot and bicycles. Otherwise, you create dust clouds that are hazardous to their health. The dust also lands on nearby greenery, which gets choked with it, often metres into property beyond the road right-away. Speed Matters You'll know when you're going the right speed, because out the rear-view mirror, you'll see what you've stirred up. On windless days, your gritty storm can persist for long minutes over long stretches of road. You're long gone, and people walking and cycling are left with fine grit in their eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs. When first spotting people who will eat your dust, please slow down and keep going a slow, steady speed until well past them. Imagine that you're the one left in the choking cloud, and drive accordingly. Grading, Then Dust Suppression Emcon, which maintains our "highways"—all Ministry of Transportation & Transit (MoTT) roads are officially …
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Update on Reno-Eviction of Salt Spring Gallery, Artist Cooperative

Dear cherished supporters and art lovers in our beautiful community, As many of you may be aware, our landlord, Glenbrook Estates, ordered us to leave our beloved home at 135 McPhillips Ave by June 1st, so that they can completely renovate the property. Well, we have good news — Glenbrook has thrown us a lifeline! We are so pleased to report that we can stay at our treasured location of 17 years until November 30. The lifeline, however, comes with some unanticipated conditions. Stay tuned for various events throughout the summer as we try to fundraise to cover a rental increase backdated to January and a new damage deposit to secure our 6 month extension. A bit about Salt Spring Gallery, Artist Cooperative: Born in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, the Salt Spring Gallery of Fine Art Cooperative was a visionary act of community resilience. Founded by the late Sheila Hoen and a small collective of artists, the gallery transformed a modest space with a…
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Will our Long-Planned Salish Sea Trail Finally Be Built?

Fifteen joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Island Pathways’ Robin Jenkinson to talk about Salt Spring’s proposed Salish Sea Trail. During her Land Acknowledgement, she reminded us that our trails today often follow age-old First Nations routes. We also learned that many of our roadbeds are artifact-rich as they were first constructed using crushed shells from local middens. When we introduced ourselves, we learned that participants at this gathering were a mixture of avid cyclists and those who do not feel safe enough cycling on Salt Spring. In addition to locals, we were pleased to welcome participants from Gabriola and Pender Islands to share their trail advocacy successes and challenges. Robin shared her “excitement and delight” with her recent visits to other islands, both to learn from them as well as to gain what she characterized as an archipelagic perspective. One outgrowth of this pan-island perspective is her recent acceptance of the coordination of…
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Salt Spring Island Dancers Shine at Vancouver Island Competitions

Salt Spring Island dancers are celebrating an outstanding competition season after strong results at two major Vancouver Island dance competitions this spring. The dancers, who train together under instructor Jen Soo — owner of Studio North Dance Academy and Stage West School of Performing Arts — proudly represented Salt Spring Island among studios from across Vancouver Island and the mainland. Dancers featured in the group performances include Athena Dragland, Gia Van Riel, Isla Marcu-Alaire, Isla Ashall, Ivy Hennessey, Eva Ilinykh, and Harlow Kazakoff. Competing at VersaStyle Dance Competition at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River and Euphoria Dance Competition at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo, the group earned numerous overall placements, special awards, and adjudicator recognition. Athena Dragland achieved multiple top honours for her ballet solo “Blue Bird,” including 1st Overall Soloist placements, Top Score Grand Overall, an Emerald Standing award, and an Adju…
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What's on This Week on CHIR-FM

An interview with BC Green Party Leader Emily Lowan, features on the Pender Island and Saturna Island libraries, a conversation with Islands Trust Chair Laura Patrick, and a program celebrating motherhood are among the offerings lined up for this coming week on CHIR-FM, the Voice of the Gulf Islands. Tune in to 107.9 FM (or 102.1 FM in the South End) or stream the station online to hear more than 20 unique local programs. Monday (May 11) 8-9 a.m. On the Daybreak Dialogues segment of the weekday Morningtide program, host Dan Miller speaks with assistant SSI fire chief Ken Akerman about remembering the fire ban. There will also be a Dan-in-the-Street report on Saturday's Salt Spring Emergency Preparedness Fair. Tuesday (May 12) 8-9 a.m. On Daybreak Dialogues, an interview with Islands Trust Chair Laura Patrick. Tuesday (May 12) 1-2 p.m.: On This Song, That Time, the theme this week is motherhood and host Lesley Grott will include some stories about her mother. T…
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Converstions with MLA Rob Botterell: Housing Challenges and Land Security Fears

Fifteen joined this afternoon’s 2:30 pm ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MLA Rob Botterell. After his Acknowledgement during which he emphasized the critical importance of First Nations collaboration followed by a chance for each of us to introduce ourselves, Rob shared what “excited and delighted” him. Top on his mind at that moment was his delight that there was a non-stop ferry to Pender that afternoon leaving at 4:05 that would get him home early after a week away from home and his wife. Asking our permission to leave our gathering an hour early, he promised to give us his full two hours next time he visited, Friday, June 5. He also expressed his delight that this session of the Legislature, full of complicated issues, was nearly over with only eleven days to get its work done before the summer break. These 11 days are expected to be full and extending late into the night with much to be done, including: - Decisions on two Treaties before the legislature, - Next…
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Bikes & Boats; A Connected, Low-Carbon Future

What if our Archipelago were well connected by passenger-only ferries and safe, accessible walking and cycling pathways on every Southern Gulf Island? Imagine catching a small boat from Ganges—maybe even an electric passenger ferry like those now running in Norway and being piloted on the Sunshine Coast—bringing your bike along (or renting one when you arrive), and stepping onto a smooth, welcoming multi-use trail that leads you right into the heart of a village. This isn’t just a dream. It’s a vision already taking shape. The Salish Sea Inter-Island Transportation Society is helping lead the way through initiatives like Tour des Îles, Aqualink, and GoByBikeBC Week across Pender, Mayne, Saturna, Galiano, Salt Spring, and beyond this May–June. Across the Islands, communities are building pieces of a much larger network. On Pender Island, CRD and Moving Around Pender (MAP) recently completed a 2 km, three-metre-wide multi-use pathway connecting Magic Lake to th…
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