There have been rumours swirling for a few weeks that Moby's Oyster Bar & Marine Grill, the iconic pub at the end of Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island might be closing and we can now confirm that the pub has indeed closed. A sign posted on the door of the pub confirms that they have closed until further notice. This now just weeks after Bruce's Kitchen suffered a similar fate. What is happening to our restaurant community on Salt Spring Island?

As we have in the past, and as this community service business has grown, we've given you little progress updates on how the service is growing and evolving. Four and half years in the making, the Salt Spring Exchange now officially serves over 8,500+ people per week (Verified by Google) and has become one of the top ranked websites when users around the world search for Salt Spring Island online. We're here for one simple reason - you, the residents, visitors and fans of Salt Spring Island. Our goal isn't to be everything for everyone, or to be everything for even other Gulf Islands, it is simply to be the very best, most actively used, local and people focused media, classifieds, local stories, news, events and small business advertising channel for our island. And we're all here together. We're proud to share that over the past year, the Salt Spring Exchange averaged more than 8,500 visitors per week, more than any other media channel on the island, print or otherwise.…

Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada has been voted by Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the best cooking schools in the world. Congratulations Michael Ableman, Jeanne Marie Herman and the crew at Foxglove Farm.

i am sure many people deserve to go more than me, but i also know that the show as it states is more about entertainment than anything and the show can be very abusive to those it selects. still i am going to make the best of it. if you would like to see my audition follow this youtube link.

WOCN11 CWVR 272322 Special weather statement issued by Environment Canada at 3:22 PM PST Wednesday 27 February 2013. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Special weather statement for: =new= Metro Vancouver =new= Greater Victoria =new= Fraser Valley =new= Howe Sound =new= Whistler =new= Sunshine Coast =new= Southern Gulf Islands =new= East Vancouver Island =new= West Vancouver Island =new= Inland Vancouver Island =new= North Vancouver Island. Pineapple express rainstorm expected Thursday night through Saturday. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ==discussion== A pineapple express-type rainstorm will develop across the South Coast of BC on Thursday. A warm Pacific front will tap into some very moist air from the sub-tropics, boosting rainfall rates to between 5 and 10 millimetres per hour. The rainfall intensity will increase Thursday night and the rain will remain h…

One Billion Rising aims to empower people to stand up against the culture of rape and violence against women around the world. Julianna Slomka of Salt Spring organized the one-hour effort, which saw a number of people dancing to choreography they had learned for a song called "Break the Chain", with others following along or doing their own thing.

Date/Time 1 Feb 2013 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Tax is Not a Four-Letter-Word Alex Himelfarb is the Director of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs at York University. From 2002-2006, he was Canada’s senior civil servant: the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. He then served as Canada’s ambassador to Italy. This is a members only salon. Join the Forum today to receive invitations to events like this.

In the jazz world we have become accustomed, at least since the days of Louis Armstrong, to think of the trumpet as a lyrical instrument. But in the classical realm the common image of the trumpet is of something loud and brassy that goes tootle-toot in the back of the orchestra. ArtSpring’s second Gallery Cabaret of the season on Thursday Jan 24 seeks to dispel this misconception. Vancouver trumpeter Dan Kocurek and pianist Christine Eggert present a wide variety of music showcasing the trumpet in its role as a chamber instrument. Both musicians are recent graduates of the UBC Faculty of Music and work in various facets of the busy Vancouver music scene. Christine, who has a Masters in Piano Performance, teaches at the Vancouver International School of Music and performs widely. Dan, originally from the US and with degrees from the University of Oregon and UBC, is a former member of the prestigious Dallas Brass and plays frequently with the Vancouver Island Symphony,…

Following a public invitation for volunteers, we are pleased to advise that the members of the Governance Study Committee are as follows: Carole Eyles, Jack Giles, Dion Hackett, Jacquie Harkema, Gerda Lattey, Tim Marchant, John McPherson, Nicole Melanson, Pat Preston, Bob Rush, Stanley Shapiro. Ex-officio members: Wayne McIntyre, George Grams, Peter Grove The Committee will hold its first meeting at 4pm on 22 January 2013 at the CRD Portlock Park office (Central). The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development will chair the meeting, where the Committee will receive a briefing on its role and responsibilities in the governance study process, elect a committee chair and assign other key committee roles. At subsequent meetings the Committee will identify opportunities for public involvement, finalize the terms of reference, develop an education and engagement strategy for dissemination of the study findings, and direct a consultant in the development of the study an…

Ganges, BC– - Yesterday, the doors to the new Salt Spring Island (SSI) Public Library, located at 129 McPhillips Avenue, opened to the public. The opening marks the return to normal operating hours: Monday to Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The success of the project is a testament to the excellent working relationship between the Salt Spring Island Public Library Association, which will operate the new library, the Capital Regional District (CRD), which owns the library building and Knappett Projects Inc., the construction firm responsible for building the facility. The new 12,500 square foot facility is built to last as a community hub that offers advanced technology, new low carbon energy management concepts, and a comfortable, efficient and unique artistic design. Building on the existing library programs and services, the library includes brand new material, security system and checkout, program and meeting room space, expanded seating and laptop space and many new pro…

Harper’s Team: Behind the Conservative Rise to Power Tom Flanagan is a political science professor at the University of Calgary, author, and conservative political activist. He served as an advisor to Stephen Harper until 2004. In his book Harper’s Team, Flanagan tells the story of Harper’s rise to power – how a small group of colleagues, with little experience in national politics, transformed themselves into the disciplined, professional campaign team that brought down Paul Martin and the Liberals. Please join us for a community discussion on how and why the Harper Conservatives won power in Canada with Tom Flanagan on December 2 at 2:00 in the afternoon at Artspring. Purchasing tickets in advance is strongly recommended as this event may sell out. Tickets can be purchased at Salt Spring Books and at ArtSpring at 537-2102 or online at www.tickets.artspring.ca. Tickets are $10 for Forum members, and $15 for non-Forum members

Date/Time 24 Nov 2012 - 25 Nov 2012 1:00 pm Location Gulf Islands Secondary School Is there a “Harper Doctrine” of Canadian Foreign Policy? UBC Graduate Student Public Workshop Multipurpose Room, Gulf Islands Secondary School Each year, Michael Byers teaches a UBC graduate seminar on “Current Issues in Global Politics and International Law”. Together, the students choose a general area of focus, and each of them then writes a paper on a specific topic within that area. This year’s area of focus is Canadian foreign policy. On the weekend of November 24 and 25, the students will present their papers at a public workshop on Salt Spring Island. Each 15-minute presentation will be followed by a 45-minute discussion involving the audience. Members of the Salt Spring community are warmly invited to attend all or part of the workshop. Admission is free. (Donations to help cover costs are encouraged.) The workshop is organized in partnership with the Salt Spring…

A study to determine the future governance structure for Salt Spring is an expressed community desire. To start the process, SSI Electoral Area Director, Wayne McIntyre and our two SSI Trustees, George Grams and Peter Grove, will strike a Governance Study Committee of which they will be ex-officio (non voting) members. Applications for the committee from community members who have the time to commit and the wish to examine the governance structure with an open mind and a collaborative, investigative and analytical approach will be accepted until December 6th, 2012. An application form can be downloaded at: ssigovernance.wordpress.com Further information and guidance notes can also be found on this site.

Salt Spring Digital, the local collaboration group of Internet/web marketing, communications, design, and development professionals here on Salt Spring is hosting our next networking event this coming November 29th. It's been some time since we all gathered, and to mark the occasion we have arranged Joe Wozny, author of The Digital Dollar to speak to our group about how to get the best performance from your online business, product and branding strategies. All who are interested in digital business, communications, marketing, design, development and Internet start ups are welcome to attend. Space is limited. The event is free. Plan to arrive early to ensure that you get in. Where: Salt Spring Golf Club,  805 Lower Ganges Road When: Thursday, November 29th at 7 PM Cost: Free Learn more about Joe Wozny and the Digital Dollar at his site: http://concentricis.com/ Thank you, The Salt Spring Digital collaboration team.

Victoria, BC –- The Salt Spring Island Transportation Commission (SSITC) is inviting community input on new bus shelters that will be installed as part of the North Ganges Transportation Plan. Located on each side of Lower Ganges Road at Crofton, the two shelters will be designed to reflect Salt Spring Island’s character. The SSITC is providing an opportunity for community members to provide input on the visual characteristics of the shelters. Information on how to provide feedback as well as shelters guidelines are available through the CRD website and through the SSITC website. Input will be accepted starting November 5 and concluding on December 31, 2012. All ideas will be presented to a Design Selection Jury for review and recommendation to the SSITC and the CRD in early 2013. The selection jury will be comprised of community representatives including a student, a professional designer, a SSITC expert on accessibility issues and a CRD engineer. Click here for more …

Dear Friend of the Library, All of us have been able to watch Salt Spring’s new Library take shape over the last fourteen months. The Library’s new home is now almost complete, on time and under budget, and we will be open for business before the end of this year. The project was truly a team effort, one for which all the team members deserve their own gold medals. Salt Spring will, finally, have a new library building that will meet community needs for the next fifty years. And, because of its design and its location, we can have a library—and yet so much more! Indeed, the Library could and should now become the heart and soul of our community. To do that, however, we need your support of the Library’s 2012 Annual Giving Campaign. As already indicated above, we do not need any financial assistance either to complete the building or to furnish it. Rather, we are looking to the community to help us with our “enrichment and enhancement” activities. For example: • an a…

Fleet of approximately10 or more BC Hydro / Corix trucks rolled off this afternoon's Long Harbour ferry headed onto Salt Spring Island. Has the planned smart meter rollout for the island begun?