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Ladysmith teams sweep David Forrest Memorial Tournament
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This Saturday is Kids’ Pirate Day!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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NICK BEKOLAY/CHRONICLE
Aidean Alle-Kopas (right) headlined Ladysmith’s first-ever hip hop show at the Frank Jameson Community Centre Friday, May 24. Backed by his partner Alexander Reyes, his girlfriend Samanta de Souza and DJ Charles James, AlleKopas performed for a small but enthusiastic crowd of local youth as filmmakers Joshua Raven and Perry Johnston shot footage for the headliner’s YouTube channel. Alle-Kopas and Reyes are scheduled to perform Saturday, June 1, at the Archie Browning Sports Centre in Esquimalt and at the Queen’s in Nanaimo Saturday, June 8. The June 8 performance will serve as a fundraiser for the six-month Canada World Youth mission to Tanzania on which Reyes embarks June 24. The fundraiser is 19-plus, and tickets are $15. There will be a beer and burger, raffle tickets, performances and more. Contact Alle-Kopas through Facebook at www.facebook.com/ AlexanderReyesMusic for information. Alle-Kopas’ music video trailer to Counting, which was shot on his trip in Nicaragua, came out Monday.
Parents, students protest school closures Nick Bekolay THE CHRONICLE
A cold, driving rain pelted the streets of Ladysmith early Saturday morning, but let up in time for a throng of parents and students from schools in North Oyster, Cedar and Wellington to begin a 22-kilometre protest march to Nanaimo shortly after 10 a.m. The march was organized as a means of focussing public attention on the role played by the provincial government and
the school district in the vincial government and actions like Saturday’s “erosion of public educa- school district officials, protest march the group tion,” Susan Toth, a South Toth said. — titled SUPER or Stand Wellington Parent AdviSchool closures in small Up for Public Education sory Council member said. communities “need to Rights — aims to pressure “We’re trying to make stop,” Toth added, “and SD68 into recognizing the a difference, to hold on we need to work togeth- value inherent in small to what we have and to er to make things better. community schools while make things better for That’s what the walk is re- calling on the provincial our children,” Toth added, ally all about.” government to “prioritize “but we’re not being heard Toth and her fellow pro- education funding.” and we’re not being taken testers represent schools Forty SUPER supporters seriously.” from the south end of converged on First Avenue The march would pro- School District 68 where as the march prepared to vide supporters of pub- a number of schools are leave from the Ladysmith licly funded community slated for closure or grade constituency office of schools to make “a visual restructuring as a result Nanaimo-North Cowichan impact” that would reg- of SD68’s Enhanced Facil- MLA Doug Routley shortly ister with both the pro- ities Plan (EFP). Through after 10 a.m.
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Routley expressed his support for the efforts made by those present to deliver their message to SD68 officials and provincial legislators and he commended them on their willingness to work with School District 68 to keep their schools open. Following Routley’s speech, the march set off along First Avenue in the direction of Highway 1 with no set arrival time in mind. Rene Qualizza joined the walk to protest the planned closure of North
you can
Oyster Elementary. She had planned to send her son to North Oyster for kindergarten next September, but due to its slated closure she’s now looking into sending her son to either a private institution or to a Ladysmith school. “We definitely wanted him to go to [North Oyster,]” Qualizza said. “It’s close to home. It’s within our community. I don’t want him to go somewhere far away. He’ll have no sense of identity with his community.” See Students Page 3
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