Capital Daily

06/07/2023

We've rounded up all the Pride events taking place this weekend in our Thursday newsletter!

Plus, the most dangerous intersections, boater bothers orca, third suspicious fire

04/07/2023

Last week a teen girl went missing in Golden Ears Provincial Park. After more than two days alone in the wilderness, she emerged, unharmed, and is back with her family.

The parents of Melissa McDevitt, another hiker lost in the woods, have had no such happy reunion. Six months after their daughter disappeared in Sooke, they still don’t know what happened to her. Neither Melissa nor a single item belonging to her has been found.

Tom and Maggie McDevitt spoke with Capital Daily about the search to find Melissa, the strangers who have banded together to help, and the new clue that could break open the case.

The 39-year-old has been missing since Dec. 9 after she embarked on a hike at Sea to Sea park in Sooke

24/05/2023

Carving a white trail across the water’s surface, a Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) landing craft tears off towards Race Rocks located off the Island’s southern tip.

Founded in 1976 as Canada’s first spill response organization, WCMRC is responsible for huge swaths of BC’s 27,000km coastline. It has been responding to oil spill emergencies and spills for close to five decades; it averages 20 call responses per year.

This time it’s a practice and training deployment for the crew at Beecher Bay, at the newest of the four bases spread around the Island.

Photojournalist James MacDonald () follows the action as they run through tasks such as boom deployment and verification of sensitive and important sites along the south coast of the Island.

🔗 See the full photo series at the link in our bio.

12/05/2023

Tucked between a Hong Kong restaurant and a ceramics painting studio, on the south east corner of the bustling Fort and Richmond intersection, sits Goodside Pastry House () which, on most days, has a line waiting patiently for its unique croissants, cream puffs and other pastries.

🥐 It’s the latest iteration of a journey that started on , before migrating to pop-ups in in the midst of the pandemic, eventually moving to a semi-permanent space, and finally finding a long-term home at its new store front.

🥐 Established in 2020 by pastry chefs Haley Landa and Curtis Helm, their journey of “food and baking” as Helm put it, began 12 years ago when the two enrolled in culinary school on Granville Island in Vancouver.

📸👉🏽 In this photo series from see the pair behind this beloved bakery that has found its permanent home in downtown Victoria.

Link in bio for the full piece 🔗

03/05/2023

In September 2022, Simon Stubbs, a psych patient at Royal Jubilee Hospital, overdosed on an over-the-counter drug while under the supervision of nurses and doctors. He'd been stuck at Royal Jubilee for the better part of three and a half years and was sick of hospital life.

Our investigative reporter Tori Marlan has been following Simon's search for supportive housing since 2020. This feature story looks at the toll that institutionalization has taken on him, and how BC has little to offer people with complex-care needs. Read the story here:

Simon Stubbs has been stuck in hospital mental-health wards for years, enduring “trauma on trauma on trauma”

28/04/2023

Fairy Creek land defenders took centre stage at the opening of Symbiosis, the latest exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria ().

The exhibit opened on April 1, but is currently free to visitors starting this week, April 27 to May 3 and it will remain at the gallery until Oct 29.

Two years in the making, Symbiosis started as a shared love of fungi by co-curators Jaimie Isaac and Mel Granley.

Perhaps the largest—certainly the heaviest—work on display is a 3,000-pound Douglas Fir old-growth stump cut “cookie” previously at the Fairy Creek blockades. After being cut from a tree in 2020, the stump was repurposed by land defenders as a blockade and sleeping dragon anchor, and has since appeared at events and protests as far as Montreal.

“It’s likely the crudest and most graphic demonstration of our art—the destruction of our land,” said Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones (pictured in the second slide), who presented the stump along with Angela “Rainbow Eyes” Davidson on opening day.

“Our art is our creativity. I think that’s mankind’s biggest gift that we have to re-nurture,” Jones said. “And by doing that, we have to start in the simplest form, by preserving and caring for our land, and our forests.”

🔗 To read the full piece from visit the link in the bio

16/02/2023

It takes a dedicated team to maintain and upkeep a 125-year-old building through wet winters and extended summer heat; through the masses of tourists during travel season, and a robust parliamentary calendar.

From cleaning and upkeep, to repairs and conservation, the work is always ongoing as visitors come and go, and the work of running Canada’s third largest province rolls on. In this photo series, James MacDonald () captures the people behind the scenes at the BC legislature building. From cleaning and upkeep, to repairs and conservation, the work is always ongoing as visitors come and go, and the work of running Canada’s third largest province rolls on.

1 - Maria Tiamzon carefully sweeps down the carpets of the legislative chamber. 

2 - Surjit Dhanota speaks on the radio while on the roof of the legislature building. 

3 - Rodney Pilatzke changes a light bulb in one of the corridors of the BC Legislature.

4 - Surjit Dhanota works at his desk where he can control the exterior and fountain lighting from a specialized program on his office computer.

5 - Josh Freeman tweaks a lock mechanism on one of the heavy wooden doors on a Legislature breezeway.

6 - Eric Hutchings, whose grandfather worked as a contractor at the Legislature, works in the wood shop where cabinetry, furniture, and historical pieces of the building are fixed, updated, and conserved.

🔗For more photos visit the link in our bio

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27/01/2023

Three years in the making, today we're bringing you our investigation of the unsolved murder of real estate agent Lindsay Buziak.

The podcast uncovers 1,500 pages of court documents and new firsthand sources to create the definitive account of this horrific moment in Victoria's history.

You can listen to all eight episodes here:

In 2008, a Victoria realtor was murdered while showing a million-dollar home. This seven-part series investigates her unsolved murder.

22/01/2023

It's been months since excited art lovers were set to see the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit, which was meant to open in October—but the project is still working its way through the permitting process.

The permit needed for the immersive art show has been approved, pending a public hearing

22/01/2023

Danielle M.’s job search began, as many do, with a desperate hunt for childcare. Having freelanced for a few years while raising her kids, the mother of three (who asked that only her last initial be used to protect her privacy) was ready to get back to work as soon as she found care for her youngest, still a toddler.

But as many Victoria parents have experienced in recent years, Danielle hit wall after wall trying to find that care.

“I kind of assumed it would be a struggle to find something,” she said. “But it ended up that there’s literally nothing available. At all.”

The one daycare centre that’s nearly open will be “upholding Christian values”

22/01/2023

How well do you know Victoria?

Match an archival picture with your contemporary version for a chance at a $75 Hide + Seek Coffee gift card.

Help us locate and recapture scenes from archival photos

14/01/2023

Jolene Rudisuela told newsletter subscribers this week the story of a duckling that was raised by chickens at her childhood home. We promised readers photos—so here they are! If you're not a newsletter subscriber yet, sign up for the Capital Daily newsletter for all news fair and fowl. Link in bio.

11/01/2023

🗓️ One more week until the !

Hear from speakers like Gregor Craigie, journalist, Scott Goodmanson, mayor of Langford, Julie Angus, CEO and co-founder of , Tori Marlan, our very own investigative journalist, and more!

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In the evening check out musical performances by local artists like and .

RSVP through the 🔗 in our bio to get your tickets!

☝️Please note that the festival is exclusively open to Capital Daily Insiders only. If you are not yet an Insider, it’s easy to become one – the details are all in our bio.

Send us a DM with any questions!

08/01/2023

😋 There are many ways to cook the South Asian rice and meat dish, but this one is new to Victoria.

There are many ways to cook the South Asian rice and meat dish, but this one is new to Victoria

08/01/2023

Hey ! Capital Daily Insiders are invited to join us on Wed., Jan. 18 at UVic to celebrate Victoria’s year ahead in ideas, talks and local music from Astrocolor, Old Soul Rebel, Nicky MacKenzie and Spencer Krug.

Find out more, become an Insider, and kick off 2023 like the enlightened local you are! 👇🏼

https://hello.capitaldaily.ca/festival?utm_source=website&utm_medium=header_banner&utm_campaign=cd_festival&utm_content=link

07/01/2023

Come learn, groove and network with Capital Daily on Wed., Jan. 18. Capital Daily Insiders are invited to celebrate Victoria’s year ahead in ideas, talks and local music. Find out more, become an Insider, and kick off 2023 like the enlightened local you are! Register with the link in bio.👆🏼

07/01/2023

Come learn, groove and network with Capital Daily on Wed., Jan. 18. Capital Daily Insiders are invited to celebrate Victoria’s year ahead in ideas, talks and local music. Find out more, become an Insider, and kick off 2023 like the enlightened local you are! 👇🏼 https://hello.capitaldaily.ca/festival

05/01/2023

Kaydence, 16, was struck by the driver of a pickup truck around 9:45pm on Dec. 6, 2021 while crossing in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Hill Cross Road and Merriman Drive. He never regained consciousness and died the next day.

Margarita Citron, who is in her early 70s, faces one charge under the Motor Vehicle Act. But Citron’s lawyer, Jerry Steele, said Citron, who remained at the scene and does not dispute that she was driving the vehicle, has not yet entered a plea and will appear again in court Feb. 1. His client’s position is that the incident was “a terrible, terrible accident” and he said “she is not pleading guilty.”

The driver revealed in court that she is planning to dispute the charge, and believes the incident was “a terrible, terrible accident,” her lawyer says.

05/01/2023

Capital Daily Insiders are invited to join us on Wed., Jan. 18 at UVic to celebrate Victoria’s year ahead in ideas, talks and local music. Find out more, become an Insider, and kick off 2023 like the enlightened local you are! 👇🏼Event link in bio.

05/01/2023

📣 🍷🎶 Capital Daily Insiders are invited to join us on Wed., Jan. 18 at UVic to celebrate Victoria’s year ahead in ideas, talks and local music. Find out more, become an Insider, and kick off 2023 like the enlightened local you are! 👇🏼 https://hello.capitaldaily.ca/festival?utm_source=website&utm_medium=header_banner&utm_campaign=cd_festival&utm_content=link

04/01/2023

A Bengali would tell you the right way includes potatoes in the dish. People from the state of Tamil Nadu might insist that short grain rice, rather than long grain basmati, is the best type to use in biryani. A fierce pride in the variation that hails from one’s region of origin is a force that unites South Asians in diaspora.

The desire to taste this new-to-Victoria version of biryani is made evident by the number of people who have flocked to Biryani Palace since its first take-out only, soft launch day in the middle of a snowstorm.

There are many ways to cook the South Asian rice and meat dish, but this one is new to Victoria

31/12/2022

Hey Victoria neighbours, it’s the LAST DAY to support our United Way Southern Vancouver Island holiday drive for Victoria’s kids. Read more and donate here to invest in our city’s future. 👇🏼 https://uwsvi.ca/capital-daily-holiday-drive-2022/

30/12/2022

Are you still looking to give back locally (and get a tax receipt for your generosity)? Please give to Capital Daily’s United Way Southern Vancouver Island Holiday Drive to benefit local early childhood development. Every dollar you donate is matched! Just two days left to give. https://uwsvi.ca/capital-daily-holiday-drive-2022/

30/12/2022

Some Greater Victoria councillors are moonlighting and working second jobs to be able to represent the region they were elected to serve.

Councillors work just about full-time, but say the pay isn’t enough to get by in Victoria. It’s a sticky—and age-old—problem in local politics: who wants to vote for their own pay raise?

27/12/2022

Hey Victoria! You still have a week to make a tax-deductible donation to the Capital Daily Holiday Drive to benefit the United Way Southern Vancouver Island’s early childhood development programs. Every dollar you give before Jan. 1 will be matched! https://uwsvi.ca/capital-daily-holiday-drive-2022/

26/12/2022

What’s it like to spend Christmas thousands of miles from home and docked off the coast of Victoria?

They may be away from home, but the crew of the Maersk Trader is making the most of the holiday ashore

24/12/2022

This Christmas Eve, please invest in Victoria’s children by donating to the Capital Daily United Way Southern Vancouver Island Holiday Drive. It’s tax-deductible and your donation is matched dollar-for-dollar by our local partners! Help us reach our goal! https://uwsvi.ca/capital-daily-holiday-drive-2022/

24/12/2022

Victoria road conditions are expected to be treacherous right through Christmas Eve.

Freezing rain could turn parts of Island highways into a skating rink on Friday coming into busy Christmas weekend

23/12/2022