Author

Mark Brennae

Vancouver Island

Pickleball community gets a new online hub

Mark Brennae
Feb 3, 2025

Nielsen, an avid pickleballer who lives in Victoria, says he kept hearing the same question over and over: "Where can we play?"

Travel

Some of our readers enjoy camping under the stars—and under the radar

Mark Brennae
Jan 31, 2025

Others slept on restaurant floors, in “a tree house in Western Australia, or “on a beach under my overturned row boat.”

Housing

Island’s tallest tower proposed for Blanshard and Pandora

Mark Brennae
Jan 27, 2025

A major gain for the city, the builder says, are the 321 proposed units that would help contribute up to 30% of Victoria’s annual housing targets and the 99 propounded two- and three-bedroom units which would surpass what is needed yearly for family housing.

Community

Victoria choir pitch hits a chord to help bridge memory gap

Mark Brennae
Jan 17, 2025

With January being Alzheimer's Awareness Month, the Voices in Motion Choir is putting out the call for new members

Capital Ideas

Crystal Pool referendum date set for February

Mark Brennae
Dec 14, 2024

In 2016, the estimated cost for a new Crystal Pool was $69.4M. Now, it's $215.9M

Infrastructure

James Bay residents say lower speed limits no good without enforcement

Mark Brennae
Dec 11, 2024

On one stretch of Oswego, the JBNA study said, on average seven vehicles exceed the speed limit every 15 minutes when ships are in port compared with one vehicle speeding when there aren’t any ships at Ogden.

University of Victoria

UVic encourages Swiftness in the classroom with new Taylor-made music course

Mark Brennae
Dec 6, 2024

Universities have offered courses on musicians since the Beatles, so it should be no surprise there’s a Swiftie course.

Business

Next year's convention bookings already up 40% for the region

Mark Brennae
Nov 23, 2024

“The best barometer of how many people are downtown compared to pre-pandemic [days] would be if you look downtown and see how few restaurants actually stay open for lunch versus five years ago." — Bill Lewis, chair of the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria.