It's going to be almost a year until local man Darryl Nanos will face a trial for the suspected arson of a Lake Cowichan apartment four-plex, October of 2010.
During a recent appearance in a Duncan court, it was decided that a trial confirmation hearing will be held in Duncan, at 9 a.m., January 10, 2012.
The trial itself is set for two days, starting at 9:30 a.m., February 9, and continuing through February 10.
No one was injured in the four-plex unit fire on Lake Cowichan's Stanley Road, though one unit was completely gutted, and others suffered smoke damage.
All residents of the building were subsequently asked to stay out of their homes while an insurance company cleared it again for them to live in it.
With notes by Krista Siefken
No charges for
Seattle police officer
The Seattle police officer that shot and killed a well-known Ditidaht First Nation member and wood-carver, will not face charges.
Seattle Police officer Ian Birk shot John T. Williams, originally from the Nitinat Lake area, as the artist was making his way along a busy downtown Seattle street.
As seen in a widespread viewed and criticized internet video, at youtube.com, Birk fired his weapon a few seconds after calling for Williams to drop the knife he was using to carve a block of wood.
Pending an officer is acting in good faith, Washington law allows police an added level of protection against criminal liability in such cases.
This has caused a fair bit of controversy.
"Ian Birk did not act in good faith when he engaged John T. Williams," Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council vice-president Priscilla Sabbas-Watts said, in a press release.
"John was visibly a carver. He was carrying a legal knife and a block of wood. He was not menacing; not threatening the public in any way. So, why was Birk so quick to fire five shots from his gun?"
"If Birk won't be held criminally responsible for the death of John T. Williams, then lessons must be learned from his terrible mistake," Sabbas-Watts concluded.
Williams had reportedly been living in Seattle.