Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District chief administrative officer Russell Dyson held a media briefing on an upcoming earthquake/tsunami response exercise.
It is scheduled to take place in Port Alberni this June through Emergency Management B.C.
The meeting took place on March 2 at the ACRD Emergency Operations Centre on Fourth Avenue, next to Coastal Community Credit Union.
The Gemma Headstart Program in Kyuquot for children up to age six is picking up steam, said coordinator Devon Hansen. It opened its doors Jan. 14 with funding and advice from First Nations Health Authority.
Devon works closely with FNHA, which recently shared ideas on how to increase the involvement of children. Now the program has begun to grow.
Today there are more children, more parents, grandparents and community members attending each Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to take part in fun activities scheduled each week.
On a cold rainy day Feb. 28, about 100 people came out to join in the suicide prevention walk at Bob Dailey Stadium in Port Alberni.
Emcee Cliff Atleo opened the event with a prayer. Laura Moras, mother of late Daniel, who the walkers were commemorating, and his siblings were in attendance. Cassandra Martin of Tla-o-qui-aht, the organizer of the event, said the day would have been her late brother’s 19th birthday.” She said she was not aware that her brother had been depressed and the walk was meant to make people aware that there is help available to cope with depression.
On Feb 21, Gisele and Tsimka Martin presented Hugh Braker with a chuputz to thank him for helping their dad Joe Martin with a human rights complaint back in the year 2000. Joe had been fired from his job for attending the Makah Whale Feast in June 1999.
The complaint was eventually dropped, but Joe’s daughters wanted to show their appreciation for what Braker, a lawyer by trade, did to help their dad at the time.
Joe Martin started the presentation with a chant to support his daughters.
There was an enthusiastic round of applause Feb. 24 for the graduates of the Introduction to the Building Trades program when instructor Jim Lawson talked about the work that Miles Keitlah and Ron Dick Jr. had achieved.
"We have a check-list that I go through when I provide the graduation certificate for students that take this program," Lawson said. "I assign a percentage by each one of the particular bullets. And, I recognized when I went through this for both of them for these guys, every one of those bullets gets 100 per cent."
Duane Howard, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht actor who played the lead aboriginal role Elk Dog in the film The Revenant, has been invited to attend the 88th annual Academy Awards. The 2016 Academy Awards is being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on Sunday, Feb. 28.
Howard received his invitation to the Oscars on Feb. 18, when his publicist Holly Carinci called him as he was travelling back from the U.S.
“She said ‘I hope you’re sitting down’, and I asked her why and she said, ‘because you’re in! You’re going to the Oscars!’” Howard told Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Emergency Response B.C. has announced it will conduct a four-day earthquake/tsunami response exercise in Port Alberni this June.
In advance of the provincial exercise, Hupacasath First Nation has announced it will conduct its own full-scale emergency response exercise on March 5.
“This is for Hupacasath members or for people who are living on our reserve,” said Hupacasath Communications Coordinator Jolleen Dick.
Last year, Hupacasath received funding for training, logistical planning and equipment.
In January, Kadin Snook started as the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation Fisheries Coordinator. Originally from Gold River, Kadin is the grandson of Larry Andrew and a member of the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation.
Kadin was also a Uu-a-thluk intern for 2015. Under the mentorship of Roger Dunlop, Uu-a-thluk biologist for the northern region, Kadin participated in many fisheries-related activities, such as conducting telemetry on the Conuma River and helping construct fences for salmon at Dunlop Creek and Henderson River.
Sanford Williams, a talented Mowachaht master wood carver, has made another major donation of one of his pieces to the Canucks for Kids Fund.
Sanford’s last donation to the fund raised more than $1,000 at the Dice & Ice gala and auction. It was a stunning retro goalie mask featuring Williams’ interpretation of the Canucks’ orca logo wrapped around the face of the mask.
Sanford Williams, 47, is a soft-spoken man who has spent most of his life at his historic-Yuquot home, also known as Friendly Cove.
Young Ahousaht mother Margarita Frank spent a hectic Feb. 11 in the hospital tending to her two-year-old son who underwent dental surgery.
The surgery went well, but there were some complications in the recovery room when the boy’s oxygen levels dropped.
“He was fussing and we were trying to keep him awake,” said Frank, when a caregiver approached with some stickers to entertain the little boy.
“There were some Captain America stickers, Sesame Street stickers and then there were some stickers from the movie, Home,” she said.