An Ahousaht woman escaped an early morning apartment fire in Port Hardy, without serious injury.

Melissa Dick, 38, of Ahousaht, was with her spouse in their second-floor unit at Town Park Apartments when a fire broke out in the hallway Sunday night (Jan. 17).

Andrew Dawson, 35, said the fire alarm had gone off but, seeing no sign of fire, he called the building manager to have the alarm turned off. He said he and his girlfriend Melissa were preparing to go to bed when he decided to go out for a smoke.

The West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni is set to undergo a $6.25-million emergency department redevelopment in March.

The 2,626 square-foot expansion will include the addition of three new patient exam beds, extra space for those awaiting test results, a private room for people in need of emergency mental health care, improvements to the triage and admitting areas, along with two separate entrances for ambulances and the public. 

Not only will the increase of clinical space reduce wait times, it will also offer more privacy and security for patients.

Indigenous communities in the province are among the first to receive the vaccine for COVID-19, nearly a year after the first cases were recorded in the province. People are lining up in droves with grateful smiles as they roll up their sleeves to receive the vaccine that, in time, promises a return to ‘normal’ life. But health officials are warning people that they must continue to avoid gatherings.

Over three years ago, Hayden Seitcher spent a lot of time at home in Ty-Histanis sulking.

At 16 years old, he felt cynical of the world outside his shell.

“I was expecting the world to turn on me,” he said. “I was just in my own bubble.”

That bubble was popped when Seitcher was invited to join the Tla-o-qui-aht Warrior program.

Designed to foster brotherhood and build leadership in First Nations youth through land-based learning, the Warrior program re-ignited the “fire that burned inside,” he said.

Those behind a kidney monitoring program for remote communities are hoping First Nations and the province will be ready to ease travel restrictions in the coming months, before more people go undetected in developing a chronic illness.

Early last year the First Nations Health Authority, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and Can-Solve CKD Network began a wide-reaching initiative to assess the kidney health of people living in Indigenous communities through blood pressure tests, urine samples, height and weight measurements as well as blood sampling.

The First Nations Health Authority reports that it has delivered 4,000 units of Moderna, the COVID-19 vaccine, to B.C. Indigenous communities between Dec. 29, 2020 and Jan. 13, 2021. They say that more than 19 Indigenous communities have received the vaccine with another 41 communities to receive vaccine very soon.

Bryan Cofsky is doing his best to stay positive.

Cofsky is the executive director of the Ditidaht Economic Development Corporation, the economic arm of the Ditidaht First Nation.

He’s hoping for some encouraging news soon for those who operate Indigenous tourism businesses and wondering what their 2021 seasons will look like.

It’s no secret the COVID-19 pandemic devastated many of these businesses in 2020, including numerous Nuu-chah-nulth companies that were forced to close their doors for large portions of the year.

Residents from six Nuu-chah-nulth nations are among the first to receive the Moderna vaccine within British Columbia.

The communities of Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k:tles7et'h' First Nations, Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Ehattesaht First Nation, Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, Nuuchatlaht First Nation and Ahousaht First Nation were prioritized due to their remote locations and limited access to health care.

Ahousaht Chief Councillor Greg Louie said he was “overwhelmed” when the First Nations Health Authority informed him that Ahousaht was selected to receive the vaccine.

Six months after the police shooting death of Chantel Moore, the Quebec-based agency BEI has completed its investigation and, according to their press release issued December 2020, reports have been delivered to the New Brunswick Coroner and New Brunswick Public Prosecution Services.