Classes continued on Oct. 5 at the Alberni District Secondary, after a notice was issued on the weekend that someone at the high school tested positive for COVID-19.

Information released by Island Health states that the infected person was in the facility Sept. 14, 15, 17, 18 and 22, nearly two weeks before School District 70 notified the community of possible exposure at the large Port Alberni school. Two weeks is commonly considered by public health authorities to be the maximum period that symptoms of the novel coronavirus can present themselves after infection.

Government’s failure to negotiate in good faith and refusal to respect constitutionally protected Indigenous fishing rights is putting lives at risk, says MP Gord Johns.

The NDP fisheries critic along with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs are urging the federal government to defend Indigenous fishing rights after tensions among non-Indigenous fishermen led to acts of intimidation and threats against a Mi’kmaq lobster fishery.

A Vancouver Island University (VIU) scholarship program for Indigenous students is working toward Indigenizing and decolonizing post-secondary institutions.

The EleV Scholarship program aims to better support Indigenous learners in their post-secondary journeys and beyond by providing scholarships for youth aged 18-35, providing support services and removing barriers to education. The program is focused on providing nation-matched scholarships and culturally relevant programming and supports for Indigenous students using a co-creation approach. 

Huu-ay-aht First Nations declared a public health emergency in March 2018 as 21 per cent of the nation’s kids were in foster care.

By making a concerted, intense effort to reduce the number of Huu-ay-aht children in care through the nation’s Social Services Project, numbers have since decreased, said Shannon Zimmerman, the nation’s director of child and family wellness.

“In saying that, we still have too many kids in care,” she said.

The hall that once was considered the heart of the Tseshaht community came down on Sept. 30, after standing on the First Nation’s reserve for over 70 years.

The Somass Hall was demolished within four hours, leaving an empty site where generations of Tseshaht people recall a building that once served as the hub for community gatherings.

The hall was built by Bloedel, Stewart and Welch at the end of the Second World War, recalled Tseshaht elder Cody Gus in information distributed by the First Nation.

Staff from Teechuktl Mental Health recognized Orange Shirt Day today, while adjusting to COVID-19 restrictions.

In recognition of residential school survivors, at 10 a.m. they walked from the Redford Street Quu’asa office in Port Alberni, along Fourth Avenue, stopping to sing in front of the Port Alberni Friendship Center and make an offering to children at the facility’s daycare. On route to the Harbour Quay the crowd also sang outside of the Thunderbird Building on Kingsway Avenue, where some former residential school students reside.

Under dark, stormy skies, dozens of boaters and kayakers gathered in the Tofino Inlet this past Saturday for a wild salmon flotilla in protest of the surrounding fish farms.

Tsimka Martin organized the event in response to the 19th recommendation of the 2012 Cohen Commission’s report. The recommendation calls for the prohibition of the Discovery Islands fish farms by Sept. 30, 2020, unless the operations are proven to pose only a "minimum risk of serious harm to the heath of migrating Fraser River salmon."

Orange Shirt Day will be held again this year to honour residential school survivors, but in Port Alberni the event has adjusted to follow COVID-19 restrictions.

On Sept. 30 the usual gatherings will not be held, instead a group of less than a dozen people will begin a walk from the Quu’asa office on Redford Street across Fourth Avenue, passing the Port Alberni Friendship Center to finish at the Harbour Quay.

Data recently released by the BC Coroners Service show that the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to bring high numbers of fatal overdoses, with 147 suspected illicit drug deaths in August.

This shows a 71 per cent increase over the deadly tally from August last year, but a continued decline from the results earlier in the summer. In May, June and July respective totals of 180, 181, and 176 have now been reported by the Coroners Service.

Males account for 862 of the 1,068 illicit drug fatalities reported in B.C. over the first eight months of this year.

Teara Fraser, the first Indigenous woman to start her own airline company in Canada, has joined the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Allies.

Fraser, a Métis woman who lives in Vancouver, founded Iskwew Air last year. Iskwew is the Cree word for woman.

Iskwew Air, which is based out of the Vancouver International Airport, provides charter services to communities throughout British Columbia.

Earlier in September Fraser flew to the Tofino-Long Beach Airport to participate in a ceremonial signing agreement with Tla-o-qui-aht officials.