The Nootka Sound Watershed Society (NSWS) has received $1.1 million through the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF) to support long-term management and recovery of priority salmon stocks.

The project is a continuation of a previously funded BCSRIF project and includes three main objectives: stream temperature monitoring, riparian silviculture restoration, community engagement and expansion of the Nootka Sound Salmon and Watershed Assessment Tool. The project was developed through collaboration with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation.

The ADSS senior girls basketball have been playing together in different variations for three years, said their coach Greg Freethy.

The team is stacked with 11 players: two Grade 12s, including the tallest of the group, who get lots of rebounds, said Freethy, adding that there are six Grade 11 players and three Grade 10s.

“It feels really good to be able to look down the bench and know that all those girls can come in and do some really good things,” said Freethy. 

This holiday season, like all years, the Alberni Valley Salvation Army have been working hard to help feed the unhoused community and provide needed necessities.

Pastor Michael Ramsay and his team of staff and volunteers will be providing those in need with a Christmas meal on Dec. 25 at the Bread of Life at noon. In addition, meals will be brought to shelter guests at Our Home on Eighth and to those living in the new tiny homes on Fourth Avenue.

The time is quickly approaching for the government to deliver a plan to remove net pens from the ocean, although Canada’s fisheries minister is assuring those tied to the salmon farming industry that no sites will be closed in 2025.

Since 2019 salmon farming has faced a federal mandate to transition from the common industry practice of using net pens in B.C.’s coastal waters. Meeting calls from multiple advocacy groups to eliminate the practice, in December 2019 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued former fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan with a post-election directive.

It’s been more than 20 years since Robert William “Willie” Pickton was arrested on illegal gun charges at his Port Coquitlam pig farm. Armed with warrants, investigators searching the pig farm property soon found evidence that something more serious had happened. On Feb. 22, 2002 Pickton was charged with two counts of murder, launching an investigation that was dubbed the largest crime scene in Canada’s history.

The Port Alberni Fire Department was called to a house fire shortly after noon on December 19 at a home near Haahuupayuk School on the Tseshaht First Nation reserve.

According to PAFC Deputy Chief Travis Cross, one person was sent to hospital and the home sustained some damage. Sources say the occupant was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

“When we arrived, we observed smoke coming from the home, but the fire was out,” Cross told Ha-Shilth-Sa.

The cumulative “snowball” effect from multiple generations of unresolved trauma is a factor behind the opioid crisis’s toll on First Nations, says the head of a family treatment centre that delves into the roots of addictions issues.

Business in Vancouver (BIV) published its 2023 list of the top 500 most influential business leaders in the province, with four Nuu-chah-nulth leaders claiming their place.

Paula Amos, chief marketing and development officer for Indigenous Tourism B.C., Carol Anne Hilton, CEO of Indigenomics Institute, Judith Sayers, a board director for Clean Energy BC, and Kwatuuma Cole Sayers, executive director of Clean Energy BC, were highlighted as “visionaries, innovators, connectors, and trailblazers”. 

Tofino is known internationally for its stunning sandy beaches, surfable waves, old growth rainforests, and abundant wildlife, luring in surfers, transient workers, and thousands to millions of visitors each year. Home to Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, the industry has both provided benefits and concerns for the community.

This year two elected leaders stepped away from politics after serving their First Nations for over a generation - time that included the negotiation of one of British Columbia’s few modern-day treaties.

Charlie Cootes and Robert Dennis Sr. were recognized at the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s Annual General Meeting for their long terms as chief councillors. Held on Nov. 30 in Port Alberni, the meeting took place days before Cootes stepped away from being the Uchucklesaht’s elected chief on Dec. 11. Dennis completed his last term as Huu-ay-aht chief councillor in June.