Poll at right indicates the question
Background – a lot of chatter about supply of vaccine
Who is responsible for who gets what and when ???
Are you are worried ??
or confident you are doing a good job and really NOT worried when the needle is injected in your arm….?
“Today, we are reporting 471 new cases, including four epi-linked cases, for a total of 69,716 cases in British Columbia.
“There are 4,423 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 253 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 70 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“Currently, 6,886 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 62,567 people who tested positive have recovered.
“Since we last reported, we have had 108 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 208 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 28 in the Island Health region, 56 in the Interior Health region, 71 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
“To date, 149,564 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 10,366 of which are second doses. Immunization data is available on the COVID-19 dashboard: www.bccdc.ca
“There have been six new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,246 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost loved ones to COVID-19.
“We have no new health-care facility outbreaks.
“Today, we shared the latest COVID-19 modelling data. There are some encouraging signs that the efforts of people throughout our province are working. By spending less time with others, by staying local and using our layers of protection, we are flattening our curve.
“We want to protect the progress we have made since the start the year and not throw away our success.
“To do this, we need to buy ourselves some time – time to get our immunization program back up to speed as vaccine supply is restored and scaled up, and time to understand whether and how the variants of concern will affect transmission in our communities. This understanding will allow us to respond to any surge in the variants of concern quickly, and we need only look around us to see how severe the impact can be if infections with these variants take off.
On the Sunny Side
Carl – Episode 1
Carl was a quiet man. He didn’t talk much. He would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake. Even after living in our neighborhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well. Before his retirement, he took the bus to work each morning. The lone sight of him walking down the street often worried us. He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WWII. He may not make it through our changing uptown neighborhood with its ever-increasing random violence, gangs, and drug activity.
When he saw the flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens behind the minister’s residence, he responded in his characteristically unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up. He was well into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally happened. He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him. Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, “Would you like a drink from the hose?” The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, “Yeah, sure,” with a malevolent little smile. As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl’s arm, throwing him down. As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, Carl’s assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.
Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. He lay there trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him. Although the minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn’t get there fast enough to stop it. “Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?” the minister kept asking as he helped Carl to his feet. Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head. “Just some punk kids. I hope they’ll wise-up someday.” His wet clothes clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose. He adjusted the nozzle again and started to water. Confused and a little concerned, the minister asked, “Carl, what are you doing?” “I’ve got to finish my watering. It’s been very dry lately,” came the calm reply. Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel. Carl was a man from a different time and place.
A few weeks later the three returned. Just as before their threat was unchallenged. Carl again offered them a drink from his hose. This time they didn’t rob him. They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head to foot in the icy water. When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done. Carl just watched them. Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his hose, and went on with his watering.
The summer was quickly fading into fall. Carl was doing some tilling when he was startled by the sudden approach of someone behind him. He stumbled and fell into some evergreen branches. As he struggled to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormentors reaching down for him. He braced himself for the expected attack. (Next week – the rest of the story.)
Submitted by Henry Wiebe
Synchronized Swimming
At the November 9, 2020 Council meeting Town Council directed that a public information meeting be held and Staff continue to look for alternative temporary shelter locations in Oliver.
The virtual public information session was held on December 3, 2020 and the public was also provided the opportunity to submit responses through the Town’s website.
Responses have been summarized and combined and are attached to this report for Council’s review. The on-line questionnaire saw 64 respondents with 31 of those in opposition to the proposed Temporary Use Permit at 511 Church Avenue. Multiple comments received from the same IP addresses were combined into one comment.
Limited policing, the emergency response time, high amount of thefts in the area, too close to schools and residents, and property values were among the main concerns. The majority of the comments from the 31 non-supporters feel that safety is the biggest concern. Although, the respondents opposed to the TUP, 24 of the 34 are in favour of a Cold Weather Shelter located elsewhere in the Town.
Suggestions for another location were varied, repeat suggestions were the Air Cadet Hangar, old library on Station St, Portuguese Club, Doctor’s office on Main (5980 Main) and empty retail space downtown. Additionally, late feedback form submissions, 4 supported, 3 supported with comments, and 3 did not support. The majority are worried about drug use and a comment repeated in the online questionnaire, in regard to 555 Earle Crescent now being cleaned up the neighbourhood finally has ‘peace of mind’.
The Information Meeting held on December 3, 2020 comments resoundingly were concerned about safety, drug use, theft, decreasing property values and the proposed location being too close to residential properties. Staff reached out to the Oliver Elks Club, Oliver Legion, property owners of 6239 Station Street and 6018 Main Street to determine if they would be interested in housing the Cold Weather Shelter.
Three replies were received, Oliver Elks Club has advised that presently they are unable to commit to providing the necessary space; however they would be willing to revisit this at a later date should additional information around security and funding be provided. The Oliver Legion has indicated they are unable to commit for a number of reasons, however their main reason was that they are already committed to providing ESS space, should an emergency arise.
The property owner of 6239 Station Street is open to discussion on this matter. The second floor has approximately 2500 square feet of open space; however the property owner also indicated the only way that will work, is if it can be used as a Hostel the rest of the year. This property is within the TC (Town Centre) zone in which a hotel/hostel is a permitted use. The biggest hurdle around this proposed use would be the various building code upgrades required, especially the fire separation between the two floors. Parking requirements would have to be evaluated more thoroughly as well. Desert Sun has been provided with a copy of the floor plan to provide comment on. The floor plan is attached for Council’s reference. The property owner indicated that the offices have been removed and there is a bathroom and a shower stall. Although Staff attempted multiple times no response was received from the property owner of 6018 Main Street.
Following is a brief synopsis of items discussed at the January 27, 2021 Board of Education meeting.
Staff further reported on the 2019/20 Aboriginal How Are We Doing report (HAWD) that was recently released. We continue to see encouraging results as our Indigenous students are performing significantly above the provincial average compared to other Indigenous students on Grade 4 and 5 Foundation Skills Assessments. Furthermore, in 2018/19 we experienced an improvement of nearly 9% for Indigenous 6-year school completion, jumping to 65% completion from 57% the previous year. These results continued to improve in 2019/20 as we had a 69% completion rate. This is a new 5-year high in our District’s Indigenous student graduation rate. We will continue the hard work and strategic focus in our schools to improve success for Indigenous learners and narrowing the
achievement gap each year.
Career programs within the District continue to thrive as we continue to address scheduling changes to programs that were cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. Post-secondary training partners and providers are operating under extremely different protocols than the public-school system, and we are finding full classes with wait lists developing quickly due to smaller class size limits.
The Board would like to thank once again all of our local employer partners who have had students in the first semester Work Experience placements. We are extremely grateful with the level of support offered by these employers who are allowing students to gain valuable work experience even in these COVID times. Students and employers are following COVID protocols and are staying safe while on the jobsite.
Once again our Professional Cook program will be running in the District beginning February 1, in partnership with Camosun College. We have a full class comprised of students from all secondary schools in the District.
The District is going to be offering a Women in Trades bootcamp in February at SOSS. This program will be targeting girls in grade 10 who would be interested in attending a hands-on, 2-day experiential program where they will be exposed to a variety of trades. Organizers are working on offering projects in carpentry, metalwork, plumbing, electrical, and automotive. One of the main goals of the program will be to allow the students to experience a variety of trades that may pique their interest into further education in the trades. The bootcamp is scheduled for initial dates of February 25 and 26 at SOSS, with further dates at OSS and SESS to be determined.
Finally, kindergarten registration is now open in all schools for parents to register children who will be 5 years old by December 31, 2021. These will be children born in 2016. Parents must bring their child’s birth certificate and medical card. It is advisable to contact the school to see if forms can be sent in advance due to COVID protocols.
Rob Zandee, Chairperson
School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)