1. a Shoppers Drug Mart team member in Oliver (5955 Main Street) has tested positive, and last worked Dec. 12.
2. a No Frills team member at Oliver Place Mall tested positive on a presumptive test for COVID-19. The last day the team member worked was on December 26.
In the opinion of this editor – this is very responsible behavior to report exposures.
Many tests (positive) go unreported to the public.
Thanks to those that made me aware of the Loblaw’s report site.
As many as 150,000 people, including those living in long-term care facilities (LTC) and front-line workers in hospitals, are expected to be immunized against COVID-19 by February, B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said Monday.
Henry, speaking at the first pandemic update of 2021, said that the first groups being vaccinated include residents, staff and essential visitors to long-term care and assisted-living residences, followed by those waiting for long-term care placement.
As of Monday, 25,744 people have been vaccinated in B.C.
| Change from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020 Jurisdiction |
| Town of Oliver |
| Residential Total | 4.9% |
| Single Family Residential | 5.8% |
| Strata | 1.4% |
| Business/Other | -4.2% |
| Light Industry | 2.3% |
| Neighbourhood East of OK River |
|
| Residential Total | 4.6% |
| Single Family Residential | 4.9% |
| Strata | N/A |
Change from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020
Jurisdiction
City of Penticton
Residential Total 1.3%
Single Family Residential 1.6%
Strata 0.1%
Business/Other -2.5%
Light Industry 3.4%
Neighbourhood
Duncan to Eckhardt
Residential Total 0.9%
Single Family Residential 1.1%
Strata -0.4%
Change from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020
Oliver Rural (714)
Residential Total 0.3%
Single Family Residential -0.6%
Strata 0.3%
Business/Other 0.5%
Light Industry 0.8%
Neighbourhood
Osoyoos – Rural
Residential Total -2.2%
Single Family Residential -3.2%
Strata N/A
Source: BC Assessment Authority
Community Foundation Funds Outdoor Signage
This New Year is bringing some new signage for the Oliver & District Museum. The ODHS has been awarded a grant of $2,004.80 by the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan-Similkameen for the purpose of designing and installing weatherproof signage for its outdoor Museum artifacts.
The artifacts, which are located in the fenced portion of the Museum’s Heritage Garden, currently have no outdoor signage. Instead, visitors currently need to ask staff for information about the items, which include mining, agricultural, and irrigation objects from Fairview and Oliver. The artifacts are stored outside both to keep them on permanent display and due to their large size and great weight.
The new interpretive signage will allow visitors to learn about the artifacts even when no staff are on-site, for example, during evenings and holidays. This will help to enhance the Heritage Garden as a free, wheelchair-accessible community space for informal learning and recreation.
The two large weatherproof signs will be printed by Jacoh Signs and are expected to be installed by the end of March 2021.
Source: ODHS – Oliver’s Museum and Archives
o 107 cases reported on Jan. 1
o 71 cases reported on Jan. 2
o 52 cases reported on Jan. 3
o 60 cases reported on Jan. 4
o 1 additional death at McKinney Place in Oliver.
o 1 death at Heritage Square in Vernon.
o 2 deaths in community/hospital.
Update on outbreaks:
***
Provincial report
“Today, we are reporting on new cases of COVID-19 from Dec. 31 through to today. From Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, we had 565 new cases; from Jan. 1 to 2, we had 607 new cases and from Jan. 2 to 3, we had 500 new cases. In the last 24 hours, we had 539 new cases.
“This represents 2,211 new cases of COVID-19, including 22 epi-linked cases, for a total of 54,201 cases in British Columbia.
“There are 6,823 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 351 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 76 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“Currently, 8,785 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 45,229 people who tested positive have recovered.
“Since we last reported, we have had 389 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,301 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 64 in the Island Health region, 288 in the Interior Health region, 169 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
“Since the start of immunizations up to yesterday, 24,139 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia. While our December allotment was limited, the smaller initial deliveries have allowed us to refine our processes and address any hurdles that have emerged as we ramp up our provincewide immunization program.
“Our approach is to maximize distribution, while balancing supply – vaccinating as many high-risk people as possible in this initial period.
“There have been 45 new COVID-19 related deaths since Dec. 31, for a total of 946 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every day
Reliable to readers and customers
Osoyoos FD in operation
One person is dead following a structure fire in Osoyoos on New Year’s Day.
According to Osoyoos Fire Rescue, the fire happened along the 6400 block of 89th Street and heavy black smoke was billowing out the front door of the unit when crews arrived around 9:40 p.m.
Credit Global Okanagan
“Neighbours were reporting that one member of the family was still inside the building,” Osoyoos Fire Rescue said in a press release. “A family member was trying to re-enter the structure to help the young adult male inside.
“On arrival of the first engine, firefighters made a quick entry into the structure to knock down the fire and rescued the young adult male.”
Osoyoos Fire Rescue said the young male occupant was rescued within three minutes, but that he had suffered extensive burns and trauma, and was treated by firefighters until BC Emergency Health Services took over.
JUST REMINISCING
A new year starts and we look to the future but there is something about an old year ending that makes me think back to past years. Not just about the year just ended, but back many years, to childhood and the many memories made there.
A few days ago I received a calendar from an English relative, the scenes were from areas around my old hometown, I looked at each one and spent an hour or two in my past.
As a child, growing up with my grandma, her home was at the edge of town, just a five minute walk from green fields, hills and country walks. Although it was just grandma and myself, Sundays were family days. Gran had six children and four of them lived locally, just a few minutes walk from gran’s home, and Sundays were a day to do the “walk”.
It seemed to be an unwritten agreement that everyone assemble for the Sunday afternoon walk. The main meal would be over, dishes cleared and washed and the relatives would arrive. All four of them were married, with children, so when we got together it was quite a tribe.
Although grandma was only in her early sixties I always thought she was an old lady as the uncles and aunts treated her that way. She walked fine but, for some reason couldn’t walk very far unless she had a reassuring arm to lean on. Her answer to this problem was to use the handle of the latest baby carriage in the family to hold. In this way she could walk for miles. Each of the uncles and aunts had several children so there was always a pram to lean on. This mode of transport was also where blankets, food and various other necessities were carried, so was a really useful item. Somewhere in the assorted heap would be a young child!
About an hour’s walk brought us to “The Rivington Barn”. This was a Norman era barn built of huge beams and a roofline that went almost down to the ground. Over the years this structure had been turned into a tea room and to this place went crowds of locals every weekend.
During the walk, the uncles would usually get ahead of the rest of us and arrive first. They picked out a spot on the grass that would be our designated area for the afternoon. Blankets would be spread and a chair rented for grandma, who never sat on the ground. The adults would sit in a big circle and the kids would be playing ball, tag, hide and seek or a similar occupation in the true English tradition of ‘Children should be seen and not heard’.
As the oldest grandchild present, I would soon tire of silly games and preferred to sit with the adults. This would be permitted if I kept quiet and, by staying out of their minds, I would glean information that was meant to be only shared with the adults. Much of this went over my head but it was interesting to learn all the gossip of the small town. One of my uncles had broken with tradition and married someone the family didn’t really approve of. For several years the rest of them discussed her in low voices, a sure sign of a problem.
They referred to her as the Arsy. I didn’t know what this meant but the word arse was very bad and not used in front of children, so I knew there must be some terrible secret regarding the newcomer. The Arcy was referred to in the same hushed voice as “bloody Germans”, this being only eight or nine years after the war and Germans all still referred to in the kids’ Saturday afternoon movies as ‘baddies’!
It was several years before it became clear that an Arcy was an R.C., a Roman catholic! As I went to school with several catholic kids, I was surprised that she was thought of as different from anyone else. The only difference made for the catholic kids, at school, was they were excused from morning assembly as soon as the general announcements were made and before the prayer and morning hymn were began.
Aunt Nellie did not usually accompany us on the family walk, which was due to the fact that she always had a baby to take care of. She had six children in quick succession so was usually bogged down at home while my uncle took the oldest of his children on the family walk. She probably enjoyed this afternoon of bliss, where the rest of her brood were off her hands. As I got older I visited the family more often as I was invited to birthday parties etc., but mom or gran never went. I never did understand the resentment of the adults in the family but they were not very welcoming towards her and she seldom accepted invitations.
My gran never showed any signs of racism and her mantra was “if they are good enough for God, they are good enough for me”, this liberalism didn’t seem to spread to those who approached God through a different path, very strange!
After an hour or two of chatting it would be time for tea. The uncles would be dispatched to the tea room and come back with a huge jug, sometimes two, of hot tea. They would also have enough cups for the group and separate milk and sugar. The adults would share the tea while the kids drank water, pieces of cake or home made scones would be dispensed and all the family would fall silent.
A couple of hours later and Grandma and I would catch the bus home. This bus only ran every two hours so we were at the stop in good time. The rest of the family walked home. The country road was filled with families, similarly occupied, as there were very few cars at that time, it was safe enough for the children to run ahead and be fairly unsupervised.
Gran and I would arrive home an hour before the walkers during which time, we prepared the meal for the family. Usually cold ham was the star of the table, accompanied by salad and buttered bread. Dessert was nearly always home canned fruit with Carnation evaporated milk, sometimes a jelly would be added. Home made cake or pie would also be on hand.
Family tea time was an assortment of weird and wonderful seating arrangements, anything from the arm of the sofa to a small stool that had been made at school by one of the uncles. The huge teapot held enough to refresh everyone and, once it was drained, it was time for everyone to pack up their families and go home.
Such a shame that this gathering of the clan is not done much these days unless it is at a funeral, or some other special event. Grandma’s home was always the gathering place and she was always regarded as the matriarch of the family. How lucky she was to have most of her family within walking distance. It was an honour to be brought up by such a special lady and those are times that I will treasure forever.
Susan Ginter
November 10, 1940 – December 18, 2020
On Friday, December 18, 2020, Susan Ginter, long time resident of Oliver and recently of Osoyoos passed away peacefully after a long illness at Mariposa Gardens at the age of 80 years. She was predeceased by her parents John and Susie Ginter.
Susan will be fondly remembered by her daughter Pauline Cascagnette and grandsons Michael and Johnathon of Saskatchewan.
Susan was a long-time member of the Alliance Church. She volunteered at many locations including the Oliver Food Bank, was a long-time member and worker at the Okanagan Gleaners and volunteered at bible camps in Canada and the USA. She was quiet and kept to herself and loved spending time outdoors.
Donations gratefully accepted for the
Okanagan Gleaners,
507 No. 3 Road, Oliver, BC V0H 1T1.
Condolences and tributes may be directed to the family by visiting www.nunes-pottinger.com
Thanks to Fire Chief Bob Graham
&
Louise and Roy at Bin Boyz
Some of us live on a street
Some of us live in the country
Some of us live in heaven
Photo by Sandra Smith
8:09 pm December 31
Rd Six – MVA – power lines down – took about two hours to clear – traffic diverted
5:29 pm January 1
Hwy 97 at Secrest Hill Rd – small fire (structure?) – put out quickly – no details
One – John E. asks – who is the oldest living person in the SO – born here ( in a cabin, mom went to Pen Hospital, prior to St. Martins or ??)
My candidate is Dorothy T. – but we all need more info – Ralph?
Two – Go to You Tube – insert the words “War Games” theme by Arthur B. Rubinstein – “Edge of the World”
play it once – play it 12 times and it gets better…..musicians what do your hear? – what are the sources of the music?
What is so evocative about this and Mr. Badham’s movie of 1983. ( almost 40 years ago)
Issued Thursday night
John and Darlene Chapman
One of the banners above credited to John
Check out southokanaganphotos.today to see more of Chappie many other great SO photographers
On the Sunny Side
Whenever I think I’ve had it really bad in 2020, I would do well to consider the following verified account of circumstances during the 30 year war between Sweden and Germany.
Martin Rinkart, son of a poor coppersmith, became the Lutheran Archdeacon of Eilenburg, Germany in 1617, just before the 30 year war with Sweden broke out. Fugitives from the war sought refuge in Eilenburg. Forced quartering of soldiers, plundering of goods, and seizures of food made life severe and starvation rampant. By 1637 the famine, devastation and pestilence had become so bad that over 8000 people died that year. Among them were most of the town’s council, many pastors, whole families and many children. People would fight over a dead cat. Martin remained healthy, gave away much of what wasn’t stolen and assumed the huge burden of ministering to the suffering. He buried 4480 people in one year, sometimes in mass funerals of 40 – 50 people in a trench. At one point the Swedish general demanded a 30,000 thaler tribute from the town. Pleas for mercy from Rinkart were ignored until he and many of the townspeople knelt in passionate prayer for divine intervention. The General was moved by their desperation and lowered the price to 2000 florins.
We would think that in all of this Martin would have turned resentful and bitter. He died the year after the war ended, so his whole life of ministry was centered on facing this war. However, as a choral director, musician and hymn writer, he composed the song “Nun danket alle Gott” translated as “Now Thank We All Our God”.
It still appears in hymn books. His attitude remained thankful. I don’t want to minimize or trivialize the difficulties we face but if he could still be thankful then, should we also be that way now?
Happy New Year!
Astounding!
Henry Wiebe
To best position us as we go into 2021, an amendment to provincial health officer (PHO) orders has been put in place to reduce the hours that alcohol may be sold or served on New Year’s Eve. The selling and serving of alcohol must cease between 8 p.m. (Pacific time) on Dec. 31, 2020, and 9 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2021. As before, liquor sales for onsite consumption must cease at 10 p.m. on all other dates.
“This order applies to any establishment that sells or serves alcohol, including bars, restaurants, pubs, liquor stores or grocery stores.
“Unless a full meal service is provided, premises that are licensed to serve liquor must close between 9 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2020, and 9 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2021.
“We know alcohol can impair people’s judgment and their ability to effectively use the layers of protection required to keep all of us safe. This order, while temporary, will ensure New Year’s Eve leads to a safe new year for everyone.
“We recognize this order creates an added strain on our already challenged restaurant and food services sector that has been working hard to ensure restaurants are safe. However, this is the time to do all we can to keep our wall strong. We remain confident that having a meal with your household contacts in a restaurant in B.C. is safe, and we encourage people to continue to visit their local restaurants to eat in or take away on New Year’s Eve.
Adrian Dix
Dr. Bonnie Henry
Update on IH numbers:
Update on outbreaks:
***
“Today, we are reporting 485 new cases of COVID-19, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 51,300 cases in British Columbia.
“There are 7,551 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 379 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 77 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“Currently, 9,320 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 41,681 people who tested positive have recovered.
“Since we last reported, we have had 117 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 211 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 16 in the Island Health region, 57 in the Interior Health region, 84 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
“Since the start of immunizations, 14,027 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia. We announced yesterday that the Moderna vaccine will be arriving in British Columbia this week. The first doses are targeted for remote and isolated First Nations communities and residents of long term-care, and will be expanding to other communities soon.
“There have been 11 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 893 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have had two new health-care facility outbreaks at Langley Memorial Hospital Cedar Hill and Surrey Memorial Hospital.
A thought for our care workers.
As we are ..now.. a hot spot for Covid-19 it highlights just how important our healthcare workers are.
It is not possible to express understanding of your positions with mere words so it must suffice to say:
“I hold the deepest respect for all those who move toward danger to be of service to others who are in jeopardy and need. May you and your families be safe and may you find peace amid the turmoil.”
Thank you for your service
Area “C” Director
Rick Knodel
Edward James Schanuel
June 22, 1938 – December 23, 2020
On Wednesday, December 23, 2020, Mr. Edward James Schanuel of Oliver passed away after a long illness at the age of 82 years.
He was predeceased by his father Anthony Schanuel; mother Juanita McGinness; sister Viola and son Alan.
Edward will be fondly remembered by his loving family including wife Char Baptiste; sisters Elsie Gritchen and Debbie Gonzelas; children Debbie (Tom), Dawn (Rick), Sharon (Louie), Shane, Raylene (Corey) and Eddy (Kelsye); grandchildren; great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews and extended family and friends.
Over the years he worked for Ken King Trucking and operated Ed Schanuel Sand & Gravel Ltd. Edward liked to travel and enjoyed trips to Mexico and all over the United States. He enjoyed playing guitar, guns, gold mining, hunting and trapping.
Condolences and tributes may be directed to the family by visiting www.nunes-pottinger.com
No breakouts
No fires
Just a complaint from inmate Morgan Griffith at the Okanagan Correctional Centre at Oliver about the meals he was served and his desire to have kosher food.
His complaint went to the BC Human Rights Commission.
“While Mr. Griffith references his religion in his Complaint, the evidence before me on this application overwhelmingly supports that he has no reasonable prospect of establishing he has a sincerely held religious belief that requires he eat a kosher diet. It may be the case that Mr. Griffith sought a kosher diet for reasons sincerely connected to a religious belief, but it was incumbent on him to put that evidence forward.
Here, Mr. Griffith has put forward so little evidence about his connection to Judaism, the role a kosher diet plays in that for him, and why the denial of a kosher diet affected him adversely, that I am persuaded the Tribunal could not find that BC Corrections’ denial of a kosher diet in all of the circumstances constituted an adverse impact related to his religion.
It follows from the above that in the face of all the materials before me, I am persuaded that there is no reasonable prospect that Mr. Griffith could succeed in establishing his complaint.
The complaint is dismissed under s. 27(1)”
Signed
Emily Oher
Tribunal Member
BC Human Rights Commission
Well the checkerboard signs points to the end of the road for the year twenty twenty. This was like a rodeo ride that never ended. So what did we learn from it all?
First, we learned the world is not our oyster as the saying goes. Like spoiled children many found it hard to accept the word NO when spoken by Mother Nature. Instead of conforming to what we want the human race was forced to adopt a new set of rules. We learned the strength of our own sense of being and some learned their frailties. I can remember so many people who have weathered life’s storms humbled and consumed over having to wear a mask as protection during a covid crisis. I never got caught up in that, I kept hearing my late mothers voice when she used to say. “Don’t worry God never gives you more than you can handle.” we are not finished with the pandemic, however there is a vaccine.
We learned there is life out in the great beyond, that is passed our cell phone screens. We learned lessons in how to be helpful and courteous to others. Some are finding out what is old is new again what with grocery home delivery and the post office is busier than ever not with letters but with parcels.
There was a time when sporting events, music concerts, fairs and social gatherings were shutdown and or canceled. We did not set our hair on fire we adapted. One group I checked in on was a Nova Scotia website that frequented the famous and home musicians and singers. It was like a continuous Cape Breton kitchen house party on line.
Some people said to me, they got in touch with their core feelings, and had some understanding of what it’s like to be alone and isolated most of the time. One of the good things for me was to actually read a myriad of books with book marks where I had left off. One of my favorite reads was Rachel Maddow’s book Blowout.
Overall the biggest lesson we learned was our ability to sacrifice in a time of hardship and that is a good thing. Yes we were faced with a difficult year, it’s what we did with it that counts.
We have some challenges ahead but the world is not ending and we have always met challenges before head on. With that.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best for 2021.
Fred Steele
Our week 26 winners are:
Joanne Bray – Ticket 29 – $52.00
Kevin Heskin – Ticket 329 – $100.00
Early morning hours of December 28 – based on time stamp – 12:23 to 1:10 am
Munckhof Manufacturing – lock removed from front gate on storage yard in Oliver’s Industrial Park. Trailer unit stolen quickly.
RCMP investigating
Picture display on Facebook
**STOLEN** Dec. 28th at 1:00AM – Flat deck trailer plate # 9192 8D
Looks like the tow vehicle is a black Ford 4 door pickup
Town crews sorting out the snow piles on Redwing Place
What is going on at McKinney Place?
And in the IHA? When deaths began to occur at McKinney why did the IHA not bring a mobile COVID-19 testing facility to Oliver? We all know that those 14 or 16 or now 21 care workers move about the community, and since we have only 2 grocery stores the chances are pretty good that people with the virus have been in our stores, touching the oranges, squeezing the lemons, picking up things, putting them back, whatever. Not their fault. They may not have known they were carrying the infection.
Oh, I know why we did not get a testing facility here. It was at Big White. A bunch of snow bunnies and snow buddies tested positive so wham…the mobile testing unit was right there. For days. Testing young healthy people. Could that be because the tourist dollars generated at Big White are more important than the lives of some old people–or the rest of us– in Oliver? Just guessing.
What is the administrator of McKinney Place doing? Never hear from that person. Oh. I just heard. We do not have an in situ administrator. Someone from somewhere else administers the facility. Well, administer might be a bit of a stretch. I do not think that letting people ‘die peacefully in their beds’ is really any level of administration. Apparently death by Covid is not usually peaceful. Some lucky people simply lose blood oxygen levels and go fairly peacefully. For the others, death is by suffocation. Not an easy or painless way out.
In any other health unit, if nearly 100 per cent of the residents of a care facility were infected and dying from COVID-19, there would have been a concerted provincial health response. Perhaps even the arrival of army med teams.
But again, on the local TV news, there was a short reference to Oliver’s McKinney Place, then a nice panoramic shot of skiers at Big White, and the happy assertion that COVID on the hill was contained.
Something is wrong here.
Jessica Murphy
o 96 cases reported on Dec. 26 (covering two days)
o 47 cases reported on Dec. 27
o 44 cases reported on Dec. 28
o 52 cases reported on Dec. 29
o 4 additional deaths at McKinney Place
o 1 additional death at Mountainview Village
o 1 death at Village by the Station
o 1 death at Heritage Retirement Residence
o 3 deaths in the community
Update on outbreaks:
Update on Big White
Last five days
74 new deaths for a total 882 in the province
238 new cases in IHA
2206 new in BC
As 2020 comes to an end I have been asked what I see from the RDOS & Area “C” perspective as difficulties, projects and opportunities as we move forward into 2021.
Why not start with the good stuff, opportunities and projects. I view these as the same; an opportunity is nothing if you don’t make a project out of it.
The B.C. Fruit Growers has closed the Packing house in Osoyoos and had looked to sell off the property for development. The Agricultural Land Commission has in what I consider a wise decision nixed that idea and held the land as agricultural. This property has a large facility on it complete with cold storage and process layout and logistics docks. It is my hope that local interests will come forward with a business plan for local food processing for fruit and vegetables. Canning, packaging and freezing or whatever can be made to fit.
Recently the Provincially sponsored Kwantlen Polytechnic University study on food sustainability has stated that local food processing is needed in this area and both the Federal and Provincial Governments have also stated this as a goal. Maybe it is time to see if they will put money and support where they say it is needed. I would be proud to champion this cause.
Agricultural burning is a long standing problem in this narrow valley. Good venting days are the only time that open burning is allowed and are few and far between. That creates the situation where all the needed burning is being done in those few days creating intense smoke issues.
Last year we included Air Curtain and Air Curtain Trench burning in the agricultural subsidy program. This equipment minimizes the release of smoke and particles into the air and has been used successfully in many other areas of Canada, North America and elsewhere in the world. Further to that the Province has recognized this and has allowed burning on days listed as fair with the use of this equipment which would spread the allowed burning days out.
Agricultural chipping programs were introduced but have failed miserably in that it provides no protection from parasites or pathogens, is extremely expensive, serves no purpose other than to repackage the waste for shipment elsewhere, requires a number of large pieces of equipment that burn a tremendous amount of fossil fuels, and has been proven to be polluting also. At the end the chips must be removed and composted away from the site. There is a misconception that the chips can be tilled back into the soil but this robs the nutrients from the soil and requires large amounts of fertilizer to build the soil back up. This process takes a number of years and produces large amounts of greenhouse gasses one of the worst being methane.
Some other projects are in progress like the channel hike and bike path, the proposal to allow small farms the expansion of temporary non-farm use. There is still need for flood mitigation work.
Other opportunities/projects will appear and the challenge will without a doubt be how to implement and how to fund; in short it may look good but how bad do we need it and can we afford it.
One of the most difficult of projects will be to curtail the ever increasing spending at the local government level. This is a tremendously difficult task most services are shared and with nine other area Directors and ten Municipal Directors consensus on cutting any one thing becomes difficult if not futile. I hope that we will see a citizen’s movement here, something like the B.C. Taxpayers federation or a local rate payers association as that would help to bridge the differences between the various areas and municipalities. This would have to be RDOS wide in order to function.
Now for the big difficulty, and of course the elephant in the room, that is now and will be for a while yet Covid-19 and its variants. Besides the ongoing financial hardships this disease will change forever many of our behaviors. It will change how we work, visit, shop, travel, worship, and holiday. It will change from where and how we choose to acquire our food supply, our supply of energy and vital goods such as medicines and medical supplies. I believe that many of these changes were inevitable in a world that was changing with technology and getting there has only been accelerated. Other changes will be more philosophical but our challenge will be to take advantage of these changes and adapt as is needed. This is a new book that is just starting to be written.
These are some of the projects and issues going forward and I feel we are in a good place to face the future.
I wish you all a safe healthy and prosperous New Year.
RDOS Area “C” Director
Rick Knodel
To be clear, I`m not an advocate of raising taxes to recruit doctors. What I do support and want more information on, is the possibility of establishing a flexible funding model for the *Hospital District, whereby, should the Hospital District chose to allocate some of the existing budget to fund a Primary Care Clinic, there is the option to do so.
The current challenges with physicians leaving the Oliver area are very concerning and we are talking with all stakeholders, including our new MLA, to find solutions/strategies to stop this trend and attract more doctors to the South Okanagan. I believe Team based healthcare, delivered through a Primary Care Clinic, is the key to providing the healthcare stability Oliver and SOGH are looking for – moving forward.
Mayor Martin Johansen
Over the weekend took the time to discuss this key issue in Oliver and the Southern Okanagan – a shortage of doctors. Talked to two members of the regional board Rick Knodel and Martin.
Rick said his concern was “why are young doctors not attracted to this area”
Martin stated that at least three doctors had left recently and many more poised to retire.
So what are the barriers… who is putting them up.
Ministry of Health? Interior Health? Doctors of BC (BCMA)?
None of the above are very candid about their position – I think it is called “silo” thinking. How to cover your backside from ??
Some young doctors may not want to come to a hick town – preferring a large hospital to gain experience and training.
Some young doctors may want to come here – but it seems they need to grease the wheels or something because of inexplicable reasons beyond my comprehension that their desires for a practice are not met.
Do we need a primary care clinic in Oliver or Osoyoos?
Why not just a lot more doctors and offices…. why would tax payers be needed to build a new building adjacent to the existing hospital?
I am baffled – weigh in the conversation……………
*For the record the Hospital District – an arm of the RDOS is there to fund 40 percent of capital costs not operations. So the provincial government and its policies on Primary Care Clinics is integral to this discussion.
Roly…. over to you.
With thanks to the Okanagan Historical Society
Definition and certification of deaths due to COVID-19
For surveillance purposes, the WHO defines a death due to COVID-19 as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID disease (e.g. trauma). There should be no period of complete recovery from COVID-19 between illness and death.
In the international guidelines for certifying COVID-19 as a cause of death, certifiers are instructed to record COVID-19 on the medical certificate of cause of death for all decedents where the disease caused, or is assumed to have caused, or contributed to death. When certifying the cause of death, the physician, coroner or medical examiner is asked to report the sequence of morbid events leading to death as well as any conditions that contributed to that sequence. This is meant to reflect their informed opinion and can be reported with a single or multiple causes of death.
Link supplied by Al Hudec, Thanks
A couple of questions:
What is the annual death rate 2015-2019 prior to Covid 19 ?
How many people, on average, die of the influenza variants each year ?
How many people in Canada die of natural causes – old age etc. ?
What are the numbers of people who die of so many others things – cancer, stroke, Cardiac Arrest, diabetes, and a million other diseases we rarely hear about ??
You are right – we really do not care about these figures. Do we?
Beat the pans, support the workers. Get into the game.
Is it not so much more fun being a follower and not a analyzer ??
My thought for the day –
Why are the homeless living on the cold streets – not dieing ?
Why are the well housed super heated seniors dieing ?
Beat the pans, support the workers. Get into the game.
Sent to his local Area Planning Commission
and permission granted to distribute to the public
“As this year comes to a close I would like to thank everyone for their service in the Area “C” APC and I hope that as we move to a less personal meeting format that all of you will continue to serve.
We have some issues coming that I feel the APC should be aware of and provide input on.
The covid-19 issue provided challenges for our local farmers in trying to provide domestic labor for their farms.
Because of the shortfalls many farmers are looking to the foreign labor pool.
This creates a need for them to provide accommodations for this work force.
I have passed two of these on to the ALC last month but there are likely to be a few more yet to come, three currently that I am aware of.
I have taken the track that we should loosen the zoning requirement providing the accommodations being supplied are mobiles like camp trailers and of a non-permanent type. Further to this any zoning issues be handled by the use of TUP’s giving us a course of action if misused.
This will be a very important and time sensitive issue as the labor situation is unlikely to change significantly for the near future.
Keep in mind that these applications must still be passed by the ALC but our strategies may be of consideration in the decisions.
This means we will have to conduct meetings through an electronic format for the near future. This can be as simple as a conference call or a zoom meeting or any combination that will work for you.
Your input on these issues is of the upmost importance and will help determine what the future of this area and its farming industry will look like.
Should any one care to discuss this with me my number is 250-460-1319.
Once again I thank you all and wish you the best of the season.”
Sunday 405 pm
Units of OVFD called to Old Camp McKinney Rd area
Firefighters called off once it was determined the accident had occurred about 18 hours prior
Thanks to Mt. Baldy Blogspot
