National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Some First Nations on B.C.’s central coast are celebrating now that black bear hunting in their territories is closed to protect the exceptional cream-coloured spirit bears concentrated in those areas.
The spirit bear, also known as Kermode bears, are black bears that have a creamy white coat as a result of rare genetic mutation.
Continue reading New hunting ban aims to preserve B.C.’s rare spirit bearNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Editor’s note: the last ferry from Cortes Island, a 45 minute ferry trip away from Quadra, leaves at 5:50 PM
Residents of Quadra Island are worried about being stranded ashore when medical emergencies occur at night because BC Ferries can’t guarantee a crew for sailings to get ambulances across to the hospital in Campbell River.
A petition with close to 1,000 signatures is circulating in the community of 2,700 full-time residents calling on B.C.’s Transportation Minister Rob Fleming to work with BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) and BC Ferries to reinstate off-hour ferry service so ambulances can get patients to hospital in a timely manner.
Continue reading Islanders worry they’ll be marooned if medical emergency strikes at nightNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Back-to-back closures of small community emergency rooms on North Vancouver Island over the weekend is another example of the overall erosion of the primary care system in rural communities, the BC Green Party and the BC Nurses’ Union say.
Due to ongoing staffing shortages, the emergency room at Port Hardy Hospital was temporarily closed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. That closure took place hard on the heels of another temporary emergency department closure at the neighbouring Port McNeill Hospital from 3 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m Sunday.
Continue reading Primary health care ‘collapsing’ in B.C. rural communities, critics sayNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The impact of mining on key salmon watersheds in northwestern Canada and the U.S. is impossible to gauge because of a lack of transparency and access to data.
That was one conclusion of a cross-border study involving a team of experts in salmon ecology, watershed science, mining policy that surveyed the intersection of mining risk with important salmon habitat, ranging from Montana to Alaska as well as B.C. and the Yukon.
Continue reading Mining risks for Pacific Northwest salmon murky due to lack of transparent dataNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
One senior spoke about the anxiety she feels not having a family doctor after losing four in the past eight years.
Another, the president of the local seniors centre, asked what she should tell a woman in her 80s crying on the phone because she’s got nowhere to live and is reduced to the indignity of couch-surfing with friends after a lifetime of paying taxes.
Continue reading With no place to live, some B.C. seniors are couch-surfing
