Disaster

Fire chief gives tips on wood stove safety as winter approaches

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

With fall in full swing, coastal BC residents are experiencing cooler temperatures, and many rural citizens rely on wood as a primary heating source in the colder seasons.

Cortes Island Fire Chief Dave Ives says it’s time to ensure chimneys and wood stoves are in good working order and recommends having them inspected and cleaned by a professional. A majority of emergency calls directed to the Cortes Fire Department are house fires, according to the chief.

Continue reading Fire chief gives tips on wood stove safety as winter approaches →
Environment, Rivers & Oceans

Researchers look to Canada’s oceans to sink planet-warming carbon

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada may have the longest total coastline in the world, but it still doesn’t have a solid understanding of the role nearshore ecosystems can play in sinking greenhouse gas emissions to combat the climate crisis, marine ecologist Julia Baum says.

“We’re not really accounting for ocean climate solutions right now, which is ironic because we have three oceans.” 

That will change with the launch of an ambitious research initiative to produce a national assessment of the “blue carbon” storage capacity of Canada’s salt marshes, seagrass meadows and kelp forests, said Baum, a principal investigator and University of Victoria professor. 

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

Election 2022: The new Strathcona Regional District Board

More than half of the familiar faces will not be returning to the SRD Board this term. The former Chair and Vice Chair, Brad Unger and Claire Moglove, were both defeated in their bids for re-election. So were Regional Director Brenda Leigh and former Campbell River Directors Charlie Cornfield and Colleen Evans. Neither Mayor Andy Adams (of Campbell River), Jim Abram (from Area C) or Noba Anderson (from Cortes Island) sought re-election. Only 5 of the 13 Directors from last term were re-elected. Two of the previous alternates from Campbell River will most likely take a seat at the SRD table.

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Politics

Area C has a new Director

More than 69% of the electorate in Area C chose Robyn Mawhinney as their new Regional Director on October 15. She learned this from an unexpected source. Mawhinney and her team were sitting in the Heriot Bay Inn, while they waited for the election results to be announced on Saturday night. The scrutineer from her team had not yet arrived and they were enjoying a nice glass of wine.

“I got a phone call from Mark Doll who congratulated me on my win,” she said. “I didn’t know the numbers yet.”

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Arts

A Quadra Compilation CD comes to Folk U Radio

On Friday Oct 14 Manda Aufochs Gillespie welcomed Quadra Island based sound gurus Jim Thievin and Dylan Alps to Folk U Radio. They are the creators of a Quadra compilation cd we will be hearing more about in the coming months and years. It was born during the pandemic, when the music industry was essentially dead. They had a few rules: the music had to be original and under 5 minutes in length. 

Continue reading A Quadra Compilation CD comes to Folk U Radio →

As Broadcast over CKTZ, Whats Current on Cortes and Beyond