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Lost My iPhone

My iPhone 5 (or 6?) is taking a walkabout. White phone but inside a (cracked) black Otter Box cover so it looks black. Protective glass […]

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Latest Local News

Listen: Changing Our Climate with the Food We Eat

I’m on the Salt Spring Gulf Island Community Radio interviewing people near and far who are making good news on the planet by helping to shift the outcome of our future. These people and companies have created solutions to local and global issues we’re facing at the moment. Sharing the good news that’s happening on the planet is key at this time as there are people out there who are making big changes and we need to see the turning tides. In this episode I’m talking with Dan Jason the owner of Salt Spring Seeds. Dan has a vision to help communities around the world let go of their dependence on the food industry and fulfill their communities grocery needs at home - without compromising the varieties of food we love! He is committed to helping people grow their own food and save their own seeds. In this episode we're exploring how to relate with our future through the foods we choose. We're also diving into: How the design of seeds can effect our longevity on the …
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Make Less Than $80K? Maybe You Can't Live Here

Every month that goes by, fewer and fewer homes for regular people are available on Salt Spring. Rentals continue to leave the market due to the dual pressures of high real estate prices (encouraging homeowners to sell), and tourism / Air bnbs (encouraging homeowners to rent short term rather than long). A few affordable housing projects are happening, sort of, though the one that recently broke ground took 24 years of planning. That's one housing unit a year. As for homes for sale, as this former Islands Trust trustee recently wrote, there are literally zero properties listed for sale today on Salt Spring that anyone making less than $80,000 a year could afford. There are reportedly hundreds of people commuting on the ferries each day (one sailing wait anyone?) while more and more middle and working class people and families are looking at the unthinkable: packing up their lives, in some cases after decades of investing in this community, and moving elsewhere. But it'…
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BC Ferries Awards Contracts for 'Island Class' Hybrid Electric Vessels

Ships are designed to be fully electric when electric charging technology matures - BC Ferries continues to roll out its Clean Futures Plan and has awarded Damen Shipyards Group of the Netherlands contracts to build four more battery electric-hybrid Island Class vessels scheduled to go into service in 2022. In the spring of 2017, BC Ferries awarded Damen contracts to build two “first in class” of these battery electric-hybrid vessels. These vessels have successfully completed sea trials and will arrive in Victoria, B.C. by January 2020. With the extension of the partnership between BC Ferries and Damen now confirmed, Damen will extend its agreement with Point Hope Shipyards of Victoria, B.C. to provide technical and warranty support for the new vessels with their local staff. “Our Clean Futures Plan spells out our strategy to reduce GHG emissions by replacing our legacy carbon intensive fossil fuelled vessels with ships using clean energy,” said Captain Jamie Marshall, BC…
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Breaking: Elizabeth May Steps Down as the Leader of The Green Party of Canada

“Effective today, I am no longer leader of the Green Party of Canada,” said announcing her resignation. “I wanted to choose a moment when we had a lot of success before leaving.” Effective today May is no longer the leader of the Green Party of Canada. The new acting leader is Jo-Ann Roberts. May will be staying on as Parliamentary Leader and the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

“Effective today, I am no longer leader of the Green Party of Canada,” said @ElizabethMay announcing her resignation. “I wanted to choose a moment when we had a lot of success before leaving.” #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/zdewK28iik

— Power & Politics (@PnPCBC) November 4, 2019
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Proposed New CRD Community Safety Service FAQ

The Capital Regional District ("CRD") Board proposes to adopt Bylaw 4325, “Salt Spring Island Community Safety Service Establishing Bylaw No. 1, 2019”. The new Salt Spring Island Community Safety Service is proposed to assist, administer, promote, organize, implement, and monitor community safety initiatives and programs in the Salt Spring lsland Electoral Area. Here is an list of Frequently Asked Questions about the service. Why the need for this new service? A recent increase in vandalism and civil disorder in Ganges Village prompted a series of meetings organized by the Chamber of Commerce, United Church and islands residents, resulting in the formation of an ad hoc committee to share information. These meetings identified constraints on resources for existing agencies (including repeated, unsuccessful attempts by the RCMP to acquire additional officers) and the lack of consistent and focused local funding support for community engagement with the RCMP and social se…
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Voting for the 2019 Salty Awards - The People Have Chosen!

Voting for the Community and Business Awards is Now Closed - The Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that the Salty Awards for Business and Community will be presented at a Gala Dinner on November 14th at the Harbour House Hotel at 6 pm. Online voting took place on saltspringchamber.com between October 8 and 25, and once again the number of votes was significantly greater than in the previous two years. 2840 validated ballots were cast for the Business Awards and over 2300 for the nine Community Award categories Several categories were hotly contested ‐ a dozen or fewer votes separated the top three finalists in several categories ‐ Market Vendor or Artisan, Top Green Business, both Entrepreneur categories (over and under 40), and Top Customer Service. A single vote separated the first and second place Barber, Stylist or Spa Service category and two tiny votes separated the first and second place winners among the 109 Tradespeople that were nominated. …
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Fire News: Chief’s Response Report – 2019 September

Response Report: Salt Spring Island Firefighters responded to 66 calls the month of September. Operations Our wildfire season has come to an end with far fewer fires on Salt Spring and throughout BC compared to 2017 and 2018. Below is an overview of the burning prohibitions over the past three years. Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue follows the BC burning restrictions. This summer we worked with the Salt Spring Exchange and launched a daily Fire Danger Rating public notice that was well received with 751,006 views this summer. With the new changes to the Open Burning Smoke Control Regulations (OBSCR) there has been a change in how the air quality “Venting” is reported. There is now 1 Day venting that displays in blue, as where the 2 day more stringent venting is displayed in a light green. Map locations that are in red are areas with poor no venting. With the new update of the OBSCR Venting is now required for all burning where the material is gre…
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Artists from the Fringe: Jessy's Story

In this series, we share stories from Art Jam participants. Art Jam - a volunteer-run program of the Salt Spring Arts Council supported by the Social Justice Committee of the SSI United Church - provides a safe, welcoming space for members of our marginalized community, where they can be defined as creators and artists, rather than by the challenges they regularly face. By celebrating their unique creative accomplishments and reinforcing the value of their work through public exhibitions we promote positive self-identities and help build self-esteem. My story starts off well enough, although at a young age my father started drinking heavily and got quite angry with his life and started abusing me, my sister and my mom. When I was nine my mom, sister and I ran away from that toxic scenario. I was raised by my mom and sister for the next nine years. Although it was hard for me as a young man with no father, it worked well for the most part. Shortly after my 18th birthday, m…
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100 Men Who Care Present $10,500 Donation to Greenwoods

In their inaugural meeting this past month, the men who gathered raised $10,500 for the Greenwoods Eldercare Society with funds earmarked for a family communications room where residents can connect with families via video conference. Over eighty men of the 105 members gathered at their first meeting at the Harbour House Hotel to select a local charity to support. The randomly selected nominations were from Greenwoods Elder Care, The Salt Spring Island Rowing Club, and the Salt Spring Island Soccer Association. In a close vote, Greenwoods Elder Care gained the most votes. 100 Men Who Care have now shared those funds with Aletha Humphreys, Executive Director at Greenwoods who accepted the cheque for $10,300 on behalf of the board, staff, and residents of Greenwood’s Elder Care. The money was raised by the newly formed 100 Men Who Care, Salt Spring Island, and will go to refurbishment of the activity room.
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Harbour Air - Seaplanes to ePlanes

We are thrilled to share the completion of significant project milestones in the conversion of the world’s first seaplane to ePlane! Our incredible maintenance team along with our partners at magniX have created dedicated space in our aircraft hangar and have been working diligently to make this a success since announcing our partnership this past spring. With the delivery and successful installation of the magniX motor, we are working hard to connect the internal systems in preparation for its first flight. With incredible work being completed each day and a number of integral components being delivered over the next few weeks, we are in the midst of some of the most exciting and critical development work. Currently, we are on track for the first test flight to take place before the end of the year. By mid-November, we expect to have a concrete time-frame to test the first fully electric flight. As of October 23, 2019, the following work has been completed: Air…
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