50 Earthquake Sensors to be placed in high risk seismic areas of British Columbia

The Earthquakes Canada 
Map of Quakes from
1627-2021 for BC

The science of earthquake prediction will take another leap forward soon in British Columbia, with the Provincial and Federal governments announcing plans to install  up to 50 earthquake early warning sensors in high risk seismic areas of the province.

The sensors will connect to the national Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system that will be operational in 2024, supplementing and complementing several hundred sensors already installed by Natural Resources Canada. 

 The system will give seconds to tens of seconds of warning before the strongest shaking arrives at coastal communities in British Columbia and will assist in the protection of critical transportation infrastructure in British Columbia. 

The expansion of the system in British Columbia follows on an initial placement back in 2022 at the BC Ferries Terminal at Horseshoe Bay. 

The full BC system which will be part of a nationwide connection is expected to see installation complete and in service by 2024.

As both governments note from their Announcement, alerts from the EEW system could also be used towards infrastructure safety systems, allowing for automatic action, among the areas of note for that include:

Triggering trains to slow down
Stopping traffic from driving onto bridges or into tunnels
Diverting incoming air traffic
Allowing surgeons to stop surgery
Closing gas valves
Opening fire hall and ambulance bay doors

The placement of the sensors was hailed  as a critical addition to the system by Bowinn Ma, BC's Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Change.

“The Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake that occurred on January 26, 1700, was one of the world’s strongest earthquakes, causing widespread destruction to coastal Indigenous communities and producing a tsunami that swept across the Pacific Ocean. 

An early earthquake warning system is critical to our ability to help British Columbians mitigate the impacts of another major seismic event. By installing these sensors, we will help provide critical seconds of notice in the event of an earthquake, so that people, businesses and automated systems can take protective action.”

The list of locations where the sensors will be placed in British Columbia was not released as part of the announcement.

One location destined for some of the recording stations will be Haida Gwaii, which is one of the most seismically active regions in the province.

The region was the host of one of the most powerful earthquakes in recent history back on October 27th of 2012, when a 7.7 magnitude quake struct just after 8PM.

It also hosted the title for the largest quake in BC, an 8.1 magnitude event back in August of 1949.

You can learn more about the initiative here.

More notes on seismic activity on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii can be reviewed through our archive page. 

All Native Basketball Tourney Draw listings released as countdown to ANBT 2023 gets underway

As we make the final few turns towards February, the countdown to the Annual All Native Basketball Tournament is underway, with the start of the 63rd event less that two weeks away now.

The tournament that brings the Nations together from across British Columbia and points beyond is set for a one week run from February 11th to 18th at both the Russell Gamble Gymnasium and the Arena in the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre complex.

Tournament organizers released the Draws over the weekend for the four divisions for tournament time.

The Women's side opens up on Sunday, February 12th at 11 AM with Hesquiaht and Kitkatla taking the first tip off,. 

Defending Champion Vancouver will see action one day later, when they take to the court to play either Hartley bay or Massett.

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The Intermediate play starts on Saturday at 11AM as Massett and Kincolith hit the court, with Burnaby not in their years event the path is open for a new Champion for the 2023 edition of ANBT.

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The legends of the game, or those contesting for that status will see their first play on Sunday with an 8AM start, that as the Masters Division opens play. 

Skidegate and Kitamaat have the honours of the opening tip off, defining champs New Aiyansh will see their defence of the title begin on February 13th, taking on either Hartley Bay or Bella Coola.

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The Senior Men's Division Ice breaker takes place Sunday at 11 AM which Similkameen and Bella Coola on the court in the Main Gymnasium.

The Championship title holders from Kitkatla see their first action on Valentines Day with a match up with either Hazelton or New Aiyansh.

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The Week long festival of hoops culminates with the Showdowns of Finals Saturday, February 18th with all games to take place in the Russell Gamble Gymnasium.

Along with the action on the courts, the week will feature the Opening Ceremonies and Hall of Fame inductions, as well as a marketplace in the Auditorium area of the complex. 

You can follow along with all the last minute preparations for tournament time from the ANBT Facebook page and website.

Check our archive page as the tournament,  gets closer for more notes on the week of high tempo basketball and other activities that make Prince Rupert the place to be for the middle of February.

School Board Session hears of Mental Health Literacy, plans for Budget consultation

The Booth Building Meeting Space hosted the first
SD52 Board meeting for 2023 this month

The first Public School District 52 Board session took place mid month, with the short update from the Board outlining some of their key talking points from the January 17th meeting at the Booth Meeting Space.

 Among the items that the District has noted from their session was an update from CHSS student Natalie DeMille who share her passion towards helping students address mental health, sharing with the Board of Education some of the needs for students.

Those include:

Education of students and staff about mental health
Advocacy to encourage more people to support student's needs
Equipping students with skills and knowledge
Supporting students in a variety of ways

As well, a quick synopsis of the "Plant Parenthood" program provided a look at how the project encourages students to reflect on their own mental health as they care for their 'baby plants'

The presentation was well received by the Board, with Board Chair Kate Toye noting of Ms. DeMille's success and how it could expand.

“Ms. DeMille took from her own experience a passion for this initiative, The Board of Education looks forward to seeing her efforts spread across the district, across the country and around the world.”

The Board also set the blueprint for they Annual Budget consultation process for the months ahead, the engagement period starts tomorrow January 31st and has five elements in total, wrapping up on April 20th when the District will look to approve the budget at they Board Meeting.

The January 31st session is an online event, with the need to request a link to the session  contact tamara.dickens@sd52.bc.ca to receive you link to the night's session.

(see our article here for a wider overview of the Budget process)

The Board of Education also noted of two Registration periods ahead for parents/guardians in the School District.

Kindergarten registration is open at the district’s elementary schools. Children who will turn 5 by December 31, 2023 need to be registered in the school in your catchment area. A map of catchment areas is on the district website, under Parents/Student Registration. If your preference is for your child to attend a different school, you will also need to compete a cross-boundary application form.

Parents are encouraged to consider the option of enrolling students in kindergarten in the French Immersion program at École Roosevelt Park Community School. Pre-school students can attend a fun Monday Morning activity class on January 30th. Parent Information sessions are being held at the school from 7-8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18 and Thursday, February 19.

The SD52 review of their work of January 17th wrapped up with a notice that they are seeking input from partner groups on revisions towards 3 policies

1320 Communicable Diseases and Immunizations Policy 

1350 Student Medications Policy 

1380 Anaphylaxis Policy

The Board of Education notes can be reviewed from their website here.

While there was more than likely more to the Agenda, that information sheet for the January board session still hasn't been posted to the SD52 website; nor has the video archive of their January 17th meeting which provides the record of their work, been provided for review of parents or guardians who may not have been able to have attended the Zoom session.

Update: Since our story of January 30th, the School District has provided for the video of the session which you can review here.

More notes on SD52 can be explored through our archive page.

Three month SD52 Budget consultation process set to start tomorrow evening

The path to a financial blue print for 2023 for SD52 begins tomorrow evening, with the first of a number of consultation or information sessions to get underway tomorrow evening, the opening session designed to outline the process ahead and to host a Talking Circle Consultation.

From that opening session, four more dates of note chart the path ahead towards the final decision making for the School District. which will wrap up with the approval of a Budget on April 20th.

The first bit of consultation comes by way of a 2023-23 Budge Proposal Form available to be downloaded from the SD52 website as part of their Financial and Budgeting section.

The proposal form offers a checklist of areas towards savings and or spending, as well as space to expand on how the areas can help towards accomplishing School District Goals.

All of the information to date available towards budget consultation can be reviewed here.

Crafting a budget has been a challenging thing for the Schoo District for the past two years, as financial surprises sent them back to drafting board over the last three years.

A tour of our archive pages from those years offers up a glimpse of some of the past troubles the District had towards the budget process. The Budget discussions covered the first half of each year.

2019-20

2020-21

2021-2022

Barring a similar disclosure of any unanticipated financial surprises for this years budget preparation period, the 2022-23 version should be ready for approval of the Board at the end of April.

Hopefully, the Board will be posting videos of their Budget planning and other notes related to the process so those parents and guardians who can make it to the sessions on the date scheduled can still have some idea of what the Board is up against as it looks to create the financial plan for the years ahead.

SD52 Video Archive page

As for the First Meeting set for tomorrow evening, the note below offers up guidance as to how you can participate in the online stream for the session.

More notes on Education can e reviewed from our archive page here.

Real Estate Tracker: Week ending January 29, 2023

The final week for 2023, was much the same as the previous six,  with the North Coast finding no change to our list of ten  properties for sale over the last seven days.

A lull in the sales market that has the listings remaining constant since before the Christmas break period.

The range of the week's listings again runs from the top end of $1.149 million to $745,000.

The distribution of our list of ten brings six properties to the west side of city,  compared to the east side's four.

The real estate review below is purely a snapshot for information purposes and reflective of our weekly check on Sunday evening. 

Properties can ebb and flow from the listings through the week,  for further background on the properties recorded, see our links pages for access to the individual real estate listings, to consult them on a daily basis.

The Archive for our weekly review can be found here.     

Our list of the top ten priced homes for the week ending  January 29, 2023 can be explored below:

Real Estate Listings for the East Side of Prince Rupert 
for the week ending January 29

Real Estate Listings for the West Side of Prince Rupert 
for the week ending January 29

The lowest mark for the review of the week is at $745,000  while our top end is marked  at the price point of   $1,149,000

Total value of the listings for our ten this week is noted at $8,393,000

Below find our findings as of the Week ending January 29 , 2022

2044 Graham Avenue.                    $1,149,000 --  Remax

1042 Edward Avenue                     $869,000  --     Realty Executives

535 East 4th Avenue                       $829,000 --     Remax

239 Heron Road                             $829,000 --      Realty Executives

104 Barrow Place                           $829,000 --      Remax 

1527 Atlin Avenue                          $799,000 --      Remax

1531 Atlin Avenue                          $799,000 --      Remax

2025 Graham Avenue                     $795,000 --      Realty Executives

1063 Ambrose Avenue                   $750,000 --       Remax

1425 West 2nd Avenue                   $745,000 --       Remax

For more items related to Real Estate see our archive pages here.

For background on Housing issues in the Prince Rupert area see our archive here.

Prince Rupert RCMP seek public help on stolen boat/trailer file from Port Edward

The Prince Rupert RCMP is asking the public for help as they continue an investigation into a stolen boat and trailer from the Port Edward area early Saturday morning.

In an information release, the detachment outlines the nature of the theft and a description of the stolen items:

On January 28, 2023 just after midnight, a boat and trailer were stolen from the North King Lodge in Port Edward on Boundary Drive. 

The boat is described as a 16' welded aluminium banana boat bearing hull number 6K15041 and the name North King Lodge. 

The trailer is described as a grey Tuff LT boat trailer bearing VIN 1T9BB6B609F952007.

(see photos below)

Should you have any information about these items or video surveillance of the area between midnight and 01:00 am on January 28, 2023, you are asked to contact the Prince Rupert RCMP  

Call the detachment at 250-624-2136 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). 

The case file can be reviewed here.

More notes on the work of Emergency Responders across the region can be reviewed here.

Blog Watching: Week ending January 29, 2023

This past week being a City Council session week, a number of themes from the final public session for January on Monday evening made for list of the five most read items for the week.

Housing and the dire situation facing many that are looking for the affordable version of it  made for a number of themes on the week. 

With one item of note from the last seven days, that of a call by the City for Expressions of interest towards two non-market housing proposals.

How the city handled the recent snow fall provided for a few comments from the Council session.

Also finding a strong level of interest was our look at CityWest and the lack to this point of an announcement towards the annual Distribution payment to the City of Prince Rupert.

Some remediation work on the city's east side captured som attention from readers as we offered an update on the work to rebuild the 11th Avenue sidewalk area at Conrad, that after the slope underneath it had given way last week.

To wrap up our list of five on the week, our notes related to current and future hiring plans for the City also was also a much reviewed piece over the last week.

From the weeks review the most read of our pieces, was that which noted of a civic initiative that could help reduce some of the stresses towards affordable housing.

City of Prince Rupert Bid request looks to plan for potential Non-Market Housing options in community -- In a week which saw the topic of the dire need for more affordable housing in Prince Rupert explored at a Council session.  A pair of proposals submitted by the City of Prince Rupert to the BC Bid website may offer some relief to the issue. Our notes of Tuesday explored the items up for review, a topic which the city made a public announcement towards on Thursday.  (posted January 24, 2023) 

 That article was followed by: 

Snow Removal discussion at City Council brings praise for City workers, concerns over private property owners --  As seems to be the case after every large snowfall event, the post mortem on last weeks storm featured some familiar themes.    (posted January 25 , 2023) 

As January nears end, still no word on a CityWest Distribution payment back to its sole shareholder  -- How much CityWest will return to its owners at City Hall has yet to be determined by the growing Communication company.  (posted January 27 , 2023) 

East side Slope remediation work moving quickly  -- City work crews have addressed the recent slide along 11th Avenue East which took out the sidewalk down the hill from Conrad.  (posted January 23, 2023) 

Hiring times for the future and the present on the to do list for City Hall -- Our preview of a presentation to Prince Rupert City Council related to a quest for a grant for a Human Resources post at City Hall. The discussion towards that quest at the Council session that night, found a few additional notes of interest to be shared when it comes to Human Resources at the City.  (posted January 23, 2023) 

You can find our weekly Blog watching feature posted every Sunday morning by 9AM, making for a handy way to catch up to the week that was, at a leisurely weekend pace. 

 

You can also review the full listings of the week just past, from our Blog Archive index page found on the right hand side of the page. 

For updates on new items posted daily to the blog, we direct you to our CharlesMHays Twitter feed, where we post notification of new stories as we post them. 

Our archive of weekly Blog Watching can be found here.

 To view the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.