City of Prince Rupert's first hiring call for 2021 will take you to the Fire Hall

The City of Prince Rupert has posted their fist Job Opportunity of the new year, with the City putting up the call for applicants for a Dispatcher position at the First Avenue Wet Fire Hall.

The Position posted on Wednesday is listed as casual with hours based on a 12 hour shift day or night, with the successful applicant required to remain on site at the Fire Hall during the full period of that shift.

In the Description of the work, the notice outlines that the 911 Operator/Fire Dispatcher shall perform an integral emergency response function within the community. Persons working in this position must perform effectively and efficiently during highly stressful and emotional situations.

The CUPE 105 position features a pay of $35.22 per hour, following the completion of the probation period, with a lower rate in place during probation.

If successful, the applicant will also require a Criminal Records Check.

The Deadline for Applications is February 10th

The full posting can be reviewed below:

You can review some of the past City of Prince Rupert career opportunities here.

For a look at some of the work of Emergency Responders in the region see our archive page.

Recycling options expand for Kaien Road Recycling Centre

North Coast Regional District has announced a change in the 
policy for dropping off large household appliances

Residents of the North Coast who have an old washer, dryer, fridge, stove or other large home appliance kicking around have a great opportunity at the moment to get rid of their clutter.

That with a new program currently in place at the Kaien Road Recycling Centre in Prince Rupert's Industrial Park.

In a change from past practice, North Coast Regional District has announced that dropping off such household materials will no longer require payment of a fee, with the Recycling centre now accepting all major appliances Free of charge.

The program which went into effect at the start of the year is part of a partnership with the Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable.

That organization is a not-for-profit stewardship agency created to implement and operate a stewardship plan for end-of-life major household appliances in the province of British Columbia (BC) on behalf of the major appliance “producers” who are obligated under the BC Recycling Regulation. 

The MARR plan is focused on enhancing the performance and transparency of the existing market-based system of collecting and recycling major household appliances in BC. 

Learn more about the program here.

The Prince Rupert Recycling Centre is just one of a number locations across the Northwest where the Free Drop off program is now in place, you can access the one in your community here. 

For more notes from North Coast Regional District follow their Facebook page.

Our past items of interest can be explored here.

Recent COVID-19 reports in Prince Rupert reflected by surge in weekly stats review. 38 cases of Coronavirus now listed in the city from period of January 17-23

The two high profile outbreaks of COVID 19 have painted the BC CDC map a dark shade of red in Prince Rupert for the first time since the data has been made public, with the report of data collected from January 17 to 23 now noting 38 cases of COVID-recorded in the community during that period.

The Prince Rupert surge comes from the ongoing outbreaks at the Acropolis Manor Long Term Care facility which hosts the largest volume of case reports. as well as from the classrooms of School District 52 in the city.

Still, despite the dramatic increase for Prince Rupert, the community still is not atop the findings across the Northwest for the week of data review, with Terrace once again the hot zone for COVID in the Northwest with 59 cases noted from January 17-23

The BC Centre for Disease shares data on a weekly basis culled from Local Health Authority reports and while the results for Prince Rupert and Terrace are concerning, during the data collection period, other areas of the Northwest show some moderation from past results.

Across the remainder of the Northwest, the cases reported from  January 17-23 were as follows.

Terrace -- 59 
Kitimat -- 18 
Smithers -- 16
Bella Coola Valley -- 12   
Nechako -- 12
Burns Lake -- 11 
Nisga'a Region -- 9
Upper Skeena  -- 3
Snow Country-Stikine-Telegraph Creek --3
Haida Gwaii -- 1

The Central Coast once again this week had no cases of COVID reported in the period.

The most recent monthly update (as of December 31st, 2020) from the BC CDC can be reviewed here.  

Other charts and information from the BC CDC can be explored here.

You can review the latest information from the Public Health office Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix here.  

BC holds the line with 485 new cases of COVID on the day, with only 4 passings from the day's review.

The  Wednesday report provided much the same story as has been reported for weeks, with the lates case reports noting of an increase from yesterday's count, a welcome reduction in deaths and much the same in active cases for the last 24 hours.

Today's overview came by way of a statement from Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minster Adrian Dix. 

“Today, we are reporting 485 new cases, for a total of 65,719 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 4,299 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 303 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 74 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. 

Currently, 6,520 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 58,778 people who tested positive have recovered. 

There have been four new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,172 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Across the province, the regional health authorities have reported the following case reports for the last 24 hours:

115 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 210 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 45 in the Island Health region, 83 in the Interior Health region, 32 in the Northern Health region which brings the total for Northern BC to 3,283 since the start of the pandemic one year ago. 

There have been no new cases of COVID reported in British Columbia from people who reside outside of Canada.

As BC reviews its vaccination roll out program, the vaccination totals to date, have seen 124,365 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 4,160 of which are second doses. 

With some COVID fatigue settling in across the province, Dr. Henry and Minister Dix offered up some guidance for the days ahead as we look to reduce the current levels being reported.

“One year ago today, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in our province. Since that day, the impact has been severe; people have become seriously ill and died, our lives have been disrupted and health-care workers everywhere have faced challenges at a scale never experienced before. 

In response, people throughout the province have stepped up to put normal routines and activities aside, doing all they can to protect our communities, Elders and loved ones. Thank you. 

When we are tired, it is easy to let things slip and let our guard down. Yet this only gives the virus a chance to spread a bit more. In these days – when COVID-19 vaccinations are starting, but for most of us are still weeks or months away – the actions we take may seem small, but will have a big impact to stop the virus in its tracks. 

As we have seen over the past year, one case can turn into thousands. But just as important, the effort we put into keeping ourselves and each other safe can also push our COVID-19 curve back down again.”

Premier John Horgan touched on some of those themes and many other COVID related issues as part a Wednesday morning  press conference. Among some of the topics he spoke to included questions on the possiblitiy quarantines for those coming to BC, restrictions on travel both from within and out of the province. 

The Premier also addressed the current levels of vaccine delivery and how it remains in the hands of the federal government which BC continues to support.

You can review that presentation below:

You can can review more of today's COVID statement here. 

BC CDC data for  British Columbia as of January 27 2021

BC CDC data for Northern Health region as of January 27 2021

The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:

Federal Government site

British Columbia Government site

The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.

More from  Northern Health can be reviewed here 

You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.   

Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, those past advisories  can be reviewed here.

For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee

Ottawa Observations

Victoria Viewpoints

 

State of Local Emergency in the Nass is lifted, though community vigilance remains as guiding advice

A fourteen day State of Local Emergency in the Nass Valley has been lifted, with midnight Tuesday the official end of a range of restrictions for community members that after a sharp increase of the reports of positive cases of COVID through the region.

After a review today from the Nisga'a Emergency Preparedness Committee, it was determined that an extension of the measures in place since January 12th was not required, however caution and vigilance remain the focus for the Nisga'a Nation. 

That the message delivered to Nisga'a Nation members by Eva Clayton, the President of the Nation.

"We need to stay the course and remain our bubbles, we will get through this pandemic if we remain vigilant.

While the State of Local Emergency is lifted, some of the measures will remain in place with a range of check points and community surveillance operations to continue in each of the four villages, Nisga'a Guardians and Enforcement officers have the authority to issue fines for anyone found contravening public health orders.

Since March the Nisga'a Valley Health Authority notes the there have been 144 positive cases of COVId from testing out of a total of 1,219 tests.

You can learn more about the decision to lift the order and review some of the measures from this information statement.

For more notes related to events in the Nass Valley see our archive page here.

City Council has few notes to share on Air Service status

Mayor Brain responded to a question on air service in Prince
Rupert at Monday's council session

The topic of the recently suspended Air Canada Service to and from Prince Rupert made for a short conversation piece at the end of Monday's Prince Rupert Council City session, that as Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa followed up on some inquiries he has received from the public on a status update on efforts to bring some form of service back to the city.

The question was directed to Mayor Lee Brain, who advised that he didn't have much to add to the conversation at this point, noting that work continues by the Airport Manager to speak to Federal and airline officials about the cancellation of service, with nothing to report from those efforts yet.

Mr. Brain also noted that the Chamber of Commerce has been engaged in a survey project related to airport use, which would go towards the combined efforts in the community.

"The only thing we've had is from what the notice from last week, or the week before and  I know that we're working  with the Chamber right now and they're conducting a survey and we've been in contact with our Airport Manager who is working with the airlines and talking with the Federal Government about the airlines. So, once there is an update, we'll definitely notify the community." -- Mayor Lee Brain

As we noted earlier this week, the survey findings have now been released with the focus on the importance of the airport to the region and the impact that the suspension of service is having and will continue to have as it moves on through the next few months.

The Councillors Q and A opportunity can be reviewed from the city's video archive at the forty nine minute mark.

For more notes on Monday's Council session see our Council Timeline Feature here, a wider overview of Council themes is available from our Council Discussion archive.

For items of interest on air transportation in the Northwest see our archive page here.

Prince Rupert's Fukasaku set to be part of National celebration of sustainable seafood

This coming Monday turns the page on the calendar and as February begins its twenty eight day run, Seafood will be the focus as the Ocean Wise program takes their Chowder Chowdown to the national stage.

The organization has been preparing for the inaugural edition of the national festival which will run from February 1st to 28th, with Chowder available for dine in or take out and in some cases even delivery across the land.

And for Prince Rupert that means that there is only one place to look on the map, thanks to the contribution from Fukasaku in the Atlin Terminal.

Through the month, Dai Fukasaku and his staff will join 25 other partners across the country in celebration of the Ocean Wise  program, with part of the proceeds to be directed towards support the sustainable seafood program hosted by the organization.

The Ocean Wise program consists of nine scientists and account managers across Canada who analyse the most current data on thousands of seafood options and work with restaurants, seafood suppliers and grocery stores to communicate recommendations and monthly updates on the changing science. 

Ocean Wise’s recommendations are not only based on assessment of the species itself, but also the fishery’s impact on the surrounding environment, other species, and how well it is managed.

You can learn more about the national program and the National Chowder Showdown here.

The chance to grab a bowl of chowder will also provide opportunity to check out the new location at the Atlin Terminal, with updates on how the project is coming along available from the Fukasaku of Prince Rupert Facebook page.

For more notes on the North Coast fishery see our archive page here.

Further themes on the Prince Rupert Commercial sector can be found here.