Cowichan This Week: The days grow longer

Welcome to Cowichan This Week, your source for the latest local news and events. Sign up to get this in your inbox every Thursday.

News and announcements

• The first in Jared Qwustenuxun Williams’s three-part series for The Discourse is out. In Coast Salish food and cooking: a taste of yesteryear, Jared consults knowledge keepers on the tools, techniques and relationships of the old food world. The article is part of our Food For Thought series. 
• In David Minkow’s latest for The Discourse, he reports on how the Michelle Rose Community Supported Fishery is keeping it local by selling seafood directly and in advance to customers in Cowichan and greater Victoria. The article is part of our Food For Thought series. 
• Zach Kiedaisch, intern with The Discourse, checked in with the Community Farm Store on their inglorious produce bin and other efforts to support local food systems. The article is part of our Food For Thought series. 
• CBC’s On The Island spoke with Gayle Hurmuses and Janice Smith of Mask the Valley and COVID Action Cowichan about local volunteer efforts to sew masks and spread good information. Listen to the interview. 
• The Municipality of North Cowichan is accepting feedback on its climate action and energy plan. The survey closes Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 9 a.m.
• RCMP are asking any witnesses to come forward after a fatal hit-and-run on Chemainus Road on Feb. 14. 
• Health Canada is investigating a Duncan doctor for offering unapproved fecal transplants, CBC News reports. Dr. Bill Code, of the Taymount Canada clinic, says patient safety is his top concern and he doesn’t believe he has done anything illegal. 
• The province is working on a plan to help struggling motor coach companies, CTV News reports. Several bus companies have suspended routes as a result of low demand during the pandemic. 
• Call volumes to BC 211 from Vancouver Island were up almost 200 per cent last year, Vancouver Island Free Daily reports. The hotline connects people with community, social and government services local to them. 
• A Lake Cowichan high school student wants to create a youth council to increase engagement with the town’s municipal affairs, the Lake Cowichan Gazette reports. 
• B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was recently spotted sporting an “I Stand With Cowichan Tribes” T-shirt. Urban Valley Tees, in collaboration with Cowichan artist Stuart Pagaduan, is selling the shirts as a fundraiser supporting Cowichan Tribes. The effort is in response to racism faced by Cowichan Tribes members after the First Nation disclosed COVID-19 case numbers. 
• The Municipality of North Cowichan is reporting an uptick in tree theft from the municipal forest reserve. The municipality asks anyone with information to call North Cowichan or the RCMP.
• An extraordinary community effort reunited Jesse McMaster with his dog, Keno, who was lost for two weeks, CTV News reports. 

Community events

• February: 📚 It’s Black History Month. The Vancouver Island Regional Library has compiled non-fiction resources by Black Canadian women, to read, listen, watch and learn. 
• Thursday, Feb. 18: 🥕 BC Farmers Markets is hosting Town Hall: Systemic Racism and Food Justice as part of its virtual conference. The event is free and will be streamed to Facebook. 
• Thursday, Feb. 18: 🍎 Join African Arts & Cultural Society – Issamba Centre online for Anti-racism in Education: Through the Eyes of Dionte Jelks. Jelks is a school principal in Ladysmith. 
• Thursday, Feb. 18: ☕ Join North Cowichan Mayor Al Siebring for a virtual coffee date, hosted by the Chemainus & District Chamber of Commerce. 
• Friday, Feb. 19: 🖤 Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network is hosting an online panel for Black History Month on “shaping the future of Black Canadians through lessons of past and anti-racism.”
• Through March 3: 🎨 Check out Shards and Shreds, a showcase of glass and fibre arts at the Cowichan Valley Arts Council Gallery, located in the Cowichan Community Centre. 
• Most days: 🎶 See the Duncan Showroom’s online calendar for local live-streamed music.
• Available now: 🤓 Get smart with the Mill Bay Malahat Historical Society’s online quiz series, I Never Would Have Guessed That. 

What did I miss? Let me know what events are coming up near you by replying to this email. 

In your words

Last week on Facebook, Tricia wrote: “I support The Discourse. As a start-up media group they report the local news that often does not get published by mainstream media.”

Thanks so much, Tricia and all our supporters! We can do this work because of you. [end]