Nov 12 - Victoria during wartime

Good morning !

Stormy weather caused nearly a quarter-million outages in BC, though most were on the mainland. Things are supposed to settle down as we head into this next week, though.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧️ 11 / 6

Tomorrow: ☁️ 10 / 4

Tuesday: 🌦️ 9 / 4

7-day forecast

NEWS

A new free food market in Victoria

Living Edge, a local nonprofit open to those in need, had been on the hunt for a permanent business location since August of this year. It’s now found a home for its 7th location in the region, on Blanshard at the Church of Our Lord. 

Living Edge consists of farmers-market-style food stands that offer a wide variety of goods—patrons can expect to find everything from grocery staples like fresh produce, bread and yogurt to full meals like sushi.

Read the full story about the initiative, when it’s open, and the growing need for it.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Looking back at life in Victoria during wartime

Yesterday, local Remembrance Day ceremonies featured some of the Island’s few remaining veterans of World War II. For the occasion, we re-ran one of our stories on the experiences of those overseas during that war and WWI.

We also have a story on the experience of WWII in the city itself.

Written during the early months of COVID, and highlighting the similarities in how locals’ ways of life were drastically altered, it describes how air raid drill sirens would interrupt the day and blackouts would pitch the nights into complete darkness. Estevan Point lighthouse even faced submarine fire.

But although it was partly a time of resilience, it was also partly a time of paranoia and injustice in which locals of Japanese descent were dispossessed and forced to leave.

Read the full story here on that time in the city’s history.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

200,000+ power outages in BC after Friday night’s storm, including some on the Island. [City news]

This week’s weather: Rain today, but sun and cloud after tomorrow.

Victoria yard waste drop-off will be open again next Saturday after holiday pause. Saanich drop-off is also closed, but reopens Tuesday.

Another rally for Gaza ceasefire expected at 1pm today at Legislature / Belleville Street.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Westshore Rebels settle for second in Canada

The Rebels’ football season, and undefeated streak, came to an end with a narrow home loss to undefeated Saskatoon in Saturday’s Canadian Cup. Down 10-17 in a low-scoring affair, they had a chance to tie up the game in the final moments but were unable to pull it off. 

Those 10-points were a far cry from regular-season games in which the Rebels were regularly scoring over 50 points and even approached 100.

A formidable opponent, the Saskatoon Hilltops are the all-time leader in Canadian junior football championships won; this was their 23rd. The BC teams with the most titles are Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island Raiders and Kelowna’s Okanagan Sun—the defending champion that the Rebels beat two weeks ago.

Rebels take 2 major awards
The team didn’t come away from the weekend empty-handed. On Friday, its quarterback Te Jessie was named Canada’s offensive player of the year, while Dexter Janke was named Coach of the Year.

With 41 touchdowns and 150 completions, Jessie was also among 9 Rebels named to the All-Canadian teams.

SPONSORED BY UVIC CONTINUING STUDIES

Breaking barriers is a learning journey

For agile businesses or companies with limited resources, some may feel like their equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts are not making enough progress. Here’s the good news: EDI work is a journey.

“There is no shortage of good ideas about how to embrace diversity, to achieve racial justice, or to make all people feel like they matter and belong,” says Shakil Choudhury in his book Deep Diversity: A Compassionate, Scientific Approach to Achieving Racial Justice. “Change is always possible, even against the greatest odds.”

Ready to continue your journey? Explore the EDI program or online courses like Organizational Diversity and Inclusion with Continuing Studies at UVic.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🍽️ A simple autumn recipe: Here’s how to make Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Autumn Apple Compote. [Tasting Victoria]

💪 Why get a body composition scan? A Dexa scan gives you a complete picture of your bone density, lean mass, and fat tissue and helps identify health risks. Now at Tall Tree Health.*

🦉 Owl on a pole: Check out these photos of a Barred Owl perching in Comox.

😊 Now hiring: Out of School Care Worker at Fernwood NRG.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

What’s next for HandyDart land: View Royal wants your thoughts
The municipality is leasing the 1.5-acre (.6ha) plot of land near Watkiss Way and Burnside from BC Transit for $1 a year. It has money to spend on building a park. Have your say by taking this survey.

Duncan council votes against opening extreme weather shelter
Council voted 4-3 to nix reopening the shelter in St. Andrew’s Church, where last year 420 people stayed over 24 days of cold weather. Neighbours and businesses complained of unruly behaviour and littering. The province is looking into what to do next. [The Discourse]

Unauthorized midwives a growing risk, says college
The BC College of Nurses and Midwives is warning the public of a rise in unauthorized midwives, with 13 reports in the last year and a half and eight individuals currently under investigation. In BC, only those registered with the college can identify themselves as midwives. [Times Colonist]

SPONSORED BY DANCE VICTORIA

Dance Victoria presents New York’s world-class Gibney Company

NYC's Gibney Company is acclaimed for its virtuosic performances and empowering activism. "The troupe’s superpower is clear: its strong and versatile dancers, artists who appear to be physically capable of anything." ⁠-New York Times⁠

Dance Victoria presents Gibney Company on Nov 17 and 18 at the Royal Theatre. Find tickets here.

🗓️ Things to do

Vikes at crosscountry running championships: You can watch top-10-ranked UVic compete late this morning. [CBC Sports]

Studio 30 art show & sale: Check out work from 26 artists at the ArtSea Gallery in Sidney until Nov 16.

A Night in Vienna: The Civic Orchestra of Victoria will perform classical music from Vienna today at Dave Dunnet Community Theatre. 2-4pm.

Experience the Magic of Christmas at The Butchart Gardens. Step into a winter wonderland of colourful light displays featuring the Twelve Days of Christmas.*

Victoria Record Fair: Shop from thousands of vinyls, CDs, and cassettes today at Fernwood Community Centre. 11am-4pm.

Great American Song Book Trio: Enjoy American music of the early 20th century from vocalist Louise Rose, bassist Joey Smith, and drummer Kelby MacNayr tonight at Hermann’s Jazz Club. Doors 12pm, show 1pm.

Hyprov: The improv meets hypnosis show starring Colin Mochrie and Asad Mecci is tonight at Mary Winspear Centre, 7:30-9:30pm.

*Sponsored Listing

👀 In Case You Missed It

Local living wage has exceeded $25/hour—and some local experts got together for a symposium to discuss what do about that. [Capital Daily]

Friday’s headlines: Hospitals re-open ORs, double rainbow, and more: [Newsletter]

Seasonal craft markets: where to go and when.

Slug enjoys a snack in this up-close video from a trail in Saanich. [Facebook]

That’s it!

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