May 27 - Local creating heat-up life jacket

Good morning !

Today we open with two local ventures trying to make things that can do a bit of good in the world. That good news about them will, I hope, help to balance out what is unfortunately more discouraging news about the risk of major summer drought.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ⛅ 14 / 10

Tuesday: 🌧️14 / 9

Wednesday: 🌧️ 16 / 7

7-day forecast

NEWS

Local youth wins national honour for making self-heating life jackets

After falling into the water mid-sailing lesson, young Victoria innovator Liam Pope-Lau recounts being shocked by how cold the water was, even through his life jacket. 

Along with friend and classmate Fraser Tuck, Pope-Lau began work on an elf-heating life jacket—the pair were in Grade 6 at the time. Now an MVP, LifeHeat is a self-heating survival pack that activates when submerged in water. The solution is made of recycled materials, is refillable, and can retrofit any life jacket.

It has also made Pope-Lau a national winner of the Ingenious+ youth innovation challenge. Pope-Lau and 15 other young innovators competed in the challenge by the Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF) during Canadian Innovation Week earlier this month.

Read the full details at Victoria Tech Journal.

 UVic spinout wins $75k

Pope-Lau isn’t the only young local to be rewarded for innovation. Curat Innovations, which spun out from UVic, just received funding from the Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) that will let it finish making a field-ready, beta pilot unit.

Curat is working on making an organic waste processing technology that cuts the amount of hauling and methane gas release associated with food waste. Organic waste is neutralized in three days, creating soil supplements that can then be used.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

This weekend is projected to reach 20C.

Lane closure near Ladysmith for about two weeks, starting today. 

Rally for Rafah expected to begin at 6:30pm at Legislature.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Island snowpack has dipped even lower, in only two weeks

At the start of May the region had half the normal level of snowpack, but in the May 15 update it was only a third (49% vs. 34%). That puts the Island lowest among all BC regions in a year that has consistently had outlier-low snowpack in many areas. BC is at 57% of normal overall as we approach the brink of summer—and get further into fire season. 

The snowpack reports become twice per month at this stage, not just monthly. This mid-May update usually intends to measure how quickly snowpack is melting. Usually at this point 17% of peak snowpack would have melted in BC. This year it's 31%, though that's not as bad as last year when high temperatures pushed melt to 43%.

Rain and heat have been relatively close to seasonal norms in BC lately, the report says, but the risk of summer drought remains extreme.

NEWS

Local drinks named among the very best in the world

The awards based out of Norwich, UK celebrate the best of global alcoholic beverages and are are made up of several competitions for particular styles of beverages judged by expert panels that recognize everything from rum and tequila to brandy and specialty cocktails. 

Sheringham Distillery won gold in the World’s Best Fruit Liqueur category. Meanwhile its Raincoast Gin, made with traditional juniper and coastal botanicals, won a silver. Silvers also went to Esquimalt Vermouth & Apéritifs for both semi-sweet and dry. They won gold with those in the same competition a year ago, becoming the first non-European craft producer to take World's Best titles.

Read more on these locals, and the drinks that these accolades are awarding, at Tasting Victoria.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🦆🐤🐤🐤🐤 All aboard! Ducklings catch a ferry ride on the back of a Common Merganser mum. [Video]

👁 The Island through a porthole, seen on a trip through the Inside Passage & Desolation Sound. [Photographer Kristian Gillies]

🚗 Keep your licence. The experienced lawyers at Acumen Law Corporation will give you the strongest legal defence to keep you in the driver’s seat.*

🤝 Now hiring: Operations manager at Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Society.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Clover Point driver has only non-life-threatening injuries
Victoria’s firefighting union gave the update, saying that after going over the edge and onto the rocks the occupant was able to self-extricate. 

Vic West 5-storey gets to rezoning, but no fast-track
The project seeks to rezone a one-storey industrial (office) site, just off of Craigflower/Skinner, into 56 residential & 1 industrial unit. It will go to rezoning, but will have to go through a design advisory stage that some councillors believe will be key for the small lot but others fear will overly delay (and price up) the final project. [Times Colonist] 

Pacific FC leapfrogged by “younger sibling” Vancouver FC
PFC has been atop, or tied atop, the league standings. But last week Ottawa beat them to take over #1, and now Vancouver has beaten them to take off #2.

🗓️ Things to do

🎥 Wicked Little Letters at Cinecenta: This mystery comedy film based on a true story will be shown at the UVic theatre. Today. 5pm and 7pm.

🎨 DIY image transfer workshop at Esquimalt Rec Centre on Thursday. [Register]

⚽️ Pacific FC in the Canadian Championship competition. PFC hosts Ottawa on Wednesday to decide who advances in the interleague tourney. 

Looking for something to do this weekend? Subscribe to This Week In Vic to get the full list of what’s on. 

👀 In Case You Missed It

Bee swarm takes over downtown street corner. [Sun. newsletter]

Beading skills take local student far—all the way to Toronto for the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival. [Capital Daily]

Spot prawn season has begun—here’s where to eat ‘em in Victoria. [Tasting Victoria]

Plane crash near Squamish killed two on Friday. [CTV]

Spinnakers celebrates 40th birthday: The oldest brewhouse in Canada first opened its doors on May 15, 1984.

Alice Munro and her cat. [City Lights Bookstore]

 A Canada Goose “traffic jam” at Esquimalt Lagoon. [Video]

That’s it!

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