Dec 5 - Pearson instructor wins Oxford climate award

Good morning !

I can see why Duncan has put its famous 205-foot hockey stick up for sale. It’s in rough shape and needs more than a tape job to save it before it starts to crumble and becomes a danger.

Darn wooden sticks. Always breaking.

— Mark

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌦️ 11 / 6

Tomorrow: 🌨️ 9 / 6

Thursday: ☁️ 9 / 2

7-day forecast

NEWS

Local teacher wins Oxford University climate challenge

Lucas Olscamp, an instructor at Pearson College UWC, is one of three winners of the prestigious 2023 Burjeel Holdings Oxford Saïd Climate Change Challenge. 

Olscamp, the lone Canadian to win, was in Dubai this past week to celebrate his accomplishment at COP28 along with students, educators, and environmental and business leaders.

Olscamp’s submission presentation to Oxford’s Saïd School included four lesson plans derived from his work in the ground-breaking Climate Action Leadership Diploma (CALD) program at Pearson. CALD is a new and innovative program that offers diverse perspectives on the intricacies of extreme weather and climate change. It takes advantage of Pearson’s location on the Salish Sea, on the unceded territories of the Sc’ianew First Nation—AKA Beecher Bay.

The program offers interdisciplinary learning in economics, science, technology, language, ethics, and communications and aligns with the International Baccalaureate (IB) Career-Related Program (CP). It’s this interdisciplinary lens that Olscamp feels gave him an advantage.

Olscamp’s entry was one of more than 600 to one of the largest global competitions dedicated to confronting climate change.

Andrew Walker, Olscamp’s colleague and media manager at Pearson, spoke proudly of his colleague’s win. “I've known Luke since I started last summer. He's an amazing educator and we're really lucky to have him here.”

Read Sidney Coles’ story here. 

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Kayakers be cautioned: Canadian Forces personnel will be using the demolition range near Rocky Point, so it will be noisy. 9am to 4pm through Friday.

Looks like this storm is hitting just west of us. [Environment Canada]

NEWS

Planning begins on Vancouver Island rail corridor

The BC government has allocated $18M—which equates to $80K/km along the 225km route between Victoria and Courtenay—to undertake long-term planning of the future of the Vancouver Island Rail corridor.

The corridor is in pretty rough shape after decades of inattention. A 2020 provincially commissioned report pegged the cost of fully restoring the old E&N line at $728M, with another $599M needed to install commuter rail service.

Last spring, BC announced the imminent return of a small segment, roughly 4.4 ha, of the corridor to the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation, a gesture of reconciliation and a nod to the reality that whatever comes of the corridor will have to have a First Nation’s blessing.

The Snaw-Naw-As, along with more than a dozen other First Nations and five regional districts have been holding planning sessions to decide how to best spend the grant money.

Read more here.

NEWS

Duncan puts world’s largest hockey stick up for sale

The 205-foot (63m) wooden replica was built for Expo ‘86, and has been affixed to the Cowichan Community Centre since 1988. But after 35 years, the glue-and-wood replica is falling apart. Last year, a woodpecker even set up shop on it.

The community was surveyed on replacing it for $1-2M and wasn’t interested. The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) said on Monday that most respondents did not find the record or stick important to the region—nor did they support replacing it. 

The stick was confirmed by Guinness as the world’s largest 15 years ago but is on the brink of losing its title to Lockport, Illinois, which is building a 250ft (76m) stick. 

The CVRD decided last week to decommission the stick in 2024, and is now taking proposals from groups that want to take it.

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⭐️ Capital Picks

🌡️ Royal Roads University Climate Week: Diverse perspectives for climate solutions. [Info]

🎲 GAME: PLAY, a brand new indie-produced shadow puppet and improv show about games and wonder opens Dec 7 at the Belfry. Come and play.*

🏨 Dine Around and Stay in Town Victoria: Be a tourist in your town: Jan. 26-Feb. 11.

🎄 Times Colonist Christmas Lights Map: Add yours here.

🤝 Now Hiring: Manager - The Dining Room Restaurant at The Butchart Gardens.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Man charged with assault with a weapon at weekend leg. protest
That weapon, VicPD says, was a car, which nearly hit a pro-Palestine protester during Sat.’s demonstration. The incident, partially captured on video, begins with a verbal altercation before the driver of a silver sedan appears to accelerate toward a person on a Menzies sidewalk holding a Palestinian flag. [CHEK]

Pender Islander saved after stuck in van for 4 days
Michael Cabeldu, 67, was in Vic for a medical appointment but found himself trapped in his van after it rambled down an embankment between Sooke and Jordan River. [Times Colonist]

Qualicum researchers revive ‘extinct’ language
Considered extinct since it was last spoken 80 years ago, pentl'ach (pronounced PUNT-lutch) is now a living language and has been added to BC's official list of First Nations languages. Using documents and recordings from before the 1940s, First Nation members reconstructed grammar and vocabulary to revitalize the language. [CBC]

🗓️ Things to do

🦖 Hungry Hungry Dinosaurs: Find out more about Sue the T-Rex and the habitat the dinos lived in during the Late Cretaceous period. RBCM. Today. 9:15am. [Livestream]

🌲 Step into a winter wonderland of colourful light displays, including The Twelve Days of Christmas during the Magic of Christmas now on at The Butchart Gardens.*

🎤 Brett Kissel: The Canadian country singer is on his Compass Tour. McPherson Playhouse. Tonight. 8pm. [Tickets]

🎺 Jingle Brass: Join the UVic brass studios as they ring in the holiday season. Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. Tonight, 7-8pm. [Info / Livestream]

🎷 Prepare for an enchanting evening of jazz as vocalist, Heather Ferguson takes the stage at Hermann's Jazz Club in Victoria on December 8. Get your tickets here.*

*Sponsored Listing

👀 In Case You Missed It

Monday headlines: Biggest ‘Missing middle' townhome project in decades; Grieving Islander gets support; Hit & run on Foul Bay and Fairfield. [Newsletter]

Grab a winter cocktail, with flavours such as maple, orange, and chocolate, at one of these 10 local bars. [Tasting Victoria]

Zone 91.3 morning host Dylan Willows: Off the air for a month following cancer diagnosis. [Zone 91-3]

Missing boater off Nanaimo coast. [CTV]

That’s it!

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