Cache Creek fire prevention week
Because of COVID-19, members of the Cache Creek Volunteer Fire Department will not be visiting Cache Creek Elementary School or holding their usual Fire Chief for a Day event during Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 5–9). However, they are holding a contest, there is still time for residents to enter for their chance to win a wildfire prevention kit valued at $200. There is no age limit for entrants, and all you have to do to be eligible to win is leave your best kitchen fire safety tip at the Cache Creek-Info Facebook page. The winner will be contacted on Oct. 9.
The kit contains fabric hoses, plus sprinklers that can be mounted to fences or walls or placed in eavestroughs to help protect your home in the event of a wildfire. The kits can also be purchased; for details, contact the Cache Creek Fire Department.
Emergency First Aid course
A limited number of spots are still available for an Emergency First Aid course being held at the Ashcroft HUB from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The cost is $100 per person. For more information or to register, call (250) 453-9177, email ashcrofthub@gmail.com, or go to https://theashcrofthub.perfectmind.com/.
Game show week at the HUB Online Network
In partnership with the BC Responsible and Problem Gambling Program, the HUB Online Network is inviting people to participate in three game shows which will take place live via Zoom between Oct. 17 and 23. Viewers will also be able to enjoy the live action and cheer on the participants.
First up is “Trade Up!” (a Let’s Make a Deal-style game) on Oct. 17. It will be followed by “Quiz Show” — a Jeopardy!-style trivia show — on Oct. 21, and “COVID Bubble Battle”, a Family Feud-style game which requires eight teams of five people, on Oct. 23. There is a total of $3,000 in prizes to be won over the course of all three games.
Register online for any of the games at https://bit.ly/33s8FTV.
Halloween at the HUB
Between now and the end of the month, kids can pick up a free Halloween colouring sheet at the Ashcroft HUB, colour it in, and drop it off by Oct. 31 for the chance to win some prizes.
On Saturday, Oct. 31 — Halloween Day itself — the HUB will be open for trick-or-treating between 3 and 5 p.m. Kids are invited to show up in their costumes and go door-to-door inside the HUB to show off their Halloween finery and pick up some sweet treats. COVID-19 safety protocols will be in force.
Kamloops Film Society
There are some most excellent movies coming up at the Paramount Theatre in Kamloops in October, including a Bill and Ted-apalooza featuring Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), and Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020), all on Oct. 9 and 10.
The Paramount gets into the Halloween spirit with screenings of Beetlejuice (1988) on Oct. 16 and 17, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) on Oct. 23 and 24, and Ghostbusters (1984) on Oct. 23 and 24. On Oct. 30 and 31 there will be exciting COVID-ified special event screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): all of the fun, with a dash of keeping everyone safe, so you can do the Time Warp again; but dammit, Janet, stay six feet from the next person!
Due to limitations on audience size at all showings, it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance. For more information or to get tickets, go to https://bit.ly/3ipslvW.
Life-saving features added to app
The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), in partnership with regional health authorities and Lifeguard Digital Health, has updated the Lifeguard App to include a number of new life-saving features designed to save the lives of those who might die from drug overdose.
With feedback from experts in the field, including people with lived and living experience, the Lifeguard App now includes options such as extending the alarm time up to five minutes from the previous one minute. There are also a number of additional features, such as links to 8-1-1 for medical advice, to a suicide line, and to a crisis line if someone is feeling overwhelmed and needs to talk.
If the alarm goes to the activation screen, which often means the user is unresponsive and unable to turn off the alarm, the app now has “Save Me” steps, including CPR instructions, as well as the first name of the user and the drug they took, so a nearby person can step in and assist before the ambulance arrives.
According to Neil Lilley, BC Emergency Health Services project lead, “While BC Ambulance paramedics and their firefighter first responder partners are often first on the scene, building in features that will instruct someone nearby until we get there can make the difference between life and death.”
The Lifeguard App is free and can be downloaded at both the App Store and Google Play. By mid-August, 1,700 people had used the Lifeguard App, and the total number of app sessions is more than 5,000 (5,200 uses). Out of these, a 9-1-1 call to BCEHS emergency medical dispatchers has occurred at least 12 times. In five cases, the person using the app was non-responsive, and BCEHS sent paramedics to revive them and take them to hospital.
100 per cent electric-vehicle sales by 2040
Regulations are now in place outlining how B.C. will reduce pollution and make the switch to 100 per cent electric vehicle sales by 2040, meaning that in less than 20 years, every new car sold in B.C. will be a zero-emission vehicle powered by clean electricity. The regulations follow the Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Act that was passed last year, and fulfills the CleanBC commitment to implement a ZEV standard.
The ZEV Act, passed in 2019, requires automakers to meet increasing annual levels of EV sales reaching 10 per cent of new light-duty vehicle sales by 2025, 30 per cent by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2040. The new ZEV regulation sets phased-in annual targets and other compliance requirements, ensuring automakers increase the number and type of EVs that they sell in B.C. to meet consumer demand.
EV sales in B.C. made up 9 per cent of light-duty vehicle sales in 2019, as well as in the first half of 2020: the highest sales rate in Canada.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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