Dust season is here
Plus Canfor cuts to result in much fewer job losses than projected and a pro wrestling school for the city. Read to the end for a bird.
Wondering if spring is here? Well, the dust advisories are back, which is as sure a sign as any. So, go ahead, start preparing.
But remember the roads are still icy.
The challenges of accessing addictions treatment in northern B.C.
This was the focus of several talks at the First Nations Health Authority’s Northern Addictions Forum held in the city. In Atlin, people have to hitchhike to get to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Experiences of racism are a barrier. As is a lack of sunlight in winter months and the need to get on a plane for help. And there were stories of success, too.
We’re becoming a hydrogen truck hub
“Eight different local companies have entered into agreements with Hydra to retrofit their truck fleets with a hydrogen-diesel engines,” reports the Prince George Post. This is low-key one of the more interesting stories in the city as the company aims to become the largest hydrogen-refuelling station in the world as 2023 shapes up to the be the year of hydrogen nation-wide.
Barkerville is on TikTok
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Just thought you should know.
Two events worth checking out tonight
At UNBC (or via Zoom), anthropologist Elliott M. Rechardt is giving a talk titled “The forest will be beautiful again: Experiences of industrialized logging in Northern British Columbia”:
I focus my analysis on participants who have lived and worked for decades in post-industrial forests, either through trapping, ranching, or logging.
My participants encouraged me to imagine and cherish the future forests that would eventually regrow, the wood products from the fallen trees, and the economic benefits to the region.
These narratives valued extraction even as they would express sadness, anger, and grief over lost trees, species, and ways of life in asides.
These stories served to valorize extraction and minimize their own discomfort even as they moved through old clear-cuts. I
conclude my talk with a reflection on “extractive imaginaries” and their relationship to the cultures of extraction that anthropologists have described and observed elsewhere.
It runs from 5 to 7, after which you can head down to the Omineca Arts Centre to catch Naomi Shore of Fort St. John, and one of my personal favs, as she releases a new album.
Quick news:
The Citizen reports that due to union members across Canfor’s operations in Prince George accepting early retirement packages, the projected job losses from the closure of pulp and paper has gone from 300 to around 90. The jobs are still gone — which will have an impact — but fewer people than feared will be directly without work.
After a pair of sold-out shows this past weekend, Primetime Wrestling is looking to set up a pro wrestling school in the city.
Karelya Medialdea of Immigrant and Multicultural Services Canada in Prince George has earned a provincial award for her work tackling racism in rural communities.
The number of Ukrainian refugees in the city is set to surpass 200.
Drones delivering prescription meds to nearby First Nations.
Researchers with UNBC are hoping to talk to kids about spirtuatlity.
If you’re on Facebook I highly recommend joining the birdwatching group.
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