Multimedia Content
Sex Traffickers - produced for web use on www.mycowichanvalleynow.com
The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 sent people into social isolation, including children who were at home with extra hours to fill. Many turned to online video games, where sexual predators soon began increasing their presence. Sexual exploitation and sex trafficking awareness educator educator Cathy Peters warns that predators use online platforms to strike up conversations and befriend children. The article featured traditional text with a stock photograph of a girl & street scene and a Zoom interview where Peters explains her work educating people and talks about some of the methods used to groom young people.
Attempts to sexually exploit young people have increased dramatically in BC during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Integrated Child Exploitation unit of the RCMP says there has been a 45 percent increase in attempts to sexually exploit youth this during the pandemic. Last week, the provincial government announced that additional funding was being made available for police forces in British Columbia that are partners in the RCMP’s ICE unit to help combat predators trying to sexually exploit children. Cathy Peters is a former teacher who works to raise awareness about sexual exploitation and sex trafficking and says the pandemic has increased the threat because children are at home and spending more time online. Read more…
Victoria: Bike Friendly City
In 1995, the city of Victoria began developing a master plan for cycling. In 2012, consolations began as part of the Official Community Plan to develop a transportation plan that enhanced walking, cycling and transit use. The current plan is for 32 kilometres of cycling paths that connect with bike trails throughout the Capital Regional District, which would make the Greater Victoria area among the world's top urban centres for cycling.
Cities around the world that turning to all ages and ability cycling networks as a way to reduce trips by car, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and create a more healthy community with improved economic activity.
The Christmas Express - produced for web use at 89.7 Juice FM
The BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan, BC, owns a marvellous vintage steam engine named Samson after the Old Testament hero of exceptional strength. Each year the train is put into service to give rides to centre visitors, and in December it becomes the Christmas Express.
The steam engine Samson, former Cowichan Valley Railway No. 25, is one of many vintage locomotives maintained and, if possible, operated by the BC Forest Discovery Centre. At the centre, the forest industry in British Columbia is presented in both the old and new, with displays designed to show modern forestry practices.
Saving Southern Resident Orcas
In 2018 images were capture of an Orca in the Salish Sea pushing the body of her dead calf for 17 days. In Victoria, the Canadian Orca Rescue Society organized a 17 day vigil outside the British Columbia legislature in support of action to help save the southern resident Orcas that live in the Salish Sea of BC's South Coast and Northwest Washington State.
The Canadian Orca Rescue Society is calling for greater protection for the resident orcas and more Chinook salmon stock recovery efforts to ensure an adequate food supply for the pods to thrive. The society also says open pen salmon farming on the west coast must stop in order to help enhance Salmon stock.