Members of Artists on Main Osoyoos show their paintings in the June “Life Goes On Virtual Gallery.”
This is the third “Virtual Gallery” offered by OsoyoosPersists.ca and featuring the work of local artists. The Art Gallery Osoyoos has been closed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The gallery now plans to open on June 13 for its Summer Artisan Market, but opening hours will be restricted and other measures aimed at keeping the public safe will also be implemented. Continue reading “Life Goes On: Artists on Main show their work in Virtual Gallery”
Haynes Point (swiws) Provincial Park is one of the most pleasant places to walk or bicycle in Osoyoos.
Along with other provincial parks, it was closed throughout most of April and early May in part because people on the Lower Mainland were crowding into parks in that part of the province and failing to physically distance.
Haynes Point reopened for day use only last Thursday, May 14.
The park is ideal for seniors because it’s quite flat, the views are gorgeous and there’s often bird and animal life to observe. In these times of Covid-19, the wide road makes it very easy to exceed the two-metre physical distancing guideline. Continue reading “Haynes Point (swiws) partially open for walk-in day use”
As B.C. and other jurisdictions around the world begin to lift physical distancing measures, how will we know how well it’s working?
Human behaviour never exactly mirrors the measures implemented by governments. Some people defy guidelines to stay at least at least two metres apart in public. On the other hand, just because a nail salon or gym opens again, it doesn’t mean people will return in pre-Covid-19 numbers. The public makes its own judgments about what is safe.
British Columbia’s wineries are quickly developing new business strategies that will allow them to survive and prosper in the post-pandemic recessionary world. These new business models require accommodating regulatory changes.
While B.C. authorities have been tight lipped about the geographic data of Covid-19, the U.S. reports data at the county level. Johns Hopkins University uses geomatics to provide an excellent map with data of Covid’s spread in the U.S. The dark purple indicates areas with the highest per capita infection rates. (screen grab of Johns Hopkins U.S. confirmed cases by population)
It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I would argue that a map is worth much more.
Can maps provide valuable information about the coronavirus pandemic? Absolutely.
I’ve had a fascination with maps since I was a young boy and used to buy topographic maps with my allowance. I enjoyed geography in school and when I studied political science and political economy in university, I took courses in human geography and statistics. Later, in one of my jobs, I used geomatics to analyze public opinion data.
Geomatics is defined as a “discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information.” It’s related to GIS (geographic information system), which pertains more to the software used for this analysis.
Geomatics can be used to look at spatial information about where the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading. Combined with demographic information about race, poverty levels and access to healthcare, it can provide insights on the types of places and populations most at risk for Covid-19. Continue reading “Geography provides valuable Covid-19 information when data is made public”
Barbershops were among the businesses ordered to close in B.C. on March 21. My regular barbershop closed about a week earlier just as I realized I badly needed a haircut.
At the time, I joked that I would have to grow hippie hair. But by early April, my hair was growing wild and out of control and the extra weight was starting to hurt my neck. OK, that’s exaggerating a bit, but I wanted a cut.
Social media has been packed with memes about people giving themselves haircuts that turned out very badly. I learned as a kid that cutting your own hair is not a good idea – when I tried it in elementary school, I kept taking more off to try to even it out until I was bald. Never again. Continue reading “VIDEO: With barbershops closed, many of us are turning to homemade haircuts”
Potter Darlene Fillion and her daughter Tracy Fillion were originally scheduled to open an exhibition on May 2 at The Art Gallery Osoyoos titled “Textiles and Clay: Kindred Hands.”
With the gallery closed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Osoyoos Persists Life Goes On Virtual Gallery is featuring some of their work, just as last month we featured Focus 2020 from the Osoyoos Photography Club.
As governments announce plans to re-start the economy, the B.C. wine industry needs to develop a set of operating protocols that will allow us to operate tasting rooms responsibly. We need to do this collectively, as a community, to maintain customer confidence, to protect our employees and guests, and to forestall our overly zealous regulators from imposing far less sensible rules than we can design ourselves. We need to work together right now so that we are ready when opening day comes.
Don’t misinterpret the recent announcements as meaning that your tasting room will be re-opening anytime soon. If you are an optimist, think about maybe re-opening in July or August; but also realize that we may lose the whole 2020 season and maybe even 2021.
In recent weeks attention has shifted from the primary goal of containing the spread of the coronavirus outbreak to asking whether it’s time to start reopening the economy and relaxing restrictions.
The rate of new Covid-19 cases has been leveling off in B.C., fewer people are being hospitalized and even fewer are in intensive care.
People who have been staying at home and physically distancing in public are getting antsy – especially those with young children underfoot.
And while some businesses are doing well in these unusual times, overall the economy has slowed to levels not seen since the Great Depression. Workers are laid off, and many businesses that were already struggling may not recover, even when the virus is gone.
Surviving Covid-19 requires that winery owners be quick to comprehend the overall severity of the pandemic, accept the economic reality of the situation and adjust their business plans accordingly.
The immediate impact of the pandemic has been a significant increase in overall wine and liquor sales, coupled with a seismic shift in distribution channels. Consumers in isolation are both increasing consumption and stockpiling in the face of ongoing uncertainty. Sales through the tasting room and restaurant channels have collapsed; replaced by dramatic increases in direct delivery/internet sales and in the liquor retail and grocery sales channels.
Recovery will be mostly up to us – our hard work, persistence and innovation. But government needs to help by reforming some of the rules that have slowed industry growth and which will now impede our recovery. Examples include the restrictions on the interprovincial shipment of wine, the prohibitions on secondary tasting rooms and the unavailability of wholesale pricing to restaurants in the hospitality industry. Removal of these restrictions would do much to aid the recovery. Continue reading “Guest Comment: A pandemic survival guide for B.C. wineries – How to weather the coronavirus”
Potter Darlene Fillion and her daughter Tracy Fillion were originally scheduled to open an exhibition on May 2 at The Art Gallery Osoyoos titled “Textiles and Clay: Kindred Hands.”
