A trip through the Sooke News Mirror’s archives.
Oct. 6, 1993
Outreach reaches out to Sooke’s unemployed
Western Community Outreach is reaching out to Sooke.
The employment-aid organization opened an office at the community school portable at EMCS yesterday.
Outreach staff will spend at least one afternoon a week there helping the local unemployed get themselves jobs.
“What we’ve wanted to provide is a place in Sooke for Sooke people to have the opportunity to use our service,” employment counsellor Janice Booth said. “If the demand is there, I’m very willing to spend the whole day in Sooke. We’re quite open and flexible.”
In basic terms, Western Community Outreach teaches the unemployed how to find jobs.
Staff show people how to use a resume as a tool for marketing themselves, and help prepare them for job interviews. They help clients determine job search strategies and decide what fields they are suited for. They provide training and education information, and act as a reference for employers looking for workers.
Oct. 2, 1996
Rates to rise for water work
Sooke residents can expect further water rate increases early next year as the Greater Victoria Water District takes a step towards upgrading the community’s sagging water system.
The GVWD board hired an engineering consultant Friday to design upgrades intended to improve the community’s water service.
But not everyone is pleased that Western Communities ratepayers, who are provided retail water service by the GVWD, will be asked to pick up the $158,746 tab.
“It’s bad enough for us to be asked to pay for the upgrade itself, but to be asked to pay for the study and the consulting services for the upgrade is adding insult to injury,” said Stu Whitney, a member of the committee for Provision of Useable Fire Hydrants.
GVWD Chief Commissioner Jack Hull said the design costs will be borne by users and developers because “part of the (problem) is related to growth in the community.”
Oct. 8, 1997
School ground smokers caught puffing will be slapped with fine
Anyone caught lighting up on school grounds is now subject to a $50 fine.
That means cigarette smokers, who were banished from school property last September will have to continue to feed their addictions off campus.
As a result of a Capital Regional District bylaw, students at Edward Milne community school have been ordered to be at least 50 feet away from the school before they light up.
Now, anyone caught smoking on school grounds risks a $50 ticket from bylaw enforcement officers, CRD public health educator Dianne Stevenson explained.
“It’s just so that they will see that it isn’t a joke and there are consequences and if they’re caught breaking the law they’ll have to pay the consequences,” Stevenson said. “Basically the majority of the kids are certainly complying and it isn’t a huge problem.”
In special circumstances, school administration could report an incident and a ticket could be issued after the fact, Stevenson said, stressing it would have to be a special circumstance.
Oct. 12, 2011
House fire regarded as ‘suspicious’
An early morning fire at a residence on Rhodonite Drive completely destroyed a home and it is being regarded as “suspicious.”
Sooke Fire Rescue was called out at 2:23 a.m. and when they arrived at 6768 Rhodonite, the house was fully engulfed in flames.
“The fire was blowing out the roof,” said Sooke Fire Chief Steve Sorensen. “We evacuated the houses on either side.”
He went on to say that the roof collapsed within five minutes of the fire truck arriving on the scene and Sorensen said it “went bad from here.”
At 8 a.m. on Friday, firefighters were still on the scene securing it because, “a few things don’t add up,” according to the chief.
“Arson is not ruled out at this point,” he said.
The homes on either side were not damaged by the fire, except for one which had the windows crack due to extreme heat of the fire.
