Though 2020 has been a year of ups and downs, the Sooke community has proven to be a force to be reckoned with as a tight-knit community. Regardless of the pandemic claiming the most coverage this year, we’ve compiled your top stories of 2020 from www.sookenewsmirror.com.
1. Story emerging from Sooke River tragedy
Sooke’s Cory Mills, Eric Blackmore and Anthony (A.J.) Jensen died on Jan. 31 when their pickup truck was engulfed in water during unprecedented flooding near the lower parking lot of the Sooke Potholes. The three 20-year-old friends who graduated from Edward Milne Community School together were last seen earlier that day leaving Jensen’s parents’ home. The truck they were driving was later found wedged in the trees and underbrush on the banks of the Sooke River.
2. Messages of support and positivity pop up around Greater Victoria amid COVID-19
As the world began isolating and practicing social distancing measures in March, Greater Victoria residents found their own ways to support and encourage their communities. Letters to neighbours, sidewalk chalkboard messages and posters popped up, with messages such as “Every little thing is gonna be alright” and “Stronger together, but six feet apart.”
3. Sooke family faces eviction for living in motorhome
The District of Sooke tried to force a family with two young children who live in a recreational vehicle on land they rent, to leave their property in early December. This came after a bylaw officer fined the property owner $200 by the district after the family had been living on vacant land since September. The eviction was later blocked and Sooke officials have allowed the family to remain until May 1.
4. First Nation dispute closes part of school parking lot in Sooke
The Sooke School District fenced off a large portion of the Edward Milne Community School parking lot in late February after a dispute concerning a family cemetery of the T’Sou-ke First Nations. The issue revolved around claims that EMCS students, staff and guests damaged the cemetery area. The issue was later resolved between the school district and the George family.
5. Mourning Sooke mom preps free meals for the community
A Sooke woman cooked hundreds of meals for the community to help out during the pandemic in early April. Brooke Ervin, whose daughter Hannah Day died after a seven-year battle with cancer in 2019, said it was the perfect opportunity to show gratitude for how much Sooke supported her in the past.
READ MORE: Sooke Christmas Bureau gifted with $36,000 donation by firefighters
6. B.C. changes course on Sooke Potholes gate security
The B.C. Environment Ministry agreed to take action to close the first parking lot gate at Sooke Potholes Provincial Park after three 20-year-olds died after their car was swept away during unprecedented flooding in the area in late January. The men were only able to access that point by the gate being left open, a situation that had been true for several years, due to the growth of bushes.
7. Prehistoric fish found near Sooke named after amateur collector
During a fossil expedition to a beach near Muir Creek, an amateur collector discovered the skeletal remains of a fish from the Upper Oligocene age, believed to have lived about 25 million years ago. The new species was donated to the Royal B.C. Museum and was named Canadodus suntoki – Canadodus meaning “tooth from Canada,” and suntoki after amateur collector Steve Suntok.
8. Sooke mom faces ‘pandemic police’ for bringing kids to the grocery store
A Sooke woman says she faced hostility while grocery shopping with her two children, amid ‘stay home’ orders that rang out from provincial press conferences and social media posts in late March. With her husband deployed in the military and no family in the area to help with babysitting, Janene Walker said strangers shouldn’t be as quick to judge if they don’t know a certain situation.
9. Sooke couple to be focus of new reality TV show
One of the last independent sawmills on Vancouver Island took the focus of a reality TV show that premiered on History Channel Canada in early October. Big Timber follows the dangerous work of a Sooke logger and his family as they endeavour to log a timber claim on the slopes of Klitsa Mountain, the second-highest summit on the southern half of the Island.
10. Sooke takes next step to demolish unsafe building
The District of Sooke approved the demolition of the “Tin Grotto” in late January, a building which served as Sooke’s first machine shop in the 1940s, after it was found to be structurally unsafe. Since then, the building has been torn down, as no action was taken by the owner to re-mediate the property.
ALSO READ: More than 15,000 people have died in Canada due to COVID-19
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