Local one-minute movie "The Short Lebowski" takes home fan favourite prize

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Wednesday COVID-19 update

There has been another death from COVID-19 in the Island Health region. It's the third death this week, bringing the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in our region to 23. Island Health is reporting 18 new cases of the virus over the past 24 hours, while the province is reporting 427 new cases and 3 deaths.

Ladysmith approves BC Housing project

Ladysmith council has cleared the way for BC Housing to turn the Island Hotel on First Avenue into a homeless shelter for the duration of the pandemic. BC Housing and the Ladysmith Resources Centre Association plan to open a 15-bed shelter that has space for physical distancing. The current shelter in the Rialto building had to reduce capacity from 10 beds to five due to COVID-19 precautions. Mayor Aaron Stone says the new shelter could help lead some to find permanent housing.

“Creating trust and a welcoming space is step one to getting them into an opportunity to have a connection with somebody that could lead to better things. I know that through the shelter and through the tenting site that was temporary through the summer we were actually fortunate to find a couple homeless in our community more stable long-term housing.“
—Town of Ladysmith Mayor Aaron Stone.

Councillor Duck Patterson, who ran for the BC Liberals in the last election, opposed the application and suggested the old hospital site would be better.

"Having a temporary homeless shelter there will probably cause the same feelings that this application has caused by the neighbours but for me it is a bit of an easier pill to swallow than kicking our downtown merchants and residents while they are still down."
—Town of Ladysmith Councillor Duck Patterson.

The current cold-weather shelter at the Rialto building is scheduled to close at the end of March.

Deputy Fire Chief is promoted

Nanaimo's Deputy Fire Chief will take the helm as the new Fire Chief. Tim Doyle has been with Nanaimo Fire Rescue for the past 20 years and has been Acting Chief since the new year when the former Chief Karen Fry became Vancouver's fire chief. Doyle will officially begin his tenure next Monday.

Nanaimo creator wins film prize

And finally—Sound Clip—That's The Short Lebowski, a one-minute movie of a movie that has won a Nanaimo man the fan favourite prize in a contest that had close to 350 entrants. Todd Cameron is a local filmmaker who used plastic dolls and home-made sets in his stop motion production. Cameron estimates it took 70 hours to produce his one-minute masterpiece, which he says is a labour of love.

"It's all stuff that I really love doing. Most of the time it was using my hands in a way that's fun for me so it was just kind of a cool opportunity to use some of the toys that I have."

You can watch The Short Lebowski on YouTube or on the CFOX-FM website, which sponsored the contest.