VANCOUVER, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Long delays were reported at the border on Monday as Canada finally opened to fully vaccinated American tourists for the first time in 16 months, causing a rush of travelers during the busy summer season – and bottlenecks for a desperate tourism industry.

Government data showed a seven-hour wait for the Fort Frances, Ontario, and International Falls, Minnesota, crossing. Fort Frances advertises itself online as “rarely experiencing delays.”

Several crossings in Ontario and New Brunswick – between the states of New York and Maine – had waits of three hours.

Canada barred all leisure travel from the United States in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But as of Aug. 9 fully vaccinated Americans are able to enter the country.

International travelers who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to enter in early September.

Late on Friday, the Canadian government and border staff reached a tentative deal to end a strike that began earlier in the day and caused delays even before Americans began arriving. read more

Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, Canada’s biggest, has also asked travelers to brace for delays as American leisure travelers return.

Canada’s partial reopening comes just as new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United States hit a six-month high. read more

Prior to the pandemic, tourism was the fifth-largest industry in Canada, contributing C$105 billion ($83.4 billion) to GDP and providing one in 10 jobs, according to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

The border reopening, however, and the rules surrounding it may not be enough to save Canada’s outdoor tourism sector.

Hunting and fishing lodges in remote parts of the country – most of which rely on American tourists for business – are reporting cancellations of people who do not want to get fully vaccinated or comply with the 14-day quarantine.

“We wish we would have been able to open a month ago, and we wish that now that we are open the rules were easier to understand,” said Dominic Dugré, president of the Canadian Federation of Outfitter Associations.

Remote lodges are struggling to accommodate the multiple negative COVID-19 tests required of travelers.

Ken Gangler, 61, has owned three lodges in Manitoba over the past 37 years. The current one is 370 kms (230 miles) from the closest road, and accessible only via air.

“We’re scrambling to open up but because there was such little notice from the government, the airlines don’t have planes on the routes,” he said.

Gangler’s son and his partner paid C$3,900 ($3,103.37) for two round trip airline tickets from Orlando, Florida, to Winnipeg, compared with C$1,300 before the pandemic.

“People don’t want to pay these astronomical air fares,” Gangler said, adding that staff shortage is another issue. “It’s impossible to find staff because who wants to go to work for a month and a half?”

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 NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (August 09, 2021) — Since the Youth Impact 12 programme commenced in 2019, the Department of Youth initiative continues to garner interest.

Ms. Kerdis Clarke, Director of Youth in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), made the disclosure while speaking with the Department of Information on August 09, 2021.

“When we first started the first cycle, we would have produced six awardees. For this year we are intending to award nine young people, so we would have seen an increase in terms of nomination, in terms of awardees and in terms of interest in the programme.

“Hence the reason why we are encouraging our general public to continue to pay special interest in the remarkable contributions of our young people as they contribute to nation building efforts,” she said.

Once Cycle 2 concludes at the end of August, the awards ceremony is planned for September 30, 2021 at the Nevis Performing Arts Centre (NEPAC). That day will also be celebrated as Caribbean Youth Day.

The Youth Impact 12 programme, with an awards ceremony at the end of every cycle, was created to amplify the efforts of the young people of Nevis between the ages of 18 and 30 years.

“They have contributed remarkably to nation building and we felt the need to highlight youth excellence.

“There are 12 categories that are usually in focus per cycle. The 12 categories include Youth Development, Sports Excellence, Youth in Agriculture, as well as Education and Lifelong Learning,” Ms. Clarke said.

Meantime, the Department of Youth is inviting nominations for September in the category of Patriotism; and October in the category of Education and Lifelong Learning. The deadline for submissions is August 20, 2021 and September 17, 2021, respectively.

The Director of Youth noted that the department would normally begin with the nomination process followed by the interview process before the nominees are selected and featured on the Department of Youth Facebook page and in local media.

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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 9, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Delivering a sermon based on Psalms 126:1-6 under the theme ‘The Lord has done great things for us’, Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Charlestown, Nevis, told the congregation on Sunday August 8 that the now successful church was started 50 years ago out of necessity.

At the worship service which was attended by Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, Federal Minister of Health the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, and Commissioner of Police Mr Hilroy Brandy among others, Pastor Eric Maynard said that he had just returned from Bible School in July 1971, when the then pastor at the Baptist Church in Brick Kiln called for his intervention.

He noted that the old Volkswagen bus that was used to transport church members from Charlestown to Brick Kiln had broken down the day before. The pastor asked Mr Eric Maynard, who had become a born again Christian five years earlier, to organise and have a service held at some place in Charlestown.

Even though it was a short notice, that Sunday August 8, 1971, they got together and met in the living room in the house of Brother St. Clair Clarke at Craddock Road in Charlestown where they had their first Sunday morning worship away from the Brick Kiln Baptist Church.

“And 50 years later, God would have it that 2021 is the same calendar of 1971,” pointed out Senior Pastor Maynard. “This is no coincidence – fifty years to the day. From there on we never looked back and the rest is history and here we are today.” He however admitted that the first three years were “dark and difficult days.”

He told the congregation that when Pastor Wayne Maynard, who is his son, asked him to deliver the message on that auspicious occasion marking his 50 years in the ministry, he said he wrestled with the idea of preaching especially taking into account that the Prime Minister of the Federation would be present. But the younger Pastor Maynard finally convinced him that he should do the message for Sunday August 8, 2021.

Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard thanked Prime Minister Harris for accepting the invitation to come to worship at Shiloh Baptist Church on that special day. He said someone had asked him how he and the Prime Minister got to be friends, and he said he believed God told the Prime Minster that he (Maynard) had been praying for him.

“God is my witness I did not tell the Prime Minister I pray for him every day,” said Senior Pastor Maynard. “I believe it is God who told him. I count it as an honour that I could call him whenever I want to, he can call me whenever he wants to and let me know what he wants me to pray about.”

According to the Pastor Emeritus, the struggles were real as it took them three years when the Lord turned their activities, and they realised the dream when they finally got started officially in October 1974.

“We moved from a living room to a wooden tent, then we moved on from the wooden tent when it caved in, to a rented house for a year, to the building what is now the Fellowship Hall, and from there here we are in our Sanctuary for which we give God thanks,” he summed up the 50-year journey. “This is a day of thanksgiving – a day of praise, for God has done great things for us. Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”

In reference to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard said God has given the country natural blessings in the form of a great deal of sun, sea and sand, and natural beauty and he advised the congregation that they have to be thankful as they are living in paradise.

He also referred to the divine protection that God has given St. Kitts and Nevis, and people who have the wisdom to lead the population through the current Covid-19 pandemic. He criticised persons who are still resisting taking the vaccine on unsubstantiated claims that they might turn to crocodiles.

“God has blessed St. Kitts and Nevis, taking St. Kitts and Nevis out of the lions’ den,” said Pastor Eric Maynard. “There is a lions’ den called IMF. When they tell you jump, you just have to ask them how high. God gave the wisdom to get us out of that den. It took a great deal of planning and wisdom and God’s guidance and yet some people cannot appreciate that. God has blessed us.”

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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 7, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — The St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) Moves is an initiative of the Ministry of Health aimed at reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by creating a healthy lifestyle culture, and for it to succeed in its mandate, Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris is recommending that it should inculcate persons at a young age.

The St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) Moves which is observing a slate of celebratory events spanning a seven-week period to mark its second anniversary, held the marquee celebratory event – a health walk – on Saturday August 7. The events are being held by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister.

 Leading the participants in the event which saw them walk from Caribbean Cinemas, along F. T. Williams and Kim Collins Highways to the roundabout at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and back through Ponds Road and Cayon Street, were Prime Minister, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, and Minister of Health the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett.

 Commending Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Mr William Vincent Hodge, who was a walk participant, Prime Minister Harris observed that what government and SKN Moves are attempting to do now is to inculcate people at a very young age – in pre-schools, primary schools, and secondary schools. He pointed out that if they succeed, they will have less work to do with the adults.

 “We are going to partner strongly with the Ministry of Education because they control the largest number of young people,” said Dr Harris.

 Noting that pre-schools, and primary schools have a population of around 5,000 and secondary schools with over 4,000, then within the education sector they have a large proportion of people in a population of just about 47,000. He remarked: “So imagine if we start there – how much stronger and safer we will be.”

Addressing participants at the end of the walk, Dr Harris who also has lead responsibility for Human Resource Development, Health and HIV/AIDS issues in the CARICOM’s quasi-cabinet, noted that St. Kitts Nevis (SKN) Moves is part and parcel of the Caribbean Moves initiatives that was launched by the CARICOM heads.

 He noted that the CARICOM heads recognised that the Caribbean region and the CARICOM in particular had been much challenged by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which are linked largely to habits of people who drink too much of the wrong things, and who do not exercise enough among others.  

 “Way back the CARICOM heads were able to get non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the global agenda for attention so that the world could focus its energy in assisting us and assisting everyone affected by NCDs in living a healthier life,” he added.

 Minimising, if not avoiding, the use of alcohol, doing away with smoking, and engaging in more physical activities would be critical in achieving the desired goals. He said that the St. Kitts Nevis Moves is about physical activity, with everyone finding something to do, whether it is walking, running, cycling, swimming, noting that there are so many activities and the more that persons do leisurely, the more healthy they can be in body and mind.

 “So I am happy that with our learning to live better with Covid, we could gather and execute this because healthy living is still a must,” said Prime Minister Harris. “It is still necessary and the good thing about it, the power lies in each of us – what we do, what we say, how we think, all these we can control with effort.”

The Honourable Prime Minister commended the Ministry of Health and in particular Minister the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Permanent Secretary Dr Delores Stapleton-Harris, and all the functionaries in the Ministry of Health for organising another St. Kitts Nevis (SKB) Moves event.

 Others from the Ministry of Health included Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws, Non-Communicable Diseases Programme Coordinator, Dr Marissa Carty, National HIV/AIDS Programme Coordinator and Health Educator, Dr Mathias Afortu-Ofre, and Administrative and Communication Officer at the Permanent Secretary’s office, Ms Marcia Bassue.

 The Prime Minister thanked all who participated in the walk, notably the young people who had turned out in their numbers, and the delegation from the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan led by the new Ambassador, His Excellency Michael Lin. He thanked the new ambassador for participating in the health walk at the commencement of his tenure. Ambassador Lin also participated in Prime Minister’s Monthly Health Walk held on Saturday July 31.

Before the participants set off, they were addressed by Permanent Secretary Dr Delores Stapleton-Harris, and Non-Communicable Diseases Programme Coordinator, Dr Marissa Carty, who gave details of celebratory activities taking place. Week One which celebrated World Breastfeeding Week was observed in the period August 1-7.

 The remaining activities are: Week 2 – SKN Moves Anniversary Celebrations (August 8-14); Week 3 – Community in Ya Kitchen (August 15-21); Week 4 – Water Challenge (August 22-28); Week 5 – Mindfulness Challenge (August 29-September 4); Week 6 – Self Care and Management (September 5-11); and Week 7 – Caribbean Wellness Week (September 12-17).

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PM Harris pays tribute to Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard of Shiloh Baptist Church

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 9, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Founder of the Charlestown-based Shiloh Baptist Church, Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard, was on Sunday August 8 celebrated for his fifty years of ministry to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis and the wider Caribbean.

At a special morning worship service held at the church in Charlestown, Nevis, which was attended by Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, Federal Minister of Health the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, and Commissioner of Police Mr Hilroy Brandy among others, Pastor Eric and Mrs Marilyn Maynard were honoured exactly fifty years to the day when the ministry was started on Sunday August 8, 1971.

 “We are very grateful for the Prime Minister and his delegation who came over in honour of this special day,” said Pastor Wayne Maynard, who is the son of Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard. “We are so grateful and delighted that you took the time out of your busy schedule to come across the Narrows, and to be here with us.”

 The younger Pastor Maynard added that the Shiloh Baptist Church was officially started on October 22, 1974. Sermon was delivered by Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard.

When invited to make brief remarks, Prime Minister Harris gave God thanks for having created churches like the Shiloh Baptist Church, and for providing pastors like Senior Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard who has shepherded God’s flock and has brought people together to magnify God and to continue His work, noting that fifty years is not like fifty days.

 “It is wonderful when we have good messengers of God who by their stability of spiritual work, who by their own example help encourage us the weaker ones to come see a man called Jesus,” said Prime Minister Harris. “As we celebrate your fiftieth anniversary, I bring heartiest congratulations from myself, from the government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis for a wonderful job and encourage you to continue to praise God.”

 He commended the leadership of the church for being as welcoming as it has always been, for being as diversified as it is in its membership, for its outreach to the young people, and in its outreach to the womenfolk in particular.

 The church was further commended for the special appreciation day that it has introduced for non-nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Prime Minister noted that it reminded “us that we all are one – we all are one people with one God to serve, and together in unity we can build a stronger St. Kitts and Nevis.”

The Prime Minister requested Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard to continue to stay close to God, continue to pray for the leaders of the country, and to continue to pray for him (Prime Minister). In further thanking Pastor Maynard he said that there were times he used to call him from St. Kitts and ask for his prayers, and the pastor would reply and say that he had been praying for him and that he would say a special prayer for him.

 While leadership is a blessing, Dr Harris pointed out that it is tough. He noted that there are so many times when leaders must do what they expect their own membership and fellowship to do, which is the true sense of leading by example. He added that the Shiloh Baptist Church has shown a good example and that something good is happening in the church as leadership was transferred from father to son, which is a blessing.

 In his conclusion, Prime Minister Harris observed that it had rained early morning in St. Kitts and fearing that the waters might be too choppy for travel, he called Commissioner of Police Mr Hilroy Bandy who advised it was okay to travel, “and so we have come in thankfulness to let you know that at the highest level of the government, we hold you in deep appreciation.”

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Climate change

Judge demands information from PG&E utility as investigators seek cause of blaze spanning 698 sq miles

Dixie, named for the road where it started, spanned an area of 698 sq miles as of early Saturday evening, the largest current wildfire in the nation covering the largest area in recorded state history, and was less than a quarter contained.

In the first reported injuries of the Dixie blaze, four firefighters were taken to the hospital on Friday after being struck by a fallen branch, a California department of forestry and fire protection firefighter and spokesman, Edwin Zuniga, said.

“We’re hoping to gain ground. There are favorable weather conditions, with less wind and a blanket of smoke that blocks direct sunlight. It allows a higher humidity, which helps us,” Zuniga said.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has ordered the California utility Pacific Gas & Electric to “explain its role” in the Dixie fire’s combustion, according to a number of news reports on Saturday.

Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the fire. On Friday, the US district judge William Alsup issued an order demanding information from PG&E on a tree that fell on a power line at the point of ignition.

Wind-driven flames destroyed dozens of homes and most of Greenville’s downtown on Wednesday and Thursday, and also heavily damaged Canyondam, a hamlet with a population of about three dozen people. The fire reached Chester but crews managed to protect homes and businesses there, officials said.

Charlene Mays kept her gas station in Chester open as long as she could, telling weary firefighters not to apologize for the trail of ash their boots left on the floor. But when the small town on the north-west shore of Lake Almanor lost power two days ago, Mays decided it was time for her to leave.

She ran home to grab a box of valuables. The smoke was so thick it was hard to breathe. Chunks of ash broke apart as they hit the ground, making a sound like broken glass.

Since then, Mays has been living in the parking lot of Lassen College in Susanville. Her husband stayed behind to maintain some water tanks firefighters were using. It’s just her, a miniature pinscher chihuahua named Jedidiah and a pit bull named Bear.

Her home was still standing on Friday but her fate was bound with the direction of the wind and she wasn’t alone.

‘My heart is crushed’: US’s largest wildfire levels beloved California town

“I’ve got probably 30 of my regular customers right here,” she said.

Weather at the fire site was expected to have higher humidity and calmer winds on Saturday, with temperatures topping 90F (32.2C) instead of the 40mph gusts and triple-digit highs recorded earlier in the week.

Heatwaves and historic drought tied to the climate crisis have made wildfires harder to fight in the American west.

Scientists say climate breakdown has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

Smoke from the fires blanketed central California and western Nevada, causing air quality to deteriorate to very unhealthy levels and, in some areas, the worst levels in the world as measured by World Air Quality Index, especially in Plumas county, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Air quality advisories extended through the San Joaquin Valley and as far west as the San Francisco Bay Area, where residents were urged to keep their windows and doors shut.

The Dixie fire has not burned across such a large area as certain massive multi-fire so-called complexes, including last year’s August Complex inferno, which surpassed the Mendocino Complex that burned for more than three months in 2018.

California is on track to surpass last year, which had the worst fire season in recent recorded state history.

Since the start of the year, more than 6,000 blazes have destroyed more than 1,300 sq miles, more than triple the losses for the same period in 2020, according to state fire figures.

The Dixie fire ignited less than 10 miles from the start of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in California’s history, also sparked by PG&E equipment, in the thickly forested Feather River Canyon, 100 miles north of state capital Sacramento. The Camp fire destroyed the towns of Paradise and Concow and killed 85 people.

California’s raging wildfires were among more than 100 large, active fires burning across 14 states, mostly in the west where historic drought conditions have left lands parched and ripe for ignition.

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