SOOKE IS SELLING!
2015 Sooke Home Sales: 388 2014 Sooke Home Sales: 300 NEWS
INDEX
Sooke School District board of education chair Wendy Hobbs chooses not to accept nomination when she believed she didn’t have support of other trustees. Page A3
News Opinion Arts
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
SPORTS A2 A8 B1
Sooke teen Morgan Couture, 14, is one ‘amazing’ kid as she leads efforts in volunteering and helping others. Page A21
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Smiles all around East Sooke Fire and rescue opened its new fire hall on East Sooke Road on Saturday with an official opening. The $2.5-million, two storey building can house six vehicles. Officials taking part in the ribbon cutting were CRD Juan de Fuca director Mike Hicks, left, T’Sou-ke Nation Chief Gordon Planes, East Sooke Fire Commission chair George May, CRD chair Barb Desjardins, East Sooke Fire Chief Roger Beck and MLA John Horgan.
ARTS FUNDING CUTS REVERSED Sooke council reinstates requests made by some community groups
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Sooke News Mirror
Funding cuts to some of the community’s most high-profile organizations have been reversed by Sooke council. Last month the community grant review community decided that several groups, including the Sooke Fine Arts Society and Sooke Community Arts Council, would face funding cuts due to a new protocol introduced by council earlier this
year. However, council decided Monday night to go against the committee’s recommendations and reinstate some funding. The Sooke Community Arts Council will receive $4,000 as requested. The committee had recommended no grant. Sooke Fine Arts Society saw its request of $7,000 reinstated. The committee recommended $3,500. Sooke Region Food Chi will get $7,000. The committee recommended no money.
This year the grant process was marred with controversy when the committee’s recommendations were announced. That controversy rolled into council on Monday when council chambers was standing room only, mostly art supporters. The committee was tasked with reviewing grant requests against council policy during budget debates earlier this year. The grants are not intended to provide ongoing support for an indefinite time. Few groups attended the commit-
tee meetings, but all were sent letters. “It is important to have public input anytime these sorts of decisions are being made,” said Coun. Kerrie Reay, chair of the grants committee. “As projects grow and become successful there is some expectation that organizations should become more sustainable financially rather than to continue to rely on public funding,” she said. See GRANT, Page A6
Merry Christmas
CAMOSUN WESTSIDE
From all of us at Sooke’s Home Team