A new project from award-winning journalist Connie Walker aims to create an archive of testimonies of abuse at residential schools before th
A new project from award-winning journalist Connie Walker aims to create an archive of testimonies of abuse at residential schools before the accounts are destroyed in September 2027.
"It just made me feel like we should be doing whatever we can to preserve as many survivor accounts as we possibly can," said Walker, who is a member of Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan.
"There are 38,000 records of survivors that are set to be destroyed … and I think that a lot of people don't know that this is about to happen."
Her Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's looked into her father's experience at a Catholic-run residential school in Duck Lake, Sask., and was a profound experience, according to Walker. She said she hopes the archive will allow people to develop the same understanding of other schools.
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1. Democrats Successfully Strip All Anti-Trans Riders From Final Appropriations Bills
“In the months that followed [the “record-breaking government shutdown fight in 2025”], Democrats [advanced] multiple appropriations “minibus” packages that stripped out anti-trans riders as the government was funded piece by piece. As amendment after amendment fell away, those wins grew more substantial, including the removal of a proposed ban on gender-affirming medical care from the NDAA—even after it had passed both the House and Senate. [...] The final HHS and Education bills contain no anti-transgender provisions[....]”
2. Group of First Nations secure equal stake in one of Saskatchewan's largest solar farms
“The nations will collectively hold a 50 per cent ownership stake in the Mino Giizis solar energy facility, which will generate enough electricity to supply 30,000 homes across Saskatchewan. [... The company] aims to hire as many local members as possible during both construction and operations. Plans include on-site workshops and monthly sweat lodges open to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers.”
3. Hidden heroes: Australian tree bark microbes consume greenhouse & toxic gases
“[Scientists] found that the trees’ bark was brimming with microbes that digest methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). [...] Globally, the surface area of tree bark is similar to that of all land on earth. The study suggests that tree bark microbes could remove from 0.8% to 2% of total atmospheric hydrogen per year.”
4. Tribe Releases Native Elk Back onto 17,000 Sacred Sierra Nevada Acres
“The Tule River Indian Tribe [... released] several of the region’s native Tule elk to roam the hills again for the first time in decades. [...] Conservation action has seen their numbers grow to 4,000 [... from] just a single breeding pair[....] “This land return demonstrates the very essence of tribal land restoration, which expands access to essential food and medicinal resources,” Tule River Tribal Council Chairman Lester R. Nieto Jr. said in a CNRA press release.”
5. Sweetening the deal for sustainability, while removing carbon dioxide
“[Chemists have developed] a process for using renewable electricity to transform CO2 into long-chain carbohydrates [...] such as synthetic sugars for agricultural feedstocks and sweeteners. [... T]he new chemical process may [also] have applications in drug design and biotech[....]”
January 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)
The Regina Food Bank doesn't just support the unhoused or others in dire need; 18% of its clients work full-time, and many schools rely on i
"In Saskatchewan, Canada’s first free grocery store is set to open as a flourishing food bank continues to look for ways to support the community.
Located at 1881 Broad St. in Regina, the Food Hub will be stocked like any old grocery store, and unlike similar projects that operate out of churches or community centers, it will feature a produce section, floor-to-ceiling display fridges, and be open all week.
The Regina Food Bank believes that allowing people who rely on the food bank for food security to fill out a cart just like a normal grocery store gives back agency, and may actually help feed more people by reducing waste.
“None of us fit in a box, but that’s what we give our clients today,” Regina Food Bank vice-president David Froh told CBC News. “When you give choices, you give not just dignity, but actually, we figure we can feed about 25% more people.”
One client explained that getting handed a crate of canned/boxed goods put together in a hurry based on what was in stock rarely provides a selection that accounts for things like dietary restrictions, allergies, proper nutrition, or even just synergistic flavors between the foods.
“Normally I barter with my neighbors and we swap back and forth, so it kind of works out that way. But a lot of people don’t do that,” said food bank client Jon White. “So there’s a lot of stuff that just goes to waste.”
The Regina Food Bank doesn’t just support the unhoused or others in dire need of aid; 18% of its clients work full-time, and 2,000 students receive school snacks and meals through their work. Part of their overall objectives with the Food Hub is to reduce societal stigma against using a food bank.
Food banks do not receive government subsidies, so Froh and his colleagues had to look for private donations to raise the CAD$3.7 million they needed to get the Food Hub off the ground. Some of this came from piggy bank-sized gifts, but they also received a CAD$1 million donation from The Mosaic Company.
Much of the stock is produced, grown, or processed in Saskatchewan—part of Regina Food Bank’s goal to improve the sustainability and nutritional quality of the food their clients rely on."
