For some, summertime is the peak season for relaxing and spending time outdoors. But those warm, sunny days can turn dangerous without the right precautions.
Local organization collecting donations to support Idaho farmworkers amid extreme heat
Local organization collecting donations to support Idaho farmworkers amid extreme heat
and last updated 2021-07-07 08:21:31-04
IDAHO â Extreme heat throughout the region is raising concerns among local farmworker advocates, including the Idaho Immigrant Resource Alliance (IIRA).
IIRA is now collecting donations and raising funds for heat and smoke relief efforts to directly benefit the area s farmworkers.
âWe want to make sure they are staying cool, hydrated, and possibly have shade,â said Samantha Guerrero, a bilingual community organizer with the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils (IORC). âWe are currently fundraising to purchase water bottles to get out to them, to purchase coolers and anything else they may need such as protective equipment. They will also have to face the wildfires and breathe in that air, and we are hoping to get N95 masks as well.â
Separate protest held conveniently downwind from the weed protest
May 1 saw two protests happening in the Octagon simultaneously, with organisers lamenting a lack of student activism in a city once known for rowdy student-led protests.
The annual J Day protest, organised by the Ōtepoti Cannabis Collective, was designed to continue pushing for cannabis law reform, in light of the “momentum for change from the community”. Held in the upper Octagon, activists relaxed in the sunshine, chatted and, yes, smoked from “High Noon” to 4:20pm as hip-hop music played. However, of the 20–30 protestors in attendance at the event, Critic Te Arohi could only count a handful of student-aged people, with most being in their 30s or older.
Afterwards, mayor Aaron Hawkins said there was no appetite to sell or close the business. The council decided to request a report into extending the existing arrangements with the train company to June 30, 2022. It was a “significant decision”, Hawkins said.
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The Taieri Gorge Railway passes through a tunnel and over a viaduct. The report would investigate retaining the operation under city ownership, using either the KiwiRail network, or coupling it with the Taieri Gorge line. The council would also support the Otago Central Rail Trust in seeking funding for a feasibility study to link a cycle trail to the railway line between Middlemarch and Wingatui.