News

One of the counterfeit $100 bills used to purchase antiques last week in Nanaimo. (Photo submitted)

‘Extremely aggressive’ suspect passes counterfeit $100 bills in Nanaimo

Four cases of phony $100 and $20 bills reported in Nanaimo since Dec. 1

COVID-19 cases reported daily to B.C. public health, up to Dec. 2, 2021, seven-day moving average in white. B.C.’s infections have fallen to below last February, where the third wave took daily cases to their highest point. (B.C. Centre for Disease Control)

B.C.’s daily COVID-19 cases dip below 300, fewer in hospital

11 deaths over weekend, 4 in Northern Health region

Dr. Rachel Holt at a Dec. 1 video press conference on old growth forests held by the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. Photo: Video screenshot, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs

Nelson ecologist questions B.C.’s roll-out of old growth strategy

Rachel Holt was part of a technical panel that mapped old growth

A semi truck was caught on video passing another semi past a double solid line and a curve in the road on Highway 5A on Dec. 2. (Twitter)

Semi caught on camera driving erratically on Hwy 5A sparks RCMP probe

BC Highway Patrol called the move dangerous and unprofessional

A semi truck was caught on video passing another semi past a double solid line and a curve in the road on Highway 5A on Dec. 2. (Twitter)
Tanya Van Cuylenborg (left) and Jay Cook. (Family photos)

Conviction overturned for U.S. man whose DNA linked him to B.C. couple’s 1987 killing

A single juror’s bias tainted the trial of William Talbott, a court ruled in Washington

  • Dec 6, 2021
Tanya Van Cuylenborg (left) and Jay Cook. (Family photos)
Members of the Canadian Forces build a temporary dike with sandbags behind houses on Clayburn Creek in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, November 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. flood recovery moves to cleanup of damaged materials

Some Canadian Forces soldiers begin transferring out

Members of the Canadian Forces build a temporary dike with sandbags behind houses on Clayburn Creek in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, November 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Video
Beams of light are projected into the air behind a plaque placed in memory of the fourteen women who were murdered on December 6,1989, in an anti-feminist attack, in Montreal, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
VIDEO: Tributes planned for victims of Ecole Polytechnique shooting on 32nd anniversary
An Afternoon with Prince Harry & James Corden was one of the top trending YouTube videos in Canada this year. (The Late Late Show with James Corden/YouTube)
VIDEO: Canadians took to YouTube to learn, connect, laugh during 2021
Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, and Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne, toured flood areas Friday, Dec. 2. Photo Andrea DeMeer
‘It’s just unbelievable’: Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth tours Princeton flood
Flood waters surround a farm in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
B.C.’s year of extreme weather ‘consistent’ with climate change, meteorologist says
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From top left, clockwise, Caitlin Potts, Ashley Simpson, Deanna Wertz and Nicole Bell. With the remains of Ashley Simpson found in 2021, three women from the Shuswap and North Okanagan are still missing – Caitlin and Deanna for five years, Nicole for four. (Photos contributed)

RCMP find remains of Shuswap woman missing for five years, former boyfriend charged

The news they’ve been praying for brings both happiness and sadness for Ashley Simpson’s parents

From top left, clockwise, Caitlin Potts, Ashley Simpson, Deanna Wertz and Nicole Bell. With the remains of Ashley Simpson found in 2021, three women from the Shuswap and North Okanagan are still missing – Caitlin and Deanna for five years, Nicole for four. (Photos contributed)
Crews build an erosion control embankment along Hwy. 3 on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)

B.C.’s storm recovery ‘trending in the right direction,’ but gas rationing to remain

Province is entering recovery efforts as storms subside

Crews build an erosion control embankment along Hwy. 3 on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham meets with farmers in the flood-damaged Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley, Nov. 23, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

Federal agriculture minister to tour Fraser Valley flood zone

B.C. minister says Ottawa program can fill disaster gaps

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham meets with farmers in the flood-damaged Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley, Nov. 23, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
`Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller responds to questions during a news conference in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Canada’s Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister says the federal government will soon release some of the residential school records it’s been criticized for withholding to a national archives centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Federal government will soon hand over more residential school records: Miller

The minister says the reports will be provided to the centre within 30 days

`Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller responds to questions during a news conference in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Canada’s Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister says the federal government will soon release some of the residential school records it’s been criticized for withholding to a national archives centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A crash impacted northbound traffic on the Malahat at the South Shawnigan Lake Road turnoff. (Drive BC traffic camera)

UPDATE: Malahat, West Shore crashes impacted Monday morning traffic

Northbound traffic at South Shawnigan Lake Road turnoff was blocked

A crash impacted northbound traffic on the Malahat at the South Shawnigan Lake Road turnoff. (Drive BC traffic camera)
A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., on December 19, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Take steps to fend off ransomware attacks, federal ministers urge Canadians

Known ransom payments, after increasing rapidly from 2019 to 2020

A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., on December 19, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Beams of light are projected into the air behind a plaque placed in memory of the fourteen women who were murdered on December 6,1989, in an anti-feminist attack, in Montreal, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

VIDEO: Tributes planned for victims of Ecole Polytechnique shooting on 32nd anniversary

École Polytechnique has held a number of tributes over the past week which will culminate today

Beams of light are projected into the air behind a plaque placed in memory of the fourteen women who were murdered on December 6,1989, in an anti-feminist attack, in Montreal, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Doug and Alma were married for 72 years. (Donna Adams/Special to The News)

Family of late Maple Ridge man devastated after wedding ring of 72 years lost at B.C. hospital

Family warns people to take charge of dead loved ones’s things intead of leaving it up to hospitals

Doug and Alma were married for 72 years. (Donna Adams/Special to The News)
Dominic Barton, Canada Ambassador to China, wearing a face mask gestures after meeting with Canadian Michael Spavor at a detention center in Dandong, China, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. Barton has tendered his resignation after two tense years in the job. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ng Han Guan

Canadian ambassador to China Dominic Barton tenders resignation

Move comes three months after the release of two Canadians who were arrested and detained by China in 2018

Dominic Barton, Canada Ambassador to China, wearing a face mask gestures after meeting with Canadian Michael Spavor at a detention center in Dandong, China, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. Barton has tendered his resignation after two tense years in the job. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ng Han Guan
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller responds to questions during a news conference in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Canada’s Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister says the federal government will soon release some of the residential school records it’s been criticized for withholding to a national archives centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

No evidence Liberals knew appeal over residential school payments was dropped: Miller

Miller says there’s no evidence Wilson-Raybould or anyone in cabinet was made aware of the decision

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller responds to questions during a news conference in Ottawa, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Canada’s Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister says the federal government will soon release some of the residential school records it’s been criticized for withholding to a national archives centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The Elephant Hill wildfire burns in the distance near Clinton, as seen from behind a mountain on Kamloops Lake in Savona, B.C., Sunday July 30, 2017. An Indigenous-led review of a massive wildfire that destroyed more than 100 homes in British Columbia’s southern Interior four years ago has produced 30 calls to action to improve wildfire management and recovery practices. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Indigenous report calls for change in B.C. wildfire response, recovery

Report alleges poor communication that left communities feeling like they were on their own

The Elephant Hill wildfire burns in the distance near Clinton, as seen from behind a mountain on Kamloops Lake in Savona, B.C., Sunday July 30, 2017. An Indigenous-led review of a massive wildfire that destroyed more than 100 homes in British Columbia’s southern Interior four years ago has produced 30 calls to action to improve wildfire management and recovery practices. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Merck corporate headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J. Merck & Co. is shown on May 1, 2018. Merck Canada announced it plans to manufacture it’s oral antiviral COVID-19 drug in Canada, making the country a global hub for the production of the potentially game-changing treatment. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Seth Wenig

Canada to manufacture Merck COVID-19 antivirals if regulator approves

Merck’s clinical trial showed a 50 per cent reduced risk of hospitalization or death

Merck corporate headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J. Merck & Co. is shown on May 1, 2018. Merck Canada announced it plans to manufacture it’s oral antiviral COVID-19 drug in Canada, making the country a global hub for the production of the potentially game-changing treatment. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Seth Wenig
People travel at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Federal government says Canada border testing contracts worth up to $631 million

Contracts are split between three companies

People travel at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A small amount of snow is accumulating along the Malahat Monday (Dec. 6) morning. (Drive BC traffic camera)

Snow lands in Greater Victoria as Environment Canada warns of light layer

Up to 10 centimetres forecast in Greater Victoria, 5 to 15 centimetres along Malahat

A small amount of snow is accumulating along the Malahat Monday (Dec. 6) morning. (Drive BC traffic camera)