LOCAL NEWS, DELIVERED DAILY. Subscribe to our daily news wrap and get the top stories sent straight to your inbox every evening.

Nanaimo, Parksville and Area

summer season
Drought concerns easing due to lopsided Vancouver Island rainfall
NANAIMO - With concerns surrounding drought and wildfires top of mind for many British Columbians right now, Vancouver Island has so far been mostly spared this year, but summer isn't over yet. As of July 7, the B.C. drought portal had eastern Vancouver Island, encompassing areas north of Campbell River down to Sooke, ...
Aug 08, 2026
Read More
further fishing fines
Fourth person fined for illegal Deep Bay oyster harvesting
NANAIMO - A fourth person has been fined in relation to illegally harvesting shellfish in Deep Bay north of Qualicum Beach. Xiaohua (Jessica) Liu, born 1977, was fined $4,500 in a provincial court in Courtenay on July 7, after being found guilty during trial of making a false or misleading statement and being in unlawf...
Aug 07, 2026
Read More
poor choices
'Totally unacceptable:' BCHP handles record number of Sunfest-linked impaired drivers
NANAIMO - BC Highway Patrol is vowing to clamp down on impaired drivers after a disappointing number of music festival goers continue to make poor driving choices.Thirty-six drivers were handed some form of suspension of their driving privileges during traffic stops from BC Highway Patrol officers during the Sunfest Co...
Aug 07, 2026
Read More
Post Season Bound
NightOwls face Bellingham Bells in first ever playoff appearance
NANAIMO - It came down to the last game of the 2026 West Coast League baseball season for the NightOwls to clinch a post season berth. The team finished with a 30-24 record, on the back of a 15-8 win over Kamloops on Wednesday, Aug.4, with their final record good for fourth in the North Division. Coach Cody Andreychuk ...
Aug 07, 2026
Read More
long time coming
Key north Nanaimo road rehab project completed
NANAIMO - Crews are putting the finishing touches on an extended construction project along a busy stretch of Hammond Bay Rd. This week the opening of the raised and separated bike lane on the north side of Hammond Bay Rd. between Brickyard and Turner roads signalled substantial completion of a notable road renewal pro...
Aug 07, 2026
Read More
on the fringes
Nanaimo Fringe Festival takes over downtown and Old City Quarter
NANAIMO - August is a time the Harbour City gets a little weird. The 2026 Nanaimo Fringe Festival takes place from Thursday, Aug. 6 until Aug. 16, with performances split between the Port Theatre and St. Andrews United Church at 315 Fitzwilliam St. Put on by the Pacific Coast Stage Company, artistic producer Yvette Dud...
Aug 06, 2026
Read More

British Columbia

First Nations chiefs in B.C. call on Carney, Smith, to halt pipeline advancement
A group that represents numerous First Nations across British Columbia is calling on Ottawa and Alberta's government to halt efforts to advance the West Coast pipeline, saying expanding the oil industry will accelerate climate change and disasters. "Th...
9h ago
Read More
Photo Gallery: B.C. wildfire forces thousands to flee
The Bald Range wildfire, west of Summerland, B.C., exploded in size to more than 100 square kilometres by Saturday afternoon, forcing thousands to flee as it roared toward communities on the western side of Okanagan Lake, consuming homes in its wake. W...
11h ago
Read More
Confusion and anger in wake of tainted evidence and a failed B.C. murder case
AGASSIZ - Gena Edwards, president of the BC Native Women's Association, said that when Frederick Charlie was acquitted of second-degree murder last month in the killing of Vanessa Terry, there were gasps. It felt like "a punch to the stomach," she said...
15h ago
Read More
Woman dead in B.C. wildfire as grim video reveals village in ruins
PENTICTON - The wildfire raging near Okanagan Lake in British Columbia's southern Interior claimed the life of an 80-year-old woman as she tried to escape the flames, police said on Sunday, as video footage and grim accounts emerged of nearby devastati...
20h ago
Read More
interior wildfires
B.C. declares state of emergency after wildfire expands as thousands evacuated
British Columbia Premier David Eby says the province has declared a state of emergency after a ferocious wildfire forced 20,000 people out of two communities along Okanagan Lake. The fast-moving fire that pushed people out of Summerland and Peachland is just one of several wildfires that has threatened communities and ...
Aug 08, 2026
Read More
Man injured in overnight shooting in Surrey, B.C.
SURREY - Police in Surrey, B.C., say they are investigating an overnight shooting that left one person injured. They say in a news release that officers responded to reports of shots being fired near a home in the Whalley neighbourhood just before midn...
Aug 08, 2026
Read More

Canada

Bear attacks three-year-old girl playing on deck outside home in Maple Ridge, B.C.
MAPLE RIDGE - A young girl is in hospital after police and conservation officials say she was attacked by a bear outside her family's home in a city east of Vancouver. British Columbia's Conservation Officer Service says in an online statement that the...
2h ago
Read More
Porter Airline flight cancelled due to child refusing to fasten seatbelt
VICTORIA - Porter Airlines says a flight was cancelled after a child refused to buckle up. An airline spokesman says in an email that its plane left the terminal in Victoria on Thursday and was headed to the runway for departure to Toronto, but a young...
3h ago
Read More
First Nations chiefs in B.C. call on Carney, Smith, to halt pipeline advancement
A group that represents numerous First Nations across British Columbia is calling on Ottawa and Alberta's government to halt efforts to advance the West Coast pipeline, saying expanding the oil industry will accelerate climate change and disasters. "Th...
9h ago
Read More
Montreal LGBTQ+ community sees competing Pride parades
MONTREAL - Geneviève Gagnon says she has been attending the Montreal Pride parade with her children for many years. She came to watch the parade downtown on Sunday with her daughter, Florence, who was wrapped in a Pride flag and came out as pansexual w...
11h ago
Read More
Lawyers concerned by proposed changes to access to information system
OTTAWA - Lawyers and organizations working on environmental issues and migrants' rights are concerned about changes to the Access to Information Act proposed by Prime Minister Mark Carney's government. One of the amendments that concerns them most is t...
13h ago
Read More
fire fight
B.C. wildfire showing little new growth after forcing thousands to flee
PENTICTON - Dawn Wertz says she was celebrating her niece's 21st birthday at a party in Summerland in the British Columbia Interior when ashes the size of loonies began raining down at her sister's home. She and her relatives are now among thousands o...
14h ago
Read More