familiar faces
Trio of Nanaimo & Oceanside MLAs running for re-election
NANAIMO - All three incumbent MLA's across the mid-Island have announced their intention to run for re-election next month.Nanaimo-Gabriola MLA Sheila Malcolmson, Nanaimo-Lantzville's George Anderson, and Ladysmith-Oceanside's Stephanie Higginson, all representing the BC NDP, will be on the ballot next month for the sn...
3h ago
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Championship Mentality
John Barsby's varsity football team brings a winning attitude to a new season
NANAIMO - The high school varsity football season has begun in the mid island with the John Barsby Bulldogs winning their season opener 55-34 against Abbotford. Barsby is in a AA/AAA hybrid division with Ballenas out of Parksville and Mt. Douglas and Spectrum schools from Victoria. Initially Nanaimo District Secondary ...
8h ago
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First Period Outburst
Clippers use strong start to beat Blackfalds
NANAIMO - The Clippers built up a 3-0 lead in their first ever game against the Blackfalds Bulldogs but then had to hold on to earn a 4-2 victory.The first BCHL goal for Zack Carrier put Nanaimo up early in the first period before Indiana Grossbard and Charles Béland added tallies in the opening frame.Beland esp...
8h ago
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What's Trending
Housing project
Developers envision multi-family apartments at former Nanaimo gas station
6h ago
NREMR: August 2026
Nanaimo Real Estate Market Report: August 2026
familiar faces
Trio of Nanaimo & Oceanside MLAs running for re-election
3h ago
Championship Mentality
John Barsby's varsity football team brings a winning attitude to a new season
8h ago
Nanaimo, Parksville and Area
Combat climb
VIDEO: Nanaimo athlete impresses during amateur MMA debut
NANAIMO - From delivering punishing hits on the ice and gridiron to delivering blows inside a cage, an emerging local mixed martial artist is determined to see where his newfound passion takes him. Nick Robinson, a 25-year-old Nanaimo-based crane operator, is embarking on new heights in the cutthroat MMA scene, followi...
23h ago
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AI 'COACHING'
B.C. attorney general seeks Criminal Code change after Tumbler Ridge AI chat report
British Columbia's attorney general says she has asked the federal government to change the Criminal Code to ensure accountability for artificial intelligence companies after a "disturbing" report that OpenAI's chatbot coached the Tumbler Ridge shooter...
Sep 25, 2026
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2026 municipal election
Law-student & event coordinator running for Mayor of Qualicum Beach
This article is part of a multi-week feature from NanaimoNewsNOW, profiling Mayoral candidates across the mid-Island ahead of the 2026 Municipal Election. For complete election coverage, click here.QUALICUM BEACH - A law student with a focus on data-driven decision-making and collaboration hopes her ideas get her elect...
Sep 25, 2026
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crime spree
Nanaimo couple facing 15 charges after downtown liquor store thefts
NANAIMO - A man and a woman remain in police custody awaiting a court date next week after a string of robberies at a downtown liquor store. A 33-year-old man and 40-year-old woman were arrested Wednesday, Sept. 23, and are facing nine theft-related charges stemming from repeated incidents at the BC Liquor Store at Por...
Sep 25, 2026
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fall fair
132nd annual Vancouver Island Exhibition opens in Nanaimo
NANAIMO - The rides, entertainment, music, and mini-donuts are set to take over the Beban Park Fairgrounds this weekend. Gates open for the 132nd annual Vancouver Island Exhibition at noon on Friday, Sept. 25, with three days of live shows and performances scheduled against the backdrop of rides and the midway from Wes...
Sep 25, 2026
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rezoning application
Pair of medical office buildings near Nanaimo hospital proceeds to public hearing
NANAIMO - A pair of medical offices planned to be built near the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) is headed to the public hearing stage. A rezoning application was presented for four lots along Seafield Cres. and one lot on Dufferin Cres. south of the NRGH main entrance, to build "medical office buildings&...
Sep 24, 2026
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British Columbia
Kids starting a fire, taking a vehicle set off warning from Mounties in B.C.
MISSION, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Mounties in Mission, B.C., are reminding parents just how "resourceful" children can be after separate situations last week. Police say a seven-year-old boy found a small blow torch in his home on Sept. 18, managed to connec...
3h ago
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B.C. Conservative leader, Doerkson, gets game boost from current and former premiers
VANCOUVER - B.C. Conservative Party Leader Lorne Doerkson estimates he's said 100 times in the last few days that he's open to advice on how to change the provincial government, and he got some of that in a meeting with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe a...
4h ago
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B.C. Conservatives' Doerkson, ex-premier Clark attend Lions game
VANCOUVER - Interim B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson was spotted alongside former Liberal premier Christy Clark at a B.C. Lions football game on Friday night. Doerkson has had no public events or news conferences since Tuesday after NDP Leader D...
8h ago
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'Horrifying': Focus on Tumbler Ridge shooter's AI chats
An article published by U.S. magazine Mother Jones this week provides a vivid account of what it says were conversations between the Tumbler Ridge shooter and an OpenAI chatbot. The report, which does not disclose its sources, has thrown a spotlight on...
13h ago
Read More
AI 'COACHING'
B.C. attorney general seeks Criminal Code change after Tumbler Ridge AI chat report
British Columbia's attorney general says she has asked the federal government to change the Criminal Code to ensure accountability for artificial intelligence companies after a "disturbing" report that OpenAI's chatbot coached the Tumbler Ridge shooter...
Sep 25, 2026
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Officers' errors in carjacking not criminal: B.C. police watchdog
VANCOUVER - The Independent Investigations Office says Vancouver police officers who shot a man during an alleged carjacking two years ago made "errors," but the mistakes weren't criminal. The police watchdog says in its decision released Friday that ...
Sep 25, 2026
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Local Sports
Championship Mentality
John Barsby's varsity football team brings a winning attitude to a new season
NANAIMO - The high school varsity football season has begun in the mid island with the John Barsby Bulldogs winning their season opener 55-34 against Abbotford. Barsby is in a AA/AAA hybrid division with Ballenas out of Parksville and Mt. Douglas and Spectrum schools from Victoria. Initially Nanaimo District Secondary ...
8h ago
Read More
Kicking It
VIU soccer teams hit the pitch for 2026 PACWEST season
NANAIMO - The VIU Mariners are beginning a new PACWEST soccer season with differing expectations.The women will attempt to win the provincial championship for a third straight time, while the men are hoping to rise up the table after finishing 2-7-3 in 2025.Women's coach Bobbie Taylor said her group will have a strong ...
Sep 12, 2026
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Scoring Big
Vancouver Island Seals provide elite development pathway for female hockey players
NANAIMO - The Vancouver Island Seals hockey program has been going since 2017 and it's the only female AAA hockey team on the island. General manager Cynthia Fowler said the team had been based out of the south island to start but now calls Port Alberni home. "Last year we moved the team to Port Alberni because of...
Sep 07, 2026
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ClippersNOW
First Period Outburst
Clippers use strong start to beat Blackfalds
NANAIMO - The Clippers built up a 3-0 lead in their first ever game against the Blackfalds Bulldogs but then had to hold on to earn a 4-2 victory.The first BCHL goal for Zack Carrier put Nanaimo up early in the first period before Indiana Grossbard and Charles Béland added tallies in the opening frame.Beland esp...
8h ago
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New Faces
Clippers reforming blue line for new season
NANAIMO - The new BCHL season has begun for the Clippers with an almost entirely new defence corps.Hudson Gill is the lone veteran but only played seven games last year due to injury, and Nate Barclay was an affiliate player with the Clippers a year ago.Noah Caswell, Will St. James, Murray Kanerva, Pherson Loehndorf, C...
Sep 23, 2026
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Rivalry Renewed
First Clippers win of the season comes in Cowichan Valley
DUNCAN - The Clippers and Cowichan Valley Capitals clashed for the first time since Game 7 of the second round of the 2026 BCHL playoffs.Nanaimo won Game 7 and also took the first matchup of the new season 4-2 on Saturday, Sept. 19.After a scoreless first period the Capitals Raphael Messier opened the scoring from the ...
Sep 20, 2026
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Canada
CP NewsAlert: Four people dead in a helicopter crash in Quebec
MONTREAL - Four people have died in a helicopter crash in Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal, according to provincial police. More to come... Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman, The Canadian Press
9m ago
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B.C. Conservative leader, Doerkson, gets game boost from current and former premiers
VANCOUVER - B.C. Conservative Party Leader Lorne Doerkson estimates he's said 100 times in the last few days that he's open to advice on how to change the provincial government, and he got some of that in a meeting with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe a...
4h ago
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Que. opposition leaders call claims of U.S. interference a fear campaign, 'Hail Mary'
MONTREAL - Claims of American interference continued to churn on the Quebec campaign trail Saturday, the eve of the start of advance polling ahead of the Oct. 5 election. "I mostly want to raise awareness among Quebecers to the situation that could oc...
11h ago
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Former federal public servant seeks better pensions for injured workers
OTTAWA - A former public servant is calling for changes to pension rules for workers who have to retire early after getting injured on the job. Paméla Marchand worked for Correctional Service Canada as a corrections officer for 15 years before her medi...
11h ago
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Anand to give Canada's UN speech this afternoon on Arctic, Ukraine, Middle East
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to address the United Nations General Assembly today. Anand has said her speech will touch on support for Ukraine, the Middle East and Arctic sovereignty. She said it will also touch on the middle-po...
11h ago
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'Horrifying': Focus on Tumbler Ridge shooter's AI chats
An article published by U.S. magazine Mother Jones this week provides a vivid account of what it says were conversations between the Tumbler Ridge shooter and an OpenAI chatbot. The report, which does not disclose its sources, has thrown a spotlight on...
13h ago
Read More
World
Trump rejects Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and other Mideast news
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the U.S. meets certain conditions. Meanwhile, Iranian media outlets said the country's president has left New York after the ...
6h ago
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Pope Leo draws 800,000 people to central Paris for open-air Mass on iconic square
PARIS (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris' iconic Champs-Élysées avenue to attend an open-air Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, a sign of the Catholic Church's enduring appeal in the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular coun...
8h ago
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Gunmen target ambulance in Pakistan after suicide bombing at checkpoint killed 12
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) - Gunmen opened fire on an ambulance attending the scene of a suicide bomb attack at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least 12 people on Saturday and wounded about 35 others, officials...
9h ago
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Sponsored Content
Program helping homeowners cut costs
Nanaimo Homeowners: Centra's $1M Window Efficiency Plan is now over 75% claimed
The Centra Install Pros Window Efficiency Plan - a program helping Nanaimo homeowners cut the cost of new windows and doors - is running out of runway fast. The plan puts up to $650 toward each window or door replaced, drawn from a dedicated $1 million fund set aside for local homeowners. There is no income testing and...
Sep 18, 2026
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sponsored content
Resort-Style Retirement Living in Nanaimo's Old City Quarter
For many retirees, and those nearing retirement, staying in their home can be difficult. The time spent on day-to-day maintenance, plus dealing with bigger repairs usually required on an older home, can cut into time they'd rather spend enjoying their retirement. And if they're traveling, they don't want to worry about...
Jul 28, 2026
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sponsored content
Customizable Management for Smaller Strata Communities
Most people who volunteer for their strata council don't sign up to be an accountant. But for many in smaller strata communities, with less than 50 units, that's exactly what they end up doing. They spend time researching bylaws, getting quotes for maintenance, and worrying that something important has been missed. The...
Jun 09, 2026
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