Nanaimo, Parksville and Area

Complete Street
'Complete Street' to be established near downtown Nanaimo
NANAIMO - Modernizing a section of Third St. represents a notable pending construction project, featuring raised cycling lanes on both sides of the street. A bulk of the work slated between Howard Ave. and Pine St. is anticipated to begin by this summer and last a few months, according to City of Nanaimo engineering pr...
Jan 09, 2025
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guilty on all counts
Nanaimo couple guilty of repeated illegal sea cucumber harvest and sale
NANAIMO - A recent extended trial of a local fisherman and his wife charged with numerous fishing violations has reached a verdict: guilty on all counts.Scott Stanley Matthew Steer, 47, and his wife Melissa Dawn Larocque (Steer) were in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Wednesday, Jan 8., where they were convicted on ei...
Jan 08, 2025
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fatal crash
B.C. Highway Patrol seeks additional witnesses & video of fatal Nanoose Bay crash
NANOOSE BAY - An investigation continues into an early morning collision which claimed the life of a 61-year-old Nanoose Bay man. B.C. Highway Patrol say the man was hit by a vehicle and died of his injuries around 7 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 3 at the intersection of the Island Hwy. and NW Bay Rd., near the Petro-Canada ser...
Jan 08, 2025
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taking a stand
Mariners basketball team boycotting weekend games, citing 'hateful treatment' by opposition
NANAIMO - The PACWEST-leading VIU Mariner women's basketball team has opted not to suit up this weekend, in support of their teammate.A letter signed by all 13 players on the team said the squad does not feel safe playing against Columbia Bible College (CBC) in Abbotsford, for a pair of games beginning Friday, Jan. 10....
Jan 08, 2025
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community celebration
Nanaimo hosting month-long art festival to celebrate 150th birthday
NANAIMO - Dubbed a celebration of light, art and community, the City of Nanaimo is staging a month-long winter arts festival at Maffeo Sutton Park. Luminous Paths: Nanaimo's 150 & Beyond includes temporary light-based art installations in the downtown Nanaimo park beginning with a community celebration on Wednesday...
Jan 08, 2025
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charge laid
Woman charged following death of infant in Ladysmith
Editor's note: updated court records on Wednesday, Jan 8 stated Gloria Lemay was in custody. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 9.LADYSMITH - A woman accused of mishandling the birth of a baby in Ladysmith has been charged with manslaughter. A Ladysmith RCMP news release states Gloria Lemay, 77, ...
Jan 07, 2025
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British Columbia

Flu driving spike in respiratory illness in B.C., but COVID-19 numbers low
VANCOUVER - New data shared by British Columbia's Centre for Disease Control shows the province has one of the worst flu rates in Canada, as a holiday-season spike in respiratory illnesses continues. But the data also shows the province has one of the lowest COVID-19 test positivity rates in the country, at about half ...
14h ago
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'Incalculably small' amount of diesel visible at site of 8,000-litre B.C. spill
Aerial surveillance over an area where thousands of litres of diesel was spilled last month off Vancouver Island shows most of the fuel is no longer visible on the water. An update from officials managing the spill says a flight over Lutes Creek near Zeballos, B.C., spotted "an incalculably small" volume of s...
16h ago
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U.S. Capitol rioter arrested in B.C. ski resort after claiming political asylum
WHISTLER, B.C. - An American man convicted for his part in the riot on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been arrested in the ski resort of Whistler, B.C. The Canada Border Services Agency says in a statement that Antony Vo, described as "a fugitive from U.S. justice," was arrested on Monday without incident. Vo...
18h ago
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Canadian water bombers, helicopters on the way to help fight Los Angeles wildfire
The Canadian agency that co-ordinates cross-border wildfire response with the United States says it's working to send a pair of airtankers to Southern California. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, headquartered in Winnipeg, said Thursday that it got a request overnight for a pair of CL-415 Skimmer Airtankers...
21h ago
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CP NewsAlert: Elections BC looks into vote complaint in riding that gave NDP majority
VICTORIA - Elections BC says it is looking into a complaint of voting irregularities from a B.C. Conservative candidate in a riding narrowly won by the NDP, giving the government a one-seat majority in October's provincial election. It says the complaint was lodged by B.C. Conservative Honveer Singh Randhawa last Frida...
23h ago
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Booze-free 'liquor' stores offer options, as some B.C. craft brewers decline and fall
VANCOUVER - Whatever your tipple, Angela Hansen's liquor store on Vancouver's Commercial Drive has stock to satisfy, from Prosecco to tequila - so long as you don't want any actual liquor. Hansen's "alcohol free liquor store" Mocktails opened last March, and just a few days into the new year, she was anticipa...
Jan 09, 2025
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Canada

Yvonne Jones, longtime Liberal MP for Labrador, retiring from federal politics
HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. - Yvonne Jones, Liberal member of Parliament for Labrador, says she won't be running in the next federal election. Jones has been public about her past battles with breast cancer, and she told a crowd in Happy Valley-Goose Bay that she is cancer-free, healthy and ready for new adventures. S...
11m ago
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Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly off to Washington next week to talk tariffs
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly heads to Washington next week to press the incoming Trump administration not to impose damaging tariffs on Canada. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico when he is inaugurated lat...
21m ago
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Human rights group asks Canada to join U.S. and declare another genocide in Sudan
OTTAWA - A prominent human rights group is calling on Ottawa to follow the U.S. and declare that recent actions by Sudan's paramilitary force amount to genocide. The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights accused the Rapid Support Forces of carrying out a genocide in the Darfur region months ago, during Sudan's bruta...
46m ago
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Mélanie Joly will not run for Liberal party leadership, source confirms
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is out of the running to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, a Liberal source confirms to The Canadian Press. Joly is expected to talk to media today outside a Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee meeting on Parliament Hill. The Liberal leadership race is f...
1h ago
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Canadian plane fighting L.A. fires out of service after colliding with civilian drone
Authorities in Los Angeles say a Quebec water bomber is out of service after colliding with a drone while fighting wildfires Thursday. A pair of Quebec water bombers and their crews have been helping since Tuesday to fight the massive fires north of downtown L.A., which have killed at least 10 people and burned more th...
1h ago
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In the news today: Analysts expect jobless rate edged up in December
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Analysts expect jobless rate edged up in December Statistics Canada will release the country's job report for December this morning. November saw Canada's unemployment rate rise to 6.8 per cent - the highest jobless rate since Jan...
2h ago
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