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Nanaimo, Parksville and Area

first responders
Marine search and rescue training to takeover Nanaimo waterfront
NANAIMO - Around 40 Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR) personnel are preparing for semi-annual training in the city this weekend. Crews from Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Deep Bay and Port Alberni will be in attendance on Saturday, Feb. 22, alongside response teams from the Canadian Coast Guard, RCMP, Nanaimo Port...
13h ago
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significant project
Construction well underway on new-look Nanaimo Salvation Army hub
NANAIMO - Vastly expanded housing and dining services are within reach at a key downtown Nanaimo social agency provider. Salvation Army's New Hope Centre is in the midst of a significant renewal with a modernized four-storey complex replacing the facility's demolished 135-year-old two-storey Community & Family Serv...
Feb 19, 2025
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not suspicious in nature
Nanaimo police trying to identify deceased woman found on Lantzville beach
NANAIMO - Local Mounties are trying to positively identify the remains of a woman found on Valentine's Day in Lantzville. Lantzville Fire Rescue requested help from Nanaimo RCMP officers around 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 after the body of a woman was located on a beach in the District by someone out for a walk. Cst. She...
Feb 18, 2025
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application denied
Unlawful search argument denied for woman charged in death of Ladysmith infant
VANCOUVER - An unsanctioned midwife recently charged with manslaughter has unsuccessfully argued the search and seizure of items from her property was unlawful. Gloria Jeanne Lemay, 77, was charged last month with manslaughter in connection to the death of an unresponsive baby born in December 2023.She argued via legal...
Feb 18, 2025
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weekend crash
Most passengers injured in Pearson airport plane crash released from hospital: Delta
Delta Air Lines says all but two passengers injured Monday when a plane crashed and flipped on the tarmac at Toronto's Pearson airport have been released from hospitals as of this morning. Delta says in a social media post that 19 out of 21 passengers initially taken to Toronto-area hospitals have since been released a...
Feb 18, 2025
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pool retool
Public info sessions to begin ahead of Qualicum Beach pool referendum
QUALICUM BEACH - Proposed enhancements to the Oceanside region's only publicly accessible pool facility will receive additional attention in the coming weeks. A referendum takes place on Saturday, April 5 to ask whether eligible voters support borrowing up to $30 million to double the size of Ravensong Aquatic Centre (...
Feb 18, 2025
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British Columbia

Second case of measles confirmed in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, linked to Thailand flight
VANCOUVER - Health authorities in British Columbia have confirmed a second case of measles in the Lower Mainland, this time in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. Vancouver Coastal Health says in a release that the infected person travelled to Southeast Asia in the same party as a Fraser Health region resident who tes...
5h ago
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Former BC Liberal MLA Abbott named to province's First Nations treaty commission
VICTORIA - A former longtime British Columbia legislator has been appointed to the province's independent facilitating body for treaty negotiations on First Nations rights and title. George Abbott, who represented the Shuswap riding for 17 years, has been named as a new commissioner at the BC Treaty Commission. Abbott ...
5h ago
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B.C. tree fruit growers get new $10M fund from the province
VANCOUVER - British Columbia has launched a new $10 million fund to help tree fruit farmers facing proposed U.S. tariffs on the heels of years of devastatingly low crop yields. A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture says the money will be handed out as one-time payments to farmers and can be used to help with nee...
5h ago
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Old-growth logging was 'goal' of Interfor: B.C. Forest Appeals Commission decision
British Columbia's Forest Appeals Commission has upheld a finding that forestry giant Interfor violated provincial legislation when it harvested cut blocks that overlapped with proposed old-growth management areas meant to be preserved. The commission's panel found Interfor committed eight contraventions of the Forest ...
5h ago
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new policy
B.C. ends take-home safer supply of opioids to stop criminal diversion
British Columbia Health Minister Josie Osborne has announced a major revamp of its safer-supply anti-addiction program, converting it to a "witnessed-only" model in which users are watched as they consume opioids they have been prescribed. Osborne said it was a "significant" change to end the take-h...
6h ago
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RCMP conduct authority lawyer calls move to replace board 'desperate' legal manoeuvre
A lawyer for three British Columbia RCMP members facing dismissal over alleged racist group chats told a police conduct board panel that they should be replaced over "real or perceived" bias against the officers. Wes Dutcher-Walls, a defence lawyer for Coquitlam RCMP constables Mersad Mesbah, Ian Solven and P...
6h ago
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Canada

Man, youth arrested in quadruple homicide on First Nation in Saskatchewan
REGINA - RCMP say they have arrested a man and a boy in the shooting deaths of four people on a First Nation in southern Saskatchewan. Mounties say 18-year-old Darrius Racette faces four counts of first-degree murder after two men and two women were found dead in a home on Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation, east of Regina...
4h ago
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Health Canada warns of unauthorized sex enhancement products seized from stores
Health Canada is warning people in at least three provinces against using unauthorized sexual enhancement products that may pose serious health risks. The agency says it has seized various products from stores in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario that have been found to contain "dangerous ingredients." Many o...
5h ago
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Second case of measles confirmed in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, linked to Thailand flight
VANCOUVER - Health authorities in British Columbia have confirmed a second case of measles in the Lower Mainland, this time in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. Vancouver Coastal Health says in a release that the infected person travelled to Southeast Asia in the same party as a Fraser Health region resident who tes...
5h ago
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Old-growth logging was 'goal' of Interfor: B.C. Forest Appeals Commission decision
British Columbia's Forest Appeals Commission has upheld a finding that forestry giant Interfor violated provincial legislation when it harvested cut blocks that overlapped with proposed old-growth management areas meant to be preserved. The commission's panel found Interfor committed eight contraventions of the Forest ...
5h ago
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NewsAlert: B.C. ends take-home safer supply for drug users to stop diversion
VICTORIA - British Columbia's health minister has announced that the province is changing its safer-supply anti-addiction program to a witnessed model, in which users will be watched as they consume the drugs. Josie Osborne says the "significant" change to end the take-home model will be difficult for some, b...
6h ago
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Montreal pleads with residents as it struggles to clear record-breaking snowfall
MONTREAL - Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is pleading for patience and urging caution as the city's snow removal trucks and plows struggle to clear the record-shattering snowfall that has blanketed Montreal. Plante says the city's snow removal crews are working around the clock to clear streets and sidewalks, and...
7h ago
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