NANAIMO - Two motorcycle riders were fortunate to escape more serious injuries after crashing into the back of a southbound SUV.The incident happened along the Island Hwy. by Long Lake around 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, and saw a pair of motorcycles crashing into the back of another vehicle.Reserve Cst. Gary O'Brien ...

PARKSVILLE - A slight increase in visitors year-over-year has organizers of the Parksville Beach Festival optimistic about what's next. Volunteers representing a number of local community groups counted 119,480 visitors through the gates of this year's sand sculpting exhibition, a central part of the festival, a margin...

NANAIMO - A tip to Fisheries and Oceans Canada may have prevented widespread illnesses. Travis Wade Seward and Joanna Samantha Harris each pleaded guilty to a pair of fisheries offences related to illegally collecting a large haul of clams from Gabriola Island's Degnen Bay on Feb. 3, 2024. Closed since 1993 due to risk...

NANAIMO - One man has died, while police have a person in custody after an early morning crash. Emergency services were called to Cavan St., near Albert St. around 1:50 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, after a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle. Police say the victim did not survive. Investigators were able to identify and arrest...

NANAIMO - Local Mounties made multiple arrests following a two-day enforcement blitz downtown.From July 29-30, the Nanaimo RCMP Bike Unit, along with their Specialized Enforcement Team (SITE), patrolled and surveilled the area around Diana Krall Plaza on Commercial St, arresting ten people and seizing a number of drugs...

NANAIMO - Vacationers from Portland, Oregon were strolling through Woodgrove Centre when an ominous message from mall's intercom system was made about a Nissan Leaf. In the back of Reid Kells' mind, he suspected his car could be in trouble. It was being charged in the parking lot near the Sport Chek department store on...

PARKSVILLE - A dazzling light display will cap off the popular Parksville Beach Festival event. The Quality Foods Festival of Lights involves fireworks launched from a barge placed in Parksville Bay on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 15. at around dusk (9:30 to 9:45 p.m.) Saturday night's fireworks display at Community P...

NANAIMO - A Thursday night stabbing in Nanaimo's downtown sent one man to hospital with a serious injury.Emergency crews were called to 55 Victoria Rd. on Thursday, Aug 13 at about 9:20 p.m. to reports of a stabbing.Nanaimo RCMP operations officer Insp. Donovan Tait told NanaimoNewsNOW no arrests have been made as the ...

NANAIMO - Final preparations are being put on dozens of entries ahead of this year's Hub City Soapbox Derby. The annual race will take place down Wall St. in Nanaimo, beginning around 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, and see nearly 40 kids and several other "kids at heart" compete in two divisions, all in suppor...

NANAIMO - The first major test for this year's Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock riders is set to come Saturday. Dubbed 'Mock Tour', 23 riders along with support staff will complete a round trip beginning in Lantzville and going through Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Chemainus, and Duncan on Saturday, Aug. 15. It's the first group rid...

NANAIMO - In celebrating 10 years of NanaimoNewsNOW, our team didn't want to just focus on the past but instead take a look ahead to the future. Over recent weeks, we've taken a look back at 10 ways Nanaimo has changed in the last decade, starting from our launch in July 2016 through to now, with topics ranging from do...

NANAIMO - After largely avoiding any wildfire-related impacts so far this summer, skies are set to be smoky locally over the coming days.Air quality forecasts for the Nanaimo region, along with projections from Environment Canada, call for smoke moving across the Nanaimo and Oceanside areas beginning Friday, Aug. 14, a...

NANAIMO - A newly formed local chapter of a global movement is trying to make a splash against beach trash.Surfrider Foundation Mid Island has completed half a dozen cleanups of beachfront areas and rivers, amounting to over 3,200 pounds of items collected between Ladysmith and Deep Bay over recent months.Sean Gilchris...

NANAIMO - A local Mountie has pleaded guilty to breach of trust after engaging in sexual activity with a vulnerable woman.Cst. Mark Tyler Hilland, 47, of the Nanaimo RCMP will be sentenced at a later date after entering the plea in B.C. provincial court in Nanaimo on Thursday, Aug. 13, following an incident in July 202...

NANAIMO - A 13-year-old local youth is facing possible criminal charges after stealing their parent's vehicle and speeding through the community.At around 2 a.m. on July 25, an RCMP officer driving northbound on Terminal Ave., by Terminal Park Mall, spotted a speeding southbound vehicle, found to be travelling 118 kilo...

NANAIMO - Clipper fans will get a new, high-definition look at their team this season while sitting in the stands at Frank Crane Arena. The BC Hockey League team has entered into a four-year agreement with Chris Jaycox Productions to install and operate a 20' by 10' LED video wall in their home rink, being installed th...

LADYSMITH - Former École Davis Road Elementary is being torn down, which will be the future site of new nearly 400-seat school. Demolition crews arrived this week on Parkhill Terrace to begin the tear-down process of the the old school site, which is expected to be completed this fall. School District 68 expects...

NANAIMO - An annual bike ride across Canada raising funds for those living with Parkinson's disease is criss-crossing Vancouver Island this week.Parkinson Canada's Spinning Wheels Tour involves teams riding across all ten provinces this summer, with a fundraising goal of $200,000 for B.C., and close to a million dollar...

NANAIMO - A man well-known to police is once more accused of exposing himself to women in public.Mark Nieuwejaar, 65, faces two counts of committing an indecent act in a public place after allegedly exposing himself to a pair of women across two separate incidents earlier this month.Reserve Cst. Gary O'Brien told Nanai...

NANAIMO - More than $30 million in economic development-related initiatives announced this week includes a pair of notable local industrial initiatives.Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, who's also responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada, announced $30.5 million for 24 businesses and orga...

NANAIMO - Improperly secured while cleaning rooftop patios, a roofer fell from a downtown balcony in what WorkSafeBC described as "a serious workplace incident." It happened this past April 20 at the Gabriola condo building on Promenade Dr. on Cameron Island, adjacent to the Nanaimo Harbour ferry terminal, in...

NANAIMO - Mother Nature is doing her part and providing clear skies for an annual meteor show. The Perseids meteor shower is projected to peak overnight on Wednesday, Aug. 12, into Thursday, Aug. 13, with upwards of 50 to 100 meteors visible every hour across a majority of the night sky. Vancouver Island University ast...

NANAIMO - A final candidates' info forum offered jointly by the City of Nanaimo and Regional District of Nanaimo takes place this week. The in-person session happens Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort & Conference Centre's Grand Strathcona Room at 1155 Resort Dr. in Parksville from 6 p.m. to 9 p....

NANAIMO - A noticeable police presence in the skies above the Harbour City over the weekend has helped nab multiple problematic drivers.RCMP Air 8, from the RCMP's Comox Air Services division, was deployed to Nanaimo and worked with local officers in a traffic blitz in several areas of the community on Sunday, Aug. 9, ...

NANAIMO - The closure of a vital not-for-profit resource centre has left the local Deaf community scrambling to fill the gaps. The Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre Association (IDHHC) announced earlier this year their locations in Saanich and on Applecross Rd. in Nanaimo would be closed permanently as of June 30,...

NANAIMO - A sweeping ban on off-road and all-terrain vehicles has been put in place by regional fire authorities, with the Nanaimo area being spared for now.The Coastal Fire Centre issued a prohibition to all off-road vehicles on Monday, Aug. 10, effective immediately for several areas of Crown land on Vancouver Island...

NANAIMO - A home was destroyed, but the chief of Extension Volunteer Fire Department said thankfully surrounding damage was limited. Kevin Young said their department was alerted on Monday, Aug. 10, just before 5:20 a.m. in response to a fully involved wood-framed home structure fire on White Rapids Rd. at Nanaimo Rive...

NANAIMO - Prosecutors outlined eyewitness accounts at the murder trial involving a brazen daytime shooting at busy Nanaimo shopping centre. Ronald Joseph Campbell, 44, is on trial at BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo, accused of first-degree murder in the death of Yasin Khan as he sat in his vehicle outside Rock City Centre'...