PARKSVILLE - An anticipated busy holiday season for Society of Organized Services (SOS) came to fruition, and the need isn't slowing down with the calendar flipping to 2025. SOS executive director Susanna Newton reported their annual Christmas Program, involving handing out donated toys, gift and grocery cards, represe...

NANAIMO - A goal inside the opening two minutes helped pace the visiting Coquitlam Express to a win at Frank Crane Arena. On the heels of a 2025-opening 5-1 win in Port Alberni a night prior, the Clippers hosted Coquitlam on Saturday, Jan. 4 and looked to continue their perfect start in the new year. However a goal at ...

QUALICUM BEACH - Oceanside RCMP say a motorist who tried to prevent a suspected impaired driver from going any further failed a roadside screening test.The unusual incident happened at 5:30 p.m. on New Years Eve after Oceanside RCMP Sgt. Shane Worth stated a call was placed to their detachment to report a suspected imp...

NANAIMO - A pair of events this weekend are helping people safely dispose of their Christmas trees before they become problematic. For the ninth time, Nanaimo Search and Rescue are hold their annual tree chipping event at the Country Club Centre between Best Buy and Dairy Queen on Saturday, Jan. 4 and Sunday, Jan. 5 fr...

NANAIMO - While it wasn't a record-breaker, 2024 proved to be a notable year for local weather watchers.Monitoring stations at Nanaimo Airport collected 1,360.5 millimetres of rain through the calendar year, placing it just ahead of the 1,165.4 millimetres expected but well back of the 1,695.3 millimetre record set bac...

NANOOSE BAY - One person died following a collision on Hwy. 19 at Northwest Bay Rd.The incident was reported to Oceanside RCMP on Friday, Jan 3 at 7 a.m. and involved a pedestrian hit by vehicle in the highway's southbound lanes, stated BC Highway Patrol RCMP Cpl. Michelle LeBrun.She stated the pedestrian, a 61-year-ol...

NANAIMO - Some of the best hockey players in Western Canada will be in Nanaimo this weekend to showcase their talent in a pair of high-anticipated games. The Vancouver Island University Mariner's hockey team is hosting the BCIHL All-Star game at the Nanaimo Ice Centre with the All-Star team taking on a pair of teams fr...

NANAIMO - Little change occurred to most residential property valuation notices province-wide for a second consecutive year. Newly released 2025 property assessments represent a second consecutive year of stabilized valuations following a significant post COVID-19 surge. Maurice Primeau, BC Assessment deputy assessor f...

NANAIMO - Two people were taken to hospital following a serious single vehicle crash on the Nanaimo Parkway New Years Day. Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O'Brien said it happened Wednesday, Jan. 1 around 8:15 a.m. involving a northbound driver of a red Toyota Corolla veering off the road north of the Fifth St. intersectio...

NANAIMO - Changes are coming to the Regional District of Nanaimo's transit line starting on Sunday, Jan. 5, including more transit hours, improved route-to-route connection, and re-naming routes to better reflect their usage. One of the biggest name changes is to Route 50 Woodgrove/Downtown, which will be rebranded as ...

NANAIMO - Missed out on the recent Nanaimo Boxing Day polar bear swim and want to ring in the new year with a chilly plunge? You're in luck. A pair of formal polar bear swim events are happening on Wednesday, Jan. 1 in Parksville and Lantzville, while several other informal chilly dips are anticipated throughout the re...

NANAIMO - While Nanaimo had a lot to be proud of in 2024, nothing shined the global spotlight on the Harbour City more brightly than winning Olympic gold medals, the highest honour in international sports and the 2024 NanaimoNewsNOW top story of the year.Ethan Katzberg 22-year-old former John Barsby Secondary student E...

PORT McNEILL - Damage is immense as a fierce fire ravaged a critical north Vancouver Island tourist draw. Port McNeill Fire Rescue (PMFR) reported on the morning of Friday, Dec. 31 that a substantial fire had hit the boardwalk at Telegraph Cove Resort, noting parts of the boardwalk were lost. PMFR stated later in the m...

NANAIMO - Those looking for an additional layer of excitement or intrigue this New Year can keep an eye out for where the first baby of the year is born. The B.C. Lottery Corporation offered odds again this year for which hospital would welcome the first newborn of the year, with Nanaimo Regional General Hospital given...

NANAIMO - A monumental community effort culminated in hundreds of Christmas miracles for families requiring a little extra holiday support. More than 1,600 children and 750 families received new, unwrapped toys following another edition of The Great Nanaimo Toy Drive, in operation since the early 1980s. Despite the exp...

NANAIMO - While drug trafficking convictions at courthouses throughout the country and province are commonplace, the length of sentences handed out in Nanaimo this year didn't go unnoticed. Several headline-grabbing punishments were issued by judges in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo in 2024.Most notably, a 15-year priso...

Editor's note: This article was updated at 1:50 p.m. with further context from the City of Nanaimo's manager of engineering projects.NANAIMO - A key intersection in Nanaimo's downtown core will soon be a no-go for vehicular traffic for several weeks. The City of Nanaimo is moving ahead with closing the Bastion/Commerci...

NANAIMO - A constantly evolving program run out of Vancouver Island University is providing valuable, potentially life-saving, lessons to local high school students. Before P.A.R.T.Y (Preventing Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth) is targeted toward grade eight students, between 12 and 14 years of age, and sees V...

NANAIMO - One of the city's biggest eyesores and problem spots over recent years is poised for demolition in 2025, after an eventful 2024.The former site of the Howard Johnson Hotel, at the corner of Terminal Ave. and Comox Rd. will be demolished early in the new year, after a development proposal was initially support...

NANAIMO - The desire to save energy is there, but an increasing number of people are unsure on what more they can do according to BC Hydro Data from Hydro's most recent Residential End Use Survey shows over two-thirds of people in B.C. actively think about saving energy, while roughly 45 per cent say doing so requires ...

NANAIMO - A major public works and infrastructure project was front and centre at City Hall for all of 2024, but remains in largely the same spot it did at the end of last year.At the forefront of a majority of discussion and disruption this year in Council chambers was an Alternative Approval Process (AAP) to fund a p...

NANAIMO - A team of firefighters scaling down a high rise building to replicate a potential rescue call is another day at the office for Nanaimo Fire Rescue. The Thursday, Dec. 12 task at the 17-storey apartment building on Chapel St. And Front St. Represents one of many training scenarios by NFR crews. "Our train...

NANAIMO - An expansive commercial kitchen is now on offer for those looking to get their start. Formerly home to the Nanaimo Bakery, a revamped commissary kitchen at the corner of Meredith and Bowen Rd. is helping push multiple restaurants and community groups forward. Dubbed the 'Rising Hope Community Kitchen', and op...

NANAIMO - Multi-year, extensive upgrades on several fronts to Nanaimo's downtown core focuses on overhauling a pair of critically important streets. The old phrase 'no pain, no gain' applies to ongoing work on portions of Terminal Ave. and adjoining Commercial St. where extensive modernization work is ongoing. Undergro...

QUALICUM BEACH - A tragic series of events resulting in the death of an elderly man and injuries to the woman he was trying to help led to several charges. Jacob Aaron Pardiac, a 29-year-old Coombs man, is charged with six criminal code charges, including impaired and dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm, in...

NANAIMO - If Santa placed a brand new phone under the Christmas tree this year, local Mounties have an idea on what to do with the old one. The detachment's Vulnerable Person's Unit is putting out the call for any unwanted, functional smartphones to be dropped off at the Nanaimo RCMP so they can be given to people flee...

NANAIMO - Headlined by multiple Olympic and Paralympic gold medals, but backed up by provincial and national championships, key rebuilds and lots of success - the year in sport on the mid-Island was a big one. While NanaimoNewsNOW will have more on this as our series continues, the biggest sports story of the year was ...

NANAIMO - A tradition dating back over 60 years will happen once more on Boxing Day, with hundreds expected to brave Departure Bay waters. The annual Frank Ney Memorial Polar Bear Swim takes place Thursday, Dec. 26 with registration beginning at 11 a.m. and the swim itself at 1 p.m. from Departure Bay beach. Last year'...