PARKSVILLE - Advocates for Oceanside's unhoused keep pushing for more local shelter space, with a pair of municipalities lending their voices in support. Shayla Day, chair of the Oceanside Homelessness Task Force (OHTF), recently made presentations to both the City of Parksville and the Regional District of Nanaimo (RD...

NANAIMO - New federal funding is focusing on housing and life stability for Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP veterans. Administered through United Way BC, via partnerships with a number of local organizations in Nanaimo and Oceanside, over $1.3 million is earmarked for veterans across the next two years to provide suppor...

NANAIMO - The community has responded in a big way to support a new initiative to help those unhoused this summer. Local RCMP officers, along with City of Nanaimo Community Safety Officers and staff from Nanaimo's Real Canadian Superstore location on Metral Dr., collected nearly 4,000 donated bottles of water during a ...

NANAIMO - Melanie Buggey fully admits the idea is borderline insane, but still she's preparing to attempt a rare crossing of the Strait of Georgia. Sometime in late July or early August, depending on a number of weather conditions, Buggey plans to swim the 29 kilometres of open water between Davis Bay, near Sechelt, an...

NANAIMO - A much-anticipated traffic management strategy for a substantial and lengthy underground infrastructure project has been revealed by the Regional District of Nanaimo. Southbound traffic on Hammond Bay Rd. between McGuffie and Departure Bay roads will persist through the applicable construction zone, while nor...

NANAIMO - City councillors approved a major step forward in establishing an enhanced public works yard.The first of what's expected to be several annual borrowing bylaws was approved on Monday, May 25, greenlighting City staff to borrow $10,570,000 from the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA) to use for early-stage devel...

Editor's note: this article outlines allegations of sexual offending, which may not be suitable for some readers. Discretion is advised.NANAIMO - Accused of orchestrating repeated incidents of sexual misconduct against two complainants in his Christian youth ministry, an anticipated lengthy BC Supreme Court trial is un...

NANAIMO - One person is dead following a two-vehicle crash along Hwy. 1.Ladysmith RCMP, along with Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department and paramedics from BC Emergency Health Services, were called to Hwy. 1, south of Timberlands Rd., just before 4:30 a.m. on Monday, May 25, after a collision between a motorbike and a s...

NANAIMO - Consistently saying 'no' had Nanaimo voters constantly saying 'yes' to a city councillor who served for over three consecutive decades.Loyd Sherry, Nanaimo's longest serving city councillor, passed away recently at the age of 88.He was in office between 1981 and 2011.Staunchly fiscally conservative and the co...

NANAIMO - A record amount of cash awarded is designed to improve conditions for the province's iconic Pacific salmon, including $20,000 worth of Nanaimo-based initiatives. According to a Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) news release, the non-profit agency awarded $1.93 million to 144 salmon conservation projects across ...

PARKSVILLE - An ongoing project to enhance Parksville's active transportation network has taken another step forward, with council confirming the route and early design for phase two. Construction on the first phase of the Parksville Pathway Project began earlier this year, adding 1.1 kilometres of nature path connect...

NANAIMO - Local firefighters responded to an unconventional rescue call this week.A passerby was alerted by the worried mother of nine tiny ducklings near Oliver Woods Community Centre on Wednesday, May 20 after the small birds fell into a storm drain, according to a Nanaimo Fire Rescue (NFR) social media post."Th...

NANAIMO - Local Mounties, in partnership with employees of Real Canadian Superstore, are looking to make the summer a little cooler for those unhoused.RCMP officers, along with City of Nanaimo Community Safety Officers, volunteers, and staff at Nanaimo's Real Canadian Superstore location on Metral Dr., will be hosting ...

PARKSVILLE - A proposed 100+ residential development with ground-floor commercial space is on hold for now, after an application to amend the official community plan (OCP) was denied. The lot at 1000 Island Hwy. E., across the road from the entrance to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in Parksville, and is currently a ...

NANAIMO - One of the year's largest track meets takes place this weekend. The Nanaimo Track and Field Club will host the annual Elwood Wylie Memorial Meet on Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, at the Rotary Bowl, with close to 500 athletes from across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland expected over the two day...

QUALICUM BEACH - The future of the Qualicum Commons building appears to be safe for at least another year, with the Town opting to renew the lease on the building. The Oceanside family programming facility at 744 Primrose St. was in jeopardy of closing its doors for good earlier this year, when the one-year lease agree...

GABRIOLA ISLAND - Mounties say the death of a 66-year-old scuba diver is not considered suspicious but rather a tragic incident. Police report on Wednesday, May 20 at around 5 p.m., reports came in regarding an unresponsive scuba diver near Degnen Bay dock on the south end of Gabriola Island. Members from the Gabriola ...

NANAIMO - A new vehicle is transforming the way the Harbour City's Salvation Army branch is working in the community. After using a makeshift and renovated refrigeration truck for several years, the Nanaimo Salvation Army is moving forward with its daily hot breakfast program inside a specialized emergency response sty...

PARKSVILLE - A zoning amendment to prohibit drive-thrus in any new commercial builds was defeated, after a split vote among councillors.The motion for City of Parksville Staff to create a zoning amendment prohibiting drive-thrus on all future commercial builds was presented during the Wednesday, May 20, council meeting...

NANAIMO - More than seven years after causing a head-on crash on Hwy. 19, the offending driver has at last taken responsibility for his actions. An alcohol impaired Maverick John Millen, 32, was driving his SUV north in the southbound lanes of a divided section of Hwy. 19 in Nanoose Bay when he hit a car head-on just a...

QUALICUM BEACH - A local woman is nursing three broken ribs and other injuries after being knocked off her bicycle and into a ditch over the weekend. The 63-year-old was riding along the 1100 block of Meadowood Way just before noon on Sunday, May 17, when a group of four dirt bikers began to pass her. Sgt. Shane Worth ...

NANAIMO - Two people have drowned in what RCMP are saying were separate incidents on Wednesday night, prompting major search effortsMounties received a check-well-being call at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, for a woman who was seen on the water in Departure Bay.Reserve Cst. Gary O'Brien said this sparked a large ...

NANAIMO - After developing a deeply impactful and lasting legacy of ensuring local healthcare staff have the equipment they need to do the job, the Nanaimo District Hospital Foundation is charting a new course. A first-of-its-kind campaign is focusing on ensuring the Nanaimo and Oceanside regions are as competitive as ...

COMOX - Time is running out to see the Canadian Forces Snowbirds for the foreseeable future.The federal government announced Tuesday, May 19, the squadron would be grounded after this year's air show circuit so their aging Tutor jets could be replaced, something which won't happen until the early 2030s.The team's impen...

NANAIMO - A closer look at safety on board local transit vehicles and at bus stops across the region is due in the coming months.Regional District of Nanaimo directors discussed the issue Tuesday, May 19, responding to a letter originally sent to Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog in the immediate aftermath of an assault at th...

NANAIMO - Several people required treatment for minor injuries after a vehicle crashed into a downtown restaurant over the May long weekend.The incident at Nana Sushi on the corner of Victoria Cres. and Albert St., happened Monday, May 18, at around 7:30 p.m. and saw a black Kia SUV drive into the storefront after trav...

PARKSVILLE - Oceanside scammers have been caught using fake food vouchers at local grocery stores, illegally replicated from a local charity.In early April, Oceanside RCMP were contacted by the unnamed non-profit organization, who said someone was reproducing their grocery vouchers meant for those in need and using the...

NANAIMO - Fast action from local Mounties led to the arrest of an erratic, armed man in Nanaimo's north end. James Denis Picard, 44, received a time-served jail sentence recently at Nanaimo Law Courts. His provincial court sentencing hearing in Nanaimo outlined his offending earlier this year, which included a high-ris...