NANAIMO - Following last fall's ground-breaking ceremony with $7 million already in the bank, over $1 million has since materialized for a vital pending amenity. Construction crews have made significant progress and so have Children's Health Foundation of Vancouver Island (CHFVI) representatives in raising money for Je...

PARKSVILLE - Major pedestrian improvements are coming to city's main entrance off the Alberni Hwy. A tender worth $1,251,305 was recently awarded to In the Dirt Contracting Ltd. to do major sidewalk and pedestrian safety work along the Alberni Hwy. from Bernard Ave. to Lee Ave. Speaking at the Monday, May 4 council mee...

Editors' note: this story contains details of graphic sexual abuse against children. Reader discretion is advised.NANAIMO - An Oceanside man will spend the next 10 months behind bars after pleading guilty to possessing thousands of images of children as young as five years old being violently sexually abused. Christoph...

QUALICUM BEACH - One of the first plots of land in the newly acquired Eaglecrest subdivision is up for sale through the Town.Five lots along Eaglecrest Dr., either side of Blind Bogey Dr., are being available for purchase, with the Town of Qualicum Beach accepting offers until June 5.Totaling 0.86 acres of subdividable...

NANAIMO - A lost driver recently had to use any resource he could to call for help after becoming stranded in unfamiliar backcountry.An 83-year-old man was reported missing south of Nanaimo on Monday, May 4, after his rental vehicle became stuck off Nanaimo Lakes Rd., however, he lit a small signal fire, which eventual...

NANAIMO - Expect a brief alert on radios, televisions, and smartphones Wednesday afternoon.The provincial government, in coordination with provinces and territories across the country, are testing their Alert Ready Emergency Alert System on Wednesday, May 6, with B.C.'s alert scheduled for 1:55 p.m.Radios, televisions,...

NANAIMO - Speeding through a busy Nanaimo intersection was evidently too tempting for hundreds of motorists, despite well-advertised warning signage. A record number of 314 speeding fines were issued at the Island Hwy./Hammond Bay Rd./ Aulds Rd. intersection in 2025, according to B.C. government data. The number of spe...

NANAIMO - Increasing capacity for proactive, rather than reactive, policing is among the top priorities for local Mounties this year. Presenting to Nanaimo City Council on Monday, May 4, detachment officer in charge, Supt. Eric Rochette said they've seen a slight reduction in overall call volumes in 2025, compared to 2...

NANAIMO - A large central Nanaimo temporary housing facility is scheduled to remain open well into next year. Facing eviction as a result of the pending construction of Nanaimo's Public Works facility rebuild on Labieux Rd., the City and BC Housing announced a lease extension for the 90-unit Nikao complex through the e...

NANAIMO - An unseasonably extended stretch of warm and dry weather is forcing the hand of BC Wildfire Service officials. Sweeping fire prohibitions for category one through three fires, ranging from campfires to backyard and industrial-sized open fires, will be banned in the Coastal Fire Centre as of Thursday, May 7 at...

NANAIMO - For the third time in as many days, the Harbour City has rewritten Environment Canada's record books. The mercury at the Nanaimo Airport monitoring station reached 29.1 degrees Celsius on Monday, May 4, breaking a record of 26.4 degrees set back in 1980. Qualicum Beach also set a new benchmark for the day wit...

PARKSVILLE - Development is proceeding at a highly visible commercial property following a fire nearly four years ago. Councillors unanimously voted in favour of an amended development permit, with a few amendments attached, to construct three new commercial buildings and make other improvements at 1209 Island Hwy. E, ...

QUALICUM BEACH - A local vet is agonizingly close to realizing her dream of creating a retirement and hospice home for local dogs and cats.Construction is already underway on a 22-acre property along the Island Hwy. north of Qualicum Beach, affectionately named Bear's Buddies Animal Sanctuary, where senior, medically f...

NANAIMO - An emerging high school robotics club is taking its talents to Toronto after winning regional and provincial competitions. Dover Bay Robotics is charging up for the Skills Canada National Competition at the end of May, featuring high school students from across the country competing in over 40 trade and techn...

NANAIMO - The first weekend of May proved to be one for the record books-literally. Data from Environment Canada showed the monitoring station at Nanaimo Airport registered record temperatures on both Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, as a ridge of high pressure brought unseasonably warm conditions and largely clear,...

NANAIMO - A major housing development is welcoming its first residents in the city's downtown. The first phase of a 195-unit, multi-storey rental housing build at the corner of Wallace St. and Wentworth St., owned and operated by TELUS Living, received an occupancy permit on Thursday, April 30, and began welcoming resi...

NANAIMO - Fresh off one of the warmest winters 124 years, the hot and dry conditions appear to be continuing well into the spring. The mean temperature last month was an even 10 degrees Celsius in Nanaimo, a full degree warmer than usual, making it the 19th warmest April in the city's history. Meteorologist with Enviro...

NANAIMO - While removing invasive plants isn't exclusively a fair-weather activity, the spring bloom sprouts all kinds of damaging species. Numerous neighbourhood-level work parties are chipping away at a variety of pesky invasive plants around Nanaimo throughout May. Recognized locally as Invasive Plant Removal Month,...

NANAIMO - Following its resurrection last year, volunteer organizers are preparing for a bigger, and better dry grad for local students this June.The entire Beban Park complex will be fenced off and set up with a wide array of activities for Nanaimo and Ladysmith-area grade 12s, celebrating the end of their time in hig...

PARKSVILLE - Crews responded to a significant fire impacting a Parksville car dealership on Island Hwy. East. Parksville Fire Rescue was called to Winchelsea Motors on the Highway at McVickers St. on Friday, May 1, at about 2:30 a.m., chief Marc Norris told NanaimoNewsNOW. He said firefighters were met with heavy fire ...

NANAIMO - Already Vancouver Island's largest commercial steel manufacturer, a Nanaimo company is moving forward with an ambitious growth strategy despite turbulent geopolitical headwinds.Niik Steel, located in the Duke Point Industrial Park, received a $900,000 B.C. government grant, allowing the company to make equipm...

NANAIMO - United Way BC (UWBC) is once again collecting menstrual products for those in need, with last year's donations unable to match the high demand. The Period Promise Campaign starts on Friday, May 1 and runs until the end of the month, with over a million menstrual products requested from 26 different frontline ...

NANAIMO - A morning house fire has claimed the life of three cats and badly damaged a south end home. Calls to 9-1-1 came around 10:10 a.m. on Friday, May 1, regarding a home on Haliburton St. between Crace St. and Finlayson St. with smoke visible from the outside by neighbours and passersby. Assistant chief of operati...

NANAIMO - After nearly 12 hours of public hearing submissions across three days, a proposed rezoning application will go back behind closed doors for further discussions.A third public hearing session, held Thursday, April 30, for a rezoning application at 950 Phoenix Way, again brought a passionate, near-capacity crow...

NANAIMO - Seasonal water restrictions are now in effect, with more likely on the way in the weeks and months ahead.Most areas of the Regional District of Nanaimo, including the City of Nanaimo, City of Parksville, District of Lantzville, and Nanoose Bay, are under stage two water restrictions, effective Friday, May 1, ...

NANAIMO - Late guilty pleas cancelled a pending BC Supreme Court trial following a high-profile drug and weapons bust with arrests made at a local overdose prevention site. Gerid James Gregory-Allen and Sara Lynn Koshman both pleaded guilty to their roles in a drugs and weapons bust at the Nanaimo Overdose Prevention s...

NANAIMO - It's time to dust off your stormtrooper helmet and polish your Bat boots, as the 2026 edition of Curious ComicCon is on this weekend in Nanaimo. Celebrating their ninth year hosting vendors, artists, cosplay enthusiasts and fans, Country Club Centre will once again be packed on Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. u...

NANAIMO - Last summer, an offender was walking out of Vancouver Island Walmart stores with hundreds of dollars' worth of unpaid merchandise. Austin Carlson-McPherson vows he's a changed man who's highly motivated and focused on turning his life around. A Wednesday, April 29, sentencing hearing at Nanaimo Law Courts del...