LADYSMITH - A popular family-friendly event drawing thousands of people to Ladysmith this weekend will go out with a bang. Celebrated annually for over 50 years, Ladysmith Days happens Saturday, Aug. 1 and Sunday, Aug. 2, with most of the itinerary based at Transfer Beach Park and downtown Ladysmith. The festivities ki...

NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of serving Nanaimo and the mid-Island, by looking at the ways our region has changed in the last decade. NANAIMO - Amid constant change throughout the Harbour City over the last decade, perhaps little has shifted course more than how information is shared. While the rise of social...

NANAIMO - An upbringing filled with adversity and resilience has helped a local woman secure a critical post-secondary scholarship.Elizabeth MacDonald, 18, recently graduated from Nanaimo District Secondary School and found out a few weeks before her walk across the stage she'd won a life-changing $60,000 award from th...

NANAIMO - A break-in at a central Nanaimo clinic illuminated the depths a drug addict will go.Riley David Quin, 46, was handed an 18-month jail sentence, followed by 18 months' probation, after pleading guilty to a break-and-enter gone wrong at a central Nanaimo health clinic.Crown counsel's Leanne Mascolo outlined fac...

NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of serving Nanaimo and the mid-Island, by looking at the ways our region has changed in the last decade. NANAIMO - A turning of the corner appears to be underway for healthcare on the mid-Island. The first steps towards major transformation for the Nanaimo Regional General Hospita...

NANAIMO - A B.C. man is raising money for a disease with no cure by running and biking across all of Vancouver Island. Darren Kerr is travelling from Port Hardy to Victoria for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, an illness Kerr was diagnosed with when he was three months old. Now 32, the North Vancouver resident isn't letting his...

NANAIMO - As the mid-Island's population expands, increased building costs and a lack of space are shifting new home construction trends, with governments at all levels encouraging the change. Single-family home construction has taken a back seat to higher-density builds, spurred on by government initiatives such as Bi...

NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of serving Nanaimo and the mid-Island, by looking at the ways our region has changed in the last decade. NANAIMO - Current and former Nanaimo and mid-Island residents have shone brightly on the world stage in the last decade, showcasing their talent and performing at some of the w...

NANAIMO - A charge of manslaughter has been laid against a 33-year-old man after an assault at a local nightclub.RCMP report the suspect and a 27-year-old man were involved in the incident at around 1 a.m. on July 17, outside the Sweet Spot Lounge on Skinner St. in downtown Nanaimo."The victim was transported for ...

NANAIMO - Typically the busiest weekend during the highest demand time of the year, many ferries will be crammed this weekend. BC Ferries is preparing for what historically has been its busiest long weekend of the year, said senior communications advisor Lilian Kim. "Last year our major routes carried 130,000 vehi...

PARKSVILLE - An elderly couple recently lost substantial volumes of cash over a prolonged period after responding to a fake online ad to invest in cryptocurrency, supposedly endorsed by a well-known politician.Oceanside RCMP were contacted on June 23 by the couple's adult children, worried their parents were being scam...

NANAIMO - Formed over eight years ago and in place for several months, a Nanaimo homeless encampment generated challenges while also leading to key provincial social housing investments. Formed on May 17, 2018, a collection of unhoused residents occupied City of Nanaimo-owned unoccupied land at 1 Port Dr., opposite Por...

NANAIMO - An envisioned light industrial corridor through a presently forested area along the Nanaimo Parkway has taken the first of many steps forward. City Councillors provided unanimous consent on Monday, July 27, to advance a rezoning application to public hearing for 2080 and 2160 East Wellington Rd., a project de...

NANAIMO - A newly launched bidding process aims to formulate a concept plan for a pair of key capital projects at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. Island Health formally initiated a request for proposals process on Thursday, July 23 to establish a concept plan for a new inpatient tower and cardiac catherization lab a...

NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of serving Nanaimo and the mid-Island, by looking at the ways our region has changed in the last decade. NANAIMO - Despite some persistent challenges, the city's downtown core continues to be reshaped, both functioning and appearing much different now than a decade ago. Gone is th...

NANAIMO - A Victoria-area man was arrested under the Mental Health Act after a rampage in his vehicle damaged several cars and injured multiple people. Local Mounties were called to Nanaimo North Town Centre, near Canadian Tire, just before noon on Saturday, July 25, after reports of a dangerous driver crashing into ve...

NANAIMO - Purportedly staffed around the clock, a north Nanaimo supportive housing facility was the target of two break-ins that took several hours and, in one case, more than a day to detect. Ricky John Randell, 55, received a six-month jail sentence for three north Nanaimo break-ins, two of them at his former home, U...

NANAIMO - Twelve months ago, Jack Schlitz was the last tubber to make it back to the finish line, battered and bruised after a gruelling 58-kilometre race lasting almost three hours.This year, he climbed the stairs and rang the bell well ahead of anyone else to claim the 2026 Great World Championship Bathtub Race on Su...

NANAIMO - For the second time in a week, the provincial government has given its blessing for a re-drawing of electoral lines on the mid-Island. Sixteen properties along Plecas Rd. and Evans Rd., just west of the Duke Point Hwy. interchange on the Trans Canada Hwy. will move from Area C to Area A ahead of the October m...

PARKSVILLE - One person has been killed in an early morning highway crash.RCMP report the single-vehicle incident occurred around on Saturday, July 25 at around 4:30 a.m. along the Island Hwy. W in downtown Parksville, near the Alberni Hwy. intersection.BC RCMP's Dawn Roberts told NanaimoNewsNOW the vehicle's driver wa...

NANAIMO - NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of covering local news across the mid-Island.Already this week, our team has focused on looking back at some of the ways the city and region have changed during the last decade, including evolutions in transportation, healthcare, and local governance.However, part of thi...

NANAIMO - A surprise funding jolt is building on efforts to modernize perinatal care at Nanaimo hospital. Supplied by non-profit organization Canada Cycles for Kids, several cyclists on a cross-country journey raised over $53,000 for equipment to support the hospital's nearly 20-year-old perinatal unit. Funding for the...

NANAIMO - Vancouver Island University is getting new skilled-trades training seats via additional provincial funding.Sixty-four seats will be added this coming school year, part of a provincial commitment to add 5,000 new trades seats across B.C.The addition brings VIU's total trades training capacity to 1,550 seats, f...

NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of serving Nanaimo and the mid-Island, by looking at the ways our region has changed in the last decade.NANAIMO - Expanding into digital journalism enabled NanaimoNewsNOW the ability to more effectively report on the sheer volume and complexity of our criminal legal system.Over th...

NANAIMO - A series of top finishes, including winning a 124-year-old tournament earlier this month, is driving Matt Wilson up golf's amateur rankings.Wilson won the prestigious B.C. Men's Open Amateur Championship at Riverway in Burnaby on Friday, July 16, helping him qualify for the Canadian amateur championship in Ca...

NANAIMO - A man in his late 70s standing on the side of Departure Bay Rd. died after he was hit by an SUV late Thursday afternoon. Emergency crews were called to Departure Bay. Rd. at Argyle Ave. just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, to reports of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle between Argyle and Strongitharm Ave. Na...

NANAIMO - The long saga of planned improvements to a park along Nanaimo's Long Lake took another step towards becoming a reality.An open house was held at Loudon Park on Thursday, July 23, giving residents a chance to view the latest project designs, ask questions, and provide input on the conceptual plans to expand th...

NanaimoNewsNOW is celebrating 10 years of serving Nanaimo and the mid-Island, by looking at the ways our region has changed in the last decade.NANAIMO - Following years of calls for improvement, the healthcare situation at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) has undergone major transformations over the last decade...