Nanaimo news

• Early-morning fire damages Nanaimo Judo Club building

  12-07-2026 00:05 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo Judo Club is temporarily halting training after a structure fire damaged its dojo facility.
  Nanaimo Fire Rescue was called out to the building on the Sid Gyro Park site, at 110 Machleary St., before 5 a.m. on Saturday, July 11. Damage could be seen on parts of the building’s exterior, including part of the roof and the side of the building, as well as on the front stairs and entrance.
  Nanaimo Fire Rescue did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There is no official cau
  
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• Nanaimo’s council defers decision to support funding for Duke Point interchange project

  12-07-2026 23:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo’s city council wants more information before deciding whether it will provide a letter of support for an application for federal funding for the proposed Duke Point Interchange project.
  Council decided at its meeting on Monday, July 6 to defer the decision to provide the letter to Seacliff Properties, the proponents of the Sandstone development that would see more than 2,000 homes constructed in southern Nanaimo, despite the fact that the deadline for submitting the application, al
  
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• BC Wildfire says drone disrupted aerial operations at Brunswick Complex blaze

  12-07-2026 22:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Amidst firefighting efforts in the massive Brunswick Complex wildfire, BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) has put out an advisory reminding residents about the consequences of interfering with wildfire suppression efforts.
  The Brunswick Complex wildfire sits at a total 18,859 hectares as of Sunday, July 12.
  On July 11, BCWS shared on Facebook how suppression efforts have been effected from the opening of Highway 1.“We received multiple reports of drivers speeding, or stopping on the side of the hi
  
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• Suspected sand sculpture vandalism saddens Parksville Beach Fest officials

  12-07-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Parksville Beach Festival Society says it is “deeply disappointed” following damage to several sculptures currently being created for this year’s Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition.
  The damage, suspected to be vandalism, has required competing sculptors to spend valuable time repairing their works rather than focusing on completing their creations, according to a news release by the society.
  The repairs are essential to ensure the sculptures can be enjoyed by visitors
  
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• Nanaimo Concert Band holding free comedy-centric concert

  12-07-2026 20:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Comedic musical pieces will be front and centre at a free performance by Nanaimo Concert Band.
  The band, which has been in existence for 154 years, will be holding The Make ‘em Laugh Summer Concert on Monday, July 13 at Maffeo Sutton Park, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  Under the direction of Scott MacInnes, the band will be playing TV comedy themes, music that is for circus clowns, and humorous music from Spike Jones to Leroy Anderson.
  Barbara Tease, percussionist and band director of publicity
  
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• WORLD CUP DAILY, July 12: England and Argentina head to semi-finals

  12-07-2026 16:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Daily FIFA World Cup soccer match updates and news for Black Press Media publications.
  England and Argentina are heading to the semi-finals after defeating Norway and Switzerland, respectively.
  England’s Jude Bellingham scored both goals for his team, the first in the 45+2 minute and the second in the 93rd. England won 2-1 after extra time.
  Argentina also went to extra time during its match with Switzerland, as they were tied 1-1 at the end of regular time. Argentina scored two goals durin
  
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• Business Notes: Merit Home Furniture store is having a big clearance sale

  12-07-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo’s Merit Home Furniture store is having a summer-clearance sale and is offering great bargains to its customers.
  Manager Bill Manhas said the sale runs until the end of July.
  “People tend to do work around their homes and buy new furniture through the summer up until November because the weather is better for moving things around,” said Manhas, who started at the store in 1988 as a delivery person when he first arrived in Nanaimo from India, and rose through the ranks to
  
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• QUIZ: Are you ready for a summer vacation?

  12-07-2026 14:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Now that the school year is over and the hot summer weather has arrived, many Canadian families will enjoy summer vacations.
  Across the country, there is plenty to see and experience, including natural wonders, dynamic cities, unique festivals and celebrations and remote wilderness areas.
  How much do you know about Canada’s many remarkable attractions?
  Put your knowledge to the test with these 10 questions.
  Good luck.
  Loading…
  READ MORE: QUIZ: Are you ready for the Stanley Cup?
  READ
  
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• NIWRA: How bear aware are we on Vancouver Island?

  12-07-2026 03:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Vancouver Island black bears eat both meat and plants, and their sense of smell and hearing is far superior to that of humans. If a hungry bear smells food waste in a barbecue or trash container or a vehicle, it will go after it. Bears are natural scavengers and have good memories, so they will return to locations where they have found food before.
  Bears must eat amounts of food, so they don’t starve during the winter months and to produce offspring (cubs are born in January or February in
  
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• Murder charge laid after motor vehicle incident in Vanderhoof

  12-07-2026 00:48 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A man has been charged with second-degree murder following a motor vehicle incident that triggered a shelter-in-place order in Vanderhoof on July 9.
  Keegan Donald Leigh, 39, was charged on July 10, Prince George RCMP said in a release.
  Police responded to the incident in the 1500 block of Loop Road, where they located a deceased man.
  Investigators say they believe it to be an isolated incident, with the accused and the victim, 38, known to each other.
  Police say Leigh will remain in custody unti
  
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• Vancouver Island police investigating assault after man found injured in park

  11-07-2026 22:55 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Police are investigating an alleged assault that took place in the vicinity of Craigflower Schoolhouse and Kosapsom Park.
  The Saanich Police Department said shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday morning (July 11), they received a report of an assault in the park, near Craigflower Bridge on Admirals Road.
  “The lone adult male victim was transported to the hospital for medical assistance with non-life-threatening injuries,” said a police news release.
  “After searching Gorge park, office
  
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• Trial to start for man charged in fatal shooting at Nanaimo fast food restaurant

  11-07-2026 21:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The man arrested after a fatal shooting incident at a Nanaimo fast food restaurant parking lot five years ago will stand trial later this month.
  Ronald Joseph Campbell, 42 when charged in 2024, will go to trial for first-degree murder beginning Monday, July 20 at B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo. The incident took place at the Wendy’s at Rock City Centre on May 20, 2021, during which a man was shot and killed.
  Jury selection will take place Saturday, July 18 and the trial is scheduled to last
  
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• LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Treating census workers with respect

  11-07-2026 20:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Dear Nanaimo residents,
  Please be kind to census workers, they are doing their jobs trying to prevent you from being fined for not completing your census questionnaire.
  It is a legal obligation and your civic duty to complete one. When we knock on your door or call you, we are not selling anything, we are not there to pry into your affairs nor are we collecting information for our own nefarious purposes. We are working, just as you do, and imagine if you had to endure having doors slammed in you
  
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• ‘Highlight of my summer’: Chance the Rapper wows at B.C. capital festival

  11-07-2026 18:49 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  If there was any doubt that the Phillips Backyard Festival has become Victoria’s marquee summer music event, Friday (July 10) night erased it.
  A capacity crowd of roughly 5,000 packed the backyard of Phillips Brewing Co. as the annual festival opened with one of its biggest headliners yet, three-time Grammy Award winner Chance the Rapper.
  By the time his set wrapped, fans weren’t rushing for the exits, they were standing in groups, reliving what they had just watched.
  “Wow, I m
  
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• B.C. whale watchers join forces to help tangled humpback ‘Pop Tart’

  11-07-2026 17:42 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  When a humpback whale named Pop Tart found itself in a tangle, Greater Victoria’s whale watching community sprang into action.
  Identified as the 2016 calf of famed Salish Sea humpback whale Big Mama, Pop Tart spent nearly a week entangled in fishing gear, described as a buoy with a rope more than 30 metres long.
  The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) has praised the collaboration between Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Marine Mammal Response Team and professional whale watchers from
  
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• Iconic Victoria cathedral bells ring for 45 minutes to mark 90th anniversary

  11-07-2026 17:23 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Residents are accustomed to the peal of bells ringing from Christ Church Cathedral on a Sunday morning.
  The tone changes Sunday (July 12) with a rare quarter peal of change ringing in honour of the 90th anniversary of the dedication of the tower bells at the Victoria church.
  A quarter peal is a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality, and is usually done to celebrate certain occasions of historical significance.
  
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• Survey ranks Victoria 2nd-best city in Canada

  11-07-2026 16:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Among the hundreds of towns and cities that pepper Canada’s forests, coastlines and prairies, Victoria has been named one of the best.
  Travel + Leisure recently released its 2026 World’s Best Award, which annually ranks the best places to stay, eat and explore in Canada and beyond, as decided by its readers.
  This year, Victoria was voted the second-best city in Canada, behind Quebec City.
  Victoria received an 83.77 score, while Quebec City took home an 86.99 ranking.
  Scores are calcu
  
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• WORLD CUP DAILY, July 11: Spain heads to semi-finals

  11-07-2026 16:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Daily FIFA World Cup soccer match updates and news for Black Press Media publications.
  Spain is heading to the semi-finals after defeating Belgium 2-1 on Friday (July 10).It is a busy day at the World Cup today (July 11), with two quarter-final matches. Norway will take on England at 2 p.m. PT in Miami, followed by Argentina vs. Switzerland at 6 p.m. PT in Kansas City.
  QUARTER-FINALS
  Friday, July 10:
  Spain vs. Belgium at 12 p.m. in Los Angeles
  Saturday, July 11
  Norway vs. England at 5 p.m. in Mi
  
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• Impasses slowing treaty process in Cowichan: chief negotiator

  11-07-2026 14:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Deal weariness: unresolved tension or endlessly protracted negotiations cause parties to feel helpless, exhausted, and deeply fed up.
  Feeling undervalued: prolonged negotiations, especially when trying to secure fair value, often result in ongoing resentment.
  But even after 26 years of negotiationg, Robert Morales is in it for the long game. As the chief negotiator, and a lawyer, for the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, he is representing five area indigenous nations in their efforts for A
  
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• COLUMN: Nanaimo faces challenges as city grows

  11-07-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  It should come as no big surprise that the population of Nanaimo has ballooned to 112,600 people as of last year, and is projected to grow to approximately 121,941 by 2030.
  Nanaimo’s economic development officer Amrit Manhas recently revealed those numbers as part of the city’s annual state of the economy report for 2025.
  When I first moved to the city in 1996, the population was just a little over 70,000, so now we have an additional 42,600 people living here since then, which is qu
  
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• Iconic Parksville sand sculpting competition now underway

  11-07-2026 03:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The annual Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition is now underway.
  This year, there are 30 sand sculptors from all over the world vying for top honours in one of Parksville’s most cherished summer events. They had started laying the foundation of their art pieces on Thursday and will have until Sunday, July 12, at 2 p.m. to finish carving their creations that will be based on this year’s “Beauties and Beasts” theme.
  Prior to opening the gates to the public, a ribbon-cut
  
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• New involuntary care facilities to be opened in Surrey and Prince George

  11-07-2026 00:14 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The B.C. government is creating two new secure facilities to involuntarily hold and treat people with combined mental health and addiction diagnoses, one in Surrey and another in Prince George.
  Premier David Eby announced the plans on Friday, July 10, at the site of the new facility in Prince George. Both units will be located in already-existing structures to save costs.
  The Prince George centre, previously announced without site details, will be located on Gunn Road in a renovated youth correc
  
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• B.C.’s jobless rate stable, but some age groups and areas still having hard time

  11-07-2026 00:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The latest job numbers from Statistics Canada for June show slightly increased hiring in B.C. overall, but also reveal major remaining demographic and regional disparities, including stubbornly high youth unemployment and rising joblessness in the Interior.
  “People are maybe tired of hearing about tariffs, but they have an impact,” said Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s jobs minister. “They have an impact directly, but also it creates uncertainty, which is a real challenge.”
  B.C.
  
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• Special mediators appointed amid B.C. Nurses’ Union job action

  10-07-2026 22:33 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside has appointed two special mediators in the dispute between the B.C. Nurses’ Union and the Health Employers Association of B.C.
  Long-time mediator Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers were named special mediators Friday, July 10, eight days after job action began.
  Ready and Rogers will work wth the two parties for 10 days with the aim of helping to reach a settlement, or if needed, to provide recommendations to the minister.
  The ministry says the two appointed un
  
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• UPDATE: Amber Alert cancelled in Alberta, but RCMP say 6-year-old still missing

  10-07-2026 20:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  UPDATE: Friday, 3:59 p.m. Pacific Time
  Beaverlodge RCMP say the Amber Alert for six-year-old Lanakai Morrison is being cancelled as of Friday afternoon (July 10).
  However, Lanakai, his mother Krista Morrison, her partner Daniel Ludwig and four-year-old Karl Morrison are still missing.
  “This alert was cancelled as there is no reasonable expectation the public, in Alberta, will be able to action the instructions in the alert.”
  The Amber Alert was extended to B.C., the Yukon and the Nor
  
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• UPDATE: Alberta Amber Alert continues with ‘number’ of B.C. sightings

  10-07-2026 20:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  UPDATE: Friday, 12:44 p.m. Pacific Time
  Police say there have been “a number of sightings” in B.C. of Lanakai Morrison, 6, who is the subject of an ongoing Amber Alert out of Alberta.
  RCMP issued the latest update Friday (July 10) at 12:44 p.m. after Beaverlodge RCMP confirmed a sighting of Lanakai in Fort St. John on Wednesday, July 8 at approximately 9:30 a.m. Previous Amber Alert updates gave an incorrect date.
  Fort St. John is about 160 kilometres, or about a two-hour drive, nort
  
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• Alberta Amber Alert extends into 2nd day, last sighting in Fort St. John, B.C.

  10-07-2026 20:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The six-year-old who is the subject of an Amber Alert originating out of Alberta was last seen in northeastern B.C. on Thursday morning.
  Lanakai Morrison, 6, was last seen in Fort St. John, B.C. on July 9 at approximately 9:30 a.m., according to an Amber Alert update from Beaverlodge RCMP around 9:25 p.m. Pacific time Thursday.
  Fort St. John is about 160 kilometres, or about a two-hour drive, northwest of Valhalla Centre where Lanakai was reportedly taken from.
  The sighting came about nine hours
  
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• Nanaimo report outlines climate-related hazards and mitigation options

  10-07-2026 20:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The severity of hazards related to extreme heat, including wildfires, in the Nanaimo area are expected to increase by as much as 400 per cent in the near future.
  Nanaimo’s emergency manager, Evan Lloyd, presented a hazard risk and vulnerability analysis at a council meeting on Monday, July 6, that will allow for the prioritization of work to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and plan to recover from climate-related hazards in the city and on Snuneymuxw First Nation lands.
  The analysis was
  
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• Headline history: Nanaimo Port Authority works on ‘passenger-only ferry’ in 2000

  10-07-2026 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo has a history of foot passenger ferry business ventures promising to shuttle residents to-and-from the Lower Mainland.
  One such plan was reported in the Oct. 5, 2000 issue of the Nanaimo News Bulletin, where the Nanaimo Port Authority was working out details with Halcyon Transportation, a company based in Courtenay.
  Bill Mills, port manager at the time, was quoted as saying talks were progressing “very positively,” with the subsequent three to four months a period that would
  
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• Victoria teen pedals across Canada for Terry Fox Foundation

  10-07-2026 19:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  What began as a gap-year adventure has become a cross-country fundraiser that has already raised thousands of dollars for cancer research.
  Victoria’s Mateo Berkhout, 18, is cycling from Mile 0 in Victoria to Mile 0 in St. John’s, N.L., raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation.
  Berkhout left the Terry Fox memorial near Beacon Hill Park on May 1 and expects to complete the journey in less than three months. As of this week, he had spent more than two months on the road and was nearin
  
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