Nanaimo news

• Highway 1 reopens in both directions through Abbotsford

  14-12-2025 23:35 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Highway 1 has now reopened to traffic in both directions through the Fraser Valley.
  One eastbound lane and both westbound lanes on Highway 1 in Abbotsford are now open, a B.C. Ministry of Transportation press release notes on Sunday, Dec. 14. The single eastbound lane between Highway 11 and No. 3 Road opened this morning (Dec. 14). The two westbound lanes opened on the evening of Dec. 13.
  Drivers should expect slower speed limits through this area and give themselves additional time to reach the
  
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• Musician planning a Scottish Christmas in Cedar

  17-12-2025 05:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A Scottish Christmas is planned this coming weekend in Cedar.
  Celtic singer and musician Anna Atkinson and friends will present Winter Charms: A Scottish Christmas on Dec. 20 at St. Philip Church.
  According to an event press release, the concert will be a night of “magic, music, and mystery and joy, with a little silliness thrown in.” There will be lullabies to honour the Christ child, carols to ward off winter, and jigs and reels to warm up long, chilly nights.
  “And of course,
  
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• Demko makes 23 saves as Vancouver Canucks shut out Rangers 3-0 at MSG

  17-12-2025 03:35 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Thatcher Demko made 23 saves for his 10th career shutout, leading the visiting Vancouver Canucks to a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
  Evander Kane, Liam Ohgren and Conor Garland scored for the Canucks (13-17-3), who have won the first two games on a five-game road trip. Jonathan Quick stopped 14 of 16 shots and took the loss in goal for the Rangers (16-15-4). New York is a dismal 4-10-3 on home ice.
  Kane opened the scoring just 1:46 into the game, taking a fee
  
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• B.C. working on financial guarantee program for impacted Cowichan case landowners

  17-12-2025 01:34 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The province of B.C. is working on a program to provide a financial guarantee for Cowichan title land property owners.
  This would entail backing mortgages and business loans for owners of land within the slice of Richmond’s Lulu Island where a First Nation was ruled to have an Aboriginal title claim.
  B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young found that the Cowichan Tribes First Nation has title rights to the public lands in the area, and the right to “negotiate in good faith” to
  
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• White Rock author celebrates B.C.’s coastal fascination with ferries

  17-12-2025 01:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  You can’t get anywhere on the B.C. coast without taking a ferry.
  For some, it’s a welcome chance to observe and appreciate the abundant delights of marine life, varied terrain and vegetation – while, for others, it can be simply a tedious several-hour pause in a busy schedule.
  But if you have the opportunity to read – or even leaf through – Derek Hayes’ imaginatively written, sumptuously illustrated Coastal Connections – A History of British Columbia Fer
  
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• Premier Eby visits farmers as Fraser Valley flood conditions improve

  17-12-2025 00:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Only four days after Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens publicly criticized the federal government for not sufficiently protecting the region from the threat of flooding, the city had a special visit from Premier David Eby and several ministers to show that the city can continue to count on support from the province.
  The City of Abbotsford shared that the premier was part of a small group of local and provincial politicians who stopped off at several locations throughout the city on Tuesday (Dec. 16)
  
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• Vancouver Island under wind and rainfall warnings

  17-12-2025 00:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Residents of Vancouver Island are being advised to be ready for strong winds and more rain today.
  A “vigorous cold front” is forecast to envelop the south coast of B.C. on Tuesday, Dec. 16, with strong westerly winds developing in the western part of Vancouver Island, southern Gulf Islands, Greater Victoria region and the Malahat with winds forecast to gust up to 100 kilometres an hour, according to an Environment Canada wind warning.
  Power outages are possible, advised the agency, a
  
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• Calls mount in B.C. for pipeline value changes to be postponed

  17-12-2025 00:44 via nanaimobulletin.com
  BC Assessment’s proposed changes to its pipeline valuation model are receiving more pushback as local governments brace for substantial losses in tax revenue that would result if the changes come into effect next year as planned.
  The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) board of directors has written a second letter urging the Minister of Finance to formally request that the proposed changes to pipeline assessments be immediately postponed, until local governments can be engaged in a &
  
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• B.C. grandma seeks federal fiscal support for CPP recipients raising grandkids

  17-12-2025 00:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A Kelowna grandmother is helping lead a petition drive to support seniors receiving Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits to help off-set gaps in financial support for taking on the legal responsibility to raise their grandchildren.
  Sharon Whiting, who has raised her now 17-year-old granddaughter since she was five, said she was shocked to discover the only CPP child benefits are extended to those receiving CPP disability or for children who have lost a parent under the Survivor’s Benefit.
  Wh
  
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• Dead bird, rats found at murder scene, court hears at Kelowna murder trial

  16-12-2025 23:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  WARNING: This story includes details from a murder trial and may be triggering for some readers.
  Staff Sergeant Timothy Russell said in the more than 60 homicides he’s investigated, the 2021 murder of Darren Middleton is one of the worst scenes he has ever attended.
  The RCMP officer was on the witness stand in Kelowna Supreme Court again on Dec. 16, testifying in the second-degree murder trial of Gabriella Sears.
  Middleton’s body was discovered in a bathroom at Sears’ residence
  
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• ‘Highly respected’ pro trucker killed in crash that closed Rogers Pass

  16-12-2025 23:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  For the second time in less than two years, an Armstrong trucking company is mourning the loss of one of its drivers and colleagues.
  Reimer Bros. Trucking Ltd. is mourning the death of Darren Samoleski of Vernon, involved in a fatal collision on Friday, Dec. 12, on the Trans-Canada Highway in the Rogers Pass area near Revelstoke.
  “Samoleski was a highly respected professional driver with nearly 40 years of experience and more than four million miles driven during his career,” the com
  
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• $448K raised in 64th annual Knights of Columbus B.C. charity appeal

  16-12-2025 23:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  $448K raised in 64th annual Knights of Columbus BC charity appeal
  B.C.’s knight in shining armour.
  The Knights of Columbus BC State Council wrapped its 64th annual charity appeal this weekend.
  Held on Saturday, Dec. 13, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Vancouver, the appeal grossed more than $448,000 that will go to the Knights of Columbus Coats for Kids program, Special Olympics, hospital foundations, local food banks, and other organizations to help support people in need.
  Archie C
  
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• B.C. First Nation approves massive $2B deal tied to gold mine restart

  16-12-2025 21:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Members of the Tahltan Nation in northern B.C. have delivered a decisive endorsement of a benefits agreement tied to the revitalization of the Eskay Creek mine, voting in favour of a deal worth almost $2 billion in combined cash, contracts and wages.
  The vote, held Dec. 13 and 14, concerned whether to approve an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) with Eskay Creek Mining, which the Tahltan Central Government said would provide $1.2 billion in direct payments and $570 million in Tahltan contracts and
  
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• Former Wet’suwet’en chief has ban from territory reissued by B.C. court

  16-12-2025 21:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  After multiple days of testimony over the course of 2025, a former elected chief and current Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief has had a court order barring him from his community extended, 30 years after being convicted of multiple sexual assaults.
  The Dec. 15 decision to extend the court order against Stanley George Nikal, age 78, is in part due to his continued claims that the charges were the work of a conspiracy against him, up to and including paying off the jury in his 1995 trial.
  
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• B.C. sets up program to test new tech for firefighting, emergency management

  16-12-2025 20:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  B.C. is creating a program to allow companies that make technology used for wildfire suppression and flood mapping to test their gear in real-world applications through an InnovateBC “testbed.”
  This platform is being provided so the industry can test new tech, while the province gets a chance to see what works best.
  Forests Minister Ravi Parmar announced the program as floods continue to wreak havoc in the Fraser Valley.
  “We know the technology has to play a bigger role in help
  
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• Balmy B.C. breaks weather records

  16-12-2025 20:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  It’s beginning to look a lot like spring.
  Winter has yet to hit most of the province with snow.
  Instead, record-breaking temperatures blasted 28 communities across B.C. Monday, Dec. 15.
  The hottest spot was Kamloops as the mercury rose to 18.6 degrees Celsius. That broke the 1962 record of 13.3.
  It felt more like summer in Comox at 16.9, breaking the 1976 record of 15.6.
  A very warm Victoria of 16.8 broke the 1999 record of 14.3.
  Duncan broke a 1956 record of 14.4 on Monday with a new reco
  
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• Crofton mill won’t close until Jan. 4

  16-12-2025 20:21 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The planned shutdown of the Crofton mill has been extended to the week of Jan. 4.
  Domtar, the mill’s owner, originally said the mill would shut down pulp production as of Dec. 15.
  Chris Stoicheff, Domtar’s senior director of public affairs, said the decision was made to extend operations in order to provide the mill’s workers with a continued schedule throughout the holiday season and the mill’s suppliers a few additional weeks to provide services to the facility, as well
  
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• B.C. man sweeps away curling club fears, replaces aging ice plant out of own pocket

  16-12-2025 20:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Santa came early for Peace Arch Curling Centre in White Rock, with a $2-million donation for a new, much-needed ice plant and floor.
  Bruce Buchanan, a White Rock resident since 2012, grew up in St. Stephen, N.B., where his grandfather built the small community’ s curling club.
  Although he didn’t get into curling until last year, both of his parents were avid curlers their whole lives. Buchanan eventually moved to White Rock, where he was driving along 16 Avenue one day and noticed a
  
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• Floods force Okanagan Impromptu basketball final

  16-12-2025 20:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Only two weeks ago, the Kalamalka Lakers senior boys basketball team went to Kamloops and rallied past Westsyde in the second half to win the Whundas’ tournament.
  Westsyde got its revenge Saturday, Dec. 13, in Vernon, at the VSS Panther Pit in a meeting that wasn’t on the teams’ original schedules.
  Kal was up 10 at halftime, but as Lakers co-coach Tim Thorpe points out, Westsyde coach Ryan Porter had a “halftime speech for the ages.” The Whundas outscored the Lakers
  
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• Ottawa approves Anglo-Teck merger with investments planned for Trail

  16-12-2025 19:54 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The federal government has approved Teck Resources Ltd.’s proposed merger of equals with Anglo American under the Investment Canada Act, marking another major milestone toward completion of the deal.
  In a news release dated Dec. 15, Teck and Anglo American said they have received regulatory approval from the Government of Canada for the transaction, which was first announced in September and approved by shareholders of both companies on Dec. 9.
  The companies said the approval includes a se
  
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• Province taps consultant to find options for mill site in wake of Crofton closure

  16-12-2025 19:42 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The province has retained an external consultant with expertise in the pulp and paper sector to assess options for the Crofton mill site, B.C.’s Forest Minister Ravi Parmar told North Cowichan’s council during a meeting on Dec. 10.
  Parmar also discussed the possibility of a new owner acquiring the property to resume pulp and paper production, or repurposing the property for another industrial use, the municipality said in a statement.
  “Given the significant implications for our
  
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• Hopes of a white Christmas melting away as Vancouver Island temperatures soar

  16-12-2025 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  With warm and wet weather set to abate later in the week, settling into more usual norms, daily temperature records are already falling across Vancouver Island.The mid-Island already broke daily records Sunday. Comox and Courtenay tied a record set in 1924 at 11.7 C, while Qualicum Beach airport recorded a high of 13.6 C, edging out the 1980 record of 13.More records are likely to follow, said Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.Typically, this time of year, he noted, the Vict
  
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• Trespasser hacks off senior horse’s tail in Cowichan Valley

  16-12-2025 19:03 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A Cowichan Valley woman was both gobsmacked and devastated to learn that at some point between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, somebody trespassed on her property and hacked off a large portion of her senior horse’s tail.
  “They didn’t cut it all off, but probably a good two thirds of it,” explained Linda Greville. “I can’t help but think that I’ve failed her by not keeping her safe.”
  Greville’s property is adjacent to Jordan’s Lane
  
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• Two arrested on drugs and gun charges after lengthy Nanaimo RCMP investigation

  16-12-2025 18:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Police have arrested two people in Nanaimo for possession of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and a rifle stolen during a break-and-enter in Port Alberni.
  In a press release, Nanaimo RCMP say that warrants were previously issued for Norman Miller, 44, and Carlene Sneddon, 42, who were located and arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 10. They remain in custody.
  Miller is charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, possession of a w
  
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• Victoria grassroots charity funds youth building community worldwide

  16-12-2025 17:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  As 2026 kicks off young people worldwide will celebrate small funding grants to promote big ideas.A Million Acts of Love, in a nutshell, revolves around the memory of Esquimalt teen Felix Townsin’s little sister Lexi, who lived with Blau syndrome, and died of complications just shy of her seventh birthday in 2019.Felix was nine, but he’d already been involved in philanthropic measures, writing Don’t Floss Your Toes at age 5 as a fundraiser for Blau syndrome (early onset sarcoid
  
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• Strong winds, snowy highway conditions expected for much of Interior B.C.

  16-12-2025 16:57 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Strong winds are expected overnight Tuesday, Dec. 16 and into Wednesday morning for a large part of Interior B.C.
  Environment Canada issued a special weather statement due to a “vigorous cold front” which will bring strong southwesterly winds throughout the Interior including to the Okanagan Valley, Similkameen, Nicola, South Thompson, the Fraser Canyon, the Cariboo and the Chilcotin.
  The winds are expected to ease Wednesday morning, but may lead to tree damage, power outages and tra
  
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• Comox, Victoria airport break daily weather records as storm slams Island

  16-12-2025 16:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Mother Nature broke daily temperature records amid a storm that left thousands on Vancouver Island without power and many areas flooded.
  A vigorous frontal system that moved across the coast Sunday and Monday (Dec. 15) brought with it heavy rain, strong winds and record-breaking warm temperatures.Data tracked by Environment and Climate Change Canada shows wind gusts up to 85 km/h at the Victoria Gonzales station and 78 in Victoria Harbour, while the heaviest rainfall hit Zeballos with 163mm. The
  
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• Falling tree kills B.C. woman walking with her kids during windstorm

  16-12-2025 16:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Chilliwack RCMP have confirmed that a woman was killed when a tree fell on her Monday afternoon during a windstorm.
  The woman was walking with her two young children at Island 22, shortly after 3 p.m. on Dec. 15.
  Victim Services was called in to assist the family.
  Investigators were still on the scene on Monday evening, Sgt. Alexandra Greenley said. At that time, RCMP were still working to inform next-of-kin.
  The woman’s death took place during a fierce windstorm that blew through Chilliwa
  
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• Tips to make Christmas season merry, bright, and safe from B.C.’s holiday Grinches

  16-12-2025 15:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  In the air there’s a definite feeling of Christmas, and with just one week to go before Dec. 25 there will be lots of packages arriving, plenty of shopping trips, visits to crowded malls, and perhaps plans to head somewhere else for the holidays.
  Unfortunately, this time of year also sees a rise in mail theft and distraction thefts, more thefts from vehicles and homes, and more unfortunate encounters in busy parking lots. Here are a few ways to keep yourself, your goods, your car, and your
  
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• Outdoor cat’s prey becomes 2,000th patient at Vancouver Island wildlife centre

  16-12-2025 15:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The Wildlife Animal Rehabilitation Centre in Metchosin quietly marked a milestone this fall with its 2,000th patient of the year.
  An Oregon junco, found frantically trying to escape an outdoor cat, came into care at the West Shore BC SPCA site in October.
  “Luckily, a concerned resident acted quickly, safely containing and bringing the injured bird to Wild ARC for care,” the agency said on social media.
  “Sadly, like many wild birds caught by cats, this junco had suffered several
  
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