Nanaimo news

• In the limelight

  05-07-2023 16:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Chelsea Hobbs embraces her many roles—as an actor and a mother
  
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• Kelowna manslaughter case continues as Crown presses for 7 year sentence

  23-01-2026 05:49 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A Kelowna woman could see up to seven years behind bars for manslaughter if Justice Murray imposes the full term Crown prosecutors are requesting.
  Ka-Mikosit Mae Favelle was in Kelowna Supreme Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to manslaughter in relation to the death of her ex-partner, Adam Briand-Lawrence, on Aug. 19, 2022.
  Friends and family of both parties filled the courtroom on Jan. 22 to learn Favelle’s fate.
  Crown counsel Jordan Schroeder asked for a seven-year prison sente
  
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• Only about half of cancer patients in B.C. seeing oncologists within benchmarks

  23-01-2026 01:51 via nanaimobulletin.com
  B.C.’s health-care system is still far behind national benchmarks for cancer care wait times, despite the province pouring in new money and hiring scores of additional staff.
  Wait times for some types of treatment are decreasing, but the overall picture shows B.C. falling behind the rest of Canada.
  The longest waits are to get an initial oncology appointment, with almost half of cancer patients waiting longer than the four-week benchmark to see an oncologist.
  These delays were at the core
  
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• Nearly half of B.C. cancer patients wait longer than benchmarks to see an oncologist

  23-01-2026 01:51 via nanaimobulletin.com
  B.C.’s health-care system is still far behind national benchmarks for cancer care wait times, despite the province pouring in new money and hiring scores of additional staff.
  Wait times for some types of treatment are decreasing, but the overall picture shows B.C. falling behind the rest of Canada.
  The longest waits are to get an initial oncology appointment, with almost half of cancer patients waiting longer than the four-week benchmark to see an oncologist.
  These delays were at the core
  
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• 2025 saw the lowest number of black bears killed in B.C. in a decade

  23-01-2026 01:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  There were 211 black bears killed in B.C. – the lowest number killed in more than a decade, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service says.
  The service released the 2025 statistics Thursday (Jan. 22), noting it was a 65-per-cent drop from 2023 and the lowest overall number since the B.C. Conservation Officer Service predator statistics were first published online in 2011.
  Last year, 33 bears were euthanized for welfare reasons, such as a bear critically injured by a vehicle, while conservation
  
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• Prolific criminal dodges dangerous offender designation

  23-01-2026 01:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A prolific criminal who pleaded guilty to an attempted robbery in Surrey has dodged a dangerous offender designation that would have carried indeterminate incarceration but instead was found to be a long-term offender warranting a determinate prison sentence followed by long-term supervision.
  Justice Barbara Norell presided over the case of Christopher David Prokopchuk in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
  “I appreciate that it will be difficult and it will be a challenge for you, but
  
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• ‘B.C. vigilante cowboys’: Surrey resident calls for 500 gun licences to face extortionists

  23-01-2026 00:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A Surrey resident is calling on the province to expedite the issuance of 500 gun licences so residents can protect themselves during the ongoing extortion crisis.
  Vikram Bajwa said, “I strongly believe we have to become B.C. vigilante cowboys in order to respond to this violence.”
  “(If) somebody calls me and says, ‘Vikram, I need $500,000 if you don’t pay me within one week, I’m gonna kidnap your kid.’ So what am I supposed to tell my kid, don’t go
  
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• ‘N’ driver arrested for travelling 120 km/h on Kelowna’s Glenmore Road

  22-01-2026 23:57 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Driver arrested for going 70 km/h over speed limit in Kelowna
  A vehicle caught travelling 120 km/h in a 50 km/h zone highlighted a successful day for the Kelowna RCMP’s Municipal Traffic Unit.
  Someone on Tuesday, Jan. 20, a member of the RCMP observed the vehicle “operating in an extremely dangerous manner”, travelling approximately 70 km/h over the speed limit on Glenmore Road at High Road.
  The officer stopped the vehicle and arrested the Class 7 (N) driver for dangerous opera
  
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• Female inequity likely an underlying cause of OB/GYN shortage: Fraser Health doctor

  22-01-2026 23:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Female inequity is a likely underlying reason behind OB/GYN staffing shortages and the ongoing maternity diversions at local hospitals, including White Rock’s Peace Arch Hospital, says one top Fraser Health physician.
  Dr. Darren Lazare, Fraser Health’s co-program medical director for the Maternal Infant Child Youth program, said the current diversions at local maternity wards — including Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock and Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge — are due
  
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• Kelowna’s Tess Critchlow heading to 3rd Winter Olympic Games for Team Canada

  22-01-2026 22:57 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Big White’s Tess Critchlow is once again an Olympic athlete.
  On Thursday, Jan. 22, Canada Snowboard and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced Team Canada’s roster for the snowboard cross, half pipe and parallel giant slalom events at the 2026 Winter Games.
  Critchlow, the 30-year-old was named to the snowboard cross team, making Milano Cortina her third Olympics.
  In 2018, she made her Olympic debut in PyeongChang where she finished ninth overall in snowboard cross.
  At the 202
  
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• Community helps Tseshaht First Nation cover racist vandalism on bridge

  22-01-2026 22:38 via nanaimobulletin.com
  After racist vandalism defaced the “Every Child Matters” marker at Port Alberni’s Orange Bridge, Tseshaht First Nation invited the community to help them repaint it.
  The bridge was marked with swastikas and racist words, making it the second act of vandalism in the past week and the third since “Every Child Matters” was painted on a barrier on the bridge’s approach in 2022.
  Tseshaht Elected Chief Councillor Wahmeesh Ken Watts said the bridge has an important m
  
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• Authorities can’t find ex-Kelowna banker who swindled $354K from elders

  22-01-2026 22:33 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A ex-banker who operated in Kelowna is being fined over $1 million for transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly clients to bank accounts he controlled.
  Scotiabank representative Marc-Antoine Ladeiro was found by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) to have have “willfully and deceptively misappropriated $354,700 from an elderly couple” before disappearing entirely.
  “His deliberate and surreptitious scheme to misappropriate client funds was a
  
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• Trailblazing B.C. band 54-40 recorded new ‘Porto’ album in Portugal

  22-01-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Friday, Jan. 23 is album-release day for trailblazing B.C. rock band 54-40, formed 45 years ago in Tsawwassen and still creating new music.
  Eleven songs on the band’s 16th studio album, Porto, were recorded in Porto, Portugal with longtime producer Warne Livesey.
  For 11 days they worked quickly at Arda Recorders in the midst of a day-long power failure on the Iberian Peninsula.
  Bed tracks of drums, bass, guitars and keyboards were recorded live, reports Dave Genn, the band’s South Su
  
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• North Island ski hill suspends operations due to lack of snow

  22-01-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Mount Cain’s tongue-in-cheek slogan is ringing a bit too true this year, at least when it comes to conditions on the hill.
  In a social media post, Mount Cain Alpine Park announced that it would be pausing operations for the weekend as skiers eagerly await for more snow to accumulate. The decision was made for the safety of users, staff and equipment.
  Any accommodations made for the upcoming will be refunded, the post says, and the booking team will contact those who need it.
  As of Jan. 22,
  
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• Gus Nielsen

  22-01-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  1927-2025
  A remarkable one-of-a-kind man with the inner strength of a Viking. A very loved Grandfather, Uncle, Brother, Friend, amazing Caregiver and Father. After celebrating his 98th birthday with family and close friends, and enjoying Christmas at home, Gus passed to be with our Lord on December 31st, 2025. Gus was predeceased in 2011 by his wife Olga (of 54 years) and son Ralph in 2024, and brother Niels in 2014. He will be forever held close in the hearts of his daughter Laurie; six grandch
  
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• Fallout from shuttered Crofton pulp mill hits North Island, Atli chip mill closing

  22-01-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The ‘Namgis majority-owned Atli Chip LP wood chipping facility in Beaver Cove near Port McNeill recently announced it is shutting down operations, directly affecting around 20 workers.
  According to a Sept. 2025 report from the FESBC, Atli Resources successfully recovered, “over 100,000 cubic metres of fibre between 2023 and 2025, equivalent to approximately 2,000 truck loads, the company has plans to deliver more by the end of this year.”
  However, with the Domtar Crofton Pulp M
  
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• Hundreds gather for Bill C-9 opposition in Okanagan

  22-01-2026 21:55 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Inundating Liberal Member of Parliament’s emails with letters of protest over the government’s proposed Bill C-9 on free speech and freedom of religion is something those members would hate.
  That was one of a number of messages doled out in regards to the bill by opposition Conservative MPs Scott Anderson of Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee and special guest Andrew Lawton, MP for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South in Ontario, at a town hall meeting on C-9 Wednesday, Jan. 21.
  A crowd of close
  
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• Sicamous man ‘dumbfounded’ after $1.6M lottery win at Vernon casino

  22-01-2026 20:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A Sicamous man “dumbfounded” by a $1.6 million lottery win plans to slow things down a bit.
  Grabbing a bite with a friend at Lake City Casino in Vernon on Jan. 8 became a life-changing experience for Pierre B. after he fed some money into a Powerbucks™ Whitney Houston™ that he had previously enjoyed playing at another casino. Rightfully so, as he spun his way to a $1,657,818.32 jackpot.
  “After I ate, I sat at it and a few minutes later I won,” he said in a med
  
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• B.C. mother’s death prompts plea to address intimate partner violence

  22-01-2026 19:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  On a chilly January morning, hundreds of mourners, advocates and community members congregated outside the Victoria courthouse for a melancholic gathering, remembering victims of intimate partner violence.
  The crowd was drawn to the courthouse by the Jan. 21 appearance of Muhammed Basar, who was charged with the second-degree murder of his former partner Laura Gover. The 41-year-old was found dead in her Saanich home Jan. 5.
  Gover was the mother of two daughters and was lauded as a highly respec
  
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• Northern Lights shine brightly above Vancouver Island this week

  22-01-2026 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Mother nature put on quite a show in the skies above Northern Vancouer Island this week.
  Cumberland resident Krystaleen Giesbrecht was among those able to find a break in the fog to witness the Aurora Borealis.
  The celestial event was brought on by a geomagnetic storm that has been hitting Earth since Jan 19. The storm hit G4 levels, which is the second most-intense that a solar storm can get.
  “I’m crying,” Giesbrecht wrote on Facebook about witnessing the aurora.
  Meanwhile, Ti
  
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• Nanaimo RCMP renew call to find suspect in medical centre B&E

  22-01-2026 18:57 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Law enforcement is renewing a call to the public to help locate a man accused of a break-and-enter at a Nanaimo medical centre.
  In a press release, Nanaimo RCMP said Riley Quin, 45, is still at large and wanted on an outstanding warrant. Police had notified the public about Quin in May, but that failed to yield any leads.
  In December 2022, Quin is alleged to have broken into Anchor Family Medicine in Nanaimo and stolen items, police said, and is believed to still be in the Nanaimo area and &ldqu
  
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• Salmon plan could ‘extinguish’ public’s right to fish coho and chinook, BCWF says

  22-01-2026 17:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The B.C. Wildlife Federation is warning the public to make some noise if they want to protect the concept of wild salmon as a shared “public” resource to be managed for the benefit of all Canadians.
  The federal Salmon Allocation Policy is under review by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) right now with the deadline for feedback closing on Friday, Jan. 23.
  The BCWF issued a release titled: “Your right to fish is in danger” where they assert the proposal alters the concept
  
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• Pacific FC told to book home matches one at a time as negotiation tensions continue

  22-01-2026 17:10 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Pacific FC and the City of Langford have yet to reach a long-term stadium agreement at Starlight Stadium.
  Instead, the CPL club has been told it must secure access to the stadium on a game-by-game basis for the 2026 season while negotiations continue.
  Langford confirmed the previous Stadium Use Agreement expired at the end of 2025 and that talks on a new deal have been ongoing for months.
  “Despite the efforts of both parties, the city and PFC remain divided on several key components of the
  
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• Pacific FC told book home matches one at a time as negotiation tensions continue

  22-01-2026 17:10 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Pacific FC and the City of Langford have yet to reach a long-term stadium agreement at Starlight Stadium.
  Instead, the CPL club has been told it must secure access to the stadium on a game-by-game basis for the 2026 season while negotiations continue.
  Langford confirmed the previous Stadium Use Agreement expired at the end of 2025 and that talks on a new deal have been ongoing for months.
  “Despite the efforts of both parties, the city and PFC remain divided on several key components of the
  
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• As shots continue to fly in Surrey, Sturko wants Eby to show urgency or step down

  22-01-2026 17:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Cloverdale’s MLA disagrees with the RCMP’s assistant commissioner for British Columbia John Brewer.
  On Jan, 20, during a press conference, Brewer disagreed that the extortion problem plaguing Surrey was a crisis at all.
  “There’s not a crisis,” Brewer said. “A crisis is what’s happening out there with drug overdoses. That’s a crisis. People are dying. This is a threat to public safety, absolutely, and I take it very seriously.”
  Elenore Sturko,
  
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• Watch for black ice as fog advisory continues for Vancouver Island

  22-01-2026 16:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Foggy conditions persist on Vancouver Island from Victoria to near Port Alberni and across the Sunshine Coast with another pocket on the Lower Mainland to start Thursday (Jan. 22).
  A ridge of high pressure off the coast is trapping moisture near the surface, creating areas of dense fog, according to Environment Canada
  The coastal ridge is forecast to weaken Thursday with an approaching weather system, and visibility should improve in some areas by afternoon. Fog patches may linger through the ni
  
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• Environment Canada says B.C. should brace for one of the hottest years on record

  22-01-2026 16:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  After a soggy December and no snow a month into winter, 2026 is shaping up to be a warmer year for those living on B.C.’s south coast.
  And the latest information from Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts that people across the country could see warm temperatures scorching their way into the record book.
  ECCC released its annual global mean temperature forecast, providing early access to expected global temperature conditions for 2026. Following record-breaking global heat in 202
  
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• B.C. sexual-abuse survivor forgives molester in court

  22-01-2026 16:22 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Warning: This story contains details about child sexual abuse.
  An Abbotsford woman who was sexually abused as a child has had the court publication ban lifted on her name so she can speak publicly about what happened to her and offer support to other victims.
  Nicolle Lauder said she carried the trauma of her abuse for many years before telling others.
  “I felt like it was only really protecting him, but I have nothing to hide,” she said.
  Lauder, 27, was at the Abbotsford Law Courts on
  
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• 4.4M earthquake off B.C. coast south of Haida Gwaii goes mostly unnoticed

  22-01-2026 16:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  In a region where earthquakes rumble deep on a regular basis, most go unnoticed.That includes a pair in recent days. Emergency Info BC flagged a 4.4 magnitude earthquake that struck 184 km south, southeast of Skidegate at a depth of 20 km, just before 4 p.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 21).
  There were no reports of damage, and none would be expected.
  No tsunami was expected from that or one earlier in the day, recorded about 129 km northwest of El Centro, Calif.The U.S. Geological Survey also notes a sma
  
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• Vancouver Island Military Museum marks 40 years honouring military history

  22-01-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A long-standing Nanaimo institution that focuses on military history is celebrating some history of its own.
  Vancouver Island Military Museum (VIMM) celebrated its 40th anniversary Tuesday, Jan. 20, and in its 40 years has become one of B.C.’s most significant military history institutions with dozens of displays and thousands of artifacts and memorabilia portraying Canada’s role in wars and peacekeeping missions dating from the War of 1812 to Operation Reassurance in Latvia where 2,
  
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