Nanaimo news

• Support urged for Summerland businesses

  12-08-2026 20:44 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  As the Bald Range wildfire continues to affect Summerland, people around the province have been asking how they can help support the community now and in the weeks and months to come.
  Destination Summerland urges people to use their purchasing power to support Summerland farmers, wineries, cideries, breweries, distilleries, restaurants, artists, makers, accommodation providers and independent businesses.“Every purchase helps keep money moving through the local economy at a time when Summer
  
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• LETTER TO THE EDITOR: While the planet literally burns

  15-08-2026 20:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  To the editor,
  One hundred and thirty years ago, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius predicted that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could lead to global warming.
  By the 1960s and ‘70s, many scientists were aware that this was happening and were bringing it to the attention of elected officials. By the 1980s, climate change – to reflect the fact that not only heating, but other changes in climate could and would occur – was a widespread topic of public disco
  
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• ‘We’ll be here for the foreseeable future’: Summerland wildfire grows to almost 20,000 hectares

  15-08-2026 19:19 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Around 300 firefighters and 15 helicopters are battling the Bald Range wildfire, one day after some evacuation orders related to the blaze were downgraded to alerts.
  Residents in the Trout Creek neighbourhood of Summerland, for properties east of Highway 97, were told they could go home early Friday afternoon. Evacuation orders for all properties in the Peachland and Electoral Area West areas were also downgraded to alerts.
  All other previously issued evacuation orders remain in effect, as of Sa
  
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• Highway 97 through Clinton reopen to all traffic at noon Saturday

  15-08-2026 17:23 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Highway 97 between Clinton and 70 Mile House will be reopening to all traffic in both directions as of noon on Saturday (Aug. 15), but non-local drivers are not allowed to stop at any time.
  The highway has been closed since July 24 due to the Pear Lake wildfire.
  On Friday, the Village of Clinton and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District announced that evacuation orders affecting the whole of the Village, as well as 373 properties in TNRD Area “E,” were being downgraded to evacuation
  
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• We must be careful what we ask for

  15-08-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nobody wants to see more pollution released into Nanaimo’s skies.
  I get why most of council wants to introduce site-specific zoning for the city’s industrial lands so that applications for such effluent-belching structures, like waste-energy incinerators, petroleum refineries and LNG-export facilities, would have to go before staff and council for approval.
  Under current zoning, a proponent can get a development permit for building any one of them, and other such industries, with no
  
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• Residents, stakeholders across B.C. unite to stop deactivation of valued Interior forest road

  15-08-2026 14:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Citing public safety concerns, the B.C. government is starting to permanently close off a forest service road (FSR) near Trout Lake that accesses homes and runs up the Incomappleux River toward Glacier National Park.
  Property owners, backcountry users, industry and environmentalists have voiced outrage over the province’s plans, describing lack of meaningful consultation and a strong rationale for the road to remain accessible.
  This combination of advocates for keeping the Incomappleux FSR
  
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• Parksville firefighters put out vehicle blaze in parking lot of city shopping centre

  15-08-2026 05:40 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Parksville Fire Rescue responded to a car fire at approximately noon on Friday, in a parking lot at Park Plaza shopping centre.
  Fire crews found the car in flames and immediately hosed it down, preventing it from spreading in the busy shopping area. The vehicle was not occupied at the time of the fire and nobody was injured.
  Fire Chief Mark Norris said the owner of the vehicle was shopping nearby when the incident took place.
  The woman was distraught after she saw her burned car. She was console
  
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• ‘The environment has changed:’ residents returning to Clinton area told to be prepared for wildfire damage

  15-08-2026 03:51 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Be prepared to be self-sufficient for several days, be alert for fire, and give yourself space to absorb the changes you’ll see to the landscape.
  That was the advice that more than 400 people heard during an online information session on Friday afternoon for residents of Clinton, the surrounding electoral area, and local First Nations who are preparing to return.
  The Village of Clinton and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) co-hosted the session, which began with the news that ma
  
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• BC Wildfire Service responding to blaze off Highway 5 near Clearwater

  15-08-2026 03:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  BC Wildfire Service personnel were responding by land and air to a one-hectare blaze near Clearwater on Friday afternoon.The Noblequartz Creek fire was discovered later in the day on Aug. 14, burning southeast of Clearwater, near agricutural properties along the north side of Highway 5.As of 6 p.m. (Aug. 14), a crew of seven BCWS firefighters were responding along with two helicopters. BCWS said air tankers were also used on the fire and “had completed their objectives.”
  
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• BC Wildfire Service responding to blaze near off Highway 5 near Clearwater

  15-08-2026 03:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  BC Wildfire Service personnel were responding by land and air to a one-hectare blaze near Clearwater on Friday afternoon.The Noblequartz Creek fire was discovered later in the day on Aug. 14, burning southeast of Clearwater, near agricutural properties along the north side of Highway 5.As of 6 p.m. (Aug. 14), a crew of seven BCWS firefighters were responding along with two helicopters. BCWS said air tankers were also used on the fire and “had completed their objectives.”
  
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• Murder charge downgraded to manslaughter in 2021 killing of a Naramata woman

  15-08-2026 02:33 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  In an 105-page decision read in Kelowna Supreme Court on Friday, Aug. 14, Ekene Anigbo had his first-degree murder charge downgraded to being found guilty two counts of manslaughter.
  Anigbo was accused of killing 57-year-old Naramata resident Kathleen Richardson inside her home in the early morning of June 9, 2021, part of a series of murders and acts of violence in the Okanagan that started with the deaths of Erick and Carlos Fryer.However, on Friday, Justice Alison Beames found Anigbo not guil
  
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• ‘Emotional’ end for Hockey Night in Canada’s Punjabi broadcast, cancelled after 18 years

  15-08-2026 02:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Jagrag Lalli’s lifelong dream of working on Hockey Night in Canada’s Punjabi broadcast came to a sudden, emotional end on Thursday, Aug. 13.
  In a conference call, Lalli and more than a dozen other contracted broadcasters and staff were told the Rogers Sportsnet-produced show was cancelled after 18 years of airing NHL games in the Punjabi language.
  “It was very emotional when we told the news, I’m not going to lie,” said Lalli, who calls Surrey Eagles games in the BC
  
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• As fires rage, B.C.’s ranchers band together to save their homes and cattle

  15-08-2026 02:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  This year’s wildfires are ripping through some of B.C.’s best cattle country, and it is often neighbours stepping in to help save each other’s homes and cattle as the BC Wildfire Service works to protect more populated areas.
  In the Churn Creek area northwest of Clinton, a pair of historic ranches banded together to save one of their homesteads, fighting off the encroaching French Bar Creek fire into the night on July 17, alone and without professional firefighting help.
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• Bear cub and mother put down in Nelson

  15-08-2026 01:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  After several weeks of monitoring a grizzly sow and three yearling cubs, the B.C. Conservation Service (BCCOS) was forced to euthanize the grizzly sow in the interest of public safety.
  Two yearlings associated with the sow were captured and released at an undisclosed location where they can continue to be monitored, the BCCOS said in a statement.
  The grizzly, along with her three yearlings, were recently spotted along Highway 6 between Nelson and Ymir.
  One yearling, which had a a deformity or in
  
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• UPDATE: Orange, yellow air quality warnings remain for Okanagan, Thompson, Eastern Fraser Valley

  15-08-2026 01:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Wildfire smoke continues to be prevalent in multiple parts of B.C.
  On Friday, Aug. 14, Environment Canada issued orange and yellow air quality warnings due to wildfire smoke.
  Currently, 100 Mile House and the South Okanagan from Summerland to Osoyoos are under orange warnings, meaning conditions are expected to last longer than 48 hours.However, Environment Canada said conditions are expected to improve.
  “Cooler, wetter, convective conditions have led to clearing in many regions and improv
  
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• Maple Ridge RCMP shot the right bear

  15-08-2026 00:42 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The bear that mauled a three-year-old girl in Maple Ridge has been killed.
  The B.C. Conservation Officers Service has corrected its earlier assessment, and determined Maple Ridge RCMP did indeed shoot the right bear in the immediate aftermath of the attack last Sunday, Aug. 9.
  The toddler was attacked at about 11:30 a.m., while playing on the deck of her family home in the 12300 block of 240 Street. A parent intervened and drove the bear off, but the girl was airlifted to hospital and treated fo
  
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• Railroaders across B.C. continue 11-week strike as union rejects CPKC offer

  15-08-2026 00:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Labour disruption continues for CPKC’s signal and communications department across Canada as union members overwhelmingly reject the railway company’s latest contract offer.
  Eleven weeks have passed since the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Canadian Signals and Communications Systems Council No. 11 began striking between Vancouver and Montreal over concerns about CPKC’s wages, employee expenses, on-call obligations and demanding schedules.
  This action beg
  
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• Peachland gets to go home amid active wildfire

  15-08-2026 00:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Some residents get to go home tonight north of the Bald Range wildfire.
  At 6 p.m. Friday, evacuation orders for all properties in the Peachland and Electoral Area West areas will be downgraded to evacuation alerts.
  But residents are reminded the Bald Range Wildfire remains active and they should continue to monitor and subscribe for notifications at coemergency.ca/subscribe.For properties in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and Summerland areas affected by the Bald Range Wildlfire,
  
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• Many Clinton and area residents given go-ahead to go home Saturday

  15-08-2026 00:08 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Residents of the entire Village of Clinton, and many of the residents in Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) Area “E,” will be able to return home on Saturday, Aug. 15, as several evacuation orders issued in response to the Pear Lake wildfire are being downgraded to evacuation alert as of 8 a.m. Saturday.
  The announcement was made during an online public information session on Friday (Aug. 14) co-hosted by the TNRD and the Village of Clinton.
  The Pear Lake fire near Clinton was
  
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• BC Ferries backlog seeps into Saturday for drivers headed to Victoria, Nanaimo

  15-08-2026 00:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Drivers looking to get to Vancouver Island via BC Ferries on Friday (Aug. 14) face a potential wait until Saturday.Drivers face an eight-sailing wait as boats coming to Greater Victoria at Swartz Bay from Tsawwassen are full right through to the 6 a.m. ferry, as far ahead as the “current conditions” at the ferry service site looks.Drivers heading for Duke Point face a similar situation with the boats full up to and including Saturday’s 10:15 a.m. departure.Those heading off Isl
  
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• Light-industrial subdivision proposed for Nanaimo’s East Wellington Road

  14-08-2026 23:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A proposal for a light-industrial subdivision on 25 hectares of land on East Wellington Road will go to a public hearing.
  City council gave the first two readings for a zoning amendment to allow the project on two adjacent properties, located at 2080 and 2160 East Wellington Rd., to move forward at its meeting on Monday, July 27.
  The large, undeveloped properties are on the north side of East Wellington Road, southwest of the Nanaimo Parkway.
  Mark Holland, from the Westplan Consulting Group, spo
  
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• Central Saanich incident prompts fine from WorkSafe BC

  14-08-2026 23:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Over July, WorkSafeBC handed out just over $33,150 in fines to three Vancouver Island contractors for a number of incidents, including one that left a worker seriously injured after being struck by an excavator.
  On July 28, Arise Roofing was handed a $2,732.94 fine after inspectors found three workers, one of whom was a representative of the company, were on a sloped roof with no fall protection, exposing the workers to fall risks of up to 7.6 metres, in Central Saanich.
  WorkSafe BC says Arise f
  
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• 1 person taken to hospital after bear attack prompts closure of Vancouver Island park

  14-08-2026 21:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Residents and visitors are being asked to stay away from Stoney Hill Regional Park after a bear attack on Friday morning.
  According to Cowichan Valley Regional District, BC Conservation and BC RCMP requested the temporary closure of the park for the safety of visitors.
  BC Conservation, RCMP and CVRD Parks staff are actively responding to the incident and assessing the area, reads a post on the CVRD’s Facebook page.
  Visitors are being asked to obey all signage and stay away from this park u
  
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• UPDATE: Summerland’s Bald Range evacuation order partially downgraded to alert

  14-08-2026 20:48 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  UPDATE (12:25 p.m.)The Bald Range Wildfire evacuation order for residents of the Trout Creek neighbourhood of Summerland, for properties east of Highway 97, has been reduced to an evacuation alert.The order remains in place for the rest of the community and for all properties west of Highway 97 in Trout Creek.The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen’s Emergency Operations Centre dashboard at emergency.rdos.bc.ca has a searchable map to determine whether your property in the RDOS or Su
  
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• UPDATE: Crews make ‘good progress’ on Summerland wildfire after favourable overnight conditions

  14-08-2026 20:48 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  UPDATE (11:50 A.M.)
  Favourable overnight conditions allowed crews to make “good progress” on the southern flank of the Bald Range wildfire in Summerland, the BC Wildfire Service said.
  Six helicopters supported firefighters in battling the blaze, with structure protection personnel and apparatus also continuing operations on the ground.
  There was no growth on the fire overnight. It is 19,149 hectares in size and remains out of control.
  Favourable conditions also aided crews in helping
  
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• Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar quits B.C. Conservative caucus

  14-08-2026 20:43 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar announced on social media on Friday that he is leaving the B.C. Conservative caucus, saying he no longer shares the party’s values under new Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
  “I completely respect the vote of the membership, and that Kerry-Lynne Findlay has earned the right as leader to shape the party as she sees fit,” he wrote. “It has, however, become clear to me over the last few months that my values don’t align with this new directi
  
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• Netflix’s ‘Crew Girl’ puts Vancouver Island in the spotlight

  14-08-2026 20:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Greater Victoria will take centre stage this fall as Netflix’s new teen drama Crew Girl brings the region’s most iconic spots to audiences around the globe.
  With the trailer released Aug. 12, keen-eyed viewers may have already noticed some familiar places.
  The eight-episode series, which premieres on Sept. 10, follows Teagan Tao (Miku Martineau), “a gifted 16-year-old single sculler whose promising future is derailed by a family scandal.”
  After moving to the East Coast wi
  
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• Eby shuffles cabinet after Bailey cancer diagnosis, Osborne to Finance, Kahlon to Health

  14-08-2026 19:47 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Premier David Eby is shuffling his cabinet after Finance Minister Brenda Bailey’s cancer diagnosis.
  Bailey’s cancer is treatable, she says, and her prognosis is “very good.”
  Health Minister Josie Osborne will take over for Bailey, with Jobs and Economic Development Minister Ravi Kahlon taking over at Health.
  More to come.
  
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• Central Saanich stats prove girls belong in baseball

  14-08-2026 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Pretty confident they’ve already proven girls belong in baseball, the leaders at Central Saanich Little League look to recruit others and build on the future.On the heels of a successful first season, the female program for young players is hosting a winter open house and free spring break clinic that pushed the numbers up enough to host two teams this season.On Wednesday (Aug. 19) evening, they hope to see Diamond 5 at Centennial Park filled with keeners – experienced or not. Girls
  
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• Headline history: Canadian police information system links computers across country

  14-08-2026 19:28 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Since being established in 1973, the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) has only grown, linking police, and Canadians, across the country.
  In an article about the system, published in the News Bulletin on Aug. 12, 1999, it was praised for being used to return elderly and lost individuals to their families, a part of its function of sharing information between police agencies.
  Some of this information includes data on all persons who are of “special interest,” including missing
  
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