Nanaimo news

• Truck incident kills Lumby youth

  30-06-2026 00:33 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A summer celebration turned tragic in Lumby over the weekend.
  Two pedestrians were hit by a truck on a rural property Saturday shortly before 12 p.m.
  Despite immediate first aid provided by youth witnesses and efforts of paramedics when they arrived, a 15-year-old Lumby youth died.
  A second youth, who was also struck by the pick-up, was transported to hospital by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries.
  The driver of the pick-up truck fled the scene but was later located by police.
  “T
  
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• B.C. prisoner escape sparks safety questions from community

  30-06-2026 19:02 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  It was a sleepless night for Metchosin residents following the news that a “dangerous” prisoner had escaped from the William Head Institution.
  Inmate Ernest Egon Jensen, who was serving an indeterminate life sentence for second-degree murder for over three decades, was discovered missing during the noon count on Sunday (June 28).
  The missing prisoner was reported to West Shore RCMP shortly before 1 p.m., who immediately dispatched patrols to the area of the institution, including air
  
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• Trio of Greater Victoria standouts follow Verhoeff into NHL draft ranks

  30-06-2026 18:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Just a day after former Victoria Royals blueliner Keaton Verhoeff became the highest draft pick in franchise history, Greater Victoria found three more reasons to celebrate.
  Timmy Runtso, Gio Pantelas and Noah Kosick all joined Verhoeff on Saturday (June 27) as players tied to the area selected at the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, N.Y.
  View this post on InstagramA post shared by Canadiens de Montréal (@canadiensmtl)Runtso, who was passed over in his first year of NHL draft eligibility, heard
  
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• Vancouver Island woman campaigns to have ‘O Canada’ sung across country on July 1

  30-06-2026 17:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Jacquie Slocombe is on a mission to have the national anthem sung across the country at the same time this Canada Day.
  The Qualicum Beach woman said the idea is her daughter’s, and the inspiration came from when people used to bang on pots during the early months of the pandemic.
  The grass roots movement was started last year by Katharine Casey, Slocombe’s daughter, and received widespread media coverage.
  She encourages people to sing ‘O Canada’ at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
  &
  
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• WORLD CUP DAILY, June 30: Canada to face #6-ranked Morocco in Round of 16 match Saturday

  30-06-2026 16:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Daily FIFA World Cup soccer match updates and news for Black Press Media publications.
  Three matches were played Monday including Netherlands vs. Morocco, the battle of most interest to soccer-mad Canadians.
  Morocco won in Monterrey to earn a Round of 16 clash with our Canadian men this Saturday morning (July 4) in Houston, 10 a.m. start Pacific time.
  Ranked sixth in the world, Morocco are soccer giants compared to 30th-ranked Canada, who’ll be underdogs in Texas.
  In other Round of 32 acti
  
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• Proposed 43-unit housing project on Departure Bay Road gets thumbs up

  30-06-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A proposal that would see approximately 43-housing units built on a 1.14-acre lot at 2335 Departure Bay Road is being viewed favourably by Nanaimo city council, although concerns around having too much density in the neighbourhood have been raised.
  Council unanimously gave the first three readings to the proposal, which includes the construction of a four-storey multifamily building that would face Departure Bay Road, with additional housing units located on the western part of the property faci
  
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• Sunken vehicle surfaces surprise for rafters in B.C. Interior river

  30-06-2026 14:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Guides with Revelstoke-based Apex Rafting were cruising a routine run down the Illecillewaet River rapids on June 7 when one of them noticed an unusual shape below the surface.
  The guide claimed to have glimpsed an automobile underwater, however, fellow rafters reportedly refused to believe it.
  But the truth quickly surfaced that someone had driven a vehicle off the Trans-Canada Highway into the river.
  “We were never notified about the vehicle,” Apex owner-operator Ralph Koerber reco
  
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• Lithium ion battery suspected cause of Vancouver Island recycling centre fire

  30-06-2026 03:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A damaged lithium ion battery is suspected to have caused a fire that significantly damaged a Parksville area recycling facility on June 24.
  Errington Fire Department was called to the Waste Connections of Canada Springhill Road facility shortly after 8 a.m., according to Chief Steve Ternes, and the fire continued to spread even as firefighters were hitting it with water.
  “If you’ve ever burned paper before, you know that if you pile paper up, it burns, but it’s very slow to bu
  
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• Kelowna riding coach’s fate left to jury for alleged sex crimes, child luring

  30-06-2026 03:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The fate of a Kelowna equestrian coach is in the hands of a jury as submissions in the trial for sexual touching, sexual assault, and child luring came to a close on June 29.
  Sebastien Devrainne, originally from France, has spent the past week sitting in a Kelowna, B.C. Supreme Court for alleged crimes against a former student dating back more than a decade.
  Defence lawyers argued that there has been no evidence to prove that a sexual relationship of any kind took place between Devrainne and the
  
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• Wildfire south of Lillooet burns in dangerous terrain, being monitored: BCWS

  30-06-2026 02:35 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Riley Creek wildfire south of Lillooet is seeing a modified response due to it burning in unsafe and inaccessible terrain.
  The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) provided an update about the wildfire on Monday, June 29, at 4:19 p.m.
  The fire (number K70659), was discovered on June 24 and remains out of control and sized at 50 hectares. The suspected cause of the fire is lightning.
  BCWS provided a detailed response update on June 29.
  They say the wildfire is about nine kilometres south of Lillooet an
  
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• B.C. attorney general joins Williams Lake mother’s call for child online safety

  30-06-2026 01:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  WARNING: This article contains content that might be distressing for some readers. If you feel like you are in crisis or are considering suicide, please call the Crisis Centre BC suicide hotline at 1-800-784-2433. Other resources include: Canada Suicide Prevention Service at Toll free: 1-833-456-4566, the Crisis Line at 310-6789 or 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433): For suicide prevention and intervention.You can also text 45645 or visit the online chat service at crisisservicescanada.ca
  Maddy Cros
  
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• PROGRESS 2026: Coulson Aviation’s night vision firefighting helped battle summer fires on Vancouver Island

  30-06-2026 01:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  In a historically bad year for wildfires across Canada, B.C. had 1,350 fires with an estimated 886,360 hectares of land burned across the province. When it came to fighting two of the worst fires in Vancouver Island’s history, BC Wildfire Service took advantage of Coulson Aviation’s successful night vision aerial firefighting program.
  Almost 15 years to the day after testing how effective a helicopter could be dropping water on hot spots at night, the Wesley Ridge fire broke out betw
  
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• Escaped inmate from B.C. prison found dead

  30-06-2026 01:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has confirmed that escaped inmate Ernest Egon Jensen, 69, has been found dead.
  In a statement released just after 2 p.m. today (June 29), CSC said Jensen was found “in the ocean off the coast of Metchosin.”
  West Shore RCMP said Jensen’s body was recovered near the shoreline along William Head Institution by the RCMP West Coast Marine Services alongside Metchosin Fire Department.
  “Yesterday, CSC followed escape protocols and issued
  
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• Celebrate Canada Day with baseball and fireworks in Nanaimo

  30-06-2026 01:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  This Canada Day people can check out a baseball game and watch fireworks light the skies above Nanaimo.
  Nanaimo NightOwls face Victoria HarbourCats (Thundercats) at Serauxmen Stadium in a Canada Day game beginning at 6:35 p.m., followed by a permitted fireworks show.
  The game is part of the nine annual matches between the two West Coast League rivals that begins on Wednesday, June 24. Historically, Victoria has come out victorious, which means the pressure will be on the NightOwls to come out on
  
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• 6 presumed dead, 2 still in hospital after charter boat sinks off Richmond: RCMP

  29-06-2026 23:47 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Police say the six people missing after a charter boat sank off the coast of Richmond are now presumed dead.
  Four men and two women remain unaccounted for Monday afternoon, more than a day after the vessel sank near Roberts Bank on Sunday (June 28). Police say they are presumed to have drowned.
  Richmond RCMP now say the search has been suspended and search efforts have now shifted to recovery.
  It’s believed the boat sank in very deep waters, police say.
  The RCMP’s underwater recovery
  
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• Lisa Marie Young vigil brings a crowd in Nanaimo

  29-06-2026 23:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Twenty-four years after her disappearance, Lisa Marie Young’s family and friends haven’t given up on justice for her.
  On Sunday, June 28, people from across Nanaimo gathered for a vigil at Maffeo Sutton Park.
  The event began with a performance of Forever Young, by Island Harmony A Capella, which Sheila Malcolmson, the MLA for Nanaimo-Gabriola Island, called “the most beautiful Forever Young” rendition she ever heard.
  “It’s such an example of this community who
  
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• Court declines to reopen Cowichan Tribes case to add private landowner Montrose

  29-06-2026 22:03 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young will not allow the Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title case to be reopened for the private landowner Montrose Properties to be added as a defendant.
  Permitting the case to be relitigated in this way would be an “abuse of process,” the judge found.
  “Although Montrose did not have formal notice of the proceeding, it had knowledge of the proceedings, and chose not to apply to be added as [a] party until long after the conclusion of the trial,&
  
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• B.C. Nurses’ Union files 72-hour strike notice to labour relations board

  29-06-2026 21:37 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The B.C. Nurses’ Union has filed a 72-hour strike notice to the B.C. Labour Relations Board and the Health Employers Association of B.C.
  Union president Adriane Gear announced the job action notice Monday in Burnaby.She said on Thursday, July 2 and 12:01 p.m., the nurses in the province will be in a legal position to begin job action.This comes after 67 per cent of B.C. nurses voted to reject the recently negotiated tentative collective agreement.
  The tentative deal was negotiated between
  
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• 1 dead in Kelowna following report of a drowning on Okanagan Lake

  29-06-2026 21:10 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  UPDATE 12:55 p.m.
  An individual has died following a possible drowning call on Okanagan Lake late Monday morning.
  “Officers, including the General Investigation Support Team, are currently on scene conducting the preliminary investigation,” Kelowna RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Steven Lang told Black Press Media. “The BC Coroner’s Service has been notified and is currently on scene.”
  Emergency crews were called to the scene of Poplar Point Drive along Okanagan L
  
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• ‘One with the crowd’: Victoria youth find home at the World Cup

  29-06-2026 20:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Hussein Obid didn’t need to see the ball hit the net.
  With Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah cutting towards the edge of the 18-yard box in the 67th minute inside BC Place, the 18-year-old leaned toward his friends. “He’s going to score.”
  About 10 seconds later, he did.
  It turned out to be the game-winner in Egypt’s 3-1 victory over New Zealand, the country’s first-ever World Cup win, and set off a roar inside the sold-out stadium of 52,497 fans.
  “Everybo
  
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• Best of B.C. theatre takes Vernon stage

  29-06-2026 20:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The best of theatre from throughout the province is coming to a stage near you.
  Mainstage is back in Vernon after a successful festival in Fort St. John in 2025.
  The annual drama festival returns to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre from July 6 to 10 with five plays.
  Each evening features a different play from a different region of British Columbia.
  Produced by Theatre BC, Mainstage is one of the longest-running theatre traditions in Canada, dating back to 1932.
  “This exciting
  
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• 7 metric tons of trash removed from Vancouver Island backcountry

  29-06-2026 20:01 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Four Wheel Drive Association of B.C. collected nearly 7,000 kilograms (15,000 pounds) of garbage in the Cowichan backcountry on Sunday, June 14.
  Approximately 40 volunteers, gathered at Hillcrest Road off of Highway 18 — a location notorious for illegal dumping and spent the day focused on collecting garbage in five distinct zones.
  “Volunteers spread out across each area to tackle as much refuse as possible,” said organizer Colin Stuart. “By lunch time, Tiger Towing h
  
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• Cowichan squad wins Vancouver Island 8-ball title

  29-06-2026 19:59 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Team Cowichan captured first-place this year in the Vancouver Island Team Challenge 8-ball Championship held June 6 to 7 in Courtenay.
  The victory marked the first time Team Cowichan has taken the top prize in the annual competition.
  In total, 10 teams entered from various Island regions from Victoria to Port Alberni, as well as with the addition of a Powell River team.
  Teams consisted of three women and 10 men, playing 27 games each in the intense two-day event.
  Cowichan team captain Kathie Mac
  
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• Comox’s 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron deployed to medevac mission in Bute Inlet

  29-06-2026 19:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 19 Wing Comox conducted a medical evacuation of an injured tugboat crewmember on June 26.
  The squadron was deployed under the command of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria for the medical evacuation, with a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter (callsign RSCU 915) tasked to respond. The rescue was completed with the injured crew member being hoisted into the helicopter. The crewmember was delivered to BC EHS at Comox.
  
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• Vancouver Canucks acquire veteran forward Brendan Gallagher from Habs

  29-06-2026 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Brendan Gallagher is coming back to Vancouver.
  Vancouver Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson announced Monday (June 29) the club has acquired the veteran forward from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for future considerations. According to a press release, the Canadiens will also retain 50 per cent of Gallagher’s salary ($6.5M cap hit this season; $4M in base salary).
  Also Monday, the Canucks picked up a third-round pick in the 2029 NHL draft (originally belonging to Colorado) for forwa
  
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• Findlay shakes up B.C. Conservative caucus leadership, installs Maahs as interim leader

  29-06-2026 19:18 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay is shaking up the party’s caucus leadership team, installing mostly loyalists who backed her campaign in the key roles.
  Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs will lead the Official Opposition on an interim basis, presumably until Findlay can secure a seat through a byelection. This would require a sitting MLA to step down, and while none have stepped forward yet, there are rumours that several have offered to.
  Prince George—North Cariboo MLA
  
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• Two teenagers struck by vehicle in Nanaimo

  29-06-2026 19:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Two teenagers, 16 and 13, were taken to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries after being struck by a vehicle last Sunday.
  Just before 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 28 at the intersection of Bay Street and Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.
  R/Const. Gary O’Brien, from the Nanaimo RCMP detachment, said the driver of the vehicle stayed on scene and cooperated with police officers.
  He said speed, alcohol or drugs were not a factor in the incident, but the driver was issued a ticket fo
  
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• Oscar-winning actor filmed Netflix’s ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ in Maple Ridge

  29-06-2026 19:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A movie about a widow who bonds with a clever octopus starring Oscar Award winner Sally Field was filmed – in part – in Maple Ridge.
  According to Netflix in Your Neighbourhood, which lists films and the locations where the movies were filmed, the movie “Remarkably Bright Creatures” was filmed at The Wolf Bar along Lougheed Highway.
  The movie was based on the bestselling novel of the same title by Shelby Van Pelt that explores the themes of grief, friendship, and connectio
  
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• Actor Josh Duhamel filming production in Maple Ridge

  29-06-2026 18:55 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  American actor Josh Duhamel is in Maple Ridge filming a new feature called “Runaway”.
  In a recent Instagram post, the star announced to his 2.5 million followers that he was sitting in the middle of a beautiful park, “outside of a town called Maple Ridge near Vancouver.”
  “Shooting a movie called ‘Runaway’. It’s so beautiful out here,” he said in the post.
  The star, whose breakout role was in the film franchise “Transformers” as Ca
  
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• B.C. family shares journey through younger-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis

  29-06-2026 18:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Everything changed when a familiar route home became unfamiliar.
  For years, Mark Breslaw drove the same route home from work. Then, one afternoon in November 2023, something happened that he couldn’t explain.
  Sitting at a familiar four-way stop on his drive home, Breslaw suddenly didn’t know where he was.
  “It was my turn to go and I completely blanked on how I got there, where I was and where home was,” Breslaw recalled.
  At first, he blamed stress from his job and didn&rs
  
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