North Vancouver news

• Police watchdog finds no link between man's injuries and police action

  09-08-2017 22:54 via vancouversun.com
  Update: B.C.’s police watchdog has determined there was no connection between a man who injured himself and police action during a confrontation in Sicamous this week.
  “The IIO has released jurisdiction and will no longer be investigating as there is no apparent connection between the injuries sustained by the male and the actions of police,” said spokesman Aidan Buckley with the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.
  Earlier: B.C.’s police watchdog is now in
  
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• New municipal affairs minister aims to tackle housing costs crunch

  09-08-2017 22:28 via vancouversun.com
  There is much anticipation about what the new minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will prioritize when it comes to tackling out-of-control housing prices in B.C.’s metropolitan areas.
  Selina Robinson, the second-term MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville, feels she’s up to the task and spoke to us recently. The following is an edited, condensed version of that conversation:
  Tell us about yourself.
  I got into politics in 2007 at a public hearing because a local church in my neigh
  
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• #FunCityFestival 2 days of free concerts w/ The Boom Booms, Andrew Allen, The Tourist Company, Peach Pit, Adam Wood… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

  09-08-2017 22:01 via twitter.com
  #FunCityFestival 2 days of free concerts w/ The Boom Booms, Andrew Allen, The Tourist Company, Peach Pit, Adam Wood… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…
  
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• Beary busy season: Bear-human interactions nearly double in B.C.

  09-08-2017 21:41 via vancouversun.com
  A growing number of bear-human interactions has led to a corresponding increase in bear deaths in B.C. so far this year.
  Since April, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service has fielded 8,900 black-bear related calls — almost double the 4,900 calls logged for the same period last year.
  “These numbers are some of the highest we have seen in 10 years,” said Frank Ritcey, provincial co-ordinator of WildSafe B.C.
  “It’s hard to say what’s going on there,” he sa
  
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• Victim in targeted Richmond shooting Tuesday morning known to police

  09-08-2017 21:11 via vancouversun.com
  A man injured in a shooting in Richmond Tuesday morning is known to police, RCMP confirmed.
  On Tuesday just before 6 a.m., Richmond RCMP officers were sent to a home in the 7800-block Waterton Drive after several callers reported hearing what sounded like gunshots.
  Officers arrived on scene within a minute of the reported shooting and found a man inside a home suffering from gunshot wounds.
  The victim was a 44-year-old man who was then taken to hospital for treatment. He remains in stable condit
  
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• Touching memorial left in North Vancouver park for departed pup “Jezzie” - North Shore News

  09-08-2017 21:03 via nsnews.com
  North Shore News
  Touching memorial left in North Vancouver park for departed pup “Jezzie”
  North Shore News
  Fisher, a three-year-old Portuguese Water Dog, snuffles through a basket of tennis balls, left as a touching memorial to Jezzie, a Rottweiler no longer with us. photo Cindy Goodman, North Shore News. A mourning North Vancouver dog lover has left a ...
  
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• Burns, even blindness: 'Nasty,' invasive giant hogweed spreading in Canada

  09-08-2017 20:09 via vancouversun.com
  By Aly Thomson
  It can cause third-degree burns and even permanent blindness — and it’s spreading.
  Giant hogweed is cutting a wider swath in British Columbia and Ontario, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada is urging people across the country to document sightings of the­ towering, three-metre green plant with large umbels of white flowers.
  Dan Kraus, a biologist with the conservancy, said the invasive Asian species likely arrived in Canada in the 1940s and can now be found in ar
  
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• It's beautiful day to get out and enjoy the City you ❤️. cnv.org/ILoveMyCity #ILoveMyCity #NorthVan https://t.co/Y4zG7BC5yi

  09-08-2017 20:01 via twitter.com
  
  It's beautiful day to get out and enjoy the City you ❤️. cnv.org/ILoveMyCity#ILoveMyCity #NorthVan https://t.co/Y4zG7BC5yi
  
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• Three shootings in one day keep Surrey RCMP investigators busy

  09-08-2017 19:47 via vancouversun.com
  Gunfire erupted Tuesday in Surrey, with three shootings taking place in the span of just several hours – the latest of which sent one man to hospital late in the evening.
  Police are now canvassing three neighbourhoods for witnesses and information about the three shootings. It remains unclear if the three shootings are connected, or if they are linked with shootings reported last week.
  On Tuesday, Surrey RCMP announced it was investigating a report of shots fired in the Clayton area s
  
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• Metro Vancouver cracking down on illegal dumping with new campaign

  09-08-2017 19:14 via vancouversun.com
  The Metro Vancouver authority is cracking down on illegal dumping which costs local municipalities $5 million each year to clean up.
  While most residents say they hate seeing illegal dumping taking place, still 60 per cent say they have illegally dumped or will illegally dump furniture, household items or appliances in the future, citing inconvenience as a reason.
  “We were also surprised to learn that a large proportion of residents – 40 per cent – also thought it was okay dump
  
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• Fake Craigslist ads prompt police warning in Delta

  09-08-2017 19:14 via vancouversun.com
  DELTA — Some homeowners in Delta have been receiving odd visits from strangers and police say a series of suspicious online posts could be to blame.
  Delta Police say they’re investigating fake postings on the classified advertising website Craigslist.
  The posts have offered intimate encounters, invited people to attend a house party or advertised free items.
  Police say the person who reads the posting goes to the address provided and finds a surprised homeowner who knows nothing abou
  
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• B.C. home construction picks up, driven by buildings, condos, CMHC says

  09-08-2017 18:51 via vancouversun.com
  OTTAWA — Home construction in Canada picked up last month, driven by British Columbia and Alberta, defying expectations that homebuilding activity would cool down.
  The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 222,324 units in July, up from 212,948 in June, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday.
  The ramp-up likely reflects strong demand for new housing from the end of last year into the start of this year, TD Bank economist Diana Petramala said, adding that the n
  
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• Daily Poll: Have you had trouble breathing due to the smoke?

  09-08-2017 18:25 via vancouversun.com
  A smoky haze continues to fall across the Metro Vancouver region, worrying those with breathing problems and simply inconveniencing those with plans for outdoor activities.
  Speaking with Postmedia’s Matt Robinson this week, provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said it shouldn’t be a problem for most people, though there may be some sore throats and coughing going around.
  Related
  Smoke no reason to stay inside — for most of us“The exposures that we see here now, the
  
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• Vancouver office vacancy rates to get even tighter

  09-08-2017 18:22 via vancouversun.com
  By 2019, Vancouver is predicted to have the second-lowest office vacancy rate in the Western hemisphere, according to a new global office report by Cushman and Wakefield.
  Within the next two years, Vancouver will have an office vacancy rate of 6.3 per cent. That will trail only Toronto in the Americas, which is forecast to have a vacancy rate of 3.9 per cent, according to the report released on July 21.
  The report details economic drivers, supply and demand forecasts and prospects for rent growt
  
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• It's #FunCityFestival this weekend. We've got 1000ft @slidethecity water slide + tons of FREE fun for all!… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

  09-08-2017 18:02 via twitter.com
  It's #FunCityFestival this weekend. We've got 1000ft @slidethecity water slide + tons of FREE fun for all!… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…
  
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• Police watchdog investigating after man stabs himself in confrontation

  09-08-2017 16:47 via vancouversun.com
  B.C.’s police watchdog is now investigating after a man injured himself during a police confrontation in Sicamous.
  Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sicamous RCMP were called to a car wash on Maier Road for the report of a man who was threatening to kill himself with a knife.
  Police who responded to the call also requested Emergency Health Services be on standby at the scene.
  When police arrived, the man was found suffering from what appeared to be self-inflicted wounds. He then ran away from pol
  
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• Whale-watching boat collides with humpback whale near Victoria

  09-08-2017 16:08 via vancouversun.com
  A whale-watching Zodiac boat collided with a humpback whale in a “freak accident” near Race Rocks on Monday, injuring two passengers and the vessel’s captain.
  At the time of the collision, there was no sign of the whale — the captain was following another group of humpbacks about three nautical miles to the east — when “all of a sudden, boom, impact,” said operations manager Ben Duthie of Prince of Whales tours in Victoria.
  “It came out of nowhere
  
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• Commercial Real Estate: Office vacancy rates to get even tighter

  09-08-2017 15:00 via vancouversun.com
  By 2019, Vancouver is predicted to have the second-lowest office vacancy rate in the Western hemisphere, according to a new global office report by Cushman and Wakefield.
  Within the next two years, Vancouver will have an office vacancy rate of 6.3 per cent. That will trail only Toronto in the Americas, which is forecast to have a vacancy rate of 3.9 per cent, according to the report released on July 21.
  The report details economic drivers, supply and demand forecasts and prospects for rent growt
  
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• Five Things to Know: Vancouverites smoked in, Sai Woo rooster returns

  09-08-2017 14:00 via vancouversun.com
  Here are five things you need to know.
  Vancouver has become the Big Smoke — but you can still go out
  Perhaps you’ve noticed that Metro Vancouver has been living under a thick cloud of wildfire smoke for over a week now. Perhaps you’re beginning to resent it, because it’s keeping you indoors. But that shouldn’t be the case, Postmedia’s Matt Robinson reports. Don’t get smoked in. You can still go out. 
  “The exposures that we see here now, t
  
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• Question and answer with Finance Minister Carole James

  09-08-2017 12:30 via vancouversun.com
  Another in a series of interviews with B.C.’s new cabinet ministers.
  VICTORIA — B.C.’s new NDP government will introduce an updated budget in September, but will largely leave in place the core financial plan of the previous Liberal government until next year, says Finance Minister Carole James.
  James said she and her colleagues are still working on New Democrat financial figures for a budget update in September. However, the short time crunch means the NDP’s full fiscal
  
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• Daphne Bramham: Former fundamentalist Mormon fights to free his kids

  09-08-2017 12:30 via vancouversun.com
  Brandon Seth Blackmore is desperate to gain sole custody of his young, impressionable kids and wrest them from of the grips of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  Since leaving the FLDS and the polygamous community of Bountiful in 2015, Blackmore has tried to find a way to ensure that the church doesn’t turn his kids against him while accommodating his ex-wife’s devotion to the church and to prophet Warren Jeffs.
  “I never wanted to take them from Mar
  
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• REAL SCOOP: Another gang murder and shootings across Metro – UPDATED

  09-08-2017 08:46 via vancouversun.com
  Lower Mainland policing agencies were investigating three more shootings Tuesday after a violence-plagued few days that left a young Abbotsford gangster dead.
  Surrey RCMP has been the busiest agency, investigating two shootings Tuesday. The latest was about 7 p.m. Tuesday near 73rd Avenue and 192 Street when suspects in two vehicles exchanged gunfire. No one was injured.
  Just hours earlier, just after noon, police were called to a shooting in the 7000-block of 180 Street. Again, no one was
  
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• Opinion: Time to give teeth to B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth

  09-08-2017 07:00 via vancouversun.com
  Now that Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy is the Minister for Children and Family Development, it is time to deliver services to foster children in alignment with B.C. policies and recommendations from the Representative for Children and Youth. 
  B.C. is fortunate to have a formal office to advocate for children, but its mandate is only to monitor and report, which is weak and ineffectual.
  As a former foster child, an adoptee, a former foster parent, and an adoptive parent of a B.C. child I
  
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• Police investigate after car, garage door hit in multiple Surrey shootings

  09-08-2017 05:53 via vancouversun.com
  Surrey RCMP are investigating after a vehicle was hit with bullets in the Clayton area of Surrey.
  According to a news release, police were called to the 7000 block of 180th Street after a report of shots fired. When they arrived, they found a vehicle and garage door that had been struck by bullets. 
  While the vehicle was occupied at the time of the shooting, no one was injured. 
  A suspect fled the area on a motorcycle before officers arrived, police said. Investigators will b
  
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• Three things to do in Vancouver on Wednesday, August 9

  09-08-2017 04:29 via vancouversun.com
  Looking for something to do in Metro Vancouver? Here are three suggestions for Wednesday, August 9.
  Bard on the Beach: Wine Wednesdays
  If you’re looking for the classiest possible night out, how about wine and Shakespeare? It doesn’t get much classier than that. “We went out for wine and Shakespeare,” you can tell your friends the next day, feeling very high-society. You have your pick of two productions this Wednesday: Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice. I
  
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• Vaughn Palmer: NDP makes good on adult education, apologizes for Wilson gaffe

  09-08-2017 04:26 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — The day began with the stage set for another good-news announcement from the new government, another move by the New Democrats to reverse a bad-news decision from the B.C. Liberals.
  Effective Sept. 1, the province will eliminate fees of up to $1,600 per semester for adult basic education and English-language learning at post-secondary institutions.
  Brought in midway through the last Liberal term, the fees contributed to a one-third drop in enrolment in those two programs from th
  
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• Canada touts possible softwood deal that U.S. industry pans

  09-08-2017 03:12 via vancouversun.com
  Canadian optimism over the possibility of a quick deal in the softwood lumber dispute isn’t shared by the American lumber industry, which continues to argue that quota levels for Canadian access to the U.S. market are too generous.
  Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, in a teleconference with reporters over the weekend, said that she “can see the outlines of that (softwood lumber) agreement already,” though she did not provide specifics.  
  B.C. Forests Minister Doug
  
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• Keyboard Kimura: UFC takes a breather as McGregor-Mayweather hype takes over

  09-08-2017 02:55 via vancouversun.com
  The UFC is currently on hiatus.
  The conclusion of Saturday night’s main event between Sergio Pettis and Brandon Moreno marked the end of an insane stretch of 11 events in as many weeks and the start of three weeks sans UFC events as the eyes of the combat sports world focus on the upcoming boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.
  Before the Aug. 26  cash cow came together, there was a pay-per-view event penciled in for the preceding Saturday, an event most expecte
  
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• Nigerian refugee 'really, really' happy B.C. makes adult basic education and ESL free again

  09-08-2017 02:41 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — When Joy Chukwura heard the news that adult basic education and English as a second language courses would once again be free in B.C., she could barely contain herself.
  “This is the best news I’ve had in a very long time,” she said, after Premier John Horgan announced the move on Tuesday.
  “I’m going to go back to school!”
  Horgan said his new NDP government would follow through on an election campaign promise to remove fees on ESL and adult lea
  
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• So u think u can dance #NorthVan? Then head down to the Shipyards 5-10pm Sat for #SummerSessions.… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

  09-08-2017 02:00 via twitter.com
  So u think u can dance #NorthVan? Then head down to the Shipyards 5-10pm Sat for #SummerSessions.… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…
  
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• Premier John Horgan apologizes to fired LNG advocate Gordon Wilson

  09-08-2017 01:52 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan apologized Tuesday to former Liberal leader Gordon Wilson for comments Horgan made last week about Wilson’s work as the province’s LNG advocate.
  The Horgan government fired Wilson as the province’s $150,000-a-year point man on liquefied natural gas development, saying Wilson had done little to earn his money.
  Horgan told CBC Radio Wilson produced “no briefings, no reports, no memorandums” during his time in the job.
  But a search
  
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• Badly matted shih tzu Hogarth loses leg, but still has 'love to give'

  09-08-2017 01:47 via vancouversun.com
  Poor little Hogarth needs a home, new teeth, and some help with a front leg and his skin.
  The seven-year-old shih tzu arrived at the Victoria branch of the B.C. SPCA recently in extreme pain. He was fearful of people just touching him.
  Hogarth, with his necrotized front leg. After surgery, he’s now a ‘tri-pawed’ pet.
  His fur was so matted, he’d lost the use of one leg. His teeth were so diseased, he couldn’t eat properly.
  “His leg was black and necrotic &ndash
  
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• Kiran Dhesi's uncle says 'the violence must stop'

  09-08-2017 01:44 via vancouversun.com
  The uncle of a young Surrey woman murdered last week says her devastated family is hoping someone will come forward with information that leads to an arrest.
  Kulwant Dhesi also said the senseless violence that led to his niece Kiran’s slaying must not be inflicted on other families.
  “I appeal to everyone in the public — if you have any evidence please give it to the police,” Dhesi said Tuesday. “The violence has to be stopped.”
  Kiran’s family and friends
  
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• REAL SCOOP: Another gang murder and shootings across Metro

  09-08-2017 01:35 via vancouversun.com
  Lower Mainland policing agencies were investigating two more shootings Tuesday after a violence-plagued weekend that left a young Abbotsford gangster dead.
  Surrey RCMP is investigating a shooting in the 7000-block of 180 Street that happened just after noon Tuesday. No one was injured and the shooter escaped on a motorcycle.
  That shooting came hours after a Richmond man was injured in a shooting in the 7800-block of Waterton Drive about 6 a.m.
  “This is an active and unfolding inv
  
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• Smoke no reason to stay inside — for most of us

  09-08-2017 01:20 via vancouversun.com
  When Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall wakes up in the morning these days he does so with a sore throat and a cough.
  It’s an irritating and disconcerting experience by now familiar to many British Columbians who are living among fine particulate matter that has belched into the sky from the scores of wildfires burning forests around the province.
  While the heavy smoke has air-quality experts monitoring for signs of trouble and health officials like Kendall advising people to move
  
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• Nine people fined for bonfire on island off Sunshine Coast over the long weekend

  09-08-2017 01:17 via vancouversun.com
  It was an expensive B.C. Day long weekend for a group of campers who were fined more than $10,000 for having what police called “a rather large bonfire” on tiny Home Island, off the Sunshine Coast.
  Residents from Keats Island spotted the fire early Monday morning and made their way over to Home Island — which is off the southern tip of Keats — to speak with the people responsible.
  “It didn’t go so well,” said Sunshine Coast RCMP Sgt. Mike Hacker. “
  
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• Hot, dry conditions see 28 new B.C. wildfires in less than two days

  09-08-2017 01:03 via vancouversun.com
  KAMLOOPS — A combination of lightning and tinder-dry conditions has led to more than two dozen new wildfires starting in British Columbia over a two-day period.
  Kevin Skrepnek of the B.C. Wildfire Service said the majority of the 17 fires that started Monday were the result of lightning.
  Another 11 fires had started by midday Tuesday, bringing the total number of fires currently burning in the province to 146.
  Since April, there have been 928 fires and just over 500 of them have been confi
  
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• Vernon assailant in nightclub attack gets more jail time on appeal

  09-08-2017 01:02 via vancouversun.com
  A Vernon man who was convicted in connection with an unprovoked attack on a man in a nightclub has had his sentence increased to 18 months in jail following an appeal by the Crown.
  In March, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Crawford handed Lucas Allen Slizak a sentence of 90 days to be served on weekends after he pleaded guilty on the second day of trial to one count of aggravated assault.
  On Sept. 21, 2014, Slizak sucker-punched Chad Westman at the nightclub, hitting him very hard with a close
  
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• Nigerian refugee "really, really, really" happy B.C. makes adult basic education and ESL free again

  09-08-2017 01:02 via vancouversun.com
  VICTORIA — When Joy Chukwura heard the news that adult basic education and English as a second language courses would once again be free in B.C., she could barely contain herself.
  “This is the best news I’ve had in a very long time,” she said, after Premier John Horgan announced the move on Tuesday. 
  “I’m going to go back to school!”
  Horgan said his new NDP government would follow through on an election campaign promise to remove fees on ESL and adu
  
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• Indigenous heritage doesn't overrule other factors in adoption: B.C. court

  09-08-2017 00:48 via vancouversun.com
  VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled that Aboriginal heritage must be considered when placing an Indigenous child with an adoptive family, but it does not overrule all other factors in deciding their best interests.
  The unanimous decision issued Tuesday is the latest ruling grappling with the issue of how much weight should be given to cultural identity when First Nations, Métis or Inuit children are being adopted.
  The case involves a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy
  
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• #FunCityFestival Aug 12/13 10am-7pm. Download the site map. It'll come in handy this weekend.… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

  09-08-2017 00:00 via twitter.com
  #FunCityFestival Aug 12/13 10am-7pm. Download the site map. It'll come in handy this weekend.… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…
  
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