Entertainment

Kirstie Alley attends the premiere of HBO’s “Girls” on Jan. 5, 2015, in New York. Alley, a two-time Emmy winner who starred in the 1980s sitcom “Cheers” and the hit film “Look Who’s Talking,” has died. She was 71. Her death was announced Monday by her children on social media and confirmed by her manager. The post said their mother died of cancer that was recently diagnosed. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Kirstie Alley, Emmy-winning ‘Cheers’ star, dies at age 71

She starred opposite Ted Danson as Rebecca Howe on iconic sitcom

FILE - Anthony Kiedis, from left, Flea and Chad Smith, of Red Hot Chili Peppers, appear at the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28, 2022, in Newark, N.J. Live Nation said Monday the band will perform at a set of stadium shows and festivals across North America and Europe beginning March 29. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

‘Road Trippin’: Red Hot Chili Peppers kick off 2023 world tour in Vancouver

Fresh off a 2-album 2022, band will launch global trek at BC Place in March

Bob McGrath, right, looks at the Cookie Monster as they accept the Lifetime Achievement Award for ‘Sesame Street’ at the Daytime Emmy Awards on Aug. 30, 2009, in Los Angeles. McGrath, an actor, musician and children’s author widely known for his portrayal of one of the first regular characters on the children’s show ‘Sesame Street’ has died at the age of 90. McGrath’s passing was confirmed by his family who posted on his Facebook page on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Bob McGrath, beloved ‘Sesame Street’ legend, dies at age 90

Performer a founding cast member of show that premiered in 1969

Deborah Cox, 2022 inductee, poses for a photograph on the red carpet for the 2022 Canadas Walk of Fame Gala in Toronto, on Saturday, December 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

Deborah Cox, Tatiana Maslany among those honoured at Canada’s Walk of Fame

Eleven other influential names were inducted into the Walk of Fame at the gala

Deborah Cox, 2022 inductee, poses for a photograph on the red carpet for the 2022 Canadas Walk of Fame Gala in Toronto, on Saturday, December 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin
FILE - Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is no longer buying right-leaning social media site Parler, the company said Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Musk says Twitter has suspended rapper Ye over swastika post

Twitter has suspended rapper Ye after he tweeted a picture of a…

FILE - Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is no longer buying right-leaning social media site Parler, the company said Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Jamie Lee Curtis appears at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2022. Curtis is this year’s recipient of AARP The Magazine’s Movies for Grownups Awards career achievement honor. The group announced Thursday that Curtis is receiving the honor at the AARP’s annual Best Movies and TV for Grownups ceremony. The event is hosted by returning host Alan Cumming and is premiering on PBS on Feb. 17, 2023, at 9 p.m. E.T. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Jamie Lee Curtis to receive award for overcoming ageism in entertainment

‘Curtis’ longstanding, ever-increasing career shatters Hollywood’s outmoded stereotypes about aging’

FILE - Jamie Lee Curtis appears at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2022. Curtis is this year’s recipient of AARP The Magazine’s Movies for Grownups Awards career achievement honor. The group announced Thursday that Curtis is receiving the honor at the AARP’s annual Best Movies and TV for Grownups ceremony. The event is hosted by returning host Alan Cumming and is premiering on PBS on Feb. 17, 2023, at 9 p.m. E.T. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Actor Danny Masterson appears at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn., on June 7, 2017. Jurors at the rape trial of the “That ’70s Show” star said Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, that they are deadlocked, but a judge told them they have not deliberated long enough for her to declare a mistrial. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP, File)

Mistrial declared in actor Danny Masterson’s rape trial

Jury deadlocked and could not come to a decision

FILE - Actor Danny Masterson appears at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn., on June 7, 2017. Jurors at the rape trial of the “That ’70s Show” star said Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, that they are deadlocked, but a judge told them they have not deliberated long enough for her to declare a mistrial. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Musician Christine McVie attends the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York on March 29, 2019. McVie, the soulful British musician who sang lead on many of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits, has died at 79. The band announced her death on social media Wednesday, (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Christine McVie dead at 79

Christine McVie, the British-born Fleetwood Mac vocalist, songwriter and keyboard player whose…

FILE - Musician Christine McVie attends the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York on March 29, 2019. McVie, the soulful British musician who sang lead on many of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits, has died at 79. The band announced her death on social media Wednesday, (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Chris Manocchio unleashes after taking first place and a $1500 cash prize at the Tofino Oyster Festival Shucker’s Showdown on Nov. 27 at the Shore Pier. (Marcie Callewaert photos)

PHOTOS: Tofino crowns inaugural oyster shucking champion

Chris Manocchio shucks 18 oysters the fastest in front of an ecstatic crowd

Chris Manocchio unleashes after taking first place and a $1500 cash prize at the Tofino Oyster Festival Shucker’s Showdown on Nov. 27 at the Shore Pier. (Marcie Callewaert photos)
Country superstar Blake Shelton has been announced as the headline for next summer’s Sunfest Country Music Festival, running Aug. 3 to 6, 2023. (Courtesy of Sunfest Country Music Festival)

Blake Shelton coming to Vancouver Island as Sunfest headliner

The Cowichan country music festival returns to Laketown Ranch Aug. 3 to 6, 2023

Country superstar Blake Shelton has been announced as the headline for next summer’s Sunfest Country Music Festival, running Aug. 3 to 6, 2023. (Courtesy of Sunfest Country Music Festival)
Michaelangelo and Candice Woodward celebrating the announcement of the 2019 Capital City Comic Con. (Black Press Media file photo)

Future uncertain as Island’s Capital City Comic Con on hiatus for 2023

Resources required to plan the event for its traditional spring dates deemed too onerous

Michaelangelo and Candice Woodward celebrating the announcement of the 2019 Capital City Comic Con. (Black Press Media file photo)
The Kid Laroi appears at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022, left, and Justin Bieber appears at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. “Stay,” the smash hit by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber topped Apple Music’s global song chart in 2022. (AP Photo)

Hot hits of 2022: Apple Music unveils its most listened-to songs of the past year

Twenty-one non-English songs were in the global Top 100

The Kid Laroi appears at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022, left, and Justin Bieber appears at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. “Stay,” the smash hit by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber topped Apple Music’s global song chart in 2022. (AP Photo)
A serene group surrounds Scrooge (Louise Phillips) in the Chemainus Theatre Festival’s A Tiny Christmas Carol. From left: Yasmin D’Oshun, Jay Clift, Emma Slipp and Stephen Thakkar. (Photo by Don Bodger)

A Tiny Christmas Carol challenges expectations at the Chemainus Theatre

Small cast covers large number of roles in adaptation of a familiar Dickens classic

A serene group surrounds Scrooge (Louise Phillips) in the Chemainus Theatre Festival’s A Tiny Christmas Carol. From left: Yasmin D’Oshun, Jay Clift, Emma Slipp and Stephen Thakkar. (Photo by Don Bodger)
Ucluelet artists Judy and Tom Schmidt received the Pacific Rim Arts Society’s Rainy Coast Arts Award during the 52nd AGM on Nov. 20 at the Cougar Annie Room at Waters Edge Resort. The annual award recognizes artists for their outstanding dedication to the arts and culture on the West Coast and beyond. (Nora O’Malley photo)

The Schmidt’s win 2022 Rainy Coast Arts Award

Pacific Rim Arts Society presented the honour during their 52nd AGM

Ucluelet artists Judy and Tom Schmidt received the Pacific Rim Arts Society’s Rainy Coast Arts Award during the 52nd AGM on Nov. 20 at the Cougar Annie Room at Waters Edge Resort. The annual award recognizes artists for their outstanding dedication to the arts and culture on the West Coast and beyond. (Nora O’Malley photo)
FILE - Gas lamps illuminate St. Louis' Gaslight Square on April 2, 1962. "Gaslighting" — mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster's word of 2022. (AP Photo/JMH, File)

‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — “Gaslighting” — behavior that’s mind manipulating, grossly misleading,…

FILE - Gas lamps illuminate St. Louis' Gaslight Square on April 2, 1962. "Gaslighting" — mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster's word of 2022. (AP Photo/JMH, File)
Host Brooke Lynn Hytes is pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who made an appearance on the Friday, Nov. 25 episode of “Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bell Media/Crave

Justin Trudeau talks allyship during appearance on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’ spinoff

He’s the first world leader to appear on the RuPaul-founded series

Host Brooke Lynn Hytes is pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who made an appearance on the Friday, Nov. 25 episode of “Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bell Media/Crave
Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning singer-actress Irene Cara has died at age 63. (@Irene_Cara/Twitter photo)

‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’ singer-actor Irene Cara dies at 63

Performer an Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winner

Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning singer-actress Irene Cara has died at age 63. (@Irene_Cara/Twitter photo)
Netflix’s DVD-by-mail rental service, now called DVD.com, is seen in a non-descript office in Fremont, Calif. March 29, 2022, It is located about 20 miles from Netflix’s main campus in Los Gatos, Calif. Netflix’s trailblazing DVD-by-mail rental service has been relegated as a relic in the age of video streaming, but there is still a steady — albeit shrinking — audience of diehards who are happily paying to receive those discs in the iconic red-and-white envelopes. (AP Photo/Michael Liedtke)

Netflix nights still come wrapped in red-and-white envelopes

Netflix set to shut down a service that has shipped more than 5 billion discs across the U.S.

Netflix’s DVD-by-mail rental service, now called DVD.com, is seen in a non-descript office in Fremont, Calif. March 29, 2022, It is located about 20 miles from Netflix’s main campus in Los Gatos, Calif. Netflix’s trailblazing DVD-by-mail rental service has been relegated as a relic in the age of video streaming, but there is still a steady — albeit shrinking — audience of diehards who are happily paying to receive those discs in the iconic red-and-white envelopes. (AP Photo/Michael Liedtke)
FILE - Food vendors work behind an ice cream fridge with an advertisement featuring Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu in Beijing on Aug. 3, 2021. A Beijing court on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 sentenced Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in prison on charges including rape. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

China sentences Chinese-Canadian star Kris Wu to 13 years

A Chinese court on Friday sentenced Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu to…

FILE - Food vendors work behind an ice cream fridge with an advertisement featuring Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu in Beijing on Aug. 3, 2021. A Beijing court on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 sentenced Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in prison on charges including rape. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
This image released by Disney shows Splat in a scene from the animated film “Strange World.” (Disney via AP)

Review: ‘Strange World’ explores big themes in bold colours

Beautiful pictures tell tale of human characters that look a lot more like the real world than usual

This image released by Disney shows Splat in a scene from the animated film “Strange World.” (Disney via AP)