Local News

British Columbia NDP leadership candidate David Eby plays a marimba with Susan Sigurdson, left, and Heather Shobe of Marim Bam Buzz, Saturday, Aug. 6 during a visit with farmers at the Spirit Square Farmers Market. Eby was on a tour of central Vancouver Island. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

B.C. NDP leadership candidate makes campaign stops on Vancouver Island

David Eby was in Port Alberni, Qualicum Beach and the Comox Valley over the weekend

British Columbia NDP leadership candidate David Eby plays a marimba with Susan Sigurdson, left, and Heather Shobe of Marim Bam Buzz, Saturday, Aug. 6 during a visit with farmers at the Spirit Square Farmers Market. Eby was on a tour of central Vancouver Island. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
BC Coroners Service and Williams Lake RCMP are investigating a fatal ATV crash near Williams Lake Aug. 7, 2022. (RCMP logo)
BC Coroners Service and Williams Lake RCMP are investigating a fatal ATV crash near Williams Lake Aug. 7, 2022. (RCMP logo)
(file photo)

No damage reported or expected after 4.6 magnitude quake off Vancouver Island

Undersea quake occurred at about 12:30 a.m. Monday 142 kilometres off Port Alice

(file photo)
BC Wildfire Service firefighters set hand ignitions along the edge of the Keremeos Creek Wildfire to control burn-off fuel. (BCWS)

No structure damage overnight as crews continue to battle Keremeos Creek wildfire

BC Wildfire Service says crews were challenged overnight in fighting the blaze north of Olalla

BC Wildfire Service firefighters set hand ignitions along the edge of the Keremeos Creek Wildfire to control burn-off fuel. (BCWS)
A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., on December 19, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., on December 19, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A health-care worker prepares monkeypox vaccine. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)

UPDATE: Island Health opening more monkeypox vaccine appointments Friday

Island Health asking residents to check back as more vaccine supply is received

A health-care worker prepares monkeypox vaccine. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)
Judi Hills tied a ribbon to a tree in the Puntledge Park neighbourhood in memory of her son and of all the people who have struggled in silence. Photo supplied

B.C. mom uses ribbons to honour late son, shed light on mental illness

Judi Hills says we need to do more to end the stigma associated with mental illness

Judi Hills tied a ribbon to a tree in the Puntledge Park neighbourhood in memory of her son and of all the people who have struggled in silence. Photo supplied
A Cultus Lake Fire Department engine tries to thread the needle through traffic and parked cars on a busy day last weekend. (Cultus Lake FD screenshot)

VIDEO: Illegal parking at Cultus Lake causes problems for first responders

Cultus Lake Fire Department has to creep through traffic on Columbia Valley Highway

A Cultus Lake Fire Department engine tries to thread the needle through traffic and parked cars on a busy day last weekend. (Cultus Lake FD screenshot)
A campfire ban will go into effect Aug. 4 in the Coastal Fire Centre, with the except of Haida Gwaii. (BCWS map)

Campfire ban ordered for Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland

Ban comes into effect Thursday (Aug. 4)

  • Aug 3, 2022
A campfire ban will go into effect Aug. 4 in the Coastal Fire Centre, with the except of Haida Gwaii. (BCWS map)
CCGS Cape McKay and 24 passengers and crew aboard the MV Chinook Princess arrive safely in the Ucluelet Harbour on July 30. (Cathy Gilbert photo)

Ucluelet whale watching boat towed to shore after taking on water

The MV Chinook Princess got into trouble around Turret Island within the Broken Group Islands

CCGS Cape McKay and 24 passengers and crew aboard the MV Chinook Princess arrive safely in the Ucluelet Harbour on July 30. (Cathy Gilbert photo)
Crews work at the Othello Bridge on the Coquihalla on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)

Permanent repairs coming for Othello stretch of Coquihalla Highway

Work is expected to begin in early August and be completed sometime in the fall

Crews work at the Othello Bridge on the Coquihalla on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
Classroom chairs. (Photo: Pixabay)

Chilliwack teacher suspended after ‘crossing personal boundaries‘ with students

Sheldon Lyle Nickel admitted to inappropriate conduct, including sending personal text messages

Classroom chairs. (Photo: Pixabay)
‘Amber’s Army’ was out again July 23-24, searching the backroads of Nanaimo and Port Alberni for Amber Manthorne, who has not been seen since July 7, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Large-scale public searches for missing Port Alberni woman wrap up

Amber Manthorne’s friends, family will still keep looking for woman not seen since July 7

‘Amber’s Army’ was out again July 23-24, searching the backroads of Nanaimo and Port Alberni for Amber Manthorne, who has not been seen since July 7, 2022. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
RCMP-GRC crest

Police pursuit for man with stolen BC Ambulance vehicle ends in Port Alberni

Emergency Response Team, RCMP helicopter called after armed man steals vehicle from Ucluelet

RCMP-GRC crest
A giant Pacific octopus shelters on a reef near Campbell River, awaiting the return of the tide. Alistair Taylor photo

Drastic fluctuations turning B.C. West Coast intertidal zone into ‘murder scene’

Rare tides, climate change occuring at a faster rate than intertidal animals can evolve or adapt to

A giant Pacific octopus shelters on a reef near Campbell River, awaiting the return of the tide. Alistair Taylor photo
The Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s 25-kilometre ʔapsčiik t̓ašii pathway abruptly ends at the Park Reserve’s southern border, leaving users on their way to or from Ucluelet in the lurch. (Westerly file photo)

ACRD says to be patient as they piece together funds for multi-use pathway

Cyclists still need to pop out on the side of road and navigate a 1.2km stretch of highway

The Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s 25-kilometre ʔapsčiik t̓ašii pathway abruptly ends at the Park Reserve’s southern border, leaving users on their way to or from Ucluelet in the lurch. (Westerly file photo)
Colleen Frank loves cats. She holds a pillow with the image of her former cat Stanley while current cat Ozzie investigates a moving box. After 20 years in her apartment building, Frank is being evicted and may have to be out on July 29. (Eric J. Welsh/ Chilliwack Progress)

Chilliwack senior fears homelessness as she faces rental crisis head on

Colleen Frank is being forced out of the apartment building she’s lived in for 20 years

Colleen Frank loves cats. She holds a pillow with the image of her former cat Stanley while current cat Ozzie investigates a moving box. After 20 years in her apartment building, Frank is being evicted and may have to be out on July 29. (Eric J. Welsh/ Chilliwack Progress)
(Westerly File photo)

Emergency preparedness funding coming to Tofino-Ucluelet

Alberni Clayoquot Regional District, Tofino and Ucluelet to split $65K

(Westerly File photo)
Darah Pointon and daughter Taylor, 8, hold up a missing poster for Amber Manthorne at the Tseshaht Market. The market has becone a mustering point for friends, family and community searchers who are looking for the Port Alberni woman who hasn’t been seen since July 7, 2022. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)

Hundreds of volunteers spend weekend searching for Amber Manthorne

‘Amber’s Army’ mobilizes to comb highway corridor, backroads for missing Port Alberni woman

Darah Pointon and daughter Taylor, 8, hold up a missing poster for Amber Manthorne at the Tseshaht Market. The market has becone a mustering point for friends, family and community searchers who are looking for the Port Alberni woman who hasn’t been seen since July 7, 2022. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)
This former phone booth at Ucluelet’s 52 Steps Dock is now empty as TELUS is removing 19 payphones from the West Coast. (Andrew Bailey photo)

TELUS dials up Tofino-Ucluelet payphone exodus

Tofino and Ucluelet set to lose 19 payphones

This former phone booth at Ucluelet’s 52 Steps Dock is now empty as TELUS is removing 19 payphones from the West Coast. (Andrew Bailey photo)