NANAIMO - Despite complaints rising on backyard chickens in Nanaimo, it appears the City is comfortable with existing guidelines.Nanaimo City councillors opted to maintain current bylaws and limits surrounding the number of chickens permitted on residential lots, during their governance and priorities committee meeting...

NANAIMO - There's a few extra smiles throughout town this week.Tim Horton's locations in Nanaimo are again participating in the annual Smile Cookie campaign, selling the specially decorated treats through Sunday, May 5 with proceeds going to the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation (NDHF).Trina Knight, manager of c...

NANAIMO - The skies of the Comox Valley are alive with the sounds of jets this week, as the Canadian Forces Snowbirds are back in town.Their annual spring training at CFB Comox builds to their first public appearance of the season at the Comox Air Show on May 18, at 19 Wing Comox.Public affairs officer Cpt. Philip Roch...

NANOOSE BAY - An exceptionally generous donation is helping a local elementary school raise thousands of dollars for an outdoor play and learning space. A raffle is underway at Nanoose Bay Elementary School, through the school's Parent Advisory Council, for a pair of tickets to Taylor Swift's Dec. 6 show at BC Place in...

NANAIMO - A veteran BC Supreme Court justice wasn't buying what a longtime criminal was selling at trial. Kerry Wallace Chang, 55, was found guilty of possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl during a Monday, April 29 judgment in connection to a notable 2020 raid at a south Nanaimo home. While he admitted to ...

NANAIMO - The City is eyeing the expansion of its ambitious safety plans for the downtown, however the cost of potential upgrades remains to be seen.Councillors were presented results from an independent consultant's report during a governance and priorities meeting on Monday, April 29, which examined the Downtown Nana...

NANAIMO - One of the biggest shows on television is set to convert small areas of the city's downtown into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Crews for the hit HBO show 'The Last of Us' began hauling in equipment and cordoning off areas in Diana Krall Plaza on Monday, April 29, ahead of a roughly five-week residency in down...

NANAIMO - Finding gnome doors in tree trunks has been a magical part of some local parks for over a decade, and the man behind them couldn't be more thrilled. Charlie Pickard has been hand-crafting gnome doors and birdhouses since moving to Vancouver Island almost 15 years ago, a hobby turned passion for the retired pl...

NANAIMO - New provincial funding is behind a series of capital and planning projects for Island-based manufacturing companies.Support through the ministry of jobs, economic development and innovation will see six capital and four planning projects financed with up to $5 million, a move which is hoped to create new jobs...

QUALICUM BEACH - A new service station provides a lot more than gas, coffee and snacks. Qualicum First Nation owned and operated Kwalikum Krossing, a Petro-Canada service station recently opened at 700 Horne Lake Rd. near the intersection of Hwy. 19. Located on-site is a 55,000 gallon reservoir pool fed by a slanted ro...

PARKSVILLE - A significant amount of money is being raised to protect a large piece of land home to a large ecosystem.The Nature Trust of BC is looking to raise $350,000 to protect 13 acres of land home to wildlife along the Englishman River at 130 Shelly Road in Parksville.CEO of the Nature Trust Dr. Jasper Lament sai...

NANAIMO - Capable of going upwards of 25 kilometres per hour, a new network of shareable e-bikes is debuting in the city. Evolve, a program run through BCAA and already in place in several major centres, will start offering publicly rentable e-bikes through a soft launch on Wednesday, May 1, with a more widespread roll...

VANCOUVER - Escalating public safety concerns combined with increasing deaths link to drug toxicity is pushing changes to allowed drug consumption in public areas.Premier David Eby announced on Friday, April 26, collaboration with the federal government on changing the legality of drug possession and consumption in B.C...

NANAIMO - A long-promised and badly needed supportive housing complex is set to officially open in the city's downtown.Cornerstone, located at 285 Prideaux St., is a 51-unit permanent modular supportive housing project, part of a promise through a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between BC Housing and the City t...

NANAIMO - Less than a year after being formed a local non-profit group which brings men together in a positive and uplifting way finally has a permanent home. Organized by a local father and son last year, the Nanaimo and District Men's Shed Society (NDMSS) is celebrating its grand opening on Saturday, April 27, from n...

NANAIMO - Authoring children's books was not the kind of healing journey a busy Nanaimo nurse expected. An injury sidelined May Sosa for a few weeks last year, spawning an unscripted journey of creating more awareness of the struggles of neurodiverse children in the form of several fairy tales. Motivating Sosa to put p...

GABRIOLA ISLAND - A new staffing model for first responder paramedics on Island is proving a more resilient level of care. BC Emergency Health Services, through funding from the provincial government, transitioned Gabriola Island and 21 other rural and remote communities to a 24/7 Alpha shift model. It means a total of...

NANAIMO - A loaded and ready-to-fire sawed-off shotgun was confiscated by local Mounties on routine patrol in Harewood. Members of the Nanaimo RCMP Bike Patrol unit spotted a man well known to them loitering in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven at the corner of Fifth St. and Bruce Ave., around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Apri...

NANAIMO - An Indigenous land protector will spend an additional 48 days in jail following sentencing arguments in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo. Angela 'Rainbow Eyes' Davidson, 38, was sentenced to 60 days in custody with credit given for 12 days served and 75 hours of community service on Wednesday, April 24 after being...

NANAIMO - Housing projects continue to be at the forefront of construction plans in Nanaimo, despite rising construction costs. The 2023 development and housing overview was presented during the Monday, April 22 Nanaimo council meeting, showing construction of multi-family homes far outpacing other housing developments...

NANAIMO - More houses are on the way for Nanaimo within the next five years.As part of the Housing Supply Act, the B.C. government has identified the next 20 priority municipalities they will work with to meet housing targets, now including Nanaimo, North Cowichan, and North Saanich.Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in...

NANAIMO - A man with diversabilities is afraid of going for walks alone after being victimized by an apparent unprovoked, senseless attack. On Thursday, April 18 just before 8:30 p.m., the 54-year-old man was walking home on Big Bear Ridge in the Brannen Lake area with his dog after visiting his mother's home nearby. S...

NANAIMO - Several underused properties are poised for a substantial bump in housing in Nanaimo's south end. City councillors approved the first three of four required readings to a project calling for more than 120 market rental housing units on Nicol at Needham streets, during a Monday, April 22 council meeting. The p...

NANAIMO - With numerous factors stacked against him led by severe cognitive deficits, a Nanaimo man was sentenced to a further two years in jail. Dale John Patterson, 41, previously pleaded guilty to four drug trafficking charges and an impaired driving offence in connection with two incidents in 2021 and was sentenced...

PARKSVILLE - Risking his life to save another resulted in a well-earned bravery medal for the highly regarded president of Arrowsmith Search and Rescue. Arrowsmith SAR's Nick Rivers was awarded the Governor General's Commendation for Bravery medal during a ceremony on Saturday, April 20 in Parksville. Rivers and his SA...

NANAIMO - Furry friends will now have more space to sail on select BC Ferries routes to and from Vancouver Island.Larger, upper deck outdoor pet areas for leashed dogs and cats in carriers have been added to the Queen of Surrey and Queen of Coquitlam, sailing from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo's Departure Bay and Langdale.T...

NANAIMO - A pair of multi-use artificial sports fields in the south end are now serving vastly growing demand. On Saturday, April 20 newly constructed side-by-side all-weather artificial fields surrounded by LED lighting for evening use opened to replace Sherry Fields at Harewood Centennial Park on Seventh St. at Howar...

NANAIMO - With a business plan approved for a new cancer centre in Nanaimo, an effort has begun to acquire a new diagnosis machine.Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation (NDHF) launched a campaign to raise $160,000 to fund a Mopec 400, a "grossing" instrument to allow for more examinations for early detec...