Treacherous conditions on the Coquihalla Highway have eased slightly after a storm dumped 38 centimetres on the section between Hope and Merritt overnight. The route was closed in both directions until early this morning as crews handled problems ranging from spin outs and fender benders to jackknifed transport trucks, but no serious injuries were reported. Conditions were also challenging on the Coquihalla connector and through Allison Pass in Manning Park, although snowfall was not as heavy on those highways. A snowfall warning remained in effect for the Hope to Merritt section of the Coqui

Production shortfalls caused by drought have combined with robust global demand to push up crop and livestock prices. A-T-B Financial, Alberta's Crown bank, says the price of durum wheat that is used to make pasta reached a record high of 593-dollars a metric tonne in September _ double what it was in September 2020. The price of common wheat was also high at 334-dollars a metric tonne, or 41 per cent above where it was 12 months earlier.The prices of canola, barley, oats, lentils, flaxseed and dry peas were all relatively high in September.The bank says higher crop and livestock prices are he

University of Calgary researchers says the economic, social and environmental impacts of a coal mine on protected land on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains would be negative.A paper from the university's School of Public Policy says there would not be an overall benefit to Alberta.Jennifer Winter says the latest information on coal markets suggests coal a mine would be marginally profitable and its job and tax benefits would be small in relation to Alberta's economy.It also says a mine would displace ranching and tourism, damage water and wildlife, and create a risk that taxpayers woul

A Vancouver man has been convicted of first degree murder following a Vancouver Police investigation into the death of a 69 year old man.Just before midnight on January 26, 2019, Vancouver Police responded to several 911 calls about a shooting near Fraser Street and East 51 Avenue. Vancouver resident Zenen Cepeda Silva was found suffering from a gunshot injury and was transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.Alvaro Julio Roche Garcia, 60, was arrested days after the incident and charges were approved by BC Prosecution Services. Following a trial, a jury returned a guilty verdict o

A West Vancouver Police Department officer has been dismissed for repeatedly calling in sick and then going to coach hockey instead. The 2021 annual report from the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner says an internal investigation found the officer had called in sick 25 times in four years between 2015 and 2019. The officer resigned before he was fired, but the OPCC report says his employment records were amended to reflect his dismissal. In a second hockey-related case, the report says a Delta police officer was reprimanded for verbally abusing a minor-league hockey referee and ref

A panel gathering public input on coal mining in the Alberta Rockies will have another six weeks to hand in its report.Energy Minister Sonya Savage says in a statement that she's granted the committee's request for an extension until the end of the year because of the volume of material it has received.The panel says it has received more than 1,000 emailed documents and 170 detailed written submissions, along with associated materials from 67 meetings across the province.The five-member panel was supposed to deliver two reports to Savage on Monday _ one summarizing what it heard and another on

The Three Amigos are back on.The White House announced this morning that U.S. President Joe Biden will host Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Washington, D.C., next week.The meeting will mark the first North American Leaders' Summit since 2016, before U.S. president Donald Trump's election as president put the gathering on hiatus.It will be Trudeau's first visit to Washington since Biden since became president in January.The White House says this year's iteration will be held on Nov. 18 and will see the three leaders discuss a range of issues fa

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says unvaccinated health-care workers will be offered the first opportunity to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19 when it arrives in British Columbia next week. Dr. Henry says the federal government will provide B.C. with a limited number of doses of the vaccine, which has been widely used in the United States. She says the vaccine has not yet been available in the province. Dr. Henry says some unvaccinated health-care workers who were placed on mandatory unpaid leave for three months have suggested they would take

Several federal Conservative party members from BC have been named to the Tory's newly announced shadow cabinet. Party leader Erin O'Toole released his critics list this morning, including Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas as environment and climate change critic. Former Conservative minister and Abbotsford MP Ed Fast is critic for Innovation, Science and Industry and another former minister. South Surrey-White Rock's Kerry-Lynne Findlay, has been named critic for national defence. In all, eight of 13 BC MP's have a place in O'Toole's shadow cabinet.