BC's 45,000 public school teachers have overwhelmingly accepted a new, three-year contract with the provincial government. It includes a six per cent pay increase over the life of the deal, as well as wording setting out a mediation process to smooth future negotiations. The BC Teachers Federation says its members voted 98 per cent in favour. The agreement was reached after more than a year of sometimes tense bargaining between the federation and the BC Public School Employers Association, representing the province.

Finance Minister Carole James says thousands of people applied for British Columbia's $1,000 tax-free emergency benefit in the first minutes of the program going online today.She says more than 16,000 people registered to receive the one-time B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers in the first 45 minutes. James says the program is part of the province's $5 billion plan to help people, businesses and organizations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.It is also available to people in B.C. who are receiving the federal Canada Emergency Response Benefit of $2,000 a month.To get the B.C. benefit, people

The RCMP say its COVID-19 Fraud Response Team has helped Health Canada seize more than 15-hundred unauthorized testing kits in B.C. The Mounties say they began investigating after receiving a tip that unauthorized COVID-19 test kits were being sold online to British Columbians. They say they found a Richmond resident had acquired and was selling them without authorization. No charges were laid as a result of the seizure but the Mounties warn testing kits that aren't authorized by Health Canada may lead to a potential misdiagnosis.

Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry is reporting 25 new cases of COVID-19 and two new deaths as the province marks a milestone in its updates. Henry says it's been 100 days since B.C. issued its first statement about the novel coronavirus. She says lives have changed dramatically since then but Premier John Horgan will outline what she is describing as a go forward plan next week. The new cases include another 12 inmates at the Mission Institution, bringing the total to 120 with Henry saying more are expected to develop symptoms.

The BC government is moving to help the provincial forest industry survive the COVID-19 pandemic by delaying harvesting fees for three months. Forest Minister Doug Donaldson says deferring the stumpage fees will leave eligible companies with about 80 million dollars to pay workers, contractors and other bills, helping them stay afloat. The industry had been struggling before the pandemic with low timber prices and high operating costs, forcing layoffs and mill closures. The government also says major industries like pulp and paper mills and mines will have the opportunity to defer 50 per cent

A 28 year old woman is in hospital with stab wounds and Nanaimo RCMP have arrested a 31 year old male suspect on three charges. Police say they were called to a home early yesterday morning and learned a man who was known to the victim tried to rob her of cash. When the woman refused to hand over the money, police say she was stabbed. Mounties say the suspect was taken into custody a short time later and he has been charged with assault, robbery and uttering death threats.

A suspect has been arrested for the violent assault of a woman as she rode the SkyTrain last Saturday from Waterfront Station in Vancouver. Transit police say a man approached the woman and yelled that she was the person who was making his daughter sick before he punched her several times. Vancouver police responded to a call yesterday from someone who said they recognized the man in photos distributed by transit police. A 51 year old man of no-fixed address has been arrested and charges of charges of assault, theft and mischief have been recommended.

The RCMP say they've arrested two people after recovering $33,000 worth of government-issued cheques that were allegedly stolen from several places in British Columbia's Lower Mainland. The Mounties in Surrey say the cheques include Canada Emergency Response Benefits, GST cheques and income tax refunds, in addition to cheques issued by other organizations. They were recovered by the RCMP's COVID-19 compliance and enforcement team, which conducts patrols to educate people about and prevent contraventions of public health safety orders. The Mounties say in a statement they recovered the cheques

Vancouver police say they safely detonated a suspected improvised explosive device found in a vehicle in the Downtown East Side. Police say officers found the device during a search of the vehicle after they spotted fentanyl in plain view during a traffic stop last night. Sergeant Aaron Roed says officers secured the area to protect the public and then used a specialized robot and other tools to properly disable and dispose of the device. A 25 year old Surrey resident was arrested for unauthorized possession of an explosive device but has been released with no charges at this time.