Police say a man has been arrested and charged in connection with a pair of sex assaults near bus stops in the Greater Victoria area.Saanich police say the 40 year old suspect from Sidney was arrested on Sunday and has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and released on conditions.The man is alleged to have followed a 17 year old girl and a 25 year old woman off the bus in two separate incidents.Police say the incidents each happened at the end of February and both involved unwanted sexual touching.

A private school in West Vancouver has closed its two campuses early for spring break as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus.Collingwood School says classes are expected to resume at the end of the month at its junior school campus, as well as its middle and senior school campus.A letter sent out from the head of the school says a ``close contact to one of our Collingwood families not a student family member, or staff member,'' tested positive for the virus.The school will be subject to deep cleaning while it is closed.

Police in North and West Vancouver say they set up signs last week warning drivers to stay off the phone but still handed out 36 tickets for distracted driving within metres of those signs. West Vancouver police Constable Kevin Goodmurphy says, for some reason, drivers still aren't getting the message. He says during a 90 minute blitz at the height of rush hour last Friday, officers had no trouble spotting drivers texting or talking on their phones while behind the wheel. The distracted driving campaign is set to continue through March and beyond.

Fortis BC says it responded to one thousand and 69 calls for broken gas lines last year and it believes the vast majority were likely avoidable. Damage Prevention and Emergency Services Manager Ian Turnbull says, in more than 600 of the cases, the line was ruptured by someone who dug or cut into it without checking for underground pipes or wires. Turnbull says anyone planning to dig should first go online at ``BC 1 Call'' to open what is described as a ticket checking information about the location, size and depth of a dig to ensure there's no chance of damaging underground infrastructure. He

More than a week after a man was attacked and left with life threatening injuries, Vancouver police hope additional witnesses can help them understand what happened. The unnamed 49 year old victim remains in hospital following the assault in front of a pub on Vancouver's west side at about 2 a.m. on February 29th. Police say a suspect has been identified and the investigation is continuing. Officers with the major crimes section urge anyone with information about the attack to contact them or Crime Stoppers.

British Columbia health officials say a man has died of the new coronavirus at a seniors care home in North Vancouver. The death at Lynn Valley Care Centre is believed to be the first COVID-19 death in Canada. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced on the weekend that two elderly residents of the facility had been diagnosed with the virus. Henry says the diagnoses followed an earlier diagnosis of a worker at the care home, making the cases especially concerning as examples of community transmission. The two health officials described the situat

Richmond RCMP are seeking witnesses to an alleged assault early Saturday morning. Police say they were called after a man was brought to a local area hospital with a serious head wound.They say the man was allegedly attacked by a group of individuals in front of a restaurant (located at 5300 No. 3 Road).Investigators say the attack appears to have been targeted and the suspects left in two vehicles.

British Columbia's police watchdog is investigating the death of a man who was pepper sprayed and shocked with a stun gun by Mounties on Sunday.RCMP say the incident happened in Whistler at about 11 a.m., after people called to report an intoxicated man causing a disturbance at a local business.They say that the officers used pepper spray on the man, stunned him with a conducted energy weapon and used their batons "in an effort to gain control of him."During the interaction, they say the man "suddenly became still" and officers began CPR as they called paramedics.He died after being taken to

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix informed in a press conference that as of this morning there are 27 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the province. Of the six new patients, two had travelled to Iran, two are from the Grand Princess cruise ship which was quarantined off the coast of San Francisco, and the other two are from a long term care centre in a North Vancouver. Dr. Henry informed that Lynn Valley Care Centre is under outbreak protocol now.