Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says progress is being made in reopening damaged transportation routes, but the Coquihalla Highway, a major route to B-C's Interior, remains closed to all traffic until at least late January after sustaining bridge and road damage at numerous sites. He says rail traffic through the Interior to and from Vancouver has restarted for both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways, Highway 99 from Pemberton to Lillooet was reopened following a second slide, while Highway 7 between Agassiz and Hope was opened to non-essential traffic following several slides

Over a three-day period, B.C. is reporting 946 new cases of COVID-19, including 15 new epi-linked cases, for a total of 220,530 cases in the province:Dec. 3-4: 351 new casesDec. 4-5: 311 new casesDec. 5-6: 284 new casesThere are currently 2,876 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 215,190 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 241 individuals are currently in hospital and 89 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 72 hours, 11 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,362.The new deaths in

A months-long Vancouver Police investigation has led to multiple criminal charges and renewed concerns that criminal networks are trafficking massive amounts of stolen property in the Downtown Eastside. VPD’s Anti-Fencing Unit launched an undercover sting in April, sending entrenched officers to the Downtown Eastside to observe and gather evidence about the rampant trafficking of stolen property."These officers saw people openly selling drugs and stolen property – everything from power tools and electronics still in store packaging, to cosmetics, designer clothing, and sunglasses that stil

Vancouver Police arrested more than 200 offenders and recovered $75,000 in stolen property during a month-long anti-shoplifting campaign in the downtown core."Business owners and their staff continue to struggle with prolific, and often violent thieves, who seem to think they can steal with impunity," says Sergeant Steve Addison. "Since November 4, a dedicated group of VPD officers has worked directly with retail staff in the downtown core to identify and apprehend shoplifters. The results are alarming."The numbers:323 incidents investigated195 arrests330 criminal charges$75,052 merchandise re

The White House says the U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses. It's a move China has vowed to greet with ``firm countermeasures.'' White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that U.S. athletes will continue to compete and will ``have our full support.'' The administration, however, won't dispatch U.S. dignitaries to attend the games. Psaki says the U.S. has a ''fundamental commitment to promoting human rights" and says the U.S. ``will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.''

Highway 11 between Hazelwood Avenue and Clayburn Road has reopened to passenger and emergency vehicles, restoring the highway connection between Abbotsford and Mission.Traffic is moving in a single lane in each direction between Hazelwood and Clayburn using the southbound lanes of Highway 11. The northbound lanes remain closed until the highway can be repaired.There will be no left turn onto Highway 11 from Valley Road.This section of Highway 11 is limited to passenger vehicles only, plus emergency and municipal service vehicles. Drivers should obey all signage and traffic control. Delays can

Police in Abbotsford say the RCMP's homicide team has taken charge of the investigation into human remains found inside a burned vehicle. They say officers found the remains after responding to reports of a vehicle fire around the five-thousand-block of Riverside Street yesterday morning. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mounties' Integrated Homicide Investigation team. Abbotsford Police on Twitter: UPDATE - Vehicle Fire Results in Suspicious Death December 6th, 2021 AbbyPD investigators have now transitioned this investigation to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team Anyo

British Columbia's health minister says he isn't as worried about the newest COVID-19 variant, Omicron, because the focus needs to stay on the Delta variant, which is having a ``profound impact'' on the province. Adrian Dix says the Delta variant is disproportionately affecting those who haven't been vaccinated, citing more than 150 people, most of them unvaccinated, who have been moved from the Northern Health authority to southern hospitals. He says the transfers are weighing down the health-care system because most of those people are in critical condition and require teams of health-care

The Trans Mountain pipeline has restarted following a three-week precautionary shutdown during a series of storms that battered BC. The federal Crown corporation says the pipeline was safely restarted yesterday after all necessary assessments and repairs were completed. It says some of that work included the construction of ``protective earthworks'' after flooding exposed sections of the pipeline that carries 300,000 barrels per day of petroleum products from Alberta to B.C. Trans Mountain says it's monitoring the pipeline on the ground, by air and through its control centre after the restart