Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is expanding the COVID-19 mask mandate to include children aged five and older. Dr. Henry has been under pressure from some teachers and parents to include all children instead of just those aged 12 and up in the order to wear masks in public spaces. She also announced today that BC is planning to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to about 340-thousand children aged 5 to 11 as early as November, pending approval by Health Canada. Dr. Henry says the start of the campaign will be prioritized in the northern region, where COVID-19 transmission rates are hig

A federal judge has rejected a top Canadian soldier's bid to get his job back as the head of vaccine rollout in Canada. The decision by Justice Ann Marie McDonald follows a two-day hearing last month in which government lawyers argued that if Major-General Dany Fortin was not happy with his removal in May, he should file a formal complaint with the military. Fortin says his ouster was political. McDonald says he should try the military's grievance system. He was sacked amid a sexual misconduct allegation dating back a couple of decades.

A coroner in Wyoming says slain cross-country traveler Gabby Petito died as a result of strangulation. The 22 year old woman's body was found last month near an undeveloped camping area in remote northern Wyoming along the border of Grand Teton National Park. Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue said in a news conference Tuesday he was prevented by Wyoming law from saying much more about the case. The coroner had earlier classified Petito's death as a homicide but had not previously disclosed how she was killed. Petito's boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, is considered a person of interest in her disa

Vancouver Police are investigating a serious hit-and-run that sent one man to hospital with life-threatening injuries, and are asking witnesses to come forward. The victim, 30, was crossing East 41st Avenue at Fraser Street at 6:25 a.m. this morning when he was struck by a vehicle that was travelling west, causing serious head injuries. The driver fled west without stopping."Although it’s early in the investigation, we believe the suspect’s vehicle is either a black pick-up truck or black SUV," says Constable Tania Visintin. "We need anyone with information or dash cam footage to call poli

Mounties in central BC say they are investigating a deadly crash yesterday. RCMP say a 37 year old man was killed in a single vehicle crash on Highway 27 near Blue Mountain, roughly 20 kilometres from Vanderhoof. Police say they are investigating the cause of the crash and nothing has been ruled out. Mounties are asking for anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or has dash cam video of the incident, to contact them.

Vancouver police say they seized 174 guns from a senior's home, after being asked to check on the man by his doctor. Police spokeswoman Const. Tania Visintin says in a statement many of the weapons are from the Second World War. She says the weapons were seized as they allegedly weren't being stored properly. Visintin says the owner suffers from dementia and physical health issues, and officers took him to a local hospital for urgent care.

A BC woman was nearly hit by a meteorite last week. Ruth Hamilton of Golden, BC, says she was fast asleep last Monday when a piece of rock crashed through her ceiling. She says an officer was dispatched to the scene and he though he thought it was from a nearby construction site, it was soon determined the rock was a fragment from a meteorite that shot through the night sky earlier that night. Hamilton says she was not injured and she plans to keep the rock, but that she is now focused on getting her roof fixed.

BC emergency operators have again experienced delays in answering and processing emergency calls. A spokesperson from the E-Comms 9-1-1 says the extended wait period for calls over the Thanksgiving weekend was the result of delays transferring the calls to the BC Ambulance Service. The agency says, when this happens, people should not hang up but stay on the line until they can be helped. Paramedics in B-C have been speaking out about staffing shortages and burnout since the heat wave in June. In July, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province would be adding more paramedics, dispatchers a

Vancouver police are investigating the cause of a fatal crash near Jericho Beach. They say it happened on Sunday night, after a man was reported to be driving erratically. They say the driver hit a tree, and after several unsuccessful attempts by Vancouver firefighters and paramedics to revive him, he died at the scene. Constable Tania Visintin says speed was a factor in the crash, but police are still investigating to determine if there were any other factors. This is Vancouver’s 14th motor vehicle fatality of 2021.