Fire has destroyed a church that was an important source of outreach and meals for struggling residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Flames broke out in the building housing the Vancouver Street Church (on East Hastings Street) about 9:30 last night. No one was seriously hurt but a neighbouring rooming house-style hotel for low income tenants had to be evacuated because of the heavy smoke, although crews managed to keep the fire from spreading into that hotel. A cause of the fire is under investigation.

BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is joining the leaders of Canada's other provincial Green parties in calling for a ``windfall profits tax'' on oil and gas companies. Furstenau says the proceeds of the one-time tax would be shared among Canadians helping them handle affordability challenges while she says oil companies are making windfall profits. The request for the tax echoes a Green proposal made in an open letter to the prime minister last month. The call is being repeated because Canada's premiers and prime minister meet Monday in Victoria and the Green leaders want affordability an

Delta police are searching for the person responsible for damaging a Pride Flag hung from a United Church entranceway. Police say the suspect, believed to be a man in his 50's, hid his face and tried to cover up the church surveillance camera before striking the flag multiple times with a pole early yesterday morning. They say they believe the pole had some form of a sharp edge at the tip because the flag was torn in multiple locations. Police say multiple City of Delta Pride Flags attached to light standards in the area suffered similar damage. Click the link to watch video: https://deltapol

Vancouver Police are investigating after two people were slashed with a machete outside a Downtown Eastside hotel last month, and are asking anyone with information to call police. Multiple witnesses flagged down police on June 19 around 7 p.m., after a 49-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were approached from behind by the suspect and allegedly slashed while loading their luggage into a taxi near Main and East Hastings streets."We don’t know if there was a motive for this attack," says Constable Tania Visintin. "Investigators believe it was completely random and unprovoked, and they want

Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says he won't be running for the leadership of the BC New Democrats, but he says he would support David Eby, if the attorney general decided to seek the party's top job. Eby has not announced his leadership intentions, but in a social media message posted this morning, Kahlon says he admires Eby's integrity and passion. Kahlon says he and his family have decided now is not the time for him to seek the leadership, but he believes Eby is the right person to be BC's next premier. No one has yet declared plans to replace Premier John Horgan, who announced last month that

Someone who bought a Lotto Max lottery ticket in Vancouver is 15 million dollars richer, but they will have to act quickly if they hope to collect the windfall. The BC Lottery Corporation says the ticket was purchased in August last year and the prize winners have 52 weeks to come forward, or they will forfeit the cash. The ticket was for the August 13, 2021, Lotto Max draw and carried the winning numbers of 1-14-17-20-28-32 and 38. So far this year, BC players have redeemed more than 64-million dollars from Lotto Max payouts.

RCMP are investigating a head-on crash in British Columbia's Shuswap region that left three people dead. A statement from Chase RCMP says police were called to an area along the Trans-Canada Highway near Sorrento Tuesday afternoon. It says all the occupants of both vehicles died at the scene. Police say witnesses report a black sedan crossed into the path of an oncoming westbound SUV, hitting it head on. The RCMP say the crash killed a 51-year-old Sorrento man, a 67-year old woman and a 60-year-old man, both from Blind Bay. The BC Coroners Service and police continue to investigate.

The BC Highway patrol says a motorcyclist was killed on the weekend after being hit by a flying trailer tire on the Trans-Canada Highway. Police say the 55 year old man from Sooke died at the scene of the incident about 34 kilometres west of Revelstoke on Sunday afternoon. They say the initial investigation determined that a pickup truck from Alberta was pulling a utility trailer that suddenly lost one of its tires -- which bounced into oncoming traffic and narrowly missed one motorcycle before hitting a second. A passenger on the second bike was injured and was taken to Royal Inland Hospital

The more than 600 members of the United Truckers Association have voted unanimously in favour of a strike at the Port of Vancouver. The association says the vote was held on Canada Day to back demands for changes to a policy that would stop trucks older than 20-years from working at the port. A statement from the association says the policy will impose crippling costs on drivers, but the port has refused to discuss changes and intends to implement the plan in September. Association officials say no job action will happen in July, to give time for talks, but members will move forward with a sh