BC's latest weekly COVID-19 update shows the number of patients in hospital with the illness has declined for a third straight week. It says there were 421 patients in hospital as of yesterday down from 473 a week ago and below the most recent high of 596 on May 12th. Among those hospitalized, 41 people are in intensive care. The report from the B-C Centre for Disease Control says 44 people died during the week that ended last Saturday, bringing the pandemic death toll to three-thousand-547.

The order of nuns that staffed numerous residential schools and 10 hospitals in British Columbia over more than 160 years is handing over ownership of its archives to the Royal B.C. Museum. The museum and Sisters of Saint Ann announced in a joint statement Wednesday that the transfer will be expedited and allow for the records to be digitized. Alicia Dubois, the museum’s CEO, says the transparent access to the comprehensive residential school records is essential to truth and reconciliation efforts. Members of the nuns' order worked at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, where the local

RCMP say a suspicious object found along a West Kelowna road has been confirmed to be an explosive. The Mounties say they received a report of a suspicious object on the shoulder of Bartley Road yesterday morning and called their Explosives Disposal Unit. They say the experts confirmed it was an explosive device and destroyed it. An investigation is ongoing.

The BC government says it will contribute $2.4 billion to improve transit and infrastructure in Metro Vancouver. It says the funds are part of its commitment to cover 40 per cent of the 10-year vision outlined by the regional mayors' council on transportation. A statement from the province says the biggest projects on the list include building a Surrey-Langley SkyTrain line and the electrification of bus fleets. Ridership is rebounding but still sits at 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn says the funds will ensure transit continues to serve residents after a chal

Premier John Horgan says he and his western and territorial counterparts want the federal government to open the purse strings to improve health care. Horgan, who is at the Western Premiers Conference underway in Saskatchewan, says health-care services are not sustainable as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. He says provinces want a 28-billion-dollar boost in health transfers, pushing the federal share of health-care costs to 35 per cent from the current 22 per cent. Health-care issues launched the conference this morning but the premiers and territorial leaders are also schedul

Police say a woman has been arrested in connection with the abduction of two children in Vancouver. Const. Tania Visintin says the woman took the seven- and nine-year-old sisters from their mother's home last night, but they are now safe. She said earlier the woman was known to the family but there was no indication that either child had been harmed or was in imminent danger. Investigators believed there was no concern for the safety of any other children in the Strathcona neighbourhood.

Police say an adult and two youths are in custody for ``suspected involvement'' in the death of a 41-year-old man last night in Abbotsford. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the victim was attacked near the parking lot of a large shopping mall but it has not released a cause of death. I-HIT says the victim has no link to gangs and the attack is believed to have been an isolated incident. Sergeant David Lee says police are still searching for key evidence even though arrests have been made and anyone with dashcam or surveillance video is asked to contact the homicide team.

The City of Kamloops says one person has died in hospital following an ammonia leak at an industrial park. A spokeswoman with BC Emergency Health Services has previously said one person was taken to hospital in critical condition and two others were there in stable condition. She says six other patients in stable condition were assessed at the scene after five paramedic crews and two supervisors responded to a call at about 10:30 a.m. The city says in a written statement that the RCMP and firefighters responded to the scene and several businesses were evacuated. It says police and WorkSafeBC

A former clerk of the B.C. legislature is set to be sentenced on July 4 after he was found guilty of fraud and breach of trust. The fraud charge against Craig James was stayed last week because it was related to the same set of evidence involving nearly $1,900 in claims he made for work attire, so a conviction was not entered on that count. He was found not guilty on three other counts of breach of trust related to a $258,000 retirement benefit and the purchase of a wood splitter and trailer that he said were bought for emergency preparedness at the legislature. Associate Chief Justice Heathe