British Columbia is introducing a two-tiered heat alert and response system to help people and communities stay safe this summer when temperatures rise.Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says during periods of extreme heat emergencies, the government is prepared to issue alerts through the national Alert Ready system, which is already used to issue Amber Alerts and tsunami, wildfire and flood warnings.Temperatures surpassed 40 C for days in last summer's so-called heat dome in B.C., resulting in almost 600 heat-related deaths, most of them elderly and vulnerable people living in buildings w

Monkeypox has spread to another part of Canada. The BC Centre for Disease Control has announced the first case in British Columbia, bringing the national total to almost 80 cases. The BC case is in a man in Vancouver. On Friday, the National Microbiology Laboratory said 77 cases of monkeypox had been confirmed in Canada. The BC centre says the risk to the general public is very low.

A man from the Netherlands has pleaded not guilty on all counts at the start of his trial in New Westminster on charges related to the alleged extortion and harassment of Port Coquitlam teen Amanda Todd. Aydin Coban faces five counts related to Todd, who died by suicide in October 2012 after posting a video online using a series of flash cards to describe the bullying and harassment she endured for posting an intimate photo online. The jury has been told the charges against Coban relate to his alleged communications with the 15-year-old between November 2009 and February 2012. Coban was extra

The lead singer for the Abbotsford-based pop rock band Hedley has been convicted of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman but acquitted of the same charge against a teenage fan. Jacob Hoggard was found guilty yesterday after a Toronto jury deliberated for six days and twice reported it was deadlocked, before finally reaching its verdict. Bail conditions for the 37-year-old performer were tightened during a court hearing this morning, with a large bond posted by his wife and a requirement that Hoggard stay in B-C except for his upcoming court dates in Ontario. A sentencing

A 77-year-old man has come forward to police in Mission after four people taking part in a memorial march on Saturday were hit by a pickup truck in that Fraser Valley city. RCMP say the driver is not in custody but his truck has been seized by investigators. Participants attending the March for Recognition for Residential Schools temporarily blocked the only eastbound lane of the Lougheed Highway through Mission while walking to the site of the former St. Mary's residential school. An initial release from the Mounties said an ``impatient'' driver tried to pass the march and made contact with

Three small communities around Terrace have been evacuated as levels of the Skeena River continue to climb. Evacuation orders took effect last night in the communities of New Remo, Old Remo and Usk as flood watches cover parts of the Skeena and Bulkley rivers in northwestern BC, the Liard River around Fort Nelson and the Dean River on the Fraser Plateau east of Bella Coola. The River Forecast Centre says those waterways will continue to rise, at least through today, while high streamflow advisories are posted for most other northern BC rivers as flows remain heavy due to warmer weather and co

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.