Private liquor retailers are now allowed to sell their products to holders of special event permits to serve liquor at events such as community festivals, family gatherings and private functions.The change follows a recommendation from the Business Technical Advisory Panel. Previously, only government liquor stores could sell liquor products to permit holders. The private retailers who may now do so include:* B.C. wineries, breweries and distilleries with on-site stores;* licensee retail stores (private liquor stores);* wine stores (excluding sacramental wine stores) and special wine stores; a

A new evacuation order has been issued as the largest wildfire in British Columbia continues to challenge efforts to bring it under control. The BC Wildfire Service says the blaze north of Kamloops now covers 402 square kilometres and flames on one of its flanks surged toward control lines Monday. An evacuation order for nine more properties near Savona has been issued, adding to the 170 already ordered out by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the Skeetchestn Indian Band. In the south Okanagan, the wildfire sparked Sunday east of Skaha Lake now covers nine square kilometres but firefi

A BC First Nation says in a newsletter that more than 160 unmarked and undocumented graves have been found at the site of a former residential school on a small island off the east coast of Vancouver Island. The Penelakut Tribe has not officially commented but its newsletter says the graves have been found on Penelakut Island, at the former Kuper Island Industrial School. A University of BC Ph-D student in anthropology said in May that he had been working with the Penelakut Tribe, using ground penetrating radar to search for remains of children who died at the school during the nearly 100 yea

Police in Nanaimo say a man who'd been missing since March of 2020 was the victim of homicide. They say 32 year old Sidney Mantee's family in Saskatchewan contacted police last October, saying it was out of character for him not to contact them so long. Constable Gary O'Brien says in May, RCMP officers searched Diver Lake and a park in Nanaimo, as well as an apartment where Mantee had lived. Another search of the waters off the city was done this past weekend. He could not say if anyone has been arrested or how the Indigenous man died.

Vancouver Police are gathering evidence after a violent confrontation sent two people to hospital with life-threatening injuries Monday night. "Several people called 9-1-1 around 7:30 p.m. yesterday to report that one man was attacking another outside and an apartment building near Spruce Street and West 12th Avenue," says Sergeant Steve Addison, VPD. "One suspect had a sword and had reportedly crawled through the window of a ground-level apartment." VPD officers responded immediately, and arrived moments later. That’s when the 29-year-old suspect tried to run away from police. He jumped in

A Mobile Vaccine Bus will be stationed in White Rock this Wednesday as Fraser Health, TransLink, and the City of White Rock partner to make COVID-19 vaccines more accessible. The specially equipped transit bus – air-conditioned and set up as a walk-in clinic – will operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 14 in the east parking lot of the 15400-block Marine Drive. Fraser Health says all residents aged 12 and older are welcome, including those without a personal health number or who are new to B.C. Health officials say the initiative is part of efforts to close the gap in first-dose coverage

At last night’s Regular Council Meeting, Council approved an Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw and corresponding Rezoning By-law, to fast-track the development of the new Surrey Hospital and integrated cancer centre. The plan amendment redesignates the land from industrial to mixed employment, and with the corresponding rezoning, will allow for both the hospital, and its supportive services."Council is committed to accelerating the development of the new Surrey hospital, and at last night’s Council meeting we delivered on that promise," said Mayor Doug McCallum. "Surrey is rapidly g

Over a three-day period, B.C. is reporting 123 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 148,154 cases in the province. 46, 47 and 30 cases were reported on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. There are currently 658 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 66 individuals are currently in hospital and 14 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. Province has administered 5,741,691 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.

New rules will allow property owners in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) increased housing flexibility, helping farmers and non-farmers support their families and businesses in their communities.Options for an additional small secondary home have been added to regulations, allowing farmers and ALR landowners to have both a principal residence and small secondary residence on their property with a streamlined approval process. Only permissions from local government or First Nations government will be required, and there will be no application to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).The add