BC's government has set a new target for cutting greenhouse gases by 2025. Target has been set after determining it was further from reaching its goals than previously forecasted. The new target requires greenhouse gases in BC to fall 16 per cent below 2007 levels within the next five years. A government report says emissions rose in 2018 due to increases in fuel consumed in heavy-duty diesel vehicles, among other things. Environment Minister George Heyman says completing a plan to reach the legislated targets has been more challenging than anticipated.

The RCMP say they've launched a criminal investigation into the fatal CP train derailment near the BC-Alberta boundary in February 2019. A train carrying more than 100 grain cars was parked on a grade near Field before it started moving on its own, gaining speeds far above the limit. Sergeant Janelle Shoihet says the investigation comes after a preliminary review of the incident that killed three rail company employees. She says police consulted with the Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada and the BC Prosecution Service and determined further investigation was warranted. She would n

A mother who gave birth while in a coma due to complications from COVID-19 is awake and has met her newborn son for the first time. Name of the woman is Gillian McIntosh. Gillian was given an emergency C-section and placed in an induced coma after arriving at a hospital in Abbotsford, B.C., with COVID-19 symptoms in November. McIntosh's family says in a statement that she was eased out of sedation late last week and has been taken off the ventilator. She was able to meet her son, named Travis Len, for the first time over the weekend.

B.C. reported 640 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, for a total of 44,103 since the pandemic began. Another 24 people have died, bringing the death toll to 692. The number of people who have died in B.C. because of COVID-19 has more than doubled in less than a month. The province says 362 people are hospitalized, while 91 of those are in intensive care. One new health-care facility outbreak has been declared at Sunrise of Vancouver. Among new cases 98 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 399 new cases in the Fraser Health region.

New enforcement measures are coming into effect as part of British Columbia's crackdown on those who refuse to follow COVID-19 restrictions. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, says in a statement that he has asked gaming investigators, conservation officers, community safety unit inspectors, as well as liquor and cannabis inspectors to support police and increase COVID-19 enforcement. Farnworth says he has also directed the Insurance Corp. of B.C. to send unpaid fines to collections after the initial 30 day payment or dispute period ends. According to provided in

Interior Health says an investigation has found 60 cases of COVID-19 linked to the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna. It says large groups and social gatherings appear to be responsible for much of the transmission related to shared housing at the resort. The health authority says it's safe to visit Big White as long as people stick to their immediate household bubbles and avoid gathering with others. The resort's senior vice-president on Tuesday said, the company knows there are people residing on the mountain who have probably been gathering when they should not be. But Interior Health is agai

Officials at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus say they're aware of allegations of cheating in a first-year chemistry class, which recently had its final exam online. In a screenshot posted online, an instructor at UBC Okanagan says she's investigating how her final exam appeared on an academic website. UBC said last month it was investigating allegations of widespread cheating on a first-year math exam. Director of university affairs Matthew Ramsey couldn't say whether there was more cheating happening with many courses operating online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police are confirming Vancouver's 19th homicide of the year. The victim was stabbed near East 12th Avenue and Kingsway Tuesday, where investigators kept a smaller intersection closed for hours. The victim was taken to hospital, but died from the stabbing. According to reports 72 year old East Vancouver man, Alex Gortmaker, was stabbed to death. Investigators appeared focused on evidence markers placed around the Biltmore hotel.

Experts say a massive landslide in a remote inlet on BC's central coast caused a shock that was equivalent to a 4.9 magnitude earthquake. The slide happened on November 28. It happened near Elliot Creek, just east of the head of Bute Inlet north of Powell River. Brent Ward, a geology professor and co-director of the Centre for National Hazards Research at Simon Fraser University, says the landslide created its own seismic event. Local Indigenous groups say the landslide impacted salmon spawning habitat.