Police in Victoria are asking for help from the public who may know something about the beheading of a royal statue and a recent rash of graffiti in the city. There were numerous acts of spray-paint vandalism on Tuesday which targeted businesses and public and city-owned property.Police say in a statement that the graffiti specifically references Beacon Hill Park, the site of a long-running tent encampment.They're also asking for help recovering the head removed from a statue of the Queen located in the same park. Officers were called to the area near the park's petting zoo on Wednesday for re

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says rising case numbers and test positivity rates mean it's soon to lift COVID-19 restrictions. Dr. Henry says BC has seen its rolling seven-day average case numbers rise and there's potential to see rapid growth in cases if residents aren't careful. She adds BC is ramping up screening for variants of concern and aims to be testing 100 per cent of all COVID-positive samples starting next week to see if they're likely variants that should be sent on for further study. Dr. Henry reported 395 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 78,673 cases in British

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has revealed its reasons for allowing two men found guilty of the first-degree murders of six people in an apartment building in Surrey, B.C., a new hearing to argue an abuse of process. The ruling last month quashed the convictions of Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston in the so-called "Surrey Six" case but stopped short of ordering a new trial. The Appeal Court released a brief statement announcing the decision in January, saying lawyers needed time to redact the reasons for judgment to protect confidential information, and the edited reasons were relea

The union representing thousands of transit operators in Metro Vancouver says it has no confidence that it will get answers to questions about a major data breach that affected workers. Unifor says the transit authority has been slow to reveal information about December's cyberattack. Unifor president Jerry Dias says he's urging TransLink to take a collaborative approach to problem-solving. TransLink spokeswoman Jill Drews says affected employees began receiving personal notification letters specific to their situation and how they were affected, which were not shared with the union. UNIFOR o

Police say they issued tickets totalling over $900 to two BC Ferries passengers for refusing to follow COVID-19 safety protocols while on board.Nanaimo RCMP say in a news release they were called to the Departure Bay ferry terminal to meet the Queen of Cowichan, which was arriving from Horseshoe Bay just after midnight Sunday, to escort two women off the vessel. They say the women, aged 19 and 43, ignored the mask requirement on board and were heard yelling and screaming at staff. RCMP arrested them for being intoxicated in a public place but later decided not to lay criminal charges. They say

BC health officials are reporting 456 new cases of COVID-19 today. Two additional deaths have also been announced, bringing the total to 1,338. There are 4,668 active cases in the province, including 237 people who are hospitalized with COVID-19. Sixty-four of those patients are in intensive care. To date, 230,875 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 62,608 of which are second doses. There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. The outbreak at Creekside Landing (Interior Health) is now over.

The RCMP say a crash on Highway 16 west of Prince George has killed a Metro Vancouver man and injured a 20 year old Alberta resident. An RCMP statement says the collision happened Monday as the Alberta man in a westbound pickup was overtaking an empty logging truck. The passing lane ended before the pickup had finished its manoeuvre and police say it collided with an oncoming car. Police say the driver of the car, who was in his 40s, died a short time later in hospital. Officers in Prince George are leading the investigation and want to speak with the logging truck driver, who stopped to assi

Victoria police say they arrested a man after a city bylaw vehicle was damaged. They say officers were called to Beacon Hill Park after City of Victoria bylaw officers reported that a man had allegedly smashed their truck window with a sledgehammer. They say the man was found and arrested after he fled to a park on a bicycle. Police say the man was later released with a court date. The police later corrected it was a City of Victoria Parks vehicle. Victoria police on Twitter: Officers are looking for witnesses after man was arrested after reportedly smashing a @cityofvictoria bylaw vehicle's

A Canada lynx that invaded a henhouse looking for an easy and quick meal got a earful instead from the farm owner. And Chris Paulson also recorded himself holding up the animal by the scruff of its neck and telling off the seemingly growling and scowling cat with its black, tufted ear tips, massive paws, and thick grey fur about the damage the feline left behind. The video went viral. Paulson says he heard a commotion coming from his chicken coop on Sunday and went to check it out when he saw the lynx had killed two chickens and was going for more. However, Sergant Ron LeBlanc of the BC Conse