Hundreds more flood evacuees are returning home to the devastated agricultural zone of Abbotsford, B-C, as people in the area continue cleaning up from last month's catastrophic flooding. Mayor Henry Braun says rapid damage assessments have been completed for houses, barns and garages in the southern Sumas Prairie, allowing officials to lift an evacuation order for 400 properties. About 200 homes still remain under evacuation order. Officials say people living in the Lake Bottom area of Sumas Prairie _ the last remaining area with floodwaters _ could be able to return home in the coming days.

B.C. is reporting 379 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 221,235 cases in the province.There are 2,874 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 215,884 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 224 individuals are currently in hospital and 77 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, six new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,369.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: twoNorthern Health: oneIsland Health: threeThere have been no new health-care facility outbreaks, for a total of five

Police in Abbotsford are asking for the public's help in identifying a white SUV that was involved in a series of break-ins in a subdivision. They say three suspects smashed the windows of parked vehicles in order to use the owners' garage door openers to get inside garages in the Eagle Mountain-area yesterday. Police say property was stolen in four burglaries. They're reminding residents to remove garage door openers from vehicles that are parked on the street overnight. Abbotsford Police on Twitter: Four Break & Enters in Thirty-Five Minutes On Dec7th, 2021, between 3:10 am and 3:45 am,

Mounties in Surrey say 19 people have been arrested as police targeted thefts at malls. They say the arrests took place over two days and suspects ranged in age from 14 to 57 years old, with stolen items including cosmetics, electronics, tools and liquor. Police say the arrests led to 10 charges for theft under five-thousand dollars. They say six of those arrested at the Guildford Town Centre and Central City Shopping Centre had outstanding arrest warrants for other crimes. Surrey RCMP on Twitter: Surrey RCMP Community Response Unit arrested 19 people during two days of proactively targeting

Homicide investigators say death of a person whose body was found in a burned vehicle in Abbotsford last weekend is no longer considered suspicious. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says in a statement that Abbotsford police officers had believed the death was suspicious after finding human remains inside a vehicle that had been on fire. The Mounties say that's no longer the case after an autopsy was conducted.

Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira spent the night in a hospital after he was leveled by Jacob Trouba during a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers. Team physician Michael Terry said Khaira was released Wednesday morning after undergoing ``extensive testing.'' ``Despite the significant injury, his prognosis is excellent, and we expect a full recovery,'' Terry said in a news release. ``At this point, it is too early to put a timeline on return to play.'' Khaira's head was down as he gathered the puck in 6:10 into the second period Tuesday night. He looked up right as Trouba appeared to drive

Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner is the winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's Athlete of the Year. Warner won gold at the Tokyo Games last summer and became just the fourth man in history to top the elusive 9,000-point barrier in the 10-discipline event. The 32-year-old native of London, Ont., is the first Canadian to win the Olympic decathlon. He set an Olympic record and a national record with 9,018 points. Media members from across Canada voted Wednesday on the annual Toronto Star award. Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Bayern Munich left back A

Canada is joining the United States, the United Kingdon and Australia in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns. The announcement came after the White House, the Australian government and the UK government confirmed diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Olympics in February to protest Chinese human rights abuses. China has vowed to react with ``firm countermeasures.'' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has been talks with allies about it in recent months. The diplomatic moves by Canada, the U.S., Britain and Australia do not affect t

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says next year's budget will include significant funding for climate action and public safety. The mayor says Budget 2022 includes nine-million dollars for a new annual climate fund for electric vehicle chargers, transit infrastructure and building retrofits. He says the leading driver of budget growth is once again spending on police and firefighters -- which represents nearly half of the budget's property tax increase. Stewart says the budget includes a request for the city's new auditor general to review cost pressures on the police department.