Local News Update

A beloved downtown music festival is once again kicking off this long weekend after almost being cancelled. Backyard Fest, a backyard and underground music festival, will showcase both local talent and musical groups from B.C. and Alberta.  This is the fifth year running for the festival, which takes place every May long weekend in the backyard of downtown Nanaimo’s Sound Heritage, a vintage music...

While Nanaimo is in the midst of a family doctor shortage, an event happening this weekend will allow residents to meet with doctors to discuss the benefits of daily activity.  Starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11 at Maffeo Sutton Park, Walk with Your Doc will promote healthy and active living by local family doctors while also going for a walk around the park. Dr. Derek Poteryko, a family doct...

B.C.’s new short-term rental law has come into effect.  Starting May 1st, British Columbians will legally only be able to rent out their primary residence. In addition to their primary residence, they will also be able to either rent their secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit as a short-term rental on the same property. This is a part of B.C.'s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act. Change...

B.C.’s new short-term rental law has come into effect.  Starting May 1st, British Columbians will legally only be able to rent out their primary residence. In addition to their primary residence, they will also be able to either rent their secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit as a short-term rental on the same property. This is a part of B.C.'s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act. Change...

B.C.’s new short-term rental law has come into effect.  Starting May 1st, British Columbians will legally only be able to rent out their primary residence. In addition to their primary residence, they will also be able to either rent their secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit as a short-term rental on the same property. This is a part of B.C.'s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act. Change...

Students from Vancouver Island University (VIU) have set up a pro-Palestine camp at VIU’s Nanaimo campus. On Wednesday, May 1 students in solidarity with Palestinians, set up tarps and tents outside the university’s library.  CHLY reached out to students involved with the encampment and was told that at this time they are not willing to speak with the media. Instead, CHLY was directed to a stateme...

The City of Nanaimo through poetry is adding art to the natural landscape of Bowen Park. The City’s Poetry in the Park project featuring Nanaimo's Poet Laureate, Kamal Parmar has started. Smartphone-readable QR codes have been placed throughout the park with links to five poems Parmar has written and recorded. The poems highlight the beauty of nature and give the listener a new perspective of the...

The City of Nanaimo through poetry is adding art to the natural landscape of Bowen Park. The City’s Poetry in the Park project featuring Nanaimo's Poet Laureate, Kamal Parmar has started. Smartphone-readable QR codes have been placed throughout the park with links to five poems Parmar has written and recorded. The poems highlight the beauty of nature and give the listener a new perspective of the...

The City of Nanaimo through poetry is adding art to the natural landscape of Bowen Park. The City’s Poetry in the Park project featuring Nanaimo's Poet Laureate, Kamal Parmar has started. Smartphone-readable QR codes have been placed throughout the park with links to five poems Parmar has written and recorded. The poems highlight the beauty of nature and give the listener a new perspective of the...

The City of Nanaimo through poetry is adding art to the natural landscape of Bowen Park. The City’s Poetry in the Park project featuring Nanaimo's Poet Laureate, Kamal Parmar has started. Smartphone-readable QR codes have been placed throughout the park with links to five poems Parmar has written and recorded. The poems highlight the beauty of nature and give the listener a new perspective of the...

The City of Nanaimo through poetry is adding art to the natural landscape of Bowen Park. The City’s Poetry in the Park project featuring Nanaimo's Poet Laureate, Kamal Parmar has started. Smartphone-readable QR codes have been placed throughout the park with links to five poems Parmar has written and recorded. The poems highlight the beauty of nature and give the listener a new perspective of the...

A local Parksville brewery is looking for support from the City of Parksville for their application to the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch to change their hours of liquor services. Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company is applying to change their current licensed liquor service hours from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. Parksville city council discussed feedb...

A local Nanaimo organization that engages vulnerable youth with full-time mental health and well-being programs is looking for funding through the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) to support its program. Take a Hike Nanaimo is an organization that offers 35 at-risk youth aged 15 to 18 an alternative classroom education that offers mental health and emotional well-being programs. Zoe Lauckner, ma...

A local Nanaimo organization that engages vulnerable youth with full-time mental health and well-being programs is looking for funding through the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) to support its program. Take a Hike Nanaimo is an organization that offers 35 at-risk youth aged 15 to 18 an alternative classroom education that offers mental health and emotional well-being programs. Zoe Lauckner, ma...

The Town of Ladysmith is increasing parking enforcement to the downtown area to deter those who park longer than the set limit. At a council meeting on April 2, council moved a motion to direct staff to increase parking time enforcement in the vicinity of Harmony Square (formally called Diversity Square) after receiving a report about the parking in that area. Time limits for parking spaces in the...

The Town of Ladysmith is increasing parking enforcement to the downtown area to deter those who park longer than the set limit. At a council meeting on April 2, council moved a motion to direct staff to increase parking time enforcement in the vicinity of Harmony Square (formally called Diversity Square) after receiving a report about the parking in that area. Time limits for parking spaces in the...

The Town of Ladysmith is increasing parking enforcement to the downtown area to deter those who park longer than the set limit. At a council meeting on April 2, council moved a motion to direct staff to increase parking time enforcement in the vicinity of Harmony Square (formally called Diversity Square) after receiving a report about the parking in that area. Time limits for parking spaces in the...

The Town of Ladysmith is increasing parking enforcement to the downtown area to deter those who park longer than the set limit. At a council meeting on April 2, council moved a motion to direct staff to increase parking time enforcement in the vicinity of Harmony Square (formally called Diversity Square) after receiving a report about the parking in that area. Time limits for parking spaces in the...

Students protested outside the doors of Vancouver Island University’s president's office on Thursday over what they say is an incident of racial profiling.  While participating in a sit-in protest outside the president’s office, sisters Zena and Sara Kishawi, say they are calling on VIU to launch an investigation around an incident where members of the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Muslim Wome...

Students protested outside the doors of Vancouver Island University’s president's office on Thursday over what they say is an incident of racial profiling.  While participating in a sit-in protest outside the president’s office, sisters Zena and Sara Kishawi, say they are calling on VIU to launch an investigation around an incident where members of the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Muslim Wome...

Students protested outside the doors of Vancouver Island University’s president's office on Thursday over what they say is an incident of racial profiling.  While participating in a sit-in protest outside the president’s office, sisters Zena and Sara Kishawi, say they are calling on VIU to launch an investigation around an incident where members of the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Muslim Wome...

Nanaimo city council voted to direct city staff to look at increasing fines for violating the city’s short term rental bylaw from $250 to $500 at its meeting on March 18. According to a staff report, only 30 per cent of short term rentals in Nanaimo have complied with a municipal bylaw that requires short-term rental owners to have a business licence. As of March 1, a city staff report found that...

Parksville city council has approved an advance of levy funding to the Parksville Downtown Business Association.  The association’s executive director, Teresa Cooper, and treasurer Michelle Jones highlighted the growth the association has seen and its plans for the future at Monday’s council meeting.  There are currently 257 businesses in downtown Parksville and approximately 1,500 people work the...

At a Regional District of Nanaimo, or RDN, board meeting on Tuesday, March 13, directors voted to defer a motion that would have seen a four per cent increase to curbside collection utility fees. Curbside garbage and recycling pick up is mandatory for all residential properties containing up to four dwelling units in the RDN. This service is also optional for eligible bare land strata and townhous...

A dam safety engineer told Nanaimo city council that there would be serious consequences if dams the city owns and maintains were to fail. Dave Bonin, a senior hydrotechnical engineer with Hatch Ltd. presented at Monday’s governance and priorities committee meeting that he is concerned that at least two of the city’s dams could fail if an earthquake hit. Support local news reporting through our No...