Vancouver Rundown

A former Lower Mainland BC United candidate is throwing his support behind the NDP. Delta North candidate Amrit Pal Singh Dhot has suspended his campaign to endorse New Democrat incumbent Ravi Khalon. Dhot’s status, along with that of many other BC United candidates, has been in question after leader Kevin Falcon withdrew and offered his endorsement of BC Conservative leader John Rustad.

A woman is recovering in hospital after being found stabbed and bleeding in Surrey’s Whalley neighbourhood early Sunday morning. Police say the 40-year-old was found near King George and 104 Avenue shortly after 2 a.m. A possible suspect has been arrested - officers have been working to contact friends and family of the woman.

A White Rock man has now been charged in the two brutal attacks near Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre early Wednesday morning. Brendan Colin McBride, 32, is charged with a single count of second degree murder and another count of aggravated assault. A man died in the first knife attack - a second had his hand slashed moments later. Vancouver Police used a drone in tracking down and arresting a...

One man is dead, another has had his hand cut-off in unprovoked stranger attacks in Downtown Vancouver. A 34-year-old man from White Rock has been arrested in the two attacks that happened Wednesday morning. Vancouver Police say the suspect has a history of mental illness and has had more than 60 interactions with officers.

Last week, BC United imploded. This week, star-candidate Dr. Claudine Storness-Bliss has announced she will suspend her Surrey-Cloverdale campaign. The outspoken Surrey Memorial obstetrician-gynecologist will neither run as an independent nor under the BC Conservative banner. Storness-Bliss had run on a promise to help make B.C.’s healthcare system, and Surrey Memorial, better.

This past Labour Day long weekend included closures at five B.C. emergency rooms in the Interior. Hospitals in Lillooet, Merritt, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and even Kamloops could not adequately staff their ERs. Geographically, the closures left a huge swath of the province without ER coverage. The Ministry of Health has always maintained ERs are only closed as a last resort.

A man’s been shot dead on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The victim was found by police near East Cordova and Carrall streets at around 3:30 a.m. Thursday. He died at the scene. The cops don’t know if the victim knew his attacker or if the shooting was targeted.

It’s all over for Kevin Falcon’s BC United. The troubled political party has suspended its campaign for the upcoming provincial election with Falcon saying he personally won’t run for re-election. Some of BC United’s candidates will run under the BC Conservative banner - Falcon says his party is officially endorsing the Conservatives. Recent polls have had BC United in fourth place, behind the Gre...

Public school students across B.C. will have to put away their cellphones while in class. The provincial government is requiring all school districts to enforces their own policies - ones that will restrict mobile devices on school property. Students and parents will also be offered digital literacy courses but the details have not yet been announced.

Environment Canada now says 17 B.C. communities broke rainfall records over the weekend and that doesn’t even count Monday’s downpours. A low pressure system that brought pouring rain to many areas is also responsible for trees falling on cars and some homes. The good news - a coastal campfire ban is expected to be lifted on Wednesday.

The West Coast Express is back in service Monday but expect delays. That’s what TransLink’s telling Vancouver area media after the commuter train was off-line Thursday and Friday following labour strife at Canada’s two largest rail companies. The federal labour board has since ordered all rail workers back to work. The Teamsters vow to appeal the order.

The West Coast Express commuter train between Mission and Vancouver remains out-of-service Friday even though the lockout is over at Canada’s two largest rail companies. TransLink has been providing additional bus service to riders during the labour dispute. About 3,000 commuters take the West Coast Express on weekdays.

Assault charges have been laid against two Vancouver Police officers in a violent incident that happened in the city in late 2023. Global News reports both Joshua Wong and Brian Hunt were off-duty at the time. Neither is serving in an operational role right now while their case is before the courts. Constable Wong was one of several officers investigated in a violent assault that resulted in the d...

Was it a homicide? That’s what investigators are trying to figure out after an adult woman and a school-aged child plunged from an apartment balcony in North Vancouver. There’s no official word on what floor the two fell from on East Esplanade in Lower Lonsdale early Tuesday morning. Officers say the two knew each other and are not looking for any suspects at this time.

Wildfire crews are getting a much needed break thanks to wetter and cooler weather around the province. Only a third of the 370 wildfires are classed as out-of-control, down from 40 per cent just last week. The large fire between Cache Creek and Spences Bridge is now contained. Most of the fire danger is now in the northern part of the province and in areas of Yukon.

Power crews spent most of Sunday getting the lights back on for many of the up to 12-thousand BC Hydro customers hit by blackouts around the South Coast. High wind and multiple lightning strikes followed a storm late Saturday evening that made its way up the coast from northern California. The bad weather followed a warm Saturday with highs that topped 30C in many areas of the Lower Mainland.

Late and over budget. The provincial government now admits its latest cost projections for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain Extension will be $6B. That’s a stunning 50 per cent more than first promised. The Ministry of Transportation also says it now expects the project to be finished at the end of 2029…not 2028 as previously announced. The government blames market conditions, rising costs, labour shor...

The provincial government has announced - or re-announced - close to $3B to complete Highway 1 improvements from Langley to Abbotsford. Most of that is to cover improvements in Abbotsford including those at Mount Lehman Road. Those improvements will eventually extend to Chilliwack and require even more money. Highway 1 improvement work has been underway in Langley for several months.

A young Burnaby man is now charged with close to two dozen counts of sextorting teens across Canada. The majority of the victims are between 15 and 18 and the investigation started after police looked into threats of explicit photos being shared online of teens in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Anwer Jelassi, 19, is charged with multiple counts of child luring, child pornography and extortion.

It’s a frightening warning for cyclists who use the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge. RCMP say they’re looking into reports a wire was strong across the eastside cycling lane at the north end of the bridge. The incident apparently happened last week and police say it’s lucky no one was hurt.

Two more weeks! That’s the latest word on how long that collapsed construction crane is expected to block West 41 Avenue near Collingwood Street in Vancouver’s Dunbar neighbourhood. The crane came down during that massive Tuesday night fire that destroyed a couple under-construction buildings and heavily damaged several homes. The cause is still being investigated while some area residents remain...

Boaters have been dodging logs and debris along the Lower Mainland stretch of the Fraser River after water broke through the Chilcotin River log jam earlier this week. Officials are warning people to stay off the river in Langley, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and Surrey. A debris trap near Agassiz has been working, capturing much of the dreck before it floats further downstream.

The Hullcar Mountain Wildfire near Vernon has almost doubled in size to nearly 6.7 square kilometres. Dozens of people were forced to evacuate on Tuesday, shortly after the fire broke out. Others remain on evacuation alert. Meanwhile, evacuation orders remain in place for two small wildfires near Penticton. Hot conditions are in the forecast for much of the B.C. Interior with an added danger of po...

Breaking news: Vancouver Rundown has learned at least two people including a child are dead, several others are badly hurt, after a multi-vehicle crash on Highway One in Chilliwack. It happened at around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, just east of the Vedder River Bridge prompting an immediate response by more than half-a-dozen ambulance crews and the Chilliwack Fire Department. Highway One was closed ea...

Emergency evacuations were issued Monday after the Chilcotin River breached its slide. Water started to flow over the top and through the blockage near Farwell Canyon, southwest of Williams Lake. Evacuation orders are in place for some people downstream. Alerts remain posted all the way down the Fraser River to Hope.