Vancouver Rundown

Vancouver’s Dragon Boast Festival is going ahead despite a sewage leak in False Creek. Metro Vancouver crews had to repair a burst pipe near Columbia Street and West Second that allowed effluent to flow into the water Thursday morning. Dragon Boat BC says its festival will not be impacted by the leak in any significant way. Health officers will continue to check the area through the weekend.

Kevin Falcon’s BC United has lost another candidate to the BC Conservatives. Chris Moore has decided to defect to John Rustad’s Conservatives, running in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding. That riding has been held by the NDP for close to two decades. Moore is a former Sechelt councillor and a real estate agent. The NDP candidate for the riding is former Vancouver TV anchor Randene Neill.

The family of a young woman killed in a homicide at her home on Sunday says the attack was random. Tori Dunn, the owner of Dunn Right Landscaping services, was killed during an apparent home invasion on 182A Street in Surrey. Global News is reporting a suspect who was arrested near the scene was recently released from custody and had a lengthy criminal history of violent crimes. None of those deta...

A woman is dead and homicide investigators are trying to figure out what happened at a home on 182A Street at Parsons Drive in the north eastern part of Surrey. Despite help from primary care paramedics Sunday night, the woman died before making it to the hospital. A man was arrested nearby.

Heavy rain caused massive flooding along Marine Drive in White Rock over the weekend. On Saturday morning, water was seen streaming down several streets - part of Marine Drive was closed for several hours. Meanwhile, that same storm system produced a rare funnel cloud between Abbotsford and Chilliwack. There are no confirmed reports of it touching down.

‘Suck it up’ - that’s the message from Premier David Eby to Uber and other gig-based app companies that link drivers with those wanting rides or food deliveries. The response comes as Uber sounds the alarm about the cost of B.C.’s new legislation that will offer a basic minimum wage of $20.88 per hour and 35 cents per km for drivers engaged in a ride or delivery. Those same drivers will also be co...

App-based ride-hailing and food delivery workers will be covered by new regulations as of Sep 3 that set minimum wage, milage and WorkSafe standards. The B.C. government has finalized rules including a minimum wage of $20.88 per hour for time engaged in a pickup and delivery, 35 to 45 cents per kilometre travelled, and 100 per cent of tips collected. B.C.’s new rules do not apply to other gig work...

Kevin Falcon’s BC United has punted its Surrey North candidate - Asad Gondal. Falcon released a statement late Tuesday afternoon saying the candidate held views that were inconsistent with the party’s stance on the war in Gaza and support for the LGBTQ+ community. Falcon says Gondal’s views were shared in correspondence he signed as head of the BC Muslim Association. On Sunday, BC United issued a...

Ten people have been displaced after a fire Monday morning at a single room occupancy building on Vancouver’s Granville Street between Nelson and Helmcken. Police and fire investigators think the blaze was intentionally set at around 10:30. Those from the SRO are being assisted by by several social service agencies in finding new accommodation.

Two people are recovering in hospital after a floatplane collided with a small boat in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour. It happened Saturday afternoon, shocking witnesses who saw the plane taking off but failing to clear the boat that powered in front of its path. All five of the plane’s passengers and the pilot were not hurt. An investigation is underway to figure out blame.

A popular chef from Japan has been identified by friends as the person stabbed to death on the Downtown Eastside early Wednesday morning. Wataru Kakiuchi, 32, could not be revived after he was found injured at Main and Union Streets. It’s believed he was waiting for a ride home when it happened. No arrests have been made.

The Metro Vancouver board should be elected - that’s the call from four city councillors in light of cost overruns on projects such as the new waste water treatment plant in North Vancouver. Surrey’s Linda Annis and New Westminster’s Daniel Lafontaine along with Kash Heed from Richmond and Ahmed Yousef from Maple Ridge say voters should be the ones who decide who sits on the regional district boar...

Plans are in the works to remove a dead grey whale from a Boundary Bay mudflat near Crescent Beach. The cause of death will likely not be confirmed until late this summer once the DFO’s necropsy results are in. The Department got numerous calls on Sunday after people spotted the dead whale. Warmer weather may contribute to an increase in smell from the dead mammal.

Now the provincial government is revealing email inboxes and ‘sensitive personal information’ was accessed in a hack that was discovered on April 10. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says hackers may have accessed 22 email inboxes containing the private information of 19 people. Most of that was from personnel files. Farnworth says the people impacted have been notified and there are no signs...

Members of Squamish Search and Rescue spent most of Sunday looking for three hikers, reported missing in heavy rain on Mount Atwell in Garibaldi Park. The three have not been heard from since Friday. All three are experienced hikers with good equipment. The air and ground search has been hampered by the bad weather. Other news… Exclusive: Several people have been badly injured in a crash that clos...

The B.C. NDP would have an easy path to victory if an election were held today. An Angus Reid Institute poll finds the David Eby New Democrats at 41 per cent voter support. That’s well ahead of the 30 per cent for the BC Conservatives and 16 for BC United. The Greens have 11 per cent. The cost of living remains the number one issue, followed by health care and then housing affordability. Premier E...

At least one person’s been arrested after RCMP moved in on anti-Israeli protesters on the main UBC campus. The blockade disrupted movement around the busy Westbrook Mall area at the Point Grey campus. The protesters continue to demand UBC cut ties with Israeli universities and companies that do business with Israel. This follows an international student movement aimed at condemning Israeli retalia...

Freight trains have been used to smuggle people from B.C. into the United States. Two Americans have been arrested and are accused of smuggling dozens of people across the line at the Peace Arch Border. Close to 30 Mexican nationals and one Columbian were found inside one of the cars, concealed inside a load of plastic pellets. American law enforcement has been tracking the smuggling operation sin...

The Vancouver School Board is considering tighter restrictions on cellphones in schools. Board Chair Victoria Jung has been pushing to get the superintendent to bring in new rules which would also include requiring students up to Grade 6 to keep their phones on silent and out-of-sight during school hours. The provincial government is asking all school districts to bring in some form of rules cover...

The Vancouver School Board is considering tighter restrictions on cellphones in schools. Board Chair Victoria Jung has been pushing to get the superintendent to bring in new rules which would also include requiring students up to Grade 6 to keep their phones on silent and out-of-sight during school hours. The provincial government is asking all school districts to bring in some form of rules cover...

Two people have been killed in the Friday evening crash of a small plane, south of Squamish. It went down in a mountainous area west of Howe Sound during bad weather. A smartphone fall indicator was the first sign that something went wrong. Search and Rescue members had to be called in over the weekend to reach the crash site.

The provincial government has won its battle with Mayor Brenda Locke and the City of Surrey over the cop swap that never stops (full credit to punster Bob Mackin). The B.C. Supreme Court has nixed the petition aimed at ending Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth’s endorsement of transitioning from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service. Locke has not said whether an appeal may be in the works but...

Could it be that London Drugs paid the ransom or at least agreed to negotiate with cyber attackers? LockBit, the group claiming to be behind an earlier attack on the retailer’s computer systems, has now removed its $25M ransom demand from a public website. There were earlier suggestions LockBit rejected an $8M ransom offer. London Drugs has not been commenting on its involvement in any negotiation...

The B.C. NDP will likely focus on the B.C. Conservatives with yet another poll showing Kevin Falcon’s B.C. United falling to irrelevancy. A Research Co poll released Tuesday comes with the headline: NDP First, Conservatives Rise, United Plummets in British Columbia . The New Democrats still hold a ten point lead at 42 per cent but B.C. United is tied with the Greens at 12 per cent. Surprisingly, t...

The Vancouver Canucks are out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Oilers beat Vancouver 3-2 Monday evening, ending the second round series in seven games. The Canucks ended the regular season as the top team in the Pacific Division. The Canucks had not been in the playoffs since 2015.