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BC Ferries CEO Mark Collins addresses business leaders, politicians and military personnel invited to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce’s May 12 business leader luncheon. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

BC Ferries plans to go electric mired in government red tape: CEO

From shore charging to seismic upgrades, gaining approval often delays projects

BC Ferries CEO Mark Collins addresses business leaders, politicians and military personnel invited to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce’s May 12 business leader luncheon. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Candidates, left to right, Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber, Jean Charest, Scott Aitchison, Patrick Brown, and Pierre Poilievre at the Conservative Party of Canada English leadership debate in Edmonton, Alta., Wednesday, May 11, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

What federal Conservative leadership candidates can learn from Kenney and Alberta

Party insider says be prepared to design a team that listens to caucus.

Candidates, left to right, Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber, Jean Charest, Scott Aitchison, Patrick Brown, and Pierre Poilievre at the Conservative Party of Canada English leadership debate in Edmonton, Alta., Wednesday, May 11, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Cassidy Caron, president of the Metis National Council, speaks to the media in St. Peter’s Square after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Monday, March 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Gregorio Borgia

Pope Francis to visit Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit in July to meet Indigenous people

Visit comes after apology last month for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools

Cassidy Caron, president of the Metis National Council, speaks to the media in St. Peter’s Square after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Monday, March 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Gregorio Borgia
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FILE - A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on April 18, 2022. An outbreak of avian flu is forcing farmers to cull their flocks and leading to concerns about even higher food prices. While it doesn’t pose much of a threat to humans, the outbreak is prompting a new wave of some of the same conspiracy theories that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Lindsey Shuey/Republican-Herald via AP, File)
VIDEO: Bird flu hatches conspiracy theories amid COVID-19
FILE - Light shines from a total lunar eclipse over Santa Monica Beach in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, May 26, 2021. A total lunar eclipse will grace the night skies this weekend, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America. The celestial action unfolds Sunday night, May 15, 2022 into early Monday morning, with the moon bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises for about 1 1/2 hours, the longest totality of the decade. It will be the first so-called blood moon in a year.(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
VIDEO: Moon goes blood red in ‘Eclipse for the Americas’
Pharis and Jason Romero filmed their latest video with Rick Magnell in the historic 153 Mile Store. (Rick Magnell video capture)
VIDEO: Juno-award winning folk duo showcase B.C. history in new song
BellaBot joined the Smitty’s in Kelowna May 2022 to help staff in seating patrons and shuttling plates (Brittany Webster/Capital News)
VIDEO: The future is now: B.C. restaurant employs robot server to boost business
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In this Aug. 3, 2007, file photo, magic mushrooms are seen in a grow room at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, central Netherlands. The Supreme Court of Canada has restored the acquittal of a Calgary man who attacked a woman while he was high on magic mushrooms. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Peter Dejong

UPDATED: Law barring use of extreme intoxication as criminal defence ruled unconstitutional

Supreme Court restores man’s acquittal for magic mushroom-fuelled attack

In this Aug. 3, 2007, file photo, magic mushrooms are seen in a grow room at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, central Netherlands. The Supreme Court of Canada has restored the acquittal of a Calgary man who attacked a woman while he was high on magic mushrooms. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Peter Dejong
All agencies were seeking answers to the blockage caused by a landslide at Big Bar in 2019. (Incident Command Post)

Research team looking to prevent another Big Bar type landslide that could wipe out B.C. salmon

‘Goal is to determine where next landslide (to) threaten salmon is going to happen:’ SFU researcher

All agencies were seeking answers to the blockage caused by a landslide at Big Bar in 2019. (Incident Command Post)
This Feb. 10, 2022, image released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows Msituni, a giraffe calf born with an unusual disorder that caused her legs to bend the wrong way, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, north of San Diego. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

Bracing for her future: Human medicine rescues giraffe

Calf was born with her front limb bending the wrong way

This Feb. 10, 2022, image released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows Msituni, a giraffe calf born with an unusual disorder that caused her legs to bend the wrong way, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, north of San Diego. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)
This image released by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Thursday, May 12, 2022, shows a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A*, near the border of Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations. It is 4 million times more massive than our sun. The image was made by eight synchronized radio telescopes around the world. (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration via AP)

Astronomers capture 1st image of Milky Way’s huge black hole

‘It burbled and gurgled as we looked at it’

This image released by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Thursday, May 12, 2022, shows a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A*, near the border of Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations. It is 4 million times more massive than our sun. The image was made by eight synchronized radio telescopes around the world. (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration via AP)
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users president Lorna Bird says her dog Joy can tell when someone is overdosing. (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff)

Overdose detecting dogs save lives, lift spirits in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

When someone overdoses at VANDU, pups Guess and Joy are quick to alert the nearest human

Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users president Lorna Bird says her dog Joy can tell when someone is overdosing. (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff)
Summerland Mayor Toni Boot introduced a notice of motion requesting an anti-racism policy for Summerland. A resolution to have staff draft the policy has received unanimous council suppoort (Summerland Review file photo)

Anti-racism policy to be drafted by Summerland council

Recent incidents prompted mayor’s call for inclusion policy

Summerland Mayor Toni Boot introduced a notice of motion requesting an anti-racism policy for Summerland. A resolution to have staff draft the policy has received unanimous council suppoort (Summerland Review file photo)
A family of five bears was recently spotted in Abbotsford.

VIDEO: Momma bear and cubs caught rummaging for food in B.C. driveway

Mother bear, four cubs spotted on security camera in Eagle Mountain area of Abbotsford

A family of five bears was recently spotted in Abbotsford.
Bill Stevens turned 100 on Tuesday, May 10. (Rebecca Dyok photo — Quesnel Cariboo Observer)

Quesnel veteran celebrates 100th birthday

Bill Stevens celebrated his milestone at Quesnel’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch

Bill Stevens turned 100 on Tuesday, May 10. (Rebecca Dyok photo — Quesnel Cariboo Observer)
A fire started in the Penticton Toyota dealership in the early hours of Wednesday morning. It is currently under investigation. (Logan Lockhart - Western News)

2 arrested in Penticton after Toyota dealership fire deemed arson

Fire crews say damage to the back of the dealership is ‘extensive’

A fire started in the Penticton Toyota dealership in the early hours of Wednesday morning. It is currently under investigation. (Logan Lockhart - Western News)
A tradesperson works on a balcony at a condo tower under construction, in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The British Columbia Real Estate Association says the sharp increase in mortgage rates is pushing the province's home sales down "a path to normalizing," although it estimates a balanced market is at least a year away. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Higher interest rates push homes sales in B.C. back toward normal: association

British Columbia Real Estate Association estimates a balanced market is at least a year away

A tradesperson works on a balcony at a condo tower under construction, in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The British Columbia Real Estate Association says the sharp increase in mortgage rates is pushing the province's home sales down "a path to normalizing," although it estimates a balanced market is at least a year away. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Local Federal Electoral Boundaries are in the process of being reviewed. File photo.

Cariboo federal ridings could be redrawn

Major changes could come to the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo and Cariboo-Prince George

Local Federal Electoral Boundaries are in the process of being reviewed. File photo.
A aerial view shows the damage caused by a tailings pond breach on Lake Polley, B.C. Tuesday, August, 5, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. mine environment safeguards whittled down by amendments, university study says

B.C.’s department of Environment and Climate Change disputes paper’s conclusions.

A aerial view shows the damage caused by a tailings pond breach on Lake Polley, B.C. Tuesday, August, 5, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Small planes are parked side-by-side before taking off from Boundary Bay airport in Delta, B.C., on July 17, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Plane that crashed with B.C. fugitives was overweight, heading for Toronto: Witness

Woman spoke with deceased pilot Abhinav Handa at the Boundary Bay Airport in Delta prior to the trip

Small planes are parked side-by-side before taking off from Boundary Bay airport in Delta, B.C., on July 17, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A registered nurse takes a moment to look outside while attending to a ventilated COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

B.C. COVID hospitalizations climb to 596 for the first time in months

Latest data from the BCCDC shows hospitalizations on the rise again

A registered nurse takes a moment to look outside while attending to a ventilated COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Flooding is shown in Hay River, N.W.T., on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. About 3,500 residents have been ordered to evacuate a town in the Northwest Territories as volatile water levels never before experienced in some areas cause extensive flooding and damage. People in Hay River, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake just north of the Alberta-N.W.T. boundary, were told late Wednesday to get to higher ground, travel to Yellowknife or register at the town’s community centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Caitrin Pilkington, Cabin Radio

Heavy flooding forces residents of Northwest Territories town from their homes

Never-before-experienced high waters in Hay River forces evacuation

Flooding is shown in Hay River, N.W.T., on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. About 3,500 residents have been ordered to evacuate a town in the Northwest Territories as volatile water levels never before experienced in some areas cause extensive flooding and damage. People in Hay River, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake just north of the Alberta-N.W.T. boundary, were told late Wednesday to get to higher ground, travel to Yellowknife or register at the town’s community centre. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Caitrin Pilkington, Cabin Radio
Signs indicating seats which are closed to promote physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic are pictured on a public transit bus in North Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Mediated talks collapse, strike continues in lengthy Sea-to-Sky transit dispute

Strike affecting corridor from Squamish to Pemberton started Jan. 29

Signs indicating seats which are closed to promote physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic are pictured on a public transit bus in North Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Statue of Lady Justice at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. (File photo)

B.C. woman who suffered severe burns from guitarist’s fire stunt awarded $202K

Guitarist Ben Fussell’s 2011 stunt went awry, resulting in severe burns to a concert-goer

Statue of Lady Justice at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. (File photo)