ICBC applies for rate hike to deal with escalation of vehicle crashes
The Insurance Corporation of BC is seeking a rate increase of $3.50 per month for basic coverage due to an escalation in the number of crashes, the number of claims being filed and the cost of settling those claims. The increase was announced in a media release by ICBC Thursday. "“We certainly don’t like to have to ask our ...
Kelowna welcomes Duke and Duchess of Cambridge September 27
The unique beauty of Canada’s West Coast and the rugged wildness of the North will be front and centre during The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s second official Royal Tour to Canada. Their Royal Highnesses will visit five communities in British Columbia — Victoria, Vancouver, Haida Gwaii, Bella Bella, and Kelowna — and two...
More than 12K Dorel Juvenile Canada strollers get recalled
Dorel Juvenile Canada has issued a recall of more than 12,000 jogging strollers, said Health Canada. This recall involves single and double occupant swivel wheel jogging strollers that have a quick release mechanism for removing and re-attaching the front wheel. Health Canada said Instep, Instep Safari and Schwinn Grand Safari...
BC Wildfire Service reports vandals strike again near Bowser
The BC Wildfire Service has reported another act of vandalism, this time on Vancouver Island near Bowser. According to a BC Wildfire Service media release, someone broke into and vandalized the station last week by hopping a five-foot fence into the compound. The vandal broke into the cabinet by bending the door up and then...
BC man pleads guilty to cocaine smuggling in US court
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr, announced Monday that Alvin Randhawa, 35, of British Columbia, Canada, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export from the United States into Canada five kilograms or more of cocaine, before U.S. Magistrate judge Leslie G. Foschio. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum […]
Man facing charges in relation to arson-caused wildfires near Stave Lake/Mission
An investigation into a series of deliberately set fires near Stave Lake has resulted in arson charges against one Lower Mainland man. Christopher White, 35, has been charged with three counts of arson, damage to property under Section 434 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Mr. White is making his first court appearance today,...
IHA joins in expanding overdose prevention program
As part of Interior Health’s overdose emergency response, the Take Home Naloxone program has expanded to 70 sites which includes: all Interior Health emergency departments, public health centres, mental health and substance use offices as well as several community agencies. “Drug-related overdoses and deaths are a huge...
Driver clad in his birthday suit goes on crime spree in downtown Vernon
The Vernon RCMP responded to a single vehicle collision on 30th Avenue in Vernon, where a man dressed only in his birthday suit crashed his vehicle into a store front. On Friday afternoon on Aug. 5, the Vernon RCMP received a report that a 1996 Jeep Cherokee SUV had crashed into a local business in the […]
B.C. Human Rights Code to include explicit protection for gender identity, expression
Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton introduced legislation Monday to make B.C.'s Human Rights Code more explicit in the protections it affords transgender persons in British Columbia. Bill 27, Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2016, was passed to include "gender identity or expression" among the protected ...
UBC researchers find people judge trustworthiness based on facial features
UBC researchers have determined that certain facial features, not the expression, influence whether people think someone is trustworthy. UBC psychology professor Stephen Porter, who teaches psychology at UBC’s Okanagan campus, and PhD student Alysha Baker, recently completed two studies determining that people often make judgments of trustworthiness based solely on the face. “Our findings in […]