Somewhere on Vancouver Island, Service BC is testing out a prototype high-tech van to see how it would work in an emergency. The van hit the road back in February. Now, it’s touring Vancouver Island, heading north from a media event in Victoria late last week. The van is equipped with...

Fire departments along with local governments attended a summit that the province says will help prepare municipalities for the upcoming wildfire season.  According to the province, the summit was put together to build on recommendations from the premier’s expert task force on emergencies, the FireSmart Wildfire Resiliency and Training Summit.   This...

Texada Island RCMP are currently investigating an arson incident at a local park. Police say on April 15 at 3:30 p.m., they got the report from a Shelter Point Regional Park caretaker, who says the outhouse in overflow camp 2 had been set on fire. The outhouse was smoldering and was...

Two island residents say they’re looking for votes as they journey towards their goal of winning Canada’s Got Talent.  So far, the Duncan and Nanaimo natives have received four approvals from the judges on the show and say if they make it to the final round, on May 14, they will...

A new Chief Administrative officer has been appointed for the Tla’amin Nation. Russell Brewer was appointed to the role earlier this week after serving as the nation’s chief operating officer since October 2023. In his previous role he oversaw public works, lands, resources, the fire department, emergency department, education, health, and...

Two Vancouver Island University classes have cooked up a plan to highlight Nanaimo’s culinary history with a new museum exhibit.   VIU says the event was a collaboration between Dr. Chelsea Horton and Dr. Katharine Rollwagen’s combined history classes to create the exhibit titled “Beyond the Bar: Sampling Nanaimo’s Culinary Past.”  According...