The critical highway between Port Alberni and Tofino currently has limited cellular service, leaving travelers and commuters without any way of contacting family, friends or emergency services in the event of an accident.
That’s about to change, as Rogers announced it will be expanding its coverage along the 85-kilometre stretch of highway by building six new cellular towers, and upgrading two existing towers between the coastal communities.
A water taxi carrying six people hit a reef in waters between Tofino and Ahousaht Tuesday morning, injuring four of the six people aboard.
Environment Canada issued a fog warning for areas all around Vancouver Island on the morning of Jan. 24.
“Areas of dense fog are expected to lift by this afternoon. Visibility may be significantly and suddenly reduced to near zero,” they said in their public statement.
The Port Alberni RCMP have arrested a teen ten months after the murder of 20-year-old Clifton Johnston of Ahousaht.
“On January 19, 2022, a charge of 2nd degree murder was sworn against a 16-year-old male for the murder of Clifton Johnston that occurred on March 27, 2021, on 4th Avenue in Port Alberni. An arrest warrant was issued,” the RCMP said in a statement.
They went on to say that the male was arrested on Jan. 20, by Port Alberni RCMP members. His identity cannot be provided due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The prime minister’s recent mandate letter to the new DFO minister speaks of the need to “advance consistent, sustainable and collaborative fisheries arrangements” with First Nations, but some Nuu-chah-nulth leaders believe that the federal department has a long way to go until the relationship is a partnership.
It isn’t the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last, but residents of Nitinaht Lake face flooded road access to their community more often thanks to heavy snowfall and a trio of atmospheric weather events so far this winter.
Nitinaht resident and mother of four, Crystal Watts, came home on the evening of Jan. 11 to find the road leading into the community flooded. Just after midnight on Jan. 12 she posted a video of her frightening ride through the flooded section of road.
The waters around Yuquot were teeming with life on Tuesday, Jan. 18, as residents Ray and Darrell Williams spotted about 100 eagles eyeing salmon, sea lions, humpback whales and a group of orcas with a newborn riding on one of their backs.
“On the back beach we were with them for quite a while,” said Ray of the boat trip he took with his son, when they spotted a group of half a dozen killer whales. “When we got back out again, they were in front of the cove.”
Despite getting hit by record-breaking rainfall and cold, snowy conditions throughout the fall and winter, the Highway 4 Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project remains on track, according to the Ministry of Transportation.
“The project is expected to be substantially completed by summer 2022, with finishing touches continuing throughout the fall,” the ministry said.
After kicking off in 2018, the construction project was originally slated for completion in the summer of 2020.
A Port Alberni resident who routinely saves people from fatally overdosing feels governments need to do a lot more than decriminalize to prevent B.C.’s toxic drug crisis from growing worse.
The city’s overdose rate jumped by 41 per cent in 2021, the biggest increase since a provincial health emergency was declared five years ago.
As Canada closes and restricts its fisheries to protect plummeting wild salmon stocks, a new report suggests that boats in southeast Alaska may be intercepting salmon populations as they return to Canadian rivers to spawn.
Commissioned by Watershed Watch Salmon Society and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, the report was released in conjunction with the U.S. and Canada’s annual review of bilateral management under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
The family of Kevin “Bear” Henry, 37, of Penelakut First Nation, continues to search the treacherous tangle of remote logging roads in hopes they will find their loved one, who hasn’t been seen or heard from since Nov. 27, 2021.