On Jan. 23 Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin hosted the 2024 B.C. Reconciliation Awards, a celebration that included recognition for the work of Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services.

Drivers travelling along Highway 4 through MacMillan Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove can expect minor delays over two nights, on Sunday, Jan. 26 and Monday, Jan. 27 as the Ministry of Transportation and Transit installs concrete barriers along the shoulders.

Single-lane-alternating traffic will be in effect from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. both nights, and drivers should allow extra time to account for possible delays.

Planning is still in the works but there has been a soft launch of a model of health care services that will make its rounds to the central region communities of Ahousaht, Hot Springs Cove, Opitsaht, Ty-Histanis, Esowista, Hitatcu and Macoah.

Keeping a homeless encampment off Pandora Avenue appears to be a surprisingly costly burden for the City of Victoria.

In July, when the Victoria Police Department initiated the beginning stages of a strategy to clear out Pandora Avenue’s unhoused population, City Council instructed their staff to report back with a plan detailing the costs to continue the enforcement. This would prohibit daytime sheltering in Victoria’s parks, streets, sidewalks and boulevards.

The Ministry of Health has announced 26 new substance-use treatment beds, additional capacity that is expected to help 250 people over the next two years recover from addiction.

There’s a clear effort underway to weave First Nations culture into Tofino’s lucrative tourism economy.

In November 2024, Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) announced a $180,000 project investment with IISAAK OLAM Foundation towards building a commercial art space and carving facility at Naa’Waya’Sum Gardens (formerly the Tofino Botanical Gardens). The project, which also received support from the First Peoples’ Cultural Council’s Heritage Infrastructure Program, aims to be complete by July 2025.

A study conducted in Barkley Sound highlights a resilient sea sponge’s response to its changing environment.

The rare footage was captured by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) seafloor cameras for more than four years, marking the longest continuous recording of these animals in the wild.

With the annual harvest a fraction of what it once was and a declining workforce, British Columbia’s forestry minister admits that the industry is in a state of transition – but needed changes won’t happen without participation of First Nations.

A diesel spill in an inlet near Tahsis last December is slowly clearing up - but not before closing down commercial clam harvesting just ahead of the holiday season.

According to a notice from Ehattesaht First Nation, Zeballos Inlet was closed to clam harvesting a day after the Dec. 14 diesel spill. On Dec. 20, Fisheries and Oceans Canada also issued an emergency closure of shellfish harvesting in Esperanza Inlet due to the spill. 

Navigating a sea of red Totem 69 fans, an unassuming Tom Watts slipped into the Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) gymnasium and posted up in the ‘Lifetime members’ seating area to watch the finals of B.C.’s longest running high school basketball tournament.

The whiff of fresh popcorn and Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ filled the air as the Alberni Storm senior girls team ran onto the court, sinking warm-up shots before a closely fought championship game against Pacific Christian School.