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Treacherous road conditions mar Sea to Sky travel

Seven WB lifts closed on Wednesday morning

Gusty winds in Howe Sound and snowfall in Vancouver have created treacherous conditions for drivers on Wednesday. Environment Canada currently has a winter storm warning in effect for the Sea to Sky Highway between Whistler and Squamish, with total snow accumulations of 20 to 30 centimetres expected before tapering off on Thursday morning.…

Don’t crank the heat—it will cost you: BC Hydro

A record was set Monday for the amount of electricity used as British Columbians turn up the heat to fight the cold

Baby, it’s cold outside—but if you turn up the heat, you could be adding big bucks to your electricity bills. At least that’s the worry of BC Hydro, which is advising residents who heat their homes with electric baseboard heaters to be careful of setting the temperature too high.…

Zelensky says he, Trudeau talk crash punishment, as Iran announces arrests

OTTAWA — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have discussed the need to “punish” the Iranians responsible for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner near Tehran last week that killed 176 people. Zelensky was describing his latest conversation with Trudeau in a Twitter posting, hours after Iran announced arrests in the fatal crash.…

OPINION: B.C. stands to profit regally from having Duke and Duchess of Sussex as residents

Many of us have come to British Columbia to reinvent, even escape. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle picked up on this fact somehow amid the fake facts that dog them in the tabloids.…

How to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning

Vancouver’s Arlene Nguyen says she will never forget the day she was poisoned by carbon monoxide. “I was home with my brother and we both started shaking, become dizzy and lightheaded, and our speech was slurred.”…

Hot-water heating cheaper than DES

LETTER: For the week of Jan. 9

In a 2012 white paper, The Regulation of District Energy Systems (DES) by The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, University of Victoria that reviewed both private and public district energy systems including Whistler’s DES system, Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) staff estimated that the cost of energy for heat-pump systems (hydro plus DES fees) would be about 84 per cent of the energy costs for electric baseboard hot-water heating (hydro only). What was not mentioned was the associated capital costs of installing heat-pump systems compared to the capital costs of installing electric baseboard hot-water heating systems.…

Australia-bound flight from Vancouver lands in Honolulu with dead passenger

The 38-year-old man was pronounced dead when the flight landed in Honolulu.

HONOLULU — An Air Canada flight bound for Australia diverted to Honolulu over the weekend because of a dead passenger. Passenger Christopher Woodgate, 38, was pronounced dead when the flight landed in Honolulu on Saturday, said Kira Paiva-Kimura, an administrative services officer for the Honolulu medical examiner’s office.…

Vancouver mayor says BMO misled police in arrest of Indigenous man, granddaughter

Vancouver Police Board to review Dec. 20 incident at downtown bank

MAYOR KENNEDY STEWART is accusing the branch of a major Canadian bank of misleading Vancouver police in a 911 call that led to an Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter being handcuffed last month. “I felt sick when I first heard about this incident and I find it unacceptable that the Bank of Montreal turned what should have been a positive occasion into one that reinforces our colonial past,” said Stewart in a statement issued Jan. 13.…

Sea to Sky Gondola to reopen Valentine’s Day

Operations resume earlier than expected after August sabotage with new security measures in place

The Sea to Sky Gondola is set to reopen in a month, a little over half a year since its operations were brought to a halt when someone cut the gondola cable. On Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, guests will be able to ride in 30 new cabins to Summit Lodge, 885 metres above the base of operations.…

Premier, prime minister ‘giddy’ about prospect of Prince Harry and Meghan living in B.C.

B.C. Premier John Horgan says he and the prime minister talked enthusiastically about the prospect of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moving to British Columbia after the Queen announced Monday her approval of their plan to live in both the U.K. and Canada. “We’re both kind of giddy about this,” said Horgan.…

Provincial forest-fertilization program in Pemberton area

A total of 385 hectares of forest were treated in the fall to increase harvesting yields and battle climate change

The province of B.C. carried out a forest fertilization program last fall in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD), including around the Pemberton area. Helicopters distributed a substance over forested areas in early November as part of Forests for Tomorrow, a provincial initiative that aims to increase the yield of forests as well increase the rate of carbon sequestration of B.C. forests.…

Trans teen can decide on hormone therapy, court rules

Father opposed treatment, claimed Charter rights violated; court disagreed

A B.C. transgender teen’s bid to obtain hormone therapy was legal, B.C.’s Court of Appeal ruled unanimously Jan. 10 in supporting a lower court decision. “The child A.B. is able to assert his rights, and has done so in accordance with the law,” Chief Justice Robert Bauman and Justice Barbara Fisher wrote in the decision.…

Stolen Squamish truck slams into parked cars while evading police

Man arrested by Vancouver Police Department

A stolen Squamish truck made the Lower Mainland TV news recently. The truck featured in a Global News story on Friday, Jan. 10 was stolen over the holidays in Squamish.…

More than 100 people stuck in Mt. Seymour chalet overnight

While a dump of almost 90 centimetres of snow made for idyllic conditions on the top of Mount Seymour Sunday night, the road home was decidedly worse. More than 100 visitors were stuck at the top of the mountain overnight thanks to a four-car pile-up near the first switchback.…

SPECIAL REPORT: Canadian taxpayers, companies subsidizing Huawei research

Chinese company reaps reports, prototypes in exchange for research cash

Canadian taxpayers are funding university research with technical reports, samples, models and prototypes created given to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. The granting of rights to the controversial company results from agreements under which Canadian universities receive millions in funding from the Shenzhen, China-based Huawei.…