Nanaimo News Bulletin

Penticton will once again be hitting the small screen as its serves as the backdrop for a new film releasing on streaming at the start of November. Shot in December of 2025, A Dog’s Perfect Christmas stars Dennis Quaid and scenes at the outdoor skating rink and the holiday light tunnel. The tunnel, which has more than 30,000 lights, is a staple of Magic on Main and will be back once again with the annual Santa Parade. The film shoot’s time in Penticton lasted several days, and bot

Tia Leschke has come to rely on a group of strangers she is unlikely to ever meet in person for health care. Leschke of Winlaw, B.C., suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic illness that causes pain throughout the body as well as fatigue. Leschke’s family doctor didn’t know how to treat her condition, and referred her to an online clinic for support. The BC Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis) and Fibromyalgia (BC-CLMF) treats approximately 8,500 patients in virtual

Local charities are getting a financial boost from Wolf Brewing Co. as part of the brew pub’s Stronger As A Pack community giving program. Every three months, Wolf Brewing, located at 940 Old Victoria Rd., partners with three charities in the mid-Island region to help raise funds for them. For every $30 spent on food and drink items at Wolf Brewing, customers receive a token to drop in one of three mailboxes dedicated to each of the charities as they head out the door. Brew pub manager Chr

MUSIC William Prince will be performing at the Port Theatre on Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. He is an award-winning country music artist from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba. Tickets are available at www.porttheatre.com. Delhi 2 Dublin (19+) will be performing at The Queen’s on Nov. 5, with doors at 6 p.m. and show at 7 p.m. They are a South Asian fusion music act, while PEAK, the special guests, is a hip-hop and R&B band. The Queen’s is asking people to bring two pieces of ID. Tickets a

An errant puck that struck a sprinkler head has forced an emergency closure of the Weyerhaeuser Arena side of the Alberni Valley Multiplex. “Today during a hockey team practice a puck hit a roof sprinkler which resulted in water on the ice and triggered the facility alarm,” a City of Port Alberni spokesperson said in a press release. The multiplex was evacuated without incident, according to the city, the water has been removed and the Zamboni is working on repairing the ice surface.

The remains of Pte. Aidan Goulding, who was killed in the fire at CFB Wainwright last month, arrived in Vancouver Wednesday. A motorcade excorted the hearse as it left Vancouver International Airport and headed to a funeral home in New Westminster on Nov. 4. Media were invited to the motorcade at the request of Goulding’s family. Goulding, who was from North Vancouver, was one of four people killed in the fire on Oct. 17. Thirty-nine others were seriously injured. Along with Goulding, the

B.C. Highway Patrol is looking for witnesses and video footage of a bus crash that left 20 people injured. Police received a call about a single-vehicle crash on Highway 39, about four kilometres south of Mackenzie, on Wednesday at 9:10 a.m., according to an updated release from B.C. Highway Patrol Wednesday afternoon. When officers arrived, they found a northbound white shuttle bus in a ditch. There were about 20 passengers and the driver with injuries ranging from minor to serious, police said

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal declined to charge the social media platform X an additional $100,000 penalty for failing to remove intimate images from its platform. Instead of taking down the images entirely, X “geoblocked” them so they cannot be viewed legally in Canada. While this fails to adhere to the letter of the law, the company successfully argued that the tribunal could not enforce B.C. law outside Canada, and that X had made a reasonable attempt to comply. The B.C.

Two U.S. skiers are the latest to be penalized by a provincial court judge for entering a backcountry area of Rogers Pass that was closed for avalanche risk. Jacob A. Gordon and Jack William Elder appeared at the Revelstoke Courthouse on Oct. 7, each charged on one count of prohibited or restricted activity under Section 7.4 of Parks Canada’s general regulations. On April 14, the two men parked their Montana plate-bearing vehicle at the Loop Brook parking lot in Glacier National Park to go

Motorists on Rutherford Road will soon see traffic delays as preparatory work for the upcoming approximately $165-million major sewer project gets underway in the area. A new signalled traffic light will replace the stop sign at the intersection of Rutherford Road and Vanderneuk Road in the coming weeks, which is intended to help facilitate better traffic flows in the area once one-way traffic on Hammond Bay Road is implemented in 2027. James Haddou, capital project delivery manager at the Regio

Ekene Anigbo has been ordered to serve 15 years less time served for the death of a Naramata woman. Anigbo appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna the morning of Monday, Nov. 2 for sentencing after he was found guilty of manslaughter for the 2021 death of 57-year-old Kathleen Richardson. The 27-year-old stood trial for first-degree murder, but was convicted on Aug. 14 of the lesser charge of manslaughter after a lengthy trial that began in March. Justice Alison Beames found the Crown had no

B.C.’s new premier designate, Lorne Doerkson, said the B.C. Conservatives are united when he took the stage on Monday to speak to B.C. residents and his fellow MLAs. On Nov. 2, the first meeting of the majority Conservative caucus was held in Victoria following a landslide victory in the 2026 provincial election. The win was preceded by a turbulent time for the party, rife with floor-crossing, senior staff resignations, allegedly leaked back-door conversations and the resignation of then-l

Homicide police have announced charges against two people in connection with the death of an 11-year-old Burnaby boy who was reported missing more than a year ago. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 51-year-old Branko Bijelic and 46-year-old Sarah Bijelic, both of Burnaby, are facing charges in the homicide case of Kai Pavlovic. He was reported missing in September 2025. Branko Bijelic, who was arrested on Oct. 30, is charged with second-degree murder and indignity to human remains.

On Oct. 9, Cowichan Tribes and City of Duncan formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding recognizing a shared commitment to strengthen their government-to-government relationships. “Building strong relationships with our neighbours is important to Cowichan Tribes,” said Chief Cindy Daniels. “This agreement gives us a stronger foundation to work together, share our teachings, and build greater understanding of Quw’utsun Mustimuhw and our connection to the lands in our

Renowned Canadian scientist Dr. David Suzuki will be the first keynote speaker at Nanaimo Climate Connections 2027 in January. Announced through a press release on Nov. 2, the former host of CBC’s The Nature of Things, author of more than 55 books, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, Suzuki has spent his life communicating about humanity’s collective impact on the natural world. Suzuki’s Stronger Together tour in Ontario earlier this year built on the idea of develop

Patrons of the Duncan United Church on Ingram Street were left in the cold after thieves stole copper pipes from the roof on Friday, Oct. 31. “Our furnace didn’t work in the sanctuary, and so we started investigating,” said David Vanderlinde, chair of the church’s unified board. He said the men’s choir was practicing in the sanctuary on Saturday and noticed the room was atypically cool. The choir turned up the thermostat, but the system didn’t turn on. Saturda

Matthew Crowie carries a lot of weight these days – on and off the football field. As an offensive and defensive lineman with the Ballenas Whalers senior varsity football team, the Grade 12 student is accustomed to going head-to-head with opposing players, using his strength and physical presence to help his team compete. Standing five-foot-eight, Crowie has worked hard in the gym to build the strength needed to play both ways on the line of scrimmage. But what started as physical preparat

Jose Castillo figures his coworkers at the Fairmont Empress may be a little surprised as his character develops on the Flavour Network this fall. The pastry chef’s childhood dream came true when an Instagram message appeared on his professional profile. At jose_castillo_chef, baked goods pop from the screen, enticing his followers and apparently one television producer. At first it seemed potentially a prank, the James Bay resident admits, but it turned out a producer of a program was loo

A Nanaimo Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts academy hauled in numerous medals and captured the adult title at a major Canadian competition on the Lower Mainland. Island Top Team athletes won golds and silvers at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Canada Vancouver Open at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Oct. 24, an event that Rob Biernacki, Island Top Team owner and head instructor, referred to as “the largest no gi (where competitors don’t wear traditional uniforms) event in Canada, bri

The 2026 Skate Canada International in Kelowna has come to a close, ending a weekend display of world class figure skating. The Skate Canada International is the second competition on the annual ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix, featuring athletes from around the world who are trying to qualify for the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Final, which will take place from Dec. 10 to 12 in Chongqing, China. This is Kelowna’s third time hosting a Skate Canada International Event after the competitio