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 are being called on to attend 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...

The shishalh Nation says having provincial legislation amended to recognize traditional and legal shishalh names is an honour.  According to the province, six acts including the Sechelt Indian Government District Enabling Act, will replace ‘Sechelt’ with ‘shishalh’ and ‘Indian Band’ with ‘Nation’ to maintain consistency with federal legislation.  Chief Lenora Joe...

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...

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...

One of BC’s biggest salmon farmers wants to see if algae makes a good feed ingredient. Cermaq Canada and its feed supplier Cargill are introducing oils from algae to feed at several BC farms, to see if it can be a replacement for fish oil from wild fisheries. German Campos with...