Local Journalism Initiative

School District 57 headquarters in Prince George. (Mark Nielsen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

Prince George school district settles with sexual abuse victim

Terms were part of an out-of-court settlement reached with Michael Bruneau, nearly four years after he filed a lawsuit

School District 57 headquarters in Prince George. (Mark Nielsen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)
A new video from NCCIH and BC Northern Health titled ‘Healing in Pandemic Times: Indigenous Peoples, Stigma and COVID-19’ was animated by Joanne Gervais. (Photo Provided By: NCCIH Archives)

VIDEO: Stigma against Indigenous people is a ‘social sickness’

A new short animated video is aiming to educate the public on the stigmatization

A new video from NCCIH and BC Northern Health titled ‘Healing in Pandemic Times: Indigenous Peoples, Stigma and COVID-19’ was animated by Joanne Gervais. (Photo Provided By: NCCIH Archives)
The British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA) sent out a sharply worded release late last week, in which it noted that the Tourism Industry Association of BC recently obtained a ‘legal opinion’ on the matter (Alex Passini photo)

Hotel associations push back against any potential ban on inter-provincial, non-essential travel restrictions

B.C. Premier John Horgan is seeking legal advice on banning non-essential travel

The British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA) sent out a sharply worded release late last week, in which it noted that the Tourism Industry Association of BC recently obtained a ‘legal opinion’ on the matter (Alex Passini photo)
Indigenous families are grossly overrepresented in birth alerts in B.C. Photo of reporter Anna McKenzie and her daughter taken by Captured Memories Photography.
Bayleigh Marelj, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C. ministry warned birth alerts ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ months before banning them

Indigenous families are grossly overrepresented in birth alerts in B.C.

Indigenous families are grossly overrepresented in birth alerts in B.C. Photo of reporter Anna McKenzie and her daughter taken by Captured Memories Photography.
Bayleigh Marelj, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Despite challenges associated with COVID-19, Kamloops wineries appear to be thriving. File photo

Kamloops area wine industry sees record year

With more one-on-one time with winemakers, the public seemed to have enjoyed the experience

Despite challenges associated with COVID-19, Kamloops wineries appear to be thriving. File photo
The Williams Lake Indian Band is stipulating no-go zones for mushroom picking in areas burned by last summer’s wildfires. 100 Mile Free Press photo

Who controls mushroom harvesting on Indigenous lands?

‘We don’t necessarily know where the mushrooms grow, how old the stands need to be, those types of things.’

The Williams Lake Indian Band is stipulating no-go zones for mushroom picking in areas burned by last summer’s wildfires. 100 Mile Free Press photo
(Pixabay)

Wave of racist emails ‘unleashed’ on B.C. researchers investigating racism in health care

The team has received close to 600 calls and emails since the investigation started in July

(Pixabay)
This black bear wreaked some havoc on Fawn Rd. on Sept. 12. It damaged a plum tree and ate all of its fruit. (Submitted photo)

Bears take the brunt of negative human behaviour in B.C.

Common attractants are garbage, compost piles, birdseed, pet food, berry bushes and fruit trees

This black bear wreaked some havoc on Fawn Rd. on Sept. 12. It damaged a plum tree and ate all of its fruit. (Submitted photo)
Danielle Saddleman and Shane Miller OKIB business owners are reclaiming their family and hope to see more people choose the same path. (Kelsie Kilawna, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

Confronting their addictions to make way for healing — a B.C. love story

‘I think what’s helped us is that we had to understand our past and move forward’

Danielle Saddleman and Shane Miller OKIB business owners are reclaiming their family and hope to see more people choose the same path. (Kelsie Kilawna, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)
Judie Shape, right, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but isn’t showing symptoms, smiles as she visits through the window and on the phone with her daughter Lori Spencer, left, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle. In-person visits are not allowed at the nursing home, which is at the center of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the United States. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Lessons from a pandemic: How to design a nursing home that’s safe and love-filled

A look at how one care home is battling the pandemic with the social needs of the elderly in their care

Judie Shape, right, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but isn’t showing symptoms, smiles as she visits through the window and on the phone with her daughter Lori Spencer, left, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle. In-person visits are not allowed at the nursing home, which is at the center of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the United States. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Phyllis Webstad holds up the gathering blanket the staff and students of Dog Creek school made and presented to her during Orange Shirt Day.

Orange Shirt Day lessons of past in today’s classrooms

Phyllis Webstad, who attended St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in British Columbia, is credited for creating the movement

Phyllis Webstad holds up the gathering blanket the staff and students of Dog Creek school made and presented to her during Orange Shirt Day.
Donna Bridgman, wearing a shirt with son Leif’s photo, outside St. Barnabas Church in New Westminster. Leif’s ashes are in a burial niche at the church. Photo by Christopher Cheung.

She warned her son about toxic drugs, then he was dead

Donna Bridgman’s son died at the age of 38 in Vancouver

Donna Bridgman, wearing a shirt with son Leif’s photo, outside St. Barnabas Church in New Westminster. Leif’s ashes are in a burial niche at the church. Photo by Christopher Cheung.
Mount Garibaldi (Wikimedia Commons)

Giuseppe Garibaldi never set foot in B.C. Why is a park still named after him?

Is it time to change the name of Mt. Garibaldi to the culturally and historically more appropriate Nch’ḵay̓?

Mount Garibaldi (Wikimedia Commons)
Toni Burnham, president of DC Beekeepers Alliance, checks on the health of a honey bee colony where DC Water keeps four beehives on the rooftop of one of its buildings, on , June 22, 2017 in Washington. (Washington Post photo by Jahi Chikwendiu)

‘Non-union’ bees make blueberries thrive — but only if they have a home

Pollinators are in rough shape in British Columbia and beyond

Toni Burnham, president of DC Beekeepers Alliance, checks on the health of a honey bee colony where DC Water keeps four beehives on the rooftop of one of its buildings, on , June 22, 2017 in Washington. (Washington Post photo by Jahi Chikwendiu)
Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Statistics Canada says that capital spending in the Canadian oil and gas sector fell by 54 per cent in the second quarter ended June 30, as oil prices fell due to a global price war and demand destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Feds reach out to Indigenous communities to help reduce Trans Mountain noise pollution

The funding is part of the Quiet Vessel Initiative, a five-year $26 million plan

Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Statistics Canada says that capital spending in the Canadian oil and gas sector fell by 54 per cent in the second quarter ended June 30, as oil prices fell due to a global price war and demand destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Many restaurants have closed in response to COVID-19. (Ashley Wadhwani/Black Press Media)

‘It’s been very, very tough’: B.C. chef echoes industry concerns of possible COVID re-closure

Food service sales crashed in April, dropping to $2.4 billion for the entire industry

Many restaurants have closed in response to COVID-19. (Ashley Wadhwani/Black Press Media)
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole introduces his Deputy Leader Candice Bergen as they holda a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

After MP’s offensive tweet, O’Toole says Tories will counter anti-Semitism

MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay recently retweeted a video of Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole introduces his Deputy Leader Candice Bergen as they holda a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
FILE – A wildfire broke out near Squamish in 2019. (BC Wildfire Service)

‘We are not immune:’ Forest fire risk is real even in B.C.’s coastal temperate rainforest

‘The ups are getting a little bit higher and the downs aren’t going as low as they usually do’

FILE – A wildfire broke out near Squamish in 2019. (BC Wildfire Service)
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