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A doctor prepares for a surgical procedure at a hospital in Washington on June 28, 2016. The latest data release by the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows Canadians still struggled with long wait times for surgeries last year compared to the days before COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Molly Riley

Pandemic ups and downs likely still compounding surgical backlogs across Canada

The ups and downs of pandemic waves continue to affect wait times…

A doctor prepares for a surgical procedure at a hospital in Washington on June 28, 2016. The latest data release by the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows Canadians still struggled with long wait times for surgeries last year compared to the days before COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Molly Riley
Kim Venn at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 2022. (Courtesy of UVic Photo Services)

B.C.-led astronomy team discovers traces of the universe’s first stars

Metal-poor cluster on outer edge of Milky Way galaxy a grouping of ancient stars

Kim Venn at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 2022. (Courtesy of UVic Photo Services)
Parents say the province needs to provide better information for students over issues of sexual harassment and violence using tools lke the ERASE website. Screenshot, B.C. government site

Parents pushing B.C. to expand sexual assault, harassment and consent education

BC Confederation of Parents Advisory Councils

Parents say the province needs to provide better information for students over issues of sexual harassment and violence using tools lke the ERASE website. Screenshot, B.C. government site
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Pharis and Jason Romero filmed their latest video with Rick Magnell in the historic 153 Mile Store. (Rick Magnell video capture)
VIDEO: Juno-award winning folk duo showcase B.C. history in new song
BellaBot joined the Smitty’s in Kelowna May 2022 to help staff in seating patrons and shuttling plates (Brittany Webster/Capital News)
VIDEO: The future is now: B.C. restaurant employs robot server to boost business
A Moose Hide Campaign Day event took place in Kimberley on Thursday, May 12, with a large crowd gathered to honour the Indigenous-led campaign to end violence against women and children. Paul Rodgers photo.
WATCH: Moose Hide Campaign Day in Kimberley
Ukrainian refugees Sebastian Tirtirau has helped who crossed into Romania. (Special to The News)
VIDEO: Romanian man who worked at Maple Ridge travel agency, now helping Ukrainian refugees at border
More Videos 
Courtesy BC River Forecast Centre.

Cool weather leads to higher snow packs in Kootenays

More snow was added this past weekend

Courtesy BC River Forecast Centre.
The White Rock Lake wildfire in North Okanagan is shown burning during the 2021 B.C. wildfire season. (Terry Lawson/Facebook)

B.C. wildfires may be linked to 10% higher chance of brain tumours

New study finds higher incidence of lung cancer and brain tumours due to wildfire exposures

The White Rock Lake wildfire in North Okanagan is shown burning during the 2021 B.C. wildfire season. (Terry Lawson/Facebook)
Ukrainian refugees Sebastian Tirtirau has helped who crossed into Romania. (Special to The News)

VIDEO: Romanian man who worked at Maple Ridge travel agency, now helping Ukrainian refugees at border

Sebastian Tirtirau has helped more than 200 families flee Ukraine

Ukrainian refugees Sebastian Tirtirau has helped who crossed into Romania. (Special to The News)
Snowpack levels are at an average of 113 per cent above normal across B.C., leading to an increased risk of spring flooding. (Photo: Abbotsford Police Department)

B.C. spring flood risk ‘increased considerably’ due to colder than normal weather

B.C. River Forecast Centre warns that a prolonged heat wave could result in catastrophic flooding

Snowpack levels are at an average of 113 per cent above normal across B.C., leading to an increased risk of spring flooding. (Photo: Abbotsford Police Department)
Chilliwack Secondary teacher Rick Joe and Grade 9 student Geralee George in front of the vandalized orange hearts display near the entrance. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress)

Vandalized orange hearts at Chilliwack high school show we’re ‘still a long ways away’

Some hearts torched, some snapped in two, while others were ripped clean off the fence

Chilliwack Secondary teacher Rick Joe and Grade 9 student Geralee George in front of the vandalized orange hearts display near the entrance. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress)
An area on the Vancouver Convention Centre’s Pacific Terrace was cordoned off May 8 to protect a nesting mother goose. Her eggs have since been addled by the parks board. (Courtesy of the Vancouver Convention Centre)

Vancouver wishes ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ to goose, then replaces eggs with infertile decoys

Vancouver Convention Centre staff had cordoned off the nesting goose to protect her

An area on the Vancouver Convention Centre’s Pacific Terrace was cordoned off May 8 to protect a nesting mother goose. Her eggs have since been addled by the parks board. (Courtesy of the Vancouver Convention Centre)
Jiang’s vehicle was found in Golden last week. RCMP are looking for information to help locate her. (Golden RCMP photo)

Vehicle of high risk missing person last seen in West Vancouver found near Golden

RCMP are looking for information to help locate Xiao Hua Jiang

Jiang’s vehicle was found in Golden last week. RCMP are looking for information to help locate her. (Golden RCMP photo)
Nurses from across B.C. attend a vigil at the B.C. legislature Monday night and say they’ll return Tuesday, May 10 for a rally to demand the government address the health-care crisis. (Courtesy BCNU)

Nurses plan rally at B.C. legislature to demand health-care crisis action

Caregivers use National Nursing Week to highlight problems impacting mental health, patient care

Nurses from across B.C. attend a vigil at the B.C. legislature Monday night and say they’ll return Tuesday, May 10 for a rally to demand the government address the health-care crisis. (Courtesy BCNU)
Nine year old Zoriana greets her sister, Sofiia, as her and their mother, Natalia, arrive from Ukraine in St. John’s, Monday, May 9, 2022. Newfoundland and Labrador received its first plane load of refugees from Ukraine. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Greg Locke

Tears, hugs and joy in St. John’s, N.L., as 166 Ukrainian refugees arrive from Poland

People waved Ukrainian flags and held up signs of welcome at the St. John’s International Airport

Nine year old Zoriana greets her sister, Sofiia, as her and their mother, Natalia, arrive from Ukraine in St. John’s, Monday, May 9, 2022. Newfoundland and Labrador received its first plane load of refugees from Ukraine. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Greg Locke
FILE - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II smiles while receiving the President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola Cassis during an audience at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, April 28, 2022. Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II will not attend the opening of Parliament on Tuesday amid ongoing mobility issues. The palace said in a statement Monday, May 9 that the decision was made in consultation with her doctors and that the 96-year-old monarch had “reluctantly’’ decided not to attend.(Dominic Lipinski/Pool Photo via AP, file)

Queen delegates opening of Parliament for first time

Delegating her role to Charles could be seen by the public as evidence a transition is underway

FILE - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II smiles while receiving the President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola Cassis during an audience at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, April 28, 2022. Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II will not attend the opening of Parliament on Tuesday amid ongoing mobility issues. The palace said in a statement Monday, May 9 that the decision was made in consultation with her doctors and that the 96-year-old monarch had “reluctantly’’ decided not to attend.(Dominic Lipinski/Pool Photo via AP, file)
In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)

Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill

U.S. government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase pills

In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)
A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. So far this year, people have called in some 7,100 rat sightings — that’s up from about 5,800 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Oh, rats! As New Yorkers emerge from pandemic, so do rodents

Through April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings

A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. So far this year, people have called in some 7,100 rat sightings — that’s up from about 5,800 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
This combination of photos provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office in April 2022 shows inmate Casey White, left, and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White. On Saturday, April 30 the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said that Vicky White disappeared while escorting the inmate, being held on capital murder charges, in Florence, Ala. The escaped inmate and the former jail official were taken into custody Monday, May 9 in Indiana, according to an Alabama sheriff. (U.S. Marshals Service, Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)

Fugitive inmate captured after manhunt, ex-jail officer dead

Former Alabama jail official was on the run with murder suspect

This combination of photos provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office in April 2022 shows inmate Casey White, left, and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White. On Saturday, April 30 the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said that Vicky White disappeared while escorting the inmate, being held on capital murder charges, in Florence, Ala. The escaped inmate and the former jail official were taken into custody Monday, May 9 in Indiana, according to an Alabama sheriff. (U.S. Marshals Service, Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)
A woman wears a vaccinated sticker after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in Richmond, B.C., April 10, 2021. Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia researchers are trying to increase vaccine uptake by young adults in the province with the release of a new COVID-based game. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. researchers develop game to address vaccine concerns among young adults

COVID Chronicles looks to meet people where they’re at and build trust

A woman wears a vaccinated sticker after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in Richmond, B.C., April 10, 2021. Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia researchers are trying to increase vaccine uptake by young adults in the province with the release of a new COVID-based game. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Dozens of New Westminster community members rallied outside Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School May 9, calling for residency for a school family facing deportation to Mexico. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

PHOTOS: New Westminster community rallies behind family facing deportation

Family fled death threats in Mexico 13 years ago

Dozens of New Westminster community members rallied outside Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School May 9, calling for residency for a school family facing deportation to Mexico. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)
The Regional District of Central Kootenay board office in Nelson. File photo

RDCK board roundup: Slocan fire halls, Nakusp marina to be repaired

All the news from the April 21 meeting

The Regional District of Central Kootenay board office in Nelson. File photo
Demonstrators against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions leave in a truck convoy after blocking the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing near Coutts, Alta., on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Crown seeks direct indictment for 1 of 4 accused in Coutts, Alta., border blockade

4 men facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with incident earlier this year

Demonstrators against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions leave in a truck convoy after blocking the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing near Coutts, Alta., on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh