August 4, 2025 • 11 mins
The CHEK News Podcast is your daily snapshot of the news of the day. For more Vancouver Island news watch CHEK News at 5pm, 6pm, and 10pm or for news anytime go to cheknews.ca and subscribe to the CHEK Now Newsletter. You can also find local stories and shows on the free streaming service CHEK+.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Check podcasts. This is an abbreviated version of Check News
watch full Check newscasts week days at five, six, and ten,
or anytime one Check plus or checknews dot CA.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The wildfire burning out of control on the island grows
as crews battle through difficult conditions. What officials are saying
tonight about the firefight and those living near the wildfire.
(00:41):
Good evening and thanks for joining us. The out of
control wildfire here on the island has grown to more
than five hundred hectares, leaving many communities in the region
on edge. An evacuation order is still in effect for
nearly four hundred homes in the area. That order requires
residents to leave immediately. Another two hundred and thirty five
(01:02):
properties are under evacuation alert, meaning residents need to be
ready to leave at a moment's notice. The firefight is
well resourced, with one hundred and sixty four personnel responding
to the fire, along with eight helicopters and multiple fire departments,
including those from Dashwood and Combs. But the terrain is difficult,
(01:24):
creating challenging conditions, and there's so much timber helping fuel
that fire and visibility is poor because of smoke. Now,
the other element is Highway four. Let's bring in Kendall Hanson,
who's only a few kilometers from the firefight in Whiskey Creek.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Kendall well Scott. The fire has grown and the Coastal
Fire Center says it's bringing in more resources as well.
Highway four remains open in the Coastal Fire centers as
it's working hard to keep traffic moving as it realizes
how important this corridor is. This is Those evacuated from
their homes watched the firefight. Yeah, you never think it's
(02:03):
going to happen to you. Lenn Coldenhoven has returned to
watch the firefight with his newly purchased botting scope. He's
among those evacuated from their homes. We've got friends in
the Newsit are putting us up. I actually got some
sleep last night. So yeah, that's the first night since Thursday.
On Friday, helicopters were already working in his neighborhood when
(02:25):
authorities told him to evacuate. He watched for most of Saturday,
and he says on the road close to his home,
conditions appear to be better.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
The smoke there is is a lot less intense.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The Wesley Ridge fire remains out of control. The Coastal
Fire Center says it has eight helicopters in both land
based air tankers and skimmers assigned to fight the fire
from the air as needed. One hundred and sixty four
people are fighting the fire on the ground. More than
eighty are structure protection specialists.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
The leading edge of the fire has not reached any
of the community. There are spot fires within the community
and they are being quickly and efficiently actioned by crews
on the ground structure protection and those crews are there
overnight and they are able to quickly suppress any areas
that may appear or flare up.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
This morning, the Coastal Fire Center designated the fire as
a wildfire of Note.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
A Welfare of Note designation does not have any bearing
on the level of resourcing or the prioritization of the fire.
It highlights that there is a fire that may be
impacting multiple people in the area, and it allows easier
access to that kind of information that someone may need.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Trent Snyder is on evacuation alert. He has his things
and can't ready to go at a moment's notice.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
I don't want to leave, but if it comes down
to it.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
We're going to have to.
Speaker 6 (03:45):
We're just playing the waiting game for now.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
What are you thinking? From what you see today.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
It's looking a lot better.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Well from another vantage in Whiskey Creek, two sisters from
Parksvielle came to have a first hand look. You can
see the growth from two days ago.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, big time.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
During today's media briefing, the Regional District of Nanaimo was
directly asked again about the loss of any structures. It
said it would be the organization to report on any losses,
but that as far as it was aware, there have
been no structures lost as of today.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
All right, thanks Kendall. Victoria police are investigating after a
synagogue was targeted with graffiti. The Congregation of Emmanuel reported
to police on the messages Saturday night. Officers documented the graffiti,
collected evidence working with the city. The messages were removed
and the incident remains under an investigation. A man is
(04:40):
in custody following a serious head on crash on the
Trans Canada Highway just south of Nanaimo Saturday evening that
left two people hospitalized and sparked a wave of nine
to one one calls about dangerous driving. The crash happened
around seven Saturday night, when a Dodge Ram pickup reportedly
ran a red light at high speed and collided head
on with a Nissan Sentra at the Timberland's Road intersection
(05:04):
in Ladysmith. There were multiple nine to one one calls
earlier reported they were reporting the truck's erratic movements along
the highway prior to the crash. Now after hitting the Nissan,
the driver the truck took off until it struck the
center medium. The driver fled the scene on foot, but
was arrested by police. Two people inside the Nissan were
rushed to hospital with serious injuries. Rcmps say they're still
(05:27):
investigating on our appealing for witnesses or dash cam footage
that could help trace the truck's movements in the minutes
leading up to the crash. The path of truth and
reconciliation in this country is becoming more complex as more
and more nations across Canada put in the work to
attempt to find and identify potential unmarked graves. Well during
(05:50):
the fourth annual March for the Children in Chimanis, there
are new findings and a warning that some of the
words and stories may be triggering to some.
Speaker 7 (06:03):
It's a day filled with remembrance and emotions as the
Penelica Tribe walk along the streets of Chimenus for the
fourth annual March for the Children. Every year, the tribe
invites people to march and remember the children from Cooper
Island Residential School who never returned home. This year, the
(06:23):
march landed on the same day the tribe released findings
of archival records related to one hundred and seventy one
deaths at Cooper Island Residential School, fifty more than what
is posted at the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation,
and we.
Speaker 8 (06:37):
Have identified three hundred and forty two unmarked graves. One
hundred and eleven of these are possible graves, one hundred
and thirty three probable, and ninegate are likely.
Speaker 7 (06:49):
At two other locations around the school grounds. The tribe
also located twenty seven other potential unmarked graves.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
This work has many barriers. We do not have access
to all the records.
Speaker 7 (07:02):
Despite many barriers, other findings include history indicating other children
may have been brought out to sea or disposed of
in an incinerator inside the school. The work to investigate
improve these stories more definitively is ongoing.
Speaker 9 (07:17):
I remain humbled and honored for.
Speaker 7 (07:19):
The creator of Worn Shirt, Dave Phyllis Webstan. Coming to
the march for the children is of high priority. There's
been a lot of adversity when it comes to truth
and reconciliation, especially with denialism. How are you coping with
that and addressing that?
Speaker 9 (07:35):
Yeah, it's unfortunate that we have deniers. Denialism is the
last step in genocide. The genocide in Canada is not
finished yet.
Speaker 7 (07:45):
Cooper Island Residential School survivor Eddie Charlie often shares of
the tragedies what happened to him on the island.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Some kids were appreshing along down the hill and I
was just like, that's my answer, So I just jumped
in from the lug and it.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Ruled over me.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Having phillis here is like, it's like somebody gave me
a key to open that pain in my heart and then.
Speaker 7 (08:12):
Go and the pain will be felt. As the tribe
continues to investigate other sites around the school, doing what
they can to give names to the children instead of numbers.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
For anyone who is triggered by the story and is
a survivor of a residential school or a survivor of
a residential school. A twenty four hour hotline is available
by calling one eight sixty six nine two five four
four one nine. The Prime Minister is in our province
this weekend and today made a stop on the island
(08:43):
Mark Karney is in Nanaimo this afternoon. He surprised people
in Vancouver Sunday showing up the city's pride parade. Today
he's visiting the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Rangers
facility near Nunoose Bay. On Sunday, the Prime Minister met
with Premier David Aby to discuss US tariffs and the
softwood lumber dispute. Canadian researchers say they have determined what
(09:08):
is decimating populations of giant sea stars off our west coast.
It's a bacteria from the same family that causes cholera
in humans.
Speaker 9 (09:20):
Sometimes they're orange, or they can do this like beautiful
lavender color sometimes or purples or greens. Often they're this
kind of model of all of the above.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
These creatures certainly live up to the name Sunflower seastars,
but this is what they've become along the West coast.
From Mexico to Alaska, twisted melted puddles of death the
result of seastar wasting disease. Now, after a decade of
being pushed to near extinction, for the first time a
likely cause.
Speaker 10 (09:49):
The agent is a bacteria. It's called vibryo Pectinocida, from.
Speaker 6 (09:55):
The same family that causes cholera in human. Scientists founded
by exposing healthy sea stars to fluid from infected ones.
Speaker 10 (10:02):
We inject it into the solomic cavity of the sea star,
which is essentially kind of the central part that all
the arms are coming out of.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Researchers say it took years of testing and cross border
cooperation to finally lead to this clear signal.
Speaker 9 (10:15):
The amazing thing is now we can test them. Now
we can go out and actually do tests and see
what is the actual prevalence of this pathogen in the field.
Speaker 11 (10:23):
It almost kind of felt like it was we were
never going to figure out.
Speaker 6 (10:25):
What it was. For those who study sunflower sea stars,
the absence has let their prey see urchins expand, devouring
kelp forest, critical to both biodiversity and coastal communities. This
finding is a hope for assisted recovery programs.
Speaker 11 (10:42):
So my mind goes to the practical applications of what
does this mean for if we want to breed these
animals and release them in the wild, can we develop
a test so we can test whether the animals we
breaden captivity have this disease before we outplant them.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
The killer vibrio is said to be a barometer of
climate change, thriving in warmer waters, so there's an urgency
to bring back the c stars as they help protect
coastlines from storms, also supercharged by a warming world.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Streaming wars how YouTube is leading the charge and another
is gunning for top spot As a competition for streaming
services heats
Speaker 1 (11:21):
On watchful Check newscasts weekdays at five, six, and ten,
or anytime on Check plus or checkews do
Check podcasts. This is an abbreviated version of Check News
watch full Check newscasts week days at five, six, and ten,
or anytime one Check plus or checknews dot CA.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The wildfire burning out of control on the island grows
as crews battle through difficult conditions. What officials are saying
tonight about the firefight and those living near the wildfire.
(00:41):
Good evening and thanks for joining us. The out of
control wildfire here on the island has grown to more
than five hundred hectares, leaving many communities in the region
on edge. An evacuation order is still in effect for
nearly four hundred homes in the area. That order requires
residents to leave immediately. Another two hundred and thirty five
(01:02):
properties are under evacuation alert, meaning residents need to be
ready to leave at a moment's notice. The firefight is
well resourced, with one hundred and sixty four personnel responding
to the fire, along with eight helicopters and multiple fire departments,
including those from Dashwood and Combs. But the terrain is difficult,
(01:24):
creating challenging conditions, and there's so much timber helping fuel
that fire and visibility is poor because of smoke. Now,
the other element is Highway four. Let's bring in Kendall Hanson,
who's only a few kilometers from the firefight in Whiskey Creek.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Kendall well Scott. The fire has grown and the Coastal
Fire Center says it's bringing in more resources as well.
Highway four remains open in the Coastal Fire centers as
it's working hard to keep traffic moving as it realizes
how important this corridor is. This is Those evacuated from
their homes watched the firefight. Yeah, you never think it's
(02:03):
going to happen to you. Lenn Coldenhoven has returned to
watch the firefight with his newly purchased botting scope. He's
among those evacuated from their homes. We've got friends in
the Newsit are putting us up. I actually got some
sleep last night. So yeah, that's the first night since Thursday.
On Friday, helicopters were already working in his neighborhood when
(02:25):
authorities told him to evacuate. He watched for most of Saturday,
and he says on the road close to his home,
conditions appear to be better.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
The smoke there is is a lot less intense.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The Wesley Ridge fire remains out of control. The Coastal
Fire Center says it has eight helicopters in both land
based air tankers and skimmers assigned to fight the fire
from the air as needed. One hundred and sixty four
people are fighting the fire on the ground. More than
eighty are structure protection specialists.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
The leading edge of the fire has not reached any
of the community. There are spot fires within the community
and they are being quickly and efficiently actioned by crews
on the ground structure protection and those crews are there
overnight and they are able to quickly suppress any areas
that may appear or flare up.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
This morning, the Coastal Fire Center designated the fire as
a wildfire of Note.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
A Welfare of Note designation does not have any bearing
on the level of resourcing or the prioritization of the fire.
It highlights that there is a fire that may be
impacting multiple people in the area, and it allows easier
access to that kind of information that someone may need.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Trent Snyder is on evacuation alert. He has his things
and can't ready to go at a moment's notice.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
I don't want to leave, but if it comes down
to it.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
We're going to have to.
Speaker 6 (03:45):
We're just playing the waiting game for now.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
What are you thinking? From what you see today.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
It's looking a lot better.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Well from another vantage in Whiskey Creek, two sisters from
Parksvielle came to have a first hand look. You can
see the growth from two days ago.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, big time.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
During today's media briefing, the Regional District of Nanaimo was
directly asked again about the loss of any structures. It
said it would be the organization to report on any losses,
but that as far as it was aware, there have
been no structures lost as of today.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
All right, thanks Kendall. Victoria police are investigating after a
synagogue was targeted with graffiti. The Congregation of Emmanuel reported
to police on the messages Saturday night. Officers documented the graffiti,
collected evidence working with the city. The messages were removed
and the incident remains under an investigation. A man is
(04:40):
in custody following a serious head on crash on the
Trans Canada Highway just south of Nanaimo Saturday evening that
left two people hospitalized and sparked a wave of nine
to one one calls about dangerous driving. The crash happened
around seven Saturday night, when a Dodge Ram pickup reportedly
ran a red light at high speed and collided head
on with a Nissan Sentra at the Timberland's Road intersection
(05:04):
in Ladysmith. There were multiple nine to one one calls
earlier reported they were reporting the truck's erratic movements along
the highway prior to the crash. Now after hitting the Nissan,
the driver the truck took off until it struck the
center medium. The driver fled the scene on foot, but
was arrested by police. Two people inside the Nissan were
rushed to hospital with serious injuries. Rcmps say they're still
(05:27):
investigating on our appealing for witnesses or dash cam footage
that could help trace the truck's movements in the minutes
leading up to the crash. The path of truth and
reconciliation in this country is becoming more complex as more
and more nations across Canada put in the work to
attempt to find and identify potential unmarked graves. Well during
(05:50):
the fourth annual March for the Children in Chimanis, there
are new findings and a warning that some of the
words and stories may be triggering to some.
Speaker 7 (06:03):
It's a day filled with remembrance and emotions as the
Penelica Tribe walk along the streets of Chimenus for the
fourth annual March for the Children. Every year, the tribe
invites people to march and remember the children from Cooper
Island Residential School who never returned home. This year, the
(06:23):
march landed on the same day the tribe released findings
of archival records related to one hundred and seventy one
deaths at Cooper Island Residential School, fifty more than what
is posted at the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation,
and we.
Speaker 8 (06:37):
Have identified three hundred and forty two unmarked graves. One
hundred and eleven of these are possible graves, one hundred
and thirty three probable, and ninegate are likely.
Speaker 7 (06:49):
At two other locations around the school grounds. The tribe
also located twenty seven other potential unmarked graves.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
This work has many barriers. We do not have access
to all the records.
Speaker 7 (07:02):
Despite many barriers, other findings include history indicating other children
may have been brought out to sea or disposed of
in an incinerator inside the school. The work to investigate
improve these stories more definitively is ongoing.
Speaker 9 (07:17):
I remain humbled and honored for.
Speaker 7 (07:19):
The creator of Worn Shirt, Dave Phyllis Webstan. Coming to
the march for the children is of high priority. There's
been a lot of adversity when it comes to truth
and reconciliation, especially with denialism. How are you coping with
that and addressing that?
Speaker 9 (07:35):
Yeah, it's unfortunate that we have deniers. Denialism is the
last step in genocide. The genocide in Canada is not
finished yet.
Speaker 7 (07:45):
Cooper Island Residential School survivor Eddie Charlie often shares of
the tragedies what happened to him on the island.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Some kids were appreshing along down the hill and I
was just like, that's my answer, So I just jumped
in from the lug and it.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Ruled over me.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Having phillis here is like, it's like somebody gave me
a key to open that pain in my heart and then.
Speaker 7 (08:12):
Go and the pain will be felt. As the tribe
continues to investigate other sites around the school, doing what
they can to give names to the children instead of numbers.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
For anyone who is triggered by the story and is
a survivor of a residential school or a survivor of
a residential school. A twenty four hour hotline is available
by calling one eight sixty six nine two five four
four one nine. The Prime Minister is in our province
this weekend and today made a stop on the island
(08:43):
Mark Karney is in Nanaimo this afternoon. He surprised people
in Vancouver Sunday showing up the city's pride parade. Today
he's visiting the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Rangers
facility near Nunoose Bay. On Sunday, the Prime Minister met
with Premier David Aby to discuss US tariffs and the
softwood lumber dispute. Canadian researchers say they have determined what
(09:08):
is decimating populations of giant sea stars off our west coast.
It's a bacteria from the same family that causes cholera
in humans.
Speaker 9 (09:20):
Sometimes they're orange, or they can do this like beautiful
lavender color sometimes or purples or greens. Often they're this
kind of model of all of the above.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
These creatures certainly live up to the name Sunflower seastars,
but this is what they've become along the West coast.
From Mexico to Alaska, twisted melted puddles of death the
result of seastar wasting disease. Now, after a decade of
being pushed to near extinction, for the first time a
likely cause.
Speaker 10 (09:49):
The agent is a bacteria. It's called vibryo Pectinocida, from.
Speaker 6 (09:55):
The same family that causes cholera in human. Scientists founded
by exposing healthy sea stars to fluid from infected ones.
Speaker 10 (10:02):
We inject it into the solomic cavity of the sea star,
which is essentially kind of the central part that all
the arms are coming out of.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Researchers say it took years of testing and cross border
cooperation to finally lead to this clear signal.
Speaker 9 (10:15):
The amazing thing is now we can test them. Now
we can go out and actually do tests and see
what is the actual prevalence of this pathogen in the field.
Speaker 11 (10:23):
It almost kind of felt like it was we were
never going to figure out.
Speaker 6 (10:25):
What it was. For those who study sunflower sea stars,
the absence has let their prey see urchins expand, devouring
kelp forest, critical to both biodiversity and coastal communities. This
finding is a hope for assisted recovery programs.
Speaker 11 (10:42):
So my mind goes to the practical applications of what
does this mean for if we want to breed these
animals and release them in the wild, can we develop
a test so we can test whether the animals we
breaden captivity have this disease before we outplant them.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
The killer vibrio is said to be a barometer of
climate change, thriving in warmer waters, so there's an urgency
to bring back the c stars as they help protect
coastlines from storms, also supercharged by a warming world.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Streaming wars how YouTube is leading the charge and another
is gunning for top spot As a competition for streaming
services heats
Speaker 1 (11:21):
On watchful Check newscasts weekdays at five, six, and ten,
or anytime on Check plus or checkews do
Popular Podcasts
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!