July 28, 2025 • 17 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.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is an abbreviated.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
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 4 (00:16):
It's very sad that people come out here and start
fires and it keeps us from having access to the
on the woods.
Speaker 5 (00:24):
Cruz continue to battle another wildfire near Nanaimo. It's being held,
but its proximity to another fire is causing concern.
Speaker 6 (00:32):
If we're going to build a stronger, more united economy,
and we are doing that, we are going to need
to make it more affordable to travel around this country.
Speaker 5 (00:43):
From mister Carney slashes fairyf fares, but only in Atlantic Canada.
There will be no savings for passengers here.
Speaker 7 (00:52):
Have you driven it just for the fun of it yet?
Speaker 8 (00:54):
I'm about to do that right after this interview.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
As that today traffic is flying over the new Heaving
fly Over, just in time for the mayor to push
for more industrial land in central Sanwich. Check news starts now,
Hi there, Thanks for being with us. Tonight, wildfire crews
(01:18):
are aggressively attacking a fire burning near Nanaimo that has
now covered two hectares of land. Smoke from the fire
was first detected on Sunday night, and as sky Ryan
tells us, it's a closeness to another wildfire is raising concern.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Firefighters return to a ridgeline burning off Nanaimo River Road
Monday that swept up two hectares of land within hours.
It's an aer ranked extreme fire danger with a campfire ban,
so concerned neighbors wonder how it's marked as they drive
by monitoring crews trying to hold it.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I think it's very sad that people come out here
and start fires and it keeps us from having access
to the on the woods.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Wesley Moose hikes the area with his dog Moves and
was stunned at this site Monday.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I saw it and I couldn't believe that there's another
fire within close approximated to the fire that was.
Speaker 7 (02:14):
There before cruise.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
We're called to this wildfire at five pm Sunday, when
smoke could be seen pouring from the scene, just two
kilometers from where similar fire had sparked one week ago.
Speaker 9 (02:24):
It's very close to the last one, within a couple
kilometers of our last fire. So yeah, it's certainly avoidable.
Anytime you have the human costs.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Fires twenty nine firefighters worked the scene with hand tools
and hoses Monday, after air tankers were initially brought in
late Sunday, and then a heavy lift helicopter worked night
vision operations around the clock to keep it from growing.
Speaker 9 (02:48):
And tanking into the late evening hours and throughout the night.
Really kept the fire in its current place, so we
came back this morning with very minimal growth from where
we left it last night.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Early afternoon, Cruise had made enough progress to rank the
fire as being held at two hectares, but with more hot,
dry weather in the forecast and two wildfires within one
week on this road, crews are investigating just how these
human caused fires started and urging people to report any
smoke that they see.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Quadra Street is closed in both directions at the corner
of green Ridge Crescent after a serious collision sent one
person to hospital in critical condition. The intersection closed off
is where the Lockside trail meets Quadra. Sanich Police had
not provided any information on the crash at this time. However,
it appears the crash may have involved a cyclist. A
(03:43):
broken bike can be seen in the middle of the
intersection with its rear wheel a short distance away.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
There was a lot of police officers and obviously first
response workers and they were talking to witnesses all that, and.
Speaker 10 (03:58):
There was a bike on the side of the road.
Speaker 11 (04:00):
We're not sure the hospital.
Speaker 12 (04:03):
The ambulance did stay for way longer than we thought
it would.
Speaker 10 (04:09):
Yeah, we saw a lot of emergency vehicles.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
BC Emergency Health Services says paramedics were called to the
scene just before noon and provided emergency treatment to one
person before taking them to hospital in critical condition. Police
are asking all drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to avoid the area,
including that section of the Lockside trail, while crews are
on scene. Updates will be provided when more information becomes available.
(04:34):
As the federal government slashes the cost of some fairy
rides in Atlantic Canada, here in BC, our premier is
calling for equal funding, David eb calling the current structure unfair,
leaving British Columbians short changed. Corey Sitaway reports.
Speaker 10 (04:51):
For Atlantic Canada, this is big, you know, it's big money.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
Combine, this is going to save users approximately one hundred
million dollars.
Speaker 10 (04:59):
Those who try by bridge or boat inter provincially, we'll
now see the tolls and fares they pay cut in
half or more. The Confederation Bridge connecting Pei and Mainland
Canada is down from fifty dollars to twenty. Ferry fares
are being reduced by fifty percent. It'll all cost Canadian
tax beers by how much, Carnie didn't say, but that
(05:21):
the knock on economic effects will outweigh that.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
If we're going to build a stronger, more united economy,
and we are doing that, we are going to need
to make it more affordable to travel around this country.
Speaker 10 (05:36):
On the West Coast, the announcement picks at an old wound.
Speaker 12 (05:39):
What I see continually is a federal government and it
doesn't matter the federal government. This is a long standing
grievance of BC Premier's acknowledge it, but the time has
come to address that unfairness. The ask is very straightforward.
We need the same per capita funding, the same per
person funding that any other province gets through any other
(06:00):
announcement that's made across the country.
Speaker 10 (06:03):
The problem is, unlike the East Coast, BC Ferries is
not constitutionally mandated and doesn't provide interprovincial travel. Therefore, the
Feds can take a back seat to funding. BC Ferries
argues the service it provides is just as essential, saying
it's company's makeup may be different, but it offers a
vital part of BC's transportation network. Instead, an agreement signed
(06:26):
in nineteen seventy seven guides federal grants BC Ferries way
roughly thirty million dollars annually, something the premier says needs upgrading.
Speaker 12 (06:36):
It's time for them to up the federal subsidy that
is unchanged for almost twenty years in British Columbia. While
East Coast fairy users continue to see benefits from the
federal government for now.
Speaker 10 (06:47):
The disparity in funding between coasts continues.
Speaker 12 (06:50):
Equal funding is the answer.
Speaker 10 (06:53):
BC Fairies says without additional support, fares will need to
increase more than thirty percent in twenty twenty eight to
keep up with operating and capital pressures. There is some
hope bobbing on the horizon, however, future negotiations, as the
BC Ferries grant agreement with the Feds expires in twenty
twenty seven.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
And Nanaimo City councilor wants to shut down the only
overdose prevention site in the city. Tonight, Counselor Ian Thorpe
will ask Kanaimo City Council to support his motion. Calling
on the Health authority to focus on drug treatment and
drug rehabilitation instead. Kendall Hanson reports.
Speaker 7 (07:31):
Nanaimo's City councilor Ian Thorpe says this attention recently has
been drawn to the city's Island Health funded overdose prevention site.
After listening to ongoing concerns about social disorder, he believes
something must change in the Harbor City.
Speaker 13 (07:46):
Our own city staff requesting that we build a fence
around part of City Hall to give them more protection
from some of the scary activities that they have witnessed
and been victim to from the consumption site.
Speaker 7 (08:00):
Council denied the fencing request, but Thorpe notes that earlier
this month, Victoria councilor Mark Gardner tabled a similar motion
to shut down the supervised prevention site on Pandora Avenue
and believes it's all part of a broader discussion that
needs to happen provincially.
Speaker 13 (08:16):
They've got to change course. What we're doing right now
is not working. It's not solving the drug addiction problem.
So instead of enabling and buying into this ongoing crisis
in our neighborhoods, let's try a different road, but.
Speaker 7 (08:31):
A long time, Harm Reduction and Recovery advocate says, we
should consider what closing overdose prevention sites would do.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Does it actually stop people from using substances? Which it doesn't.
We all know that all's what it will do. Will
it will create more substance use throughout other parts of
the community of Nanaimo, and sadly these people will be
using alone.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Fell at Chella, who spent nearly twenty years battling addiction
living in Vancouver's downtown east Side. Recovery and rehabilitation is important.
It is not an instant cure for everyone.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Like over ninety percent relapse, and without having a harm
reduction safety net underneath that, such as supervised consumption sites,
people are going to die faster than they can recover.
We need to continue to scale up both.
Speaker 7 (09:21):
The Nanaimo Public Safety Association says what's often overlooked from
the conversation is the safety of law abiding citizens.
Speaker 14 (09:29):
The citizens of Nanaimo and really anywhere. They need to
have their concerns addressed as well, and so there has
to be a balance. The pressure needs to be on
the provincial and federal governments to really address their root
causes of this issue. We keep bandating ourselves through this
and it just keeps getting worse.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
In a statement, BC's Health Ministry says overdose prevention sites
reduce public drug use, save lives, and help connect people
to treatment programs. However, street does disorder and congregation are
ongoing challenges. Thorpe says he hopes there will be a
fulsome discussion at Nanaimo City Council and a vote in
favor of this motion.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
A port Alberni woman has failed in her bid to
have her conviction for manslaughter overturned in the shooting death
of her son in August twenty twenty one. Samantha Dittmer
was originally charged with second degree murder in the death
of Jesse McPhee, but was convicted by a jury of
the lesser offensive manslaughter last February. She was sentenced to
four years in prison. Dittmer, now sixty five, appealed her conviction,
(10:34):
arguing that the trial judge aired in instructing jurors on
the legal test for criminal negligence. The three judge panel
found no error in the judge's instructions and rejected the request.
After being convicted of six charges earlier this year, a
notorious Nanaimo fisherman has been sentenced to six years behind bars,
the judge saying a significant period of incarceration the only
(10:57):
way to stop Scott Steer from ravaging the ocean and
floating the law. Steer was convicted of six charges related
to illegal c cucumber harvesting for incidents dating back to
twenty nineteen. Steer was also fined more than a million
dollars representing the revenue received from the illegally caught c cucumbers.
(11:18):
Well launched in Victoria in twenty twenty one, now Evo
Car Share is spreading its footprint, offering its services in
Langford as well. The company says those in Langford are
now able to access the one hundred and seventy five
Evo cars already in the Victoria area. The announcement comes
a month after the company launched its e bike and
e scooter sharing program in Langford, hinting at that time
(11:38):
that its car share program could be coming to the
city soon. It's taken more than two years of construction
and plenty of patients from drivers heading to and from
the Senes Peninsula, but the Keeting Flyover is finally open.
The eighty million dollar overpass brings more of a safety
factor rather than convenience, But as Jordan cunning had shows us,
(12:00):
the new blacktop could pave the way for industrial expansion.
Speaker 15 (12:07):
There's a new alert for anyone headed for Keating cross
Road off the pad Bay Highway. Drivers keep right, Have
you driven it just for the fun of it?
Speaker 7 (12:15):
Yet?
Speaker 8 (12:16):
I'm about to do that right after this interview.
Speaker 15 (12:18):
The Keeting flyover is worth a flyover to see an
eighty million dollar investment in action. From every angle, the
fresh blacktop saw plenty of rubber when it opened this
morning at midnight.
Speaker 7 (12:28):
Have you driven it?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 15 (12:30):
What do you think?
Speaker 10 (12:31):
I actually like it?
Speaker 15 (12:32):
Did you celebrate mildly and tactfully as you crossed the
overpass for the first time?
Speaker 8 (12:37):
Kind of?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Actually?
Speaker 7 (12:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (12:38):
I will be tonight.
Speaker 15 (12:39):
But even after two years of construction, an overpass is
underwhelming for Pam.
Speaker 10 (12:43):
Have you driven it yet?
Speaker 7 (12:44):
I have not?
Speaker 8 (12:46):
Are you excited to really?
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Hi?
Speaker 15 (12:49):
These guys are excited for any car ride, though, And
what old drivers can delight in is the end of
decades of crossing two lanes of incoming traffic.
Speaker 8 (12:57):
Whether you're a resident or a trucker coming into Keating
Crossroad or tourists coming into push Oark Garden or just
someone navigating up and down the Highway seventeen corridor. This
is enormous from a safety point of view.
Speaker 15 (13:08):
And from a connectivity point of view. At funnels drivers
safely into the economic driver of the region. Central Santis
Mayor Ryan Windsor says Keating represents fifteen to twenty percent
of the commercial industrial land in the CRD. It is
in rare supply, so in what could be a thorny issue,
Windsor has submitted a notice of motion to Central Sandwich
Council tonight, a motion that would expand the industrial area
(13:29):
west to the seventeen hundred block of Keating Crossroad, adding
fourteen hectares of agricultural land to be rezoned industrial.
Speaker 8 (13:37):
That is I think meaningful from the point of view
of that rare opportunity within the capital region to create
commercial industrial lands.
Speaker 15 (13:43):
Across the street still sits the Butler Brothers Mining site,
which is in the final years of its operation. The
landscape out here will change, and those we spoke to
are open to it.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
You can never have enough industrial land, and that's how
this areas for anyways.
Speaker 10 (13:57):
Honestly, I don't have a problem with that.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
Yeah, more jobs.
Speaker 15 (14:00):
The first step and clearing that red tape happens tonight.
As for the overpass, highway speeds won't reappear overnight. Finishing
work means that sixty zone remains in place. Highway speed
resumes sometime down the road.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
All right, it is upside time, And guys, I have
been looking forward to this day for months. It is
opening night of Book of Mormon, and I know you
guys are excited about.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It too, Moore, are we ever? And it only runs
till the second of August and they're already I mean,
ticket sales are brisks.
Speaker 11 (14:33):
Eighty five percent sold out for most of the performances now.
But yeah, opening night, seven thirty, we're going to see
the Book at Mormon, which is goes back to They
kicked it off in twenty eleven in New York and
it has just been on a.
Speaker 15 (14:47):
Heater ever since, out of tear.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
It's been on a theater tear fourteen. It's the fourteenth
longest running Broadway production of all time. It's won nine Tonies, right,
those toy You know how difficult those tonies are to win.
I mean, we've I wanted to take us about two
years before, yeah, before we got ours.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
So it's a wild production. It's hilarious and it's of course,
anytime you've got the South Park guys involved in creation,
you know it's going to be a little on the edge.
Speaker 11 (15:14):
Yeah, it's supposed to be, you know, very hilarious. Sam
mcclullan plays one of the leads, and he has played
eight more than eight hundred times he has performed the
Book of Mormon.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So we're in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 11 (15:27):
Since twenty twenty two, right, and his parents actually took
him in twenty thirteen to see the production for the
first time, so he's been associated with this a long time.
Speaker 7 (15:35):
He's the lead.
Speaker 11 (15:36):
We'll be speaking with us, Sam McClellan coming up at
ten to six, but we have some mergency of away from.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Them, and we do so one of coincidence. We have
a friend in Utah is Norman Norman. He's written a
book of trivia on Utah called Book of Normrman and
he's in fact of Mormon. So it's Norman the Mormon,
and he's got these questions for you to answer. You'll
need the answer to all three questions in order to
get into two humans. Great merch here. So there are
the questions for you. So number one named the famous
(16:04):
brother and Sister Utah singing duo. Number two an don't
park it up? Name any one of the five national
parks in Utah. And number three what is the name
of the Utah NHL team? They finally did name that Dan.
So if you know those answers, get him into us
at the upside and check nears dot CA and you
will be in the draw to win our great merch
(16:26):
here here for the Book of Mormon.
Speaker 11 (16:28):
Yeah, there is the merch rate there and we are
excited for opening night. Yeah, you can get your tickets
still available. I'll go to the Royal Theater box office.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
But it's a big night here.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Stay can wait all right, guys, Hello, we will We'll
talk to you.
Speaker 11 (16:46):
In a couple of minutes.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
To hear more about it. Thanks. Also still to come
on section night. More companies are requiring their employees to
come back to the office to work, but some of
those working from home are digging their heels in about it.
We'll have that story and this I knew it at
the beginning, and it was indeed very tough, but we
came to good conclusions for both sides. With the EU
(17:10):
striking a trade deal with the US, there are more
questions about what's on the table or not for Canada.
We'll have more after a short break.
Speaker 15 (17:18):
Watch Ful Check newscasts weekdays at five, six, and ten,
or anytime on checkplus or checknews dot Ca.
Check podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is an abbreviated.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
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 4 (00:16):
It's very sad that people come out here and start
fires and it keeps us from having access to the
on the woods.
Speaker 5 (00:24):
Cruz continue to battle another wildfire near Nanaimo. It's being held,
but its proximity to another fire is causing concern.
Speaker 6 (00:32):
If we're going to build a stronger, more united economy,
and we are doing that, we are going to need
to make it more affordable to travel around this country.
Speaker 5 (00:43):
From mister Carney slashes fairyf fares, but only in Atlantic Canada.
There will be no savings for passengers here.
Speaker 7 (00:52):
Have you driven it just for the fun of it yet?
Speaker 8 (00:54):
I'm about to do that right after this interview.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
As that today traffic is flying over the new Heaving
fly Over, just in time for the mayor to push
for more industrial land in central Sanwich. Check news starts now,
Hi there, Thanks for being with us. Tonight, wildfire crews
(01:18):
are aggressively attacking a fire burning near Nanaimo that has
now covered two hectares of land. Smoke from the fire
was first detected on Sunday night, and as sky Ryan
tells us, it's a closeness to another wildfire is raising concern.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Firefighters return to a ridgeline burning off Nanaimo River Road
Monday that swept up two hectares of land within hours.
It's an aer ranked extreme fire danger with a campfire ban,
so concerned neighbors wonder how it's marked as they drive
by monitoring crews trying to hold it.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I think it's very sad that people come out here
and start fires and it keeps us from having access
to the on the woods.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Wesley Moose hikes the area with his dog Moves and
was stunned at this site Monday.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I saw it and I couldn't believe that there's another
fire within close approximated to the fire that was.
Speaker 7 (02:14):
There before cruise.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
We're called to this wildfire at five pm Sunday, when
smoke could be seen pouring from the scene, just two
kilometers from where similar fire had sparked one week ago.
Speaker 9 (02:24):
It's very close to the last one, within a couple
kilometers of our last fire. So yeah, it's certainly avoidable.
Anytime you have the human costs.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Fires twenty nine firefighters worked the scene with hand tools
and hoses Monday, after air tankers were initially brought in
late Sunday, and then a heavy lift helicopter worked night
vision operations around the clock to keep it from growing.
Speaker 9 (02:48):
And tanking into the late evening hours and throughout the night.
Really kept the fire in its current place, so we
came back this morning with very minimal growth from where
we left it last night.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Early afternoon, Cruise had made enough progress to rank the
fire as being held at two hectares, but with more hot,
dry weather in the forecast and two wildfires within one
week on this road, crews are investigating just how these
human caused fires started and urging people to report any
smoke that they see.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Quadra Street is closed in both directions at the corner
of green Ridge Crescent after a serious collision sent one
person to hospital in critical condition. The intersection closed off
is where the Lockside trail meets Quadra. Sanich Police had
not provided any information on the crash at this time. However,
it appears the crash may have involved a cyclist. A
(03:43):
broken bike can be seen in the middle of the
intersection with its rear wheel a short distance away.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
There was a lot of police officers and obviously first
response workers and they were talking to witnesses all that, and.
Speaker 10 (03:58):
There was a bike on the side of the road.
Speaker 11 (04:00):
We're not sure the hospital.
Speaker 12 (04:03):
The ambulance did stay for way longer than we thought
it would.
Speaker 10 (04:09):
Yeah, we saw a lot of emergency vehicles.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
BC Emergency Health Services says paramedics were called to the
scene just before noon and provided emergency treatment to one
person before taking them to hospital in critical condition. Police
are asking all drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to avoid the area,
including that section of the Lockside trail, while crews are
on scene. Updates will be provided when more information becomes available.
(04:34):
As the federal government slashes the cost of some fairy
rides in Atlantic Canada, here in BC, our premier is
calling for equal funding, David eb calling the current structure unfair,
leaving British Columbians short changed. Corey Sitaway reports.
Speaker 10 (04:51):
For Atlantic Canada, this is big, you know, it's big money.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
Combine, this is going to save users approximately one hundred
million dollars.
Speaker 10 (04:59):
Those who try by bridge or boat inter provincially, we'll
now see the tolls and fares they pay cut in
half or more. The Confederation Bridge connecting Pei and Mainland
Canada is down from fifty dollars to twenty. Ferry fares
are being reduced by fifty percent. It'll all cost Canadian
tax beers by how much, Carnie didn't say, but that
(05:21):
the knock on economic effects will outweigh that.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
If we're going to build a stronger, more united economy,
and we are doing that, we are going to need
to make it more affordable to travel around this country.
Speaker 10 (05:36):
On the West Coast, the announcement picks at an old wound.
Speaker 12 (05:39):
What I see continually is a federal government and it
doesn't matter the federal government. This is a long standing
grievance of BC Premier's acknowledge it, but the time has
come to address that unfairness. The ask is very straightforward.
We need the same per capita funding, the same per
person funding that any other province gets through any other
(06:00):
announcement that's made across the country.
Speaker 10 (06:03):
The problem is, unlike the East Coast, BC Ferries is
not constitutionally mandated and doesn't provide interprovincial travel. Therefore, the
Feds can take a back seat to funding. BC Ferries
argues the service it provides is just as essential, saying
it's company's makeup may be different, but it offers a
vital part of BC's transportation network. Instead, an agreement signed
(06:26):
in nineteen seventy seven guides federal grants BC Ferries way
roughly thirty million dollars annually, something the premier says needs upgrading.
Speaker 12 (06:36):
It's time for them to up the federal subsidy that
is unchanged for almost twenty years in British Columbia. While
East Coast fairy users continue to see benefits from the
federal government for now.
Speaker 10 (06:47):
The disparity in funding between coasts continues.
Speaker 12 (06:50):
Equal funding is the answer.
Speaker 10 (06:53):
BC Fairies says without additional support, fares will need to
increase more than thirty percent in twenty twenty eight to
keep up with operating and capital pressures. There is some
hope bobbing on the horizon, however, future negotiations, as the
BC Ferries grant agreement with the Feds expires in twenty
twenty seven.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
And Nanaimo City councilor wants to shut down the only
overdose prevention site in the city. Tonight, Counselor Ian Thorpe
will ask Kanaimo City Council to support his motion. Calling
on the Health authority to focus on drug treatment and
drug rehabilitation instead. Kendall Hanson reports.
Speaker 7 (07:31):
Nanaimo's City councilor Ian Thorpe says this attention recently has
been drawn to the city's Island Health funded overdose prevention site.
After listening to ongoing concerns about social disorder, he believes
something must change in the Harbor City.
Speaker 13 (07:46):
Our own city staff requesting that we build a fence
around part of City Hall to give them more protection
from some of the scary activities that they have witnessed
and been victim to from the consumption site.
Speaker 7 (08:00):
Council denied the fencing request, but Thorpe notes that earlier
this month, Victoria councilor Mark Gardner tabled a similar motion
to shut down the supervised prevention site on Pandora Avenue
and believes it's all part of a broader discussion that
needs to happen provincially.
Speaker 13 (08:16):
They've got to change course. What we're doing right now
is not working. It's not solving the drug addiction problem.
So instead of enabling and buying into this ongoing crisis
in our neighborhoods, let's try a different road, but.
Speaker 7 (08:31):
A long time, Harm Reduction and Recovery advocate says, we
should consider what closing overdose prevention sites would do.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Does it actually stop people from using substances? Which it doesn't.
We all know that all's what it will do. Will
it will create more substance use throughout other parts of
the community of Nanaimo, and sadly these people will be
using alone.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Fell at Chella, who spent nearly twenty years battling addiction
living in Vancouver's downtown east Side. Recovery and rehabilitation is important.
It is not an instant cure for everyone.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Like over ninety percent relapse, and without having a harm
reduction safety net underneath that, such as supervised consumption sites,
people are going to die faster than they can recover.
We need to continue to scale up both.
Speaker 7 (09:21):
The Nanaimo Public Safety Association says what's often overlooked from
the conversation is the safety of law abiding citizens.
Speaker 14 (09:29):
The citizens of Nanaimo and really anywhere. They need to
have their concerns addressed as well, and so there has
to be a balance. The pressure needs to be on
the provincial and federal governments to really address their root
causes of this issue. We keep bandating ourselves through this
and it just keeps getting worse.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
In a statement, BC's Health Ministry says overdose prevention sites
reduce public drug use, save lives, and help connect people
to treatment programs. However, street does disorder and congregation are
ongoing challenges. Thorpe says he hopes there will be a
fulsome discussion at Nanaimo City Council and a vote in
favor of this motion.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
A port Alberni woman has failed in her bid to
have her conviction for manslaughter overturned in the shooting death
of her son in August twenty twenty one. Samantha Dittmer
was originally charged with second degree murder in the death
of Jesse McPhee, but was convicted by a jury of
the lesser offensive manslaughter last February. She was sentenced to
four years in prison. Dittmer, now sixty five, appealed her conviction,
(10:34):
arguing that the trial judge aired in instructing jurors on
the legal test for criminal negligence. The three judge panel
found no error in the judge's instructions and rejected the request.
After being convicted of six charges earlier this year, a
notorious Nanaimo fisherman has been sentenced to six years behind bars,
the judge saying a significant period of incarceration the only
(10:57):
way to stop Scott Steer from ravaging the ocean and
floating the law. Steer was convicted of six charges related
to illegal c cucumber harvesting for incidents dating back to
twenty nineteen. Steer was also fined more than a million
dollars representing the revenue received from the illegally caught c cucumbers.
(11:18):
Well launched in Victoria in twenty twenty one, now Evo
Car Share is spreading its footprint, offering its services in
Langford as well. The company says those in Langford are
now able to access the one hundred and seventy five
Evo cars already in the Victoria area. The announcement comes
a month after the company launched its e bike and
e scooter sharing program in Langford, hinting at that time
(11:38):
that its car share program could be coming to the
city soon. It's taken more than two years of construction
and plenty of patients from drivers heading to and from
the Senes Peninsula, but the Keeting Flyover is finally open.
The eighty million dollar overpass brings more of a safety
factor rather than convenience, But as Jordan cunning had shows us,
(12:00):
the new blacktop could pave the way for industrial expansion.
Speaker 15 (12:07):
There's a new alert for anyone headed for Keating cross
Road off the pad Bay Highway. Drivers keep right, Have
you driven it just for the fun of it?
Speaker 7 (12:15):
Yet?
Speaker 8 (12:16):
I'm about to do that right after this interview.
Speaker 15 (12:18):
The Keeting flyover is worth a flyover to see an
eighty million dollar investment in action. From every angle, the
fresh blacktop saw plenty of rubber when it opened this
morning at midnight.
Speaker 7 (12:28):
Have you driven it?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 15 (12:30):
What do you think?
Speaker 10 (12:31):
I actually like it?
Speaker 15 (12:32):
Did you celebrate mildly and tactfully as you crossed the
overpass for the first time?
Speaker 8 (12:37):
Kind of?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Actually?
Speaker 7 (12:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (12:38):
I will be tonight.
Speaker 15 (12:39):
But even after two years of construction, an overpass is
underwhelming for Pam.
Speaker 10 (12:43):
Have you driven it yet?
Speaker 7 (12:44):
I have not?
Speaker 8 (12:46):
Are you excited to really?
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Hi?
Speaker 15 (12:49):
These guys are excited for any car ride, though, And
what old drivers can delight in is the end of
decades of crossing two lanes of incoming traffic.
Speaker 8 (12:57):
Whether you're a resident or a trucker coming into Keating
Crossroad or tourists coming into push Oark Garden or just
someone navigating up and down the Highway seventeen corridor. This
is enormous from a safety point of view.
Speaker 15 (13:08):
And from a connectivity point of view. At funnels drivers
safely into the economic driver of the region. Central Santis
Mayor Ryan Windsor says Keating represents fifteen to twenty percent
of the commercial industrial land in the CRD. It is
in rare supply, so in what could be a thorny issue,
Windsor has submitted a notice of motion to Central Sandwich
Council tonight, a motion that would expand the industrial area
(13:29):
west to the seventeen hundred block of Keating Crossroad, adding
fourteen hectares of agricultural land to be rezoned industrial.
Speaker 8 (13:37):
That is I think meaningful from the point of view
of that rare opportunity within the capital region to create
commercial industrial lands.
Speaker 15 (13:43):
Across the street still sits the Butler Brothers Mining site,
which is in the final years of its operation. The
landscape out here will change, and those we spoke to
are open to it.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
You can never have enough industrial land, and that's how
this areas for anyways.
Speaker 10 (13:57):
Honestly, I don't have a problem with that.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
Yeah, more jobs.
Speaker 15 (14:00):
The first step and clearing that red tape happens tonight.
As for the overpass, highway speeds won't reappear overnight. Finishing
work means that sixty zone remains in place. Highway speed
resumes sometime down the road.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
All right, it is upside time, And guys, I have
been looking forward to this day for months. It is
opening night of Book of Mormon, and I know you
guys are excited about.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It too, Moore, are we ever? And it only runs
till the second of August and they're already I mean,
ticket sales are brisks.
Speaker 11 (14:33):
Eighty five percent sold out for most of the performances now.
But yeah, opening night, seven thirty, we're going to see
the Book at Mormon, which is goes back to They
kicked it off in twenty eleven in New York and
it has just been on a.
Speaker 15 (14:47):
Heater ever since, out of tear.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
It's been on a theater tear fourteen. It's the fourteenth
longest running Broadway production of all time. It's won nine Tonies, right,
those toy You know how difficult those tonies are to win.
I mean, we've I wanted to take us about two
years before, yeah, before we got ours.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
So it's a wild production. It's hilarious and it's of course,
anytime you've got the South Park guys involved in creation,
you know it's going to be a little on the edge.
Speaker 11 (15:14):
Yeah, it's supposed to be, you know, very hilarious. Sam
mcclullan plays one of the leads, and he has played
eight more than eight hundred times he has performed the
Book of Mormon.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So we're in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 11 (15:27):
Since twenty twenty two, right, and his parents actually took
him in twenty thirteen to see the production for the
first time, so he's been associated with this a long time.
Speaker 7 (15:35):
He's the lead.
Speaker 11 (15:36):
We'll be speaking with us, Sam McClellan coming up at
ten to six, but we have some mergency of away from.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Them, and we do so one of coincidence. We have
a friend in Utah is Norman Norman. He's written a
book of trivia on Utah called Book of Normrman and
he's in fact of Mormon. So it's Norman the Mormon,
and he's got these questions for you to answer. You'll
need the answer to all three questions in order to
get into two humans. Great merch here. So there are
the questions for you. So number one named the famous
(16:04):
brother and Sister Utah singing duo. Number two an don't
park it up? Name any one of the five national
parks in Utah. And number three what is the name
of the Utah NHL team? They finally did name that Dan.
So if you know those answers, get him into us
at the upside and check nears dot CA and you
will be in the draw to win our great merch
(16:26):
here here for the Book of Mormon.
Speaker 11 (16:28):
Yeah, there is the merch rate there and we are
excited for opening night. Yeah, you can get your tickets
still available. I'll go to the Royal Theater box office.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
But it's a big night here.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Stay can wait all right, guys, Hello, we will We'll
talk to you.
Speaker 11 (16:46):
In a couple of minutes.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
To hear more about it. Thanks. Also still to come
on section night. More companies are requiring their employees to
come back to the office to work, but some of
those working from home are digging their heels in about it.
We'll have that story and this I knew it at
the beginning, and it was indeed very tough, but we
came to good conclusions for both sides. With the EU
(17:10):
striking a trade deal with the US, there are more
questions about what's on the table or not for Canada.
We'll have more after a short break.
Speaker 15 (17:18):
Watch Ful Check newscasts weekdays at five, six, and ten,
or anytime on checkplus or checknews dot Ca.
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!