A 14-year-old girl has died after she was hit by a dump truck in Burnaby yesterday afternoon. Police say it happened near 11th Avenue and 18th Street just before 3:30. According to Mounties, the driver of the truck pulling a dump trailer stayed at the scene and is cooperating with police. Burnaby RCMP is looking at ways to support those impacted by this tragic death saying Victim Services is offering support to those affected.
Police are sharing some shocking video footage in the hopes of finding a suspect after a teenager was attacked on a bus in Surrey over a month ago. The incident happened on April 1, but Metro Vancouver Transit Police only shared details yesterday. Police say the 17-year-old girl boarded a bus en route to the Newton Exchange at about 2 p.m. and sat at the back of the bus. At some point in the journey seemingly for no reason a man allegedly punched her in the head several times, causing her glasses to fly off her face. Despite the teen’s attempts to defend herself, when she bent over to pick up her glasses the suspect allegedly used his knee to strike her in the head….Police say the victim was not seriously physically hurt. The suspect is believed to be in his 30s and about 5’8″ tall with a bald head. He was wearing a long, black winter jacket, light blue jeans, and black runners with Velcro closures at the time.
The mayors of nine Lower Mainland cities are participating in a friendly competition to raise money for the food bank. The challenge is to raise the most money per capita, with a campaign goal of 500-thousand dollars. The City of North Vancouver, won the challenge last year by raising nearly 69-thousand dollars. It’s going up against White Rock, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Moody, and Vancouver.
RCMP in Surrey are looking for more witnesses after a woman was assaulted early Thursday morning near Holland Park. Officers called to the scene to respond to reports of a woman screaming and a fire alarm going off around 2:30 a.m. near King George Blvd and Old Yale Rd. They found a woman who had been physically assaulted by a man in a staircase of an underground parking lot. Police believe it’s tied to street-level sex work, and they are warning local sex trade workers to be extra vigilant.
Conservation officers are asking the public for help finding someone in BC who illegally shot and killed two cougar kittens in the Cowichan Valley. What’s worse, whoever killed them removed their heads and their paws before they left the area. Conservation Officers believe the poaching incident took place within the last week,….poaching wildlife is a serious offence under the BC Wildlife Act. It’s illegal to kill any cougar with spots or under one year old, as well as cougars in a family unit.
Canada’s chief public health officer says the number of new COVID-19 cases appears to be trending down, but the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 remains high in some parts of the country. Meanwhile, Dr. Theresa Tam says she hopes a new survey will offer insight into how many people are suffering from symptoms long after they were infected with COVID-19. The survey is being launched by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Statistics Canada. Experts note that so-called “long-COVID” can affect people who were hit hard by their initial symptoms, but it’s also been noted in people who had hardly any COVID-19 symptoms at all.
Uber has fought off a unionization attempt from Toronto drivers for its premium Uber Black service. The company signed a settlement with the private sector union trying to represent the workers. The United Food and Commercial Workers says the settlement includes commitments from Uber to work with the union on advocacy, explore new rates for commercial insurance, spend more on marketing airport rides and increasingly involve drivers in product Development.
Statistics Canada says the national jobless rate dipped to 5.2 per cent in April — the second consecutive month it has set a record low — but B-C’s rate, while still among the lowest in the country, nudged upward. Just over 15-thousand new jobs were created across Canada in April and economists say that was one of the factors that helped push the country’s unemployment down one-tenth of a point from its previous record low of 5.3 per cent in March. B-C’s rate was up over the same period, climbing to 5.4 per cent in April from 5.1 per cent in March and increases were also seen in Victoria, Kelowna and the Abbotsford area — although Vancouver’s rate didn’t budge from the March setting of 5.4 per cent. Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter says employment levels in Canada are returning to pre-pandemic normal but he cautions that a lack of new workers may be starting to constrain economic growth.
A man has been arrested in Metro Vancouver as police investigate an assault that happened after the suspect allegedly made slurs about the victim’s Indigenous heritage. Richmond R-C-M-P say the confrontation began Sunday afternoon when the man allegedly made the racial remarks to the victim and then assaulted the man when he reacted. There are also allegations that the suspect brandished a knife and R-C-M-P say they have spoken to several witnesses but believe more saw what happened — and they urge those people to come forward. The suspect was taken into custody on Sunday and police say he has been released with conditions while the investigation continues.
The head of the Surrey Board of Trade says the B-C government already has a report outlining recommendations on addressing prolific offenders and violent crime. Anita Huberman says the province didn’t need to hire two experts to investigate the same issue. She says the recommendations haven’t been implemented, but the economic development of any community relies on its reputation as a safe, viable region to do business and where customers are willing to go. Attorney General David Eby says a former deputy police chief from Vancouver and a criminologist who specializes in corrections and addiction have been asked to come up with solutions and submit a report in four months. But he says possible solutions could be considered before then.