The incumbent mayor of one of British Columbia’s largest municipalities is facing consecutive challenges – one at the ballot box and the other in a courtroom. Doug McCallum is hoping to hold onto his seat against seven challengers in the local election Saturday before his trial for public mischief begins October 31st. McCallum was elected four years ago on a platform promising to replace Canada’s largest RCMP detachment with a municipal police force an ongoing transition that has stirred controversy in the city. Last September, he complained to RCMP that a member of a pro-Mountie group ran over his foot, but three months later he himself was charged with public mischief over the claim.
The family of a 19-year-old woman who was murdered in the UK says she was a bright student who knew what she wanted in life. Ashley Wadsworth travelled to England to stay with 23-year-old Jack Sepple, whom she met online. Essex Police says Sepple was sentenced yesterday to 23-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to the killing that happened February 1st. Ashley’s father Kenneth Wadsworth says in a statement she told him she wanted to go to college when she returned from the U-K, while her mother Christy Gedron described her as the backbone of her family.
Police in Vancouver say they had a busy long weekend, receiving 12-hundred calls in a 40-hour period ending Sunday evening. They say in a tweet that among the assault calls, six people were stabbed and one was shot in the chest with a crossbow. They say the crossbow victim was rushed to hospital while the attacker fled the scene of the Downtown Eastside. Police say they also assisted with several protests, including one that drew about eight-thousand people.
RCMP say they’re investigating racist graffiti discovered at a middle school in Kelowna as a hate crime. Police say in a statement officers responded to a report of the graffiti at Doctor Knox Middle School over the weekend. They say they found several racist remarks in spray paint, including swastikas and references to slurs against Black and gay people. Constable Mike Della-Paolera says that kind of hate is “disturbing” and investigators are working with the school to track down and identify those responsible.
Police say a bizarre parking job tipped bystanders off to an impaired driver in West Kelowna. RCMP say officers attended a busy parking lot Sunday night after receiving complaints a driver had parked a vehicle on the sidewalk at the front entrance of a store before going shopping. They say when the driver returned to the vehicle, officers determined the person was impaired by drugs. They say the vehicle was impounded, the driver was fined and their licence was suspended.
The long weekend brought more broken heat records ahead of strong winds that swept across much of the province. Environment Canada says 16 hot weather records were broken in BC communities on Sunday. They include Victoria, where temperatures peaked at 21-point-5 degrees Celsius a record previously set in 1979. Vernon was hotter than it’s ever been on an October 9th since 1906, with temperatures reaching 22-point-2 degrees.