RCMP say they busted an illegal after-hours nightclub in Surrey over the weekend, leading to almost $6,000 in COVID-related fines and a notice to appear in court for the host. After being called to the location of the club a few times before, Surrey RCMP’s Compliance and Enforcement Team said officers obtained a warrant for the location in the 10600-block of King George Boulevard and searched the premises this weekend. Police said they issued 26 tickets to 22 people inside the club for attending the event, failing to wear a face covering and belligerent behavior. The fines totaled just under $6,000, police said. The host of the event was not issued a $2,300 fine but was issued a notice to appear in court for hosting a non-compliant event, police confirmed.
The provincial health officer and the health minister are urging residents to keep going with small efforts as the province makes progress in pushing back the COVID-19 virus. Doctor Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix say B-C residents can protect their families, neighbors as well as grocery store clerks and front-line workers by continuing to practice pandemic safety measures. They say fewer cases and outbreaks will give the province a clear path forward as people continue to support each other. B-C reported 435 new cases yesterday, along with four new deaths for a total of one-thousand-263 fatalities linked to COVID-19
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced nearly 15-billion-dollars for public-transit projects across the country over the next eight years. He says the move will help re-start the economy and create strong middle-class jobs while fighting climate change. Most of the money won’t start flowing until 2026, but Trudeau told a group of big city mayors the new funds will provide cities with predictable funding to plan for their long-term needs.
Today is the deadline for hotels to submit applications to become one of the federal government’s quarantine hotels. Hotels in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary must be near airports accepting international flights, provide contactless meal delivery, free WiFi, set up brief outdoor breaks and report daily check-in and check-out numbers. It’s the next step in the government ordering all passengers returning from non-essential trips abroad to self-isolate in a federally-mandated facility for up to 72 hours at their own expense.
As many as 15 thousand front-line workers are still waiting for temporary pandemic pay top-ups of four dollars an hour as promise by the B-C government last spring. Health Minister Adrian Dix says 203 thousand people have been paid and the Finance Ministry has informed him the remaining cases should be resolved within the next two to three weeks. The province’s temporary pandemic pay website says 300 million dollars has been paid out to date and it is processing payments as quickly as possible. Dix says it’s estimated that a further 10 thousand to 15 thousand people may still qualify but that the province is making good progress.
House impeachment managers plan to use previous unreleased U-S Capitol security footage today as they deliver their opening arguments at former president Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. They will use the footage to argue that Trump incited the January 6th insurrection that left five people dead. Trump is said to be fuming over his lawyers’ performance, and his allies are questioning the defense strategy and calling for another shakeup of Trump’s legal team.
The Tragically Hip has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court against Toronto’s Mill Street Brewery. The band alleges the brewery has tried to profit from its fame, goodwill and reputation in promoting 100th Meridian lager, even posting photos of the beer can with its albums in the background. “At The Hundredth Meridian” was a hit single on the Hip’s 1992
album “Fully Completely.”
There’s another 469 new cases of COVID-19 in BC. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry
and Health Minister Adrian Dix says 230 people are hospital, 66 of those are in intensive care. There have been six more deaths for a total of 1,269 fatalities since the pandemic began. Dix and Henry are asking people to stay home this Family Day long
weekend in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.
Vancouver Coastal Health says the latest data shows the spread of COVID-19 is slowing in Whistler. The health authority says it identified 43 new COVID-19 cases as of Monday as well as an additional 24 older cases. That brings the total at the ski resort since the start of the year to 614 cases. It says the majority of cases continue to be among young adults with transmission occurring predominantly in household settings.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart is calling today’s 15-billion-dollar federal transit funding announcement a landmark
investment in the post-COVID recovery. About 6 billion dollars will be available to municipalities right away for shovel-ready projects with another three-billion-dollars-a-year to be provided starting in 2026. Kennedy says the investment will help advance plans for a SkyTrain extension to U-B-C and Langley that will service B-C’s second largest employment corridor.
He says the project will help jumpstart the COVID economic recovery with thousands of green jobs as well as help reduce
congestion and carbon emissions.
The RCMP say a man charged in a series of break and enters across the Lower Mainland has pleaded guilty. The Mounties say Anthony Vossler was charged with four counts of break an enter last May in connection with incidents in late 2019 in
Surrey and Langley. He was charged with an additional nine counts a week ago in break and enters in Surrey, Burnaby, Delta and Coquitlam between December 2019 through last April. Police say Vossler pleaded guilty to all 13 charges the same day.
One of the most watched Olympic events won’t be delayed this year. NBC will air a live morning broadcast of the Olympics opening ceremony. If the Games actually go forward, you’ll be able to watch the opening ceremony from Tokyo as it happens — which will be 8 p-m there, but 7 a-m on the East Coast. Folks on the west coast will have to drag themselves out of bed
for a 4 a-m viewing. NBC will then rerun the whole thing that night.
“Titanic” star Kate Winslet is playing a police detective on TV but that’s where her crime-busting ambition ends. The British actor says she’d be good at coffee and beers, but that’s it. In “Mare of Easttown,” Winslet’s character is investigating a murder in her small Pennsylvania town while struggling with family issues. It will debut in April on HBO.