Health officials in British Columbia are repeating calls for everyone’s help to bend the curve amid daily case counts they say are too high and new variants of the virus. The province recorded 407 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed active infections to four-thousand-260. Among those, the government says in a news release 313 people are
hospitalized, including 71 in intensive care. An additional 14 people died in the past day and the B.C. death toll from COVID-19 now sits at 1,168.
Homicide investigators are in Langley after reports of a shooting overnight near 53A Avenue and 207 Street. Police tape is up and evidence markers have been placed on the road. Investigators appear to be focusing their attention on a small, dark-coloured vehicle. There are reports of possible bullet holes in that car. Surveillance footage provided to NEWS 1130 by a neighbor show a dark truck jumping the curb and tearing down the street around 11:30 p.m before a number of “bangs,” which sound like apparent gunshots, are heard. While it hasn’t been confirmed to be connected, there is another crime scene in South Surrey after two burned out cars were found around midnight. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has also been deployed there, with police focusing on an area near Redwood Park. It’s believed the car fires happened after midnight Wednesday in the area of 180th Street and 20th Avenue, with the block up from 20th Avenue completely blocked off.
A snowboarder is safe after a dramatic — and potentially dangerous — rescue was completed out of bounds in Cypress Provincial Park, Tuesday. North Shore Rescue received the call just before 4 p.m. for reports of a snowboarder who had been involved in an avalanche off of Cypress Mountain, in an area called Mitten Couloir on the back side of Mount Strachan. Rescuers say the man first called his girlfriend, who then called police who alerted search and rescue. He was spotted by crews in the air. “While [the team] made contact with him, they were able to actually pull him out of the avalanche debris that he was on into a safe area out of the slide zone. The snowboarder was reportedly slammed into a tree hit while he was caught in the avalanche. He was buried in the snow from the waist down and couldn’t move. While the extent of the snowboarder’s injuries aren’t clear at this point, they say he’s expected to recover.
Ceremonies are being held around the world today to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. Pope Francis spoke off the cuff at the end of his weekly general audience, warning that warped ideologies can pave the way to another mass extermination. This is the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, where Nazis killed more than one-million Jews and others. Premier John Horgan released a statement today, ending it with “The horrors of the Holocaust remind us of what happens when we remain silent or indifferent in the face of hate. Today, when we say ‘never again,’ we must follow this promise with action. Let’s continue to learn from the survivors of the Shoah, teach younger generations and speak out against anti-Semitism when we see it.”Today, I recommit our government to the work of upholding the human rights of every person in British Columbia and to the work of building a better, safer and more inclusive province for everyone.”
BC is reporting 485 new cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths. That brings the death toll in the province to 1,172
and total cases to 65,719. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says BC’s first case of COVID-19 was confirmed one year ago, and that year has shown one case can turn into thousands. She says it has also shown that following public health
restrictions can keep people safe and push the curve of the outbreak back down again.
A Vancouver police officer is recovering from a broken leg after a dispute over a refusal to wear a mask turned into a scuffle that ended with the suspect falling on the officer. A 53-year-old has been ticketed for ignoring orders to put on a mask while in the Vancouver Law Courts in downtown Vancouver, and police say they are also recommending charges of attempting to disarm an officer, assault and aggravated assault. Two officers who were at the courthouse intervened when the man refused a sheriff’s order to put on a mask and allegedly tried to grab the officer’s gun, before falling on him while being taken into custody. A police spokeswoman say the injured officer could be off work for several months.
A character actor whose depth of talent brought her an Oscar for the “The Last Picture Show” and Emmys for her comedic work in“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and other T-V series, has died. Cloris Leachman was 94. A publicist says Leachman died of natural causes at her home in Encinitas, California. Millions of viewers knew the actor as the self-absorbed neighbour Phyllis in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then in her own show as that character.
Kraft has just launched a new pink mac and cheese for Valentine’s day that supposedly tastes like candy. The reaction online has been mixed but most are saying that it will not be something they plan on purchasing anytime soon! It is predicted to be discontinued shorty after Valentine’s day.