Pulse FM News Update for Wednesday, May 19

Mask rules have changed for people working out in fitness facilities in the province. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says masks are now required at all times, even during workouts. The rules align with recent updates from the provincial health office and the changes allow police and other officials to enforce the new guidance at their discretion. Anyone without a mask in an indoor public place, or who refuses to comply with the order, may face a 230-dollar fine.

Premier John Horgan has announced 50-million dollars in funding to prevent so-called “anchor” attractions and tour bus operators from going under as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new program will offer one-time grants of up to one-million dollars to cover expenses like payroll, rent and utility costs related to restarting operations in preparation for reopening when it’s safe to do so. Urban attractions that receive 75-thousand visitors or more each year are eligible for the maximum amount, while rural attractions that draw at least 15-thousand visitors a year may receive up to 500-thousand dollars. Tourism bus companies with 30-thousand or more passengers a year may also apply for a grant up to half-a-million dollars.

A mink farm in the Fraser Valley has been placed under quarantine after one of the animals tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 in people. The B-C Agriculture Ministry says two additional mink are also suspected to be positive for the virus, while no workers on the farm have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. The ministry says it’s not currently known how the mink contracted the virus and it’s working with stakeholders to identify potential sources. It’s the third farm in B-C where mink have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic.

For the second time in two days, a police agency in British Columbia has issued a public safety warning about potential gang violence. The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit has named 11 men ranging in age from 21 to 40 who are allegedly connected to an ongoing spike in gang conflict and violence in B-C’s Lower Mainland. Manny Mann, the chief officer of the special enforcement unit, says the warning follows a similar decision by the Vancouver Police Department yesterday to publicly name six alleged gang members. Vancouver Chief Constable Adam Palmer told a news conference on Monday that his biggest concern is that a bystander will be hurt or killed during a gang-related shooting.

B-C has recorded 411 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths, pushing the provincial death toll to one-thousand, 650. Active cases have dipped to four-thousand, 890, with 360 people in hospital — 127 in intensive care. More than 2.5 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the province, of which 132-thousand are second doses. Health officials say they’ll have more information next month on the potential for accelerating delivery of second doses.

Two teens have been found guilty of second-degree murder in the brutal stabbing death of a Surrey man close to two years ago. The family of Delphin Paul Prestbakmo is now hoping the two will
be sentenced as adults, an avenue the Crown does intend to pursue in the case. Forty-five-year-old Prestbakmo was found fatally stabbed in a parking lot near the Semiahmoo Shopping Centre in August 2019. A 15- and 16-year-old were arrested and charged the following month.

Fraser Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Cherington Place, a long-term care facility in North Surrey. “One resident and one staff member have tested positive for COVID-19,” the health authority announced Tuesday afternoon (May 18). “The resident and staff member are currently in self-isolation at their homes.” Located at 13453 111A Ave., the 75-bed “complex care centre” is owned and operated by Belvedere Seniors Living. Fraser Health says it has worked with the site “to support the implementation of enhanced control measures. Fraser Health is also working with the site to identify anyone who may have been exposed, and is taking steps to protect the health of all staff, residents and families.”

The latest person to be outed by police as a member of a Metro Vancouver-area gang is 22-year-old Naseem Mohammed. Surrey R-C-M-P say Mohammed is a member of the Brother’s Keepers gang and is wanted on multiple warrants but police don’t know where he is — and say he may have entered the United States illegally. In an effort to slow Metro Vancouver’s deadly gang conflict, police have begun releasing photos of people they say are gang members who could be targeted by rival gangs — putting anyone near them at risk. Vancouver police released six photos on Monday and yesterday the region’s integrated gang task force published 11 more — with the public urged to stay clear, but to call police if they spot any of the individuals.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are intruding into inflation calculations as Statistics Canada says the cost of living rose to its highest level in nearly a decade in April. Economists blame a record increase in the price of gasoline last month — compared with last April when gas prices plunged due to the pandemic — saying the jump pushed Canada’s inflation rate up to 3.4 per cent from its 2.2 per cent setting in March. When compared with last April, gas prices soared 62.5 per cent — but number crunchers say if gas were removed from the equation, the national inflation rate would be 1.9 per cent. B-C also felt the turbulence as inflation provincewide jumped one full percentage point to three per cent from its two per cent setting last month while Victoria’s rate more than doubled to 3.2 per cent compared with its March setting of 1.5 per cent.

Metro Vancouver Transit Police say a suspected gang member carrying a loaded gun has been arrested at B-C’s largest shopping mall. Police say officers stopped a man in the parking lot of the Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby yesterday for openly smoking marijuana in a location contrary to the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act. They say the man fled to a nearby parked car and in a struggle with officers, he was spotted tossing a loaded semi-automatic handgun under a vehicle. They say 23-year-old Luis Manuel Baez of Surrey has been charged with one count of obstruction and multiple firearms offences.

A Vancouver company has been fined 60-thousand dollars for importing 434 kilograms of shark fins, including some from a species at risk. The federal Department of the Environment says the penalty was imposed after Kiu Yick Trading pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing an at-risk or threatened species from Hong Kong in 2018. The company also forfeited 13 boxes of dried fins from silky sharks, a species that is ranked as “near threatened.” Shark fins are used in traditional medicines and in making shark-fin soup.

It was a little more than a year ago that the Surrey Hospitals Foundation created its COVID-19 Response Fund and since then, about $2.6 million has been raised. But SHF president and CEO Jane Adams says more is needed. “Nothing has gone as it should with the pandemic, but I would anticipate we need another $400,000 to $500,000,” said Adams, looking at the foundation’s run rate. This comes after spending more than $65,000 the week prior, she noted. “We are calling on our COVID fund quite regularly and we have … (for) 14, 15 months. The community was and has been very generous,” Adams explained. “Largely, it’s made up of hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands, of donations from people from all walks of life who were aware that Surrey is one of the busiest COVID centres in Canada and certainly the busiest COVID centre in B.C.”