RIP! BC Mourns Five Snowmobilers, Eight Injured In Northeastern Avalanche

Five people have been killed in an avalanche in northeastern British Columbia.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon near the town of McBride, which is located near the Alberta border, and about 500 km west of Edmonton.

The BC Coroners’ Service said the very large avalanche happened in an area where a group of people were snowmobiling.

Avalanche Canada said in a statement posted on its website Friday that it has received a report of “what appears to be a very large, significant event near McBride.”

“We do know that it was human triggered,” said the statement.

Changing weather conditions “may have produced stresses in the snowpack capable of producing large avalanches,” the statement went on. “Please be cautious this weekend.”

CTV News

World Famous Cristiano Ronaldo To Now Be Studied As A Course In Canadian University

A Canadian University has introduced a programme that will see World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo being studied by their students.

The University of British Columbia Okanagan says the sociology degree will focus on the cultural importance of Ronaldo’s fame and its effects on the society.

A professor at the University Professor Luis Aguiar told the Telegraph in an interview ‘Ronaldo is the centre and every discussion, class meeting revolves around Ronaldo initially. And then we explore, we broaden out to larger themes.

Christy Clark troll Toronto Maple Leafs fans on Twitter

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri picks up a Maple Leafs jersey on the ice after losing to the Washington Capitals in NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, January 7, 2015. CP

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark trolls Toronto Maple Leafs fans on Twitter. On Tuesday, following news stories that three spectators were charged in Toronto for tossing jerseys onto the ice during the Leafs’ 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Twitter account of B.C.’s premier tweeted cheekily that most Canadians would rather be arrested than wear a Leafs jersey. The Maple Leafs have lost five games in a row and 13 of their previous 16. See below her humorous tweet;

HitchBOT takes robot road trip to Germany

Hitchbot and co-creators Frauke Zeller and David Smith. Chad Hipolito/CP

Torstar News Service
HitchBOT is headed for the Autobahn. The Canadian-made hitchhiking robot that talked and tweeted its way from Halifax to Victoria last summer — that talked and tweeted its way in the Rockies and being bestowed with an honorary name at a powwow on Manitoulin Island — is gearing up for its next quest: thumbing its way around Germany.

The robot’s designers are hoping it will receive a comparably warm welcome on its first foreign foray, after it won the adoration of hundreds on its maiden trek across Canada.

“I think being helpful to something that needs help is something that is innate to everybody,” said Frauke Zeller, the Ryerson University professor and hitchBOT co-creator, who is also from Germany.

RCMP need more protection after St. Albert shooting, says Kash Heed

The shooting of RCMP officers Derek Bond and David Wynn in St. Albert, Alta., highlights the need for more protection for Mounties, according to B.C.'s former solicitor general.

“We need to outfit our police officers, give them the tactics, give them the training … to ensure they go home each and every day,” said Kash Heed, also a former chief of the West Vancouver Police Department.

Aux. Const. Bond and Const. Wynn were injured while trying to arrest a man in a casino early Saturday morning.

Two BC Terror Suspects Plead Not Guilty

Two people accused in what the RCMP described as a plot to blow up the British Columbia legislature have both pleaded not guilty in a Vancouver court.

The Canadian Press
Two people accused in what the RCMP described as a plot to blow up the British Columbia legislature have both pleaded not guilty in a Vancouver court.

Jury selection began today for John Nuttall and Amanda Korody who are charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, conspiracy and making or possessing an explosive device.

Oops! Teen School Prank Costs His Parents Nearly $50K In British Columbia

A teenaged boy who set off the fire sprinklers at his Nanaimo, B.C., high school while playing a prank has broken new legal ground and cost his parents nearly $50,000 in court-ordered damages.

The Canadian Press
A teenaged boy who set off the fire sprinklers at his Nanaimo, B.C., high school while playing a prank has broken new legal ground and cost his parents nearly $50,000 in court-ordered damages.

The case involves a then-14-year-old boy who caused $48,630 in damage when he attached a padlock to just one sprinkler head inside Wellington secondary but set off other sprinklers.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick says its the first time ever that a court has wrestled with interpreting the section of the School Act that concerns intentionally destroying school property.

The school district argued during the civil trial that the boy, who The Canadian Press has chosen not to name because of his age, was negligent and his intentional act caused the damage.

BC nurse leaves hospital after negative Ebola test

Patrice Gordon, a B.C. nurse practitioner and Red Cross delegate who recently returned from Sierra Leone, tested negative for Ebola this week. She is seen here caring for a one-month-old baby with Ebola in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Red Cross

Laura Kane The Canadian PressA B.C. nurse practitioner who was being tested for Ebola will be reunited with her family on Friday after health care workers confirmed she does not have the virus.

Patrice Gordon of Rossland, B.C., travelled to Sierra Leone in November to provide medical care to people suffering from Ebola and returned to Canada on Christmas Day. She checked into hospital in Kelowna, B.C. on Monday after she felt cold symptoms.

She tested negative for Ebola on Tuesday, but remained in hospital for further testing until her release on Thursday. Gordon told reporters in a conference call that she never truly feared she had the disease.

“I knew there was a very, very outside chance, but it never felt that way to me. I didn’t feel sick like I had seen people sick there. I knew how absolutely meticulous I had always been, we had always been,” she said.

Earthquake with 4.3 magnitude detected off British Columbia

The British Columbia coast has seen 22 major earthquakes over the last 11,000 years

There was a 4.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of B.C. on Saturday afternoon.

The federal agency that monitors earthquakes in Canada says the tremor was centred offshore about 517 kilometres west northwest of Vancouver.

Earthquakes Canada says there are no reports of damage, but none would be expected given the location of the quake.

The earthquake centre says no tsunami would be expected.

University of British Columbia student designs robot that solves Rubik’s cube

Recent UBC grad Kristopher De Asis has designed and built a robot that can both solve and scramble a Rubik's cube in potentially record-setting time. Courtesy UBC 

Thandi Fletcher Metro Solving a Rubik’s cube is no easy feat— except for a robot named Josh.

Recent University of B.C. graduate Kristopher De Asis has designed and built a robot that can solve the famous six-sided puzzle in potentially record-setting time.

Dubbed Josh, the ‘bot can solve a 2×2 Rubik’s cube, which has two layers, in about 15 seconds and a standard Rubik’s cube, which has three layers, in about 35 seconds.

“I believe it’s the fastest one-armed robot,” De Asis told Metro. “The quicker ones use two or four arms.”

Bird flu outbreak prompts seven countries to ban BC poultry

A couple of chickens feed on a hobby farm in Maple Ridge, B.C., Monday, Apr. 5, 2004. Five Fraser Valley farms have been placed under quarantine and more than 140,000 turkeys and chickens will be euthanized. At least seven countries have banned poultry products from either B.C. or all of Canada. (RICHARD LAM/CP)

SUNNY DHILLON | Globe and mail
Poultry producers across Canada are keeping an eye on the avian-flu situation in the Fraser Valley, but the outbreak has had little effect outside B.C., industry officials say.

Five Fraser Valley farms have been placed under quarantine and more than 140,000 turkeys and chickens will be euthanized. At least seven countries have banned poultry products from either B.C. or all of Canada.

The outbreak has stirred up memories of 2004, when avian flu led to the slaughter of 17 million chickens, turkeys and other domestic birds at more than 40 Fraser Valley farms. That outbreak cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mike Dungate, executive director of the Chicken Farmers of Canada, said in an interview on Sunday that poultry producers in other provinces have yet to feel much impact as a result of the situation in B.C.

British Columbia | Bird Flu Reported On 2 Fraser Valley Farms

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has placed two farms in British Columbia under quarantine after avian flu was discovered in birds on the poultry farms (not pictured). | AFP via Getty Images

 James Keller, The Canadian Press

Two poultry farms in southwestern British Columbia are under quarantine and thousands of birds are set to be euthanized after the discovery of an avian influenza of the H5 subtype, provincial and federal agencies said Tuesday.

There weren't any reported cases of transmission to humans and health officials had yet to determine the precise strain of the virus, including whether it is the dangerous H5N1 strain or another variation, H5N8, that is currently affecting farms in the Netherlands.

It also wasn't clear how birds on the two farms, which are about eight kilometres apart, were infected.

Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, Canada's chief veterinary officer, said tests were conducted Sunday after bird deaths were reported at a turkey farm in Abbotsford and a chicken farm in Chilliwack, both located in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver.

For 2nd Consecutive Year Bighorn Ski Chalet BC Named Best In The World

For the second consecutive year, a ski chalet in Revelstoke, B.C. has been named the best in the world.

Bighorn lodge won the title of "World's Best Ski Chalet" from the 2014 World Ski Awards, which started last year.

Gorgeous and cozy, Bighorn boasts an outdoor hot tub, a cinema, and a spa. Revelstoke, located in B.C.'s Kootenays, is known for its heli-skiing (where a helicopter takes you to unparalleled and hard-to-access ski terrain).

Ski industry professionals (tour operators, agents, senior executives, travel buyers, and media) as well as the public vote on the awards.

Other notable winners include France's Val Thorens for best ski resort, Utah's Stein Eriksen Lodge for best ski hotel, and Japan's The Vale Niseko for best ski boutique hotel.

Huff

British Columbia | Group Blames Traffic Jams On Too Many Immigrants

Andree Lau | HuffPost
A small group of protesters are blaming Vancouver-area traffic jams on immigration.

About half a dozen men stood on the Blundell overpass in Richmond on Wednesday morning and held up a bright yellow banner above Highway 99 that read "Fight Gridlock: Cut Immigration."

"More people, more cars,” Dan Murray, one of the protesters and a spokesman for Immigration Watch Canada (IWC), told the Richmond News. "Every two people who come in as immigrants bring another car onto the road. That’s how it works."


RCMP received several complaints about the demonstration.

British Columbia | Slot Machine Malfunctions And Paid Woman 100 Times Max

B.C. Lottery Corp. quietly repaired dozens of slot machines around the province earlier this year after a malfunctioning machine in Penticton resulted in a $100,000 jackpot, 100 times the maximum allowed on that particular machine.

A woman hit the jackpot on a "Dragon Fever" slot machine in Penticton's Lake City Casino on Jan. 20, said BCLC spokesperson Laura Piva-Babcock.

The progressive slot machine was supposed to max out at $1,000 jackpots, but lottery officials were concerned when the machine displayed a $99,999.97 prize.

"As per standard procedure, the machine was immediately placed out of service while the matter was investigated and we notified our regulator as well as the manufacturer of the machine," she said.

The lottery corporation chose to pay the woman her displayed winnings and recover the money from Konami, the gambling company that built the slot machine.

Machines repaired

Piva-Babcock said three days after the incident, BCLC also pulled 189 similar government slot machines out of service at B.C. casinos until they could be examined.

British Columbia Woman Chugs For Beer Mile World Record

Runners participate in the West Valley Track Club's "beer mile" race in San Francisco in a 2014 handout photo. The beer mile consists of four cans of beer consumed over the course of a mile. The Canadian Press

Lori EwingThe Canadian Press
Kirsty Smith is a lean triathlon machine, all perfectly sculpted muscle and athleticism packed into a 110-pound frame.

She can also chug beer with the best of them.

For the past few weeks, the 30-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C., has put been putting back pints like a German during Oktoberfest — all part of the training for her run at the women’s beer mile world record.

“I’ve been practising chugging beers, as ridiculous as it sounds,” Smith says. “My guy friends like it, they think it’s hilarious. They’re like ‘We’ll race you chugging beer.’ Even my mom’s boyfriend wants to race me in drinking.”

The beer mile was born, so the story goes, back in the late 1980s, when a group of Canadian distance runners were enjoying a post-workout beer.

Alberta Aboriginals Oppose British Columbia Dam Project

The W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River is pictured on April 19, 2010 in Hudson's Hope, B.C. Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press 

Alberta aboriginals have joined British Columbia First Nations in filing legal challenges to a BC Hydro proposal for another dam on the Peace River.

The Athabasca Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree First Nations have begun a lawsuit challenging Ottawa’s approval of the Site C dam project. They say its environmental assessment didn’t consider any of the dam’s possible downstream effects in Alberta.

“We wanted studies done on what the impacts would be on the Peace-Athabasca Delta,” Mikisew spokeswoman Melody Lepine said Thursday. “Those were not done.”

The lawsuit, filed in Federal Court, is in addition to a separate one filed Wednesday by four B.C. bands. They want the dam approval overturned on the grounds the project would damage their ability to exercise treaty rights.

The Alberta lawsuit points out that BC Hydro’s Site C environmental assessment stops at Peace Point, upstream of the delta, and that research ignores how the ongoing impacts of the existing Bennett Dam will add to those of Site C. The bands say the Bennett Dam has already created significant changes in the delta that were never studied when that project was built in the 1960s.

Research has since documented significant impacts on the Athabasca Delta, despite being hundreds of kilometres downstream. Nearly half of its wetlands had disappeared by 1989. Animals that depend on them, such as muskrats or ducks, had lost up to 90 per cent of their numbers.

Russian Cargo Ship Sighted In British Columbia

The tow line attached to a disabled Russian cargo ship off the British Columbia coast has snapped, setting the ship adrift once again. | ©2014 DND-MND CANADA

OLD MASSETT, B.C. - A large tug boat arrived Saturday night to hook onto a Russian cargo ship adrift off the British Columbia coast, calming fears that the ship might drift ashore and cause an environmental disaster.

Lt. Paul Pendergast of the Canadian Forces' Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre said the Barbara Foss arrived shortly after 5 p.m. local time, and was securing a line to the Simushir.

"When they get the vessel under tow, they'll first head in a northwesterly direction and get it further from the coastline and eventually into more sheltered waters to the north of Haida Gwaii," Pendergast said. "Then a decision will be made on where to take it."

The ship was adrift again for several hours Saturday after a tow line tethering the vessel to a Canadian Coast Guard ship snapped.

Lt. Greg Menzies of the rescue co-ordination centre said earlier that the crew members were in no danger.

"Right now all 10 crew members are on board," he said. "There's been no request for evacuation."

Two Canadian and one American coast guard ships were also on scene and three helicopters were on stand-by at the closest airport, he said.

The Simushir lost power Thursday night in rough seas west of the Haida Gwaii archipelago, off B.C.'s northern coast. There were immediate concerns it could drift ashore, break apart and spill hundreds of tonnes of bunker and diesel fuelling the vessel, creating an environmental disaster.

British Columbia | Mayoral Candidate Wants To Ban PDA In Public

A mayoral candidate in Burnaby, B.C. wants to ban kissing and holding hands in public.

Sylvia Gung is taking her second stab at running for mayor of the Vancouver suburb, and she is pledging to establish a "wholesome society," according to her candidate profile on the city's website.

She wants to ban "behaviors that hints sex/ sexuality, even including Bridal Kiss and walking hand in hand, that hurt public decorum and lead to further violence [sic]."

Gung also wants to get rid of the school board, which she says "[thwarts] its political agenda down the throat" of public education, and to change the "backward organizations" that are the unions and parent advisory councils.

Gung moved to Canada from Korea when she was 27, according to Burnaby Now.

Gung is one of six candidates for the position; among them is incumbent Derek Corrigan, who has been mayor since 2002. Voters head to the polls on Nov. 15

British Columbia | Marilyn Monroe Print To Be Auctioned Off

Courtesy Maynards A rare print of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe won in a $5 raffle 31 years ago is going up for auction at Maynards with an estimated value of $40,000 to $60,000.

Thandi Fletcher | Metro

An East Vancouver man is about to cash in on a rare print of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe that he won in a raffle three decades ago.

The print, taken by fashion photography giant Richard Avedon, was raffled off at a fundraiser for Presentation House in North Vancouver in 1983. The raffle ticket cost $5.

Next month, the print is going up for auction at Maynards with an estimated value of $40,000 to $60,000.

“I expect it to actually be above that estimate,” Kate Bellringer, director of contemporary and Canadian art auctions and an art appraiser at Maynards, told Metro.

In 2011, a similar print from the same edition sold at Christie’s in Paris for US$83,182, she said.