What might have been
Surging river prompts state of local emergency
A state of local emergency has been declared in Cache Creek as a powerful river threatens to breach its banks.
Wendy Coomber of the local emergency operations centre says the declaration empowers the village to deal with some of the bank erosion damaging municipal infrastructure.
British Columbia’s central Interior has already been the subject of several flood warnings this season. About 175 properties along the Bonaparte River corridor in the village were put back on evacuation alert Thursday.
Water levels have since stabilized, but Coomber says they could rise again, although the BC River Forecast Centre and Environment Canada say skies should clear and water levels should drop by early next week.
She says in a statement that heavy equipment is operating at the north end of town to protect a sewer line, as well as at a downtown bridge.
“We want all of our residents to stay safe and dry,” she said Friday.
Wolf sightings climb around Prince Rupert
PRINCE RUPERT — Conservation officers are warning of a “significant increase” in wolf activity around Prince Rupert.
Conservation Officers say they have heard several reports of dogs and cats being attacked over the last few weeks and other pets have gone missing.
While there have been no attacks on humans, one woman reported a wolf approached while she was pushing her child in a stroller, and the animal left when she kicked at it.
Officers say most wolves have been spotted at night or in the early morning near the golf course and ferry terminal.
WildSafeBC, a group dedicated to preventing conflict with wildlife, says there are about 8,500 wolves in the province and they account for about 400 calls to the Conservation Officer Service a year.
It says wolf attacks on humans are very rare, but attacks on dogs are quite common, so it’s important to keep dogs on a leash in wolf country.
If you encounter a wolf showing aggressive behaviour and it begins to approach you, the organization says bear spray may be used or it recommends throwing rocks, yelling and making yourself appear big.
Sightings should be reported as soon as possible to 1-877-952-7277.
‘Staggering’ increase in Anti-Asian hate crimes
VANCOUVER — Anti-Asian racism has spiked since COVID-19 forced B.C. into a state of emergency, and Vancouver police say that’s driven an increase in hate crimes overall.
Howard Chow, the department’s deputy chief constable for operations, said investigators have opened 29 files involving anti-Asian racism since March, a “staggering” increase from four files in the same time period last year.
“This has been going on since postCOVID. I think some 90% of the incidents we’re talking about happened after the pandemic was announced,” said Chow, noting other cities across North America have reported a similar trend.
There have been 77 hate-associated police files in 2020, said Chow, and another 10 active files from April and May could later be classified as hate crimes.
By comparison, 51 hate crimes had been reported by this time last year.