BC News

VICTORIA — Deaths due to toxic drugs in British Columbia are down about 40 per cent from their peak, falling below 150 in both May and June.

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver woman has been convicted of manslaughter in a random stabbing attack that killed a 29-year-old man three years ago.

The BC Wildfire Service has upgraded a blaze in the Fraser Valley to a "wildfire of note" and is warning campers to leave the Harrison Lake area as roads are closed ahead of the long weekend.

ABBOTSFORD — A motorcyclist has been killed in a crash in Abbotsford, B.C. The crash happened in the early morning in the northbound lanes of Highway 11 near Townshipline Road.

KAMLOOPS — A British Columbia man has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for manufacturing firearms.

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the stabbing death of another man in the city's Downtown Eastside.

VANCOUVER — A new federally funded report shows the homeless population in Metro Vancouver has risen nine per cent over the last two years, with the largest increase in those living outdoors without protection from the elements.

LYTTON — BC Wildfire Service data show a blaze south of Lytton that has triggered multiple evacuation alerts is three times its original estimated size and continues to burn out of control.

WHITE ROCK — A gull that was skewered with a discarded wooden barbecue stick that generated a flurry of phone calls to the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC has been released after rehabilitation.

VICTORIA — British Columbia will need almost 16,000 new long-term care beds by 2036 with an estimated price of $16 billion in capital costs to meet the demands of an aging society, the province's seniors' advocate says.