Residents of southern BC may be looking at a mild December but things are expected to chill off in the New Year. Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist says December will likely be warmer than usual in Metro Vancouver. But he says conditions for January are predicted to be colder, wetter and whiter than usual. He says it's a La Nina year, which usually brings colder temperature right away, but a ridge of high pressure is delaying the freeze.

Metro Vancouver's transit authority says it's investigating suspicious network activity affecting its computer systems. TransLink says in a statement that it has disabled access to some online services, which may affect customers, out of an abundance of caution. It says that means customers won't be able to use credit or debit cards at Compass Card vending machines or Tap-to-Pay fare gates. TransLink also says stored values may take longer to load and other online services, like the Trip Planning tool, have been disabled.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says November home sales were down from October, but still well above this time last year, as the market catches up to the effects of COVID-19. The board says real estate agents sold 3,064 homes last month, down 16.9 per cent from October but up 22.7 per cent from November 2019. The board's report says the benchmark price of a Vancouver home hit $1,044,000, up 5.8 per cent from November 2019. Board chair Colette Gerber says Vancouver is a seller's market, as demand for detached houses and townhomes is pushing prices higher while the rate of new listi

British Columbia recorded 656 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday as officials urged residents not to bend public health rules. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say in a joint statement that an additional 16 people have died, pushing B.C.'s death toll to 457. The new positive tests bring the total confirmed cases in the province since the pandemic began to 33,894, while about 70 per cent of those are considered recovered. The statement says there are 8,796 active cases in the province and another 10,123 people exposed to known cases are under active public heal

Finance Minister Selina Robinson says insurers in BC have agreed to end a practice that helped contribute to skyrocketing condo insurance rates. Robinson says insurers have agreed to end the practice known a "best terms pricing" by January 1st. It developed when multiple insurers would each agree to submit their own bid to carry a portion of the total risk related to insuring a strata property, but the final premium paid by strata owners would usually be based on the highest of those bids, even if the majority of quotes were lower. An interim report from the BC Financial Services Authority sa

Police in Vancouver and Victoria say they are still breaking up parties despite COVID-19 protocols prohibiting them. Vancouver Police say the gave out fines up to 2,300 dollars each when they found parties with 16, 15, and eight to 10 people this weekend. Patrol officers in Victoria say they busted two parties, including one where they found people hiding in a closet and at the foot of a bed. A provincial health order prohibits gatherings at residences that include anyone who isn't part of that household.

British Columbia's parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives says the government will engage residents to create a new anti-racism act. Rachna Singh says in a statement that the government also plans to work with the province's human rights commissioner and others to pave the way for race-based data collection. She says the goal is to reduce systemic discrimination in various sectors, including health care. Singh issued the statement following the release of a report by former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that found 84 per cent of Indigenous respondents reported some form of discr

It has been exactly two years since Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou arrived at Vancouver's airport for a flight layover and instead was taken to a police station in handcuffs. Meng was arrested at the behest of US law enforcement, who have charged her with fraud based on allegations that both she and Huawei deny. She remains in Vancouver where hearings are ongoing in her extradition case. The arrest soured Canada's relationship with China and has been linked to the ongoing detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians in China.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is reporting a record 46 deaths over the past three days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Henry says that brings the total in the province to 441 with most of the latest deaths among residents in long-term care. She says 2,364 new cases of COVID-19 were reported over the past three days, including 277 historical cases due to a problem with lab reporting last week in the Fraser Health region. Dr. Henry says the province now has 8,855 active cases, with 316 people in hospital including 75 in intensive care.