Top Stories – Feb 10 – Leaving Politics

Former premier John Horgan says he’s leaving politics. While he didn’t give a specific time for his departure, he suggested St. Patrick’s Day might be a good day to go. He has twice battled cancer, and announced last June that health reasons were forcing him to retire from the premier’s job after five years. He told the legislature that he was healthy, and thanked all those who supported him.

The Kelowna RCMP responded to a distressed woman in a parkade in the 1300 block of Ellis Street yesterday afternoon. After 50 minutes of negotiating by an officer, the situation was defused and the woman was apprehended and taken to hospital for evaluation. Police say being able to speak with her, kept her from a dangerous situation.

BC’s auditor general has reviewed mental health and substance use services available to Indigenous people being held in provincial jails. It shows Indigenous prisoners had inconsistent access to treatment for substance use or mental health issues. The audit of 92 files found fewer than half of those in custody received a care plan for the services they needed.

That violent high risk offender that we told you about earlier this week is back in police custody. John Aronson had been on the run for several days after cutting off his monitoring device while under court order to live at a halfway house in Surrey. Just before noon yesterday, RCMP received a report of two people who appeared to be passed out in a vehicle in Peachland. The officer immediately recognized the man in the driver seat as Aronson.

RCMP

BC’s lumber industry is reviewing President Joe Biden’s latest Buy American language to better understand the implications for Canadian exporters. The Lumber Trade Council says the U.S. was only able to produce about 70 per cent of its lumber demand in 2021, and the gap was largely filled by imports from Canada.

Big name advertisers from Netflix to Google are paying as much as $7 million for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl on Sunday. They’re hoping to capture the attention of the roughly 100 million viewers who tune in each year. You can expect to see ads for at least 4 beer brands, avocados and Elton John in one for Doritos.

Starting today and running through the 26th, the SPCA is cutting its pet adoption fees by half. The organization has been looking for fosters as ‘covid pets’, especially dogs are being surrendered as people go back to work. With the 50% off promotion, the SPCA hopes animals like dogs, cats, birds and even horses can find forever homes.

Justice Minister David Lametti says he is giving ‘serious consideration’ to reforming Canada’s bail laws in response to a request from premiers. They want Ottawa to establish a “reverse onus” system for specific firearm offences that would require the person seeking bail to demonstrate why they should not remain behind bars.

Australia is to remove security cameras made by firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party from its defence department buildings. At least 913 cameras, intercoms, entry systems and video recorders made by Hikvision and Dahua are in government offices. China’s government partly owns the companies and there are concerns the equipment could be used for spying.

Sports

The Rockets have another game against the Prince George Cougars tonight… this time at Prospera Place. Pregame on 1047 The Lizard starts at 6:35. Saskatoon is in town tomorrow.

On Long Island last night Vancouver took a 6-5 win against the Islanders as Elias Pettersson had a 3 point game. Bo Horvat had a goal for the Isles. The Canucks wrap up the road trip with a 9am start in Detroit tomorrow.

The Super Bowl goes Sunday in Phoenix with the Eagles taking on the Chiefs. Kickoff is at 3:30.