Massive fire at Delta, B.C., cannabis greenhouse sends up mushroom-shaped smoke cloud

CTVNewsVancouver.ca Staff Contact
Published Sunday, November 1, 2020 9:52AM PSTLast Updated Sunday, November 1, 2020 6:45PM PST

A cloud of dark smoke in the shape of a mushroom billowed out from a massive industrial fire in Delta, B.C. on Sunday morning, starting around 7:30 a.m.

VANCOUVER -- A “massive” industrial fire at an out-of-use cannabis-growing facility in Delta, B.C., sent up a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke early Sunday morning.

Police in Delta say they are on scene with fire crews on Hornby Drive in Delta, not far from the intersection of Highway 99 and Ladner Trunk Road.

The fire involves a warehouse with an attached greenhouse, say Delta police.

“Officers noted the smoke coming from the area at roughly 7:30 a.m. and (the fire department) was dispatched at roughly the same time,” reads a police statement.

“The fire is massive and (the fire department) has multiple units on scene,” the statement continues.

Legal cannabis producer Canopy Growth told The Canadian Press the fire is located at a facility that has not been in operation for several months.

In a news release Saturday afternoon, the City of Delta said seven fire crews totalling 30 firefighters responded to the second-alarm blaze. They were able to contain the fire to the shipping and receiving section of the structure and prevent the blaze from spreading to other nearby buildings, the city said.

The fire "is now in the late stages of extinguishment," the city said in its release, which came out around 1 p.m. Fire crews will remain at the scene until the fire is extinguished.

"The battalion chief on scene confirmed with the structure manager that there were no chemicals or fertilizers in the affected building," the city said. "There is currently no indication of toxic or hazardous smoke that may harm residences in the surrounding area coming out of the fire."

No firefighters were injured in the blaze, the city said, adding that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

With files from The Canadian Press 

In the last 2 months there have been COVID-19 exposures at more than 200 schools in Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley

A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary School in Vancouver on Sept. 2, 2020. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

VANCOUVER -- Health and education officials have confirmed more than exposures to COVID-19 at more than 200 schools in the first two months of the school year.

CTV News has been keeping a list since the start of September of exposures at schools in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal Health regions.

Updates Monday included six schools which haven't previously had exposures reported to novel coronavirus, bringing the total in those two regions to 201.

The list includes schools with exposures posted by officials with the health authorities, as well as those which have sent letters to parents, who have then contacted CTV.

The actual total may be higher, as Vancouver Coastal Health was not reporting exposures publicly, just notifying parents, earlier in the year.

Provincial health officials have since clarified the expectation, and VCH has been publicly posting dates of exposures at local schools.

The vast majority of exposures confirmed so far have been at schools in Fraser Health, and particularly in Surrey.

The province's second largest city has seen exposures at more than 60 schools, and many of those schools have had several exposure events.

Fraser Health uses the term "exposure" to refer to a single person with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection who attended school while they were infectious.

An "outbreak," only one of which has been announced in all of B.C., is a term used when multiple people are known to have coronavirus, and transmission is likely widespread within a school. So far, the only incident health officials are calling an outbreak is at a school in Kelowna.

But a second school was closed this fall due to exposure. Chilliwack's Mount Cheam Christian School was closed although the event was not officially considered an outbreak, according to provincial health officials.

Earlier in October, Dr. Bonnie Henry said exposures at schools are not unexpected.

"We are not seeing return to school causing amplification in our communities, but it does, as we've been expecting, reflect what is going on in our communities," the provincial health officer said at a news conference.

She said the majority of exposures in schools have not led to transmission to anyone else, and that it made sense that the majority of exposures were in the regions with B.C.'s largest populations and number of schools.

Human remains found in recycling bin near Vancouver beach

CTVNewsVancouver.ca Staff
Contact
Published Monday, October 19, 2020 1:18PM PDT

The waters off Kits Point in Vancouver, B.C. are seen in an undated Google Maps image.

VANCOUVER -- Police are investigating after human remains were found inside a recycling bin near a popular Vancouver beach.

Authorities said the Canadian Coast Guard retrieved the bin on Sunday morning after multiple people called to report seeing it in the waters off Kits Point.

Coroners determined the bins contained human remains.

Few other details have been released, but Vancouver police have described the case as a homicide. Investigators have also asked the public to check for a missing recycling bin where they live.

"We are asking property managers for multi-dwelling buildings and local residents to check their recycling and garbage rooms to see if any large, blue, wheeled recycling containers are missing," Const. Tania Visintin said in a news release.

Authorities are also looking to speak with anyone else who saw the bin floating on the water.

This is a developing story and will be updated. 

Man who killed Const. Sarah Beckett not allowed to return to Vancouver Island

The Canadian Press Staff Contact
Published Friday, September 4, 2020 7:20PM PDT

Const. Sarah Beckett is shown in an undated handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - RCMP)

VANCOUVER -- New documents from the Parole Board of Canada show Vancouver Island Mounties oppose allowing a drunk driver who killed an officer in April 2016 to return to the community.

A decision from Aug. 31 notes that although Kenneth Fenton has shown improvement and has been largely compliant with the conditions of his day parole, they don't agree with his proposal to return to Vancouver Island when he is scheduled to be released in March 2021.

Fenton struck and killed Const. Sarah Beckett in the island community of Langford on April 2016 while driving away from another police cruiser.

He had alcohol, cocaine and marijuana in his system at the time of the crash.

The Correctional Service of Canada and RCMP opposed Fenton's proposal to return to an unspecified place on Vancouver Island, noting the potential negative and violent consequences he could face.

The Parole Board says those concerns are supported by comments made at Fenton's trial by the judge who said that Fenton's parents have been stigmatized and villified as a result of his actions and their business vandalized.

“You must not return to Vancouver Island without the prior written consent of your parole supervisor. Because of the intense level of media coverage of your offence, your return, if publicized, has the potential to create a hostile, even violent public reaction,” the board wrote in its decision.

The board added that Fenton's plan to open a business on Vancouver Island could be impacted by a negative public reaction to his return and could lead to significant emotional and financial stress.

Several special conditions have also been imposed upon Fenton's release, ranging from not consuming, possessing or purchasing alcohol to not contacting or interacting with friends or family members of the victim.

This report was first published by the Canadian Press on Sept. 4, 2020.

Mall employee in Metro Vancouver tests positive for COVID-19

Alyse Kotyk Reporter, CTVNewsVancouver.ca 
Published Wednesday, August 19, 2020 10:02AM PDT

The Guildford area of Surrey. (Chopper 9/Pete Cline)

VANCOUVER -- An employee at a Metro Vancouver mall tested positive for COVID-19, the shopping centre has confirmed.

Guildford Town Centre in Surrey posted to Twitter Monday confirming that an employee at the mall tested positive for the virus. 

The mall did not say which store the employee works at or when they tested positive. A post does say, however, that "the person is no longer in the shopping centre and has not been in the centre since Aug. 11."

"Rest assured that we have been following protocols and guidelines to respond to this situation including all cleaning requirements by a cleaning contractor trained to respond to the situation, in the areas under its control," the post from the mall's Twitter account says. 

Other Metro Vancouver malls have posted similar messages in recent weeks 

Last Thursday, Cadillac Fairview confirmed that there were possible exposures to COVID-19 at the Bell Mobility and Saje stores in downtown Vancouver's Pacific Centre. 

The mall said it implemented special cleaning procedures in common areas during the pandemic, and has installed handwashing instructions in all washrooms.

And, just days before that, Metropolis at Metrotown said a staff member at the Burnaby mall also tested positive. 

In a series of tweets, Metrotown said staff followed protocols and guidelines in its response, including cleaning requirements outlined by a contractor trained to respond to COVID-19 exposures.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kendra Mangione

CRA hack – how to protect yourself

Ross McLaughlin Consumer Reporter, CTV News Vancouver
Published Monday, August 17, 2020 11:45AM PDT
Last Updated Monday, August 17, 2020 11:47AM PDT

VANCOUVER -- Did you know, according to Dashlane, the average user has about 90 online accounts? That’s a lot of passwords to manage.

Multiple data breaches have exposed billions of passwords and email addresses and have given hackers and thieves the necessary tools to leverage that information against you.

All those passwords and email addresses are often shared and sold on the dark web. That’s why it’s so important to regularly change your passwords.

“Most of the people reuse passwords, so most likely if they are a regular user and they have one set of passwords from one site, that password is most likely going to be reused on all sites,” said Doug Santos, a security strategist for Fortiguard.

And avoid passwords that contain any personal information.

“Those things are so easy to guess, especially for people in my generation that are so invested in social media and you can just creep anyone and go okay there’s your cousin, there’s your dad, there’s your car, there’s your pet,” said Sara, an online user in her 20’s, who stopped to talk to CTV News Vancouver about how she locks down her data.

Some passwords tips from experts include:

- Never use personal data in a password like, a pet’s name, birthdate, or family names

- Don’t reuse passwords

- Don’t recycle passwords by just modifying it by adding a letter or number.

According to Tech Insider, an 11 character password can be cracked by hackers in three days by using a computer program that can make 1,000 guesses per second; while a 25 character pass phrase can take up to 550 years to crack, using the same system.

“Oh wow,” said Akash, another young man who has multiple online accounts.

When choosing a pass phrase, try to come up with random words that only you can remember and then string them together to create something as long as 25 characters or more.

However, your online account may limit the number of characters you can use, so follow the instructions to include as many special characters, numbers, and capitalized letters as you can. Better yet, it’s recommended to use a password manager to help store and create strong passwords for you.

You can also set up two factor authentication for your online accounts. That requires you to receive a special verification via email or text. Some people have also switched to using authentication apps which have proven even more secure. They are software or hardware based and linked to a device you own. They have proven more difficult to intercept than a text message. Check with your online account to see if they are supported.

And make sure you are running an anti-virus program and take the time to manage your online data. It’s important to delete accounts you are no longer using. However, some providers make it difficult to delete an account, if they even allow you to do it at all. So, make sure you delete any personal data from online accounts you aren’t using and can’t delete, so even if it’s hacked, nothing valuable can be used against you.

It will take some time, but once you’re on top of it, it will become easier if you make data and password management part of your regular routine.

This story has been previously published June, 2019 

1 infant at Vancouver newborn ICU positive for COVID-19, B.C.'s top doctor says

Ian HollidayReporter, CTVNewsVancouver.ca 
Alyse Kotyk Reporter, CTVNewsVancouver.ca 

Published Friday, July 17, 2020 1:23PM PDT
Last Updated Friday, July 17, 2020 3:47PM PDT

VANCOUVER -- B.C.'s top doctor says one infant has tested positive for COVID-19 at a Vancouver hospital where an outbreak was declared in the neonatal intensive care unit Thursday.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addressed the new outbreak at St. Paul's Hospital at a last-minute news conference Friday afternoon. She also announced 28 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.

The outbreak was reported Thursday afternoon, after the daily coronavirus update from Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix. Outbreak protocols have been enacted and the unit has been closed for cleaning, Vancouver Coastal Health says.

Henry was unable to say how many people at the hospital had tested positive for the virus so far, but did say that there are fewer than 10 people who were in the exposed group. She specified that a single baby had tested positive, though the child had not been showing any symptoms.

The provincial health officer told reporters there were no babies in the NICU with "severe" or "worrisome" illness, and stressed that children under age 10 tend to be much less likely to become infected with COVID-19 or to have severe illness when they do.

"I do believe it is a very low-risk scenario for those who are in the NICU," Henry said.

A VCH spokesperson told CTV News the hospital's maternity ward is still open and a satellite NICU has opened.

"There is no evidence of risk to patients elsewhere in the hospital," a statement from VCH says.

On Friday, Henry stressed that St. Paul's maternity unit "remains fully operational."

"Infants and families can continue to safely receive the care they need," the provincial health officer said.

Everyone who may have been exposed to the virus is now being monitored, Henry said.

"There are a number of families and staff who have been contacts who are now isolated," she added.

This is a developing news story and will be updated.

Tim Hortons president stepping down in March

BY STAFF REUTERS

Posted December 27, 2019 4:01 pm

Updated December 27, 2019 4:03 pm

 Alex Macedo, president at Tim Hortons, poses for a photograph at the Hockey Hall of Fame Tim Hortons location in Toronto on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. . THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Restaurant Brands International Inc said on Friday Alex Macedo, the president of coffee and breakfast chain Tim Hortons, will be stepping down after two years in the role.

Macedo will be eligible for severance benefits and will be leaving the company in March next year, the Canadian restaurant operator said in a regulatory filing.

READ MORE: Tim Hortons pulling Beyond Meat products from menus, except in Ontario and B.C.

Restaurant Brands also said Axel Schwan, who was named as the regional president of Tim Hortons for Canada and the United States in October, would oversee the Latin America region as well.

Tim Hortons’ remaining international operations will be led by the company’s existing global leadership team.

The company’s biggest chain has been struggling to grow sales in a competitive breakfast space despite adding new coffee and lunch offerings, while rolling out breakfast sandwiches with Beyond Meat Inc’s plant-based sausages in select Canadian cities.

Restaurant Brands’ September-quarter results were hurt by Tim Hortons’ performance, while its other fast-food chains Burger King and Popeyes did well.