Port Theatre to light up in red tonight

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Tuesday Covid-19 Update

There are no new cases of COVID-19 to report in the Island Health Region in the last 24 hours, but there have been 96 new cases province-wide. No new deaths have been reported since yesterday. There is a new outbreak at another hospital—this time at St. Paul's in Vancouver. Three other hospitals are also managing active outbreaks. They are in Surrey, Langley and Whiterock.

‘Wildman’ found dead in water near Lasqueti

The man found dead in the water near Lasqueti Island north of Parksville on Saturday has been identified as Quentin Russ of Qualicum Beach. The body of the 51-year-old was found by fishers and taken on board their vessel until police arrived. Oceanside RCMP believes his death was caused by a kayaking accident. Russ's ex-partner Lindi Russ told CHEK News that he was a "wildman of the west coast" who "lived life fiercely." She believes Russ suffered a heart attack while out on the water, as he had been struggling to recover from quadruple bypass surgery.

Police crack down on drag racing and stunting at Duke Point

Nanaimo RCMP has issued dozens of fines and impounded ten vehicles in an operation designed to shut down a well-known area for drag racing and stunting. The RCMP's Municipal Traffic Unit closed the roadway near the BC Ferries Duke Point Terminal for four hours on Sunday. Police say along with the seizure of 10 vehicles, 30 violation tickets were issued under the Motor Vehicle Act, 23 orders were handed out for vehicle defects and 11 vehicle inspection orders were delivered to drivers of vehicles deemed unsafe to be on any roadway. More than 100 spectators were dispersed, but none was charged in relation to the illegal gathering. RCMP spokesperson Constable Gary O'Brien says despite various enforcement actions and traffic calming initiatives over the years, the drag racing and stunting have not stopped. And, he says officers fully expect participants will set up at an alternate location.

Arts organization light up in red to raise awareness

Arts organizations across the country, including the Port Theatre, are lighting up their buildings in red tonight. The General Manager of the Port Theatre, Bruce Halliday says the goal is to raise awareness for an industry that is still dark—and will be one of the last to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

"We're just saying 'red alert, raise the visibility and that we are ready to get back to work whenever we can."—Port Theatre General Manager Bruce Halliday.

The arts and culture industry generates $100 billion dollars a year in Canada. The pandemic has led to the loss of 152,000 jobs in that sector.