Evening News Update for May 1 2020

📷 Half mast at Nanaimo city hall / CHLY File Photo (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

NANAIMO—The Provincial Health Officer did not present an in-person report on the latest COVID-19 numbers today, however, a news release says one person from the Fraser Health Region has died in the past 24 hours. So far, 112 people have died from the virus in BC, including 4 in the Island Health region. There are 33 new cases confirmed in the last day, one in the Island Health Region. The case counts continue to rise at several lower mainland poultry processing plants and at the federal medium-security prison in Mission. And there are now 15 cases of the virus linked to workers from the Kearl Lake oil sands project in Alberta. The total case count in BC is 2145, 121 of those are in our health region.

Family and friends of a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot from Nanaimo are in mourning today. 30-year-old Captain Kevin Hagan was onboard a Canadian Air Force Cyclone helicopter that crashed during a training exercise off the coast of Greece on Wednesday. In a written statement, Hagan's father Steffan says the family is devastated and still processing the grief. Hagan described his son as "caring and sensitive...an amazing young man who gave unselfishly of himself for others." Captain Hagan was born in Nanaimo but spent time in Ladysmith, Victoria and Quadra Island. He was an alumni of 848 Royal Roads Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Victoria. The body of one of Hagan's crewmates has been recovered from the Ionian Sea. The search will continue for Hagan and four others for the next 48 hours. The crew of HMCS Fredericton, the helicopter's base ship, is planning to hold a vigil tomorrow.

Flags are flying at half-mast at Nanaimo city hall, to remember the lives lost in the second worst mining disaster in Canadian history. 150 miners died on May the 3rd, 1887, after two explosions rocked the No. 1 Esplanade Mine. A jury blamed the explosions on the firing of an unprepared and badly planted charge that ignited gases, built up from coal dust. A memorial plaque commemorating the miners is installed at the old mine site, which is at 1151 Milton Street.

Today is the first day British Columbians can apply for a one-time tax-free payment of $1000. To qualify, you must be eligible for the federal government's Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB. The Minister of Finance says more than 16,000 British Columbians applied for the benefit in the first 45 minutes of the portal being open this morning.

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Lisa Cordasco

Senior Reporter and News Director — Lisa is responsible for creating the station's first morning news current affairs show on CHLY. She is also deeply involved in training and mentoring student and citizen journalists who volunteer their time at the station. Before joining CHLY, Lisa spent 35 years in various roles at CBC Radio, from host to reporter. Her passion for journalism and radio has led her to Nanaimo, where she intends to provide CHLY listeners with news they can use, in an alternative radio environment. Her other not-so-secret passion is costuming for any occasion.

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