This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of a Nanaimo festival celebrating French language, culture, and food. The Maple Sugar Festival is celebrating its silver anniversary at the Beban Park Social Centre Friday through Sunday…
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Back in 1999 when Shalema Gantt first came to Nanaimo, she says she didn’t find many black people, and she didn’t hear much about the contributions of black Canadians in the region’s history. When she was given a resource guide on Black pioneers in British Columbia, she was inspired to share what she had learned with others, and started the Nanaimo African Heritage Society…
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Decades of Contributions to Nanaimo’s history, theatre, and music scenes have been recognized as the city announced a trio of Culture Award winners this week…
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Nanaimo is looking at new rules to encourage more affordable housing in the community. The city is in the process of pre-zoning certain corridors for social housing. Plus, a new cooperative housing development in North Cowichan is expected to bring 92 affordable apartments to the community…
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A meeting for the Islands Trust saw tensions surface over the concept of a shoreline buffer zone. The province has delayed plans to update the Heritage Conservation Act. We speak with Gabriola Trustee Tobi Elliott and Judith Sayers on the show...
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Members of the arts community in the Comox Valley are rallying in the face of the potential suspension of the fine arts program at North Island College. Fine Arts is one of 15 different programs that have been recommended for suspension following a review process, with a final decision expected to come from the school’s board of governors at a February 5th meeting…
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As rains once again battered Vancouver Island over the weekend, multiple regions grappled with the risk of flooding. For a period on Monday there were evacuation notices covering parts of Chemainus and a campground in Parksville…
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Stories of hangings, explosions, and tragedies from Nanaimo’s past have been brought together in a book from lifelong history buff T.W. Paterson. Called Unknown Nanaimo, it focuses on events from the 1850s through to the turn of the 20th century, with much of the material sourced from newspaper accounts from that period…
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We're marking Nanaimo's move from 2025 into 2026, with a focus on transportation. We talked transit and traffic calming with Jamie Rose, the City of Nanaimo’s Manager of Transportation about how things changed in the last year, as well as what's on the radar for the next one…
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Plans to light a section of the E&N Trail next year won’t be going ahead, as funding has been reallocated to other to be determined projects. A section of the trail between Northfield and Rock City roads had been scheduled to receive lighting upgrades in 2026. Instead, around a million dollars of funding will be redirected into other pedestrian and active transportation projects next year…
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Local government is willing to front the costs to bring a cardiac catheterization lab to Nanaimo. The Nanaimo Regional Hospital District Board unanimously passed a motion this month resolving to earmark up to 50 million dollars to fund 100 per cent of the cardiac catheterization lab project as part of its funding commitments to that project and a new patient tower…
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A body tasked with improving our democracy has made dozens of recommendations to the government of BC. The special committee on democratic and electoral reform has put out its first report, after receiving close to a thousand submissions from British Columbians over the summer months…
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Humpback whales are returning to the Salish Sea in growing numbers, but between the rising population and the increase in vessel traffic, collisions are also becoming more common…
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A motion about industrial land use divided Nanaimo city council in a narrow 5-4 vote Monday night. On the meeting agenda the motion from Councillor Paul Manly asked staff to prepare a zoning amendment that would have prevented six different industrial scale uses, including certain garbage incineration facilities, chemical plants, petroleum refineries, and Liquified Natural Gas export facilities…
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Now in its ninth year, demand for the Woodstove Music and Arts Festival seemingly hit new highs, with organizers saying that the initial round of tickets sold out almost immediately. The non profit community festival took place last weekend across 16 venues in the village ranging from community halls, to the museum, to tattoo parlours and hair salons…
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Plans for a data centre in Nanaimo have generated significant attention in recent weeks. The centre is proposed for 2090 East Wellington Road, and the area was rezoned in 2023. Midcoast Morning explores recent community concerns with Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, and shares information revealed at a Nanaimo city council meeting about potential water use at the site.
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The British Columbia Federation of Students says the province’s post secondary system is in crisis. The organization says that there have been almost 1000 layoffs in the sector since 2023, with 80 programs suspended, paused or cut…
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Following push-back from members of the community, a zoning change proposal failed to pass first reading at Nanaimo City Council on Monday. Council heard from 8 delegations opposed to a rezoning application for 2367 Arbot Road, which is currently home to the Westwood Lake Tennis Club…
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More than a dozen authors, poets, profs, and students spoke at a festival aimed at fostering connections between Palestinian and local literature this past weekend. The 2nd annual Watermelon Seeds festival of literature took place at VIU Saturday.It comes on the heels of an event last spring that took place at the Palestinian solidarity encampment that had been set up on campus…
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With Nanaimo City Council voting in favour of a motion Monday to name the park at 933 Park Avenue Five Acres Farm Community Park, Midcoast Morning explores the history behind the name, as well as the urban farming that’s still taking place on the land.
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