Upgrades to Nanaimo’s transit service have kicked in this week.

This year will see 8700 more hours of service on Nanaimo routes.

5000 of those hours are on the newly renamed route 1 Nanaimo rapid line, which goes between the Woodgrove Centre and Downtown. 

2700 new service hours are on an intercity route going from the Woodgrove Centre to Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

The other 1000 new hours are part of a restructured route to Lantzville.

Midcoast Morning explores the changes and the tentative plans for next year’s upgrades.

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Exploring Nanaimo as a commercial real estate market, getting an update on the old A&B Sound building, and checking in on the BC assessment process.

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The story of a 1985 anti logging protest on Haida Gwaii is coming to Nanaimo for a special screening

The Stand from filmmaker Christopher Auchter draws from more than a hundred hours of archival footage of the protest on Lyell island, footage recorded while the events were still unfolding

The documentary premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in September, and will be screening at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre this Sunday.

CHLY and CVOX reporter Heather Watson spoke with the filmmaker behind The Stand.

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A true crime story and a train disaster from the island’s past are being looked at through a new lens. 

Historian Dave Flawse wonders whether Henry Wagner aka the flying dutchman deserved his date with the hangman’s noose, and author Kim Bannerman explored the commemoration of the Japanese victims of the Trent River train disaster of 1898.

Both stories appeared in the book A Place Called Cumberland, released by the Cumberland Museum and Archives.

Midcoast Morning previously brought you some info on that collection, but didn’t have time to delve all the way into the stories. 

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At the start of the year Mick Sweetman was reporting for CHLY, he now finds himself as the Nanaimo reporter for The Discourse. Mick paid a visit to the CHLY studio to share some of the reporting that ‘s stuck with him from 2024.

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The midtown water supply, pickleball courts, and land transfers to Snuneymuxw were some of the highlights Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog shared when he visited the CHLY studio to review 2024 at the municipal level.

The Mayor aslo spoke about the provincial election, and the future of the public works yard project, and offered a Christmas message to listeners.

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A Christmas classic is going to be transformed into a live radio play free for all to attend this Saturday night at VIU.

The school’s Malaspina theatre will host a locally penned adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 film directed by Frank Capra starring Jimmy Stewart.

Midcoast Morning spoke with some of those involved with bringing the production to life.

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The Nanaimo Systems Planning Organization (SPO) exists to provide research, data, analysis, education and information related to the community's homelessness response. It began operating in April 2023.

In part two of a conversation around the SPO’s work, its board chair, executive director, and research and mobilization lead discuss the role of non market housing, and landowners willing to offer spaces for its creation as a measure to address homelessness.

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An average of 29 people are coming into homelessness every month in Nanaimo, according to the Systems Planning Organization (SPO).

The SPO exists to provide research, data, analysis, education and information related to the community's homelessness response. It began operating in April 2023.

Midcoast Morning spoke with a trio of those involved with the organization about the data around homelessness in Nanaimo.

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Ladysmith and Qualicum Beach are both in the process of getting new skateparks for their towns. An open house Wednesday night will provide residents of Ladysmith the chance to way in on different proposed designs for a new skatepark, while in Qualicum Beach, shovels are set to go in the ground for a park that could open as soon as next summer, after organizers were tasked with raising $300,000 to make the project happen.

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Nanaimo city council is going to be deciding Friday whether or not a number of projects will get funding in next year’s budget.

It’s been a week full of conversations around the budget, with an e-town hall taking place Monday, and a special finance and audit committee meeting Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s meeting.

Right now the city is forecasting a property tax increase of eight point seven per cent, though that number will change by the end of the day depending on council’s decisions.

Today on the program we’ll share some information on what those decision points are, and bring you up to speed on where the city is in its budgeting process.

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A shoot out with a pirate, A train disaster, a chow mein that’s been passed down to generations that were forced to move away - these are just some of the stories you’ll find in A Place Called Cumberland.

The new book from the village’s museum and archives brings together twelve different tales from Cumberland’s past, that cover topics from labour organizing, to a first hand account of growing up in Chinatown, to the story behind the bike trails that play a big part in the community’s identity today.

Midcoast Morning speaks with some of the contributors to explore what the past has to say about the ethos of Cumberland.

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The federal government is one step closer to putting a temporary pause on GST, after a vote in the house of commons Thursday night.

Legislation to exempt a number of items from GST between December 14th and February 15th passed a vote in Ottawa, with support from the liberals and NDP.

Among the items included in the proposed exemption are children’s clothing, a number of food items and toys and video game consoles.

People in BC will not need to pay the 5 per cent federal GST on qualifying items during the two month period.

Speaking with Midcoast Morning, VIU professor of political studies and Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership Michael MacKenzie called the measure “bad in every way.”

Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Lisa Marie Barron also spoke with Midcoast Morning about why she supported the measure.

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It’s a good time for productive outrage, says Nanaimo’s new poet laureate.

Neil Surkan is getting ready to start a two year term in the position on December 1, he spoke with CHLY reporter Lauryn Mackenzie.

And Jackie Wong’s new temporary public art project Lost Intersections will appear next spring, and bring attention to the sites of the city’s former Chinatowns . She spoke with Midcoast Morning host Joe Pugh.

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It’s the final day for a pop up overdose prevention site operating across the street from Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

Dr. Jess Wilder, a physician who works in addiction medicine at the hospital is a member of the group Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, who are calling for the government of B.C. to create sanctioned, fully staffed overdose prevention sites at B.C. Hospitals.

Wilder led the effort to create the unsanctioned, unfunded Nanaimo site, which was forced to relocate off of hospital grounds on Monday. 

There was also a pop up site set up outside Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, which was only planned to run until this past Wednesday.

Overdose prevention sites are locations where people can use substances under the supervision of staff that can monitor for drug poisoning and respond to an overdose if needed.

Midcoast Morning visited the site in Nanaimo to speak with the physician who set it up.

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Journalist and author Brandi Morin is in town to give a talk as part of VIU’s Indigenous speakers series.

A survivor of the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis, her work has appeared in National Geographic, Al Jazeera English, The Guardian, and The New York Times.

In January, Morin was arrested while covering an encampment in Edmonton, and was charged with obstructing a police officer, a charge which was later dropped. She visited the CHLY studio to speak about that experience, and the message she’s hoping to share with people in Nanaimo.

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The Bicycle Film Festival is returning to Nanaimo this Saturday.

A collection of films related to cycling will play at Malaspina Theatre starting around 6:15.

Brendt Barbur decided to start the event back in 2001 after he was hit by a bus in New York City. He joined Midcoast Morning to share more on that story, as well as to talk cycling cinema more generally.

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A labour dispute that’s been impacting ports in Nanaimo and across the province is headed to binding arbitration

Federal labour minister Steven MacKinnon ordered the move Tuesday. Foremen at B.C.’s ports have been locked out since November 4th, that lockout came after the union had delivered a 72 hour strike notice for what it called limited job action, including an overtime ban and a refusal to implement tech change. 

Midcoast Morning spoke with port researcher Peter Hall for context on the dispute.

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Published at the end of the 1920s, All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque tells the story of a young man named Paul who enlists in the German army in the first world war.

It’s newest translator spoke with Midcoast Morning about what the book has to say in 2024.

Plus, in close to 25 years, the Canadian Letters and Images Project has digitized around 35,000 letters from Canadians at war. Project director Stephen Davies speaks about what stands out.

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A pair of cemetery related items were on the council agenda this week in Nanaimo. When Kevin Hills wrote a term paper on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as part of a military history course, he learned that war graves in Nanaimo had been laid flat in the 1960s in a move to make maintenance easier. This week, his action led city council to amend its cemetary bylaw to allow that the graves be put upright at a future date. Hills spoke with Midcoast Morning about his efforts.

At the same time, the city updated its fee structure around cemeteries, which are nearing capacity. Acting Manager of cemeteries David Thompson provided more information about the state of cemeteries in the harbour city.

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