Vancouver Restaurant, Kitchen Shut Down After Rat Allegedly Found In Soup

A restaurant in East Vancouver has been shut down a day after a rat was allegedly found in a bowl of soup produced in a kitchen in the same building.

On Thursday, a video posted by a patron at Crab Park Chowdery showed what appears to be a dead rat inside a bread bowl of soup.

Vancouver Coastal Health inspectors visited the cafe Friday morning to investigate, and allowed it to stay open.

bit.ly/2RujFLd via @CBCNews

Overdose Crisis Continues In B.C. With 120 Deaths Last Month, Coroner Says

An average of 4 people died per day in November.

There were 120 suspected drug overdose deaths in British Columbia last month, representing a 13 per cent increase over the number of deaths in the same month last year.

• 'Things are not getting better': B.C. opioid crisis still raging

The B.C. Coroners Service says an average of four people died every day last month from an illicit drug overdose.

The latest figures show 1,380 people died by overdose between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2018, almost exactly the same number of dead as between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2017.

The service says the majority of those dying from overdoses are men who are 30 to 59 years old, and most overdoses are occurring indoors.

• Men, alone and at home, dominate drug overdose deaths

The three cities experiencing the highest number of illicit drug overdoses are Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria.

The coroners service says 1,486 people died of overdoses in B.C. last year.

It is expected to announce the overall death toll for 2018 next month.

bit.ly/2EpK59O via @CBCNews ‏

Stabbing On Translink Bus In Vancouver Sends Man To Hospital – BC

A man is in custody and another sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after an assault and stabbing on a transit bus Christmas Eve.

Just after 1:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, two men began fighting on a TransLink bus near East 12th and Kingsway.

A number of passengers, witnessing the altercation, called 911.

During the melee, one of the men produced a knife and stabbed the other man.

Police responded immediately and located the victim, a man in his 60s, and sent him to hospital.

The suspect, who is also in his 60s, was identified and police caught up with him, taking him into custody.

He’s facing a charge of assault with a weapon.

No word on a motive for the assault, or if the two knew each other.

bit.ly/2sbkZEC via @globalnews

Vancouver Overdose Emergency Task Force Calls For Expanded Harm Reduction, Safe Supply

An emergency task force struck to address Vancouver’s overdose epidemic is calling for an expansion of harm reduction services throughout the city, including a second site for people to smoke substances under supervision and a mobile option to reach those outside of the Downtown Eastside.

The task force is also recommending an 18-month pilot project that would see overdose prevention sites in at least five private single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels, an expansion of these services in non-profit SROs and a review of overdose risk in both public and private SRO bathrooms.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who established the task force in November, released its first report on Tuesday. It will go before a special council on Thursday.

tgam.ca/2M5yvD3 via @globeandmail

Stopping Renovictions Tops BC's Rental Housing Recommendations

A call to stop renovictions was first among 23 recommendations in a B.C. government task force report issued Wednesday and described as the first comprehensive review of the province’s tenancy legislation in 16 years.

Renoviction is the practice of landlords evicting long-term tenants from their homes to renovate and then find new residents at significantly higher rents. The word, not in use 16 years ago when B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Act was last overhauled, has become commonplace in many B.C. municipalities, especially in cities like Vancouver and Victoria with low vacancy rates and soaring rents.

In recent years, tenants’ advocates have called for putting a stop to renovictions, and last week, Vancouver city council passed a motion to that end. But on Wednesday, some of those advocates questioned if changes proposed by the B.C. government’s report were strong enough.

bit.ly/2Ff4XSI via @VancouverSun

Vancouver's Looming 5% Property Tax Hike More Evidence Funding Reforms Needed

We'll spare the suspense: even though the vote is a week away, Vancouver is likely going to pass a budget with the highest property tax increase in a decade, after an election fought on issues of affordability.

"[An increase of] 4.9 per cent will allow us to do things citizens have asked for, so I think it's a reasonable increase," said Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

• Vancouver city councillors to consider 4.9 per cent property tax increase

After a day of presentations by different city departments on why their funding is needed, it seems clear a majority of council will side with Stewart — if only because eight of them are brand new to council and seem reluctant to override staff who have been working on the budget for months.

"We weren't involved in the development of this budget. At the same time, we have a responsibility to take a second sober look," said Coun. Lisa Dominato.

"I don't think anyone wants us just to rubber stamp a budget. And so, we're really trying to take our time to review carefully and do our due diligence. But definitely, it's a difficult spot to be in."

Yet, while the focus will be on the number council settles on for its property tax increase, the longer-term question of whether Vancouver's taxation system is sustainable remains.

bit.ly/2GYyP5M via @CBCNews ‏

Former Accused In Money Laundering Case Try To Get Cash Returned

Days after charges were stayed in the province’s largest-ever money laundering case, a lawyer for the former accused was in B.C. Supreme Court trying to get millions of dollars seized by police returned to the pair.

The hearing was held Nov. 27 before Justice Heather Holmes. Postmedia did not attend the proceeding, but listened to a recording of the 42-minute session at the Vancouver Law Courts on Friday.

Lawyer Matthew Nathanson filed an application on Nov. 26 for the return of more than $2 million seized during an RCMP investigation, dubbed E-Pirate. The cash was found in the home of Caixuan Qin and Jain Jun Zhu, as well as at the Richmond offices of Silver International Investments, of which Qin is director.

bit.ly/2AxFcsN via @VancouverSun

China Won’t Stop Flood Of Fentanyl Into Canada, Sources Say

The opioid crisis and record-setting death counts caused by fentanyl flooding into Canada could get worse because of a growing diplomatic dispute with China, sources have informed Global News.

Canadian law enforcement agencies have found that fentanyl and its chemical precursors are mostly produced in southern China factories and sent to North America via shipping containers, and in the mail.

bit.ly/2MAGojP via @globalnews