Austin Westphal

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The 12-and-a-half metre totem pole carved by about 160 inmates which stands outside the Vancouver Island Regional Corrections Centre in Saanich. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Inmates say totem pole they helped carve at B.C. jail a catalyst for remarkable change

About 160 at Vancouver Island Regional Corrections Centre participated in first-of-its-kind project

The 12-and-a-half metre totem pole carved by about 160 inmates which stands outside the Vancouver Island Regional Corrections Centre in Saanich. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
The crew of the Strait Sentinel deploys a sweep system used to collect oil off the ocean’s surface. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Simulated oil spill off B.C. coast tests marine response

Crews from the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation deployed as part of biannual exercise

The crew of the Strait Sentinel deploys a sweep system used to collect oil off the ocean’s surface. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

B.C. safe supply advocates rally to mark 7 years of toxic drug crisis

More than 11,300 British Columbians have died from toxic drug deaths since 2016

Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
The 209-metre Sapphire Princess, operated by Princess Cruise Lines, docks at Ogden Point April 11. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

‘Economic boom’: Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria as first ship of B.C. cruise season

More than 300 ships expected in B.C. waters, bringing up to a million visitors

The 209-metre Sapphire Princess, operated by Princess Cruise Lines, docks at Ogden Point April 11. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Program manager Ben Whitby shows a similar type of buoy-based wave data collection platform to the one that will be deployed in the waters off Yuquot at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) lab in North Saanich March 3. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Program manager Ben Whitby shows a similar type of buoy-based wave data collection platform to the one that will be deployed in the waters off Yuquot at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) lab in North Saanich March 3. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Researchers hope B.C. First Nation can ride the waves to reclaim their ancestral home

Wave-powered renewable energy microgrid to power Mowachaht/Muchalaht return to Nootka Island

Program manager Ben Whitby shows a similar type of buoy-based wave data collection platform to the one that will be deployed in the waters off Yuquot at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) lab in North Saanich March 3. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Program manager Ben Whitby shows a similar type of buoy-based wave data collection platform to the one that will be deployed in the waters off Yuquot at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) lab in North Saanich March 3. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Patricia Barkaskas, strategic advisor to the dean for the National Centre for Indigenous Laws, speaks at the site of the future National Centre for Indigenous Laws building at the University of Victoria Thursday (March 9). (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Construction underway in B.C. for Canada’s first National Centre for Indigenous Laws

University of Victoria facility to host degrees in Canadian Common Law, Indigenous legal orders

Patricia Barkaskas, strategic advisor to the dean for the National Centre for Indigenous Laws, speaks at the site of the future National Centre for Indigenous Laws building at the University of Victoria Thursday (March 9). (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Firefighters from all across the province march along Menzies Street to the south lawn of the legislature in Victoria to honour those who died in the line of duty Monday (March 6). (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

PHOTOS: B.C. firefighters honour fallen colleagues with cancer warning

The same gear that’s supposed to protect first responders is also killing them due to cancer, says firefighter

Firefighters from all across the province march along Menzies Street to the south lawn of the legislature in Victoria to honour those who died in the line of duty Monday (March 6). (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announces B.C.’s $150-million investment to fund upgrades to province’s 911 emergency communication system during a press conference at a fire hall in the Vancouver Island community of Saanich. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

B.C. eyes $150M spend for 911 upgrades, including texting

Upgrades to provide new options for British Columbians to reach emergency services

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announces B.C.’s $150-million investment to fund upgrades to province’s 911 emergency communication system during a press conference at a fire hall in the Vancouver Island community of Saanich. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Whistle Buoy master brewer Matt West-Patrick (left) and Isaiah Archer are brewing a new batch with an AI-generated recipe. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Can I pour you a cold Robo Beer? B.C. brewery uses AI to craft its latest brew

Victoria’s Whistle Buoy Brewing’s new hazy pale ale recipe developed with ChatGPT

Whistle Buoy master brewer Matt West-Patrick (left) and Isaiah Archer are brewing a new batch with an AI-generated recipe. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Saanich councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff is pushing to make higher-income earners pay more for traffic violations. (Black Press Media file photo)

Make ‘ultra-wealthy’ speeders pay bigger fines: B.C. official

District of Saanich councillor wants fines to work as a proper deterrant, no matter people’s means

Saanich councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff is pushing to make higher-income earners pay more for traffic violations. (Black Press Media file photo)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows decreased functional connectivity in the human brain after exposure to traffic pollution. (Courtesy UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Traffic pollution can impair brain function, say B.C. researchers

Groundbreaking UVic and UBC study finds even brief exposures have adverse effects on human brain

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows decreased functional connectivity in the human brain after exposure to traffic pollution. (Courtesy UBC Faculty of Medicine)
Luna, a five-year-old bull mastiff-golden retriever cross, survived seven days trapped on a narrow ledge high above the waters of Finlayson Arm. (Courtesy Saryta Schaerer)

Courageous B.C. canine survives seven days stuck on ledge after fall from cliff

Luna reunited with her owner following a harrowing rescue

Luna, a five-year-old bull mastiff-golden retriever cross, survived seven days trapped on a narrow ledge high above the waters of Finlayson Arm. (Courtesy Saryta Schaerer)
Tristan Tarnowski, ORCASat team member and UVic engineering student, during assembly of the UVic satellite. (Courtesy ORCASat)

Mission accomplished: UVic satellite reaches International Space Station

ORCASat to measure how earth’s atmosphere affects light

Tristan Tarnowski, ORCASat team member and UVic engineering student, during assembly of the UVic satellite. (Courtesy ORCASat)
The B.C. and transgender flags fly together at the B.C. legislature in Victoria on Sunday (Nov. 20) in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Transgender Day of Remembrance marked at B.C. legislature in Victoria

Transgender flag raised to commemorate lives lost to violence

The B.C. and transgender flags fly together at the B.C. legislature in Victoria on Sunday (Nov. 20) in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Sarah Fennell, along with several Greater Victoria parents, is speaking out after paying a $1,100 deposit for a daycare spot. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Saanich daycare kerfuffle reveals dire state of childcare in Greater Victoria

Non-refundable deposit not returned once parents learned of provider’s criminal history

Sarah Fennell, along with several Greater Victoria parents, is speaking out after paying a $1,100 deposit for a daycare spot. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
A bison scapula and rib bones were found buried underneath a construction site in Saanich. The bones, which date back at least 12,000 years, were discovered on Oct. 19 and recovered Wednesday (Nov. 2). (Courtesy Broadmead Care)

Bison bones thousands of years old unearthed at Greater Victoria construction site

Bones estimated to be between 12,000 to 14,000 years old

A bison scapula and rib bones were found buried underneath a construction site in Saanich. The bones, which date back at least 12,000 years, were discovered on Oct. 19 and recovered Wednesday (Nov. 2). (Courtesy Broadmead Care)
Retired Staff Sgt.-Maj. Kathy Rochlitz (left), Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Craig Thompson, Dave Sinclair and Norm Scott pose for a photo after presenting the first poppy at Government House on Oct. 25. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

B.C. lieutenant governor presented with first poppy to kick off 2022 campaign

Funds raised from annual Royal Canadian Legion poppy campaign supports veterans

Retired Staff Sgt.-Maj. Kathy Rochlitz (left), Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Craig Thompson, Dave Sinclair and Norm Scott pose for a photo after presenting the first poppy at Government House on Oct. 25. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized just under 650 kilograms of methamphetamine, in addition to a loaded 9mm pistol in May. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Alberta man faces prison time for attempting to smuggle boatload of meth into Canada

U.S. authorities intercepted Ted Karl Faupel before he returned to Canadian waters

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized just under 650 kilograms of methamphetamine, in addition to a loaded 9mm pistol in May. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Salmon at Goldstream Provincial Park in Langford. (Black Press Media file photo)

See B.C.’s salmon run in action this fall with a new interactive online map

Spotting map includes over 70 family-friendly locations across province

Salmon at Goldstream Provincial Park in Langford. (Black Press Media file photo)
Sasha Perron ran 216 kilometres in just 18 days last year – one for each child found at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, plus an extra one for all the children who weren’t found. (Arnold Lim/Black Press Media)

Next generation looks to take some of the burdens from residential school survivors

Greater Victoria’s Sasha Perron highlights survivors’ strength and resilience

Sasha Perron ran 216 kilometres in just 18 days last year – one for each child found at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, plus an extra one for all the children who weren’t found. (Arnold Lim/Black Press Media)