On May 4th, 2224 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported to date in British Columbia, with 177 of those are in the Interior Health Region. Dr. Bonnie Henry is urging everyone to continue to keep up with the protocols in place. Daily numbers may be going down, but now is not the time to jump back to our regular lives.

There is a virtual town hall with the Village of Ashcroft tonight. The budget presentation can be viewed on the village website. Questions can be emailed in advance or during the event on Facebook. The HUB Online Network is presenting the meeting and monitoring the chat.

The cause of the 2017 Elephant Hill Wildfire has been determined to be human caused. "The BC Wildfire Service’s fire origin and cause specialists investigated the Elephant Hill wildfire, and their report indicated that the most likely cause of the Elephant Hill wildfire was smoking or smoking materials. The smoking materials’ classification includes matches, cigars, pipe tobacco, cigarettes and/or marijuana,” according to a release by the BC Wildfire Service. The wildfire, which started on June 6th 2017, grew to a size of 191,865 hectares forcing thousands from their homes and destroying dozens of properties in both the Kamloops and Cariboo Fire Districts. The RCMP recently concluded it’s investigation into the fire, and were unable to identify the person or persons responsible for the start of the fire.

Cache Creek is still in the midst of flood watch for both the Cache Creek and Bonaparte River. Stage 4 water restrictions have been lifted. All evacuation alerts have also been lifted.

Prime Minister Trudeau has issued a ban on assault-style weapons, with a list of over 1500 makes being banned immediately. The Conservative Party have pushed back against the ban. The ban can be brought into effect without a debate or vote in parliament. The proposed buy-back program will have to wait until the parties are back at work and a debate and vote can be had.

The Ashcroft Terminal is looking for community members to form a committee to find a solution for waterfront access that is adjacent to Terminal property. The area known as the “Slough” is only accessible by crossing through Ashcroft Terminal property and by crossing the CN Rail train track. Ashcroft Terminal is about to start a large construction project and is concerned about resident safety.