VRD Thursday, December 1, 2022

Dec 01, 2022

The summary

In the news, if you’re looking to point fingers and find blame for Tuesday’s commuting gridlock during the Lower Mainland’s snowstorm, The Ministry of Transportation says look no further than too many drivers. Some of those drivers were stranded for hours and that might serve as very little comfort.. We heard cases of a usual 60 minute downtown-to-Delta commute taking four hours or more. But the Ministry says it has nothing to do with a lack of plows. Those problems on the Alex Fraser Bridge and through the Massey Tunnel were a result of a commute that started early, lots of snow that also started early and people deciding not to avoid driving…at least according to the government experts.

Everything is costing more. Add to that another increase in Vancouver property taxes…possibly. City council is tasked with some tough decisions ahead of what is looking like a 5% tax hike as outlined in a very early, preliminary 2023 budget.

October was another terrible month in B.C.’s battle against toxic drugs. Another 179 lives were lost - that’s close to a record.

Not great news for Vancouver health tech star AbCellera. The FDA in the U.S. has pulled its emergency approval of a COVID-19 antibody co-developed by Eli Lilly and AbCellera. The FDA now says the drug - bebtelovimab - is not expected to counter the latest subvariants of Omicron.

Ice ice, baby! One can see snow but ice is a completely different danger. With clear skies, one might want to be very careful and take more time driving today. Here’re the latest details from the private weather station in Surrey.