2021 Year in Review

(Twitter/BC Conservation Officer Service)

Otter with a toothache, cougar in a pink collar top most ‘unique’ calls for BC COS in 2021

Conservation Officers handle 30,000 calls per year on average

 

Curlers at the Hope Curling Club will have to be double vaccinated to play the sport they love, following new COVID restrictions handed down Sept. 28 by the Provincial Health Office. (Jessica Peters/ Hope Standard)

TOP STORIES 2021: Hope curling club gets long-awaited facelift

Building was never totally repaired after fire in 1970s

 

Hope Cinema. (Emelie Peacock/Hope Standard)

TOP STORIES 2021: Classic Hollywood reboot for Hope Cinema

Popular entertainment venue brought back to life

 

An aerial view of the Hope Golf Club shows significant flooding at the nine hole course. (Rod MacDonnell/Facebook)

OPINION: When tragedy hit Hope people stepped up

Much bad news but so many stories of people helping people

An aerial view of the Hope Golf Club shows significant flooding at the nine hole course. (Rod MacDonnell/Facebook)
Surrey-raised pro wrestler John “Earthquake” Tenta made a name for himself on the WWF circuit (now WWE) in the early 1990s. (contributed photo)

Favourite Black Press Media stories of 2021, chosen by our journalists

Our editorial staff share their favourite stories from the year across our 80 local publications

Surrey-raised pro wrestler John “Earthquake” Tenta made a name for himself on the WWF circuit (now WWE) in the early 1990s. (contributed photo)
Rolly’s Restaurant in Hope is closed on Oct. 20 as they fight to stay operating without a business licence. (Jessica Peters/ Hope Standard)

TOP STORIES 2021: Rolly’s Restaurant in Hope now closed for three months

Restaurant owners would have to agree to ask patrons for vaccine passes before re-opening

Rolly’s Restaurant in Hope is closed on Oct. 20 as they fight to stay operating without a business licence. (Jessica Peters/ Hope Standard)
Winnie Peters painted rocks for people to take in remembrance of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls event in Hope on May 5, 2021. (Jessica Peters/ Hope Standard)

TOP STORIES 2021: No answers this year in any murdered and missing women cases in Hope

Red Dress Day rally held in Memorial Park

Winnie Peters painted rocks for people to take in remembrance of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls event in Hope on May 5, 2021. (Jessica Peters/ Hope Standard)
Travellers who have been trapped for days in Hope lined up to take a CP Train to downtown Vancouver on Wednesday, Nov. 17. (Pattie Desjardins/Hope Standard)

TOPS STORIES 2021: Hope’s biggest disaster brought out the best in community

Hundreds of travellers were stuck in Hope for up to four days

Travellers who have been trapped for days in Hope lined up to take a CP Train to downtown Vancouver on Wednesday, Nov. 17. (Pattie Desjardins/Hope Standard)
Nine-year-old Emily Loewen at Vedder Park on July 11, 2021 after raising hundreds of dollars from a group of motorcycle riders for Lytton wildfire victims with her lemonade stand. (Darcy Loewen photo)

Cats, grandmas and twins: Here are 7 B.C. stories that brightened 2021

2021 wasn’t the year that most hoped for but there were glimmers of joy nonetheless

Nine-year-old Emily Loewen at Vedder Park on July 11, 2021 after raising hundreds of dollars from a group of motorcycle riders for Lytton wildfire victims with her lemonade stand. (Darcy Loewen photo)
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 this year, 40,333 babies were born in the province. (Pixabay photo)

B.C.’s top baby names of 2021 revealed

Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names once again

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 this year, 40,333 babies were born in the province. (Pixabay photo)
Sold stickers on Hope area real estate listings in the window of a Wallace Street realtor. (Hope Standard file) Sold stickers on Hope area real estate listings in the window of a Wallace Street realtor. (Hope Standard file)

TOP STORIES 2021: Record-setting year for real estate in Hope and beyond

‘We had most homes selling in a week, at or just above list price’ - Realtor Rob Pellegrino

Sold stickers on Hope area real estate listings in the window of a Wallace Street realtor. (Hope Standard file) Sold stickers on Hope area real estate listings in the window of a Wallace Street realtor. (Hope Standard file)
FILE - Fashion designer Virgil Abloh gives a thumbs up after the presentation of Off-White Men's Spring-Summer 2019 collection presented in Paris, Wednesday June 20, 2018. Abloh, a leading fashion executive hailed as the Karl Lagerfeld of his generation, died Nov. 28, 2021, after a private battle with cancer. He was 41. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Final Goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2021

They both carved out sterling reputations as military and political leaders over…

FILE - Fashion designer Virgil Abloh gives a thumbs up after the presentation of Off-White Men's Spring-Summer 2019 collection presented in Paris, Wednesday June 20, 2018. Abloh, a leading fashion executive hailed as the Karl Lagerfeld of his generation, died Nov. 28, 2021, after a private battle with cancer. He was 41. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
A child’s dress is seen on a cross outside a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., Sunday, June 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Finding unmarked graves put spotlight on reconciliation in 2021

‘It’s important to remind Canadians (not to) let reconciliation become a performance’

A child’s dress is seen on a cross outside a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., Sunday, June 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
file photo

TOP STORIES 2021: Hope lagging behind other Fraser Health communities for vaccinations

COVID-19 testing and vaccination is held at Fraser Canyon Hospital on weekdays

file photo
Governor General Mary Simon speaks during the Presentation of Canadian Honours at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.The governor general said Canadians can be hopeful as they ring in the new year, despite the ongoing crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Canadians have shown resilience, compassion and adaptability in 2021: Governor General

Mary Simon says Canadians have inspired her to continue to work and find better ways to help communities thrive

Governor General Mary Simon speaks during the Presentation of Canadian Honours at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.The governor general said Canadians can be hopeful as they ring in the new year, despite the ongoing crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Videos from throughout 2021 capture readers’ top animal encounters. (Black Press Media file photos)

Top animal videos from B.C.’s Vancouver Island in 2021

Look back at a year of adorable, breathtaking and unusual footage

Videos from throughout 2021 capture readers’ top animal encounters. (Black Press Media file photos)
Damian Warner, of Canada, celebrates after he won the gold medal for the decathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Tokyo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-David J. Phillip

Decathlete Damian Warner wins Lionel Conacher Award as CP’s male athlete of the year

He set an Olympic record and a Canadian record, and became just the 4th man to top the 9,000-point barrier

Damian Warner, of Canada, celebrates after he won the gold medal for the decathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Tokyo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-David J. Phillip
Former cabinet minister Kevin Falcon speaks to delegates at a B.C. Liberal leadership debate, November 2021. (B.C. Liberal Party video)

B.C. Liberals heading into 2022 with new leader, financial pressure

Party members choose from 6 candidates in early February

Former cabinet minister Kevin Falcon speaks to delegates at a B.C. Liberal leadership debate, November 2021. (B.C. Liberal Party video)
Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, returns a shot to Shelby Rogers at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, in Indian Wells, Calif. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark J. Terrill

Tennis player Leylah Fernandez named The Canadian Press female athlete of the year

Fernandez finished the year with a 25-17 record and she earned US$1.77 million in prize money

Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, returns a shot to Shelby Rogers at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, in Indian Wells, Calif. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark J. Terrill
Repair work at Bottletop Bridge on the Coquihalla Highway, Dec. 7, 2021. Repairs to dozens of highway sites in B.C.’s southern Interior will be ongoing through next year and beyond, at costs not yet estimated. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation photo)

B.C.’s climate plans battered by extreme weather as 2022 begins

Electric cars, forest offsets, carbon taxes don’t stop damage

Repair work at Bottletop Bridge on the Coquihalla Highway, Dec. 7, 2021. Repairs to dozens of highway sites in B.C.’s southern Interior will be ongoing through next year and beyond, at costs not yet estimated. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation photo)
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