Vancouver rundown for Wednesday, February 18,
2026. Increased taxes, cuts to the public sector,
and more debt. It's all part of the EB government's
provincial budget. This year's 2026 budget does
include new funding for core services in education
and health care, but at the expense of many other
programs. Thousands of public service jobs will
be cut. At $9 .6 billion, the budget is also
down a bit from the last quarterly forecast of
$11 .2 billion. The Greater Vancouver Board of
Trade is giving this year's budget a D. Other
news, one person has died in a head -on crash
on Marine Way in Burnaby. RCMP say it happened
at around 11 p .m. Monday when two cars collided
near Roseberry Avenue. Several other victims
were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
A man has been sentenced to life in prison for
killing his girlfriend in the parkade of Burnaby's
Metrotown Mall. Melissa Blimke, who was 25, of
North Vancouver, was stabbed to death in December
of 2021. 35 -year -old Everton Downey will not
be eligible for parole for 12 years. Animal cruelty
charges will be recommended by the BCSBCA. after
it seized 17 cats from a home in an undisclosed
Fraser Valley community. Protection officers
found 17 cats in dog crates. It's believed they
were abandoned. A dead puppy was also found in
a crate in the garage. There was no food or water.
The animals were covered in urine and feces.
The SPCA describes it as one of its worst discoveries.
The forecast calling for a mix of sun and cloud
for Wednesday with a chance of showers mixed
with wet snow at some higher elevations. Sunshine
for Thursday, a mix of sun and cloud for Friday.
For all the details on these local Vancouver
area stories, along with those links, go to VancouverRundown
.substack .com.