Good morning {{First name}}!

The HarbourCats season is over.
The ‘Cats finished the campaign even-Steven with 26 wins and 26 losses but will miss the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
The team’s last game was cancelled yesterday in Wenatchee because of wildfire smoke.
Up-Island, the Nanaimo NightOwls clinched their first playoff spot in their five-year history. They’ll host Bellingham tomorrow night.

— Mark

Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes

Today: ☀ 27 / 14

Tomorrow: ☀ 27 / 14

Saturday: ☀ 27 / 14

7-day forecast

With beaches beckoning and campsites calling, there’s a good chance this fall’s municipal election is the last thing on your mind.

Not to be the chocolate bar at the bottom of the pool, but there’s a civic election in 72 days—and keeping track of who is running and what they stand for in the 13-municipality CRD is no walk in the park.

Thirteen municipalities mean 13 mayors, 78 councillors, plus school trustees and rural CRD reps. That's a lot of politicking. You need a scorecard to keep up. 

Fortunately, a coalition of community advocacy organizations is working on just that.

Livable CRD says it wants to make it a little easier for voters to decide who to support, so it’s preparing a list of roughly 100 questions to send to each candidate. 

“Municipal elections are important, and we keep hearing from people that when they vote in municipal elections, it’s really hard to find out where candidates actually stand on issues,” says Michael Bassili, a Livable CRD spokesperson.

“So, we're trying to give all the information possible as openly and easily as possible so that people who are going to go vote for a certain candidate have the ammunition they need to make an informed decision,” he tells Capital Daily.

Read the full story here.

Road closure: Yates, west of Cook, today. 7am-5pm. [City of Vic]

Oak Bay deer birth control: The District of Oak Bay is requesting access to private properties while crews administer immunocontraceptive treatment to deer. Property owners can fill out the consent form here. 

Witnesses & dashcam footage sought in cyclist collision. [Saanich PD]

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

On the water today? Check the tide times for Victoria.

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K-Pod was spotted on Sunday after a weeks-long absence from the Salish Sea.

The day prior, the Orca Behavior Institute (OBI) predicted that August could be another month with zero Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) sightings in the Salish Sea after none were seen in July.

It’s typical for SRKW to be missing from the sea during most summer months—mainly May, June, and August—but the pods have been known to pop up in July.

“In several recent years their days present in July [were fewer than five], but this is the first time they didn’t come in at all,” OBI said in a social media post.

The no-sighting streak was broken when K-Pod was seen swimming near the Gulf Islands over the weekend.

“This is K-Pod's first visit to the central Salish Sea since early March,” OBI said. “They bombed their way up the west side of San Juan Island and continued north to the Strait of Georgia.”

Plenty of Bigg’s sightings, except for one day

While the Southern Residents were a no-show last month, there was a record number of Bigg’s killer whale sightings for July. But it was the one day they weren’t seen that surprised the researchers.

Despite the abundance of Bigg’s throughout the rest of the month, on July 19, none were spotted—a rarity during the summer. 

That day ended a 148-day sighting streak—far shorter than the streak in 2025, when Bigg’s were seen for 320 consecutive days. It’s the first time since 2018 that the whales weren’t seen daily in July.

Lowest number of Northern Resident sightings for July 

Northern Resident killer whales were also spotted in the Salish for the first time this summer, said OBI. 

“We haven’t been explicitly tracking NRKW in the Salish Sea for as long [as SRKW], but their two days present was their lowest we’ve logged for July, with other years ranging from 12–20 days present,” OBI said.

📸 Then and now: Do you recognize these old Victoria landmarks? [Facebook photos]

🏠 Ross Bay Villa Historic House and Garden Tours: Today, tomorrow and Saturday.

🥳 Summer Block Party at Mayfair is Saturday, 12-4pm.

Man wanted after 2 midday indecent exposures in Saanich
Saanich Police say the offences happened on June 22 and June 30 around Garnet, near University Heights. In both cases, a man driving a car pulled up to a woman to ask for directions. When the woman approached the vehicle, they saw the man was “exposing himself” inside the car. The suspect is described as a South Asian male, around 30 years old. He was driving a lowered, older model white two-door car with a roof rack. [Black Press]

BC researchers discover deadly bacterial disease in wild chinook salmon
The disease was detected among chinook salmon near the Island. It’s the first time wild Pacific salmon have been found infected with Tenacibaculosis, which is common in farmed Atlantic salmon and can lead to lesions and death in several species of fish. Researchers said the disease can cause food shortages for predators and may explain the rapid decline of Southern Resident killer whales. [Vancouver Sun / Times Colonist]

Victoria’s Chelsea Green is queen of the WWE after taking interim title
World Wrestling Entertainment held SummerSlam last weekend in Minneapolis: two nights of grappling to determine the interim women’s champion. Interim, because reigning champ Rhea Ripley is injured and couldn’t compete. Green, a Claremont Secondary grad, defeated Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, Charlotte Flair and Lash Legend in a multi-person ladder match—no pinfalls or submissions—to earn the title. The 35-year-old trained in Calgary before returning to BC to kickstart her wrestling career. [Black Press]

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🎂 Cake Decorating Workshop: Learn beginner-friendly icing and piping techniques and take home your own decorated cake at Flourish BeauTea in Langford today. 6pm. [Info]

🎶 Singer-Songwriter Showcase Session 12: Local singer-songwriters will bring their folk, country, and acoustic roots sounds to The Coda tonight. 6:30-8:30pm. [Info]

🙏 Elevate: Victoria’s Only Spiritual Salon: Hear live jazz and a thought-provoking talk, along with meditation and reflection at Victoria Truth Centre every Thursday. 7-8:30pm. [Info]

😂 Kellen Erskine: Catch this special one-night-only standup show from comedian Kellen Erskine at Hecklers Bar & Grill tonight. 8pm. [Info]

🏛️ Maritime Museum of BC: Pay-What-You-Can Friday: Enter the Maritime Museum at a price of your choosing tomorrow. [Info]

🎵 Mary Kastle: The pianist and singer will perform a free folk soul concert at the Cameron Bandshell tomorrow. 1:30–3:30pm. [Info]

🎞️ Free-B Film Festival 2026: B-movie classics and nostalgic cinema return to the park under the stars at Cameron Bandshell. The Labyrinth screens tomorrow at 9pm; Planes, Trains and Automobiles screens Saturday at 9pm. [Info]

🎨 Bowker Creek Brush-Up Arts Show and Sale: More than 2K are expected to attend this outdoor display of beautiful artwork by 60+ artists, from Hampshire to Armstrong. Sunday. 11am-4:30pm. [Info] 

Wednesday’s headlines: Sooke artist surprised by attention for Trump dung painting; Point Ellice House is closing to the public; WestJet in recovery phase after a brief strike. [Aug. 5]

UVic building evacuated after suspicious smell: It reopened 3.5 hours later. [UVic]

Witnesses sought in possible hate-motivated offence at Vancouver near Queens. [VicPD]

Cook construction: intermittent lane and crosswalk closures, Hillside to Summit through tomorrow.

Island Star Party 2026: Tomorrow & Saturday nights in Saanichton. 

Art of the Cocktail is Oct. 24. [Tickets on sale]

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