TodaySaturday, July 18

Victoria's Bay Street Bridge is fully open again, five months to the day after crews started work on it.

The Point Ellice Bridge project began Feb. 17, and the city said the upgrade was complete on July 17. Eastbound traffic was shut from February until June 11, when the bridge reopened to two-way traffic with some overnight closures still needed for finishing touches.

The work replaced the bridge's 65-year-old drainage system and its main deck joint, the piece that lets the span expand and shrink as temperatures change. "This work will help extend the life of the bridge and keep it serving the community for years to come," the city said Friday.

Rock Bay businesses had flagged concerns about the partial closure earlier in the project, and the mid-June finish date drew scrutiny after a repair hiccup. The city stood by its timeline, and the bridge is now carrying full traffic in both directions.

Cooper Prescott was sitting on his bed in Courtenay on Friday morning, both feet on the floor, when lightning struck the roof just outside his window. He felt a shock travel through his left leg, and still couldn't hear out of his left ear afterward. He wasn't seriously hurt, just "a bit shaken."

The strike also lit a small fire the family didn't notice until his mother, Angie, was already on the phone with 911. A neighbour had seen the flames and called it in. BC Hydro cut power to the home, and firefighters arranged emergency support for the family.

Courtenay's fire chief said it had been a long time since the valley saw an electrical storm like this one, with crews juggling roof fires, downed poles, flooded streets, and mutual aid from Cumberland and Comox. The bulk of the severe weather stayed north of Courtenay; Greater Victoria got thunder Thursday but nothing that hit Environment Canada's threshold. Closer to home, a Saanich crash Friday morning at Elk Lake and Royal Oak downed power lines and knocked out 157 customers, though police believe that was a driver medical incident, not the storm.

A 10-person mobile sauna is coming to Esquimalt Gorge Park this October, run by Vancouver company Gatherwell near the Gorge Waterway Nature House.

Council approved the one-year trial unanimously, with drop-in sessions priced at $29 for 75 minutes. Gatherwell covers the install and operating costs, and hands the township 15 per cent of gross revenue. Staff figure that nets Esquimalt around $40,000 over the year.

Founder Jonathan Chawla says he turned to municipal parks after Vancouver's bylaws stalled his plan for an outdoor sauna and cold plunge. There were no permits for the new industry, so even small cold-plunge baths got treated like public pools. He took the Scandinavian route instead, pairing saunas with existing bodies of water and dropping the plunge pool entirely.

The committee that reviewed the proposal wasn't unanimously sold. Members flagged the $29 fee and asked how much commercial activity belongs in a public park. Council has directed staff to work with Gatherwell on subsidies for low-income residents, possibly through the township's existing LIFE program.