VANCOUVER - HELLS ANGELS MEMBER ARRESTED IN OTTAWA

Vancouver police say they've made a high profile arrest in two separate gang-related murders in 2012.

Police say 40-year-old Hells Angels member Larry Ronald Amero was arrested Thursday in Ottawa and will remain in custody until he's returned to B.C. to face charges of conspiracy to commit murder in the killings of Sandip Duhre and Sukhveer Dhak.

They say Amero is well known to police and was badly injured in a shooting that left Red Scorpions leader Jonathan Bacon dead in 2011.

Thirty-two-year-old Dean Michael Wiwchar and 30-year-old Rabih “Robby” Alkhali are charged with the murder of Duhre while Wiwchar is also accused of conspiracy in the death of Dhak.

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FORMER B.C. PREMIER SAYS WOMEN SETTING EXAMPLES

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says change is finally coming to the often brutally sexist business of politics, thanks to lots of brave women who are making their voices heard.

The province's first elected female premier has written a lengthy Facebook post reacting to the resignations Thursday of former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown and former federal cabinet minister Kent Hehr following allegations of sexual misconduct or impropriety.

Clark says women who are coming forward after experiencing sexual assault, harassment, or aggressive and unwelcome advances set a powerful example.

She says voters can also help change the situation by electing more qualified women while first ministers should make sure they don't load up their offices and senior civil service with men because it's a lot harder for sexist behaviour to be ignored when there's a woman in the room.

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ACQUITTED MAN SUING GOVERNMENTS OVER TERRORISM CHARGES

A B.C. man acquitted of terrorism-related charges is suing the federal and provincial governments for malicious prosecution.

The lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court by Othman Hamdan says the sole evidence presented against him was online posts that he says are constitutionally protected free speech that were woefully inadequate to get a conviction.

Hamdan was charged in 2015 over 85 Facebook posts supporting some actions of Islamic State militants and celebrating "lone wolf" terrorists but a B.C. judge ruled last year that his comments did not constitute inciting terrorism.

None of the allegations contained in the lawsuit has been proven and no statements of defence have been filed.

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INCREASE IN ORGAN DONATIONS SAVING LIVES IN B.C.

BC Transplant says there was a significant growth of 25 per cent in deceased organ donors last year.

The agency says that helped save a record-breaking 479 lives.

It says B.C.’s deceased donor rate increased to 24.9 per million people from 20.3 in 2016, thanks to a concentrated effort on the part of hospital health care teams to identify potential donors and support families in choosing organ donation.

Dr. David Landsberg, the provincial medical director of BC Transplant, is also crediting a shift in our culture to one that fully supports organ donation as a normal end-of-life option.

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TRUSTEE SAYS SCHOOL-NAMING POLICIES SHOULD CHANGE

A Vancouver school trustee says the school board needs to revise its school naming and renaming policies to better reflect the city’s multicultural heritage and its commitment to reconciliation.

Green party trustee Janet Fraser says a motion she's proposed calling for the revision was inspired in part by the city’s recent recommendations and apology for historic discrimination against people of Chinese descent.

The motion due to come up for a vote on Monday says the development and implementation of new policies would be undertaken in consultation with school communities, community groups and local First Nations.

Fraser says the names of the Vancouver board's more than 100 schools do not fully reflect the city’s diversity and it's time to change that.

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GROUP WANTS MORE CHARGING STATIONS CONNECTING COMMUNITIES

A group that supports local governments in developing climate action plans says it's working to get electric vehicle charging stations installed throughout the northern Interior.

The Community Energy Association says the network of stations connecting Kamloops with Haida Gwaii would help get more clean energy vehicles on northern roads.

Prince George has given the association a letter of support and the Regional District of Fraser Fort George has made a financial commitment to have about a dozen charging stations installed along Highways 16 and 5.

The association says that support will help when it applies for funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and it's hoping the charging stations could be in place as early as next spring.

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By The Canadian Press, Vancouver

News from © The Canadian Press, 2018