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Video game creator Epic Games says it will fight what it calls “inflammatory allegations” in a class-action lawsuit being proposed by a Vancouver mother. The woman has filed paperwork in B-C Supreme Court against Epic Games alleging it designed its popular game Fortnite to be “as addictive as possible” for children. The statement of claim says the creators incorporated a number of intentional design choices that encourage players to return repeatedly such as offering rewards for completing challenges and making frequent updates. Epic Games says it has had cabined accounts” in place since 2022, which allow for parents to track their children’s playtime and limit purchases.

Leaders of a Saskatchewan First Nation are in Vancouver to launch plans to take over control of child welfare services for its members. It comes as the Key First Nation sent a letter to Premier David Eby expressing “heartbreak and outrage” at the loss of one of its teenage members while she was in British Columbia’s child welfare system. The letter says the nation has grave concerns about the BC government’s inaction on Noelle O’Soup’s disappearance and death last year. It calls on the government to address systemic failures that compromised the girl’s safety and her family’s access to information.

The Port Alberni Friendship Centre has been chosen as the new operator of a supportive housing and shelter building in the community. The Friendship Centre will take over from the Port Alberni Shelter Society on April 1. The building, known as Our Home on 8th, provides 30 supportive housing units, each with a bathroom and kitchenette, and 20 shelter spaces. The BC government says there will be no interruption of services to current shelter guests or supportive housing residents.

The second of two tunnel-boring machines constructing twin tunnels for Vancouver’s Broadway Subway Project, broke through to the future Mount Pleasant Station early Saturday morning. BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the machine, known as Phyllis, has excavated 725 metres of tunnel. Nearly 500 concrete liner rings have also been installed along the new section of tunnel. The Broadway Subway Project will extend the Millennium Line 5.7 kilometres from VCC-Clark Station to West Broadway and Arbutus Street.

Vancouver Island centenarian John Hillman just celebrated his 104th birthday and now is set to walk 104 laps around his retirement home’s courtyard to raise money for the Canadian charity Save the Children. Hillman, who lives at the Carlton House in Oak Bay, BC, hopes to raise 104 thousand dollars this year. This is the fourth year the Second World War veteran has taken on his fundraising walk. Over the past three years he’s raised more than 330 thousand dollars for children across the globe.