John McDonald
John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.
It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.
But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.
If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca
Utilty rate increases gets water users coming and going
KELOWNA - They get you if you pour or flush. Kelowna city council has approved a two per cent increase in rates for both city water and waste water utilities. Beginning in May, rates for customers drawing city water — about half the businesses and houses in Kelowna — will climb about $.59 a month...
Developer-financed road to the Mission a first for city hall
KELOWNA - The city's director of corporate ventures has never heard of developers both financing and constructing a road, but that's the proposal for the new South Perimeter Way. “We have never delivered a road in this manner,” said John Vos. “In fact, this is unique in my experience.” A group of developers active in...
Say good-bye to confusing rail crossings with completion of CN Rail corridor purchase
KELOWNA - The CN Rail corridor purchase will be defined in Kelowna by what it gains — a multi-use transportation corridor — and what it loses — a bunch of annoying level crossings on local roads. “CN has an obligation to remove the railway ties and remediate the land,” said Doug Gilchrist, director of community...
Rail corridor acquisition looking likely in Lake Country as ‘no-votes’ fail to materialize
LAKE COUNTRY - The man spearheading Lake Country’s acquisition of the CN Rail corridor says he felt little opposition to the project at an open house he hosted last night for local residents. “We were asked a lot of very good questions from a good cross section of people. There seemed to be more concern...
Aging waterworks the target of proposed rate increase
KELOWNA - About half of Kelowna can expect a minor water rate increase sometime soon if Kelowna city council agrees to a recommendation by staff. John Vos, the city’s director of corporate business ventures, is recommending a two percent increase for those homes and businesses serviced by the city water utility. The rest of Kelowna...
Apartment fire puts occupants in the care of Emergency Social Services
KELOWNA - The occupants of an apartment on Glenview Avenue are in the care of Emergency Social Services today after fire early yesterday evening left their unit uninhabitable. Steve Wallick, a platoon captain with the Kelowna Fire Department, said firefighters responded in force to what turned out to be a grease fire in the kitchen...
Lake Country to jump on rail corridor purchase if no vote fails
KELOWNA — Lake Country will move ahead quickly with the purchase of its portion of the CN Rail corridor should the alternative approval process succeed, a prospect that seems increasingly likely. “If we’re good and we don’t reach the 931 by noon on Feb. 23 then hopefully we would have a special council meeting on...
Power back on after outage hits large chunk of Central Okanagan
KELOWNA - Only 124 customers in Vernon remain without power following an outage that affected thousands of B.C. Hydro customers in Kelowna, Lake Country and parts of Vernon. The brief power outage started at roughly 7:20 a.m. leaving more than 7,000 people in the dark. B.C. Hydro blames a transmission circuit failure for the outage....
City keeps cultural incubator cooking, gives out cash grants
KELOWNA - If there was an elephant in the room, Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran addressed it directly. “A lot of times people think ‘there goes the city spending money on culture’ without having the complete picture of what creative culture does for our community,” said the Mayor, as council received a report outlining $180,000 in...
No bad roads, only bad drivers say police after Hwy 33 hairpin accidents
KELOWNA - A spate of accidents near the eight-mile hairpin turn on Highway 33 are more of a sign of bad driving than a dangerous road, say Kelowna RCMP. The latest accident, where a Chevy Cruz fish-tailed into a logging truck, is the type of incident that could be avoided if drivers would follow the...
City doing swimmingly despite economic uncertainty
KELOWNA - The rest of the world may be in financial turmoil, but Kelowna continues to do fine, at least as measured by our performance as a community last quarter. “There is lots of volatility in the global economic climate,” the city’s community planning director Doug Gilchrist told council, while presenting them with positive numbers...
Big bucks on big plans for bikes and pedestrians in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA - West Kelowa is pushing ahead to improve and upgrade its pedestrian and bike path network with an ambitious plan both to make cycling and walking easier and to find ways to help pay for it. West Kelowna council saw the first draft of the 20-year pedestrian and bicyle path plan this week,...
Why West Kelowna council balked at a $100,000 gift to community
WEST KELOWNA - They don’t mind having it, just not where B.C. Hydro wants to put it. That’s the reaction of West Kelowna council to the utility’s proposal to install a fast charging station for electric cars at the Mt. Boucherie complex. “They liked the idea just not where they want to put it,” communications...
Sheer volume of snow overwhelmed West Kelowna crews during January dump
WEST KELOWNA - With just a couple years experience managing their own snow removal, staff with District of West Kelowna said they did alright during the near-record breaking snowstorm in early January with local reports of snow as deep as 50 centimetres. “We’re still quite new at this but we heard from other communities that...
City councillor Hodge could be out of hospital this weekend
KELOWNA – City councillor Charlie Hodge is on the mend and could be released from hospital soon, says his wife Teresa Hodge, although it’s not clear when he will return to work. "Charlie is slowly feeling better and we hope he can come home very soon,” she says. "Doctor will decide when he is ready...