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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
RCMP marine unit focus is saving lives not writing tickets
OKANAGAN - With just one boat covering lakes throughout the southern Interior, there’s plenty of times when the long arm of the law simply ends at the lakeshore. But if you do run into the RCMP marine enforcement unit and you’re boat’s not up to snuff, they’ll be on your case, either writing you a...
Okanagan Lake water level not bad, next year could be the problem
OKANAGAN - Despite sitting smack dab in a region beset by a level four drought, Okanagan Lake is not doing too badly when it comes to water level, at least at first glance. Estimates from the natural resources ministry predict the lake won’t go down as far as it has in previous drought years. It's...
Top antique and art appraiser makes stop in the Southern Interior
KELOWNA - Here’s your chance to find out if that old painting hanging in the bathroom is really a Picasso or not. Professional antique and art appraiser Peter Blundell is making a one-day stop in Kelowna where he will appraise those uncertain antiques, collectibles and art pieces and tell you whether they are treasure or...
Missing woman with health concerns found
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - A missing Kelowna woman with health concerns has been located, according to RCMP. Brittany Nelson, 30, has been located and is safe and sound," Cpl. Joe Duncan says in a release sent one day after friends reported her absence. To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or...
Smoky skies continue, no end in sight to fire season
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With smoke-filled skies and reports of new fires almost every day, it begs the question that’s on everyone’s mind: When will this end? “It’s a good question. There is no hard and fast measure that tells us when things are done. Every season is its own animal,” Kevin Skrepnek says. And B.C. Wildfire’s...
Carriage houses may be coming soon to West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA - Residents in the Westbank centre and other select parts of West Kelowna could soon see carriage houses popping up in a nearby laneway. Council is due to give third reading to the draft regulations governing the new category of residential developments, the latest step in a lengthy process that began in 2012....
Smoke wreaks havoc on already-weakened hearts and lungs
SOUTHERN INTERIOR - Looks like the smokey skies will be with us until at least tomorrow and that means more discomfort for those with chronic heart and respiratory problems. “When we talk about smokey skies, we’re talking about the tiny solid particles that remain suspended in the air. The major concern is particles smaller than...
Westbank First nation youth centre to open next year
WEST KELOWNA - Aborignal youth will soon be moving into a veritable palace of a youth centre, at least compared to what they now have. “It’s 2,100 square feet, far too small to accommodate our needs, it’s second hand purchased in 1998,” Chief Robert Louie says, of the current facility located in a modular building...
Pair of small fires burning in Joe Rich
KELOWNA - A pair of small wildfires have ignited south of Joe Rich, not far from a much bigger fire in early July. Fire information officer Kayla Pepper says eight B.C. Wildfire personnel are working the two fires which are burning approximately half a kilometre apart south of Mission Creek near McCulloch Road. Pepper says...
Pool and gym at Parkinson Rec to shut down for cleaning
KELOWNA - Annual maintenance is leaving pool and gymnasium users out of luck at Parkinson Recreation Centre. The aquatic facilities will be closed from August 31 reopening September 20 should everything work out according to plan. The gymnasium will also be shut down during the same time period. Parkinson pass holders can use the aquatic...
Increased density doesn’t help farmland, says Agricultural Land Commission
KELOWNA - While converting an office to a home may not seem like much, Kelowna city staff are refusing to support a carriage house application because the lush homesite on Mission Creek is still viable for agriculture. Applicants Don and Diane Hickey are asking for support from the city for their application to the Agricultural...
Westbank First Nation chief and council paid well above peers
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Pay levels for chief and council of the Westbank First Nation can’t be…
Management team replaces president at Apple Triathlon
KELOWNA - A new management team will be replacing the outgoing head of the Kelowna Apple Triathlon. Long-term Apple Triathlon president Richard Montgomery is stepping down after this year’s event. Replacing him will be a management team of three, Malandi Elmore, Graham Hood and James Young, the same group which runs the Kelowna Cherry Blossom...
KF Aerospace announces more layoffs in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - Rebranding the company hasn’t helped KF Aerospace avoid the turbulence of the marketplace which has forced the company to cut jobs in both Kelowna and Hamilton. President Tracy Medve was not available for interviews Friday as the Kelowna-headquartered company announced layoffs equivalent to eight per cent of its workforce. However, Medve said in...
Grandfather wants to know what happened in ATV crash
LAKE COUNTRY - A grandfather is looking for answers after a serious ATV accident in orchard country left his grandson in coma. Kaiden Ross, 18, and an unidentified female passenger, also 18, were thrown from all-terrain vehicle they were driving the evening of August 12. The girl suffered minor relatively injuries but Ross ended up...
Tossing note to young girls nets charges for violent offender
LAKE COUNTRY - A local man is facing multiple charges after throwing notes from his car to young girls in Lake Country and Kelowna. James Jonathan Bryshun, 31, is accused of throwing notes with a phone number to young girls he passed in Lake Country, according to a media release from Kelowna RCMP. Bryshun is...
Kelowna wants input on how residents and amenities can live together
KELOWNA - Would you be comfortable with condos and commercial spaces cheek by jowl with the Okanagan Heritage Museum and the Kelowna Community Theatre? That’s one of the ideas that has come out of the ongoing consultation over the so-called civic block, which includes those buildings and others in the area. “We’ve had great input...
Mussel threat turns real during training session
OKANAGAN - A training session on how to inspect for invasive mussels turned hands-on when a contaminated boat showed up from Ontario. An Ontario couple shipped the boat to the Lower Mainland after it was moored for several months in the mussel-infested Rideau Canal, according to a press release from the Okanagan Basin Water Board....
ELECTION 2015: Kelowna Chamber will host federal candidates forum
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Three candidates battling it out for the Kelowna-Lake Country federal riding will square off in a candidates forum next month. The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce says it has invited Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan, New Democrat Norah Bowman and Liberal Stephen Fuhr to a federal candidates forum. The forum will allow the three...
Credit card skimmers prompt public warning by RCMP
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Police in the Central Okanagan are once again warning about card skimmers after the devices were discovered in Vernon and Kamloops. Spokeswoman Const. Anne Donnelly of the Kelowna RCMP fraud section, said in a press release there are ways to foil the scam, which requires both your debit card number and your personal...
Warm fall, mild winter in long-range forecast
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Look for a hotter, drier fall across the Southern Interior if AccuWeather’s long-range fall forecast holds true. Issued by AccuWeather’s global weather centre, the forecast says a stubborn high pressure system anchored over the West coast and abnormally warm water over the north-eastern Pacific have kept the weather warm and dry. This is...
Turning industrial trash into home furnishing treasures
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - There's something quintessentially Canadian about taking an item like a lowly wooden pallet or a fruit packing box and making good use of it. Keith Hamer and his crew take it one step further in an old fruit packing house in Oyama, creating a business to make new furniture out of old wood...
Who’s paying their property taxes and who isn’t in Kelowna
KELOWNA - All in all, we’re a pretty honest bunch if measured by how promptly we pay our property taxes. “We do have some people who don’t like having to pay but the majority of people are really good about it,” financial planning manager George King says. Property taxes totalling $226.7 million were due by...
Bird book inspired by UBCO’s bio-diversity
KELOWNA - If you’re looking for hot chicks, look no further than the Birds of the UBC Okanagan Campus 2016 calendar. Produced by biologists, the annual calendar features some of the birds that can be found on the school’s campus. Photographers this year ranged across the entire 209 hectares of campus grounds and includes bluebirds,...