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jsleeper

Many factors contribute to youth violence

Fred Kesler strolls through his neighbourhood on Peachland's San Clemente Avenue, mere metres from the spot where 16-year-old Ashlee Hyatt was stabbed by a friend and bled to death nearly 2 1/2 years before. A jury ruled Sunday that Hyatt died of a wound from a knife swung by a friend. Kesler couldn't help but...

Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society needs Christmas Eve volunteers

Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society is a little different. Instead of the traditional Christmas turkey or ham dinner other non-profit agencies offer, Ki-Low-Na serves buffalo for their traditional Feed the People complimentary dinner for those in need on Christmas Eve. And, Event Coordinator Kathleen Bray said, they do it for a very good reason. "They get turkey at...

SHARE, Sandman help families improve their Christmas

For Vickie Song, it was an easy decision, one in which pride had no place. She tried doing it on her own. As a trained chef, she cooked for mining camps in Northern B.C., but shift work took too much time away from her children, Nicholas, 14, and Breanna, 11. She now hasn't worked in a...

SHARE, Sandman help families improve their Christmas

For Vickie Song, it was an easy decision, one in which pride had no place. She tried doing it on her own. As a trained chef, she cooked for mining camps in Northern B.C., but shift work took too much time away from her children, Nicholas, 14, and Breanna, 11. She now hasn't worked in a...

Kelowna man arrested with knife, loaded gun

A Kelowna man faces weapons charges after he was arrested in a pub with a loaded handgun. Ryan Bradley Allin, 29, was arrested Saturday night at the Willow Park Pub, 590 Highway 33 West. When Kelowna RCMP arrived, they found a man seated at the bar with a loaded .45 calibre pistol tucked in the...

Electricity rates to rise in 2013

Electricity rates for Kelowna customers are going up in 2013. Kelowna City councillors approved an annual rate increase of 6.5 percent to the city's electrical utility rates for residential, municipal and school customers at Monday's regular meeting. On average, a customer using 940 KWhs a month can expect to pay an additional $6.83 a month....

Paramedics: RCMP officers save man’s life

Paramedics are crediting two Kelowna RCMP officers for saving a man's life. At 3:30 p.m. Monday, the RCMP received a report of a possible intentional overdose at a residence on the 1400 block of Leaside Avenue. No one answered the door when police arrived, but officers were able to gain access to the home through...

No one hurt in duplex fire

Twelve people escaped unharmed in a Rutland duplex fire this morning. Kelowna fire crews responded to a 911 call at 7:11 a.m., about a house fire in the 500 block of Bolotzky Court. The first arriving engine reported heavy black smoke coming from the right rear of the two-storey duplex, along with smoke and flames...

Bus crashes near Merritt; passengers taken to hospital

More than three dozen passengers were taken to hospital following a commercial-bus crash near Merritt. The Logan Lake RCMP responded to a single-vehicle collision early Monday morning on Highway 5 involving a commercial coach bus. An estimated 40 passengers and the bus driver were taken to Kamloops Royal Inland Hospital as a precautionary measure. The...

Sweet-Grant pleads guilty to assault in burning

Mathew Sweet-Grant has pleaded guilty to two assault counts in the video-recorded burning of a young man at a Kelowna house party. Sweet-Grant, 20, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and assault with a weapon Monday in B.C. Provincial Court. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 4. Sweet-Grant and Joshua McWhirter, 18, were arrested last week on...

Council to hear report about Lakeshore upgrades

The city will find out what's needed to improve Lakeshore Road when a report is presented on Monday. The report from Director of Infrastructure Planning Randy Cleveland will be presented during the regular city council meeting and is part of a 20-year servicing plan that would lead to upgrades to Lakeshore Road from Richter Street...

Councillors concerned with added policing costs

Some Kelowna city councillors are uncomfortable with the increased cost of adding three new RCMP officers and a civilian to the local police force. Policing constituted the largest item on the budget, accounting for about 25 percent of the $103 million burden to taxpayers. The RCMP contract called for an unexpected increase of $6,550 per...

Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society needs Christmas Eve volunteers

Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society is a little different. Instead of the traditional Christmas turkey or ham dinner other non-profit agencies offer, Ki-Low-Na serves buffalo for their traditional Feed the People complimentary dinner for those in need on Christmas Eve. And, Event Coordinator Kathleen Bray said, they do it for a very good reason. "They get turkey...

Kamloops, Kelowna to celebrate End of the World

The world may not come to an end on Dec. 21 as the Mayans predicted, but Kamloops may not be so lucky. A Facebook event circulating online has generated about 14,200 confirmed guests to attend an "end of the world party" expected to take place in Barnhartvale the evening before the Mayan prediction of the...

Social media to the rescue of hungry senior

At first, Barry Chretien only wanted to help a friend's father in any way he could. Maybe he'd spend a few extra bucks for food. The West Kelowna businessman was text-messaging late Monday night with a friend who lives in Northern B.C. She said her father, a West Kelowna resident, had run into difficulties, hadn't...