Julie Whittet
Donations brought in for residents homeless after apartment fire
KELOWNA - Last night residents from the Legacy apartment building on Rutland Road gathered to meet with emergency social services at the Salvation Army Church. A fire ignited by a patio barbeque on Tuesday night ravaged the building, demolishing the roof and leaving close to seventy residents temporarily homeless. Kyle Wetton came out of tonight's...
WIENS TRIAL: No evidence knife-hand was manipulated, doctor says
ANOTHER DEFENCE WITNESS REFUTES CROWN THEORY Another expert witness testified today the prosecution has little to no evidence that Lynn Kalmring didn't have a knife in her hand at the moment she was shot by her common-law partner Keith Gregory Wiens. On Monday, 12 jurors will have to determine, among other things, if Wiens was...
Red Cross to assist residents evacuated from Bristol apartment
In response to a devastating apartment fire that ousted residents at 445 Franklyn Road from their homes Saturday, the Red Cross is now offering additional support. Residents from Rutland's Bristol Apartment building can meet with the Red Cross today if they still require assistance with shelter, food and basic necessities. Emergency Social services has placed...
WIENS TRIAL: Crown suggests blood expert biased
KELOWNA - An expert blood spatter analyst testified Monday the evidence gathered from the fatal shooting of Lynn Kalmring doesn't support the theory of a knife being placed in the victim's hand after death. Private consultant Joseph Slemko said there were too many possibilities at play to draw such a conclusion. Slemko was called to...
New hospital parking would demolish heritage site
KELOWNA - The expanded emergency ward for Kelowna General Hospital will soon need its own parking lot. Interior Health wants to create that parking on the same site where a 74-year-old heritage home currently sits at 434 Royal Avenue. Yesterday, city council received Interior Health's application for a heritage alternation permit to demolish the house...
WIENS TRIAL: Blood spatter inconclusive, defence suggests
KELOWNA - Blood stains found on the body of Lynn Kalmring following a fatal 2011 shooting appears to be key evidence in the trial for Keith Gregory Wiens. Wiens is charged with second degree murder and today the defence called its own expert blood pattern analyst to the stand. Private consultant Joseph Slemko, one of...
Cigarette started apartment fire that has left many homeless
KELOWNA - A cigarette was found to be the accidental cause of an apartment fire that demolished two suites, sent two people to the hospital from smoke inhalation and left around 80 residents temporarily homeless this weekend. Fire department and Emergency Social Services met with residents at the Salvation Army church on Sutherland Road this...
SOPA Square moving ahead with plans for rear parking
Since starting up over three years ago, the stalled development SOPA Square seems to be moving ahead and today developer P218 Enterprises is taking the project back to city council for a re-zoning approval. The developer is requesting to rezone properties on Groves Ave and Newsom Ave at the rear of the Square to create surface...
WIENS TRIAL: Defence asks how knife was bloodied
When police found the body of Lynn Kalmring in her Penticton home she was holding a bloodied knife in her left hand. Kalmring died from a close range gunshot to the head in the early hours of August 16, 2011. In the trial for Keith Gregory Wiens, who is charged with second-degree murder, the Crown...
WIENS TRIAL: Accused asked why he didn’t call 911 if he feared for his life
Keith Gregory Wiens had no time to make a 911 call when a fight with his partner turned hostile. Instead, he chose to arm himself with the loaded handgun he kept in his dresser drawer, the Kelowna Supreme Court heard today. In his cross-examination today crown lawyer Colin Forsyth pressed Wiens to explain why he...
WIENS TRIAL: Accused asked if money source of tension with victim
“YOU SEEM PRETTY ON TOP OF YOUR FINANCES”: CROWN On New Year's Day of 2011 Keith Gregory Wiens sat down to write a letter to his then common-law partner Lynn Kalmring. The letter outlines a number of expenses Kalmring would have to start paying if she wanted to continue their relationship. Yesterday in Kelowna Supreme...
CLARK WINS: coverage as it happened
10:45 p.m This concludes the Infotel News live coverage of the B.C. byelection for Westside-Kelowna. 10:40 p.m. All ballot boxes have been reported. The preliminary voting results are as follows with the final count commencing July 17, 2013: Liberal Christy Clark 10,666 votes and 62.70 per cent; NDP Carole Gordon 5,045 votes and 29.66 per...
Emergency evacuation empties Kelowna court house
The jury was out today - along with all other court officials, staff and public in the Kelowna court house when a fire alarm was pulled around 9:30 this morning. All proceedings came to a grinding halt when the fire department showed up and cleared the building. No one was allowed in or near the...
Christy Clark wins her seat in Westside-Kelowna
WESTSIDE-KELOWNA GETS B.C. PREMIER AS MLA With just over 60 per cent of the popular vote B.C. Premier Christy Clark was elected MLA in Westside-Kelowna tonight. While some anticipated Clark wouldn't be able to match Ben Stewart's popularity with constituents, tonight proved otherwise. Flocked by supporters, fellow Liberals and media, Clark made her entrance at...
WIENS TRIAL: Defence questions theory of prior blood letting
Yesterday jury members in the trial for Keith Gregory Wiens heard of blood stains at the crime scene resulting from an event prior to the fatal shooting. Today however, the court heard another possibility the sudden death of victim Lynn Kalmring could have caused body movements responsible for the irregular blood stains. Wiens, a former...