Shannon Quesnel

Shannon Quesnel

How the Penticton Vees handled nude photos sent to players

'WE HOLD OUR GUYS TO A HIGH STANDARD' PENTICTON - The Penticton Vees were way ahead of a 15-year-old girl who sent nude photos of herself to some of the players. The team spoke to players about potential dangers coming through texts, Facebook or Twitter before she sent them. "Those pictures were sent to a...

Drive safe, drive sober RCMP remind

PENTICTON - Getting home safe would be the best Christmas gift under the tree and the Penticton RCMP will work to make that happen with National Impaired Enforcement Day. RCMP state 95 people a year are killed in crashes usually from impaired driving. On Saturday, Dec. 7 officers in Penticton and across the country want...

Never dirty to ask about sex, sexual health

PENTICTON - Being able to access porn on the internet doesn't mean people are educated about sex. "There are lots of people having sex but there aren't a lot of (sex) educated people having sex," public health nurse Colleen Maloney said. She, Kathy Hiebert and other staff with the Opt Penticton sexual health program take...

Price of power – mayor defends electric rate increases

PENTICTON - Higher power rates is what's needed for the city-owned electric utility to stay in business Mayor Garry Litke said. The mayor appeared annoyed with arguments at Monday's council meeting the city could run its utility near or at a loss. There were concerns about higher power rates hurting people on fixed incomes or...

No criminal record for underage affair?

THEN 20-YEAR-OLD HAD RELATIONSHIP WITH 15-YEAR-OLD PENTICTON - If a young man obeys the rules of his sentence, he'll have no criminal record even after pleading guilty to and being sentenced for sexual assault. Harrison Bruce, 22, was involved in a consensual relationship with a then 15-year-old girl, Crown prosecutor Catherine Crockett said. Despite both...

Car bomber claims it was retribution for bullying

'YOUR PYRO DAYS ARE DONE' PENTICTON - Detonating a car bomb is no way to deal with allegations of bullying, according to a Penticton judge. Stephan Wesley Daoust, 19, and his older brother were charged with placing or throwing explosive to damage property in connection to an explosion in Oliver Aug. 11. Daoust admitted he...

How one man justifies child pornography

DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER PENTICTON - At least babies were off-limits for a man convicted of possessing child pornography. A psychiatric assessment discovered Garry Schakel, 49, of Penticton, would not look at or would avoid images of infants in sexual situations when he went looking for child porn, Crown prosecutor Catherine Crockett said. She...

School strike averted

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Students will not be getting extra days off as a school support staff strike has been averted. CUPE Local 523 members were in a legal strike position today in the Okanagan-Similkameen, Okanagan-Skaha and North Okanagan-Shuswap school districts but last minute negotiations mean no picket lines today and no walkout on Wednesday. CUPE spokesman...

Electricity, distillery at tonight’s council meeting

PENTICTON - Electricity rate increases will surely generate some heat during the city's budget season. The municipality will be running a $979,000 deficit if council continues with their zero per cent tax increase policy for 2014. At tonight's council meeting the deficit plus higher power bills have the potential to electrify the discussion. Fortis B.C....

Penticton continues wooing WestJet

PENTICTON - WestJet wants Penticton to convince the company to park one or more of its planes at the Peach City airport. The airline will have new planes in 2015 and economic development director Colleen Pennington wants the company to stop passing up the Penticton Regional Airport when it looks for new communities to connect...

Crystal meth possession leads to arrests

PENTICTON - A young woman, 19, was busted for trafficking meth in the 2700 block of Skaha Lake Road yesterday. She was arrested for trafficking and for crystal meth possession for the purpose of trafficking after police found a few grams of the drug on her person. The woman did not have a criminal record...

Double duty for Santa in Oliver, Summerland tonight

PENTICTON - Santa Claus will somehow do double duty by simultaneously appearing in Summerland and Oliver tonight. The man in red will be in Summerland for that town's 26th annual Festival of Lights firework spectacular, as well as a fire display and ice carvings. Everything begins on Main Street. There will be dancers, singers, a...

Circling large aircraft on training mission

PENTICTON - The large and unmarked aircraft above Penticton yesterday was a military plane but it wasn't from the National Security Agency. It was a Canadian Forces C-130 Hercules on a training mission, according to a NAV Canada official. The four-propellor aircraft flew in tight circles and anybody who wasn't strapped in must have had...

Woman’s sentence seen as assistance

PENTICTON - A convicted woman wants to stay in prison to better her life and Judge Gale Sinclair agrees. Megan Anne Roberts, 26, was sentenced in Penticton Provincial Court today to six months at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women for breaching a conditional sentence order. Roberts was on that order after being found guilty...

House wins, 3 not-for-profits benefit

PENTICTON - Gambling pays off big for three social service groups with $108,250 in gaming grants. The South Okanagan Similkameen Volunteer Centre Society will receive $62,500 for its programs, the Penticton Early Childhood Education Society will get $13,750 to help fund its nursery, and the Canadian Mental Health Association’s South Okanagan Similkameen Branch will get...