Shannon Quesnel
All aboard the Santa Express
SUMMERLAND - For everyone who wanted a train set for Christmas here is something a bit better - a chance to ride a steam locomotive with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The Summerland Christmas Express is an annual event put on by the Kettle Valley Steam Railway. Tickets were sold out for its holiday season run...
Residents safe after fire destroys home outside protection zone
THOMPSON/OKANAGAN - There was nothing to be done for a burning home outside Peachland's fire department area of responsibility. A fire was reported around 3:45 p.m. yesterday but when Peachland Fire and Rescue Service learned there was no one in the two-storey home on the 4500 block of Trepanier Road they could not respond. Instead,...
Rock in sock nets man weapon conviction
PENTICTON - Putting a rock in a sock was enough for a judge to convict a Penticton man with a weapon charge. Provincial Court Judge Gregory Koturbash found Anthony Leonard Donald Samuelson, 20, guilty of assault with a weapon and aggravated assault for attacking another person last winter near the bridge on Front Street. The...
Summerland woman fights off coyotes to defend dog
'HER COAT WAS COVERED IN BLOOD AND THERE ARE HUGE TEARS IN BOTH SLEEVES.' SUMMERLAND - A woman was bloodied Wednesday after she held her ground between three attacking coyotes and her dog but she and her partner don't want the predators demonized. Sarah James was too distraught to speak but told the whole story...
Stuffed deer centrepiece of Nazarene church display
PENTICTON - It appears a deer found its way into the Church of the Nazarene and is lurking behind a nativity scene in front of the pews, but it's no wandering herbivore looking for warmth or an easy meal. It's actually the stuffed head and neck of a white-tailed deer and it's part of a...
Family homeless after fire destroys roof
KEREMEOS - A home-destroying blaze has put a Cawston family out into the cold this holiday season. On Monday the roof of a Ferko Road residence caught fire and collapsed into the home, Keremeos Volunteer Fire Department fire chief Jordy Bosscha said. There were two occupants at the time but they escaped unharmed. There was a...
Crown wants sex offender in jail for 10 years
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT PENTICTON - Even the defence lawyer agreed there's little chance of softening a sentence for a man who bit clean through a woman's labia and spit part of it across the room. Brian Douglas Louie, 35, sat quietly in Penticton Provincial Court today and listened to his lawyer, Micah Rankin, go over...
Gallagher Lake business suffering thanks to road work
"IT'S SO BAD PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO CALL IT THE BROKE-ANAGAN OLIVER - Several businesses are alleging financial injury from sewer and water line installations meant to make the Gallagher Lake area more developer friendly. Scot Hutchinson, owner of Route 97 Motorcycle and Sales, said his business has been crippled by the the installation of...
Icy weather crashes Santa’s parade
PENTICTON - There was a promise of fire near the end of the 2013 Penticton Santa Claus Parade on Saturday evening and Remax didn't disappoint. The realty company brought one-half of their iconic balloon - some would say the best half - the basket and burner. The operator would launch huge gouts of flame into...
Mom catches up to tech-savvy kids thanks to Infotel
PENTICTON - Her kids told her to get "with the times" and so Gillian Ciunyk did just that with a shiny new tablet. The Infotel prize winner of a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 was all a-twitter over the shiny black rectangle she pulled out of its box at her place of employment, the law firm...
Mayor keeps councillors in line over vehicle costs
PENTICTON - City hall got a little warmer at Friday's budget meeting as councilors clashed over the costs of replacing the municipality's aging vehicles, fire trucks and earth movers. Councilors Wesley Hopkin, Katie Robinson and John Vassilaki fired some indirect shots across the U-shaped council table about persons not being fiscally responsible. No one accused...
Penticton scores enough signatures, cannabis petition
PENTICTON - A cannabis decriminalization petition got more than enough signatures from people the Penticton riding to submit to Elections B.C. however other ridings in the province may fall short. Sensible B.C. director Dana Larsen said he is still hoping to collect 200,000 of the 400,000 signitures needed to trigger a referendum. The deadline to submit...
Offender sentenced after lawyer takes him back
PENTICTON - A lawyer and his client reconciled their differences and accepted a 44-month sentence with 85 days already served. Andrew Robert Hardenstine, 33, will do four years of hard time for illegal firearms, drug possessions and other crimes committed in mid-September. The sentence was a joint submission made between Crown prosecutor John Swanson and...
Out-of-town thieves suspected in Osoyoos car thefts
OSOYOOS - Information is the best weapon against those who have been stealing from vehicles in underground and other parking areas in Osoyoos. Osoyoos RCMP detachment need details and descriptions of those digging through secured parked vehicles on Cottonwood Drive, Maple Drive and Jack Pine Lane for the past six weeks. Stolen items range from...
End of the road for driver of pickup
PENTICTON - A driver from Penticton found out the hard way Channel Parkway comes to an end at Skaha Lake. RCMP Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said a local resident, 33, was heading south down Channel Parkway last night with a woman, 53, as a passenger. The 2009 black Dodge truck crossed the intersection around 8:15 p.m.,...