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Second crossing of Okanagan Lake begins with a three-year study
KELOWNA - A consulting firm was chosen recently by the province to carry out a three-year transportation study looking for the best way to get people across Okanagan Lake. Delcan Corporation was selected by the B.C. Ministry of Transporation and Infrastucture to undertake the planning assignment. The study will cost $2 million. Delcan will look...
Teacher strike 2014: The timeline
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A lot has happened since negotiations began on the latest contract for B.C. teachers and it’s easy to lose track of how we got to where we are today. Here we take a look back at the basics, where we are and what steps the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School...
Teachers’ union continues push for binding arbitration
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Even after the B.C. government said no to binding arbitration this weekend, the teachers’ union won't give up hope. The union feels arbitration could end the strike and get its members a fair settlement. “Binding arbitration is a fair, practical and pragmatic approach,” B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker said Monday morning at...
Teachers’ union has plan to get school back in session
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Just two days after saying the union would not consider a vote to suspend the current strike Jim Iker, the teachers’ union president, says they would recommend members vote to suspend the strike if the government is willing to agree to binding arbitration. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation president says this is another option...
PROSKIW: The lesson of the day: It’s okay to fight dirty
At a recent B.C. Teachers Federation anti-government rally, one of the speakers brought someone with her to the microphone. Her five-year-old son was suddenly before 300 cheering people on the side of a busy highway. The boy tries to hide in her arms a few times but after some gentle prodding he eventually parrots “I want school.”...
TEACHERS’ STRIKE: How much money the Terry Fox Foundation stands to lose
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The kids, the teachers, the government, the parents. We’ve heard over and over again how the current labour dispute is affecting them, but what about the organizations that also rely on schools to help with fundraising? Every year during September, students raise money for the Terry Fox Run but this year, unless teachers and...
At least someone’s getting a laugh over the teachers’ strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It appears someone working for the provincial government's web department has added a little ironic wit—if not annoying editorial—to the rhetoric on the teachers strike. When all hope of ending the teachers strike before Sept. 2 was lost on the weekend, the B.C. government opened up its website so parents can register to...
Two infected horses in Interior first signs of West Nile Virus in B.C.
CACHE CREEK – Veterinarians diagnosed two sick horses Monday with West Nile Virus, the first confirmed cases in B.C. Monday afternoon. Dr. John Twidale of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, confirmed the disease was present in the two horses, one in Cache Creek and the other in Ashcroft. The virus has spread across Canada infecting...
Peachland’s Drought Hill fire now 100% contained
PEACHLAND – B.C. Wildfire crews along with the Peachland and West Kelowna fire departments are currently mopping up the scene of the Drought Hill fire, which has already burned for four days but is now 100 per cent contained. “It’s still 40 hectares in size. There will be 50 personnel on site today,” says Kelsey...
What parents need to know about the teacher strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers in B.C. voted overwhelmingly in favour of moving to a full strike if contract negotiations continue to stall and that could mean an early summer break for some students and limited report cards for others. The history of non-agreement between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, the...
Teachers agree to full strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — More than 28,000 B.C. teachers voted in support of moving to a full strike, a move that could come as early as next week. In total more than 33,000 teachers took part in the vote Monday and Tuesday, with 86 per cent voting in support of stage three action. “Thank you for standing...
Teacher strike hits childrens’ festival where it hurts
"WE'RE JUST TRYING TO DO THE BEST WE CAN IN THIS SITUATION." KELOWNA - Organizers of a West Kelowna childrens' festival are worried the ongoing dispute between the BCTF and the province will hurt attendance at the 8th annual Interior Savings Fat Cat Children's Festival this weekend. Artistic director Dorothee Birker says teachers bringing kids...
Kelowna isn’t as fat as the rest of the country
KELOWNA – Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the abundance of recreational opportunities, but a report released by Statistics Canada Wednesday names Kelowna as the least obese city in the country. Participants in the study, conducted between 2003 and 2012, were asked their height and weight and the numbers were adjusted to factor in misrepresentation...
B.C. Liberal Convention comes to Kelowna
KELOWNA – The B.C. Liberal Party holds their biannual convention at the Delta Grand Hotel in downtown Kelowna this weekend. Hundreds of party caucus members are expected to attend including Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick and Surrey lawyer Sukminder Virk who will each serve as co-chair. Check-in started this morning. “Convention 2014 is a great...
Teacher negotiations moved forward
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — The province announced Thursday it would remove the 10-year term from the table and the teachers’ union president says it’s a relief to finally see it off the table. “It shows the government is willing to get more serious about it and we are happy about that,” B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker...
UPDATE: Missing Alberta girls found safe in Boston Bar
VULCAN Alta. - An Amber Alert issued in British Columbia for two girls taken by their biological mother from a school near Vulcan, Alta. was deactivated shortly after 5 p.m. after the two girls and their mother were found safe in Boston Bar. Taya Zamra Meisel, 6, and her sister, Talisha Jayden Meisel, 12, were...