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Kamloops
One year later: The shooting of a Kamloops police officer
KAMLOOPS - It’s been one year since residents in the Batchelor Heights neighbourhood of Kamloops awoke to the sound of gunfire, only to find out a Mountie was gravely injured and a manhunt was underway. Cpl. Jean-Rene Michaud pulled a white sedan over on the side of the road on Dec. 3, 2014, around 2:45...
Changing speed limit signs on the way for B.C. highways
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Highway drivers will start seeing variable speed signs later this winter as the Ministry of Transportation begins installing them this week, though they won't be functioning until early in the new year. The pilot project, which is currently in its testing phase, will include signs on sections of the Trans-Canada, Sea to Sky...
Inspired by music, this Kamloops tree lights up when it feels the beat
KAMLOOPS - You might have noticed the festive lights strung across several trees on Victoria Street, but there’s one tree different than the rest. The tree, in front of Blenz Coffee shop, will only light up when a passerby connects its sensor to an instrument. “It’s actually very simple,” developer Aras Balali Moghaddam says. “The...
Kamloops artists sound off on Syrian conflict through music, spoken word
KAMLOOPS - Local artists are sharing their gifts to provide both commentary and support following ongoing conflict in Syria and the upcoming arrival of refugees to the area. Singers and songwriters Deandra Dey and Timothy Brookbanks recently produced a track, Wait and See, and are hoping to donate funds received from their song toward refugee support....
The Sheepdogs set to rock Vernon and Kamloops in early 2016
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Canadian band The Sheepdogs will be making two stops in the Southern Interior on its cross-country tour next year. The tour follows the latest album, Future Nostalgia, released by the Juno award-winning rock band from Saskatchewan. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, Dec. 4, for the Feb. 17 show at Cactus Jacks next...
Chase RCMP searching for suspects after armed bank robbery
CHASE - Police are searching for two suspects after staff at a bank in Chase were robbed at gunpoint this afternoon. RCMP Sgt. Gary Heebner says officers were busy investigating a false report of shots fired in the North Shuswap when a man holding a long-barrelled gun entered the Royal Bank branch at around 1:20...
Cattle rustler convicted in Kamloops starved cows to cover up theft: Rancher
KAMLOOPS - Ranch hand Jason John McDowell was sentenced in Kamloops earlier this month for defrauding his Cache Creek employer and stealing cows from an Alberta ranch owner. But somehow the sentencing judge never heard half the most damning allegations: He didn’t just sell his boss’s cattle, he nearly starved off his entire herd to...
What a Kamloops man discovered about himself on a long and difficult road
KAMLOOPS – Hal Bennett shouldn’t be alive. For years, he ignored his own diabetes and destroyed his kidneys with decades of alcohol, heroin and cocaine abuse. At one time, he couldn’t even stay clean long enough to save his own life and remain eligible for a transplant. But this fall, with nearly four years’ sobriety,...
Brent Butt to make only B.C. stop in Kamloops on cross-Canada tour
KAMLOOPS - Canadian comedian Brent Butt will make a stop in Kamloops next year for a stand-up show. The creator and star of CTV sitcom show Corner Gas will perform at the Sagebrush Theatre on March 20. The Kamloops show will be the last stop on his cross-Canada tour and is the only stop scheduled...
Suspects in Merritt car-jacking face assault charges in court
MERRITT - Two suspects arrested after an alleged car-jacking turned into a police standoff at a Merritt hotel are in court today. Samantha Kathleen Vleeming, born 1990, and Cory Claudio Battilana, born 1984, were arrested Nov. 25 after police followed up on a report of an attempted car-jacking at gunpoint. A man allegedly offered two...
Kamloops and Salmon Arm filmmakers receive $10,000 for digital shorts
KAMLOOPS - Two aspiring filmmakers from Kamloops and Salmon Arm were selected to receive $10,000 each from Telus to produce short films. Kamloops native Simon Ryder and Tabatha Golat from Salmon Arm were chosen to be part of 15 finalists in the company's Storyhive project, a funding program for film shorts. Ryder worked as a...
Photo of Kamloops teen jokingly asking PM Trudeau to prom goes viral
KAMLOOPS - A local high school student is learning the power social media has after posting a photo of her inviting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be her prom date. After breaking up with her boyfriend last Friday, Nov. 20, Kashlee Taylor-Proulx, 17, decided she needed a joke to make her smile. Now without a...
Kamloops search manager keen to get drones approved for search and rescue missions
KAMLOOPS - They’ve been used to capture birds-eye view images and to find hotspots from a wildfire, and following a successful test run this weekend drones could soon be used on search and rescue missions in B.C. as well. Kamloops Search and Rescue and local startup Hummingbird Drones partnered on a training mission this past...
Jann Arden tour includes stops in Kamloops and the Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - An award-winning Canadian singer will be making stops in two local cities this coming spring. Jann Arden is bringing her Almost Everything tour to the Vernon Performing Arts Centre on March 19 and the Sagebrush Theatre in Kamloops on March 21. Arden is a Canadian born singer, songwriter, broadcaster and author with eight...
Southern Interior braces for winter storm with blast of Arctic air
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The first Arctic outbreak of the season is going to blow through the Thompson-Okanagan bringing blowing snow, cold temperatures and “crummy travel conditions,” according to Environment Canada. A special weather statement, which covers most of southern B.C., has been issued by Environment Canada warning of a winter storm expected with the worst of...
Kamloops Search and Rescue tests potentially lifesaving drone technology
KAMLOOPS – Drones are getting a bad rap for everything from endangering aircraft and invading…
Curious about the price of marijuana in your city? Check PriceOfWeed website
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It isn’t legal yet in Canada, but that won’t stop people from keeping a close eye on weed market in their city. Akin to the website Gas Buddy, which monitors gas prices to help consumers find the lowest price in town, there’s a website called Price of Weed, in which users report the...
Anti-time change petition catches provincial government’s attention
KAMLOOPS - The Kamloops man with the plan to stop Daylight Saving Time in B.C. will seek support from local municipalities on the project after speaking with local MLAs last week. Bob Dieno created his Stop The Time Change in British Columbia on the website Change.org petition three weeks ago. Within the first three days...
No charges laid after 160 pounds of marijuana found in vehicle involved in fatal Highway 1 crash
REVELSTOKE - No charges have been laid after RCMP members discovered 160 pounds of marijuana in a tractor trailer involved in a fatal collision near Revelstoke yesterday. Police were called to an area on Highway 1 east of Revelstoke around 6 a.m., Nov. 17, after two commercial trucks collided. The driver of the eastbound tractor...
Drugs found in semi involved in fatal crash east of Revelstoke this morning
REVELSTOKE - One person is dead, Highway 1 between Golden and Revelstoke is closed and a drug trafficking investigation is underway after two commercial trucks collided early this morning, Nov. 17. Police say the cause of the crash is being investigated though compact snow with slippery sections and limited visibility with blowing snow was being reported...
Discover Wines stores set to shut down in Kelowna and Kamloops after company sells licenses to Overwaitea
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Two VQA wine stores in Kelowna and another in Kamloops have agreed to sell their wine licenses to the Overwaitea Food Group, paving the way for wine sales in local grocery stores. Tracy Gray, owner of Discover Wines in Kelowna and Kamloops, confirms the sale and pending closure of her stores, saying the...
Cattle rustler handed jail time, ordered to pay over $30,000 in restitution
KAMLOOPS - A cattle rustler who attempted to sell his boss’s livestock in Alberta before fleeing to work at a Cache Creek ranch will spend the next year-and-a-half in jail after pleading guilty to several offences. On Nov. 12, Kamloops Provincial Court Judge Roy Dickey sentenced Jason John McDowell, 38, to 18 months after he...
Heavy snow and rain expected on Southern Interior highways today
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you’re heading out on the highways be prepared for winter driving conditions; heavy snow and rain, along with strong winds, are expected today. Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for many highways in the Southern Interior warning of heavy snow, heavy rain and strong winds today, Nov. 17. Among the...
Highway 1 closed east of Revelstoke
REVELSTOKE - An early morning crash has closed the Trans-Canada Highway in both directions east of Revelstoke. Drive B.C. is reporting both directions closed 32 kilometres east of Revelstoke due to a vehicle incident just after 6 a.m. No detours are available. Compact snow with slippery sections and limited visibility with blowing snow is being...