Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Kamloops
Trans-Canada Highway east of Kamloops to be shut down during blasting
KAMLOOPS - Blasting will shut down Highway 1 east of Kamloops as crews prepare to move forward on the expansion of the highway. The closure will take place from 8 a.m. to noon tomorrow, Sept. 20. The highway will be closed in both directions about 13 kilometres west of Chase. An alternate route is available...
Independent investigators clear Kamloops officer of excessive force accusation
KAMLOOPS — A Kamloops Mountie will not face assault-related charges after the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. determined the officer did not use excessive force when arresting a suspect who suffered an injury causing paralysis last year. During a chase between a man with an outstanding warrant and police, the suspect jumped a series of...
How not to treat search and rescuers
TWO LOST PEOPLE NEAR KAMLOOPS WHO WOULDN'T FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS KAMLOOPS - Two people who were lost in the woods south of Kamloops after their car got stuck on a back road last night found a ride into town. Alan Hobler of Kamloops Search and Rescue says RCMP called them out around 5 a.m. to help...
Bear complaints overwhelming Okanagan conservation officers
KAMLOOPS NUMBERS SLOW DOWN AFTER EARLY SPIKE THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Conservation officers in the North and South Okanagan regions are being swamped with bear complaints as the large animals begin to prepare for hibernation. While fall always sees an uptick in bear activity, conservation officer Jim Beck says this year is worse than normal. “It’s crazy...
Fishing reopens on drought-affected Okanagan rivers
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Fishermen can again drop a line in streams and rivers that were closed to angling this summer because of drought in Southern B.C. The natural resource ministry announced in a press release the reopening of fishing on the Kettle, West Kettle and Similkameen Rivers and their tributaries, the Middle Shuswap River and the main...
SNELSON TRIAL UPDATE: Kelowna killer sentenced; only 19 months left to serve
KAMLOOPS - It took two trials and nearly 22 years for the case and the jail doors to close on Jennifer Cusworth’s killer, but it will only be one year and seven months before his release. Neil George Snelson, 48, was sentenced to 11 years today, Sept. 16, in Kamloops Supreme Court. Since he was...
Last day to book super cheap WestJet flights to London
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - WestJet has announced a super-low airfare to London, England with the cheeky slogan 'If that’s not cheap enough, you can always try mailing yourself.' Pricing for a non-stop flight from Vancouver to London’s Gatwick Airport starts at $299, one-way, with similar deals at select airports across Canada, including Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and...
Locals winners named for Aboriginal Business Awards
THOMPSON-OKANGAN - Some local aboriginal entrepreneurs are coming away from the B.C. Aboriginal Business Awards with wins this week. Troy Fraser Chiropractic of Kamloops has won Business of the Year in the one to two person enterprise category. Skyride Bike and Board Inc. of Vernon has won an outstanding achievement award for companies with three...
Acquitted Kamloops RCMP officer still awaiting internal conduct hearing
KAMLOOPS - It’s been nearly one year since his trial and five years since the event which took him to trial, yet Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Rick Brown has yet to have a conduct hearing from his employer. Brown was acquitted on a breach of trust charge in October of last year. Despite his acquittal, he...
Kamloops tyke shows ‘amazing strength’ in fight for his life
KAMLOOPS - Babies and toddlers cry for all types of reasons, but a Kamloops family is facing a worst case scenario after discovering their child was not crying because of a case of thrush, but rather something much more scary. At the beginning of September, Shantelle Araneda took 18-month-old Sawyer Jules to the doctor. Her...
Snow on the Okanagan Connector
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Drivers heading out on the highway should be prepared for a bit of snow at the higher elevations this morning. Drive B.C. is showing snow at several of the higher Okanagan elevations and temperatures are currently sitting around 0 Celsius. At the Coquihalla Summit it is currently raining and temperatures are sitting around...
Water drilling rush in B.C. Interior to get jump on new water regulations
IMPACT UNKNOWN THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Companies drilling water wells in the B.C. Southern Interior appear to be busier than usual and the reason may be the introduction next spring of the provincial Water Sustainability Act and its new well licensing requirements. While hard numbers of how many wells are being drilled are hard to come by...
ELECTION 2015: Support and anger during Harper’s Kamloops stop
KAMLOOPS - In a Kamloops warehouse filled with roughly 200 supporters and Conservative Party staffers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke of the economy under his government, touting the latest auditor general results from this morning as proof his government is the right one to be leading our country. The Conservative Party rally kicked off around...
ELECTION 2015: Prime Minister’s Penticton campaign stop confirmed
PENTICTON – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s campaign machine rolls into Penticton today. The Conservative leader will be holding two photo opportunities for the media, Sept. 13, at unconfirmed locations. At 6:15 p.m., Harper will be joined by South Okanagan-West Kootenay Conservative candidate Marshall Neufeld at Brutus Truck Bodies at 682 Okanagan Ave. East to “deliver remarks,”...
Why vaccinating 71 per cent of 7-year-olds in southern Interior should have you worried
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - To prevent a measles outbreak, 95 per cent of the population is required to be vaccinated, but the province’s southern Interior isn’t meeting that requirement with only 71 per cent of seven-year-olds vaccinated between 2012 and 2014. With the latest school year comes the annual round of vaccinations and kids will bring reminders...
Put your best paw forward this weekend and help stop animal abuse
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – This weekend thousands of animal lovers from across the Thompson-Okanagan will help stop animal abuse simply by walking their dogs. For more than a decade, residents of cities across the province have laced up their sneakers for the Scotiabank and BCSPCA Paws for a Cause Walk. Manager of the Kelowna SPCA Suzanne Pugh...
Thousands of Thompson-Okanagan renters mired in affordable housing crisis, new index says
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - About a quarter of all renters in the Thompson-Okanagan are facing an affordable housing crisis, according to a new study. The new Canadian Rental Housing Index is an interactive map which offers a snapshot of rental housing conditions across the country. You can search by city or electoral area riding, and find the...
Crash near Salmon Arm sends three to hospital
SALMON ARM - A two vehicle crash west of Salmon Arm Thursday afternoon shut down the highway for several hours and sent three people to hospital. The collision happened on Highway 1 about 14 kilometres west of Salmon Arm near Kault Hill. The driver of a car parked facing west on the shoulder attempted a...
SNELSON TRIAL: Killer’s sentence depends on finding of sexual assault argument
KAMLOOPS —It’s been almost 22 years since the night Neil Snelson killed college student Jennifer Cusworth after a party in Kelowna in 1993 and now Cusworth's family has one week left to find out how long he'll spend in prison. The 19-year-old Cusworth was found dead in a ditch on Swamp Road in Kelowna in...
SNELSON TRIAL: Kelowna Killer to be sentenced (again) for 1993 manslaughter of college student
KAMLOOPS - A Kelowna man who killed a female party guest in 1993 is due back in court today, Sept. 10, to be sentenced for manslaughter. In June, a Kamloops jury convicted Neil George Snelson of manslaughter in the death of Jennifer Cusworth. The 19-year-old's body was found in a ditch on Kelowna's Swamp...
CBC’s Ron MacLean bringing Hometown Hockey Tour to Penticton
PENTICTON - Kamloops won’t be the only Interior community celebrating the National Hockey League with Ron MacLean this season; Penticton has been named one of the stops on the second annual Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour. The tour will make 24 stops this year, four in B.C., and features NHL alumni, hometown heroes and local entertainment...
Missing teen sought in Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - RCMP are asking for help after an 18-year-old went missing a week ago. Kamloops RCMP say Sarah Robinson was reported missing on Sept. 2. The First Nations teen is described as 5’4” tall and 120 lbs with brown hair and eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Kamloops RCMP...
Man killed in Merritt crash named
MERRITT - A 32-year-old man from Surrey died when the vehicle he was in hit a rock bluff near Merritt last week. Jesse Dan Dietz was a passenger in a pickup truck that left the roadway and hit a rock bluff on Highway 5 near Merritt around 8 a.m. on Aug. 31, according to the...
ELECTION 2015: Harper to visit Kamloops next week
KAMLOOPS - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is tentatively scheduled to come to Kamloops next week. The Conservative Party of Canada is releasing limited information, but a spokesperson confirmed the Conservative leader will be in the region on Monday, Sept. 14. Details on if and when an event is to take place will be confirmed 24...