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Kamloops

Smoky skies continue, no end in sight to fire season

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With smoke-filled skies and reports of new fires almost every day, it begs the question that’s on everyone’s mind: When will this end? “It’s a good question. There is no hard and fast measure that tells us when things are done. Every season is its own animal,” Kevin Skrepnek says. And B.C. Wildfire’s...

Senior woman dies in fire at Kamloops retirement home

KAMLOOPS — A Kamloops woman has died from her injuries after her room caught fire in a downtown senior’s complex yesterday, Aug. 24. Platoon Capt. Troy Grant says Kamloops Fire Rescue and paramedics responded to the call at Glenfair Complex on Glenfair Drive around 10:20 p.m. and determined the woman fell asleep in her chair...

Smoke wreaks havoc on already-weakened hearts and lungs

SOUTHERN INTERIOR - Looks like the smokey skies will be with us until at least tomorrow and that means more discomfort for those with chronic heart and respiratory problems. “When we talk about smokey skies, we’re talking about the tiny solid particles that remain suspended in the air. The major concern is particles smaller than...

Mom raises $14K for Cuddle Cots across Thompson-Okanagan

WEST KELOWNA – What started as an idea to bring to Kelowna General Hospital a device which gives parents of stillborn children a few extra days with their child will now help families across the entire Thompson-Okanagan. In less than three months West Kelowna resident Kristin Esmail has raised enough money to buy four Cuddle...

Shooting victim warns of vigilante attacks on mentally ill man who shot him

KAMLOOPS — The British Columbia Review Board is questioning legislation that grants victims the right to learn where their attackers are living after a Kamloops man requested the mentally ill person who shot him in the face be moved.  Last December, a Kamloops Supreme Court Justice found Erik Konrad William Nelson not guilty of several...

Grassland-eating grasshoppers causing grief for Interior cattle ranchers

KAMLOOPS - A district board member hopes to speak with the provincial Minister of Agriculture about "a great number of complaints" about the growing grasshopper population eating away the grasslands near Kamloops and causing concerns for ranchers.  Ken Gillis, the director for the Grasslands area of the Thompson Nicola Regional District, says he plans to...

NHL assistant coach, Kamloops Blazer owner in jail on drunk driving charges

SON WAS IN VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING WITH BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL OF .3 FRIDLEY, MN — One of the Kamloops Blazers owners is in jail facing charges for driving under the influence with a 0.30 blood alcohol content reading in Minnesota Thursday evening. According to a complaint filed by Fridley Police Department Officer Erik Johnson in...

Credit card skimmers prompt public warning by RCMP

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Police in the Central Okanagan are once again warning about card skimmers after the devices were discovered in Vernon and Kamloops. Spokeswoman Const. Anne Donnelly of the Kelowna RCMP fraud section, said in a press release there are ways to foil the scam, which requires both your debit card number and your personal...

Warm fall, mild winter in long-range forecast

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Look for a hotter, drier fall across the Southern Interior if AccuWeather’s long-range fall forecast holds true. Issued by AccuWeather’s global weather centre, the forecast says a stubborn high pressure system anchored over the West coast and abnormally warm water over the north-eastern Pacific have kept the weather warm and dry. This is...

Turning industrial trash into home furnishing treasures

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - There's something quintessentially Canadian about taking an item like a lowly wooden pallet or a fruit packing box and making good use of it. Keith Hamer and his crew take it one step further in an old fruit packing house in Oyama, creating a business to make new furniture out of old wood...

You’re not the only one not feeling frisky in this heat

HEAT KILLING CATTLE (SEX) DRIVE THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Beef is meeting supply needs so far this year, but it hasn’t been easy for ranchers as they deal with drought and extreme conditions that leave cattle not wanting to mate. Kevin Boon, general manager of the B.C. Cattleman’s Association, says the hardest hit areas in the province’s...

Highways closed, smoke fills the sky as wildfires take over Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A hot, dry week followed by a lightning storm that moved through the region has led to an increase in aggressive fire activity in the Kamloops and Southeast Fire Centres today. Currently Highways 33 and 3 are closed because of a 350-hectare wildfire that is growing rapidly near Rock Creek. The fire was...

New weather record set in the Okanagan; heavy rain on the way

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It only took until mid-afternoon for Kelowna to tie the high temperature record for Aug. 13, and within the hour a new record was set.  By 4 p.m. Environment Canada was reporting a temperature of 37.3 Celsius, just above the 36.7 C record set in 1990. At 36 C, Vernon still has a...

VIDEO: Kamloops Pipe Band gets results in Scotland

KAMLOOPS - As one of only five Canadian bands at a recent festival in Perth, Scotland, the Kamloops Pipe Band put on a memorable performance this past weekend and earned a second place finish. The Kamloops Pipe Band was the only band representing B.C., the other bands were out of Edmonton, Alta., and Dartmouth, NS.,...

TRU to develop policy on sex assault without statistics on campus incidents

"IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY ARE HAPPENING ON CAMPUS... THEN HOW CAN YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW TO ATTACK THE ISSUE?" KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University released an interim protocol to support and respond to students who are victims of sexual assault, but a student who was attacked twice on campus says a developing policy...

‘I thought I just witnessed somebody being murdered’

KAMLOOPS — The last thing Gil Anderson saw before he walked his daughter to school on the morning of June 2, 2014 were two silhouettes fist-fighting in his neighbour's yard before one knocked the other over and delivered three blows to its opponent’s head with a shovel. “After I heard the first strike of the...

Former Kamloops city councillor fined for taking advantage of society funds

KAMLOOPS — A former city councillor and director of the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society who shifted $100,000 of organization money into his account and back twice will face a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to two counts under the province’s Society Act. Joe Leong, 65, was originally charged with two counts of fraud, two counts...

Premier meteor shower to light up the sky this week

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - One of the best meteor showers of the year is set to peak this week, sending up to 60 shooting stars through the sky every hour. The Perseids meteor shower is visible from July 17 to Aug. 24 every year and is set to peak overnight Wednesday, Aug. 12 this year. Environment Canada...

TRU law school professor files civil suit against former interim dean

KAMLOOPS — A professor at the newest law school in Canada is suing the program’s former interim dean for defamation alleging she spread a rumour to edge him out as competition and maintain her higher ranking role at the university.  Craig E. Jones, a professor at the recently established Thompson Rivers University law school, filed...