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Kelowna news
Fat Cat Festival bounces back after teacher’s strike hurt attendance
KELOWNA - You can’t keep a fat cat down. After a disastrous 2014 which saw attendance plunge because of the province-wide teacher’s job action, registration is way up for the 2015 Fat Cat Children’s Festival set to run June 12 and 13. “We were very impacted by the strike and I wasn’t sure how we...
The beetle is gone, now the hard work begins
WILDFIRES, JOB LOSSES, JEOPARDIZED WATERSHEDS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - For the most part the small, yet devastating, mountain pine beetle has disappeared from the landscape of the Southern Interior, but the aftermath of its work will be felt for many years to come. The mountain pine beetle epidemic that crawled into B.C. in 2000 is recognized as...
Sentence reduced for 63-year-old man convicted of bringing cocaine to Kelowna
KELOWNA – A 63-year-old Kelowna man convicted of conspiring to traffic cocaine from Vancouver to Kelowna in 2008 had his sentence reduced in Vancouver Court of Appeal Monday, June 1. RCMP wiretaps revealed Thanh Hai Tran, 41, of Vancovuer was trying to find “good-quality cocaine” for King Ting Yung, 63, to bring to Kelowna. On...
Get bare in the air for breast cancer research
KELOWNA – Get ready, get set, get naked. It’s time for Naked Ziplining at ZipZone in Peachland, where participants will strip down in support of breast cancer research. Women of all shapes and sizes who raise at least $200 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation will get bare in the air for this important event....
Candy, electronics, mail and motorcycle gear targeted in unsolved crimes
KELOWNA – RCMP are looking to the public for help solving a number of cases which happened around Kelowna between May 26 and May 30. The first happened May 26 in the 18,000-block of Crystal Waters Road between 9:30 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. The suspect entered through a basement window but took only some candy...
Mom trying to give parents of stillborn babies a few extra days together
WEST KELOWNA – Kristin Esmail and her husband didn’t find out until she was in labour their son, Richard James, was stillborn. After 39 weeks in utero, finding out that they would not be able to take him home was almost too much pain to bear. “It was such a shock,” the West Kelowna resident...
Competition stiff as Okanagan cities compete to hold seniors’ games
OKANAGAN - Long before the competitors in the B.C. 55+ Games face off against each other at the annual event, there is a competition of another sort amongst B.C. communities vying to host the games. This year, Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton are all submitting competing bids to host the popular event. The competition is going...
Kelowna Falcons open season with loss in Victoria
VICTORIA - The Kelowna Falcons did not get the start they were looking for to open up the West Coast League season, as they fell 9-2 to the Victoria Harbourcats Friday night in the provincial capital. Jayse Bannister (Holy Names University) gave up three runs in the opening inning as he struggled with his command,...
What to do with 100,000 metres of steel rail, ties and a grafitti-covered boxcar
KELOWNA - Now that the CN Rail corridor purchase is complete, there’s the small matter of removing about 100 kilometres worth of steel rail, railway ties, flashing lights and signs, and some contaminated soil sites. Oh, and one graffiti covered boxcar. Fortunately for the Okanagan communities that just ponied up $50 million in cash and...
Hot weather and hot events coming to the Okanagan this weekend
OKANAGAN – After a week of rain Environment Canada is calling for a sunny, hot and dry weekend, just in time for some great events in the Okanagan. Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-30s Saturday and Sunday with minimal chance of rain, so pack up your kids and your sunscreen and make it count....
SNELSON TRIAL: Cusworth was beaten to death: Pathologist
GRAPHIC CONTENT ADVISORY KAMLOOPS - Around seven or eight blows to the head caused the death of a 19-year-old girl who was found beaten, bruised and strangled in a watery ditch at the side of a pumpkin farmer’s property in Kelowna in 1993. In Kamloops Supreme Court today, June 4, Dr. Ronald Roy, a forensic...
SNELSON TRIAL UPDATE: Friends recall last moments with Jennifer Cusworth
KAMLOOPS - The last time Jennifer Cusworth’s friends saw her alive at a house party, they planned to get her home safely after drinking into the early morning hours of October 16, 1993. For Pam Coulombe and Faith Klinksiek their plan didn’t work out; the 19-year-old disappeared from the party. A jury heard Coulombe and...
UPDATE: One dead following Highway 97 crash south of Peachland
WEST KELOWNA - One is dead and another seriously injured following a crash on Highway 97 between Peachland and Summerland Thursday morning. Cpl. Joe Duncan said West Kelowna RCMP and other emergency services responded to a crash around 9 a.m., Thursday, June 4, between a passenger vehicle and a tractor trailer. Duncan says the Toyota...
Abandoned camper underscores illegal dumping problem in Central Okanagan
KELOWNA - They had to use a tow truck to get rid of a piece of garbage, an old camper, illegally dumped up Postill Lake Road today. The regional waste reduction office says it recently learned through social media of the dumped camper. The camper is just the tip of a much larger problem though...
Ethel Street cycle track separates bikes from cars and pedestrians
KELOWNA - A determined cycist could cover the first phase of the Ethel Street active transportation corridor in about two minutes but the construction of a new cycle track between Bernard Avenue and Saucier Avenue will be welcomed by local cyclists. Construction on the corridor begins this month and will continue in phases until 2020...