Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Kelowna news
Thefts, crime getting worse in Lake Country
LAKE COUNTRY – A long time resident of Lake Country says crime in his community has increased over the last three months and is the worst he's ever seen. “There’s been a few waves, like when the Coquihalla first opened up there was a wave of chainsaws and that stuff stolen but it faded away,”...
How Kelowna city hall plans to spend a billion dollars
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - A billion dollars and change — that’s how much the City of Kelowna is estimating it will spend over the next 15 years on infrastructure — roads, sewers, buildings, vehicles — but also such things as waste water treatment and domestic water supply. Infrastructure planning manager Joel Shaw broke down the draft...
Wheelchair rugby looking to expand across southern Interior
KELOWNA – With a grant from RBC Canada a wheelchair rugby team in Kelowna is holding a Try Our Sport Day in hopes of raising disability awareness and challenging the community to expand their boundaries. Colleen Bryant of the Kelowna KO’s says Kelowna still has the Okanagan’s only wheelchair rugby team, but that will soon...
Big White to open early for the first time in years
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Big White is opening two weeks early, the first time in 14 years the ski resort has begun operations this early in the season. “This is early. This is not usual. Mother Nature has given us a gift and we’re giving it back to the locals,” Michael J. Ballingall, Big White’s booster-in-chief, declared...
Court ordered sale of Mandy and Me forces owner to seek help
KELOWNA – A West Kelowna woman who is losing her farm of more than 30 years has started raising funds to help provide care and possibly find homes for her animals. Silverado Socrates’s five-acre farm and business, Mandy and Me Trailriding, was sold to the highest bidder in Kelowna court last week. She was hoping...
Marianas Trench to rock fans in Kelowna
KELOWNA - Pop-rockers Marianas Trench are hitting the road in the spring of 2016 for their Never Say Die tour and have included Kelowna on their list of stops. Tickets will go on sale for the Tuesday, April 5, 2016, concert at Prospera Place tomorrow, Nov. 10. The multi-platinum selling Canadian band is touring in...
Pedestrian suffers extensive injuries jaywalking across Kelowna highway
KELOWNA - A senior remains in hospital with multiple injuries after he was struck by a vehicle while crossing the highway outside of a crosswalk or intersection Saturday night. The 65-year-old man was trying to cross Highway 97 near Leathead Road when he was struck by a green Jeep Cherokee in the northbound lane. The...
Wet Veterans’ week ahead for the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - As temperatures continue to cool off in the Okanagan, there is at least a chance of snow or rain every day this week for the region. Environment Canada is calling for temperatures to be at or slightly above seasonal normals most of the week, while overnight lows will be just below normal most...
What you can learn from seven people who turn ideas into reality
KELOWNA - Everyone has an idea. Some people have big ideas. Then you have Mark Jennings-Bates-size ideas. One year, the Kelowna business consultant might be racing rally cars, another year riding an enduro bike across South Africa. Or he might be setting a new Guinness Book of World Records team flight on a paramotor across...
UBC Okanagan students okay with pricier transit pass
KELOWNA – Students at UBC Okanagan approved an increases rate for the universal transit U-Pass during a referendum this week. The cost of the U-Pass is included with tuition and will cost students $63 per semester. The last time the rate was raised was 2011. U-Pass is a special universal transit pass allowing for a...
Kelowna’s funky Queensway transit exchange wins award
KELOWNA - The wavy new roof gracing the Queensway transit exchange has caught the eye of the people who judge such things and been recognized with an award. The Council of Southern Interior Construction Association gave the transit exchange an award of excellence in the category of community institutional construction. The design of the wood...
District refocuses attention on unlicenced dogs
CENTRAL OKANAGAN – The Regional District of the Central Okanagan estimates there are still more than 9,000 unlicenced dogs, and are launching a proactive effort to ensure all dogs in the district are in compliance with the law. Communications officer Bruce Smith says approximately 2,400 dog licences from 2014 were not renewed and starting next...
Kelowna city council aims to take lead on homelessness
KELOWNA - Admitting it’s out of touch with current community efforts to combat homelessness, Kelowna city council is hoping to jump into a leadership role by hiring a homeless coordinator and adopting a new, more direct housing strategy. The initiative comes amid signs of increased homelessness in Kelowna, including a doubling in the number of...
Harassed Vernon food truck vendor says enough is enough
VERNON - Vernon food truck vendor Dave Braybrook had to call the cops three times in one day this week — and now he's speaking out. The friendly Irishman and owner of the Sizzlin’ Shamrock hot dog stand says he’s had problems with transients disrupting business ever since he set up on the sidewalk at...
Busy conflict season winding down as Central Okanagan bears seek higher elevations for hibernation
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - An extremely busy bear season might be coming to an end, at least as far as local conservation officers measure it. “I think this is the first day we haven’t had a call for service,” Sgt. Josh Lockwood said this morning. Nov. 6. “Of course, it’s early yet.” The most recent numbers...
Kelowna car crash sends one to hospital
KELOWNA – A woman was taken to hospital after a noon hour crash on Harvey Avenue today. A middle-aged woman driving a silver Toyota Corolla and a middle-aged man in a Chrysler Sebring crashed into each other around noon, Nov. 6, at the intersection of Harvey Avenue and Richter Street. The force of the impact...
Twin Peaks gets Kelowna-themed reboot
KELOWNA – Fans of the 1990s cult favourite TV show Twin Peaks will have a chance to relive the moody adventures of FBI agent Dale Cooper as he tries to unlock the mysteries of the sleepy Washington town. Except this time, it's set in Kelowna. New Vintage Theatre is bringing the David Lynch-directed show back...
Wet weekend ahead for the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - A typical fall weekend is ahead, with single-digit temperatures and at least a chance of rain every day. Temperatures are expected to vary slightly throughout the region with Environment Canada calling for the coolest temperatures today, Nov. 6, and tomorrow in the Vernon area. The weather office is forecasting a high of just...
Silver Star in good shape for opening thanks to dump of snow
VERNON - Silver Star will open up trails for nordic skiing, fat biking and snowshoeing in a week thanks to plentiful snowfall on the mountain. With a 29 centimetre dump of snow last weekend, groomers have been able to prepare a number of trails, the resort said in a media release. With more snowfall in...
Court sells Mandy and Me farm to highest bidder
WEST KELOWNA – Things didn’t go the way Silverado Socrates was hoping in court. Socrates is the owner of Mandy and Me Trailriding in West Kelowna. Her bank foreclosed on her mortgage after loaning her $600,000 to upgrade the facility. On Wednesday, Nov. 4 she watched as a Supreme Court Justice read the winning bid...
Some risks in Kelowna’s civic block condominium plan
KELOWNA - Right now, visitors to 350 Doyle Ave. are usually of the reluctant kind, brought there in the back of a police cruiser or paddy wagon. But if the goals of the civic block plan are realized, 350 Doyle Ave. — current home of the Kelowna RCMP detachment — could find favour within a...
Lake Country man arrested for lighting house on fire
LAKE COUNTRY – A Lake Country man has been arrested for a suspicious fire at a house on the corner of Highway 97 and Beaver Lake Road this week. Emergency services were called to a fire at a house at 3109 Beaver Lake Rd. around 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 2. A bystander, Dean Bose of...
VIDEO: West Kelowna restaurant vandal caught on camera smashing glass
WEST KELOWNA - The owner of Thai Fusion has had enough and wants the community to see the man who continues to smash his front window. Luke Sumpantarat has shared surveillance footage of a man he believes has been targeting his business. Four times this year Sumpantarat has arrived at the restaurant he and his wife...
Fictional sport gets real tournament in Kelowna
KELOWNA - Teams from across North America will be in Kelowna this weekend for a real tournament of a fictional sport. Quidditch is a mixed-gender, full contact sport played with seven athletes on each team that was made famous in the Harry Potter books and movies. Players pass, shoot, score and defend their three hoops...