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Kelowna news
Man hiking with daughter rescued near Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park
KELOWNA – A man who was hiking with his daughter in the June Springs Road area had to be rescued Sunday after he fell and injured his leg. Central Okanagan Search and Rescue vice president Duane Tresnich says in a media release, the father and daughter were hiking on Angel Springs trail, near Myra-Bellevue Provincial...
Central Okanagan curbside yard waste collection deadline looms
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - As leaves continue to drop across the Central Okanagan, the deadline for the final curbside yard waste collection of the year is fast approaching. As of Monday, Nov. 30, the Regional District will no longer be collecting green bins, however landfills in Glenmore and West Kelowna will continue to accept up to...
Flu shot season in the Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With the peak of flu season just a few weeks away, Health Canada has started its yearly vaccination program. Although last year’s flu vaccine wasn’t particularly effective, Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi says, this year’s vaccine cocktail will target the more severe of the two types of viruses – Type A. Every...
Kelowna Mountain taking Central Okanagan Regional District to court once again
KELOWNA – The Regional District of the Central Okanagan is once again being challenged in court by Kelowna Mountain Development Services. This is the second attempt by Kelowna Mountain and its owner Mark Consiglio to challenge the planning authority of the regional district. The most recent failed bid was in September 2014 when the Court...
The changing gym culture in Kelowna
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Newcomers to the Okanagan, once they get past the wineries and beaches, often remark on the fitness culture here and how everyone seems to be doing some kind of workout. That’s reflected in the many gyms that serve the Central Okanagan, from huge commercial facilities with lots of equipment to small boutique...
UPDATE: Body discovered following suspicious West Kelowna house fire
WEST KELOWNA - The body of a woman has been discovered after a suspicious house fire in West Kelowna early this morning. West Kelowna Fire Rescue and RCMP responded to the fire at 2311 Boucherie Road around 1:45 a.m., Nov. 4, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Duncan says in a press release. Jason Brolund, the West...
Who is at fault? Driving instructor takes on traffic circle dash-cam crash
DO YOU BLUFF YOUR WAY THROUGH TRAFFIC CIRCLES OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO? THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - They're slowly popping up in more streets and neighbourhoods to help us but instead often incite mass confusion, arguments, sometimes panic and even the occasional crash. Does anyone know what to do in a traffic circle? We found...
Kelowna’s Stuart Park named Canada’s best public space
KELOWNA - Locals know Stuart Park, with its seasonal ice rink and funky public art, as a great place to hang out. Now the downtown park has been recognized on a wider stage, winning best public space in Canada, as judged by the Canadian Institute of Planners. “Stuart Park bridges the re-emergence of Kelowna’s downtown...
Court forces sale of Mandy and Me Trailriding
WEST KELOWNA - Silverado Socrates is hoping for a miracle. Socrates, the owner of Mandy and Me Trailriding, a West Kelowna farm and horseback riding attraction, is in foreclosure and tomorrow, Nov. 4, a Supreme Court Justice will sell the farm where she's lived more than three decades to the highest bidder. “I’m just sad,”...
Do you know the difference between color and colour? What about your kids?
VERNON - Raise your hand if you pronounce the last letter of the alphabet ‘zed’ instead of ‘zee.’ What about colour versus color — do you spell it the first way or the second? Do you refer to the road less travelled, with two l’s or the road less traveled with one? Do you recognize...
Employers in Kelowna, Sorrento fined for exposing workers to asbestos
OKANAGAN - WorkSafe B.C. has slapped two local employers with heavy fines for exposing workers to asbestos. The first, Kelowna’s Kone Inc., was handed a $15,000 penalty for potentially exposing its workers to harmful levels of asbestos. According to WorkSafe B.C., the company, which installs, maintains and repairs elevators and escalators, was first told to...
Kelowna man sold thousands in illegal securities for unlicenced Alberta mine
KELOWNA - A Kelowna man is facing sanctions from the B.C. Securities Commission for assisting in the sale of $21,000 in promissory notes for an unlicenced Alberta mining company to four B.C. residents. A commission panel determined that Rodney John Snider referred investors to Murdo Campbell McLeod, a former director of Flag Resources who is now deceased....
West Kelowna looks for choices in Okanagan Lake second crossing project
KELOWNA - A project that would see a second crossing installed over Okanagan Lake has yet to get the full backing of West Kelowna council. West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater says his council doesn’t have the full understanding neccessary to take a firm stand on what the city wants from the Okanagan Lake second crossing...
Pioneer Oyama family donates private land to ducks
OYAMA - An Oyama family has generously donated a parcel of land to a national wetlands preservation society. The Young family settled in Oyama more than a century ago and was granted a parcel of land to be used for grazing land and for faming oats and potatoes in the 1930s. By the time Joyce...
Rats don’t deserve to suffer horrible deaths: B.C. SPCA
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As the topic of rats and how to deal with their rising numbers becomes a more common conversation in the Thompson-Okanagan, the SPCA is reminding the public even pests deserve to be treated humanely. Sara Dubois, the chief scientific officer for the B.C. SPCA, says many rat extermination practices are inhumane and potentially...
Watch for Taurids fireballs, northern lights over the Southern Interior this week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Taurid meteor shower is one of the longer meteor showers, running from September through December every year, but this year it could be more active than usual with the possibility of fireballs tearing through the sky later this week. The Taurid meteor shower only produces about five to 10 meteors per hours...
City not much help in downtown Kelowna rat battle
KELOWNA - Just because you’ve never seen a rat, doesn’t mean Kelowna doesn’t have rats. Just ask Gary Mandl, who never saw a rat in his downtown Kelowna neighbourhood until his neighbours started composting last year. “We went from zero rats to all of a sudden being able to catch a rat, reload the trap...
Two car crashes stall highway traffic through Lake Country
LAKE COUNTRY - Traffic was backed up in both directions on Highway 97 in Lake Country today after two separate car crashes and a house fire. Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor says the crash that caused the most traffic problems happened close to noon, Nov. 2, while fire trucks and police were still on...
Rollover accidents a sign of winter weather on Okanagan mountain highways
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - A rash of rollovers on the Okanagan Connector is highlighting the arrival of winter weather at higher elevations. West Kelowna RCMP say there were two rollover accidents on Saturday, Oct. 31 with both vehicles hitting ice. This comes amid reports of two other rollovers which happened this mornining, Nov. 2. One of...
Liquor store faces little opposition in UBCO neighbourhood
KELOWNA - Imagine, if you will, an application to open a liquor store in Kelowna that faced little opposition from local neighbours and in fact, will likely be warmly embraced when it finally does open. That’s because the neighbours in the building on Academy Way where the liquor store will be located are by and...
Chilliwack man confirmed dead following October crash on Okanagan Connector
KELOWNA - A Chilliwack man was killed when he rolled his pickup on the Okanagan Connector last month. The B.C. Coroners Service says David Roy Elias, 58, was the driver and only one in the truck, which left the highway, hit a ditch and rolled on Highway 97C about 17 kilometres west of the Pennask Summit....
Saskatoon man struck by car and killed in Kelowna Halloween night
KELOWNA - A Saskatoon man was hit by a car and killed in Kelowna early Sunday morning. According to witnesses, the 24-year-old man, dressed all in black, was standing in the middle of the road when he was hit. RCMP say it happened just before 2 a.m., Nov. 1, in the 2800-block of Old Vernon...
Chance of snow in the Okanagan this week
OKANAGAN - A system moving through the Southern Interior coated mountain passes in heavy snow this weekend and early this week the white stuff could hit the valleys too. Between 14 and 17 centimetres of snow is being reported on the ground at Pennask Summit, Coquihalla Summit and Allison Pass this morning after receiving a...
City of Kelowna hedges bets against strong U.S. dollar
KELOWNA - Finance officials with the city will now use currency forecasts in advance of all big ticket purchases from the United States, hoping to avoid price swings that render budget estimates obsolete. “It’s certainly affecting us when buying products directly from the U.S. or if we are buying from a Canadian supplier who is...