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Kelowna news
Money spent on refugees a hot topic at upcoming Kelowna immigration symposium
KELOWNA – The effects of immigration on the Okanagan will be a topic of discussion at an upcoming two-day symposium at Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan this weekend. The Immigration Symposium is a series of in-depth discussions about the impacts various Canadian policies have on immigrants, refugees and temporary foreign workers. It takes place Friday...
Look back and laugh: A Vernon comedian retells all his humiliating tales
WHEN YOU'RE THE WORST HOCKEY PLAYER ON THE WORST HOCKEY TEAM YOU TURN TO COMEDY VERNON - Sam Mullins is wrapping up his North American comedy tour not only in his hometown, but on the stage where he saw his very first play — the Powerhouse Theatre in Vernon. “I must’ve been like seven or...
Construction worker trapped in West Kelowna
KELOWNA – A construction worker had to be rescued from a building in West Kelowna today, Sept. 23, after the truss system above him collapsed. Shortly after 2:30 p.m., West Kelowna Fire Rescue responded to a building that was under construction on Carrington Road. A media release says firefighters from Lakeview Heights and Westbank stations...
UPDATE: Inmate dies at Kamloops jail; third in less than a year
KAMLOOPS - Another inmate has died at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, making it the third to occur in a year. Details surrounding the case are still being confirmed, but Dean Purdy, chair of corrections and sheriffs services component of the B.C. Government and Service Employee’s Union, confirmed the death occurred Monday night, Sept. 21....
Food bank fall harvest begins in Central Okanagan
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Local farmers and orchardists are in the middle of harvest and so is the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank. “From now until Christmas is our harvest time, the time when we have to stock up until spring,” spokeswoman Ami Catriona says. "We go through 1.4 million pounds of donations a year and...
RCMP auxilliaries crush grapes for Hospice House
KELOWNA - Local RCMP auxillary constables are cleaning their feet and counting the money after raising more than $12,000 during a grape stomp last week. The auxillary constable program will present a cheque for $12,203 to the Central Okanagan Hospice House, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Duncan says in a press release. “This event was so...
ELECTION 2015: Where to hear the Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola candidates speak
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Several businesses and organizations in the new Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola electoral district are making it possible for voters to meet the candidates who want to represent them in Ottawa. The new riding includes all of West Kelowna, Summerland, Princeton, Keremeos, Logan Lake, Merritt and Peachland and the majority of Kelowna excluding downtown, the...
Culture Days brings out the wild and wonderful in Kelowna
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - With more than 40 events planned for this weekend in Kelowna, culture is definitely what you make of it during the sixth annual Culture Days. More than 40 events are planned for various venues around the city Friday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 27, and will include a wild mix of everything...
Watch flyboarders set a new record on Kalamalka Lake this week
'A LOT OF PEOPLE COMPARE IT TO SUPERHEROES LIKE IRON MAN, AND THAT’S HONESTLY WHAT IT’S LIKE. YOU FEEL ON TOP OF THE WORLD' VERNON - It’s a cutting edge water sport straight out of the Jetsons, and some of Canada’s top athletes are bringing their futuristic stunts to Kalamalka Lake this week. Team CanFly,...
ELECTION 2015: Where you can hear from the Kelowna-Lake Country candidates
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Local candidates in the federal election will be trading barbs at five different all-candidates forums in the riding of Kelowna Lake Country over the next several weeks. Students at the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia will be first to hear from the Conservative, Liberal and NDP candidates at a student...
Stolen vehicle driven ‘very erratically’ recovered near Westwold
WESTWOLD - A joyriding couple in a stolen pickup truck were stopped in their tracks by RCMP yesterday afternoon. Police received a report around12:30 p.m. yesterday, Sept. 21, of a white Ford S350 truck, believed to have been stolen from Summerland, being driven near Falkland. A police helicopter out on a separate investigation spotted the...
Convicted Kelowna killer back in court
KELOWNA - A notorious criminal who served more than eight years in jail for helping to kill a drug dealer in 2005 is back behind bars. Daniel Mader, 31, was convicted in March 2010 of shooting Jody Elliott, who ripped off Mader and three friends. At the time Justice Allison Beames said she accepted that...
Making a living foraging the forests of the Okanagan
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - When local forager Scott Moran talks about his work you can't help but think of how romantic and daring it is — the ability to live off the bounty of the land and be self-sufficient — but the reailty is he puts a lot of hard work into creating this charming life....
Suspicious house fire in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA – No one was hurt in an early morning house fire in West Kelowna that investigators are calling suspicious. The fire happened Tuesday, Sept. 22, just before 5:30 a.m. on Alexander Court. No one was home at the time and the cause of the fire is not yet known. Firefighters were able to...
Refugee family from Syria adapting to life in Kelowna
KELOWNA – Like most Canadians, Mohammed and his wife love their coffee. “We drink (coffee) every day,” he says. “When I wake, I wash my face and I take coffee.” Unlike most Canadians however, Mohammed Al-Shahoud, 53, doesn’t get his morning fix from Tim Hortons. His coffee, called kahvesi, is thick and unfiltered. The beans...
Kelowna’s underground water source showing signs of stress
KELOWNA - A UBC Okanagan hydrogeologist says the huge Rutland aquifer running under Kelowna, which is the water source for thousands of residents, is showing signs of stress. And that means it’s time for a well-designed technical management plan of both ground and surface water sources in the Central Okanagan, Dr. Craig Nichol says, pointing...
Former Okanagan Sun football player needs help after brain aneurysm
KELOWNA - A young Kelowna man is fighting to regain his old life after a brain aneurysm caused him to crash his motorbike and left him in hospital in a coma. Jesse Kendall, 23, was riding with friends when it happened, his wife Michelle Felty says. “They were doing one last ride before winter," she...
While others walked away, you won’t believe who saved a Vernon pet shop from disaster
"THE AVERAGE PERSON WOULDN'T HAVE DONE WHAT HE DID" VERNON - If not for the heroic act of a homeless man, the owners of a Vernon pet store believe their business — and animals — would have been destroyed by fire. AJ’s Pets & Things owners Andrew Willmott and Lisa Badach caught the suspected arsonist...
Rash of theft from vehicles in Kelowna
KELOWNA – Despite an awareness campaign launched a few weeks ago, there were numerous reports of theft from vehicles in Kelowna over the weekend. RCMP says the car break-ins happened in the Selkirk Drive area in Glenmore with thieves stealing credit cards, cash, wallets and sunglasses. Cpl. Joe Duncan with Kelowna RCMP is asking people...
Thieves target performance auto shop in Kelowna
KELOWNA – A Kelowna auto shop was the victim of an early morning break and enter Sunday which cost the owners thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise. An unknown number of thieves broke into Cutting Edge Auto and Performance on Highway 97 North, Sept. 20. A media release from Kelowna RCMP does not say how...
Risk of frost in the Okanagan tonight
OKANAGAN - If you haven’t already harvested all your tomatoes you should spend some time covering them up today — there’s a risk of frost through much of the Okanagan tonight. Environment Canada is calling for a risk of frost tonight, Sept. 21, in the North and Central Okanagan with temperatures expected to dip as...
Kelowna could see first new high school in decades
KELOWNA – The Central Okanagan school board is making a pair of big ticket capital…
Kelowna mayor is about to take on irrigation districts on water quality
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran is bent on solving one of the city's greatest and longest problems — drinking water — and seems prepared to go to war with local irrigation districts to make it happen. Basran and the city announced this week the current plan to standardize water delivery across the city...
Kelowna golf clubs want to start serving liquor at 9 a.m.
KELOWNA - Golfers at Gallagher’s Canyon and the Okanagan Golf Club aren’t likely to be able to get a drink any earlier or later than they already do. City staff are recommending against an application from the owner of the two golf courses to add an extra hour of drinking time on either end of...