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Kelowna news
Regional District ambassadors to reward good dog owners
KELOWNA – Employees of the Regional District of the Central Okanagan, armed not with tickets but with treats, are in Kelowna again this summer to reward residents who are responsible dog owners. Communications officer Bruce Smith says the ambassador program was so successful last summer they’ve decided to bring the program back. The two ambassadors,...
City borrows $57 milllion for cop shop, parkade construction
KELOWNA - The city has signed on the dotted line, borrowing $57 million to fund the construction of the RCMP police service building and the construction and expansion of the Memorial and Library Parkades. Construction of the 100,000-square-foot police services building by contractor Bird Design-Build has yet to break ground on the site at Clement...
The weather record breaker that was June
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – If it felt like weather dominated the headlines throughout June, that’s because if it wasn’t dropping a month’s worth of rain in a day, we were shattering high temperature records around the region. Lisa Coldwells, an Environment Canada meteorologist, says despite the heavy rains that bookended the beginning and end of the month,...
Kelowna makes a push outdoors
KELOWNA - Even locals don’t know all the best places to hike, swim and bike — that’s the premise behind the Active By Nature campaign, which will use advanced route signage, a video and an interactive website to promote Kelowna’s outdoor infrastructure. “A proven and effective way to inform residents about our network and to...
VIDEO: Kenny Vs. Spenny promote upcoming Kelowna show
KELOWNA – The best friends from Toronto who actually kind of hate each other, have put out a video promoting their upcoming show in Kelowna. Both Kenny Hotz and Spencer “Spenny” Rice, stars of the hit TV show Kenny Vs. Spenny, feature in the short video, but it is Spenny who does most of the...
Okanagan apples almost ready to cross the globe
OKANAGAN – The general manager of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association says they are about a month away from knowing if Okanagan apples will be bound for one of the largest markets in the world. Glen Lucas says he had hoped they would have the answers to whether or not local apples will be a...
Man found dead in Kal Lake identified; second man still missing
VERNON - Police have launched a full scale search for an individual last seen with a man found dead in Kalamalka Lake over the weekend. In a media release issued in this afternoon, June 30, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy confirmed what 23-year-old Curtis Wilson’s family announced earlier in the day; that he was last seen...
Wine and fruit waste prompts Kelowna treatment facility upgrade
KELOWNA - The city is looking at upgrading the Brandt’s Creek Trade Waste Treatment facility in a bid to reduce the amount of biosolids it produces and the cost of hauling them away. Staff are recommending the city pay $450,000 for a centrifuge to be installed at the facility located in the North End industrial...
Police arrest, charge 62-year-old man for Bernard Ave. murder
KELOWNA – A 62-year-old Kelowna man has been arrested and charged with the murder of…
Campfire bans in effect this weekend for B.C. Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Due to an elevated risk of fire across the Interior of B.C., the Kamloops Fire Centre has banned all open fires, including campfires, as of noon on Friday, July 3. Kelsey Winter of B.C. Wildfire says the step is being taken to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety around Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon...
Celebrate Canada’s birthday in downtown Kelowna
KELOWNA – Canada turns 148 years old on Wednesday, July 1, and to celebrate Festivals Kelowna has put together more than 50 fun activities and performances for the whole family. The annual Celebrate Canada Day takes place in Waterfront Park, Jim Stuart Park and Kerry Park as well as Prospera Place. Last year more than...
Kelowna council won’t follow Vancouver’s lead on medical marijuana dispensaries
KELOWNA – More than 80 new medical marijuana dispensaries have opened in Vancouver in the last year, prompting city council there to consider implementing business regulations to keep them from getting out of control. But the mayor of the Interior's largest city says Kelowna council is not planning on revisiting the issue any time soon....
Weekend of fires fuelled by lightning
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – There were 35 fire starts this weekend in the Kamloops Fire Centre alone. Of those, 22 were caused by lightning, but the remaining 13 were believed to be human-caused. Penticton was the hottest fire zone in the region with 19 of the 35 starts this weekend, but Fire Information Officer Kelsey Winter says...
Heat wave could force water restrictions in Summerland
SUMMERLAND – If the heat wave resumes the Summerland Treatment Plant could be forced to issue measures to reduce water use in the area. Due to increased demands the Summerland Water Treatment Plant has been operating at maximum capacity the last week, according to a media release issued today, June 29. If the demand rises...
Car roll over accident claims life of Kelowna woman
KELOWNA - A woman from Kelowna has been identified as the passenger killed when a car rolled on Highway 16 on June 26. Coroner Donita Kuzma has identified Jamie Kathleen Doornbosch, 29, along with driver Paul John Constantineau of Thorsby, Alta., as the two people who died at the scene of the single-vehicle accident aproximately...
Second phase of Stuart Park finishes off Kelowna’s waterfront facelift
KELOWNA - Stuart Park, part two, is scheduled to open just in time for Canada Day. Walkways and the new sidewalk fronting Water Street are complete and the lawn has been laid although the City of Kelowna says it will be fenced off for a few more weeks so it can get established. A pair...
UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch issued for Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – We could see severe thunderstorms develop in the Thompson-Okanagan region this afternoon and evening. Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch this morning covering the South and North Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and Okanagan regions and upgraded it to a warning for parts of the South Thompson, Nicola and Okanagan regions for a short...
Record heat in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - Several Okanagan cities were among the 30 communities to set a new high temperature record in the province on Sunday. With a high of 39.3 C on Sunday, June 28, Vernon was one of the hottest Okanagan communities, surpassing a former high temperature record of 35.4 C. With a high of 38.7 C...
UPDATE: Semi fire on Coquihalla Highway
MERRITT – A semi burst into flames on the Coquihalla Highway this afternoon, severely restricting traffic for several hours. VSA Highway Maintenance says the route was fully reopened as of 4:30 p.m, June 28. The fire, about 1 kilometre north of the Great Bear snowshed, had forced the closure of one lane. No word on...
No hiking on Okanagan rail corridor just yet
LAKE COUNTRY - Officials with the District of Lake Country are trying to get out the message the CN Rail line through the community is off limits despite the referendum which approved the purchase of the land as part of the Okanagan Rail Trail. Crews have put up signs at access points along the rail...
Wildfire crews hopping with 16 new fires on weekend
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Almost half of the 16 new wildfires sparked in the Thompson-Okanagan region over the weekend were preventable because people caused them. Kelsey Winter with B.C. Wildfire Management says seven of the fires crews have either put out, or are currently working to put out, have been listed as human caused. The rest of...
Scorching heat sizzles high temperature records
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The heat wave blasting the Southern Interior cranked the temperature up a notch Saturday breaking high temperature records in the Thompson-Okanagan. Canada’s hot spot June 27 was Osoyoos where the mercury climbed to 40.9 Celsius, snapping the old high temperature record of 37.7 C recorded on the same day in 2000. Kamloops hit...
Old Western Star plant could soon meet the wrecker’s ball
KELOWNA - The last vestiges of Western Star Trucks, a manufacturing success story in Kelowna, could soon be meeting the wreckers ball. Owner of the site on Enterprise Way, 3752 Investments Ltd., has applied for a permit to raze the former Western Star truck and replace it with a Lowes home improvement store and garden...
FINAL UPDATE: Wildfire near Zipzone Peachland contained
PEACHLAND – Wildfire Management threw everything they had at wildfire above Peachland this afternoon and it paid off. The blaze is now 100 per cent contained. Smoke from the fire near Zipzone Peachland on Brenda Mines Road was spotting at about 11:30 a.m., June 27. It grew to three hectares in size before crews and...