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Kelowna news
Pro-life protesters in front of Kelowna school, this time without graphic images
KELOWNA – Ten thousand blue and pink ribbons line Gordon Drive in front of KLO Middle School and the Evangel Church today to remind people abortions are legal even in the third trimester. Marietta Egan of Kelowna is the organizer of the event, which also set up along Mission Creek Park on Springfield three weeks...
Self-inflicted gun shot wound could result in criminal charges
KELOWNA – A man may face charges after he shot himself in the leg. Saturday evening, June 6, RCMP responded to a report of a self-inflicted gun shot wound in the 500-block of Clement Ave. A 20-year-old male shot himself in the leg while handling a gun, according to a RCMP media release. The man's...
UPDATE: Two men stabbed in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA – Two men were taken to hospital and a suspect is still at large after a stabbing in West Kelowna Sunday morning. RCMP say two men with stab wounds were taken to a walk-in clinic at around 10:50 a.m., June 7. Both men went from the clinic to Kelowna General Hospital with serious...
Record hot weather on the way for Okanagan
OKANAGAN - It was a hot weekend in the Okanagan and the hot weather is forecast to continue through this week. Environment Canada recorded temperatures reaching as high as 33.8 Celsius in Penticton on Sunday, a bit shy of the 35 C record set nearly 70 years ago. In Kelowna temperatures climbed to 33 C,...
Paving season is underway in Kelowna
KELOWNA – There’s an old adage which says there are two seasons in Canada, winter and paving season. The 2015 paving season is off and running in Kelowna with the city planning to repave about 18 kilometres of road before October. “The pavement management program ensures a longer life for our roads,” roadways construction manager...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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,...
SNELSON TRIAL: Ex-wife of accused was vigilant after hearing of missing girl
KAMLOOPS - Katherine Oystryk, 44, remembers hearing about Jennifer Cusworth and watching out for her own safety after the 19-year-old girl went missing from a Kelowna house party her then-husband attended 21 years ago. Now Oystryk's ex-husband, Neil George Snelson, 48, stands accused of manslaughter in Cusworth’s killing. This is his second trial. Oystryk testified...
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....
New Okanagan disc golf course lands in Vernon
VERNON - You’ve got your putting and your driving Frisbees, your heavy ones and your sleek, thin ones, and now fans of the popular sport of disc golf — and curious newcomers — will have a scenic, and best of all, free, course in Vernon to fling them on. It’s all happening on a city-owned...
Water board calls on province to take action on invasive mussels
OKANAGAN - The Okanagan Basin Water Board is using the province’s declaration of June as Invasive Species Action Month to prod it into increasing its role in the fight against zebra and quagga mussels. “Awareness is great but action is better. The water board is doing all it can within its mandate to prevent the...
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...
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...
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...
Gospel Mission extends its reach to courtyard
KELOWNA - The Gospel Mission, Kelowna’s single mens shelter, has announced it will build a courtyard next to its Leon Ave. building, with the aim of giving downtown homeless somewhere to go during the day. “Too often during the day the homeless, due to lack of options, are staying in places that put them at...
First Nations hotel and conference centre in the works for West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA – If Grand Chief Ron Derrickson gets his way, West Kelowna could become a major destination for First Nations business people across North America. He is in the early planning stages of a luxury hotel and conference centre on his 5.5-acre property next to Two Eagles Golf Course off Carrington Road in West...
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...