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Kelowna news

Kelowna honours outstanding contributions during 40th annual civic awards

KELOWNA - The City of Kelowna celebrated its 40th annual civic and community awards at a gala event at the Kelowna Community Theatre. The awards recognize outstanding contributions and achievements by Kelowna residents in a range of categories. The full list of award recipients is provided below: Teen Honour in the Arts Antony Knight Honour...

Mounties shoot moose in downtown Kelowna

KELOWNA – RCMP had to shoot and kill a moose in downtown Kelowna early this morning after it was hit by an SUV on Harvey Avenue. Cpl. Joe Duncan says the call came in shortly after 4 a.m., May 1, and RCMP arrived to find a badly injured moose in the westbound lanes of the...

Jason Aldean set to ‘Burn It Down’ in Kelowna

KELOWNA - Country music star Jason Aldean is coming to town this October on the Canadian leg of his recently expanded Burn It Down tour. Aldean, a three-time Academy of Country Music Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year nominee will be coming to Kelowna and Kamloops, as well as Vancouver and Prince...

Jail for amateur boxer who had sex with Kelowna minor

KELOWNA – A 25-year-old Kelowna man was handed a minimum sentence of 90 days in jail for having consensual sex with a 14-year-old girl last summer. Alexander Schoenherr, 25, is an amateur boxer and self-described 'loner' with no prior criminal record. He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual touching of a person under 16....

Almost $50k raised at first Papa John’s Dreams for Kids Day

KELOWNA – The first ever Papa John’s Dreams for Kids Day raised more than $42,000 to help make dreams come true for kids with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses. Papa John’s took over the program from Wendy’s late last year. And yesterday, April 29, five participating restaurants in Kelowna, West Kelowna, Kamloops and Prince George raised...

Okanagan Indian Band embraces Lake Country mayor’s support for land claim

VERNON - Lake Country Mayor James Baker appears to have thrown his support behind the Okanagan Indian Band’s land claim to the Commonage Reserve including the portion which includes the CP Rail line intended for the Okanagan Rail Trail, and the band intends to hold him to his words. Chief Byron Louis says he welcomes...

Firefighters make quick work of UBC Okanagan brush fire

KELOWNA – Kelowna fire crews jumped all over a small brush fire at the UBC Okanagan campus this afternoon. Capt. Al Chatham with Kelowna Fire Resuce says firefighters were called to a wooded area between the F and H parking lots on the west side of the campus around 12:45 p.m., April 30, after campus...

Who is killing the stone people of Knox Mountain Park?

KELOWNA - Silently they stand, motionless, offering mute testimony to what their cold hard eyes have witnessed. Which is nothing, really, because they are just piles of rock. Locals and the more adventurous hikers have long known of the intricate free-style stone sculptures which have come and gone in a remote corner of Knox Mountain...

Live music competition to rock Kelowna

KELOWNA – A local music competition hopes to highlight just how hard the Okanagan can rock. Okanagan Rocks is an all-categories music competition that is open to solo acts, duos and bands. Six acts will play their original music for the audience and judges, with the winning act getting recording time at Big Audio Productions....

Rockets strike back against Portland; Series down to best of three

The Kelowna Rockets defeated the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 on Wednesday night at the Moda Center in Portland, tying up the WHL Western Conference Final at two games apiece, heading to game five on Friday, back in Kelowna. The Rockets earned a split of two games in Portland with a tight and entertaining win over the...

Backyard pools contaminating Okanagan Lake

OKANAGAN - Backyard pools are a source of fun and relaxation for many Okanagan homeowners but if improperly drained they are a source of excess chlorine and contaminants for Okanagan Lake. “Chlorine is unfriendly to the lake and the surge of people emptying their pools and hot tubs in the spring and fall adds to...

School board says superintendent’s pay raise long overdue

KELOWNA - A pay raise negotiated last year by Hugh Gloster, the superintendent of schools for the Central Okanagan School District, was long-overdue and well within the normal range for the educational sector, according to the school board chair. “His contract was up for renewal July 1 and we did negotiate a pay raise with...

Convicted murderer who rammed police in stolen truck released

KELOWNA – A convicted murderer who Justice Peter Rogers calls a 'serial criminal' will be released from custody later today despite using a stolen truck to ram a police car just one year after being released from prison. Daniel Mader, 31, was sentenced to time served Wednesday in Kelowna Supreme Court. He pleaded guilty to...

School board searching for $1.5 million in budget cuts

KELOWNA - Some late additions to the Central Okanagan school district’s 2015 budget has pushed the anticipated shortfall to $1.5 million on a budget of $220 million. “The superintendent wanted to add two programs he thought were worth supporting,” says secretary-treasurer Larry Paul, who pegged the cost of the programs at $133,000. “He’s looking to...

VIDEO: Five days at YLW in under five minutes

KELOWNA - Five days worth of activity at Kelowna International Airport can be viewed in under five minutes, thanks to a recently-released time lapse video of an apron expansion project. The 4-minute, 30-second video shows activity on the airport apron over five days and nights. Each second represents around 30 minutes of real time. Airport...

Motorcycle, cash and pendant stolen in separate thefts

KELOWNA – RCMP are asking the public for help locating several items stolen in Kelowna and West Kelowna over the last ten days. On April 19 a client at a Kelowna tanning salon left behind a gold eagle pendant in one of the rooms. When the owner returned the pendant was missing. It is said...

Kelowna charity sending aid to Nepal

KELOWNA – A local charity that helps marginalized children around the world is collecting funds for displaced residents of Nepal after the worst earthquake to hit the country in nearly a century. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the capital of Kathmandu Saturday, April 25. The most recent numbers show more than 4,600 dead, but with...

Rockets fall to Winterhawks in game three

KELOWNA - The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Kelowna Rockets 7-3 on Tuesday night in Portland, taking a two-games-to-one lead in the WHL Western Conference final. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice and added two assists while Nic Petan had three assists to key the Hawks offence. Portland was 4-for-8 on the power play while the Rockets were...

Pay raise on the table for Central Okanagan school trustees

KELOWNA - Central Okanagan school trustees are considering the politically delicate subject of giving themselves a pay raise next year and how exactly to calculate it. Director of Finance Eileen Sadlowski, in a report to the school board, is recommending they choose one of three options; a raise that reflects the consumer price index, a...

Codling moth tax levy approved by Kelowna council

KELOWNA - Orchardists, and the rest of Kelowna, will pay just over $1 million in 2015 to combat the codling moth, a destructive pest that preys on apples and pears. Kelowna council approved the local levy and parcel tax, which covers all properties within city boundaries. Properties of at least 0.3 acres, containing 20 or...

Local students given $50k to learn coding skills

KELOWNA – Students looking to learn more about computer coding in the hopes of entering the quickly growing technology sector got a boost from the provincial government today. Okanagan College will be getting part of a $250,000 funding grant from the provincial government to help develop computer coding-related skills for the growing sector. Premier Christy...

Cameron House caught up in debate over heritage restoration

KELOWNA - The future of Cameron House, the iconic log structure that sits in the middle of the Richter Street park that bears its name, is still in limbo. This week city councillors wrestled at length with the issue of whether the house, built in 1929 using log-and-chink construction, has signficant heritage value and is...

Kelowna council proposes alternative to public prayer

KELOWNA - Councillors have decided to scrap a public prayer at the beginning of its Tuesday night meetings and instead will reaffirm their oath of office after receiving a report from staff on the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on the constitutionality of prayers at council meetings. "Council directed staff to bring forward an amendment...