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Kelowna news

Flying fees edging upwards at Kelowna Airport

OKANAGAN - Flying in and out of Kelowna just got a bit more expensive with council approving an across-the-board increase in operating fees at the city-owned airport. The success of Kelowna Airport and its record passenger volumes means increased costs for maintenance, labour, utilities and technology, Noreen Redman, the airport’s corporate services manager, told council....

Firefighters investigate report of smoke at Executive House apartment complex

KELOWNA - Firefighters weren't taking any chances following a report of smoke coming from a fourth floor unit at the Executive House apartment complex this afternoon. Emergency crews were called out at roughly 3 p.m. Feb. 24. According to Kelowna Fire and Rescue Platoon Capt. Tim Light, the smoke was the result of a cigarette...

No such thing as free parking; budget for parkade expansion takes off

KELOWNA - City councillors have found out what the rest of us have known for years — that parking doesn’t come cheap in Kelowna. City staff have asked council to transfer $762,000 from the future Ellis St. parkade budget to the current Library parkade expansion, allowing the project to be complete for summer, 2016. The...

Make sure you know the rules before using Curtis Road

KELOWNA - Over the past five years, the use of the easement roadway through the Curtis Road subdivision west of campus has been the subject of Court proceedings. In May 2012, the Court ordered that the Curtis Road easement could only be used by UBC students and employees who have classes or employment in the...

Respect the sports fields closure

KELOWNA - The City of Kelowna would like to remind residents that the City’s sports fields are still closed, despite the warm weather and sunny skies. The grass needs to be actively growing and the fields need to dry out to ensure the best quality turf for players during the spring season. The fields are...

Alleged gangster convicted for cache of guns released

KELOWNA – A man suspected of having ties to the Hells Angels who was convicted of almost a dozen weapons-related charges last year has been released from custody pending an appeal. Cory Joseph Montemurro, 45, was driving a rented Jeep Grand Cherokee Nov. 25, 2010 when police found him and three other men with an...

What Colin Basran had during the election that rival Sharon Shepherd didn’t

KELOWNA — The 2014 mayoral race in Kelowna, which quickly came down to current councillor Colin Basran versus former mayor Sharon Shepherd, was billed as youth versus experience. It might have been better pegged as 'have' and 'have-not.' Winner, and now Mayor, Basran outspent Shepherd well over three to one, raising through contributions almost $76,000...

Kelowna Mountain developer made a massive contribution to Taxpayers First

KELOWNA — Taxpayers First—the City of Kelowna’s first slate of candidates—spent more than $50,000 trying to get elected in the November municipal election, nearly all of it coming from the five candidates themselves except for the nearly $19,000 from the man behind Kelowna Mountain. Mark Consiglio contributed $18,960 in two separate donations, according to campaign...

Kelowna woman charged after trying to smuggle 35 kg of cocaine into B.C.

WEST KELOWNA – A large amount of drugs found in a hidden compartment in the trunk of a car over the summer have led to charges against a Kelowna woman. Charges of were laid against Caitlin Christine Gladdish, 26, over the weekend for trying to bring more than 35 kilograms of cocaine into Trail, B.C....

How the city is going to try to make it easier for tourists in downtown Kelowna this summer

KELOWNA - Summer in downtown in Kelowna is going to be all about construction, traffic congestion and scarce parking as the city deals with an unusual number of big, building projects. “The biggest concern is construction during the summer when the volumes are highest and parking stalls are used the most,” Purvez Irani says. He's...

Trailer Park Boys actors sell out show in Kelowna

KELOWNA – A couple of cast members from the hit Canadian TV show The Trailer Park Boys were in Kelowna for a sold-out comedy show Thursday night. Around 250 people packed the Habitat for the adults-only show featuring actors John Dunsworth, better known as the drunken manager of Sunnyvale Trailer Park Jim Lahey and his...

Kelowna’s Matt Dwyer fighting in Brazil this weekend

KELOWNA – Toshido MMA’s Matt Dwyer is in Brazil this weekend for a UFC welterweight fight against William Macario in what Sherdog.com calls a “loser leaves town matchup.” This is Dwyer’s second UFC appearance since his debut against Albert Tumenov in which he was stopped by a surprise head kick in the first round. Although...

Lack of funding forces closure of Kelowna overnight homeless shelter

KELOWNA - Homeless people in need of a warm place to spend the night will have fewer options next week. In an effort to protect their year-round services, Inn From the Cold is closing their overnight services as of March 1, 2015 due to lack of funding, according to a media release. Normally, the overnight...

Lake Country counters CN rail objections with mass mail out

KELOWNA - Lake Country civic officials are countering what they are calling misinformation by residents opposed to the purchase of the CN Rail corridor and the alternative approval process being used to seek its approval. Corporate services manager Reyna Seabrook said the district decided to do another mass mail out to all Lake Country households...

Bobbitt not happy with how he was portrayed during trial

KELOWNA – David Wesley Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to sexually and physically assaulting a 22-year-old Penticton woman in 2011, isn’t feeling well. And he doesn’t like his lawyer either. Final submissions in the Supreme Court case that began last year concluded Friday, with Bobbitt, 39, saying he wasn’t happy with how his lawyer James Pennington...

‘One can hardly imagine a more horrific assault’ than Bobbitt’s: Crown

KELOWNA – Reckless, self-serving, grandiose, entitled, antisocial, narcissistic, lacking in empathy, sexually sadistic, psychopathic and violent. Those are some of the words the Crown used to describe David Wesley Bobbitt in a hearing to determine if he deserves dangerous offender status. Bobbitt, 39, has already pleaded guilty to seven charges, but before Justice Peter Rogers...

Course operators look forward to February golf

KELOWNA — Forget the groundhog, hardcore golfers are the new harbinger of spring. At least at Kelowna Springs Golf Club and some other Central Okanagan golf courses where agreeable weather is allowing for the earliest opening some courses have ever seen. “This is unheard of in 20 years,” Ian Robertson, general manager of Kelowna Springs,...

Shoebox suites are the trend and Kelowna residents better get used to it

KELOWNA - A pair of micro-suite projects set to go ahead in Kelowna are part of a trend across Canada to smaller and smaller living spaces, says Kelowna city councillor Gail Given, one that the older generation had better get used to. “This generation is exploring different options, and these two projects have opened the...

Road hogging continues as big block construction projects dominate downtown

KELOWNA - If you think Kelowna has endured a lot of big-ticket construction projects in the last few years, you would be right. If you thought it was over, you would be wrong. A number of large building projects, and all that goes with it — detours, lost parking spaces, narrowed roadways — have either...

Blocking the path to higher learning

KELOWNA - The ongoing dispute between UBC Okanagan and the residents of Curtis Road which runs right behind the school has ended up again in the courts, blocking access to the popular back trail. Michael Shakespeare, the school’s vice-president of operations, said in a prepared statement that the easement granted to UBCO has not been...

Bobbitt sentencing reconvenes in Kelowna

KELOWNA – An ex-girlfriend who says she too was sexually abused by David Wesley Bobbitt is not credible, according to defence lawyer James Pennington. On Wednesday morning Bobbitt’s sentencing reconvened in Kelowna Supreme Court after a seven month break. Since starting June 23, the focus has been to determine if Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to...