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Kelowna news
Dog licensing rates soar in the Central Okanagan
KELOWNA - Just one year after introducing tougher dog control measures and a stiff fine for unlicensed dogs, the regional district is reporting big success in persuading people to legalize their pets. Bruce Smith, communications officer for the Central Okanagan Regional District, said the number of licensed dogs is now just shy of 20,000, up...
Vancouver indie shoot heads to the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - Stars will once again shine across the Okanagan when an indie feature film shoot moves from Vancouver to various locations in West Kelowna and North Okanagan next week. A specific schedule of filming days and locations for Unseen was not provided in a media release from the Okanagan Film Commission, however stargazers might...
Lake Country Food Bank wins grand prize
LAKE COUNTRY – The Lake Country Food Bank is one step closer to getting the new facility it so desperately needs. In September of last year, the food bank entered into a national non-profit charity contest that gives out $1 million in prizes for deserving organizations in need. The Aviva Community Fund announced Tuesday that...
Dragons’ Den brings auditions tour of hit show back to Kelowna
KELOWNA — The Dragons are coming to Kelowna and it will be their only Southern Interior stop. Producers of the hit CBC series have announced the latest round of online auditions for the show, which pits would-be entrepreneurs and inventors against a panel of seasoned and successful business people and possible investors from across Canada...
Evicted trailer park tenants threatened with legal fees
KELOWNA – As the deadline to remove their home from Jubilee Mobile Home Park nears, evicted tenants Ross Arnott and Ed Schneider say they are now being threatened with legal fees incurred by the managers who want to use the spot as a maintenance facility. The manufactured home, where they have lived since 2007, is...
Medical marijuana testing laboratories could soon set up shop in Kelowna
KELOWNA - Medical marijuana analytical testing will soon be a possible business after Kelowna city council agreed with staff that the current medical marijuana production bylaw needed clarification. “We have been approached by several operators seeking clarification,” urban planning manager Ryan Smith told council. “The principal purpose here is to create a definition of analytical...
City to react quickly should court decision allow resumption of home grown medicinal marijuana production
KELOWNA - The City of Kelowna will likely react quickly if Health Canada loses a Supreme Court challenge in late February and home-growing medical marijuana producers are allowed to resume production. “We have to wait and see but if it means we have to jump in with extra regulations and inspections, we would do that,”...
Kelowna RCMP marijuana raid a ‘form of discouragement’
VERNON - A police raid might seem like an extreme way to send a message, but a Vernon businessman thinks that was the case with a marijuana dispensary that was shut down in Kelowna. Imre Kovacs is a partial owner of The Herbal Health Centre in Vernon, which opened in the summer of 2013, and...
Rail corridor acquisition looking likely in Lake Country as ‘no-votes’ fail to materialize
LAKE COUNTRY - The man spearheading Lake Country’s acquisition of the CN Rail corridor says he felt little opposition to the project at an open house he hosted last night for local residents. “We were asked a lot of very good questions from a good cross section of people. There seemed to be more concern...
Hundreds of concrete tobogganers set to slide into Kelowna
KELOWNA - First there was Led Zepplin and now concrete toboggans, though it's not a band name but a race between roughly 430 UBCO engineering students down a slope at Big White Ski Resort. UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering hosts the 2015 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race from January 21 to 25 in Kelowna—an event...
Hells Angel and friend get five years for gun charges
KELOWNA – Two men with ties to the Hells Angels were each sentenced to five years in jail Tuesday for getting caught carrying an arsenal of weapons in 2010. Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak, 52, and alleged gang associate Cory Montemurro, 44, were pulled over November 25, 2010 after leaving a legal marijuana grow operation...
Hells Angel sentencing could be postponed until after Christmas
KELOWNA - What was supposed to be a day of final submissions ahead of sentencing has turned into a multi-day examination into the lives of two men convicted of multiple weapons charges. Admitted Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak and alleged gang associate Cory Montemurro asked to postpone sentencing until early January so they can spend...
Judge denies Hells Angel’s request to change judges for sentencing
KELOWNA - Full patch Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak and alleged gang associate Cory Montemurro's application to have a different judge sentence them was denied in Kelowna Supreme Court Tuesday. Two months ago, both men were found guilty of almost a dozen weapons charges after they were pulled over by police in November 2010 with a cache...
Bruce Cook back on his bike for first time since tragic accident
KELOWNA – Nine months after Kelowna freestyle motocross rider Bruce Cook was paralyzed attempting the…
Hells Angel found guilty on weapons charges
KELOWNA – The public may never know what would have happened had four armed men not been pulled over for speeding two years ago—but what police found inside the vehicle that night was enough to convict two of them of almost a dozen charges. Full patch Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak and alleged gang associate...
Dogs recovering thanks to ‘hero’ veterinarian
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT KELOWNA – In his 17 years in veterinary medicine, Dr. Jatinder Mundi has seen his share of traumatic injuries to dogs—mostly from traffic accidents or fights. But what came through his door at Burtch Animal Hospital the morning of Sept. 16 was something else entirely:Three large rottweilers in various states of responsiveness,...
Attacked dogs recovering as donations pour in
KELOWNA - Since news of the horrific attack that killed one dog and severely injured two others reached the public, the outpouring of support from communities as far away as Calgary has touched everyone involved. “It’s been really incredible,” Burtch Animal Hospital office administrator Kelsey Hall said Friday. “We’ve been getting calls all day from people...
Three dogs attacked, one killed in overnight attack
KELOWNA – A brutal attack on a Kelowna family's three dogs came just days after he was assaulted by someone he knew. Lyall Grexton awoke Tuesday morning to find his three Rottweilers were attacked overnight with a sharp weapon. All three suffered severe injuries and one of the dogs could not be saved. Const. Kris Clark...
UPDATE: Cache of guns, Hell’s Angels paraphernalia found on traffic stop: Crown
KELOWNA – Whether or not Hell’s Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak knew he was in a vehicle full of guns when he was arrested Nov. 25, 2010 was the focus of the opening day of his Supreme Court trial Wednesday morning. Skreptak, who was arrested shortly after 10 that night along with three other men, is...
Paralyzed FMX rider Bruce Cook gets stolen bike back thanks to social media
KELOWNA – Thanks to social media and the quick actions of a friend, paralyzed freestyle…
Greenway underpasses closed again
KELOWNA – The swift and rising water in Mission Creek from the spring runoff and the rain on Friday has forced the closure of the two underpasses on the Mission Creek Greenway. The trails under the Casorso Road Bridge and south side of the creek at the Gordon Drive Bridge are closed until the water...
Kelowna Hell’s Angel gets jail time for brutal beating
KELOWNA - A self-acknowleged Hell's Angels member from Kelowna was sentenced to two years and two months in prison today. Joseph Bruce Skreptak pleaded guilty to an unprovoked assault on the father of a young boy he suspected of stealing from him. On November 1, 2010. Skreptak and four of his Hell's Angels associates arrived...
No pillows: Kelowna Hell’s Angel complains about prison
"HE WAS NOT ON HOLIDAY AT A FIVE-STAR RESORT:" CROWN A Hell's Angels member due to be sentenced for beating a man in 2010 is now seeking a reduced jail sentence because of tough times in prison while waiting for sentencing. On November 1, 2010 Joseph Bruce Skreptak and four of his Hell's Angels associates...