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Kelowna
Parking the tipping point for micro-suite apartment approval
KELOWNA - For such small suites, Kelowna city council has some big problems with a high-density apartment building proposed for Dickson Avenue near the Landmark complex. Designs submitted by the developer Dickson Avenue Holdings call for 90 suites, about half of which would be 29 square metres with one parking space included for each unit....
New HOV lane rules take effect; RCMP ready to enforce
KELOWNA – If the high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Kelowna rub you the wrong way, they will only be rubbing you the wrong way during the daytime on weekdays as of today, Jan. 19. Instead of 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the HOV lanes are now only in effect between 7 a.m. and...
Firefighters to get new ride after council approves truck replacement
KELOWNA - Looking to buy a fire engine? Get ready for some sticker shock and a lengthy wait because it turns out buying one of the specialized emergency response vehicles is nothing like buying a new car. “You can’t just walk into a dealership and buy a fire truck,” says Larry Hollier, deputy chief of...
More snow is on its way; heavy snow for mountain passes
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The forecasters at Environment Canada are predicting heavy snow for mountain passes on the Coquihalla and the Hope-Princeton highways. The 20 to 30 centimetres of snow will start to fall late Saturday and continue overnight into Sunday, according to a Special Weather Statement. “A warm front will bring copious amounts of moisture to...
Kelowna drug house raided by RCMP
KELOWNA – Drugs and guns were seized during an RCMP raid at a known drug house in Kelowna. Police executed a search warrant at the house in the 1800-block of High Rd. on Tuesday, Jan. 13 on the look for guns, according to an RCMP media release. Mounties say there were a large number of...
Chicken-killing bobcat tranquillized and relocated
KELOWNA – A Kelowna resident lost four chickens to a bobcat earlier this week—maybe the same cat seen hunting in neighbourhoods in the Upper Mission. Conservation office Ed Seitz says he was called Wednesday after the chickens were killed at a property in the lower Mission along Lakeshore Road. Last week, a bobcat attacked a...
Grave concerns lead city to cemetery master plan
KELOWNA - The first phase of a 25-year plan to ensure the eternal viability of Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery, the municipally-owned cemetery, begins this year giving new meaning to the phrase rest in peace. With an aging infrastructure, changing consumer trends and limited space, cemetery manager David Gatzke says the time was right for a...
More snow on the way this weekend
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The temperatures are warming up but we are not out of the woods when it comes to snow just yet, Mother Nature may add another layer of the white stuff before the weekend is over. According to Environment Canada people in Kamloops can expect snow today, Friday, Jan. 16, and Saturday along with...
Tax axe nowhere in sight as city council approves increase
KELOWNA - After a day spent hearing submissions, Kelowna city councillors are considering a potential property tax increase of 3.46 per cent, down a touch from what staff originally recommended in a budget year dominated by increases to police services and a new building to house them. Mayor Colin Basran led city councillors — some...
Gas price slide means savings on civic operations
KELOWNA - Questions about the impact of collapsing oil prices are starting to filter into Kelowna’s civic operations as the possibility of an extended downturn in fuel costs becomes apparent. Several councillors queried city staff during presentations at 2015 budget deliberations about the topic that has recently been dominating headlines in Western Canada. The first...
Locals wrapping up second film about the Okanagan’s newest sport
OKANAGAN – A year after their first film was named a finalist at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Kelowna climbers Clayton Arnall and Andy White are close to finishing their second film about bouldering in the Okanagan. Out of the Shadows, the follow up to The Fields – A Bouldering Film, is about a small community...
Price of go-juice in the Okanagan still above provincial average
OKANAGAN – As the price of oil continues to fall, drivers across the country are noticing it costs them a lot less to fill their tanks. Compared with the rest of Canada however, Okanagan prices haven't been set as low. According to GasBuddy.com, a website that compares gas prices across North America, most prices in...
Surging demand pushes French Immersion expansion into West Kelowna school
POPULAR LANGUAGE PROGRAM LEAVES ONE LOCAL SCHOOL MORE FRENCH THAN ENGLISH KELOWNA - Surging demand for French Immersion in the Central Okanagan School District has the only middle school that offers the program well beyond capacity and it’s just a matter of time before the popular program needs to expand into West Kelowna. That’s the...
Budget squeeze won’t stop construction crush
KELOWNA — The new $48-million RCMP police services building is casting a large shadow over this year’s municipal budget, with staff warning of the possible chilling effect on other capital projects. But don’t expect the the seemingly endless parade of construction projects over the last few years to let up much, at least if Kelowna...
World famous photographer loses Kelowna cabin to fire
KELOWNA – A luxury cabin in Ellison that burned to the ground over the weekend belongs to world-renowned photographer and inventor Gary Fong. Fong, a former musician and wedding photographer, is also the inventor of several popular lighting systems and an instructional website many professionals around the world consider the gold standard. His best known...
Kelowna garage damaged by fire
KELOWNA - Crews arriving at the scene of a residential garage fire were greeted by heavy black smoke early Monday evening. The Kelowna Fire Department was called to Carruthers Street around 6:15 p.m., Jan. 12, and while they were able to quickly extinguish the fire the interior of the garage was already destroyed. In total...
Road rush by developers could push South Perimeter to top of list
TRAFFIC RELIEF FOR THE MISSION? KELOWNA — Kelowna city councillors have paved the way for the so-called South Perimeter Road to jump ahead of other roadways projects in the Mission by authorizing staff to accelerate its design and begin negotiations with property developers pushing for the project. Property developers approached council in the fall about...
Up close and personal with a bobcat in Kettle Valley
AMAZING PHOTO OF WILD CAT KELOWNA – A close encounter with a bobcat has prompted a warning for people living in the Village of Kettle Valley in Kelowna. A couple of neighbours spotted a bobcat dragging a house cat away Friday afternoon, Jan. 9, according to Kettle Valley president Stephen Wells. “They ran at the...
Local pilot catches heat for harassing wild animals
KELOWNA – A YouTube video of a Kelowna man flying his paramotor around the Okanagan may have attracted more attention than he wanted. Emile Beaulieau made the video of him flying his fan-driven paraglider around the Okanagan late last year. In it, he can be seen skimming over rooftops and buzzing herds of wild deer...
Temperatures continue upswing
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After a dump of nearly 40 centimetres of snow in many parts of the Southern Interior we are now looking at temperatures above seasonal normals all week. According to Environment Canada we can expect to see highs of about 2 Celsius Monday and Tuesday and of 0 C Wednesday and Thursday. By the...
UPDATE: Fire fighters battle house fire in Ellison
KELOWNA – Smoke and flames from a house fire in Ellison above the Kelowna Airport Sunday afternoon, Jan. 11, could be seen for kilometres as crews struggled to get access to the huge blaze. Kelowna Fire Rescue was called at about 11:30 a.m. to the fire at 4211 Twin Creek Pl. A call for mutual...
City budget ‘bare bones’ despite sizeable tax increase
KELOWNA — Even Kelowna’s mayor concedes it sounds odd calling a possible 3.5 per cent tax increase a “bare bones budget." “It sounds crazy but this is actually a very lean budget,” says Colin Basran, who blames two big-ticket items — Kelowna’s new police station and recent union contract settlement — for the increase. “Both...
Kelowna family homeless after grease fire
KELOWNA – A family of five find themselves without a place to live after a grease fire in their half of a Kelowna duplex this afternoon, Jan. 10. Kelowna Fire Rescue got the call around 3:30 p.m. about smoke and flames visible at a home at 645 Hollydell Rd. in Rutland. Platoon captain Kelly Stephens...
Accused Westside shooter trial coming to an end
"THE CASE BECOMES STRONGER WITH EACH PASSING KILOMETRE." KELOWNA – Was Michael Ellis only doing what he was told when he led police on a high speed shootout along Westside Road in 2012 or is his friend and former co-accused taking the blame because he knows it can’t affect his sentence? That was the focus...