Kelowna
Kelowna makes a push outdoors
KELOWNA - Even locals don’t know all the best places to hike, swim and bike — that’s the premise behind the Active By Nature campaign, which will use advanced route signage, a video and an interactive website to promote Kelowna’s outdoor infrastructure. “A proven and effective way to inform residents about our network and to...
VIDEO: Kenny Vs. Spenny promote upcoming Kelowna show
KELOWNA – The best friends from Toronto who actually kind of hate each other, have put out a video promoting their upcoming show in Kelowna. Both Kenny Hotz and Spencer “Spenny” Rice, stars of the hit TV show Kenny Vs. Spenny, feature in the short video, but it is Spenny who does most of the...
UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm warnings back in effect for B.C. Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you haven't experienced major rain or thunder and lightning, your turn is likely coming. Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch on and off for most of the region today, June 30. At 5:35 p.m., Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the North Okanagan, including Vernon. The storm has...
Okanagan apples almost ready to cross the globe
OKANAGAN – The general manager of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association says they are about a month away from knowing if Okanagan apples will be bound for one of the largest markets in the world. Glen Lucas says he had hoped they would have the answers to whether or not local apples will be a...
Wine and fruit waste prompts Kelowna treatment facility upgrade
KELOWNA - The city is looking at upgrading the Brandt’s Creek Trade Waste Treatment facility in a bid to reduce the amount of biosolids it produces and the cost of hauling them away. Staff are recommending the city pay $450,000 for a centrifuge to be installed at the facility located in the North End industrial...
Campfire bans in effect this weekend for B.C. Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Due to an elevated risk of fire across the Interior of B.C., the Kamloops Fire Centre has banned all open fires, including campfires, as of noon on Friday, July 3. Kelsey Winter of B.C. Wildfire says the step is being taken to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety around Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon...
UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch issued for Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – We could see severe thunderstorms develop in the Thompson-Okanagan region this afternoon and evening. Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch this morning covering the South and North Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and Okanagan regions and upgraded it to a warning for parts of the South Thompson, Nicola and Okanagan regions for a short...
Kelowna council won’t follow Vancouver’s lead on medical marijuana dispensaries
KELOWNA – More than 80 new medical marijuana dispensaries have opened in Vancouver in the last year, prompting city council there to consider implementing business regulations to keep them from getting out of control. But the mayor of the Interior's largest city says Kelowna council is not planning on revisiting the issue any time soon....
Car roll over accident claims life of Kelowna woman
KELOWNA - A woman from Kelowna has been identified as the passenger killed when a car rolled on Highway 16 on June 26. Coroner Donita Kuzma has identified Jamie Kathleen Doornbosch, 29, along with driver Paul John Constantineau of Thorsby, Alta., as the two people who died at the scene of the single-vehicle accident aproximately...
Second phase of Stuart Park finishes off Kelowna’s waterfront facelift
KELOWNA - Stuart Park, part two, is scheduled to open just in time for Canada Day. Walkways and the new sidewalk fronting Water Street are complete and the lawn has been laid although the City of Kelowna says it will be fenced off for a few more weeks so it can get established. A pair...
Record heat in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - Several Okanagan cities were among the 30 communities to set a new high temperature record in the province on Sunday. With a high of 39.3 C on Sunday, June 28, Vernon was one of the hottest Okanagan communities, surpassing a former high temperature record of 35.4 C. With a high of 38.7 C...
Scorching heat sizzles high temperature records
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The heat wave blasting the Southern Interior cranked the temperature up a notch Saturday breaking high temperature records in the Thompson-Okanagan. Canada’s hot spot June 27 was Osoyoos where the mercury climbed to 40.9 Celsius, snapping the old high temperature record of 37.7 C recorded on the same day in 2000. Kamloops hit...
Heat wave continues though not as hot has originally forecast
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – While it will still be hot this weekend, it won’t be has hot as first forecast by Environment Canada. The Special Weather Statement issued on Thursday, June 25, for the South and North Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and Okanagan warning of temperatures as high at 40 Celsius has been ended. Meteorologists are still forecasting...
Old Western Star plant could soon meet the wrecker’s ball
KELOWNA - The last vestiges of Western Star Trucks, a manufacturing success story in Kelowna, could soon be meeting the wreckers ball. Owner of the site on Enterprise Way, 3752 Investments Ltd., has applied for a permit to raze the former Western Star truck and replace it with a Lowes home improvement store and garden...
Cracks were showing in Westbank First Nation’s private hospital plan last year
WESTBANK FIRST NATION - Despite assertions from the partners behind Canada’s first for-profit private hospital that it is proceeding as planned, documents show the deal to develop the Lake Okanagan Wellness Centre was in disarray last year. When it became clear in October 2014 that Ad Vitam Health Care was out of money and unable...