Kelowna
UPDATE: Young Kelowna man found
Update: RCMP say missing person Ryan Vetter, 20, has been found. —— KELOWNA – RCMP are asking for help to find a missing 20-year-old man with autism who’s been missing for over 24 hours. Police say Ryan Vetter was last seen Saturday morning, May 30, at his home in Rutland. Vetter was wearing glasses, a...
Property tax exemption? How do I get me one of those?
KELOWNA - It's hard to see what Valley First Credit Union in Rutland, the yet-to-be-built luxury Westcorp hotel near Kerry Park and the newly-rebuilt Kelowna Yacht Club might have in common. But what links them is all are either eligible or have already received a ten-year property tax holiday under Kelowna’s revitalization tax exemption bylaw,...
City policy changes aimed at stopping double-dipping shoe box suite developers
KELOWNA - Concerns about micro suites and their impact on City of Kelowna finances, plus how and where they are built, are raised in a new report by city staff. City planner Ryan Roycroft says the city has already foregone $1.7 million in development cost charges for the 315 so-called shoe box suites which have...
VIDEO: Spring car cruise attracts automotive fans from across B.C.
OKANAGAN – An annual car cruise which started a few years ago as a way for friends and car enthusiasts to show off their rides, has grown to include hundreds of 'tuners' from across the province. Tyson Noel organized the first Kelowna Spring Cruise and has seen it go from fewer than 50 cars to...
Woman killed in car crash spread joy through social media
KELOWNA – Joselyn Casavant’s Facebook status updates were "hilarious," according to one of her hundreds of friends. The 21-year-old who died after being hit head-on by a speeding Honda on McCurdy Road last weekend is being remembered by family and friends as someone who genuinely cared about making other people happy. Anthony Kuchma, 23, first met...
Nine salmonella victims in B.C. Interior contracted from live chicks
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Interior Health Authority is bearing the brunt of a B.C. salmonellosis outbreak connected to live poultry distributed from a hatchery in Alberta. The health authority has dealt with nine of 13 confirmed cases within the province and one of the two that required hospitalization, according to Althea Hayden, a public health physician....
Laundry privatization decision expected this summer
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Hospital Employee Union members who filled the Interior Health Authority board meeting yesterday to show their concern about laundry service privatization got a polite but firm message from chairman Erwin Malzer. “Thank you very much for bringing your concerns to us but no decision will be made until we receive the request for...
Aboriginal health strategy hopes to improve care outcomes
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Tailoring healthcare for the 54,000 First Nations living within the Interior Health Authority will improve the quality of life and health outcomes and ultimately save money by reducing the need for services amongst a population that is overrepresented within the system. That’s the message behind the aboriginal health and wellness strategy adopted yesterday...
Health authority continues to monitor possible Ebola cases
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If the ongoing Ebola epidemic has a human face within the Interior Health Authority, it’s that of Patrice Gordon, a nurse practioner who returned from West Africa last December and promptly began displaying the early signs of of the disease. Gordon tested negative for the virus, but since then the health authority has...
Those red light cameras? Apparently they work pretty well
THOMSON-OKANAGAN - There’s no question drivers run red lights on the highways and byways of the Southern Interior but compared to the Lower Mainland, they’re amateurs. A story this week in the Vancouver Sun shows the worst 25 intersections for red-light running out of the 140 intersections where ICBC operates red-light cameras account for more...
Southern Interior water beat by Chilliwack in tap water taste test
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Waterworks staff in the Okanagan and Kamloops will be drowning their sorrows tonight after losing out to Chilliwack in a tap water taste test which wouldn’t have looked out of place at a winery. “It’s a clear winner,” joked Tanja McQueen, CEO of the B.C.Water and Waste Association, who hosted the tasting and...
Local singer takes home award for best female country music star
KELOWNA – A singer-songwriter born in Kelowna won the Coachella Valley Music Awards for best female country music album this month. Kelly Margaret Derrickson, daughter of First Nation Grand Chief Ron Derrickson, took home the award May 17. Nominations are made by 200 industry insiders, including radio and TV personalities, music writers and journalists, music...
Solar Road stabbing victim identified, murder charges laid
WEST KELOWNA – The man who died after being stabbed in the chest during a fight in West Kelowna April 29 has been identified and charges against the suspect upgraded to second-degree murder. Jose Amestica, 50, will appear in court June 2. He was originally charged with aggravated assault until the victim, Kevin McNally, 44,...
Kelowna company expands delivery to Europe and Asia
KELOWNA – The company formerly known as Kelowna Flightcraft is expanding its cargo routes overseas. Now called KF Aerospace, the Kelowna-headquartered aviation services company will have routes four times a week between Toronto and Europe via Brussels and daily service between Toronto and Atlantic Canada. Within two months the network will expand to include all...
How far the City of Kelowna must go to get commuters out of cars
KELOWNA - Forget bike to work week; this is just one of 52 weeks in a larger year-around social engineering campaign to change your mindset on getting from A to B that will hopefully reduce our overall need to engineer new roads and bridges. And in the Central Okanagan, that's no small task which probably...