Kelowna
New Kelowna history app will have you chasing pigs around downtown
KELOWNA – A new smartphone app will take you on a walking tour of downtown as you chase virtual pigs through the streets of Kelowna. Pigs On Bernard is in partnership with the Kelowna Museums Society and gaming company QuestUpon. By answering trivia about the area and taking photos of the pigs that appear in...
Utilty rate increases gets water users coming and going
KELOWNA - They get you if you pour or flush. Kelowna city council has approved a two per cent increase in rates for both city water and waste water utilities. Beginning in May, rates for customers drawing city water — about half the businesses and houses in Kelowna — will climb about $.59 a month...
Developer-financed road to the Mission a first for city hall
KELOWNA - The city's director of corporate ventures has never heard of developers both financing and constructing a road, but that's the proposal for the new South Perimeter Way. “We have never delivered a road in this manner,” said John Vos. “In fact, this is unique in my experience.” A group of developers active in...
Free speech examined at Philosopher’s Cafe
KELOWNA - A local professor will discuss the challenges and importance of free speech in Canada at a Wednesday evening event in Kelowna. Andrew Irvine, a UBC professor and past president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, will be speaking at the Philosopher’s Cafe at the Okanagan Jewish Community Centre. His talk, Where to Draw...
Rockets and Blazers to host Super Series games
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The 2015 Super Series is again bringing high-level hockey to the region, with the Rockets and Kamloops set to host the two opening games. The Canadian Hockey League announced today, Tuesday, Feb. 17, that Kelowna and Kamloops are among the six host cities for the 2015 Subway Super Series, set to be played...
Popular Kelowna Closet Cleanout now for kids
KELOWNA – A new version of the popular Kelowna Closet Cleanout is making it a little more affordable to be a parent to fast-growing kids. The first Kids Closet Cleanout will take place Saturday Feb. 28 at the Laurel Packinghouse in Kelowna from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's an easy way to get rid...
How long will this spring weather last?
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - We saw several high temperatures records broken over the weekend and while the record breaking weather is likely over, the warm temperatures should stick around a while longer. Lisa Coldwells of Environment Canada says looking into the early part of March arctic air will stay on the other side of the Rockies and...
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...
Say good-bye to confusing rail crossings with completion of CN Rail corridor purchase
KELOWNA - The CN Rail corridor purchase will be defined in Kelowna by what it gains — a multi-use transportation corridor — and what it loses — a bunch of annoying level crossings on local roads. “CN has an obligation to remove the railway ties and remediate the land,” said Doug Gilchrist, director of community...
TIMELINE: Bank robber strikes three provinces in two months
VERNON - A man police are calling a serial armed robber has stolen cash from eight different banks across three provinces in just 52 days, and police are worried he's not done yet. The first in a series of similar incidents happened at 2:50 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2014, when a man dressed in dark...
Man dressed as superhero assaults two women
KELOWNA – A man wearing silver underwear over a red body suit is being sought by police for slapping a teenage girl and a woman on their backsides. According to a release from Kelowna RCMP, they received a report an unknown male was hiding in some bushes on the 2000 block of Pandosy Jan. 19....
Annual non-profit race cancelled after 35 years
KELOWNA – A 35-year-old racing tradition in Kelowna has run its course. The annual Ski2Sea race is an annual non-profit relay event where teams and individuals alternate biking, skiing, kayaking and running 95 km from Big White to City Park. According to their website the reasons the race has been cancelled are to do with...
Kelowna woman’s story of abuse goes viral
KELOWNA – A brave Kelowna woman is using social media to share her personal story of domestic abuse. Selina Morrison says her ex-boyfriend abused her both physically and emotionally and she is making her story public on her Facebook page. Two videos she has released since Feb. 8 have almost 40,000 views. “As I was...
How local Mamas helped a new Kelowna family overcome misfortune
KELOWNA – When Nelly Barclay talks about her family’s first week in Kelowna, she starts to cry. A new, non-profit group called Mamas for Mamas came to their aid when an accident left the family with little else but the clothes they were wearing. “I can’t even put it into words,” she says. “I can...
Coastal ski resort closures bad news for local hills
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – With warm weather shutting down ski hills in the Lower Mainland and Washington state, hills in the Thompson-Okanagan are busier than they’ve been in ten years. But it’s not all good news. Spokespeople for all three major ski destinations in Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops said that although business is up in the short...