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Penticton news

RCMP, SPCA investigating woman accused of dragging puppy behind moving vehicle

OKANAGAN – After news of four Kelowna women who rescued a puppy that was injured while being pulled behind a moving vehicle in Oliver last week, the SPCA and RCMP have begun a joint investigation into possible animal cruelty. On Friday, June 12 at around 7:30 p.m., four women from Kelowna were on a wine...

Kitchen fire in Kaleden sends one to hospital

KALEDEN – Fire crews put out a fire in a kitchen at a home in Kaleden this afternoon but not before extensive damage was down. The Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department was called to the home at 420 Lakehill Rd. around noon, June 21, according to fire chief Darlene Bailey. Bailey says one person was taken...

Treat dad like a king with these Father’s Day events in the Southern Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Father’s Day is one day every year where families can tell dad how much he means and do the things he enjoys. So with forecasts calling for sun and temperatures in the mid-20s any of these outdoor events happening around the Thompson-Okanagan should keep him smiling for the next 12 months. If you’re in...

Beading a path through the Okanagan

PENTICTON - An Okanagan artist and entrepreneur turned a daydream into a unique business opportunity which continues to grow with each new tourist season. Karen Griggs was looking for a way to make a living while following her passion when she came up with the idea of the Bead Trail. According to her blog, a...

Kaleden car crash sends one to hospital

KALEDEN – A two-car crash on Highway 97 in Kaleden this afternoon has sent one person to hospital. The Dodge Intrepid turning onto the highway from Lakehill Road was hit by a northbound BMW SUV, according to emergency officials at the scene. The SUV ended up in the ditch. Traffic is getting past the wreckage...

Okanagan residents needn’t fear the “big one” following a Penticton quake

PENTICTON - The small earthquake in the South Okanagan yesterday startled a number of people in Penticton and Naramata, but not to worry, seismologists say, it wasn’t a harbinger of the "big one". The shallow depth, magnitude 2.5 quake took place at 4:45:02 p.m., Thursday, June 18, “almost directly under Penticton, just to the southeast,”...

Coroner rules Okanagan Falls drowning death ‘undetermined’

OKANAGAN FALLS - The B.C. Coroner's Service figured out what killed an Edmonton man found floating in the Okanagan River near Okanagan Falls last spring, but questions about why he ended up in the river remain unanswered. Coroner Walter Burns has determined Andrew Scott Gangl drowned in the river and alcohol and drugs were contributed...

Hey Penticton: Did you feel that?

PENTICTON - Plenty of people in the South Okanagan are reporting they felt a tremor shortly before 5 p.m. today and Natural Resources Canada has confirmed it was an earthquake. Social media lit up around 4:45 p.m. with concerns about an earthquake, and Natural Resources Canada measured the tremor as a 2.5-magnitude earthquake near Princeton, though it...

Hospital laundry workers continue anti-privatization protest as decision looms

KELOWNA - The Hospital Employees Union continued its public pressure campaign against privatization of laundry services this week with a pair of rallies in the largest communities within the Interior Health Authority. Laundry workers sought to bring provincial politicians into the mix by protesting in front of the contituency offices of MLA Terry Lake in...

Fewer rentals available in Thompson-Okanagan as prices rise

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It's getting harder to find an apartment to rent in most Thompson-Okangan cities, and those that are available cost significantly more than they did one year ago. Kelowna and Kamloops saw minor adjustments in rental availability rates this year compared with the B.C. average. Between April 2014 and April 2015, the provincial average...

Big air and local talent featured in extreme mountain bike movie

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Ever wondered what it’s like to do a 70-foot front flip on a tricked out mountain bike? Now you can get an idea without risking reconstructive surgery or a lengthy hospital stay. An extreme mountain biking movie, unReal, is premiering in Kamloops and Kelowna next week. UnReal is a movie that does for...

Filmmaker captures awe of Okanagan Valley

OKANAGAN - The essence of what makes the Okanagan Valley breathtaking has been captured by a filmmaker from Summerland in a short video entitled Born To Wonder. Steve Cogbill, 19, says he just finished several months of work on the video and he hopes it will motivate both locals and would-be tourists to take a...

Aboriginal court case could break new ground in Okanagan

PENTICTON - A woman facing sentencing over a litany of conditional sentence and personation breaches and minor thefts may soon make legal history in Penticton. Mae Lynnette Postel’s sentencing led both counsel and Judge Gregory Koturbash to look into the possibility of diverting her case to a form of aboriginal justice known as a 'sentencing...

Kelowna women rescues dog being pulled behind moving vehicle

"WE ALMOST THREW UP WE WERE SO SCARED." OKANAGAN – Four friends from Kelowna were driving on Road 22 in Oliver last Friday night when they saw something they couldn’t believe: A puppy, less than two months old, being pulled behind a moving vehicle. “It was one of those really small lane roads,” says one...

Career criminal earns another seven years behind bars

PENTICTON - Call it courthouse math: A man who has been sentenced to 21 years in jail in the last 19 years, yet still managed to find time to commit more crimes, has earned another seven years in prison. Jon Russell Lowe appeared by video before Judge Gregory Koturbash in Penticton Provincial Court today, June...

SNELSON TRIAL: Lawyers present final arguments in manslaughter trial

KAMLOOPS - Motive, opportunity and his own lies all point to Neil George Snelson as the person who strangled and beat 19-year-old Jennifer Cusworth to death over 20 years ago in Kelowna, court heard from the Crown during final arguments today, June 15. Cusworth, an Okanagan Community College student was found in a ditch on...

Penalty for shooting someone with an airsoft gun? More than you might think

PENTICTON - A 19-year-old Penticton man with a penchant for shooting people with an airsoft gun discovered today they are no toys in the eyes of the law. Christian Darren Leggatt will spend 96 more days in jail for one incident and another 90 days for a second occurrence, Judge Gregory Koturbash decided in Penticton...

Penticton’s newest millionaire revealed

PENTICTON - Another lottery draw, another Okanagan winner. Irene Vestner of Penticton won $1 million in the guaranteed prize draw of the May 30 Lotto 6/49 draw. She claimed her prize today at the B.C. Lottery Corp. head office in Kamloops. Vestner joins several other recent Okanagan winners, including Brittany Powell of Kelowna, Tanya Williams...

Neighbours fear ‘another Boonstock’ if Naramata winery gets special liquor licence

PENTICTON - A Naramata winery operator who faced a gallery full of people against an application for a special events liquor licence, hopes to assuage fears at tonight’s council meeting. The matter first came before council on May 4 and council deferred a decision on the licence for Bench 1775 Winery for 30 days following...

Third time proves unlucky as fire destroys Keremeos restaurant

PENTICTON - The Riverbed Bistro in Keremeos was destroyed by fire early this morning, the third fire at the restaurant in the past four years. Firefighters were called to the blaze at about 3:30 a.m., Monday, June 15, at the restaurant directly across the street from the local firehall. Keremeos Chief Jordy Bosscha says the...

Another warm week for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - After a week filled with record and near-record temperatures, things are set to cool down in the Okanagan this week, but only slightly. With temperatures reaching the mid-30s, Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton hit records this past week and while Environment Canada is not calling for temperatures quite that hot this week, the mercury...

Bad Tattoo wins medals for good brew

PENTICTON - A Penticton craft brewery, not even in business for a year, has attracted award winning national attention. Bad Tattoo was awarded two silver medals in the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards held last week in Niagara Falls, Ontario, according to a media release The brewery won silver for best North American-style amber lager as...

Heavy intoxication cause of Sawmill Lake drowning: Coroner

PENTICTON - A suspicious drowning death that occurred last year in a lake near Oliver has been deemed accidental following a report by the B.C. Coroners Service. No trauma was found on Grace Marie Capot-Blanc’s body to indicate she was forced into the water. She was, however, heavily intoxicated at the time of her death,...