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Penticton news
Interior Target stores will be closed before Easter
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - By April 2 a total of 62 Target stores will be shut down, including those in Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops. Target Canada opened doors in Western Canada in May 2013. In January 2015 it was announced the company would be shutting down all 133 stores and liquidation sales began immediately. Last week the...
Four local pharmacies to participate in ground-breaking genomics project
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The concept of tailored medical care based on individual DNA was once the stuff of science fiction novels but now the possibility is ever closer with four pharmacies in the Thompson-Okanagan signed on to take part in a first-of-its-kind genomics project. The 'Genomics for Precision Drug Therapy in the Community Pharmacy' project is...
Major snowfall for mountain pass highways in Thompson-Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Winter appears to be reluctant to release it’s icy grip on the mountain pass highways in the Thompson-Okanagan. Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement warning of 10 to 20 centimetres of snow by Monday morning. Meteorologist Ross Macdonald says a strong front over Washington State combined with falling freezing levels will...
Don’t forget to book your camping sites this weekend
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you decide to sleep in this Sunday you might miss out on the summer you’ve been dreaming of. The online and call centre reservation system for provincial campgrounds officially opens Sunday, March 15 at 9 a.m. Reservable sites tend to book up quickly, especially at the more popular campgrounds and for long...
Kelowna and Penticton derby girls ready to roll
KELOWNA - The junior hockey season may be over soon, but don't dispair, the roller derby season in the Okanagan is just getting started. The Okanagan Roller Derby Association kicks off the season Saturday, March 14 at the Central Sports Club at 1155 Ellis St. with the Kelowna's Bad Apple Betties taking on the Penticton Pisterolas....
What nurse practitioners bring to our health care system: Interior Health wants you to know
KELOWNA - What began as a study to figure out how Interior Health nurse practitioners could be better incorporated into the health system has turned into three instructional videos for the public to help them understand the role of NPs. The study, conducted by Interior Health and the School of Nursing at UBC Okanagan, was...
Lumby students dominate college spaghetti bridge contest
KELOWNA - It came down to a battle between three friends from Lumby at Okanagan College’s 32nd annual Spaghetti Bridge Contest held at the Kelowna campus today. Grade seven student Adrian Schartner from Lumby placed first with his bridge weighing 982.6 grams and supporting 275.6 kilograms before spectacularly collapsing in front of cheering friends, peers,...
When to start reserving provincial camping sites
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Camping enthusiasts can set their alarms for the 9 a.m. opening of the online camping reserve system, Sunday, March 15. The interactive reservation website displays availability, layout and amenities for 115 front country campgrounds in 99 provincial parks. Reservations can also be made on the go using smartphones, but you aren't limited to...
Okanagan BCHL playoff series shifts to West Kelowna
OKANAGAN – An overtime nail-biter as the Penticton Vees tied up the first round, BCHL playoff series with a 3-2 win over the West Kelowna Warriors at the South Okanagan Events Centre last night. The victory, Wednesday, March 4, ties the best-of-seven series at a win each. Penticton Vees' forward Matt Serratore fired a shot...
Flying fees edging upwards at Kelowna Airport
OKANAGAN - Flying in and out of Kelowna just got a bit more expensive with council approving an across-the-board increase in operating fees at the city-owned airport. The success of Kelowna Airport and its record passenger volumes means increased costs for maintenance, labour, utilities and technology, Noreen Redman, the airport’s corporate services manager, told council....
Bobbitt not happy with how he was portrayed during trial
KELOWNA – David Wesley Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to sexually and physically assaulting a 22-year-old Penticton woman in 2011, isn’t feeling well. And he doesn’t like his lawyer either. Final submissions in the Supreme Court case that began last year concluded Friday, with Bobbitt, 39, saying he wasn’t happy with how his lawyer James Pennington...
School district provides update on security measures after finding threatening message
PENTICTON - Following the discovery of a note threatening harm to students at Penticton Secondary School on Feb.18, School District Superintendent Wendy Hyer issued a communication Thursday, Feb. 19 explaining the district’s Threat Assessment Protocol. The protocol was developed in order to respond to situations where students may be a threat to themselves or others....
‘One can hardly imagine a more horrific assault’ than Bobbitt’s: Crown
KELOWNA – Reckless, self-serving, grandiose, entitled, antisocial, narcissistic, lacking in empathy, sexually sadistic, psychopathic and violent. Those are some of the words the Crown used to describe David Wesley Bobbitt in a hearing to determine if he deserves dangerous offender status. Bobbitt, 39, has already pleaded guilty to seven charges, but before Justice Peter Rogers...
B.C. Fruit Growers Association to choose a president this weekend
PENTICTON - Kelowna's Fred Steele, president of the B.C. Fruit Growers' Association, will find out if he'll remain at the helm for a second term when he goes head-to-head with Vernon's Jeet Dukhia at the annual convention in Penticton this weekend. Dukhia was the association president in 2013, prior to Steele's term, so each candidate...
Weather records fall in Kelowna and Penticton
KAMLOOPS, VERNON FALL SHORT THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It was definitely a spring-like weekend and there are several new high temperature records to show for it. In Kelowna the mercury blasted past the previous record, 11.1 Celsius set in 1974, to a balmy 12.8 C on Saturday while temperatures Sunday reached the previous record of 10 C...
Danger in the backcountry; avalanche warning issued
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The unseasonably warm weather this week has the experts at Avalanche Canada warning backcountry enthusiasts about the risk of snow slides. There have been a number of recent reports of large avalanches in the mountains across the Southern Interior, including the South Columbia, Kootenay-Boundary, Purcells, South Rockies, Lizard Range and Flathead regions, avalanche...
Fintry Queen investment opportunity has potential, but what about the risk?
KELOWNA — Listening to Andy Schwab talk about his plans for the Fintry Queen, it’s hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. “I'm feeling very confident,” says Schwab, president of the Okanagan Lake Boat Company, which owns the vessel and is proposing to resurrect the former car ferry and dinner cruise ship in...
Local flooding possible as El Nino-like weather melts lower snowpack
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It doesn’t happen often, but a perfect alignment of the right conditions may cause some flooding in the Southern Interior. The warm Pacific air bombarding the region, thanks to the Pineapple Express, is creating above normal temperatures, which in turn are starting to melt the lower elevation snowpack. Add the still frozen ground...