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Vernon news

First sponsored Syrian refugee arrives in Salmon Arm

SHUSWAP - They’ve got houses, furniture, dentists, backpacks and pretty much everything else a newcomer might need, and now a group of volunteers working to sponsor Syrian refugee families finally has its first arrival. A young man in his 20s arrived in Salmon Arm a couple of days ago, Salmon Arm Refugee Coalition member Brian...

Secret proposals exchanged over Vernon horse racing dispute

VERNON - Proposed resolutions over an ongoing legal dispute between the City of Vernon and the Okanagan Equestrian Society are on the table, but neither side is commenting on the details. The society’s lawyer, Ed Woolley, says proposals were exchanged this week and both parties are now considering their options. The legal dispute has been...

Why a break-in couldn’t have happened at a worse time for two single Vernon moms

VERNON - Kris Zacharuk is pushing her son into the arrivals gate of the Kelowna Airport in a wheelchair when her phone rings. It’s been tough lately to keep the phone bills covered, but she has to in case the doctors call about Christopher’s kidney transplant. It’s her 17-year-old daughter calling. The house Zacharuk shares...

Still confused about consent? Judge’s ruling on Coldstream sex assault might help

VERNON - A man has lost his appeal over a sexual assault that happened after a birthday party in Coldstream. According to a Jan. 6, 2016 judgment by Justice Martha Devlin, a group of people spent the evening drinking and going to a nightclub in Vernon in September 2011 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Later,...

Why the government thinks someone intentionally blocked a culvert causing flood damage in the North Okanagan

VERNON - Plastic and wood debris found near a culvert after a devastating landslide in the North Okanagan in 2014 leads investigators to believe the flood was human caused, according to information obtained by iNFOnews.ca. Investigators with the Ministry of Forests announced in November 2015 they believed someone intentionally blocked a culvert, causing Dale Lake...

Gloomy dark clouds over the Okanagan won’t part any time soon

OKANAGAN - That stifling grey pall of gloom hanging over the Okanagan is here courtesy of El Nino and Environment Canada says we can expect more of the same for at least the next ten days. Meteorologist Matthew MacDonald says we are at the mercy of major weather systems conspiring to blot out the sun. That...

Expect to feel the squeeze as walk-in clinics close or cut back hours in Vernon

VERNON - Dwindling access to walk-in clinics in Vernon will lead to longer line-ups, and more people travelling outside their communities to see a doctor, says a Kelowna advocate for walk-ins. While the community is still absorbing the impending closure of the Vernon Family Doctor’s Walk-In Clinic, another blow came this week with news that...

Snowfall warning for Coquihalla Highway

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - While temperatures continue to warm up in town, a system is expected to drop enough snow on area highways today to prompt a snowfall warning for at least one section of highway. Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt, where up to 25 centimetres of...