Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Vernon news
UPDATE: Body of missing man found in Adams Lake
CHASE – The body of a 57-year-old man who fell into Adams Lake while boating with his grandson in the middle of the night was located Sunday morning. RCMP say the Clearwater man and his 22-year-old grandson were in a 12-foot aluminum boat fishing at about 12:30 a.m., Saturday, May 2, when the wind blew...
Cruise into days gone by at the Starlight Drive-In
ENDERBY - For Starlight Drive-In owner Paul Lindquist, the best part of the night is the intermission between shows. It’s when packs of children come blasting through the doors of the deliciously tacky concession in their pajamas to stock up on snacks and older couples stroll in holding hands, warm with the memory of days...
Fashion label, non-profit organization all part of Vernon woman’s 15-year plan
VERNON - Most fashion designers take six months to create their clothing collections, but Raji Aujla made hers in four days, laying patterns out on the dining table and couches of her parents’ home in Vernon. Aujla, 30, loves a good challenge. Born and raised in Vernon, she has spent time working as an international...
Okanagan Indian Band embraces Lake Country mayor’s support for land claim
VERNON - Lake Country Mayor James Baker appears to have thrown his support behind the Okanagan Indian Band’s land claim to the Commonage Reserve including the portion which includes the CP Rail line intended for the Okanagan Rail Trail, and the band intends to hold him to his words. Chief Byron Louis says he welcomes...
Next steps for an Okanagan Rail Trail; public consultation, planning, and waiting
OKANAGAN - Money is no longer an issue for a group of Okanagan municipalities preparing to purchase an abandoned rail corridor, but it could still be some time — years even — before residents set foot on a community pathway. With Saturday’s referendum resulting in a resounding yes vote to borrow $2.6-million for the District of...
How to help the victims of the earthquake in Nepal
Over a thousand people are dead and tens of thousands of people are homeless after a powerful earthquake struck in Nepal on Saturday and officials warn the death toll will rise as more reports come in. The magnitude 7.8 quake originated outside the capital of Kathmandu. Within hours of the earthquake, emergency relief organizations sprung...
Salmon Arm man faces charges in fatal crash near Field
FIELD – A two-car crash on Highway 1 near the B.C.-Alberta border last night left a 37-year-old Calgary man dead and two others injured, including a Salmon Arm man who is also facing charges. RCMP say the crash happened at about 7:15 p.m., April 24, three kilometres east of Field. “At this time we believe...
Kelowna’s newest attraction will test your nerves and your teamwork
KELOWNA – The door locks behind you and the clock starts counting down. You are trapped in a dimly lit room and an eery soundtrack begins to play in the background. For the next 45 minutes you and your team search frantically for clues as you try to escape Kelowna's newest and perhaps most thrilling...
Happy 10th birthday YouTube; local viral videos
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The very first YouTube video was uploaded ten years ago today so InfoNews has put together some of our regions most watched clips of the last decade. The first Okanagan classic is about a focused skater singing the national anthem at a Penticton Vees game in October 2014. It has more than 3-million...
Mussels with wings; the new front in the battle against invasive species
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The defensive war on invasive mussels hitching a ride into British Columbia’s lakes and rivers via recreational boats has just begun but there’s already talk of opening up a new front — float planes. While recreational boats and commercial boat haulers are the primary target of the recently-launched Don’t Move A Mussel educational program,...
Fatal Shuswap boating trial told ‘collective shock’ hampered police probe
KAMLOOPS – The shock of seeing a speedboat lodged inside a houseboat blinded police who were investigating a fatal 2010 crash on Shuswap Lake, a defence lawyer has argued.
Public consultation process goes to consultation
HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A lot of people have recently expressed concerns over how the environmental assessment process works and now the provincial government is asking for input on how to improve the public consultation portion of the process. The B.C. Government's Environmental Assessment Office is asking the public...
CN Rail corridor purchase generates more voter interest than Lake Country municipal election
LAKE COUNTRY - By the time the results of the referendum on the CN Rail corridor purchase are in, a vote that could cause the entire deal to fail, most of the people who cast a ballot will be asleep. “It’s the same rules as an election,” said Willene Perez, deputy chief election officer for...
Watch out for rattlesnakes; they’re out early in the Thompson-Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Sunny weather has gotten many of us out from beneath our rocks looking for some rays, and we’re not the only ones in the animal world. Warm temperatures have brought rattlesnakes out earlier than normal in the Thompson-Okanagan, according to WildSafe B.C. spokesperson Frank Ritcey. “With the warm weather, the snakes will be...
Turn your eyes to the night sky this week
NORTHERN LIGHTS AND METEOR SHOWER COULD LIGHT UP THE NIGHT THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you missed the northern lights last week and if the moon was too bright and the clouds too thick to catch the Quadrantid meteor shower in January, you could get a chance at viewing both this week. The Space Weather Prediction Centre...
Early start to wildfire season in Southern Interior, numbers still below 10-year average
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A series of wildfires were ignited this past weekend as dry weather combined with warming temperatures to create conditions ideal for human-caused fires. B.C. Wildfire crews responded to four fires over the weekend, two in the Kamloops part of the fire centre and two in the southern tip. Information Officer Kayla Pepper says...
New money to fight invasive plants in Thompson-Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The province is spending more than $1.7 million to help local governments and other organizations with the battle against unwanted plants damaging local ecosystems. Minster of Lands and Kelowna MLA Steve Thomson announced the grants to fight invasive plant species in a media release this week. “It’s important we get a handle on...
InfoNews houseboat prize winner all smiles
KAMLOOPS - The winner of the InfoNews grand prize is all smiles after claiming her trip last week. “This is an awesome prize,” Debbie Sampson, who is a social development worker with the Adams Lake Indian Band, says about winning the InfoNews houseboat vacation grand prize. Though Sampson is excited her kids might be even...
Former Kelowna councillor may force rail trail off its tracks
OKANAGAN – Local municipalities won’t be getting a continuous stretch of land as part of…
Airport names former Kelowna mayor and councillor to advisory committee
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The group that advises Canada’s largest municipally-run airport will soon be joined by a couple of new faces familiar to people in the Central Okanagan. Kelowna’s former mayor Walter Gray and former city councillor Andre Blanleil, along with industry representative Meryle Corbett were all appointed to four-year terms on the Kelowna Internnational Airport...
Forestry crew mopping up wildfire near Okanagan Connector
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A human-caused wildfire sparked south of the Okanagan Connector Saturday afternoon is being mopped up by a Wildfire Management crew today. Fire information officer Kayla Pepper says an initial attack crew of 13 firefighters responded to the blaze which grew to 11-hectares in size near Starshine Way Road, north of Missezula Lake yesterday...
More snow falling on Coq and Hope-Princeton
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A dump of snow on the Coquihalla and the Hope-Princeton highways overnight is being following with another heavy snowfall today. A vigorous cold front passed through the Southwest Interior overnight dropping 10 to 15 centimetres of snow on the Coquihalla Summit and the Allison Pass, according to a Special Weather Statement from Environment...
Low snowpack could mean a dry Okanagan summer
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Current snowpack levels suggest the Okanagan could be in for a dry year, while the South Thompson should fair better. According to Tobi Gardner with the River Forecast Centre, snowpack is at 76 per cent of normal in the Okanagan — the lowest in five years. “What that translates to is a lower...
FULL HOUSE: Need for foster homes increases in Okanagan
VERNON - A shortage of foster homes is impacting the quality of care provided to children during what can be one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, says a spokesperson for a foster parents association. Noelle Typusiak with the North Okanagan branch of the Okanagan Foster Parents Association says the number of homes...