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Vernon news
Cold snap continues in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - While the temperatures continue to remind us why the stereotype of all Canadians living in parkas and igloos exists, it is nowhere near the record lows recorded in the Okanagan. Environment Canada is calling for temperatures to remain well below zero all weekend but is forecasting the mercury to hit near seasonal normal...
Voters to decide fate of Vernon arena project in coming days
VERNON - Voters will have their say on a new arena this Saturday, but as they prepare to head to the polls, over 2,000 people have already cast their ballots in advance polls. “I think those numbers are even better than the general municipal election we had,” Vernon mayor Akbal Mund says. “That’s encouraging in...
Migrant workers safe and with families in Mexico after going missing in the Okanagan
VERNON - Four temporary foreign workers who went missing in the Okanagan this past summer are back home in Mexico, the country’s consulate confirmed today, Nov. 26. Vernon RCMP reported the men missing in July 2015, nearly a month after they were last seen taking a cab into Vernon to cash some cheques. They arrived...
Kokanee numbers keep rising in Okanagan
OKANAGAN - Kokanee numbers are up from last year in all of the big valley lakes, the provincial government says. Wood Lake’s kokanee population continues to recover from a disastrous 2011 when poor in-lake conditions lead to a huge increase in fish mortality of all ages, according to a media release. Over 20,000 returned to spawn...
The unusual way some local residents mourn through Facebook
"IT'S NICE TO KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO LOVED HIM." KELOWNA – Earlier this month Facebook announced a new option designed to help you get over a relationship breakup without blocking or unfriending your ex. But some Okanagan residents are using Facebook to help get over an even greater loss. Three years ago, suddenly and...
Plans underway to fill health care gap left behind by Vernon walk-in closure
VERNON - As one walk-in medical clinic in Vernon closes, the door to a new one may soon be opening. Plans are quietly developing around the possibility of a new walk-in medical clinic in Vernon following news that the Vernon Family Doctors Walk-In Clinic at the Fruit Union Plaza is closing March 19, 2016. Few...
UPDATE: Precautions taken after overnight fuel spill in Coldstream
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, DISTRICT OFFICES TO REOPEN COLDSTREAM - An overnight fuel spill at a Coldstream gas staiton has prompted a full response from emergency crews. Officials say approximately 6,000 litres of gasoline spilled at the Centex Gas Station on Kalamalka Road just after midnight, Nov. 25. The spill is believed to have occurred when a...
Area director worried about lack of consultation for cutblock near Vernon
VERNON - A local politician has concerns about a proposed cutblock near Vernon — primarily that he wasn’t even notified about it. Electoral area C director Mike Macnabb says he wasn’t consulted about four proposed cutblocks covering a total of 261 acres on Vernon Mountain, even though the land is in area C. Macnabb has...
Another reprieve for Interior Health laundry workers
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Hospital Employees’ Union is welcoming news that Interior Health is delaying its decision to contract out laundry services. New Interior Health President and CEO Chris Mazurkewich says in a release today, Nov. 25, not to expect a decision before March 2016. He’s been on the job less than a month and wants...
Questions and concerns over proposed cutblocks near Vernon
VERNON - A proposed cutblock in the Coldstream area has the City of Vernon asking more questions. The city received notice from B.C. Timber Sales in September regarding proposed cutblocks covering 261 acres within the BX Community Watershed, just east of Vernon in electoral area C. The area is located on Vernon Mountain and while...
RCMP investigating disappearance of migrant workers from Vernon orchard
VERNON - Police are on the lookout for a group migrant workers from Mexico who went missing from a Vernon orchard in June. The four men left personal items behind, but appear to have taken their identification papers, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. The orchard owner told police they disappeared June 26. The men are...
Whereabouts of missing workers from Vernon remain a mystery
VERNON - Two months after going missing, four migrant workers last seen in the Okanagan still have not been located. The four men, from Mexico, were working at an orchard in Vernon before going missing in late June. According to the Vernon RCMP, they’d been in Canada for ten days before taking a cab from...
Migrant workers still missing from Okanagan farm a month later
VERNON - Four migrant workers from Mexico have still not been found a month after an Okanagan farm owner reported the men missing. Huizar Soto Uriel, 37, Isaac Jimenez, 28, Juvenal Rios Binedo, 39, and Juan Manual Sanchez Gallegos, 30, entered Canada on June 16, 2015. On June 26 the foursome departed the farm where...
Coldstream municipal hall, elementary school closed due to gas spill
COLDSTREAM - An incident has forced a sudden closure of the Coldstream municipal hall. According to a media release from the District of Coldstream, an overnight gas spill in the vicinity of the Coldstream municipal office, the building is closed until further notice. The gas spill happened at the Centex Gas Station on Kalamalka Lake...
Dream Auction one for the record books
VERNON - It will go down as one of the most successful dream auctions in the last three decades. This year’s Kalamalka Rotary Dream Auction, the 31st annual event, raised more than $204,000, an all-time record according to organizers. “The success is due to the enthusiastic donors who support the effort every year and of...