Vernon news
Wildlife festival lands in Kelowna this weekend
KELOWNA - A traveling festival of wild animals from around the world is coming to Kelowna for three days this weekend. Featuring birds of prey, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, The Wildlife Festival has already made stops in Chilliwack, Hope, Kamloops and Merritt and will be at the Westbank Community Centre in West Kelowna Friday,...
Buying local, without leaving home, a popular choice for Okanagan holiday shoppers
OKANAGAN - It’s already well known that online shopping has taken over a large piece of the Christmas retail pie, but that doesn’t mean people are giving up on buying local to fill the stockings this Christmas. You don’t have to go out to a farmer’s market or holiday craft fair to buy local, you...
Man breaks into Vernon home, helps himself to a snack
VERNON - A local man accused of breaking into a woman’s home not only helped himself to her personal belongings — he also made himself something to eat. A local woman phoned 911 around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 after she found a strange man in her house, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says. “He had...
Something smelled off: Vernon RCMP make arrest on Highway 6
VERNON - Police only had to follow their noses to make a drug-related arrest earlier this month in Vernon. On Nov. 7 officers were driving east on Highway 6 when they smelled a strong odour of marijuana, Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says in a release. “They quickly determined that it was coming from the vehicle in...
Watch for whimsical pop up parks in Vernon
VERNON - A special surprise will be popping up in a Vernon park sometime this fall. It’s part of new city initiative to bring interest and excitement to underused spaces and will see a variety of temporary equipment — such as brightly painted Adirondack chairs, a piano, drums and a massive xylophone — installed in...
Alpine skiing opening five days early at Silver Star
VERNON - The plan was to open Nov. 26 but after nearly 150 centimetres of snowfall, Silver Star Mountain is ready to open a bit earlier. The ski resort announced it would be opening three chairlifts and at least 25 runs starting at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 21, a full five days ahead of the...
RCMP upping presence on downtown Vernon streets
VERNON - Vernon residents will notice more police officers patrolling the downtown core. Police will be stepping up their presence downtown with daily and nightly foot patrols, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says. The response comes on the heels of an attack on a Vernon food truck vendor, and concerns about street safety in the downtown...
A book about a booger by two Vernon women
VERNON - The Doubt Booger is going to make you forget all about those nagging little worries. Written by Beth McCarthy Marks and illustrated by Nadine Wilson, both of Vernon, the newly released children’s book is about the pesky effect of self-doubts. “Remember when you were small; those little worries that gnawed on you? You...
Police armed with carbines the new norm at Remembrance Day services
VERNON - It’s a special sight to see Mounties dressed in their ceremonial red serge, but officers turned heads at last week’s Remembrance Day service in Vernon for a different reason — the carbines they were carrying. We might not be used to seeing police officers patrolling Remembrance Day services with semi-automatic rifles, but Const....
Vernon’s role housing Syrian refugees remains unknown
VERNON - Despite speculation the Vernon Army Camp could be used to house Syrian refugees, the official word is nothing has been decided yet. Vernon Mayor Akbal Mund says the provincial government has been in touch, but any discussion about the city taking in refugees has been very preliminary so far. “It was more of...
Vernon’s first provincial Snow Show raises $11k for kids with disabilities
VERNON – The first ever B.C. Provincial Snow Show in Vernon raised more than $11,000 for a Lake Country charity. The Snow Show, which amalgamated three smaller events around the provinces, took over Kal Tire Place last weekend and attracted more than 14,000 fans of the white stuff. Roughly 100 vendors displaying everything from snow...
Stolen iPod, thousands of photos returned to rightful owners
VERNON - It must have been quite a surprise for a pair of B.C. residents to see their picture posted on the news last week. A pleasant surprise, given the circumstances. Police released the photo after seizing what they believed to be a stolen iPod during a recent arrest. They found thousands of photos of the...
Thousands of dollars worth of copper wire stolen in Vernon
VERNON - Police in Vernon are investigating after a copper wire theft last week. Roughly 166 feet of copper wire was stolen from Mormak Equipment on Beckettes Frontage Road in Vernon sometime during the night of Tuesday, Nov. 10. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says the lock was cut and the fence damaged where the suspect,...
Vernon woman trying to cross street hit by car
VERNON - It could have been worse. Police say a pedestrian hit trying to cross the road last week only had minor injuries. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says a GMC pickup truck headed west on 31 Avenue struck a woman while turning left onto 34 Street around 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 10. The 56-year-old woman had stepped...
Vernon bear spray attack leads to charges
VERNON - A man is facing charges after bear spraying a gas station employee last week. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says a employee at Blue Moon Esso asked the man to leave the business around 5:25 p.m., Nov. 11, because he was banned from the location due to a previous incident. The man then allegedly...