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Vernon news

State of the art Splatsin Community Centre to open next month

ENDERBY - A new landmark on the Splatsin First Nation reserve in Enderby is set to open its doors next month. The Splatsin Community Centre on Highway 97A will have a grand opening Dec. 5. The circular building is modelled after the Splatsin’s traditional winter pit houses and features a green roof. With a full-sized...

Wet weekend ahead for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - A typical fall weekend is ahead, with single-digit temperatures and at least a chance of rain every day. Temperatures are expected to vary slightly throughout the region with Environment Canada calling for the coolest temperatures today, Nov. 6, and tomorrow in the Vernon area. The weather office is forecasting a high of just...

Silver Star in good shape for opening thanks to dump of snow

VERNON - Silver Star will open up trails for nordic skiing, fat biking and snowshoeing in a week thanks to plentiful snowfall on the mountain.  With a 29 centimetre dump of snow last weekend, groomers have been able to prepare a number of trails, the resort said in a media release. With more snowfall in...

Lake Country man arrested for lighting house on fire

LAKE COUNTRY – A Lake Country man has been arrested for a suspicious fire at a house on the corner of Highway 97 and Beaver Lake Road this week. Emergency services were called to a fire at a house at 3109 Beaver Lake Rd. around 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 2. A bystander, Dean Bose of...

Help for Malakwa truck stop workers left jobless after fire

MALAKWA - A fundraising initiative is underway to help support employees of the popular Skyline Truck Stop, which burned to the ground earlier this week in Malakwa. “Not only did we lose a place of employment, the only source of income for some families in a small community that has next to no jobs, but...

First snowflakes fall on Vernon and area

NORTH OKANAGAN - Fall colours are really popping against a contrast of white this morning around parts of the North Okanagan. There are reports that the first snow has fallen around areas of Vernon, Lumby and Cherryville today, Nov. 5. The Kamloops area is also getting its first taste of winter this morning. Environment Canada...

Devastating fire leaves big hole in Malakwa community

MALAKWA - Those who visited the Skyline Truck Stop in Malakwa always left with a full tank, and a full belly. The popular roadside gas station, machine shop and restaurant was a fixture in the rural Shuswap community for decades, and while a devastating fire wiped out the building earlier this week, it hasn’t erased...

Flu shot season in the Southern Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With the peak of flu season just a few weeks away, Health Canada has started its yearly vaccination program. Although last year’s flu vaccine wasn’t particularly effective, Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi says, this year’s vaccine cocktail will target the more severe of the two types of viruses – Type A. Every...

Poppy donations stolen from one Vernon business, tip jar from a second

VERNON - Two local businesses are asking the public to keep an eye out after a man in a blue hoodie made off with poppy pin donations and a tip jar Monday evening. Bosley’s pet store manager Dawn Vipond noticed right away the poppy tray and donation jar was missing Tuesday when she came in...

North Okanagan schools get provincial cash handouts

VERNON - Local schools are getting a cash infusion from the provincial government. The money will go toward several capital projects at schools in Vernon, Salmon Arm and Armstrong. Okanagan Landing Elementary is getting $600,000 for a geothermal heating plant projected to save 72 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, and about $15,000 in operating costs....

Who is at fault? Driving instructor takes on traffic circle dash-cam crash

DO YOU BLUFF YOUR WAY THROUGH TRAFFIC CIRCLES OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO? THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - They're slowly popping up in more streets and neighbourhoods to help us but instead often incite mass confusion, arguments, sometimes panic and even the occasional crash. Does anyone know what to do in a traffic circle? We found...

Vernon father and son killed in tragic plane crash loved to soar

VERNON - A father and son from Vernon died doing something they both loved: going ‘wheels up’. Brad Chapman, 56, learned to fly in his 40s and passed that passion onto his oldest son, Florian, 26, who got his pilot’s license as a teenager. As key principals in the Chapman Group of Companies, flying offered...

Do you know the difference between color and colour? What about your kids?

VERNON - Raise your hand if you pronounce the last letter of the alphabet ‘zed’ instead of ‘zee.’ What about colour versus color — do you spell it the first way or the second? Do you refer to the road less travelled, with two l’s or the road less traveled with one? Do you recognize...

Employers in Kelowna, Sorrento fined for exposing workers to asbestos

OKANAGAN - WorkSafe B.C. has slapped two local employers with heavy fines for exposing workers to asbestos. The first, Kelowna’s Kone Inc., was handed a $15,000 penalty for potentially exposing its workers to harmful levels of asbestos. According to WorkSafe B.C., the company, which installs, maintains and repairs elevators and escalators, was first told to...