Vernon news

Okanagan wineries report progress in efforts to rein in legislation

OKANAGAN - Small and medium sized wineries say efforts are working to slow the province’s issuing of liquor licenses to allow wine sales in grocery stores. Following a meeting held at Poplar Grove Winery in Penticton last week, the B.C. Alliance for Smart Liquor Retail Choice reported the group met with staff of Premier Christy...

New residential care home moves ahead in Vernon

VERNON - A total of 85 new residential care beds are in the works for Vernon and with the recent awarding of the contract they are getting closer to reality. Interior Health announced the project and then issued a request for proposals back in February. A total of 10 submissions were received and H &...

Ranch offers reward for information about cow poaching in the North Okanagan

VERNON - Poachers are shooting cattle in the North Okanagan and either taking the meat, or leaving the animals for dead. Pete Wise, a wildlife control specialist in Vernon, says at least three cows have been shot since September on range land leased by the Coldstream Ranch. “Somebody is intentionally targeting them,” Wise says. In...

Ongoing delays for new Vernon ice sheet costing taxpayers: Mayor

VERNON - Red tape continues to delay a borrowing referendum for a new ice rink in Vernon. The North Okanagan Regional District still doesn’t have authorization from the provincial government to hold a referendum asking voters to borrow up to $13 million to decommission the aging Civic Arena and build a second ice sheet at...

The 14-year-old Vernon boy charged with murder has been released

VERNON - A 14-year-old Greater Vernon boy charged with murder is out of jail — at least for the time being. The teen, whose identity is protected under the Youth Act, was released on bail Sept. 22. Details such as what the bail is set at, and the conditions of his release, were not made...

Convicted Vernon drug smuggler still trying to smuggle drugs in prison: Warden

VERNON - A Vernon man currently serving time for running a massive drug trafficking operation has been denied a request to be moved into minimum security. Brock Palfrey was sentenced to almost 17 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and ecstasy. He and two co-conspirators, also from the Vernon area, were arrested with $200 million...

Vernon arsonist sent to jail for lighting townhouse on fire while roommate slept

VERNON - A Vernon man who flicked a cigarette onto a bedroom mattress while his roommate was asleep in another room admitted the act was ‘effing stupid.’ Brandon Joshua Milligan Boyce, 20, turned himself in the same day of the townhouse fire on July 17, 2014. The blaze resulted in over $137,000 in damages to...

Solid consumer confidence drives strong Okanagan housing market

OKANAGAN - As goes the weather, so goes real estate activity, according to the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board, which is reporting a cooling of sales in September after a robust summer. The Central Okanagan and Shuswap markets continue to strengthen and see an improvement year-to-date over last year,” board president Christopher Miller says in...

Guilty verdict for dangerous driver who hit Vernon firefighter with truck

VERNON - A man has been found guilty of hitting a North Okanagan firefighter with his truck. Ian Douglas Burns, 28, was convicted of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with the June 26, 2013 incident this week in Vernon Provincial Court. The victim, Stephan Hidasi, a firefighter with the BX/Swan Lake Fire Department,...

New movie of the week being filmed in Osoyoos

OSOYOOS - A new Valentine’s Day TV movie that begins filming this week is being shot entirely in Osoyoos. A Hand in Love is a ‘story about true love in an on again - off again relationship.’  The movie will feature a young couple dealing with business, a vineyard, a blog and a baby. The...

What Interior residents need to know about the killer gas radon

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It sounds like something from a thriller sci-fi movie - a colourless, odorless radioactive gas that seeps from the ground, infiltrates buildings and kills people. In real life, radon gas is a known carcinogen, the second leading cause of lung cancer accounting for 10 per cent of cases and is found in elevated...

When one of the best places to eat in town is the hospital

VERNON - Like airline fare, hospital food has a certain stereotype associated with it, but in Vernon and across the Interior, those perceptions are changing one home-cooked meal at a time. The meatloaf, for example, is just like mom used to make it, says Interior Health Authority food production manager Ron Eichberger of his favourite...