Vernon news
First fall weekend warm and sunny in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - The first weekend of autumn will be a typical one in the Okanagan, with warm days and cool nights. Environment Canada is calling for temperatures to be just above the seasonal normal high of 17 Celsius throughout the Okanagan, though overnight we can expect things to cool off a bit more than normal....

Mail thefts in Lumby and Cherryville
LUMBY - Residents are being warned to regularly pick up their mail after several mail thefts were reported in Lumby and Cherryville over the past week. Canada Post has reported several incidents of theft from mailboxes throughout the two communities since Sept. 17 and Lumby RCMP is now asking residents to be diligent in picking...

Brain injury ‘seriously diverted’ life of former psych nurse to crime spree in Kamloops, Kelowna
KAMLOOPS — A former psychiatric nurse says he’s sorry for the damage he caused in a short-term crime spree, which included injuring four sheriffs when he tried to escape custody at the Kamloops courthouse last year. Jonathan Allandale Dale Phillips, 39, pleaded guilty in Kamloops Supreme Court today, Sept. 24, to possession of stolen property,...

Rare super moon lunar eclipse over the Okanagan this weekend
OKANAGAN - Not only will the last total lunar eclipse until January 2019 take place Sunday evening, it will also be a harvest, or super, moon, meaning it will appear to be a very large red moon for part of the evening. The moon will completely pass through the Earth’s shadow Sunday evening, Sept. 27,...

Look back and laugh: A Vernon comedian retells all his humiliating tales
WHEN YOU'RE THE WORST HOCKEY PLAYER ON THE WORST HOCKEY TEAM YOU TURN TO COMEDY VERNON - Sam Mullins is wrapping up his North American comedy tour not only in his hometown, but on the stage where he saw his very first play — the Powerhouse Theatre in Vernon. “I must’ve been like seven or...

Two Vernon dogs escaped car crash, one still missing
VERNON - A Vernon woman is pleading with the public to keep an eye out for her dog after it jumped from a car following a crash and hasn’t been seen since. Tonya Olson says her boyfriend was driving with their two dogs, Rizza and Diego, on Sept. 21 when the vehicle spun out of...

A Tower of Care completed one donation at a time in Vernon
VERNON - From people donating to ‘light a bulb’ on the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Christmas tree to volunteers selling second hand clothing, the community has come together for health care. The Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation announced Wednesday, Sept. 23, that enough donations have been received to complete the top two floors of the Polson Tower...

Money spent on refugees a hot topic at upcoming Kelowna immigration symposium
KELOWNA – The effects of immigration on the Okanagan will be a topic of discussion at an upcoming two-day symposium at Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan this weekend. The Immigration Symposium is a series of in-depth discussions about the impacts various Canadian policies have on immigrants, refugees and temporary foreign workers. It takes place Friday...

Five years after man’s death on Shuswap Lake and still no resolution to trial
KAMLOOPS - A Shuswap houseboat crash five years ago is still making its way through Kamloops Supreme Court and today it was put over once again to another date for decision. Leon Reinbrecht faces one charge of criminal negligence causing death after he drove his speedboat into a houseboat killing driver Ken Brown in the...

UPDATE: Inmate dies at Kamloops jail; third in less than a year
KAMLOOPS - Another inmate has died at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, making it the third to occur in a year. Details surrounding the case are still being confirmed, but Dean Purdy, chair of corrections and sheriffs services component of the B.C. Government and Service Employee’s Union, confirmed the death occurred Monday night, Sept. 21....

About that plane flying in circles over Vernon
VERNON - If you were wondering what that red and white Cessna plane was doing flying in loops above Vernon this past week, you weren’t alone. The aircraft earned quite a bit of attention flying in circles, sometimes for hours in the same spot. People reported seeing it circling above Cools Pond, the BX area,...

UPDATE: Driver detained after commotion in downtown Vernon
VERNON - Police stopped a truck and detained the driver in dramatic fashion in downtown Vernon this morning. RCMP received a report of an erratic driver heading northbound out of Lake Country on Highway 97 Wednesday morning, Sept. 23, around 10 a.m., Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says. “We were getting updates from other drivers that it...

Convicted Kelowna killer back in court
KELOWNA - A notorious criminal who served more than eight years in jail for helping to kill a drug dealer in 2005 is back behind bars. Daniel Mader, 31, was convicted in March 2010 of shooting Jody Elliott, who ripped off Mader and three friends. At the time Justice Allison Beames said she accepted that...

Watch flyboarders set a new record on Kalamalka Lake this week
'A LOT OF PEOPLE COMPARE IT TO SUPERHEROES LIKE IRON MAN, AND THAT’S HONESTLY WHAT IT’S LIKE. YOU FEEL ON TOP OF THE WORLD' VERNON - It’s a cutting edge water sport straight out of the Jetsons, and some of Canada’s top athletes are bringing their futuristic stunts to Kalamalka Lake this week. Team CanFly,...

Lumby murder trial rescheduled for 2016
VERNON - A Lumby man accused of murdering a local teacher will stand trial in the spring of 2016. Howard Everett Krewson, 55, faces one count of second degree murder in relation to the death of his 51-year-old girlfriend, Linda Ross, a teacher at the Vernon School District’s Alternative Learning Program. Krewson’s trial was scheduled...