Vernon news
Police investigating apartment fire that left two Vernon men with severe burns
VERNON - A pair of Vernon men were airlifted to Vancouver last week after suffering serious burns in an apartment fire. The two men, ages 20 and 21, were inside an apartment building in the 3400 block of Okanagan Avenue when a fire started in the bathroom. Deputy Vernon Fire Chief Jack Blair says they...
One important issue behind Vernon’s insistence downed trees weren’t used by herons
"WE ALL HAVE PHONES, I'M SURE IF THERE WERE ANY NESTS COMING DOWN PEOPLE WOULD BE TAKING PICTURES OF IT AND RAISING MORE COMPLAINTS": MAYOR VERNON - The City of Vernon insists an at-risk bird won’t be impacted by recent tree removal work in Vernon because they have no record of them being observed there....
Turning industrial trash into home furnishing treasures
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - There's something quintessentially Canadian about taking an item like a lowly wooden pallet or a fruit packing box and making good use of it. Keith Hamer and his crew take it one step further in an old fruit packing house in Oyama, creating a business to make new furniture out of old wood...
Search continues for man presumed drowned in Kalamalka Lake
VERNON - Family members believe they could be close to finding Curtis Wilson, a 24-year-old Lethbridge man who went missing over a month ago and is presumed drowned in Kalamalka Lake. Wilson’s family refused to give up the search after police divers exhausted their resources in July and appealed to a number of volunteer organizations to...
Rafting accident claims life of Kelowna man ahead of wedding
KELOWNA – Less than a month before he was set to be married, a young Kelowna man has drowned while white-water rafting near Golden over the weekend. Rene Bourgault was rafting with three other people in Kicking Horse River Sunday, Aug. 16 when the group was thrown into the water roughly ten kilometres east of...
Bird book inspired by UBCO’s bio-diversity
KELOWNA - If you’re looking for hot chicks, look no further than the Birds of the UBC Okanagan Campus 2016 calendar. Produced by biologists, the annual calendar features some of the birds that can be found on the school’s campus. Photographers this year ranged across the entire 209 hectares of campus grounds and includes bluebirds,...
Log Barn signage gets the boot
SPALLUMCHEEN - A roadside attraction known for its wild and wacky signs has been told to tone it down. The Log Barn, located off Highway 97A just north of Armstrong, was ordered by the Township of Spallumcheen to remove close to 20 property signs in May 2015, and recently lost a bid to reinstall a...
Vernon council decides town hall meetings aren’t needed
VERNON - Elected representatives believe Vernon residents have all the opportunities they need to raise issues with the city. That’s why council has opted against hosting periodic town hall meetings in which citizens can bring up any topic they wish to discuss. Councillors voted 5-2 at a meeting Monday, Aug. 10, to keep things status...
New Okanagan disc golf course lands in Vernon
VERNON - You’ve got your putting and your driving Frisbees, your heavy ones and your sleek, thin ones, and now fans of the popular sport of disc golf — and curious newcomers — will have a scenic, and best of all, free, course in Vernon to fling them on. It’s all happening on a city-owned...
New Splatsin Community Centre is ‘awesome’ chief says
ENDERBY - As far as community centres go, this one looks a little different. The brand new, state of the art Splatsin Community Centre in Enderby is well on its way to completion and is worth stopping by to take a look at, if only from the outside. Splatsin chief Kukpi7 Wayne Christian describes it...
Despite a spike in water-related deaths, drownings down overall
VERNON - A number of water-related deaths in the Thompson-Okanagan over the past month have brought the topic to the forefront of many people’s minds, but the province’s Lifesaving Society says the number of drowning deaths is actually down considerably so far this year. Just this past weekend, a 27-year-old man was critically injured while...
Meet Dennis, the Roots and Blues Festival’s most mischievous volunteer
SALMON ARM - As you step through the gates of the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, volunteer Dennis Roberts will be the guy telling you there’s gum stuck to your pants, or that you fit the description of a police suspect, just for the heck of it. And while his motive is mischievous, the...
Water managers preparing for longer-term Okanagan drought
KELOWNA - While they are still in the midst of dealing with this year’s widespread drought in the southern B.C. the province’s top water managers are already looking ahead to next year. “Current weather patterns is for a strong El Nino blob off the coast. It is setting up the scenario for a drier than...
Vernon grass fire gets quick response from fire department
VERNON - Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a grass fire burning close to homes in Vernon Friday morning. The fire burned in a field on Melfort Road in Vernon’s BX area, prompting a full response from the BX-Swan Lake Fire Department today, Aug. 14. Local resident Cathy Huber says the fire was burning...
Heavy rain on the way; flash flooding risk
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A system of heavy rain is on the way to the Thompson-Okanagan with the potential to cause flash flooding. Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement covering the South and North Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and Okanagan. An area of rain embedded in thunderstorms is expected to develop over the Similkameen tomorrow afternoon,...