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Vernon news
Unusual bike cruises down Vernon train tracks
VERNON - At first glance, it looks like an ordinary bike. But there’s something different about this particular two-wheeler, that much is clear from three pole attachments jutting out horizontally from the bike. The odd contraption, spotted on the railroad by Kal Beach in Coldstream, is made to run along train tracks. What is it,...
Ontario zoo trying to save CrocTalk reptiles from euthanasia
KELOWNA – A reptile rescue organization in Ottawa is currently raising funds to save more than a dozen animals currently housed at CrocTalk in Kelowna from euthanasia. The animals, which include four alligators, one crocodile and 13 caimans, are welcome at Little Rays Reptiles in Hamilton, Ontario any time, but according to their GoFundMe page,...
Toss a butt out the window in Vernon and you could receive a fine
VERNON - Watch your butts, smokers. If you’re caught throwing a cigarette butt out the window, Vernon RCMP say you could face fines. It starts with $81 for depositing litter or an injurious item, and could go up another $173 for violating the Wildfire Act, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. “Especially when things are so...
Newspaper ad congratulates aboriginal high school grads for ‘sobriety’
VERNON - A newspaper ad taken out by a Vancouver MP was meant to be congratulatory, but is instead leaving many in shock and disgust. The ad, which was taken out by Liberal MP Joyce Murray, tells aboriginal youth that ‘Sobriety, education and hard work lead to success.’ The ad is printed in First Nations...
Kelowna senior missing for two weeks
KELOWNA – A 71-year-old Kelowna senior has been missing since late last month. Police are asking for the public’s help locating Benjamin Wolfe, who has not been seen or heard from since June 29. He has no cell phone and there is no vehicle associated with him, according to Const. Steve Holmes of the Kelowna...
UPDATE: Coroner identifies victim in Shuswap house boat accident
SICAMOUS - A young Alberta woman died in a house boat accident last Friday. The accident happened on Shuswap Lake near the Cinnemousun Narrows about 15 km north of Sicamous Friday, July 10. Andrea Mary Jacura, 22, of Edmonton, Alberta died Friday while swimming in Shuswap Lake in B.C.'s Southern Interior. The woman was behind...
UPDATE: Cracks show in testimony of ex-wife of former Vernon Mountie charged with child porn
KELOWNA – The actions and recollections of a woman accusing her ex-husband of downloading child porn in 2013 were put under fire on the second day of his trial this morning, July 14. Valerie Little, 30, says she caught her ex-husband, former Vernon RCMP officer Ryan Hampton, searching for child porn on a pink laptop computer...
Future unknown for Vernon property wrecked by massive fire
VERNON - A burned out lot in the City of Vernon where government offices and a podiatry clinic used to be, could be sitting empty for a while. The building was destroyed in a massive fire June 30, displacing workers at the Ministry of Social Development workers and the podiatry clinic, North Okanagan Foot and...
Province’s new Stickle Road proposal fails to impress Vernon officials
VERNON - Better, but not good enough is the message Vernon council sent to the Ministry of Transportation during a presentation about a new idea for improving the Stickle Road intersection. Plans for a right-in, right-out only access to and from Stickle Road on Highway 97 just north of the city were scrapped in May...
Pet pig flies in Vernon; councillor asks what’s next?
VERNON - It was an unusual case that some city councillors fear might not be so uncommon any more. A Vernon family desperate to keep their pet pig Felix pleaded with city council for an exception to a bylaw prohibiting swine on city property — unless on designated farm land — and got their wish...
UPDATE: Former Vernon cop accused of child porn faces ex-wife-accuser on first day of trial
ADDICTED TO COCAINE, HEROIN, ALCOHOL KELOWNA – The ex-wife of a former Vernon RCMP officer accused of possessing child pornography in 2013 says she turned him in when she found more than 60 images of child porn on his computer. His lawyer, however, said she downloaded the images in an attempt to smear his image...
Independent investigators hear from witnesses of officer involved shooting near Salmon Arm
SALMON ARM - Multiple witnesses have come forward to help the province’s police watchdog after a call for witnesses to an officer involved shooting near Salmon Arm. The Independent Investigations Office is looking into a July 3 incident, which began with an armed robbery. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle which was found...
Cow found shot to death in North Okanagan leads to police investigation
VERNON - A police investigation is underway after the discovery of a cow found shot on a North Okanagan forest service road. Vernon RCMP received a report Saturday, July 11, of a cow found shot to death on King Edward Lake Road, near Coldstream, spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. The cow was part of a rancher’s...
Kelowna women killed in Vernon car crash identified
VERNON - The B.C. Coroners Service has released the identities of two women who died in a head-on car accident in Vernon over the weekend. They were Chantal Diane Bazin, 22, and Kayla Elizabeth Cartwright, 26, both from Kelowna. According to a press release from the coroner Larry Marzinzik, Bazin was the driver, and Cartwright the...
Childhood friends killed in Vernon motorbike crash leave behind fiancées, families
LUMBY - Childhood friends James Folden and Trinity Bright were both living life to its fullest when a tragic motorbike crash cut their time short. Both were engaged to be married; Folden, 23, to Chelsea, his high school sweetheart and mother of his seven-week-old daughter, and Bright, 24, to the love of his life. Folden,...