Vernon news

Kelowna’s newest attraction will test your nerves and your teamwork

KELOWNA – The door locks behind you and the clock starts counting down. You are trapped in a dimly lit room and an eery soundtrack begins to play in the background. For the next 45 minutes you and your team search frantically for clues as you try to escape Kelowna's newest and perhaps most thrilling...

How to help the victims of the earthquake in Nepal

Over a thousand people are dead and tens of thousands of people are homeless after a powerful earthquake struck in Nepal on Saturday and officials warn the death toll will rise as more reports come in. The magnitude 7.8 quake originated outside the capital of Kathmandu. Within hours of the earthquake, emergency relief organizations sprung...

Salmon Arm man faces charges in fatal crash near Field

FIELD – A two-car crash on Highway 1 near the B.C.-Alberta border last night left a 37-year-old Calgary man dead and two others injured, including a Salmon Arm man who is also facing charges. RCMP say the crash happened at about 7:15 p.m., April 24, three kilometres east of Field. “At this time we believe...

Vernon Jubilee Hospital unveils new mammography machine

VERNON - North Okanagan residents are benefiting from recent enhancements to Vernon Jubilee Hospital’s imaging department, including a new digital mammography machine.   Local individuals and organizations donated to the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation’s Take a Picture campaign, which raised more than $500,000 towards the purchase of the new mammography machine, the foundation said in...

Lumby gets prepared for flooding

LUMBY - Efforts are underway to protect the Village of Lumby from possible flooding. Next week, 20 wildland firefighters will help assemble an emergency stockpile of sandbags for rapid deployment in the event of a flood threat, according to a release from the Village. The measure is a cooperative effort between Emergency Management B.C., the...

Logger hit by a tree near Lumby not properly trained: WorkSafe B.C.

VERNON - A logger injured when a tree rolled into him near Lumby was insufficiently trained, according to an inspection report released by WorkSafe B.C. The report looked into an accident involving three Peto Contracting Ltd. employees who were working a cutblock east of Lumby April 15. WorkSafe says the workers received multiple injuries after...

Happy 10th birthday YouTube; local viral videos

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The very first YouTube video was uploaded ten years ago today so InfoNews has put together some of our regions most watched clips of the last decade. The first Okanagan classic is about a focused skater singing the national anthem at a Penticton Vees game in October 2014. It has more than 3-million...

UPDATE: Dirt biker no longer missing

"THE FAMILY IS VERY HAPPY THE WORST DIDN'T HAPPEN" VERNON – The search for a missing dirt biker in the Vernon area has been called off after the man showed up at home this morning. “The Vernon RCMP want to let the public know that the missing man on the dirt bike has returned home...

Taste of spring comes two weeks early in the North Okanagan

VERNON - North Okanagan residents are biting into fresh, local produce about two weeks early this year thanks to the warm weather. At the Vernon Farmer’s Market Thursday, there was no shortage of Okanagan-grown food and shoppers were eating it up. A steady stream of customers kept Corinne Jeppesen with the Armstrong Asparagus Farm busy selling bundles...

Motorcyclist dies after hitting rock face near Sicamous

SICAMOUS - Police are investigating after a Malawka man died in a motorcycle crash Thursday night. So far, the RCMP have learned two motorcycles were travelling together northbound on Highway 97A towards Sicamous around 7 p.m., April 23. “One of the motorcycles went off road striking a rock face, coming to rest in the southbound...

Mussels with wings; the new front in the battle against invasive species

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The defensive war on invasive mussels hitching a ride into British Columbia’s lakes and rivers via recreational boats has just begun but there’s already talk of opening up a new front — float planes. While recreational boats and commercial boat haulers are the primary target of the recently-launched Don’t Move A Mussel educational program,...

Vernon School District will use reserves to bridge budget shortfall

VERNON - The Vernon School District will dip into its reserves to cover next year's budget shortfall, but it's already worried about what to do the year after that. Once again, School District 22 is facing a budget deficit, this time in the amount of $950,000 due to cost pressures and a $400,000 cut in...

UPDATE: Vernon RCMP appeal to public for help finding overdue biker

VERNON - Search and Rescue has joined the effort to locate an overdue, and inexperienced, motorbike rider last seen Tuesday afternoon.  Kyle Macinnes, 25, went out on his dirt bike at 4 p.m. April 21, and has not returned.  “His family is very concerned as he is not a very experienced rider,” Molendyk says in...

Public consultation process goes to consultation

HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A lot of people have recently expressed concerns over how the environmental assessment process works and now the provincial government is asking for input on how to improve the public consultation portion of the process. The B.C. Government's Environmental Assessment Office is asking the public...