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Vernon

Fire danger rating climbs back up despite rainfall

CAMPFIRE RESTRICTIONS STILL IN PLACE THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Fire danger ratings are back to a high rating for the majority of the province’s interior, with some pockets still rated as extreme. B.C. Wildfire information officer Kayla Pepper says a bit of rain lowered the rating to a low to moderate risk over the past week or...

Beach service remembers young women killed in Vernon crash

OKANAGAN - Friends and family flooded a local beach in memory of the two young Kelowna women killed Saturday night in Vernon. Kayla Cartwright, 26 and Chantal Bazin, 22, died July 11 when the car they were driving crossed the centre line on Highway 97 in Vernon and hit an oncoming vehicle. But Jeff Cartwright,...

Mountain Equipment Co-op coming to Kelowna

KELOWNA - Outdoor enthusiasts will soon have another option when shopping for outdoor gear, Mountain Equipment Co-op has announced it is coming to Kelowna next spring. The legendary Vancouver outdoor outfitter will open a 20,000-square-foot location in the former Future Shop location in Orchard Plaza Shopping Centre in Kelowna. In addition to its outdoor products,...

Medical rescue on Enderby Cliffs

VERNON - A female hiker in medical distress was rescued by the Penticton Search and Rescue helicopter team Tuesday afternoon. A Vernon Search and Rescue team was called to the Enderby Cliffs area for a female in medical distress Tuesday, July 14, and when they arrived they realized an air evacuation would be best because...

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...

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...

Smoky skies advisory ends for Southern Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A system that broke a nearly three-week heat wave and dropped rain in the Interior also helped clear the smoke. The smoky skies advisory that had been in place since June 7 was lifted this morning, July 13, by the Ministry of Environment and the Interior Healthy Authority. While many large fires are...

Break in heat for Okanagan, back to seasonal normals

OKANAGAN - After nearly three weeks of temperatures exceeding 30 Celsius almost every day, we are finally seeing cooler temperatures, some rain and less smoke. This weekend, the heat wave finally broke with temperatures closer to seasonal normals of 27 C on both days, and Environment Canada is calling for high temperatures to remain a...

UPDATE: Two dead in crash in Vernon; police looking for witnesses

VERNON - Two young women from Kelowna were found dead in a head-on collision with another vehicle on Highway 97 in Vernon, early Sunday morning, and another two people from Armstrong are in hospital, police say. The two vehicles collided near the 27 Street overpass just after midnight Sunday morning, July 12. Cpl. Joseph Leeson...

Water board wants more control over what people do in watersheds

OKANAGAN - In an effort to put a stop to mud-bogging and pit toilets near reservoirs, the local water board is supporting a call for greater control over source watersheds. “The board wants our members to have more control and the province to give more support to water utilities to protect the quality of their...

Family of man presumed drowned in Kalamalka Lake desperate for answers

VERNON - The family of a missing man presumed drowned in Kalamalka Lake is raising funds to continue the search for their loved one by hiring a specialized team. Police dive teams spent multiple days unsuccessfully scouring the lake and surrounding area for Curtis Wilson, who has been missing for nearly two weeks now. RCMP spokesperson...

New records and another hot day for Okanagan

OKANAGAN - It was another record-breaking day in the Okanagan Wednesday and today will be much of the same. Environment Canada shows 17 B.C. communities setting new records Wednesday, July 8, and many were in the Interior. One of the oldest records to fall was in Kamloops, where a temperature of 38.3 Celsius was enough...

Missing documents for Westbank audit mysteriously resurface

WHAT IT MEANS TO RECALL PETITION FOR CHIEF AND COUNCIL | In February, Westbank First Nation members demanded an audit of band dealings in the Lake Okanagan Wellness Centre after they found themselves on the hook for $7.9 million. When they failed to get it, they pursued the recall of Chief and council. In our ongoing...

UPDATE: New weather records for Okanagan

OKANAGAN - The day isn’t even over but new high temperature records were set in Kelowna and Vernon by 4 p.m. and Penticton was just behind with a record set by 5 p.m. As of 4 p.m. Environment Canada was showing the temperature in Vernon as 35.6 Celsius, just enough to beat the 35.5 C...

Weather records could fall in Okanagan

OKANAGAN - As temperatures in the Okanagan keep reaching well above 30 Celsius the possibility of new records being set throughout the region is very real today and tomorrow. Temperatures climbed above 30 C nearly every day in the last two weeks and we can expect the same for the rest of this week. While...

The power of information during electrical failure

WHO HAS IT, WHO DOESN'T THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - When the power goes out, so do most of the things we depend on for life and business — lights, refrigerators, internet, air conditioning, point-of-sale machines, cash machines — and depending on which power company you use, so does information. The Thompson-Okanagan is divided between Fortis B.C. and...

NHL beach party this Friday at Kal Lake

VERNON - Get ready to have a beach day with some of your favourite National Hockey League players past and present in a fundraiser event for the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation this weekend. On Friday, July 10, the National Hockey League Players’ Association, along with 20 players, will be at Kalamalka Beach for autographs, beach...

B.C. firefighters getting help from Ontario

BRITISH COLUMBIA - Crews fighting the nearly 200 wildfires raging across the province will get some help from our neighbours out east. A total of 70 personnel from Ontario are arriving today, July 7, to help with fires in the Coastal and Southeast Fire Centres. Two amphibious skimming aircraft, a birddog and an air attack...

People ignoring campfire ban in Okanagan

‘THERE’S THE ODD FEW THAT DON’T THINK THE BAN APPLIES TO THEM’ VERNON - Fire officials in Vernon are surprised some people are still not getting the message about the importance of campfire bans. Twice Monday night, the Vernon Fire Department was called to illegal campfires in peoples’ backyards, deputy fire chief Lawrie Skolrood says....