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Vernon

New airline promises cheap flights out of Kelowna

KELOWNA – A new airline from Manitoba is partnering with Kelowna-based Flair Airlines to bring what it calls 'basic air transportation' to the Okanagan. NewLeaf Travel Company has not released all of its destinations yet, but airline spokesperson Bob Jones confirms they will start service from Kelowna to Hamilton and Winnipeg by the end of...

Valley athletes do well at crossfit regional games

OKANAGAN - Crossfit athletes from the North and Central Okanagan recently posted some stellar results during the gruelling West Crossfit Regionals in Tacoma, Wash. Crossfit, a type of workout that combines Olympic weight-lifting with elements of gymnastics and interval cardio, emerged out of California in 2002. Participants in the regional games must complete seven different...

Interior Health CEO Rob Halpenny to resign

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After more than five years as chief executive officer, Dr. Robert Halpenny is resigning from the Interior Health Authority. The announcement that Halpenny will resign from his position, effective this fall, came today, June 9. “Over the five and a half years that Dr. Halpenny has served as CEO, he has driven transformative...

Early spring, California drought has Okanagan grocery stores picking local

KELOWNA – The severe drought in California coupled with an unusually warm and early spring in B.C. has local grocery stores stocking their shelves with fruits and vegetables grown right here at home instead of importing from the south. Chris Holmes is the owner of Quality Greens on Spall Road. With stores in Kelowna, West...

Flood risk continues to drop as snowpacks disappear in Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - An early melt and a warm, dry May mean there is little to no snow left in many basins around the region, and that means a low flood risk. The River Forecast Centre says the warm month led to a rapid melt of the snow pack and about half of the province’s snow...

Record hot weather on the way for Okanagan

OKANAGAN - It was a hot weekend in the Okanagan and the hot weather is forecast to continue through this week. Environment Canada recorded temperatures reaching as high as 33.8 Celsius in Penticton on Sunday, a bit shy of the 35 C record set nearly 70 years ago. In Kelowna temperatures climbed to 33 C,...

Mom trying to give parents of stillborn babies a few extra days together

WEST KELOWNA – Kristin Esmail and her husband didn’t find out until she was in labour their son, Richard James, was stillborn. After 39 weeks in utero, finding out that they would not be able to take him home was almost too much pain to bear. “It was such a shock,” the West Kelowna resident...

Competition stiff as Okanagan cities compete to hold seniors’ games

OKANAGAN - Long before the competitors in the B.C. 55+ Games face off against each other at the annual event, there is a competition of another sort amongst B.C. communities vying to host the games. This year, Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton are all submitting competing bids to host the popular event. The competition is going...

Pup with broken leg needs your help

PENTICTON – A 10-month-old puppy who was hit by a car needs a little help from the public to get back on all four paws. Jodi, a black and white Labrador retriever mix, was brought into the South Okangan-Similkameen SPCA with a broken femur and in need of more than $4,000 worth of medical treatment....

NHL players to attend event at Vernon’s Kal Beach this summer

VERNON - Hockey fans have an exciting event to look forward to this summer in Vernon. The city announced today the National Hockey League Players’ Association will be participating in a community event and hospital fundraiser at Kalamalka Beach Friday, July 10. The family-friendly celebration will feature a significant donation of hockey equipment made by...

What to do with 100,000 metres of steel rail, ties and a grafitti-covered boxcar

KELOWNA - Now that the CN Rail corridor purchase is complete, there’s the small matter of removing about 100 kilometres worth of steel rail, railway ties, flashing lights and signs, and some contaminated soil sites. Oh, and one graffiti covered boxcar. Fortunately for the Okanagan communities that just ponied up $50 million in cash and...

Creative Chaos craft fair underway

VERNON - A giant Vernon craft show is celebrating 40 years of bringing creative chaos to the North Okanagan. Creative Chaos, a three day craft show and sale held at the Vernon Recreation Centre, will present its 40th annual exhibit starting Friday, June 5. Every year, the craft fair takes over the Vernon Rec Centre,...

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...

Water board calls on province to take action on invasive mussels

OKANAGAN - The Okanagan Basin Water Board is using the province’s declaration of June as Invasive Species Action Month to prod it into increasing its role in the fight against zebra and quagga mussels. “Awareness is great but action is better. The water board is doing all it can within its mandate to prevent the...

Rain nearly over in Okanagan

NEAR RECORD HEAT ON THE WAY OKANAGAN - While it has not been record-breaking, it has been very wet throughout the Okanagan this week, with an average of about 25 millimetres of rain falling in the first three days of June alone. Heading just north of the Okanagan, Kamloops has received most of the rain...

Salmonella outbreak proof that monitoring system works: Buckerfield’s CEO

KELOWNA - The recent spike of salmonella cases connected to live poultry sales is a good news story, proof the system works rather than an indictment of its failings, according to a local business. “Fourteen cases is a very small number and it was detected and caught and the public was actually protected from what...

United Airlines drops service to Kelowna

KELOWNA – After less than a year of service between Kelowna and San Francisco, United Airlines has departed for good. The carrier first started service to Kelowna in October of last year and according to airport spokesperson Jenelle Hynes had already decided in December that it just wasn’t economically feasible to continue the once-daily flights...

Vernon woman shows what Lyme disease really looks like

VERNON - A young Vernon woman battling Lyme disease hopes you’ll share her story. It couldn’t have been easy to tell, and it’s not always easy to watch, but 21-year-old Amy Soranno’s two-year story of pain and unanswered questions is now laid out in a documentary called Amy’s Complex Case. The video, which can be...

Local woman uses social media to find long lost father

"IT'S GOING TO BE MY FIRST FATHER'S DAY IN 46 YEARS WHERE I ACTUALLY KNOW WHO MY FATHER IS." KELOWNA – A local expert in social media found out the power of Facebook last weekend when she used it to find and meet her father for the first time in 46 years. And even though...

Vernon RCMP use creative tactic to send message about distracted driving

VERNON - Police in Vernon tested drivers with an unusual distracted driving campaign Monday afternoon involving a cardboard sign that read: ‘I am not homeless.’ If you kept reading, you’d see the sign went on to say, ‘RCMPolice looking for seatbelt/cell phones.’ RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says in a media release the sign was part...

Injunction fails, Okanagan Rail Trail land purchase goes ahead

KELOWNA - The last real hurdle to the purchase of the CN Rail corridor purchase was removed this morning in B.C. Supreme Court where an injunction sought by the Okanagan Indian Band blocking the sale was denied. “With no injunction in place CN is within its right to sell the corridor lands,” City of Kelowna...

Vernon man falls off boat after losing balance and hits propeller

VERNON - Police are looking into what role alcohol may have played in a weekend boating accident which left a Vernon man badly injured — and they’re not investigating the driver of the boat. Police believe a 21-year-old Vernon man who fell off the bow of a boat and struck the propeller might have been...