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West Kelowna News

UPDATE: Woman missing near Peachland for more than a week found

UPDATE: 6:44 A.M., JUNE 19, 2015 RCMP say Kara Stoyanowski has been found alive. More details are expected later today. 2:32 p.m., June 15, 2015 WEST KELOWNA – Still no sign of a Winnipeg woman missing in the wilderness west of Peachland for almost a week. RCMP are hoping there is someone who knows something...

Two arrested following Kelowna crime spree

KELOWNA - A day-long crime spree in Kelowna and West Kelowna ended after two men were arrested in a stolen pickup truck earlier this month. Several people and businesses were hit during the one day crime spree on June 3, Cpl. Joe Duncan says in a media release. The spree started with the theft of...

UPDATE: Crews hit brush fire in West Kelowna hard

WEST KELOWNA – Firefighters have knocked down a brush fire in West Kelowna off Westside Road this afternoon. Calls came into 911 at around 3:45 p.m. about several trees burning in a ravine at the edge of Bear Creek Road near Scott Crescent. West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund says his crews were taking no...

First Nations hotel and conference centre in the works for West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA – If Grand Chief Ron Derrickson gets his way, West Kelowna could become a major destination for First Nations business people across North America. He is in the early planning stages of a luxury hotel and conference centre on his 5.5-acre property next to Two Eagles Golf Course off Carrington Road in West...

West Kelowna faces signifcant water and sewer rate hikes

WEST KELOWNA - It’s going to cost more for water and sewer service on the Westside after a decision this week to increase utility rates. Citing significant cost pressures, West Kelowna council gave first and second readings to its fees bylaw, which will see an increase of 20 per cent to district sanitary sewer user...

Westbank cemetery to see new life under expansion plan

WEST KELOWNA - The District of West Kelowna is considering spending $694,000 on the expansion of the Westbank Cemetery. In a report to council, parks supervisor Stacey Harding is recommending the district award the expansion contract to Arterra Construction, the low bidder on the plan to expand the graveyard which opened in 1925. Harding says...

Traffic calming construction could cause delays and detours in West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA - Local residents should soon be enjoying the results of a traffic calming study conducted two years ago in the South Boucherie neighbourhood of West Kelowna. Within a couple of weeks, crews will begin installing decorative medians along portions of Gregory and Mission Hill Roads, which could cause temporary delays and possible detours....

Thieves try to break-in to Food Bank in West Kelowna

"ATTEMPTING TO BREAK INTO A FOOD BANK IS NOT COOL!" WEST KELOWNA – An attempted break-in at the Westside Community Food Bank on the weekend has left staff and volunteers shaking their heads. The Food Bank’s executive director Lenetta Perry says someone damaged a side door trying to get into the building twice Saturday night....

Old dynamite forces evacuation at West Kelowna trailer park

WEST KELOWNA – The bomb squad from Vancouver travelled to West Kelowna last night to blow up some old sticks of dynamite. RCMP say the explosives were in a backpack found by a resident of the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park at 1860 Boucherie Rd. while he was on a hike. The man brought the...

$1.4 million to train Okanagan Aboriginal workers for “in-demand” jobs

VERNON – The province is spending nearly $1.4 million dollars to train 50 Aboriginal workers to be heavy equipment operators it says are in-demand. The program will be run in partnership with the Southern Interior Construction Association with workers from the Splatsin First Nation, the Okanagan Indian Band and the Westbank First Nation will take...

West Kelowna moves closer to becoming a city

WEST KELOWNA - A bid by the District of West Kelowna to apply for an updgrade to city status is moving to the next level after only 166 counter petitions were submitted during the alternative approval process. “There is no significant concern from the public and I think we made the right call using the...

Young hockey player’s sad story may have a happy ending

KELOWNA - It appears the story of the nine-year-old boy who quit his hockey team in tears after being repeatedly benched, may have a happy ending after all. Our story about Sam Lescarbeau has gone truly viral with people from all over Canada writing to encourage him, share similar stories from all manner of sports teams...

Valley mayors push for early start to water conservation

OKANAGAN - Mindful of the dry winter the Okanagan has just experienced, valley mayors and councillors joined the Okanagan Basin Water Board for an early launch of the Make Water Work conservation campaign today. Mayor Doug Findlater, who chairs the water board, used his own community of West Kelowna as an example of why the...

West Kelowna pushing city status bid under the radar

WEST KELOWNA - Opponents of the district’s push to seek city status say mayor and council have tried to slide the issue under the radar when it deserves a full and open public debate. Gordon Ficke, President of the Historic Westbank Association, says council ignored a request from the group to hold a townhall meeting...

Hard lessons from California drought to be learned in the Okanagan

KELOWNA - With snowpack levels on the west side of Okanagan Lake at extremely low levels coupled with the dry winter the valley has just experienced, a comparison with drought-stricken California and the measures they must now take to avoid catastrophe is perhaps inevitable. “People say jokingly the best planning is done in advance… what...

The heart-breaking reason this nine-year-old boy quit hockey

"TO WIN AS A TEAM AND LOSE AS A TEAM IS A PRICELESS CONCEPT THAT SHOULD BE CHERISHED AND VALUED MORE THAN WINNING AT ALL COST" KELOWNA - A young hockey player made a heart-breaking decision to quit his hockey team with only two games left in the season and his father’s written reasons for...

UPDATE: Man arrested after stabbing in West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA – A 45-year-old man remains in hospital with life threatening injuries after he was stabbed early Wednesday afternoon. RCMP were called about a stabbing near the intersection of Solar Road and Elliot Road in West Kelowna just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29. “When police attended they located a 45-year-old man suffering...

West Kelowna irrigation systems the target of a special brand of vandalism

WEST KELOWNA - Faced with an unusual type of vandalism aimed at its irrigation systems, the District of West Kelowna is asking for help trying to put an end to it. “This isn’t your typical loser kicking over a sprinkler head,” parks supervisor Stacey Harding says. “Whoever is doing this has a knowledge of irrigation...

Fire at West Kelowna pub put out by staff

WEST KELOWNA – Quick thinking staff at a West Kelowna pub had a fire out before the professionals arrived this afternoon. Fire crews responded to a report of a fire in the wall at the pub at Shannon Centre, 3099 Shannon Lake Rd. Captain Nathan Pike says the fire was behind an appliance in the...

Neighbours fight crime with Block Watch program

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - In a world where social media provides almost instantaneous connections, an anti-crime program that relies on email and the telephone for neighbours to stay connected seems almost anachronistic. But that’s the model the Block Watch program still uses in British Columbia and local crime prevention coordinator Duane MacTavish says it is doing...

Criminals should worry about Facebook in West Kelowna’s Shannon Lake

WEST KELOWNA - You almost have to pity the drug dealer, con man or break-in artist who tries to do business in Shannon Lake. The walls have eyes and they are all connected to each other. A suspicious thin, white male, late teens, maybe early 20s, driving an old silver or grey Buick, made that...

Fire at West Kelowna townhouse complex could have been much worse

WEST KELOWNA – Fire crews had a tough fight on their hands when they were called to a vehicle fire in a carport next to a duplex in a townhouse complex in West Kelowna last night. When firefighters arrived at the complex near Witt Road at about 8 p.m., April 3, both the van and...