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Charlotte Helston
REPORTER
Charlotte Helston grew up in Armstrong and after four years studying writing at the University of Victoria, she came back to do what she loves most: Connect with the community and bringing its stories to life.
Covering Vernon for iNFOnews.ca has reinforced her belief in community. The people and the stories she encounters every day—at the courthouse, City Hall or on the street—show the big tales in a small town.
If you have an opinion to share or a story you'd like covered, contact Charlotte at Charlotte Helston or call 250-309-5230.
Charlotte Helston's Stories
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Low snowpack prompts Greater Vernon water warning
VERNON - Greater Vernon residents are being advised to go easy on the water in light of a lower than normal snowpack this year. Recent snowpack readings at three monitoring stations near the Duteau Creek Watershed suggest the region could be in for low water levels this summer, water sustainability coordinator Jennifer Miles said in...
Police withdraw ticket given to Vernon scooter user involved in accident
VERNON - A Vernon woman recovering from injuries sustained when her scooter was hit by a truck was going to fight a violation ticket police handed her after the accident, but now she won’t have to. After reviewing the Motor Vehicle Act, the RCMP is rescinding the ticket issued to Patricia Parent for entering a...
Growing appetite for food cart plaza in downtown Vernon
VERNON - Excitement is brewing around two unique pop-up ventures at Vernon’s downtown bus loop, a shipping container art gallery and a mobile coffee cart, and rather than see that momentum falter when the exhibit ends and the space returns to an empty gravel parking lot, some would like to see it continue to thrive...
Vernon man admits guilt in car crash: nurse left paralyzed
VERNON - A Vernon man has pleaded guilty to causing a car crash that left a local nurse paralyzed from the neck down. Robin Orcherton, a Vernon nurse and mother, was on her way home from work Dec. 3, 2014 when her car was struck by a blue Jeep. The driver fled the scene and...
Filmmaker hopes Okanagan mussel threat documentary will create ‘groundswell of public pressure’
VERNON - There may not be any zebra or quagga mussels in B.C. yet, but the threat is very real, and very urgent, says a Vernon man who spent months interviewing experts and visiting infested lakes and rivers in the U.S. All it would take is one contaminated boat getting across the border to destroy...
Countdown to possible Shuswap school closure continues
NORTH OKANAGAN – The North Okanagan-Shuswap School Board has begun a process that would allow…
Woman on scooter struck downtown Vernon
VERNON - A Vernon woman suffered minor injuries Wednesday afternoon when her scooter was struck by a vehicle downtown. Deputy fire chief Jack Blair says it’s unclear what led to the accident at the intersection of 30 Street and 28 Avenue, but police are investigating. “Not sure whether the scooter came out too suddenly, or...
Woman charged in connection with Vernon ATM theft
VERNON - She was caught on camera allegedly stealing cash out of someone else’s bank account, and now six months later, she’s been caught by authorities. Glenda Joan Daku, 53, from the North Okanagan has been charged with one count of theft under $5,000 in connection with the October 2014 offence, which was recorded on...
Lumby RCMP continues to report high number of drunk drivers
LUMBY - Lumby residents don’t seem to be getting the message when it comes to drunk driving, says the village’s top cop. Cpl. Henry Proce with the Lumby RCMP detachment says officers are arresting local residents in very high numbers for impaired driving. In the last three weeks, at least six drivers were charged with...
Vernon man sentenced on animal cruelty charges will get to keep his dog
VERNON - An unfortunate case of animal cruelty was laid out in Vernon Provincial Court this week, and it wasn’t just sad for the pet. Brian Jacobson, 47, was charged with causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal, failing to provide necessities, and causing an animal to be in distress following an SPCA cruelty...
Three people injured in logging accident near Lumby
LUMBY - An injured logger stuck down a 500-foot embankment has been rescued and transported to hospital. The victim was one of three workers injured when a tree reportedly fell on them in a remote area east of Lumby Wednesday morning. The industrial accident is under investigation by WorkSafe B.C. and spokesperson Scott McCloy says...
City of Vernon to enter race for B.C. Seniors Games
VERNON - The city is preparing to bid on a major sporting event, but it needs a little back-up from its neighbours. The City of Vernon wants to host the 30th anniversary of the 55+ B.C. Games (formerly called the Seniors Games) in 2017 at its new sports track next to Okanagan College. It was...
NEW VERNON WELCOME SIGNS: ‘We’ve been waiting for you’
VERNON - They’re supposed to be inviting, but the signs that welcome travellers into Vernon are looking a little worse for wear and no one is sure exaclty who is reponsible for the upkeep of those signs. Installed at each of the three main gateways to the city the 'Welcome to Greater Vernon' signs greet...
Former Kelowna councillor may force rail trail off its tracks
OKANAGAN – Local municipalities won’t be getting a continuous stretch of land as part of…
Victim of fatal rock climbing accident near Vernon identified
VERNON - A teen who died in a rock climbing accident near Vernon this past weekend has been identified. He was Taylor Samuel Archer, 18, from New Westminster. Archer was hiking with friends near the King Edward Forest Service Road about 15 kilometres east of Vernon on April 11, states a release from the B.C....
Vernon night market to proceed despite concerns
VERNON - A Friday night market in downtown Vernon will go ahead this summer, but there’s still some unease among city councillors about the event. Coun. Catherine Lord says she’s been contacted by several businesses, some anonymously, wishing to express their concerns about the market. “We’ve been getting some really upset people with it because...
Stolen Lumby vehicle found scorched and shot up
LUMBY - Police are appealing to the public for tips after a stolen vehicle turned up torched and shot full of bullet holes last week. The vehicle, a silver 2000 Audi, was reported stolen from Catt Avenue in Lumby April 6. Two days later, it was found four kilometres up the Noble Canyon Forest Service...
Mother, son duo arrested in connection with Lumby drug rip
VERNON - A mother and son duo are facing charges after allegedly stealing medical marijuana plants from a licensed grower in Lumby. Lumby RCMP Cpl. Henry Proce says charges have been laid in connection with a March 27 drug rip on Grandview Avenue. “The suspects forcibly broke into a house and stole the marijuana plants...
Lumby man’s offence not so different from his last
LUMBY - It was deja-vu for a North Okanagan cop dealing with an impaired driving case. The officer was patrolling in the Lumby area April 10 around 2 p.m. when he noticed a prohibited driver in a residential neighbourhood, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. “Our officer drove up to the vehicle in a marked police...
Vernon RCMP investigate possibility of impaired driving in weekend crash
VERNON - Police are treating a car crash which knocked out power to hundreds of residents as an impaired driving case. The crash happened around 12:30 a.m., Saturday, April 11 when a 24-year-old woman went off Kalamalka Road in Coldstream and struck a hydro pole, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. Over 1,800 homes in Vernon...
Vernon senior could face charges after five hour standoff with police
VERNON - An elderly man arrested after a five hour standoff with police is looking at possible charges. The 70-year-old Vernon man was allegedly involved in a confrontation with a neighbour over some loud music around 1 a.m., April 10. When police arrived, the man had barricaded himself inside his unit of the fourplex. With...
Teen killed in fatal fall from cliff not using climbing gear: RCMP
VERNON - It looks like an 18-year-old wasn’t using any safety equipment when he decided to go rock climbing and wound up taking a fatal fall from a rock face near Vernon on the weekend. The teenager, who has yet to be identified, was camping with three friends when the group decided to go rock...
Low snowpack could mean a dry Okanagan summer
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Current snowpack levels suggest the Okanagan could be in for a dry year, while the South Thompson should fair better. According to Tobi Gardner with the River Forecast Centre, snowpack is at 76 per cent of normal in the Okanagan — the lowest in five years. “What that translates to is a lower...
Horse racing scrapped again; Vernon’s Kin Race Track in legal limbo
VERNON - It will be another quiet summer at Vernon’s historic horse racing track as plans for its future remain mired in uncertainty. Arson gutted Kin Race Track’s grandstands last summer, and without them the Okanagan Equestrian Society’s president says no events can be held. “Everything runs out of the grandstand,” Robert White says. The...