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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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The high cost of waiting to replace Vernon’s aging water system
VERNON - Costs of aging water pipes are beginning to pile up in the City of Vernon with 86 water main breaks in just the last three years—four of them this month. And the costs are not just in dollars and cents. Breaks on Nov. 25 left over 100 residents without water. Earlier in the year,...
Vernon RCMP still looking for driver who ran from accident scene
VERNON - Police continue to investigate a two vehicle accident that left a woman with life changing injuries. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk said an appeal for information generated several tips about the Dec. 3 car crash, which left a 44-year-old woman with numerous broken bones and a fractured spine. She continues to recover at Vancouver...
UPDATE: Power outage persists for some Vernon and Coldstream homes
UPDATE: 1:13 P.M. DEC. 5 Power has been restored to most customers affected by a large outage Friday morning. According to a 12:19 p.m. update on B.C. Hydro's website, only 202 of an original 2,393 customers are still without power. The remaining outages are focused in the area south of Star Road, north of French...
Driver snuffs out own car fire outside Vernon gas station
VERNON - An out-of-town driver’s quick thinking stopped a vehicle fire from being much worse than it was. Vernon Fire Chief Keith Green says a driver pulled into 7-Eleven on 39 Avenue Thursday around noon and noticed smoke coming out of the hood. “(He) used the gas station’s fire extinguisher to out the fire out...
UPDATE: Man in fatal industrial accident in Spallumcheen identified
SPALLUMCHEEN - The B.C. Coroners Service has identified the man who died in a fatal industrial accident in Spallumcheen Wednesday afternoon. He was John Elliot Sleypen, 50, of Kamloops. A Valley Roadways truck driver had just delivered a load of posts to Rapid-Span Structures on Industrial Drive in Spallumcheen around 1:30 p.m. He was in...
Rare ‘frost flowers’ bloom in the Shuswap
SALMON ARM - Mother Nature sprouted some special flowers last week in Salmon Arm. It’s a rare phenomenon, but when air is colder than ice on a lake, ‘frost flowers’ can grow. Those blossoms were captured by local resident D’Arcy McLeod. “It was like a magic garden of flowers growing on the frozen lake,” McLeod...
Temporary food services set up after flood at Vernon’s Upper Room Mission
VERNON - The community is making sure no one goes hungry in the coming weeks while damages are repaired at the Upper Room Mission. Fundraising director Lisa Anderson says it could take 6-8 weeks before repairs are complete. The 27 Avenue soup kitchen flooded earlier this week after a pipe burst and triggered the sprinkler...
Okanagan rail trail dream on track
"I THINK WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THERE WILL BE A COMMUNITY PATHWAY" VERNON - Brad Clements remembers sitting around his kitchen table over a year ago, discussing the odds of a rail trail on the decommissioned track between Vernon and Kelowna becoming a reality. “We thought it was only a 20...
Former accountant handed jail time for fraud schemes in Vernon
"IT MAKES ME WONDER HOW I FELL FOR HER THE LAST TIME:" JUDGE VERNON - A former accountant who tried to cash a forged cheque grew more sophisticated in her ploys since her last court appearance for fraud, a Vernon provincial court judge said. Abigail Marie Mcelman, 36, was arrested at Vernon’s Venue Financial Centre...
UPDATE: Highway 6 reopens following Wednesday morning car crash
VERNON - Highway 6 just west of Lumby has reopened following a car accident Wednesday morning. The highway was closed in both directions while emergency officials attended the scene. Vehicles were detoured around the accident via Whitevale Road. To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact...
Fire burns Enderby shop to the ground
ENDERBY - An Enderby dairy farmer suffered major losses in a fire early Monday morning. Enderby fire chief Kevin Alstad says the homeowner awoke to a loud bang about 1:20 a.m. When he looked out the door, he saw a detached shop near the house was consumed in fire. By the time 23 Enderby firefighters...
New Vernon mayor and council sworn into office
VERNON - Vernon’s new council members officially took their seats for the next four years Monday evening. Mayor Akbal Mund, incumbents Bob Spiers, Juliette Cunningham, Catherine Lord, and Brian Quiring, along with new councillors Scott Anderson and Dalvir Nahal were sworn into office by Justice Mayland McKimm to a packed room at City Hall. “Collectively,...
Okanagan municipalities ink rail corridor deal, now what will they do with it?
VERNON - A team of local governments has reached a multi-million deal with CN Rail to purchase nearly 50 km of discontinued track between Vernon and Kelowna, but just how the land will be used remains unknown. Doug Gilchrist, the City of Kelowna’s community planning and real estate director, says the group of municipalities are...
Vernon’s Upper Room Mission closed until further notice
VERNON - Major flooding has forced the Upper Room Mission to close until further notice, and that’s creating a lot of uncertainty for hundreds of people who visit the soup kitchen daily. A pipe burst on the top floor of the 27 Avenue soup kitchen Monday around 10 p.m. and set off the facility’s sprinkler...
Man earns jail time for robbing Enderby liquor store at knife-point
ENDERBY - A man with a lengthy criminal history was handed three years in prison for robbing the Enderby Liquor Store at knife-point. Donny Glen Neigum, 42, entered the liquor store Dec. 29, 2012 with his face hidden behind a scarf and a hoodie. He brandished a knife, and pushed the handle end of it...
Semi carrying massive load of Okanagan Spring beer takes a spill
FALKLAND - A semi carrying some 1,500 cases of Okanagan Spring 1516 beer took a spill during Wednesday’s snowstorm. Garry Higginson, with HTL Transport, says his son, 24, was driving the tractor-trailer along Highway 97 through Falkland in a blizzard when he saw an oncoming vehicle driving in the middle of the road. His son...
A photo to remember: Hollywood stars pose with North Okanagan locals
VERNON - They’re not exactly keeping a low profile. Actors Sir Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles and Ray Liotta have been out and about over the last few weeks, graciously posing for photo after photo with local people. And they don’t seem to mind it. Either they’re really good at acting off set, or the three...
UPDATE: Power restored to 1,389 customers in Vernon
VERNON - Power was cut to over a thousand residents on Okanagan Landing Friday morning, but was restored by 11:09 a.m. According to B.C. Hydro, the outage occurred northwest of Okanagan Landing Road around 6:40 a.m. affecting 1,389 customers. The cause of the outage was identified as a tree down across the power lines. Local...
HELSTON: A small act of kindness will go a long way this Christmas
I’ll admit it; I tend to get my back up when I'm asked for money. My instinct is to terminate the uncomfortable conversation as quickly as possible with a ‘no, not today’ or some other firm, but polite, way of communicating the cause is not getting my hard earned cash. But I’m going to tell...
Chronic water leaks plague Vernon art gallery
VERNON - Like shoveling snow and scraping down windshields, preparing for leaks has become a vexing winter tradition at the Vernon Public Art Gallery. A large snow storm Wednesday left the gallery with multiple leaks to deal with. “It’s an ongoing issue with the building,” executive director Dauna Kennedy Grant says. “We have chronic leakage...
Cherryville residents feeling ‘bullied’ by B.C. Timber Sales over controversial logging operation
CHERRYVILLE - A North Okanagan Regional District director says his community feels its interests in further studying impacts of a contentious logging operation is being ignored by the provincial government. Equipment crews rolled into Cherryville Monday to start building a road in the Cherry Ridge area, where B.C. Timber Sales intends to log 190 hectares...
VIDEO: Holy cow! Old MacDonald drives a… station wagon?
VERNON - Drivers were surprised to see a cow in the backseat of a car on 27 Street earlier this month in Vernon. It might sound unbelievable, but there’s proof. The bizarre sight was caught on camera near W.L. Seaton Secondary. You can see the cow standing up in the back of the white station...
Vernon residents wake up to blanket of snow
YOUR PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE NORTH OKANAGAN VERNON - North Okanagan residents woke up to a thick blanket of snow Wednesday morning. Environment Canada is calling for 2-4 cm of snow today, though the white stuff is expected to change to rain sometime this morning. The dump of snow means buses in the Vernon school...
Food shortage worries Vernon soup kitchen staff
VERNON - A local agency that helps people in need is reaching out for some community support. Supplies at the Upper Room Mission soup kitchen—which serves around 300 meals a day this time of year—are extremely low. Fundraising director Lisa Anderson says the cupboards are emptier than they’ve been in a very long time. “The...