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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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Sentencing delayed for missionary guilty of assaulting wife and kids
VERNON - The sentence hearing for a missionary found guilty of assaulting his wife and children was postponed Tuesday so he could receive a psychiatric assessment. The 42-year-old was supposed to be sentenced on charges of assault, assault with a weapon and sexual assault Tuesday afternoon in Vernon Supreme Court but a last minute order...
Child lurer enticed victims by saying he was a modelling agent
VERNON - A Vernon man lured Okanagan girls via Facebook by telling them he was a modeling agent looking for young talent, said the Crown. David Clayton Willerth, born in 1974, is scheduled to enter expected guilty pleas for 25 counts, including communicating by computer to lure a person under 16, making or publishing child...
Missionary found guilty of assaulting wife and children
VERNON - A former missionary and pastor who 'corrected' his children by beating them with a comb and who forced himself on their mother was found guilty of assault with a weapon and sexual assault in Vernon Supreme Court Monday. The North Okanagan man, aged 42, met the complainant while the two were doing missionary...
Vernon officials investigate suspicious backyard grass fire
VERNON - Authorities in Vernon are investigating another suspicious fire, this time in a resident’s backyard. Fire crews were called to the 800 block of Mt. Bulman Place about 2 a.m. Monday to fight a backyard grass fire. Deputy fire chief Jack Blair says the fire was quickly contained and the only damage was to...
City Hall holds the key to booze at farmers markets
VERNON - You’ll be able to pick up your artisanal cheese, baking—and booze—with a one-stop shop to the local farmers market, as long as Vernon city council okays it. The Vernon Farmers Market at Kal Tire Place and the Avenue Market on 30 Avenue are asking the City of Vernon to amend its policies to...
Why this girl needs a crawling baby, a turtle and a whole bunch of lego
SCAVENGER HUNTING TAKEN TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL VERNON - Robyn Potticary needs to set up a race between a crawling baby and a turtle, find some generous senior citizens to mud wrestle, volunteer for a non-profit, and forgive a grudge — among more than 100 other challenges — and she only has until Friday...
Cause of barn blaze remains a mystery
VERNON - An investigation into the cause of a devastating barn fire continues to turn up few answers. Deputy fire chief Jack Blair says they still don’t know what led to the July 31 blaze on Pottery Road, on the outskirts of the City of Vernon. “There’s so much damage it’s hard to pinpoint the...
Girl guide thanks Enderby for inspiring act of generosity
ENDERBY - It was a night girl guide Jorja Van Winkle will never forget. One, because of the fierce storm that shook her tent and evacuated her fellow guiders, and two, because of the strangers who came to their rescue. Van Winkle, 12, from Chilliwack, was on a bus heading back to the Enderby SOAR...
HELSTON: A rail trail might be easier than we thought
While the scenic, lakeside railway between Vernon and Kelowna rolls closer to being put on the market, the fact remains there’s not much prospective buyers could do with the property. The land, which carves its way through several Okanagan communities past lakes and parks, comes with a few strings attached. The City of Kelowna has...
Changes to foreign worker policy impacts local ski hills
VERNON - Crackdowns on Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program have put local ski hills in a bind. Ken Derpak, managing director for Silver Star Mountain Resort, says the process for hiring a temporary foreign worker now carries a $1,000 fee. Before the overhauls, it cost only $275 per person. Silver Star typically hires 20 international...
Okanagan Indian Band describes chief and council roles
VERNON - After releasing its chief and council pay, the Okanagan Indian Band is explaining the responsibilities behind the money. Infonews.ca ran a story last week comparing band council salaries and expenses with its counterparts at the City of Vernon, as well as their respective populations. Band chief Byron Louis issued a statement in response...
Armstrong video store rewinds customers to a social kind of movie night
ARMSTRONG - Video store manager Sherry Aiken remembers days when the aisles were filled with people; families, couples on date night, movie buffs lining up for new releases. But like a good movie, those days came and went all too fast. “It’s becoming the end of an era,” Aiken says. “This used to be the...
Cause of barn blaze remains unknown
VERNON - What caused a Vernon barn to go up in flames remains a mystery. Police and the Vernon Fire Department continue to investigate the cause of last Thursday’s blaze on the outskirts of Vernon at a property in the 1100 block of Pottery Road. Deputy fire chief Jack Blair says investigators have combed through the...
No helmet and no lights earns cyclist a broken bike and a ticket
VERNON - A cyclist was hit by a car and ticketed for letting it happen Monday night. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the 29-year-old man was riding west on 30 Street around 8:45 p.m. when he collided with a white Acura Integra driven by a 40-year-old Vernon resident. The driver was also traveling west on...
Nakusp woman killed in Highway 6 crash
VERNON - Police believe a Nakusp woman was speeding when her SUV rolled into the ditch on Highway 6. The 52-year-old Nakusp woman died at the scene while a 15-year-old girl believed to be her daughter was moved to Vernon Jubilee Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident happened Sunday about 9 a.m. roughly 41...
Railroad removal prompts call to action
ARMSTRONG - The rail bed between Armstrong and Sicamous is shrinking with each passing day, and that’s launched rail trail proponents into high gear. Phil McIntyre with the Shuswap Trail Alliance says the Canadian Pacific Railway has been pulling out the tracks over the past several weeks. Crews were seen this week in Armstrong removing...
Okanagan and Splatsin band financial records revealed
VERNON - The Okanagan Indian Band’s chief and council were paid double what City of Vernon elected officials received in remuneration and expenses last year. This is the first year First Nations are required to disclose their financial information as part of the new First Nations Financial Transparency Act. It’s resulted in some eye opening...
The last time you looked for a pay phone, you probably couldn’t find one
VERNON - Like rotary dial devices and the flip phones that came after them, the once ubiquitous telephone booth is vanishing from society. You probably haven’t noticed their gradual disappearance over the past several years— not unless you found yourself in the strange position of needing one. Maybe you dropped your phone in the toilet?...
Body of drowned Coldstream man found
REVELSTOKE - Searchers have found the body of a Coldstream man who went missing after jumping into Revelstoke Lake July 30. Authorities were notified at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday that the 28-year-old had jumped from the Laforme Creek bridge and never resurfaced. The Laforme Creek Bridge, 20 km north of the Revelstoke Dam on Highway 23...
HELSTON: Confronting history in a non-threatening way
The Splatsin First Nation in Enderby is welcoming one and all to take a journey through time and memory in the stories of its people. From ancient legends to contemporary tales, the stories in an upcoming community play, Tuwitames, tell of Splatsin values, traditions and defining moments in their history. Historian and co-author of the script,...
Winfield man’s last four months were out of this world
EARTH - A Lake Country man has been to Mars — the simulated version anyway. Ross Lockwood, a PhD candidate in condensed matter physics at the University of Alberta, hails from Winfield but has spent the last four months in a NASA built simulation centre on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii....
Investigators scour aftermath of barn fire
VERNON - Firefighters and police remain at the scene of a large barn fire that broke out early Thursday morning. Neighbours in the 1100 block of Pottery Road alerted authorities to the large fire around 4:30 a.m. Resident Serena Gosselin awoke when she heard yelling out on the street. “We came outside to look, and...
UPDATE: Head-on crash sends 4 to hospital
VERNON – The investigation continues into the cause of a head-on collision on Highway 97 south of Vernon near the landfill. A large SUV towing a camper trailer and an SUV crossover hit near Westridge Road around 6:00 a.m. Thursday. Four people were rushed to Vernon Jubilee Hospital with traumatic but non-life threatening injuries, according...
Lake Country firefighters respond to brush fire
LAKE COUNTRY - The Lake Country Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire that turned into a small brush fire Wednesday afternoon. Crews were dispatched just before 3:30 p.m. to the fire, somewhere along Oyama Road. More information will be posted as it becomes available. To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston...