Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
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
Twitter
Facebook
Splatsin First Nation plots dramatic return of traditional stories
ENDERBY - After years of safekeeping in archives and in the minds of elders, stories of the Splatsin First Nation are being told the way they should be; with music, actors, costumes and an audience. Tuwitames, a community play presented by Runaway Moon Theatre and the Splatsin Language Program, runs August 6-10 at the Splatsin...
Local man finds pilot of crashed float plane
VERNON - First, Ed Rougeau heard a plane engine thrumming in the sky over his home on the rural, west side of Okanagan Lake. Then the engine cut, and over his shoulder Rougeau saw the Cessna 180 float plane crash into the forest. It was loud as the plane knocked its way through the trees,...
Semi driver ok after flipping rig on Highway 97
VERNON - A semi-driver rolled his rig into the ditch on Highway 97 near O’Keefe Ranch just after 3 p.m. Tuesday. The driver, John Groot, says he was coming up the hill just past O’Keefe Ranch towards Vernon when another vehicle cut right in front of him. “I thought it was kind of close so...
Skydiver lost consciousness mid-air before crashing onto house
VERNON - The victim of Monday’s skydiving accident was on his first solo ride when he lost consciousness, says the owner of Okanagan Skydive. Bret Chalmers says the 50-year-old skydiving student started his ride by jumping from a plane at around 3,500 feet. It was what Chalmers calls a normal opening, nothing out of the...
Engine failure possible cause of plane crash
VERNON - A mechanical failure may have sent a float plane crashing into the woods off Westside Road. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says early information is the plane’s engine failed. Residents in the area heard the plane go down near Six Mile Creek road off the west side of Okanagan Lake around 6:45 p.m. Monday....
Pilot of downed plane walks from crash site
VERNON - The pilot of a plane that crashed somewhere in the woods off Westside Road has been taken to hospital with undetermined injuries. Reports of a downed aircraft in the Six Mile Creek area on the west side of Okanagan Lake came in around 6:45 p.m. Monday. Emergency officials, and several nearby residents who...
Man killed in Cherryville farming accident
CHERRYVILLE - A Yellowknife man was killed earlier this month when a cow head-butted him at a farm in Cherryville. Allen Donald Powder, 49, was working on the farm July 1, moving cows from one corral to another with the help of another man. According to the B.C. Coroners Service, one of the cows became...
Sexual assault charges laid against Armstrong man
VERNON - Police have charged an Armstrong man with sexual assault in a two-month-old investigation. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says charges have been laid against Joseph Vance Caron, 45. “This investigation required a great deal of time to complete, and required forensic evidence to assist in the identification of their suspect,” Molendyk says. Caron is...
Some Vernon drivers have lead-foot syndrome
VERNON - A trio of novice drivers were each whacked with $483 fines this weekend for excessive speeding downtown Vernon. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says it appears the three individuals were racing each other down 27 Street around 8 p.m. Sunday. Two were in cars — a blue Honda Prelude and a red Mustang —...
Divers to scour river for sunken truck and missing person
VERNON - Dive teams will attempt to recover a vehicle that plunged into the Shuswap River last month. A search for the vehicle and its registered owner — a Lumby man who is declared missing — was put off mid-June because the water was too deep and too fast for the RCMP dive team to...
Lumby fire chief requests residents display addresses following mobile home blaze
LUMBY - Lumby firefighters ran into a snag Saturday responding to a report of a house fire; none of the properties had address signs. Without house numbers on rural Albers Road, off Mabel Lake Road in Lumby, crews had a harder time finding their destination. Lumby fire chief Tony Clayton says it only cost them...
Extraordinary animal tales of the North Okanagan
VERNON - Have you ever seen a hen raise a flock of ducklings? A dog adopt a piglet? What about a horse herding a bear? The North Okanagan has it all in terms of extraordinary animal encounters. There was Coldstream resident Val Buchanan, also known as Farmer Val, and the story that hatched when she...
Flood of support for local business damaged in storm
VERNON - This week’s flash rain storm led to major water damage at a Vernon business, but staff aren’t letting it dampen their spirits. Samantha Edwards, the manager at Mary-Claris hair extensions on 30 Avenue, looks up at the gaping hole in the ceiling and the torn up flooring and sighs. It’s been a stressful,...
Tubers urged to take care on Shuswap River
ENDERBY - Those participating in a quintessential summer activity in the North Okanagan are being reminded to do so carefully this summer. Floating debris from a landslide in May means there are more hazards for people tubing down the Shuswap River in Enderby. The Shuswap River Ambassadors, who gather and share information for the public,...
HELSTON: You’re never planning on getting into trouble on the water
When you’re packing up for a day on the water, toss in a floatation device along with your suntan lotion, snacks and iPhone. It might save your life, or someone else’s. I’ll be the first to admit that packing safety gear can feel like a big nuisance. It’s certainly not as fun as loading a...
2,500 girl guides deserve an applause for spending last night in tents
ENDERBY - Yesterday’s violent thundershower sent most of us running indoors, but a bunch of little girls spent the stormy night in nothing more than their tents. Girl guides, that is. “It was an exciting night for sure,” girl guide spokesperson Laurie Hooker says. But it was nothing the 2,500 guiders couldn’t handle. They took...
Silver Star bike park closes due to stormy weather
VERNON - Severe weather forced the closure of Silver Star Mountain’s bike park Wednesday. Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for the North Okanagan calling for heavy rain and thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday, though the alert has since ended. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect for Vernon and may involve strong winds, hail...
IN PICTURES: 2,500 Girl Guides from around the world come to Enderby
ENDERBY - Visit the small North Okanagan town of Enderby this week and you’ll find a city within a city. Girl Guides have built a colony of 2,500 people in Riverside Park for this year’s Spirit of Adventure Rendezvous (SOAR), effectively doubling Enderby’s population. The event happens every three years in different locations and this...
Burnt packing bins bad news for fruit growers
VERNON - Hundreds of wooden bins that would have been used in just a short time to pack the North Okanagan apple harvest were damaged or destroyed in what fire officials are calling a suspicious blaze. The 11:30 p.m. fire Monday night at Growers Supply, the sales arm of B.C. Tree Fruits, located in the...
Thompson-Okanagan drownings could have been prevented
THOMPSON OKANAGAN - A 14-year-old boy who died in a tubing accident in Vernon is one of 42 people across the province, and seven in the Thompson-Okanagan alone, whose lives were claimed in preventable drowning or water-related incidents over the past six and a half months. Miles Wohlford, 14, fell off his tube during an afternoon...
Authorities investigate another suspicious fire, this time at Middleton Mountain
VERNON - Another suspicious fire in Vernon, this time in fruit shipping containers, has investigators combing through the rubble. The Vernon Fire Department was called out to the 1200 block of Waddington Drive on Middleton Mountain Monday about 11:30 p.m. Tall flames and smoke could be seen from other parts of the city. Numerous wooden...
How an Italian woman in a rental car got to meet Vernon RCMP
VERNON - A tourist got herself in some trouble Sunday night in Vernon when she failed to yield to an oncoming vehicle. The Italian woman was driving a rented Kia car in the area of 27 Street and 53 Avenue around 10 p.m. She didn’t notice a Chevy Tracker in the roadway in front of...
Thank-you cards left on police cruisers = day made
VERNON - The hearts of several Vernon cops were warmed earlier this month when they found anonymous thank-you cards tucked on the front windshields of their cruisers. “You know who you are, but we don’t,” RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says of the mystery author. It was July 11 and 12 when officers found the thank-you...
Local bee keeper stung by recent theft
VERNON - Thieves made off with a sweet score last week in Coldstream — bee hives. The bee-keeper notified police July 18 that five of his beehives had been stolen from the 7900 block of McClounie Road. Each hive weighed between 100-300 pounds and were worth at least $3,000 altogether. Long term, the hives would...