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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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They found what inside Vernon’s parking meters?
VERNON - You won’t believe what Vernon bylaw officers find in the city’s parking meters. Whether by accident, or in hopes of fooling the meter, the public has tried to pay for parking in some interesting ways over the past year. Clint Kanester, the city’s manager of bylaw enforcement, let us look through the odd...
FOERSTER TRIAL: What the jury didn’t hear
KELOWNA - Seven men and five women found a Cherryville man guilty of first degree murder, but they didn’t know his whole story. Matthew Foerster, 28, is charged in two other criminal matters, but juries must base their conclusions only on evidence specific to the charges at hand. Separate offences are handled individually to avoid...
Shopkeeper injured in jewelry store robbery
VERNON - A Vernon shopkeeper sports a gash on his head where a robber struck him with a hammer. The owner of Hagemann Jewellers is back at work Monday after a nerve-wracking altercation with a robber Saturday. He didn’t wish to comment on the incident while the police investigation is still active, but said he’s...
FOERSTER TRIAL: The night Taylor Van Diest was killed
KELOWNA - Taylor Van Diest wasn’t embarrassed to be the teenager who’s too old for trick-or-treating but goes anyway. Halloween was her favourite day of the year, and she wouldn’t miss the chance to dress in costume, this year as a zombie, and go giggling door-to-door with her best friends. She worked hard at her...
FOERSTER TRIAL: Jury begins deliberation
KELOWNA - A Cherryville man’s fate now rests in the hands of a jury. A seven man, five woman jury was given its final instructions by Supreme Court Justice Peter Rogers Friday. The sequestered jury will now deliberate on whether Matthew Foerster, 28, is guilty of first degree murder. To find Foerster guilty of first...
FOERSTER TRIAL: “Taylor Van Diest caught her own killer”
UPDATE: CROWN CAN'T PROVE SEXUAL ASSAULT, PRE-MEDITATION, LAWYER SAYS KELOWNA - It was a careful, calculated, purposeful sexual assault that turned into a first degree murder, the Crown in the Matthew Foerster murder trial said today in closing arguments. With defense lawyer Lisa Jean Helps’ decision not to call any evidence on behalf of Foerster,...
Financial shortfall will affect student services: board chair
VERNON - Balancing the Vernon school district budget is going to have an impact on operations, says the board chair. School District 22 is facing a $1.5 million shortfall for the 2014-2015 school year, owing largely to financial responsibilities imposed by the Ministry of Education, states a news release issued by the district Tuesday. Board...
Jury sent home while lawyers discuss case
KELOWNA - The jury for Matthew Foerster’s first degree murder trial will return to Kelowna Supreme Court Thursday morning. Jurors haven’t been told what to expect at that time, knowing only that the Crown’s side of the case wrapped up Tuesday morning. Crown evidence was heard over a period of seven days. Jurors were told...
FOERSTER TRIAL: Emergency doctor describes the night he treated Van Diest
KELOWNA - The emergency doctor who treated a “gravely injured” Taylor Van Diest the night she was attacked by Matthew Foerster said he couldn’t have saved her life. Michael Concannon, the Crown’s last witness, said it was a busy night at Vernon Jubilee Hospital the evening 18-year-old Van Diest was rushed into the trauma room....
FOERSTER TRIAL: Accused explains how he killed her
UPDATED: KELOWNA - Matthew Foerster told investigators in a taped interview he spoke to Taylor Van Diest for a few minutes before choking her with a shoelace, hitting her with a flashlight and tossing the evidence in a dumpster. On the sixth day of 28-year-old Matthew Foerster’s first degree murder trial in Kelowna Supreme Court,...
FOERSTER TRIAL: “I’ve made some mistakes”
"HAS IT BEEN HAUNTING YOU SINCE THAT DAY?" VERNON - Two years ago in a small interrogation room, Matthew Foerster confessed to police he felt bad for killing Taylor Van Diest. Parts of his seven-and-a-half hour police interview were shown in Kelowna Supreme Court Thursday and Friday, and more will be played next week. Foerster,...
FOERSTER TRIAL: Court sees video of police interview with accused
KELOWNA - The father of slain Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest sees no remorse in the face of his daughter’s accused killer. The first 72 minutes of a police interview was shown in Kelowna Supreme Court Thursday afternoon. It’s the tape in which Matthew Foerster, 28, who is charged with first degree murder, confesses to...
FOERSTER TRIAL: Tearful testimony from Van Diest’s friend
THINGS 'GOT STRANGE REALLY FAST' KELOWNA - An Armstrong teen broke down in tears on the witness stand this morning when text messages he exchanged with Taylor Van Diest the night she was killed were read in court. Clay Valstar, 19, affectionately called Van Diest Taylorsaurus. She called him Clayseraptor. The nicknames, and Valstar’s tearful...
FOERSTER TRIAL: Van Diest fought back
KELOWNA - Taylor Van Diest was strangled before she died of blunt force trauma to her head, a pathologist testified today in Kelowna Supreme Court. Dr. John Stefanelli performed the autopsy on 18-year-old Van Diest’s battered body three days after she was attacked while walking to meet friends on Halloween night 2011. He said six blows...
Foerster admits to killing Armstrong teen
VERNON - It’s now an accepted fact that Matthew Foerster killed Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest. His DNA was found under her fingernails, and that her DNA was found in his truck, a Supreme Court jury was told today. His lawyer Lisa Helps admitted it all during day two of Foerster’s first degree murder trial....
Foerster’s DNA under victim’s fingernails: Crown
VERNON - Matthew Foerster’s DNA was found under the fingernails of slain Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest, Crown counsel said in the opening arguments of a murder trial in Kelowna Supreme Court. Foerster, 28, is accused of the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Van Diest on Halloween night, 2011 in Armstrong. His trial by a jury...
You might see smoke in the hills this weekend
VERNON – Smoke and flames from a wildfire training exercise may be visible in the Predator Ridge area and along Highway 97 this weekend. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is offering a fire suppression and safety course to approximately 35 Canadian Forces personnel in the Vernon Fire Zone. Kayla...
Tweeting about spring NOT just for the birds
VERNON - Birds tweeted joyously on the first day of spring, and so did you. Twitter was abuzz with celebratory tweets and photos Thursday, Mar. 20, the day that marked the end of what was a treacherous winter in some corners of Canada. A blizzard shut down parts of Atlantic Canada in January, closing schools,...
Survey seeks public input on Nicol memorial
VERNON - City Hall is looking to the community for ways to honour and remember Coun. Patrick Nicol, who died in January. Tanya Laing Gahr, the city’s communications coordinator, says countless stories about Nicol’s kindness, generosity and his love of Vernon and its people have been shared in the weeks since his death after a...
12-year-olds lighting up ignites action
VILLAGE OF LUMBY EYES COMPREHENSIVE SMOKING BAN LUMBY - Communities across the Interior have taken action in recent years to ban smoking in public places, but one North Okanagan community has taken efforts to a new level. The Village of Lumby is proposing a healthy community bylaw that would forbid smoking on all municipally owned...
VIDEO: ET Canada contestant goes out in style
VERNON - A Vernon face isn’t shying away from the camera after losing ET Canada’s guest co-host competition. Griffon Burton, 21, bid farewell to the three remaining finalists (Cassie, Anthony and Mozdah) and thanked ET Canada for the amazing opportunity in a quirky YouTube video. The bubbly family photographer from Vernon was in Toronto at...
Identity crisis gets alleged drunk driver acquitted
VERNON - Gurinder Pal Singh Bajwa either has a doppelganger with the same name, or a clever defense lawyer. Bajwa, 46, has been in custody since his arrest Nov. 28, 2013 in Lumby for impaired driving and refusing to provide a breath sample. Represented by defense lawyer Julian van der Walle, Bajwa also faced counts...
Invasive mussels were bound for Okanagan Lake
KELOWNA - An invasive mussel nearly made an unwanted debut in the Okanagan last week. The Okanagan Basin Water Board issued a release Wednesday afternoon saying what looked to be zebra and/or quagga mussels were found Mar. 12 on a large pleasure craft boat crossing the Osoyoos border from the U.S. According to the release,...
Now and then: 100 years of Vernon courthouse history
VERNON - One of the first trials heard in the Vernon courthouse, which turns 100 this spring, involved an argument over the building’s own construction. In December, 1914, the new, some said overly lavish, $198,876 courthouse finally opened its doors. The Smith Lumber Company alleged that Burns & Son, the contractors who built the courthouse,...