Charlotte Helston

VERNON - A man who drove off an embankment on Highway 97 last spring died of natural causes, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. Road workers discovered Victor David Genschorek’s overturned minivan May 30 on Highway 97 near Eagle Rock Road in Armstrong. The flipped vehicle had crashed down a 30 foot embankment.  B.C. Coroner...

VERNON - An award was the last thing on Garry Lefebvre’s mind when he heard a faint call for help somewhere out on the water on a hot August evening. Lefebvre was toweling himself off and getting ready to leave after an afternoon of volleyball and swimming with out-of-town relatives when he heard the yelling....

VERNON -  A public hearing Wednesday will give the community a chance to weigh in on a draft zoning bylaw for medical marijuana facilities. The North Okanagan Regional District has decided to allow marijuana grow-ops on agricultural and industrial lands when Health Canada’s new commercial production system comes online April 1. At that time, all...

VERNON - Three Asian students were bear sprayed and taunted with ethnic slurs near a Vernon high school on the weekend. They were assaulted by a group of teenagers near Fulton Secondary around 10 p.m. on Saturday. The boys were walking home from the Landing Plaza when they were confronted on the trail behind Fulton...

VERNON - It was a tense half hour for police on Sunday as they tried to coax a man threatening to harm himself out of his home. Around 5:30 p.m. police received a call from the 28-year-old man’s neighbours. He had apparently stabbed himself in the leg and was threatening to harm himself more. He...

VERNON - Building activity appears to be inching toward a comeback in the Vernon area. City planning director Kim Flick says things are looking up so far in 2014 following the worst year for building permit values in almost a decade. In 2013, the city gave out around $50 million worth of building permits. In 2008...

VERNON - The RCMP has ruled out foul play in the death of a man discovered last week near a Vernon high school. A walker found the body Feb. 27 on the Nka-kul-kem trail near Fulton Secondary School. The body was identified as that of a 36-year-old man, but his name won’t be released until...

VERNON - The community is mourning the loss of a well-liked teen killed in a car accident last week near Lytton. Dante Tiberius Darkazanli, 15, died Friday after the SUV he was riding in collided with three other vehicles, including a tanker truck. What caused the accident remains unclear. Darkazanli was the only person whose...

VERNON - A man’s body was discovered this morning on a trail near Clarence Fulton Secondary School. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says someone out for a walk found the body this morning around 9:30 a.m. just off the Nka-kul-kem trail system in the 5600 block of Okanagan Avenue.  Molendyk says the body doesn’t appear to...

VERNON - A popular Vernon business has closed its doors. Signs on Liquidation World’s 30 Avenue storefront advise of the closure and thank shoppers for their patronage. The furniture, clothing, electronics and everything store opened in 2006 and has been a staple for many Vernon shoppers over the years. Its prominent location on Main Street...

MEN'S RECOVERY HOME CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY VERNON - One year, and many life changing moments later, a men’s recovery home is celebrating its first anniversary. Bill’s Place admitted its first resident last March and in the past year has seen more than 40 men come through its doors. It was a gap waiting to be filled...

VERNON - A community celebration takes place today to honour local Olympians Kevin Hill and Justin Dorey. Hill’s family, along with Vernon Mayor Rob Sawatzky and several local businesses, invite the public to join them in welcoming home the athletes from 3-6 p.m. today at Kal Tire Place. Hill, who placed eighth in snowboard cross,...

VERNON - Pink Shirt Day came early to Vernon City Hall. Coun. Bob Spiers brought some colour to council chambers today with a bubblegum pink anti-bullying T-shirt.  “It’s a great program and it should be supported,” Spiers says of the celebration coming up this Wednesday. Pink Shirt Day was born in 2007 when a pair...

VERNON - What’s worse than paying double for your parking spot? A serious contender must be finding out your shiny loonie is too new to be accepted in the machine. That’s the frustrating scenario many local and visiting drivers have experienced of late. Vernon’s parking metres don’t accept coins issued after April of 2012 and...

VERNON - Public opposition to the relocation of Vernon’s tourist information centre didn’t sway city council during the proposal’s final hurdle. Around 35 people attended a public hearing Monday to rezone property on 39 Avenue beside Civic Arena to make way for a new centralized visitor centre. It would put the city’s two existing centres...

UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25 VERNON - An injured cougar spotted this morning near a North Okanagan elementary school has been put down. Sgt. Josh Lockwood with the conservation service says the two-year-old male cougar had a bad leg injury and bite marks around its neck and back. “It appears it may have been in...

VERNON - Plans to commemorate a well-loved Vernon councillor are taking shape. Vernon council has created a committee to collect input from the community and come up with a way to memorialize Coun. Patrick Nicol, who passed away Jan. 15 at the age of 64 following a long battle with cancer. His funeral service was...

VERNON - The RCMP has arrested a familiar face in connection with an unsettling robbery. Earlier this month, an 83-year-old man was taking money out of the ATM at CIBC on 30th Avenue when a woman came up behind him and snatched the cash from the machine. The man tried to grab her but she...

VERNON - Elected officials are concerned the local health authority isn’t keeping the public’s best interests at heart. Directors of the North Okanagan Regional District unanimously voted to lobby the Ministry of Health to add local representatives to the Interior Health Authority board, currently teamed by seven individuals appointed by the provincial government. Mike Macnabb...