Charlotte Helston

VERNON - When to get your Christmas tree is a debatable subject; when to get rid of it is another. There are no real rules for either. Some say you should take your tree down before the New Year. Others believe you should wait until January fifth, the twelfth day of Christmas. Whatever your tradition...

SALMON ARM - A local cheese farm became the focus of a national E. coli outbreak in the summer of 2013. Gort’s Gouda, located in Salmon Arm, was ordered to stop selling its cheese after health authorities noticed a pattern connecting it to a series of E. coli cases. Over a dozen products were recalled,...

VERNON - Newcomers to the Vernon area couldn’t find Santa. Instead, he found them. Calli Quirk and her husband moved to Vernon in October with their girls, two and a half-year-old Paisley and 11-month-old Piper. “This is the first year my oldest daughter started to believe in (and) understand Santa,” Quirk says. She took the...

VERNON - For many, the weekend after Christmas is reserved for rest and relaxation. Some will be disposing of their Christmas trees, others catching up on sleep. If you’re feeling like getting out and about, here’s a rundown of weekend events and listing of New Year’s Eve parties. Environment Canada is calling for mild temperatures...

VERNON - It’s not so different from any other December day in the Village Green Mall. Busy—but not that busy. If not for the massive blowout sale signs boasting ‘BIGGEST SALE EVER’ you may forget it’s Boxing Day at all. Shoppers and shopkeepers agree it’s slower than usual. Dan MacKenzie, who usually mobilizes at 5...

VERNON - There’s a fun, festive, and best of all free activity just around the corner—a Christmas lights driving tour. Pack the family into the car with some snacks, thermoses of hot chocolate and hit the road to enjoy your community’s show of lights. If you missed Vernon Regional Transit’s popular tour earlier this month,...

JOURNALIST CHARLOTTE HELSTON If our flights don’t get cancelled coming back from Las Vegas, we should arrive home on Christmas Eve, just in time for the kick-off to our annual holiday line-up. Depending on how things go at the slots, we’ll either have sacks full of presents to hand out, or an array of soaps...

VERNON - The community is rallying behind a three-year-old boy with a high risk form of cancer. Eli Johannson was just like every other little boy, going to preschool, running around the playground, loving airplanes—until doctors found an 11 cm tumour in his abdomen and diagnosed him with neuroblastoma cancer, his family explains on their fundraising...

VERNON - Staff at the Vernon SPCA are hurt and puzzled as to why someone broke into the building, but took nothing. Branch manager Corinne Ross said in a news release the culprit made a hole in the building and got into a small supply room where vaccines and antibiotics are stored. A mess was...

VERNON - People love to live here for the small town feel, picturesque beaches and abundant natural beauty. What they don’t love, according to a recent survey, is the lack of job opportunities and high housing costs. Results are in for the Regional District of North Okanagan’s first ever Quality of Life Survey, and some...

VERNON - According to staff reporting, 2013 has so far seen the lowest value of building permits in eight years—but a city planner warns not to jump to conclusions.  To date, staff have recorded $48,020,085 in building permits, quite a reduction from years like 2008 and 2009 when values hovered around $168,000,000. City planning director...

VERNON -  A former Vernon man says he was only trying to comfort a young woman by giving her a massage, but she says it went too far. The 40-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting the woman Sept. 22, 2011. Neither can be named to protect the identity of the alleged victim. Both took...

VERNON - Sentencing for the Regional District of North Okanagan has been delayed a second time. Provincial Court Judge Mayland McKimm was expected to deliver his decision this morning—two months after the original sentencing hearing was put over—but the lawyers requested an adjournment. Crown counsel Joel Gold is tied up with a murder trial in...

VERNON - Canadian National is being accused of carelessness and environmental damage after clearing a section of railroad next to a beaver lodge. Dave Smith, director of a local trails society called Ribbons of Green, got a phone call from Vernon resident Lance Blair at about noon Dec. 5, telling him a CN maintenance truck...

MAYOR WANTS MINISTRY TO "DEAL WITH THE SITUATION" VERNON - The Ministry of Transportation’s pace in constructing left turn signals on Highway 97 through Vernon is frustrating City Hall. Mayor Rob Sawatzky says council has enlisted the help of Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster in speeding up the process. The Ministry has been conducting road work...

"IF WE CAN STOP ONE IMPAIRED DRIVER FROM HURTING HIMSELF OR OTHERS, WE'RE DOING A GOOD JOB" VERNON - The officer shines his flashlight through the car window, asks the driver how her night is going. Has she been drinking? Nothing suspicious. Wave the woman through. Repeat. A line forms before the road check. Most...

VERNON - Planning ahead could save you money—if you’re willing to purchase a cemetery plot before New Year’s. Operational costs for the cemetery on Pleasant Valley Road have risen by 20 per cent over the last three years, leaving the city digging for money. The city’s finance manager Kevin Bertles says revenue isn’t enough to...

VERNON - There’s interest in conducting a study on the pros and cons of amalgamating Greater Vernon into one political body. While Vernon council won't vote on the matter until the new year, it looks like they'll be in support of the study, if not amalgamation itself.  The Society for the Future Governance of Greater...

VERNON - The theme this weekend? Christmas. From holiday concerts, to light-up festivals, to festive flicks at the movie theatre, Christmas spirit is in the air. Bundle up as  Environment Canada is calling for highs in the minuses—that’s right, the highs this weekend are pegged at -12 and -13 C. There’s a chance of snow...

ENDERBY - High-tech gadgets meant an injured man got a speedy rescue from a remote snowmobiling area in Enderby. Vernon search and rescue manager Leigh Pearson says a man sustained a back injury while snowmobiling in the Hunter’s Range area with five other companions. Luckily, the group had safety in mind when they embarked earlier...