Charlotte Helston

VERNON - A black bear's adventure into the wrong neck of the woods this morning was its misfortune. Around 4 a.m. an officer noticed the 200 pound bear not 50 feet from where his police car was parked at the back of the RCMP detachment on 35 Avenue. According to Cpl. Gerry Kovaks, the bear...

VERNON - Two North Okanagan men on quests to promote their products can now say they braved dragons along the way. Mark Hanson of Armstrong and Frank Deiter of Vernon came before the fire-breathing five—a panel of individuals on the CBC-TV show Dragon’s Den—in the spring, but won’t see the taping until Wednesday night when...

ENDERBY - There are rumblings of a fast food chain being built at the burnt down Enderby gas station. Like George Clooney’s whereabouts while filming Tomorrowland, the restaurant is being kept hush-hush. All anybody knows is that it’s part of the rebuild of the Super Save Gas Station, which burnt down Nov. 19. Kathy Oberle,...

VERNON - The Vernon SPCA is reaching out to the public for help after a dog was found limping and alone on the side of the road. Kassidy needs to have her front right paw amputated. Because of a birth defect, she is forced to drag the paw when she walks. When she was brought...

KAMLOOPS - What is it like to celebrate your birthday in a secured tertiary psychiatric ward? We wondered what things were like for John Furman, the Vernon senior charged with the murder of his roommate, as he turned 95 on September 21. Furman, who suffers advanced dementia, has been at the Hillside Centre in Kamloops...

NEW CELL COVERAGE AND HIGH-SPEED DIAL UP LOCAL CONCERNS CHERRYVILLE - Those traveling along Highway 6 through Cherryville will notice the little X overlaying the service icon on their cell phones has disappeared. As part of a partnership between the provincial government and Telus, wireless coverage is now live over 20 kilometres between Lumby and...

VERNON - September in Vernon brought hot weather records, fierce thunderstorms, and power outages. The average temperature throughout September was 22.6 C, a good deal higher than the normal average of 14.3 C. For several days mid-month, the mercury rose well above the average. September 12-15 boasted record-breaking values of up to 30.9 C. The...

VERNON - The Restorative Justice Society is looking to expand its services in the North Okanagan by hosting its first fundraising event. President Warren Smith says demand is growing as police begin to depend on the program. Restorative justice is a community approach to dealing with crime, where victims and offenders are brought together to...

VERNON - An Armstrong man died in a single vehicle accident early Saturday morning. The man has been identified by the B.C. Coroners Service as Braden Williams, 44. Police were called to Highway 97 in Spallumcheen around 2 a.m. after Emergency Health Services (EHS) received an alert from the Williams' car.  “The report came into...

VERNON - A late night altercation at the skate park sent one man to hospital and the other to court. Just after midnight on Saturday, police received a report of a stabbing. Officers spoke to a 37-year-old man, the victim, later that night at the hospital. “He had received several non-life-threatening stab wounds to the...

VERNON - A woman is facing charges of assault with a weapon and uttering threats after waving a pellet gun around in a busy Vernon neighbourhood. Around 1:15 p.m. Saturday, RCMP officers along with the police dog unit responded to a report of a woman pointing a rifle in the 3200 block of 27th Street....

VERNON - Support is growing for a referendum on marijuana. Vernon’s Boyd Goble, an organizer for the local Sensible B.C. campaign, says signatures are stacking up. “So far our numbers are 641 and rising,” Goble says, noting they need around 5000 at the end of the three month period. “That's with just 10 canvassers reporting.”...

VERNON - With no tent, no water and few provisions, a Cherryville man and his son did the only thing they could after getting lost in the darkness and fog Wednesday night: they sat down and waited. The 52-year-old man and his 17-year-old son had walked into the wilderness of the Vidler Creek area with...

VERNON - A Vernon provincial court judge believes the Regional District of North Okanagan should have done more to keep drinking water safe for public consumption and found it guilty of four charges related to water quality. The decision has been close to three years in the making, though trial Judge Mayland McKimm said the...

VERNON - There’s something for artists, astronomers and environmentalists this weekend in Vernon. On Friday and Saturday, the Vernon Public Art Gallery is hosting Culture Days. There are three free workshops including live model drawing with Cheek to Cheek Dance Studio and drawing classes for kids. Culture Days raises the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement...

VERNON - There is a swathe of land in the Okanagan unlike any other clearcut in British Columbia. Located around the Vernon Creek Watershed, the space represents the first silvopasture pilot project in the province and the groups behind it recently earned a Premier’s Innovation and Excellence Award for their partnership efforts. Silvopasture, which blends...