Charlotte Helston

UPDATE 3:47 p.m. Sept. 25, 2013 Emergency crews are leaving the scene of a ruptured gas line in the area of 32nd Street in Vernon.  The gas has been turned off in the area and Fortis B.C. has taken over the repair. Road blocks have been removed in the southbound lanes and traffic is flowing...

VERNON - A North Okanagan school teacher has been given a brief suspension for using volumes of alcohol as measurement examples in math class. Michael Frederick Rybachuk, a teacher at A.L. Fortune Secondary in Enderby, will be suspended from teaching for 15 days starting Sept. 30, and is also required to attend a teaching workshop...

VERNON - The 95-year-old dementia patient accused of murdering his roommate in a Vernon care home will have spent at least three months in custody before the courts decide what to do with him. John Furman, a decorated Canadian war veteran, has been at Hillside Centre in Kamloops for a month already awaiting a psychiatric...

VERNON - Attention gourmands, art connoisseurs, and budding architects! Vernon has the events for you this weekend, from the Iron Chef competition to a KEVA building block challenge at the Okanagan Science Centre, and just about everything in between. With the weather looking rainy and with a risk of thundershowers Saturday afternoon, it’s a good...

VERNON - A Vernon business owner is just about ready to call it quits after his store was broken into for the fifth time early Thursday morning. Russ Gardner of True Outdoors thought his troubles were over after moving the store from 24th Street to the better lit and busier Anderson Village strip mall, across...

VERNON - Seniors and children may be more at risk of suffering adverse effects from eating E. coli laced foods. The Interior Health Authority confirmed today that a person who ate contaminated Gort’s Gouda cheese and died directly of the infection was an elderly woman. Dr. Rob Parker, with IHA, says seniors “are more likely...

VERNON - If Okanagan cowboy legend Kenny McLean had been alive to accept his induction into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame this summer, he would've enjoyed chatting with his old rodeo buddies more than being in the limelight. McLean is considered by many to be Canada’s greatest rodeo cowboy of all time. The induction...

VERNON - A dental clinic for low income patients won’t have to wait for old-fashioned film X-rays to develop any more. With a $17,000 donation from the Kalamalka Rotary Club and Rotary Foundation, the Community Dental Access Centre will be able to buy a digital X-ray machine. “We have a lot of clients with serious...

VERNON - They were the hottest four days since the summer of ’69. The mercury rose past previous records Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of last week. Thursday’s high of 30.9 C outdid the 1969 record of 30.6 C, and Friday’s fried the 2006 record of 28.5 C with 30.8 C. Saturday sizzled with 29.9...

“BUH-BYE GEORGE CLOONEY, HELLO MANTRACKER” VERNON - Another celebrity is making tracks in Enderby. Terry Grant, star of the Mantracker T.V. series, will be sharing his famous skills in Enderby this week with four clinics and two evening speaking events. Tina Knull, who operates an emergency animal shelter and hauling business, says all she had...

VERNON -  A four car pile-up disrupted traffic on 39th Avenue near Bean to Cup for about 45 minutes Monday afternoon. “It was a bit of chain reaction,” deputy fire chief Jack Blair says. A Kia Sorrento, GMC pick-up, Dodge Caravan and Ford Crown Victoria car crunched together near the intersection at 27th Street around...

THE STARS HAVE LEFT, BUT ENDERBY GOT ITS CLOSE-UP VERNON - Hollywood and its stars have gone, but an Okanagan film commissioner says Tomorrowland’s presence will be felt in the community for years to come. Disney has wrapped up the scenes it was shooting in Enderby, and headed to the coast for some studio work...

VERNON - InfoTel's got your number, but Keiran Wells apparently has ours. Wells just won InfoTel's back to school cash contest of $500 and tells us it's actually his third time winning one of our contests. A couple years ago he won an iPad, and a year after that a trip to Las Vegas. His strategy?...

VERNON - For a local cancer survivor the symbolic Terry Fox Run this weekend is a source of inspiration. Tanya Gordon finds the run and the support of family and friends gives her the strength to keep on going. "I heard last night that a few runs (in other cities) have been cancelled due to...

VERNON - A biotechnology spokesperson speaking to a regional district committee drew over 150 protesters against genetically modified crops Wednesday night. They all packed into a small Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting to hear Janice Tranberg of Croplife, an international federation of agricultural biotechnology companies including Monsanto. She was addressing the committee ahead of a vote...

"IT'S BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT" VERNON - Enrolment is still down, but not as much as everyone thought. Superintendent Joe Rogers says there are about 100 more students enrolled in School District 22 than were expected. "We'll have to wait until the end of the month for more accurate numbers, but it looks like we're...

VERNON - There has been another suspicious dumpster fire in the downtown area. It started in a green metal dumpster in the 2900 block of 43rd Avenue just after 11 p.m. September 10. This is the sixth of its kind to baffle police this summer, and they are appealing to the public for help. "We'd...