Charlotte Helston

The top 36 hectares of Satellite Hill, just south of Lumby, are tangled with fallen branches, dead brush, and heaps of pine needles a metre deep in some places. Once, the area was an open grassland home to a variety of unique plants and animals. Under natural circumstances, the landscape would be thinned by fire...

Things could have been a lot worse when a truck tractor careened off a steep slope at Hwy. 6 and Miller's Road on April 8. "It appears the truck suffered a mechanical failure and lost its steering as it rounded the corner," Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce said. "Amazingly, a rollover did not occur and the driver...

A historic form of transportation is gaining new infrastructure in Enderby. City council voted on Monday to install hitching posts and corals in the downtown area to accommodate those wishing to ride their horses into the city. For the McGeachys, this is welcome news. Dean and his wife Naomi have been pitching the idea to...

In celebration of B.C. Arts and Culture Week, the Vernon Public Art Gallery, Gallery Vertigo Knitting Circle, and members of the public will install yarn bombs in Vernon’s downtown core. This isn’t the first time Vernon has been veiled in yarn. VPAG organized an event last fall during a Culture Days event, and 30 Ave....

The man accused of murdering an Armstrong teen a year and a half ago will stand trial in a year. Matthew Stephen Foerster, 27, will appear before a judge and jury in early March of 2014 in Kelowna Supreme Court. Foerster is charged with the murder of Taylor Van Diest, 18. Van Diest was brutally...

Two men alleged to be members of Vernon's Triple Six Boys drug circle pleaded not guilty on charges of possession for the purposes of trafficking today in Vernon Supreme Court. Jason Parent and Andrew Pinette are accused of street level cocaine drug dealing in 2010. Crown prosecutor Kylie Walman said the men were part of...

It looks like Greater Vernon will be getting an average dosage of water from the snowpack this year.

Finding the perfect occupation can be a tough job all on its own. For a group of Vernon people with a range of developmental disabilities, it's even harder, especially after having watched their dream jobs go up in flames. Through the Vernon and District Association for Community Living, around thirty Venture Training staff sorted material...

The City of Vernon has received $336,000 in funding for its Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Plan from the federal Gas Tax Fund.  Mayor Rob Sawatzky says the plan is a long-term strategy to manage and fund the renewal and replacement of the city's infrastructure. He says it will identify means to increase revenues for asset replacement and...

Efforts to improve cell reception in Cherryville are moving ahead. Telus is proposing a 70 meter self-support tower which would provide an umbrella of cell coverage over the area. The tower would be erected at 77 Cochrane Road, a property Telus has already entered into a lease agreement with. Directors of the Regional District of...

"It's like walking into a house you've never been in before, in the dark." I'm kneeling in the corner of a small concrete room, watching as flames blossom on the opposite side of the room, and becoming acutely aware that all the doors and windows have been sealed shut. I'm here voluntarily, learning what it's...

Journeying outside of Canada for the first time will bring a budding Vernon model one step closer to becoming a calendar girl this fall. Johnston, 23, recently earned third place in an online, international bikini model calendar contest. She is one of six winners out of around 50 contestants who will get an all inclusive...

"WHEN YOU HAVE LESS KIDS, YOU NEED LESS STUFF" UPDATE: 5 p.m. April 11, 2013 Recent cutbacks to programs and teaching positions were simply common sense, according to School District 83's vice chair. "We have fewer students coming in than are leaving the system, and we're funded by the government on a per student basis,"...

The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District is promoting from within. Glenn Borthistle, the current director of instruction (human resources), will be taking over as superintendent when Dave Witt retires this summer. “It was a tough process. The candidates were very qualified and brought a lot of experience and good ideas to the table. In the end,...

In 2011, three years after losing his left hand in an electrical accident, Vernon's Curt Minard skated back onto the ice. A year later, he was helping Canada win gold at the world amputee hockey championships in Finland. Now, he's bringing it home with a hockey camp for amputees hailing from all over Western Canada....

Warm weather could send folks rummaging for their gumboots this spring. Mild temperatures have already released water from the region's snowpack, creating slightly above average surface runoff for the area. Still, what the region is seeing is 91% of normal. Brent Watson, emergency manager with Vernon Fire Rescue Services, says there's been a lot of...

Thousands of dollars are being funneled into a Vernon biosolids plant in hopes of mellowing out its odour. City council decided Monday to spend $127,500 on an upgrade to the water system at Vernon's biosolids composting facility on Commonage Road. "It's gives off a woody smell," Coun. Patrick Nicol says of the plant, which turns...

Things are getting personal between a group of Vernon residents and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Members of the public gathered today outside MP Colin Mayes' office at noon to protest genetically modified alfalfa being grown in the area. Similar events involving the National Farmer's Union are sprouting up across the country. Spearheaded by local resident...

A Vernon man has been found guilty of breaking into someone's house with unlawful intentions, but he says he was just looking for help after suffering a seizure. Following a day's trial, Judge Mark Takahashi found Dwayne Olsen guilty of breaking into a house on 27 Avenue, and threating one of the residents and the...

A new sports complex is becoming a reality. Saturday's referendum saw 4303 yes votes to borrowing up to $7.5 million over the next 20 years to build a sports facility beside Okanagan College. There were 3917 votes opposed to the project. Out of an eligible 45,095 voters, 8220 came out to cast their ballots. To...

During the build-up to the May 14 provincial election several public forums will help the public get to know who this year's candidates are, and where they stand on local issues. Liberal MLA Eric Foster, Conservative candidate Scott Anderson, and NDP candidate Mark Olsen are vying for the Vernon-Monashee MLA spot. The Greater Vernon Performing...

Lumby RCMP have been busy the past few weeks with a range of trouble-makers from spray-painting teens to aggressive canines. "The problems associated with youths and graffiti seems to come to come up on about a yearly basis," Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce said. Police received a report on March 19th that the interior of a...