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Glynn Brothen
Three areas of Kamloops to stop speeding in
KAMLOOPS – If you can’t police yourself to stop speeding in school zones, the Kamloops RCMP will hand you a hefty fine. “We’ve received numerous complaints of drivers speeding in school zones,” spokesperson Cpl. Cheryl Bush says. The three roads police indicated as “high offender areas” are Parkcrest Avenue, Tranquille Road and Summit Drive. Bush...
How fines are replacing jail for drunk driving
KAMLOOPS – In 2012, Lee Michael Wilson blew a warning on the breathalyzer after a police officer pulled him over in Kamloops. Police gathered no evidence beyond that and he was found guilty on the spot. He was issued a three-day immediate roadside prohibition, a non-criminal penalty that may result in the loss of a licence...
What’s keeping one group from enjoying a favourite spot in Kamloops
KAMLOOPS – A small group in Kamloops is working together to clean up one of their favourite locations in Kamloops, behind the Batchelor Heights neighbourhood, that is being continually trashed by people illegally dumping junk. “There’s garbage strewn throughout the whole area,” Tearia Parsons says. “We just figured we’d go and start cleaning it up.”...
Accused in murder case to act as own lawyer, claims mental disorder
KAMLOOPS – The man accused of murdering a 26-year-old in his Cherry Avenue apartment says he will represent himself in his trial to pursue a not criminally responsible due to mental disorder defence. Christopher Frank Butler, born 1973, made a brief video appearance in Kamloops Provincial Court Monday morning where he told a Justice of...
Former mayoral candidate facing assault charges
KAMLOOPS - A mayoral candidate from last year's municipal election is facing an assault charge in Kamloops Provincial Court. Piero Luigi Filisetti, born 1959, is facing one count of assault with a weapon after he allegedly assaulted Brandon Burke with bear spray on Jan. 17. Filisetti, who is more commonly known as Pierre, had his...
Police identify suspect in shooting case
KAMLOOPS - Kamloops RCMP are on the lookout for a 26-year-old man believed to be involved in a shooting that put a second man in hospital Friday, March 6. Cpl. Cheryl Bush says investgators from the Serious Crime Unit have determined there was an "altercation" between two men at a North Shore residence Friday night, adding both...
Tragically Hip announces Kamloops stop on tour
KAMLOOPS - The Tragically Hip's upcoming tour destinations now includes Kamloops. The Canadian band will play the Interior Savings Centre on September 27. The tour was sparked by the re-issue of the Hip's 1992 album Fully and Completely Pre-sale tickets will begin selling tomorrow, March 10 via ticketmaster.ca. Other Canadian destinations include Windsor, Jan. 17; Victoria,...
Controversial ‘hate flyer’ comes to Kamloops
CHRISTIAN ANTI-GAY, ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVIST BILL WHATCOTT IN TOWN? KAMLOOPS – The hate speech versus free speech debate has landed literally on the doorsteps of Kamloops. Last Saturday, Ben Gayfer says he was at the Northland Apartment complex on Nicola Street when a one-page pamphlet was slipped under the door. The pamphlet, signed by Christian anti-gay...
Body pulled from Thompson River west of Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - An investigation is underway after a body was found in the Thompson River just west of Kamloops Thursday afternoon. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Cheryl Bush says the body was found "on a sand bar west of the Tranquille farm area" on March 5. Coroners retrieved the body by boat with help from Kamloops Fire...
Former white supremacist and propagandist tells his story through counter propaganda resource
KAMLOOPS – A former proponent and recruiter for the white supremacist movement in Western Canada is now working against terrorist organizations by telling his story through short documentary films to counter extremist propaganda online. Through the Extreme Dialogue project, launched last month, Thompson Rivers University law school student Daniel Gallant, 39, recalls the abuse and...
You’ve been saying ‘MOVE THE F&#@ OVER!’ and the government listened
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Signs telling drivers to stay right except when passing have graced B.C. highways for years but after community feedback suggested slow drivers were still dawdling in the passing lane the province has opted to give RCMP officers more ways to crack down. Following a study and public survey, the Ministry of Transportation announced...
Kamloops plant set to layoff staff and close this summer
KAMLOOPS – After operating in Kamloops since the 1960s, Arclin Canada Limited is set to close its local plant, laying off seven employees by early summer. The closure was brought on by a decline in housing development in Canada and the United States. Resin manufactured by the plant was used in wood productions and construction...
The trouble with female prisoners in Kamloops city cells
KAMLOOPS - Last July a judge decried the conditions for a 15-year-old girl held in Kamloops RCMP cells for five days as “unacceptable” and eight months later, little has changed. For five days the girl, who cannot be named by court order, slept on a bench under 24-hour lighting, had no access to a shower...
Man wields syringe in North Shore robbery
KAMLOOPS – An employee at a convenience store was threatened with a syringe during a robbery Tuesday morning. Around 9 a.m. a male entered the Cornerstone Market on 12 Street, presented a syringe to the clerk and demanded cash. The clerk was not harmed and the suspect made off with an undisclosed amount of money....
Signature look leads to arson conviction
KAMLOOPS – The video evidence may have been grainy, but it was an accused man’s white Stetson cowboy hat that turned his arson charge into a conviction. Kamloops Provincial Court Judge Stephen Harrison convicted Mannie Shaw Stewart of arson damaging the McCracken Station Pub’s property after reviewing video evidence of the event and hearing from...
Elementary schools vandalized in Aberdeen neighbourhood
KAMLOOPS – The weather has warmed and with it has come an upswing in vandalism, most recently at two South Shore elementary schools. School District 73 Facilities Manager Art McDonald says Pacific Way Elementary and Aberdeen Elementary schools both had windows broken last week. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary,” he notes. “It’s weather-dependent. We...
Family of Clearwater homicide victim takes custody battle public
"WE LOVE THEM MORE THAN I CAN EVEN PUT INTO WORDS." THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Ten months after Angila Wilson was killed in her Clearwater home, her family members are going public with efforts to move her children out of foster care and into a more stable environment. Wilson's brother, Frank Wilson, and his wife Leanne Bowcott...
Hockey dad could face criminal charges
WHEN YELLING AT REFEREES GOES TOO FAR THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A Kamloops hockey dad who allegedly took his anger out on referees in the parking lot after a Junior-A hockey game in Penticton last week could face charges. Penticton RCMP Sgt. Rick Dellebuur says the 52-year-old father of a Merritt Cenntennials player allegedly threatened two referees...
Kamloops RCMP officer to focus on prostitution and missing person files
KAMLOOPS – Prostitution in the city is at a plateau and the local RCMP detachment is taking the opportunity to move forward with initiatives to help connect with sex workers. Supt. Brad Mueller says changes in policy and steps required to investigate prostitution cases created the need for an internal position to liase between officers,...
RCMP helicopter permanently flying north
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Don't expect to see RCMP helicopters flying overhead as often going forward, a Kamloops-based RCMP helicopter will be handed over to the North District this April leaving only one to cover the entire district. “They’re moving the one from Kamloops to Prince George. (The district-level decision) was based on the fact that they...
The White Brick House is the strongest of them all
Frank Underwolf plans to blow down all the piggie houses in town. But the one he really wants to get into is the White Brick House - the strongest of all three houses he wants to blow down. Check it out Sesame Street's hilarious House of Cards parody on trending now. Then watch Jeff Probst...
How you can help catch the people vandalizing a Kamloops daycare
KAMLOOPS – The next time you pass by Puddle Jumpers on York Avenue, bring your camera; you could help catch whoever has been tagging the daycare almost every weekend for the last two years. “We need the community’s help to identify (the vandals),” Ronnie Bouvier of the Kamloops Graffiti Task Force says. “People know who...
Accused in Clearwater murder case denied bail
KAMLOOPS – A Supreme Court Justice denied bail for a Clearwater man accused of killing his ex-wife and taking his three children hostage last Easter. Crown Prosecutor Adrienne Murphy confirmed Justice Alison Beames denied Iain Drummond Scott’s application for bail Tuesday morning in Kelowna Supreme Court. Scott was arrested after a police standoff outside his...
Kamloops RCMP to get new inspector after Easter
KAMLOOPS – After a year without one, local RCMP will finally get a new inspector after the Easter holiday. The new inspector, Sunny Parmar, was selected after a separate candidate was unable to sell his house in Nova Scotia to secure his move to Kamloops. “We decided we needed to move forward,” Mueller says. “That...