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Glynn Brothen
Fake gun triggers RCMP response downtown
KAMLOOPS – There was swift action downtown this morning after RCMP received a call that a man was walking near Interior Savings Centre with a sawed-off shotgun. The report came in just before 10 a.m. and soon after officers discovered the man with two others behind the building located near the corner of 3 Avenue...
Botanie Creek fire further contained, staff moving to larger fires
KAMLOOPS - The fire camp for B.C. Wildfire workers is downsizing day-by-day as the Botanie Creek fire comes closer to extinction. Colette Fauchon, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Forests says the fire is now 65 per cent contained, and is currently mapped at 1,240 hectares. She says the fire will be turned over to...
City focuses on flood cleanup, tallying property damage
KAMLOOPS – While the flooding may have stopped, the City of Kamloops now has cleanup to worry about after buckets of rain scattered debris and poured through several buildings around town – including City Hall. “I don’t know the extent of (the damage),” City of Kamloops Manager Mike Firlotte says about the flooding at the...
Evacuation order lifted for Botanie Creek
LYTTON – An evacuation order for Botanie Creek Road north of Lytton has been lifted by the Thompson Nicola Regional District. The nearly 150 residents were staying in and around Lytton to evade a wildfire near the area. While an evacuation order has been rescinded, an evacuation alert remains in effect. Residents can return home,...
No charges laid after man was run over in parking lot
KAMLOOPS - A father accused of running over his son in the Royal Inland Hospital parking lot will not face a judge. “The file was concluded without any charges,” said Cpl. Cheryl Bush, a spokesperson for the RCMP. Last week, officers heard the father was bringing his son to the hospital when an argument broke out...
Ashcroft fire engine burns out during last weekend’s blaze
ASHCROFT – The fire which destroyed several buildings near the Ashcroft Manor on July 18 also burnt out the fire department's engine when it overheated at the scene. “It’s just an old girl that worked hard,” Fire Chief Brian Henderson said Tuesday afternoon. He said the crew coming in that night would strip the truck...
Lytton community comes together for displaced Botanie Creek residents
LYTTON - Residents of Botanie Creek Road gathered at the Anglican Parish Hall Tuesday afternoon didn’t get the news they were hoping for, but what they did get garnered a round of applause. They hoped to be allowed to return home but after six days away from their homes, hearing that power was going to...
Provinces join to fight wildfires
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Three provincial wildfire teams from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec arrived this Sunday, July 20. The teams will help B.C. Wildfire members continue their battle against several fires across the province. Out-of-province teams will also help provide rest and recovery for British Columbia members. They will join Ontario team members who arrived...
District to hold public meeting on wildfire for Lytton residents
LYTTON – A public meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon for Lytton residents to hear more information regarding the Botanie Creek wildfire. Various agencies involved with the wildfire will attend to answer any questions. On Monday afternoon the blaze was mapped at 1,389 hectares. Members from B.C. Wildfire say one home has already been...
Kamloops man gets six months in jail for killing pedestrian
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops man was handed a jail sentence today for hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving without a licence. Donald Charles Isadore, born 1950, showed little reaction in Kamloops Provincial Court when Judge Stella Frame told him he would be serving jail time for his repeated instances of unlicenced driving. He never...
Accident reducing traffic in Valleyview to single-lane
KAMLOOPS - RCMP are attending a single vehicle accident in Valleyview. Eastbound traffic will be reduced to single lane traffic for the next 20 to 30 minutes at Grand Boulevard. Four occupants were involved in the accident. Two have minor injuries and were transported to Royal Inland Hospital. The cause of the accident remains unknown....
Support for firefighters heats up on social media
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Firefighters have been working hard to battle blazes across the province. Many residents have taken the time to thank the B.C. Forest Service and municipal fire crews for fighting day and night. Below are some helpful lines of support and thank you's from the public. Did you know? B.C. Wildfire has a specific...
Date set for Snelson retrial
KAMLOOPS – After several delays and a successful bail, a date has been set for Neil George Snelson’s re-trial. Snelson, 47, was already tried and convicted of manslaughter in the death of Jennifer Cusworth in 2011. He appealed his conviction and won a second trial set to take place in Kamloops Supreme Court next year....
Evacuation information: What you need to know
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - During fire season, it’s always best to keep an emergency plan in place in case you are under evacuation alert. An alert doesn’t mean you have to leave your home right away, but it’s time to get personal items at the ready in case the alert becomes an evacuation order. DURING AN EVACUATION...
Air quality health advisory issued due to smoke
KAMLOOPS – The Ministry of Environment has issued an air quality advisory for Kamloops thanks to the smoke from forest fires burning in northern B.C. The air quality health index reading is currently a seven out of ten. The higher the number on the scale signifies a higher risk. A seven is considered a high health risk...
Heroin withdrawal won’t get plea withdrawal
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops Supreme Court judge turned down a man’s application to withdraw his guilty pleas after claiming his plea was to get out of jail long enough to obtain heroin and see his dog. Last November, James Arthur Bellerose, born 1976, pleaded guilty to possession charges in front of a supreme court judge....
Police continue search for evidence after cyclist shooting
SPENCES BRIDGE – Police are searching for evidence relating to the investigation of a shooting which injured a Burnaby cyclist during the Cache Creek 600 cycling marathon. Craig Premack, 59, was shot on the side of the highway near Spences Bridge when he was biking the overnight marathon around 1 a.m. on June 1. The suspect allegedly...
Boil water advisory for residents on Southeast Kelowna Irrigation District
KELOWNA – Kelowna residents under the Southeast Kelowna Irrigation District must boil their water before drinking until further notice. According to a release today, the main power to the facility was disconnected earlier today for routine line maintenance. A backup generator used to power the chlorination system then failed and stopped the supply of chlorine...
Judge ignores sentence recommendation from both sides on assaults, head shavings
KAMLOOPS – Wearing a green sweater in the prisoner's dock, a Kamloops woman met her sentence hearing Tuesday afternoon by crying long, hard silent sobs into a tissue. Before Justice Ian Meiklem arrived to decide her fate, she and her mother told one another: “I love you.” Meiklem handed Mary Lynn Dyson, 30, a three-year...
RCMP bringing out Gator for hot temperatures
KAMLOOPS - Expect to see officers patrolling beaches and streets with the gator when it's too hot for bike patrol. "Our bike officers are probably choosing to ride that rather than bikes (Tuesday afternooon)," Cpl. Cheryl Bush said in a press conference earlier this week. A Gator is a smaller vehicle, similar to a golf...
Swinging wood in the parking lot leads to arrest
KAMLOOPS – Police members have a 37-year-old man in custody after he was arrested for mischief Wednesday morning. The male was reported to be swinging a large piece of wood around in the Seymour 7-Eleven location parking lot. He also reportedly yelled and struck the side of a delivery truck with the wood. When RCMP...
Story of Lytton manslaughter comes to close 15 years later
KAMLOOPS - A man who beat his friend to death and successfully hid the body in a shallow grave for nearly 13 years before finally being discovered, was sentenced to nearly eight year in jail, in Kamloops Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon. Earlier this year, a jury convicted William Robert Smith, born 1967, of beating Sandy...
Victim not speaking to police after being run over by his father
KAMLOOPS – It’s unclear why a father was driving his son to Royal Inland Hospital in the first place, but police are saying the altercation between the two suggests the son had changed his mind once they arrived. On Monday afternoon, the two had a verbal dispute in the emergency drop-off zone before the father...
Judge rebukes ‘unacceptable conditions’ for teen held in Kamloops cells
KAMLOOPS - A provincial court judge let a 15-year-old Victoria girl out of a potential three-month jail sentence because she was improperly held in Kamloops city cells for five days in “unacceptable conditions,” her lawyer says. The girl was locked up in city cells for five days without seeing a judge, in part because Kamloops...