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John McDonald
John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.
It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.
But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.
If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca
Tossing note to young girls nets charges for violent offender
LAKE COUNTRY - A local man is facing multiple charges after throwing notes from his car to young girls in Lake Country and Kelowna. James Jonathan Bryshun, 31, is accused of throwing notes with a phone number to young girls he passed in Lake Country, according to a media release from Kelowna RCMP. Bryshun is...
Kelowna wants input on how residents and amenities can live together
KELOWNA - Would you be comfortable with condos and commercial spaces cheek by jowl with the Okanagan Heritage Museum and the Kelowna Community Theatre? That’s one of the ideas that has come out of the ongoing consultation over the so-called civic block, which includes those buildings and others in the area. “We’ve had great input...
Mussel threat turns real during training session
OKANAGAN - A training session on how to inspect for invasive mussels turned hands-on when a contaminated boat showed up from Ontario. An Ontario couple shipped the boat to the Lower Mainland after it was moored for several months in the mussel-infested Rideau Canal, according to a press release from the Okanagan Basin Water Board....
ELECTION 2015: Kelowna Chamber will host federal candidates forum
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Three candidates battling it out for the Kelowna-Lake Country federal riding will square off in a candidates forum next month. The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce says it has invited Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan, New Democrat Norah Bowman and Liberal Stephen Fuhr to a federal candidates forum. The forum will allow the three...
Credit card skimmers prompt public warning by RCMP
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Police in the Central Okanagan are once again warning about card skimmers after the devices were discovered in Vernon and Kamloops. Spokeswoman Const. Anne Donnelly of the Kelowna RCMP fraud section, said in a press release there are ways to foil the scam, which requires both your debit card number and your personal...
Warm fall, mild winter in long-range forecast
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Look for a hotter, drier fall across the Southern Interior if AccuWeather’s long-range fall forecast holds true. Issued by AccuWeather’s global weather centre, the forecast says a stubborn high pressure system anchored over the West coast and abnormally warm water over the north-eastern Pacific have kept the weather warm and dry. This is...
Turning industrial trash into home furnishing treasures
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - There's something quintessentially Canadian about taking an item like a lowly wooden pallet or a fruit packing box and making good use of it. Keith Hamer and his crew take it one step further in an old fruit packing house in Oyama, creating a business to make new furniture out of old wood...
Who’s paying their property taxes and who isn’t in Kelowna
KELOWNA - All in all, we’re a pretty honest bunch if measured by how promptly we pay our property taxes. “We do have some people who don’t like having to pay but the majority of people are really good about it,” financial planning manager George King says. Property taxes totalling $226.7 million were due by...
Bird book inspired by UBCO’s bio-diversity
KELOWNA - If you’re looking for hot chicks, look no further than the Birds of the UBC Okanagan Campus 2016 calendar. Produced by biologists, the annual calendar features some of the birds that can be found on the school’s campus. Photographers this year ranged across the entire 209 hectares of campus grounds and includes bluebirds,...
UPDATE: Crew mopping up after wildfire near Brenda Mines
WEST KELOWNA - B.C. Wildfire is moping up a wildfire about five kilometres south of the Brenda Mines, near Peachland Creek. Fire information officer Kelsey Winter says an air tanker used fire retardant to box in the 0.5 hectare fire northwest of Peachland, named the Boliver Forestry Service Road fire. Once that was in place,...
Ghost bike placed on Bernard Avenue in cyclist’s memory
KELOWNA - A cycling advocacy group is marking the spot where a Kelowna cyclist died with a memorial ghost bike. Patricia Keenan, 38, died in hospital a few days after colliding with a car door opened in front of her on Bernard Avenue. Keenan sustained a head injury even though she was wearing a helmet. Now...
Head office confirms closing of West Kelowna Sears
WEST KELOWNA - Sears Canada has confirmed the closing of its West Kelowna store and says its not sure if it will continue to operate a store on that side of the lake. Sears director of communications Alicia Richler says in an email statement all customer purchases will be honoured. “While we have not yet...
Water managers preparing for longer-term Okanagan drought
KELOWNA - While they are still in the midst of dealing with this year’s widespread drought in the southern B.C. the province’s top water managers are already looking ahead to next year. “Current weather patterns is for a strong El Nino blob off the coast. It is setting up the scenario for a drier than...
West Kelowna Sears store struggling to stay open
WEST KELOWNA - Sears Canada’s West Kelowna location could be shutting down. Landlord Noll Derriksan says he locked out Sears from its Estates Square location on Old Okanagan Highway Thursday morning, Aug. 13, because of non-payment and frequent late payment of rent. The voice message for the Sears West Kelowna number says only that the...
Housing starts make double-digit jump in Kelowna
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - New house construction is climbing in the Central Okanagan, underscoring the strength in the local resale market. "Demand for new homes has matched supply, keeping inventories of completed and unabsorbed homes in check," Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation regional economist Carol Frketich says in a press release. In its preliminary housing starts...
Police looking for senior who may have broken up attempted abduction in Peachland
PEACHLAND - Police are looking to speak to an older woman who they say broke up an odd occurrence in Peachland Saturday. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Joe Duncan said earlier this week police were called to a report of two men who tried to grab a 15-year-old girl and push her into the pedestrian tunnel connecting...
Band members choose to borrow money to keep hospital lands
FEWER THAN 80 VOTES CAST FOR $8 MILLION DEBT WESTBANK FIRST NATION – Band members…
Rail trail group itching to get going on CN corridor
HOPE TO BE OPEN BY JULY 2017 OKANAGAN – They’ve got a construction plan, some…
West Kelowna water abusers face fines before cutoff
WEST KELOWNA – Water wasters in West Kelowna will soon face a range of fines…
Kelowna councillor seeks change to council meeting schedule
KELOWNA - City councillor Charlie Hodge needs more homework time and wants to move council meetings to another day. “This is what I get Friday morning in my agenda package,” Hodge says, brandishing a three-inch thick stack of reports. “I’m supposed to know all this by Monday morning or at least have an understanding of...
City cuts off tax incentives for part of downtown Kelowna
KELOWNA - A property tax break meant to encourage new development in part of downtown Kelowna has done what it was designed to do and there’s no need to extend the program. However, results in two other revitalization areas downtown and one in Rutland have not generated the hoped-for increase in residential development and may...
Double dipping developers get go-ahead from city council
KELOWNA - A pair of micro suite developers have managed to “double dip” taking advantage of two different rental housing incentive programs for the same development. And while some Kelowna city councillors grumbled about the property tax and development cost charge revenue lost to the city, they were reminded staff are already working to close...
Westbank band members vote on future of hospital lands
WESTBANK FIRST NATION – Band members will meet tomorrow night to vote on what to…
Parkinson Rec Centre replacement moves a step closer
KELOWNA - A plan which could one day see a replacement for the Parkinson Recreation Centre in Kelowna is moving to the next step. Parks and building manager Terry Barton says in a report to city council a replacement for the aging multi-use facility is the most pressing recreation need in the city. Built in...