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Jennifer Stahn
Labour council president running for city council
KAMLOOPS - The current president of the Kamloops and District Labour Council is the latest to announce his intention to run in the upcoming municipal election. Peter Kerek has been the president of the council since 2011 and earlier this week he used social media to announce his intention to run. The Kamloops Transit employee...
Council goes against staff on casino move
KAMLOOPS - The public will get to voice input on the proposed move of the downtown casino to the former Rona location in Aberdeen after a staff recommendation to deny the application was overturned by council Tuesday. “We need the opportunity to hear from the community, and casino people,” Coun. Tina Lange said. “(We have)...
Overlanders Bridge update moving forward
KAMLOOPS - The city is moving forward on the $9.3 million in repairs needed for the Overlanders Bridge deck and sidewalk, work set to take place in 2015. Originally the project was set to fix the bridge deck at an estimated cost of $6.12 million but early this year staff asked councillors to hold off...
Disaster Financial Assistance available for flood damages
Kamloops – Following the severe rain event that took place on July 23, the City of Kamloops has been diligently working to evaluate the damages that were sustained by the community and surrounding areas. This evaluation resulted in the city applying to the Province of BC for Disaster Financial Assistance. The province has now...
Staff against moving downtown casino to Aberdeen
KAMLOOPS - Relocating the Lake City Casino out of downtown will potentially weaken the core area and require ‘significant’ improvements to traffic and transportation in the Aberdeen and Pineview areas. “The loss of the casino in the City Centre may have an impact on downtown's social and economic fabric,” Development Director Marvin Kwiatkowski said in...
Westsyde Road rehab to be complete by fall
KAMLOOPS - Westsyde Road will get a lot of new asphalt this summer and it will be done with a lower price tag than originally thought as well. The road will see more than 70,000 square metres of concrete surface milled and paved, as well as drainage improvements and replacement of all sanitary, storm, water...
VIDEO: Smith Creek fire from above and by the numbers
KELOWNA - Take a guess: How much water have fire crews dropped on the Smith Creek fire over the past week and a half? Would you believe more than 1.2 million litres? As of Monday morning helicopters had flown more than 100 hours, skimmers had dropped more than 300 loads of water and foam and...
Meteor shower to peak early next week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Grab a date, a blanket and a bottle of wine and prepare to spend a night gazing up at the sky during the peak of a month-long meteor shower early next week. The Delta Aquarids meteor shower runs annually from July 12 to Aug. 23 and this year the peak will occur in...
UPDATE: Power restored after storm cut off thousands of residents
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Power has been restored to most customers in the Thompson-Okanagan following widespread outages affecting over 16,000 customers at their peak. Sabrina Locicero with B.C. Hydro says power in the Thompson-Okanagan and Shuswap regions is back on for the vast majority of customers. Only ten customers remained without power as of Friday morning. B.C. Hydro...
West Highlands Park about a year behind, still on budget
KAMLOOPS - The retaining wall is in and the fencing nearly complete and now crews are ready to work on the actual soccer field portion of the new Aberdeen park. City Project Supervisor Nick DeCicco says if everything goes smoothly then the soccer fields could be complete with turf and irrigation by the fall, which...
Tournament Capital Ranch Phase II
Kamloops – In 2011, the city significantly enhanced the Tournament Capital Ranch lands north of Kamloops when it constructed the slo-pitch and rugby fields and partnered with the provincial government for the remediation of the soil to return it to agricultural production status. Today, the city is considering future land uses as Phase 2 of...
Crews reach 50% containment on Lytton fire
KAMLOOPS - Hydro has been restored, people are allowed to return home and crews are now able to work on hot spots in the interior of the 1,389 hectare Botanie Creek fire, which as of Thursday afternoon sits at 50 per cent contained. “The wet weather is a good thing all around,” Fire Information Officer...
Mother Nature bringing the heat
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - This week brought stormy skies but next week will once again bring the heat as temperatures are set to soar into the mid-30s. “The good news is it’s over,” Environment Canada Meteorologist Doug Lundquist says of the heavy rains and thunderstorms that passed through this week. “And then the ridge builds next week...
Snow greets Ironman Triathletes in Whistler
WHISTLER - Residents and tourists woke to snow in Whistler Thursday morning after a cool, wet system moved through overnight. The snow came just in time for the Ironman Triathlon, which kicks off this weekend, though it will likely be gone before the athletes compete on Sunday. More rain and cool temperatures are expected through...
Kamloopa Pow Wow expected to draw 20,000 people
KAMLOOPS - The largest pow wow in the west is just over a week away and organizers are busy preparing for the nearly 20,000 people expected to attend the event. The Kamloopa Pow Wow is set for Aug. 1-3 and will feature about 600 dancers, about a dozen drumming groups and a variety of Aboriginal...
Intense storm dropped record rain at rapid rate
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Several rainfall records were broken Wednesday but a local meteorologist says it is the rate of the rainfall that is the big story. “A record rain doesn’t really tell the story, the real story is the speed which it came out of the clouds,” Doug Lundquist of Environment Canada says. “You can have...
Murray Lake evacuation rescinded
KAMLOOPS - An evacuation notice for 35 properties at Murray Lake will be lifted at noon Thursday as the fire risk continues to decrease in the area. The 340 hectare Maka-Murray fire, south of Merritt and west of the Coquihalla Highway, is now 45 per cent contained and some heavy equipment has been pulled from...
UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm warnings end
UPDATE: A severe thunderstorm warning reissued for the Okanagan Valley has now ended. Twice today, Environment Canada has warned the storms could produce strong wind gusts, dime to nickel sized hail and heavy rain. All weather warnings have now ended for the South Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and North Thompson regions that were under warnings earlier...
Campfire ban lifted in Clearwater area
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you want to have a fire while camping this weekend you may be fighting off the masses heading north to the Clearwater region thanks to the campfire ban being rescinded as of noon Wednesday for that fire zone. B.C. Wildfire is now allowing campfires in the area thanks to rain reducing the...
Crews slowly containing Murray Lake fire
KAMLOOPS - A 340 hectare fire burning south of Merritt just off the Coquihalla Highway is now 40 per cent contained and crews continue to build on the guards already in place. Crews continue to make progress on the fire, which was just 30 per cent contained Monday, and today more than 100 crew members...
Power back on at Botanie Creek, fire now 25% contained
KAMLOOPS - Power is back on to the 45 properties affected by the Botanie Creek fire north of Lytton while more than 170 firefighters remain on the scene fighting the wildfire that is still 75 per cent uncontrolled today. B.C. Wildfire Fire Information Officer Melissa Klassen says the fire, which was discovered last Tuesday, remains...
UPDATE: Heavy rains, thunderstorms in forecast
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As much as 50 millimetres of rain could fall over the next two days as a low pressure system moving through southern B.C. is set to produce heavy showers and thunderstorms. Environment Canada issued a special weather statement this morning noting the potential for locally heavy rainfall of 25-50 mm with thunderstorms, which...
UPDATE: Missing ATV riders located
KAMLOOPS - Five members of Kamloops Search and Rescue were on their way to search for two missing ATV riders in the Campbell Creek Road area south of the city today but were quickly stood down when it was realized the riders simply decided to stay out for the night without telling anyone. Search Manager...
Gaining ground on aggressive Lytton fire
KAMLOOPS - Crews were successful in gaining ground on the Botanie Creek fire Monday and now believe the nearly 1,400 hectare fire is 15 per cent contained. “The objectives for today are for ground crews and equipment to continue to reinforce fire guards,” Fire Information Officer Melissa Klassen says. Klassen says no further structures have been...