Julie Whittet

KELOWNA - Things are getting smoothed out on downtown's main street. New asphalt now covers the segment of Bernard Avenue from Ellis to St. Paul Street. With the utility work complete, paving of the road and its new parking pads is underway. It's part of the third phase of the street's $14 million revitalization project. ...

KELOWNA - Two Llyodminster men and one local resident face potential charges after a break and enter Tuesday afternoon. Police were called to the 1200 block of Kelglen Crescent at 12 p.m. after someone reported seeing two men kick in the door of a residence before fleeing in a white Ford F150 truck. Police were...

KELOWNA – Fall Wine Fest kicks off this week and with glasses filling with reds and whites, dishes featuring another fermented favorite will be served up. Cheese will play a starring role at a number of signature events over the next couple weeks. There's a reason wine and cheese make a solid pair – and it's...

KELOWNA – Yesterday's official opening of the Rutland bus exchange brings the community a step closer to realizing its goal of becoming a major urban destination.   Instead of a place where people pass through via Highway 33, local businesses want to see it become a hub where locals, UBCO students and Big White visitors will...

KELOWNA - One of the city's largest urban-residential centres is getting hooked up to a rapid, more reliable regional bus system. Yesterday marked the official opening of the $4.5 million Rutland Transit Exchange, located on Shepherd Road. Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray says it's an investment that is helping the city change its auto-centric reputation. Not...

KELOWNA - At least three kinds of cold calling scams are targetting local residents, young and old. After receiving reports of the various scamming ploys the RCMP are warning the public to think twice before taking advice from unknown callers. In one case the suspect targets individuals with grandchildren and requests emergency funds - also...

KELOWNA - Furnaces switched on last month as cool weather drifted in with the arrival of fall. Colder temperatures steadily crept in overnight as summer made its official exit. While the first half of September saw highs up to 30 C, the heat gradually tapered off by mid-month. Daily mean temperatures dropped to single digits...

KELOWNA – Wood waste from the Tolko Industries saw mill will soon be a prime source of energy for buildings in downtown. Energy generated from burning the wood waste will heat water piped below city streets and delivered to customers in the downtown core. The hot-water based District Energy System was first proposed by FortisBC...

KELOWNA — City parks staff, and now police, are continuing to investigate disturbing reports of anti-freeze soaked baked goods left in local dog parks. So far they've found no evidence of the poisoned treats. A survey of all veterinarians in the Central Okanagan confirms none treated any animal antifreeze poisoning in the past few weeks. The...

KELOWNA – It will be a painful Thanksgiving for a West Kelowna family who are no step closer to finding out how their son went missing seven years ago today. Aaron Derbyshire disappeared in 2006 and today his family renewed their appeal for any information that could help locate his remains. It was on Friday...

KELOWNA – Okanagan residents can trade their wine glasses for pints this weekend to sip world-class brews from local and international makers. Tonight and tomorrow vendors are setting up their tables at the Kelowna Curling Club, pouring hundreds of products from scotch, bourbon whisky and imported and local craft beer, to premium spirits including espresso...

KELOWNA - If you're driving the Connector this weekend be prepared for some frosty weather. The Okanagan Connector from Merritt to Kelowna got a dusting of snow early this morning with an air temperature of -6 C and road surface temperature of -1 degrees.  Environnment Canada issued a special weather statement forecasting a Pacific Weather...

KELOWNA - An audience of up to three million is getting a flavourful introduction to Kelowna. October's Chatelaine - in stands now - is giving readers across Canada a whirlwind tour of the city's food culture, from its well established wineries to its newest boutique shops. Eight pages of the magazine (flip to page 82)...

KELOWNA - It might be a good time to break out your snow tires. The rain showers expected Friday could turn into snow along the highway from Merritt to Kelowna. Higher elevations on the Okanagan Connector, including the Pennask Summit, could get anywhere from 2 - 4 cm of snowfall. A weather system coming in...

KELOWNA - With the final piece of a five million dollar marina now in place, Okanagan Lake has its first floating public pier. It won't officially open for business until May 2014 but moorage will be free of charge for the rest of the fall season. It features a boardwalk, three small cabins, a seating...

KELOWNA – The man accused in the April 2010 shooting of Brittney Irving told his cousin to keep his mouth shut after he inadvertently led police to Irving's body, a Kelowna Supreme Court jury heard today. Jason Labonte became forever linked with the case when Joelon Verma, who is on trial for Irving's murder, called...

KELOWNA – When taken into police custody June of 2010 Joelon Verma shared personal details with someone he believed to be a fellow cellmate. That individual, however, was an undercover police officer, planted in his cell as part of the homicide investigation into the death of Brittney Lee Irving. The officer—whose name cannot be published—testified...

KELOWNA – When Joelon Verma was arrested for the murder of Brittney Lee Irving in June 2010, he soon found himself sharing a cell with a talkative cellmate. Verma was first placed in alone in a cell and watched as another man put up a fight and was even tasered before being placed in the...

KELOWNA – A stretch of agricultural land south of Springfield Road will soon be sprouting new office buildings and shops. The plan to exclude nearly ten acres of land between Spall and Cooper Road from the Agricultural Land Reserve was drafted fifteen years ago, but yesterday City Council gave their final approval.  Their decision paves...

KELOWNA - Over 40 local artists will have the city as their stage this weekend. A series of free shows and cultural events start this Friday to kick off the fourth year of Kelowna's Culture Days. From September 27 to 29 venues throughout the city invite the public to check out a variety of local...

KELOWNA – Land owners on Cooper Road will have to fill their fruit baskets if they want to convert farmland into an RV park. Their request to re-zone agricultural land in the South Pandosy area to create an agritourism destination didn't get far with city council yesterday. The proposal calls for a 10-unit mobile home...

KELOWNA – Brittney Irving never showed up for a planned meeting on the last day she was seen alive, according to Joelon Verma, the man accused of killing her. In a video statement Verma gave police a week after she disappeared, Verma said he spent April 6, 2010 at his cousin's house waiting for Irving...

KELOWNA – Local UBC Okanagan students may have already outgrown their new Quail Ridge bus line. Just introduced last year the Route 13 community bus services a burdgeoning student community nestled in the Quail Ridge area. But with a schedule confined to select morning and evening hours, the 20-seat shuttle is leaving some students in...