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Meaghan Archer
Contaminated tap water in Okanagan Falls; boil water notice issued
OKANAGAN FALLS - A boil water notice was issued Thursday for Okanagan Falls residents, after water testing results showed traces of E. Coli contamination. Residents are being warned by Okanagan Falls Irrigation District and Interior Health to boil water for one minute before drinking, preparing food, and brushing teeth. Water samples are being sent to...
Penticton airport runway to be repaved; passengers accommodated
PENTICTON - The airport runway maintenance project starting next week will impact flights and could potentially have a negative impact on visitors' perceptions of Penticton. Air Canada, the main airline that flies out of Penticton Regional Airport, is jumping through hoops to make sure passengers are properly accommodated, the city's Colleen Pennington said. According to...
ARCHER: Holding government leaders accountable
Government bodies get a bad rap when it comes to spending money, and sometimes the facts prove our tax dollars are not being well spent. But when government officials show us what's in their pockets, it becomes easier for the public to trust their leaders and the decisions they make on behalf of the community....
Volunteers still needed for Boonstock
PENTICTON - Boonstock is still looking for volunteers to help out during the four-day festival coming to Penticton in just a few weeks. Organizers hope to add another 150 names to their list of almost 500 volunteers already registered to lend to hand, including nurses, doctors, teachers and students. Anyone is welcome to sign up,...
Okanagan Lake walkway opens with a splash
PENTICTON - Come celebrate the official opening of the Okanagan Lake waterfront walkway at a Beach Party fundraiser at the SS Sicamous esplanade this Saturday. Splash around in the water to help beat the heat, or take a ride on a slip-n-slide that shoots you right out into the lake. The kids can play in...
Boonstock releases four-day concert schedule
PENTICTON - The four-day performance schedule for Boonstock has been released, letting concertgoers know which stage their favourite bands will be performing on. Here is a breakdown of the schedule, if you haven’t seen it on Boonstock’s website already: Kicking things off on Thursday, July 31 at the Kalamalka Stage, will be performances by Candyland,...
Your help is needed to identify bullfrogs
PENTICTON - The Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship in partnership with the provincial government are looking for help locating bullfrog sites in the South Okanagan. The organization needs volunteer citizen scientists to help monitor bullfrogs over the next two weeks. Pond searches take place in July and a free Bullfrog Identification and Inventory Workshop will be held...
RCMP vow to keep Penticton safe during Boonstock
PENTICTON - RCMP continue to work with Boonstock organizers to ensure concertgoers and the general public will stay safe during the August long weekend. Boonstock organizers shared an updated version of their security plan with RCMP after a new security company was hired to run the event. RCMP are not required to approve the plan,...
Residents make formal complaint about beach-going nudists
PENTICTON - A formal complaint has been made to RCMP about nudists at Three Mile Beach making other beach goers uncomfortable. A group of people who live near the beach brought their complaints to Mayor Garry Litke Tuesday who passed them on again to Supt. Kevin Hewco. “Local residents are feeling intimidated about using the...
Boonstock a go: Organizers have security covered, prepare for economic opportunity
PENTICTON - Boonstock Music Festival organizers have a new security company and are adamant the show will go on August long weekend with or without a liquor license. Boonstock organizers including Barb Haynes and Colin Kobza told a small crowd in Penticton at a public forum Tuesday night they reached an agreement with 24-7 Security...
Penticton considering spreading advanced polling stations around city
PENTICTON - Voters may get more options as to where they can cast their ballots in the upcoming municipal election. Staff recommended council consider changing locations for one of two days of early voting, to better accommodate people living on the south side of town. Ballots have previously been cast at advanced polling stations set...
Council considers sale of liquor at outdoor market
PENTICTON - Local vendors will soon be able to sell packaged liquor for off-site consumption at farmers’ markets, so long as council approves a change of what defines an “outdoor market.” In order to allow liquor sales and tasting at outdoor markets, the city needs to make a zoning amendment to the current bylaw. The...
Wildfire near White Lake Observatory reduced to brush fire
PENTICTON - A wildfire near White Lake Observatory in Okanagan Falls is nearly out after fire crews worked to put out the flames Monday evening. The fire started around 4:30 p.m. with unknown cause and grew to 20 hectares in size but was reduced to a brush fire by 7:30 p.m. Monday, when B.C. Wildfire...
Have a question about Boonstock? Here’s your chance to ask it
PENTICTON - If you have questions about Boonstock, you’ll have a chance to speak with organizers directly at a public forum Tuesday night. Boonstock organizers will hold a panel discussion at the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce, Tuesday July 7 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The public can ask organizers questions about...
Councillor wants city to be more transparent about expenses
PENTICTON - Coun. Helena Konanz is looking to make the city more transparent by publicly posting councillor expenses more than once a year. It will be easier to answer questions from media and public about expenses on a more regular basis, rather than having to refer to notes from conferences attended over a year earlier,...
‘Everything’s up to chance’ with Boonstock: RCMP
PENTICTON - Police continue to have serious concerns about a lack of security at Boonstock but are powerless to intervene. Add Penticton RCMP to the list of organizations kept in the dark about festival plans, now only three weeks away. Staff Sgt. Kurt Lozinski, the officer in charge of RCMP involvement in the festival, says...
Penticton gets to decide how latest provincial grants will be spent
PENTICTON - New funds are rolling into the City’s bank account from a provincial fund and Penticton gets to choose how it will be distributed within the community. More than $423,000 will be given to the City and surrounding area — just a portion of the $74 million of Strategic Community Investment Fund money being...
Bobbitt hearing to reconvene in September
PENTICTON - David Wesley Bobbitt sat in the prisoner’s box for two weeks, listening to how his violent actions affected others, how police think he’s a liar, and why he is a psychopath and sexual sadist. The dangerous offender hearing and sentencing for Bobbitt began on June 23 and will continue Sept. 2. Crown prosecutors...
ARCHER: Hey Boonstock, just tell us what’s going on
Hey kids! Boonstock is only three weeks away! Nothing but fun and sun and music and culture and stuff! It’s all good all the time! Just please don’t look behind the curtain. I know I’ll be accused of being the grumpy old parent shushing the teenagers on their three-day sleepover, but I wish I didn’t...
Boonstock vows to continue despite security setback
PENTICTON - Boonstock organizers say the show will go on even without definite security plans, since the private company they hired quit one month before the weekend long concert. Boonstock officials have been difficult to reach at the best of times, but since International Crowd Management has backed out of the event hit the news...
Psychiatrist has ‘no reason for optimism’ Bobbitt can be rehabilitated
PENTICTON - Not only is David Bobbitt a psychopath, he's a sexual sadist and deviant, a forensic psychiatrist said today during the offender’s dangerous offender hearing and sentencing in Penticton Supreme Court. Yesterday, Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe said Bobbitt had strong psychopathic traits, based on the offender’s long history of violence, which began at the age...
UPDATE: Fiery crash leads to 9.6 ha wildfire near Osoyoos
OSOYOOS – Two semis crashed on Highway 3 northwest of Osoyoos around 5 p.m. Wednesday sparking a grass fire that threatened a nearby home and sent one of the truck drivers to hospital. A 46-year-old Kelowna man behind the wheel of the logging truck was taken to Kelowna General by air ambulance. He is seriously...
Boonstock in doubt as security firm backs out
PENTICTON - Boonstock faces a major setback after the private security company hired to work the festival weekend backed out of the deal. International Crowd Management terminated its agreement with Boonstock organizers, just one month before the festival comes to Penticton on August long weekend. There have been security and safety concerns about the festival...
Bobbitt’s a ‘psychopath’: Psychiatrist
PENTICTON - David Wesley Bobbitt is a clinical psychopath who showed uncommon violent behaviour even as a child, a forensic psychiatrist said today. Penticton knows Bobbitt best for his most recent, perhaps his most heinous crime when he took a young mother and her child captive for hours inside Dave's Second Hand Store on Ellis...