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Marshall Jones
News is best when it's local, relevant, timely and interesting. That's our focus every day.
We are on the ground in Penticton, Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops to bring you the stories that matter most.
Marshall may call West Kelowna home, but after 16 years in local news and 14 in the Okanagan, he knows better than to tell readers in other communities what is "news' to them. He relies on resident reporters to reflect their own community priorities and needs. As the newsroom leader, his job is making those reporters better, ensuring accuracy, fairness and meeting the highest standards of journalism.
LOOK BACK 2013: Good-bye McKinnon, Roberts
KELOWNA - We said good-bye to two high profile people in our community in 2013 due to retirement—one in fitting fashion, the other deserved far better. Bill McKinnon retired in March as Superintendent and chief of the Kelowna detachment of the RCMP, a position he held since 2004. But McKinnon didn’t get the send-off he...
LOOK BACK 2013: Crime and punishment
KELOWNA - While we may take some comfort that justice was served in two high profile criminal cases this year, we leave 2013 hoping for similar resolution for three more locals taken far too early. We begin with Keith Gregory Wiens. The 57-year-old former Mountie from Summerland was convicted in July of second degree murder...
UPDATE: 55-60 cms of snow expected, Highway 1 closed
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Another 15 to 25 centimetres of snow is forecast for the North Thompson while area highways could see as much as 55-60 cm. Environment Canada issued a snowfall advisory for the North Thompson Wednesday afternoon and advises people to keep an eye on weather conditions and forecasts. A similar advisory was lifted for...
Coroner IDs Summerland woman in fatal crash
KELOWNA - The B.C. Coroners Service says a 67-year-old Summerland woman died in an SUV crash near Merritt Dec. 27. Margery May Fox was in the rear seat of the SUV, which rolled down a 20-metre embankment on Highway 97C east of the Aspen Grove turnoff, about 3:50 p.m. She was taken to Nicola Valley...
Two lost boys returned home safe
KELOWNA - Two boys spent more time in the bush than they anticipated after they got disoriented and nearly lost exploring the High Rim Trail between Beaver Lake Road and Postill Lake Road. Central Okanagan Search and Rescue were called out to help find the boys but a parent and a friend found them first,...
A lot more snow coming for Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - Environment Canada is warning that we're about to get a lot more snow. A low pressure system is expected to bringing 10 to 15 cms of snow to the North Columbia, North Thompson, and Yellowhead regions today. Already about 5 cm of snow fell overnight. The snow will taper to a few flurries...
Kamloops keeps police busy
KAMLOOPS - Kamloops Mounties responded to 60 calls for service in 10 hours overnight including a fire, armed robbery and plenty for public drunken stupidity. The fire was at The Lighthouse, at 1605 East Trans Canada Highway started just after 3 a.m. Kamloops Fire and Rescue responded contained the fire to one unit in the...
Police shoot dog in overnight incident
KAMLOOPS - Police are investigating one of their own after a dog was shot by an RCMP officer while making an arrest. The pit bull-labrador cross is expected to survive but Sgt. Edward Preto says the serious crime unit was called in to investigate the incident. Police were initially called to a home on the...
STAFF PICKS: Rare Christmas cozying at home
EDITOR MARSHALL JONES I won't add to the shouting, the spite or the noise that now rides shotgun to the holidays every year. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for whatever it means to you. If Jesus is your reason for the season, good for you. I’m happy if a Commercial...
Collision stopped highway traffic
KAMLOOPS - A two vehicle collision last night sent one person to hospital and closed traffic. RCMP Spokesperson Staff Sgt. Fran Bethell says the accident occurred at the Battle St. and Valleyview area of Highway 1 just east of the Jasper/Vancouver exit in the east bound lanes. He said the driver was confused from the...
Long night for Kamloops RCMP
KAMLOOPS - Police were busy overnight Thursday locking up six men in six separate incidents. The first was arrested after he called police to report a theft. Trouble was, the 48-year-old Kamloops man had warrants out for his arrest from an incident in Kamloops in September . He will be appearing in Kamloops Provincial Court...
UPDATE: North Shore youth was shot through floor
KAMLOOPS - A young man is expected to recover from what are being called 'very minor' injuries after taking a shotgun pellet in the leg Sunday night, but little information is available over the how and why of the event. The single shot came from the upstairs neighbour and hit the 15-year-old resident who was...
Regional district stands by Kelowna Mountain refusal
KELOWNA - The $5 million Welcome Centre at Kelowna Mountain isn’t open to the public in part because the Central Okanagan Regional District suspects the developer withheld its true plans for ‘an improper purpose.’ The regional district filed its response this week to Kelowna Mountain owner Mark Consiglio’s attempt to get a judge to open...
Senior struck, killed crossing road
KAMLOOPS - An 86-year-old man was struck and killed by a vehicle while walking along Dallas Drive, just east of Sonora Road late this afternoon. Police say the man was walking his dog in the 600 block just before 5 p.m. when he was hit by an eastbound truck. He was pronounced dead at the...
UPDATE: One lane of Highway 1 near Sicamous open again
UPDATE: 12:15 p.m. Dec. 10 2013 Drivebc.ca is reporting one lane of Hwy 1, previously closed at the Eagle River bridge near Sicamous is open to alternating traffic. UPDATE: 9:04 a.m. Dec. 10, 2013 Kelowna RCMP say the area of Hwy 1 that is closed is at the Eagle River bridge. They expect the road...
Not so fast, Kelowna Mountain
'BRING FORWARD A PROPOSAL IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY THAT CAN BE APPROVED' KELOWNA - The road to a Kelowna Mountain development will still go through the Regional District of Central Okanagan in some form, says chairman Robert Hobson. He renewed the regional district’s stance on the contentious development after hearing through media what developer Mark...
Who owns this vehicle?
LAKE COUNTRY - Lake Country RCMP are looking for a witness to an armed robbery of the Shell gas station on Beaver Lake Road a month ago. Const. Jesse O'Donaghey says a man entered the store and aimed what appeared to be a shotgun at the employee before fleeing on foot with some cash. Police...
Ashlee Hyatt killer denied early release
"BOY CRAZY" GIRL'S BROTHER BANNED FOR PASSING HER DRUGS The girl who stabbed and killed West Kelowna teen Ashlee Hyatt in June, 2010 just isn’t getting the message, according to a local judge who denied her request to get out of jail early. The girl, now 19, applied to have the remainder of her 18-month...
Charged with burning her own car… in an apartment building?
49-YEAR-OLD WOMAN CHARGED WITH ARSON WEST KELOWNA - Police say they charges were laid against a woman suspected of burning her own car on fire in an underground garage last month that could have set the entire apartment building on fire. Shortly before 1 a.m. Oct. 13, the West Kelowna RCMP received a report of...
Sneak peak at new WFN health facility
WESTBANK FIRST NATION - Participants at a Westbank First Nation development conference got first looks at designs for the new Westbank First Nation health facility today. The private health care building is proposed for WFN land overlooking Okanagan Lake and the south slopes. It's envisioned as a 200,000 square-foot full-scale private hospital providing surgeries and...
Winter arrives: Your reactions
It was just a matter of time. This year we only had about a week to gloat to eastern neighbours. Now how long before this all melts? Hours or days?
Nighty night: Police help Halloween drunk find warm place to sleep
KAMLOOPS - Police report a typically busy Halloween night last night with plenty of alcohol and a couple car crashes. Around 1:30 a.m. police were called to Pleasant St where a resident found a man in the back of their truck. The owner held the man there until police arrived. RCMP Sgt. Dave Prentice says...
Police make arrest in Vernon pharmacy robbery
VERNON - Police arrested an unnamed man in connection with a robbery at a drug store in the Fruit Union Plaza last night. Police say the pharmacist reported the robbery around 8:40 p.m. He said the man threatened staff and left the store with some cash. Roughly two hours later, City of Vernon bylaw officers...
Trucker arrested with missing youth
KAMLOOPS - Police have found a missing 15-year-old in the sleeper of a commercial tractor trailer and arrested the driver after reports the youth was being sexually assaulted. Kamloops RCMP were on the lookout for the truck after it was reported around 11 p.m. yesterday that the truck was headed east on Highway 5 to...