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Steve Arstad
I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.
Steve Arstad's Stories
Vacant Penticton lot will become a car dealership
PENTICTON - A large, empty lot on Westminster Avenue in Penticton will be enhanced and put to use as a car dealership. Penticton city council has approved a temporary use permit for the former Fraserview RV site at 249 Westminster Avenue West. Fraserview RV ceased operations in 2014 and prior to that the lot had been...
Two Canadians, two Americans appointed to Osoyoos Lake Board
PENTICTON - Four new members have been appointed to the International Osoyoos Lake Board of Control. The appointments - two American and two Canadians from the Osoyoos Lake region - were announced yesterday, Oct. 1, by the International Joint Commission. The Commission was established in 1909 by the Canadian and US governments to help prevent...
Fire ban remains in place in Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen
PENTICTON - The B.C. Wildfire Service may have rescinded the campfire ban on lands within provincial jurisdiction, but Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen residents shouldn’t get the marshmallows out just yet. The regional district’s open fire ban remains in place for all lands which are contained within the regional district fire protection areas, including Anarchist...
Disc golf tournament to take place on traditional golf course in Penticton
PENTICTON - A Penticton golf course is breaking with tradition this weekend. Skaha Meadows Golf Course will be teaming up with the Penticton Disc Golf Club to host “Mayhem at the Meadows” Disc Golf tournament on Saturday, Oct. 3. The nine hole course will become an 18 hole disc golf course with the addition of...
Naramata Bench winery seeks lounge license
PENTICTON - The new owners of a Naramata Bench winery would like Penticton city council's blessing for the addition of a lounge with an outdoor patio. Quidni Estate Winery, formerly Three Mile Winter, is seeking a winery lounge endorsement from council. The winery at 1465 Naramata Road needs the licence to create an interior lounge with...
Summer wrap-up meeting for the European Fire Ant
Where: OAP Hall (adjacent to library on Richie and Third) When: 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 05, 2015 Purpose: to update residents and property managers on the work this past summer and demonstrate the treatment process For more information please contact Dr. Rob Higgins (rhiggins@tru.ca) 250-828-5452.
Summerland pizza shop manager gets six months for sexual exploitation
PENTICTON - A Summerland man who pled guilty to sexual exploitation was sentenced in Penticton Court yesterday, Sept.30. Pizza shop manager Josh Roberts received six months in jail and two years probation for sexual exploitation. Roberts, 35, was charged after participating in a sexual relationship with a former female employee who was 16-years-old at the...
Naramata Centre suggested for Syrian refugee housing
PENTICTON - As Naramata Centre’s new board of directors try to plot a course for the future, one suggested use appears to be gaining favour: Supporting Syrian refugees. Directors of the former retreat have sought input from the community of Naramata about how best to use the facility, which is owned by the United Church...
Downtown business owners affected by Penticton blaze call fire suspicious
PENTICTON - Several Penticton businesses and services have lost their livelihood, at least temporarily, due to a downtown fire this morning and some of them are calling the blaze suspicious. Crews responded to a fire in the 200 block of Main Street around 5:40 a.m. today, Sept. 30, where they found smoke coming from Fibonacci...
Donation will help Penticton Search and Rescue save lives
PENTICTON - Penticton Search and Rescue received a welcome gift from a North Vancouver company this week. MediQuest Technologies donated two automated external defibrillators to the local search and rescue organization in an unexpected act, Penticton Search and Rescue spokesperson Randy Brown says in a media release. Search and rescue medical coordinator Scott Pettendreigh says...
New waste collection program coming to Penticton
PENTICTON - Penticton residents will soon be wheeling their garbage and recycling to the curb after council agreed to move to a cart-based system for collection. Penticton Public Works Manager Len Robson says there will be no changes to the current program of waste, recyclable and yard waste pickup when the new program, which will...
Tagging down in Penticton core
PENTICTON - City streets are looking better thanks to a graffiti removal program, but constant vigilance will still be needed to keep tagging in check. City of Penticton Bylaw Services Supervisor Tina Siebert is asking council to include $28,800, half the cost of the graffiti removal pilot program, in next year’s budget for continuation of...
Penticton’s Skaha Park controversy is heading for the courts
PENTICTON - The City of Penticton is headed for a legal battle over its agreement with Trio Marine regarding redevelopment of a portion of the Skaha Park property. The City of Penticton has been served with “filings with the Supreme Court,” according to a comment made by Mayor Andrew Jakubeit at the Monday, Sept. 28...
Thefts, arson and impaired drivers keep Penticton RCMP busy
PENTICTON - A number of vehicle offences, as well as thefts and arson, kept local RCMP officers busy last week as the city settled into the fall season. On Wednesday, Sept. 23, police responded to reports of a vehicle’s side window being smashed at 150 Skaha Pl. in the early morning hours. A phone charger...
Why you’ll want to centre your wine collection around this year’s Okanagan vintage
PENTICTON - Okanagan Valley winemakers and growers are raising a glass to the growing conditions of 2015 as one of the earliest harvests on record comes to an end. Pènèlope Roche is co-owner of Roche Wines along with her husband Dylan on Penticton’s Upper Bench Road. She is also an instructor at Okanagan College’s Wine...
ELECTION 2015: Candidates spar over fiscal responsibility at all candidate’s debate in Penticton
PENTICTON - Five candidates vying for a federal seat in the South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding faced about 125 voters at a weekend all candidate’s forum in Penticton. The candidates spent some time sniping at each other over which party has the soundest fiscal reputation at the forum held at the Penticton’s Senior’s Centre on Saturday, Sept....
Penticton waterslide protesters create human chain around Skaha parkland
PENTICTON - The turnout at a protest to bring attention to trees in Skaha Park which might be lost to development exceeded organizers’ expectations Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28. Save Skaha Park society spokesperson Lisa Martin says the event, which was the fourth protest organized by the group to bring attention to the City of Penticton's...
Why a Penticton Supreme court case is considered precedent setting
PENTICTON - What is a fair sentence for a double homicide since the Conservative’s introduction of Bill C-48? That was the central question in arguments made by Crown Prosecutor Frank Dubenski and defence lawyer Don Skogstad as the two sides continued their submissions to Madam Justice Miriam Maisonville in the sentencing of John Ike Koopmans...
City of Penticton and regional district report successful week at UBCM convention
PENTICTON - It’s been a busy week for South Okanagan municipal politicians as they vie for the attention of provincial ministries and agencies. The regional district directors and members of Penticton city council report progress in bringing local concerns to the attention of delegates at this year’s Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention wrapping up in...
A Princeton murderer might get one of the longest prison sentences ever in the Okanagan
PENTICTON - Crown and defence lawyers in a sentencing hearing for a man accused of murdering two Princeton residents and wounding a third are recommending sentences almost fifteen years apart. In Penticton Supreme Court today, Sept. 25, Crown Prosecutor Frank Dubenski sought a prison term that would see convicted murderer John Ike Koopmans, 52, behind...
Navigation system upgrades at Penticton Regional Airport
PENTICTON - Nav Canada is updating one of its navigational aids at Penticton Regional Airport to make it more reliable. The federal agency is replacing the existing localizer antennae on the airport's instrument landing system. Nav Canada site manager Paul England says the Penticton airport is part of a national upgrade of airport navigation equipment....
Unprovoked assault by career criminal gets federal time
PENTICTON - A Penticton man will do some serious jail time for a vicious, unprovoked attack that left his victim scarred for life. John Marshall Szanto, who appeared in Penticton Provincial Court today, Sept. 24, will serve three years for the assault, which took place on March 14 this year. Crown Prosecutor John Swanson recounted...
Koopmans mistrial application denied
PENTICTON - The original charges laid by a jury last April in the murder trial of John Ike Koopmans will stand. Defence lawyer Don Skogstad’s application for a mistrial on the count of attempted murder in the John Koopmans murder trial was denied in court this morning. Skogstad based his application on reasoning the jury was...
Penticton to take closer look at local job market
PENTICTON - The need to help local employers find and keep skilled workers has the City of Penticton looking to conduct some labour market research. In an effort to help local employers the City of Penticton recently put out two request for proposals, one to conduct labour market research and a second looking for a...