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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
Tubers reminded of channel restrictions until July 1
PENTICTON - This weekend’s prediction of sizzling temperatures will likely result in one of the busiest weekends so for this year for Penticton channel tubing. Be warned, the full length of the channel will not be open until Canada Day, so floaters are being asked not to go past the under construction Satikw Bridge. Chris...
South Okanagan roadside checks result in arrest for outstanding warrant
PENTICTON - RCMP in the South Okanagan have arrested a man wanted in Calgary in connection with the sexual assault of a young child. Police say it all started with an uninsured driver who was stopped during one of the roadside checks conducted by the police on Saturday, June 20. Four days later, RCMP arrested...
Search efforts escalate for two missing hikers in South Okanagan
PENTICTON - The search for two Ontario hikers missing since Monday in the Similkameen is escalating as the search enters its third full day. Keremeos RCMP first received a report about two hikers overdue to return to the Cathedral Lakes Lodge in the Similkameen Mountains southwest of Keremeos at 8:36 p.m. Monday, June 22. Lynne...
Ski hill agreement nets benefits for Osoyoos Indian Band
PENTICTON - Next year’s ski season will see Mount Baldy operate under a new partnership agreement with local First Nations. The Osoyoos Indian Band recently signed an agreement with Baldy Capital Corporation that will provide an annual lease payment by the corporation for land on the hill and allow band members greater access to the...
Staff at Okanagan owl rehab centre trying to understand reason behind poisoning
PENTICTON - A break and enter and food poisoning at the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls has left staff wondering what the reasons were for the weekend crime. Centre Manager Dale Belvedere says the rehab centre was broken into sometime overnight Saturday. It appears whoever broke in poisoned a bucket containing food for rats, which ...
A fine day to walk the family pet
PENTICTON - The weather this week is proving to be perfect for a pleasant walk in the park, or for Pete Godwin and Rachel Bourgeois, ideal weather for taking their pet to the beach. Nothing unusual about that, except maybe for the fact their pet is a ferret. Walking through Gyro Park this week Godwin...
Penticton water park opens to naked trespasser and wild winds
PENTICTON - Penticton's newest form of entertainment on the water began operations on the weekend and it is already attracting unexpected visitors. Penticton’s Wibit Water Park opened on Saturday, June 20, but a security breach — apparently in innocent fun — that night has operator Randy Gallagher already stepping up security around the inflatable water park....
UPDATE: Search for missing hikers in Similkameen
PENTICTON - Efforts are increasing in a search to find two missing hikers. Search and rescue teams are working with police in looking for two people who failed to return from a hike in the Similkameen yesterday. Cpl. Dave Tyreman says Rick Moynan and Lynne Carmody, both believed to be in their 50s, left a...
Busy start to summer for Penticton RCMP
PENTICTON - The summer season is barely underway but Penticton RCMP are already feeling the heat as they deal with a high number of calls. The Penticton detachment dealt with a total of 80 calls in what acting media spokesperson Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth referred to as a 'crazy day' yesterday, June 22. While there was...
Defective pavement discovered on Penticton’s Main Street
PENTICTON - Work crews will be returning to one of the city’s first capital projects of the year, which was just completed in May, after discovering an issue with the asphalt. Quality control testing of the new asphalt recently installed on Main Street, which was done in conjunction with the rebuilding project on Industrial Avenue,...
Weekend road checks rack up impressive statistics
PENTICTON - Penticton RCMP and the Ministry of Transportation were out in force conducting road checks over the weekend, racking up an impressive list of statistics in the process. On June 19 and 20, 25 RCMP officers took part in the effort, which included the entire South Okanagan Traffic Services unit and some Penticton Municipal...
Osoyoos break and enter results in re-arrest of multiple offender
PENTICTON - Osoyoos RCMP arrested a repeat offender following a break, enter and theft in the community last week. Oliver resident Brooks Vandenbroek was arrested following a break-in and theft at Joe’s Plumbing and Heating in Osoyoos on June 18. He was also charged with several other counts of fraud and mail theft, eventually pleading...
Victim of Oliver motorcycle crash identified
PENTICTON - An Osoyoos man has been identified as the victim of a June 9 motorcycle crash in Oliver. Robert Andrew Derby, 63, crashed his motorcycle after swerving to avoid a deer, according to a media release from the B.C. Coroners Service. He struck a utility pole after leaving the roadway in the 7300-block of...
Airsoft toting gunman to do less jail time
PENTICTON - A 19-year-old Penticton man sentenced last week for brandishing and shooting people with an airsoft handgun on city streets on two separate occasions, had his sentence reduced today. Christian Darren Leggatt, will serve 60 days less than the 90 originally sentenced, following the correction of an an error in evidence discovered at his...
No reason to feel particularly antsy in the Okanagan this summer
OKANAGAN - The early summer weather in the Okanagan Valley this year has meant a spike in ant activity. According to pest control experts, we aren't experiencing a higher than normal ant population, it's just they are active earlier than usual. Mark Dawson with Enviropro Pest Control assures us ants aren't taking over. “Ants are...
Beading a path through the Okanagan
PENTICTON - An Okanagan artist and entrepreneur turned a daydream into a unique business opportunity which continues to grow with each new tourist season. Karen Griggs was looking for a way to make a living while following her passion when she came up with the idea of the Bead Trail. According to her blog, a...
Penticton RCMP safety blitz targets motorcycles, commercial and seasonal vehicles
PENTICTON - Drivers on Highway 97 south of Penticton noticed a large police presence at the weigh scales near the junction of Highway 3A today. The scales was the location of a RCMP campaign, June 19, targeting commercial vehicles, motorcycles and anything hauling a trailer. “This is the time of year when things have been...
Okanagan residents needn’t fear the “big one” following a Penticton quake
PENTICTON - The small earthquake in the South Okanagan yesterday startled a number of people in Penticton and Naramata, but not to worry, seismologists say, it wasn’t a harbinger of the "big one". The shallow depth, magnitude 2.5 quake took place at 4:45:02 p.m., Thursday, June 18, “almost directly under Penticton, just to the southeast,”...
Coroner rules Okanagan Falls drowning death ‘undetermined’
OKANAGAN FALLS - The B.C. Coroner's Service figured out what killed an Edmonton man found floating in the Okanagan River near Okanagan Falls last spring, but questions about why he ended up in the river remain unanswered. Coroner Walter Burns has determined Andrew Scott Gangl drowned in the river and alcohol and drugs were contributed...
Regional director seeks accountability from Fortis B.C. and the Utilities Commission
PENTICTON - A South Okanagan politician continues his campaign to make Fortis B.C. and the B.C. Utility Commission more accountable to the public for rate increases. Regional District South Okanagan-Similkameen director Tom Siddon has requested questions about Fortis B.C.'s two-tiered electrical rate system and the Commision's accountability be added to the agenda of the next...
South Okanagan cyclists get boost with new tourism initiative
NARAMATA - It was a day of rejoicing for bicycle enthusiasts across the South Okanagan with the announcement of a new cycling tourism strategy for the region. Today’s announcement of the Cycling Tourism and Signage Marketing Program involves a provincial plan to identify the province’s cycling networks and develop a signage program, the initial result...
Top Penticton city hall wage earners grab 35 per cent of payroll
PENTICTON - Working for the City of Penticton continues to be one of the more lucrative occupations in the South Okanagan. The City released its Statement of Financial Information this week, listing 69 staffers who made more than $75,000 working for the city last year. Seventeen of those broke the six figure level, earning more...
Luxury condo proposal gets development permit from Penticton city council
PENTICTON - A small, vacant corner lot on Lakeshore Drive, which has not seen any activity since the 1980s, could be the site of a a high-end condominium complex following Penticton city council approval of a development permit. The project envisioned for 88 Lakeshore Drive East, known as The Wedge, consists of a four storey...
Jail n’ Bail puts residents into custody for cancer
PENTICTON - Over $12,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society was collected at the first annual Jail 'n Bail fundraising event in downtown Penticton. The RCMP took part yesterday, June 17, by pretending to arrest high profile members of the communith and holding them until the "perpatrators" raised bail by phoning friends and family for donations. Those...