Shannon Quesnel

UPDATE: 4 p.m. July 27, 2013 PENTICTON - A 2-hectare grassfire that lit up the night on Munson Mountain Friday was human caused, and it was probably fireworks. The fire started around 11 p.m. and burned grass and sagebrush before it was put out at about 12:30 p.m. No structures were damage by the blaze....

PENTICTON - A suspended RCMP officer was found not guilty of perjury on Friday in Penticton Supreme Court. Justice Bruce Butler acquitted Cpl. Andre Turcotte of the charge as he was left in a reasonable doubt as to the accused's guilt. The events leading to the verdict started on Nov. 29, 2007 when Turcotte assaulted...

PENTICTON - The city's waste water treatment system needs the newest parts and not a repair job, city engineer Ian Chapman said. He told city council at its last meeting to spend $170,000 for a new blower rather than refurbish the old one. He said it made more sense as a repair job will only...

CHARGING UP-FRONT FEES FOR RETURN TRIP JUST BUSINESS: CHIEF KRUGER PENTICTON - Taxi cab operators are upset with Coyote Cruises hogging the lion's share of people paying for ferry service and might go on strike. Coyote Cruises rents floaties and charges for bus rides at the start of the Okanagan River Channel. If riders want...

PENTICTON - Penticton Fire and Rescue used to do fast-moving water rescues the hard way by improvising and using what tools they had. Captain Denis Noble said it was messy before but now the department has new $800 dry-suits and are receiving swiftwater rescue training from David Scott of Rescue Canada. Scott had several firefighters...

PENTICTON - A new search and rescue bike team, and new mountain bikes, will make it easier to find lost or injured cyclists. Penticton and District Search and Rescue are training their members to be part of a new team to better cover the Three Blind Mice mountain biking area and urban zones search manager...

OFFICER SUSPECTED TO HAVE IMPROPERLY USED POLICE COMPUTERS TO SPY ON HIS ACCUSER: CROWN PENTICTON - A Penticton supreme court judge will have to decide if a Penticton RCMP officer is guilty of a second offence stemming from an assault almost six years ago. In 2010, Cpl. Andre Turcotte was convicted of assaulting Ian Scott...

PENTICTON - Pop music beat out classic rock when city council decided to rename portions of two downtown streets to Backstreet Boulevard. Parts of Robinson Street and Westminster Avenue East were given the new name at Monday's council meeting. Penticton Herald editor James Miller, speaking for himself at an earlier meeting, said the name should...

PENTICTON - No one should hold their breath for Penticton Creek improvements. Coun. John Vassilaki said at Monday's council meeting it's going to take years to transform the creek to its original state before it was modified to handle flooding. "If you had seen it then and seen it today it's as different as night...

SUMMERLAND - The investigation continues into the accident on July 15 when a transport truck carrying two-by-four lumber flipped on its side and slid just north of Summerland. The truck was heading south and took a right turn when it flipped on its side. The driver of a car heading north veered off the road,...

PENTICTON - The Kiwanis Walking Pier might get better nighttime lighting in the wake of a boat crash earlier this month. A 28-foot boat collided and landed on top of the far end of the pier on the night of July 9 sending several tourists scrambling for cover. No one was hurt. The boat's owner...

PENTICTON - Canada's veterans should have more leeway when it comes to free parking, the Penticton Veterans' Association said. Spokepersons Alan Kidd and Robert Horkoff want council to consider allowing veterans with veteran license plates more free time on city owned parking spaces. Earlier this year, after a memorial for Captain Jonathan Snyder, many veterans...

PENTICTON - Finding consensus on handling homes being turned into short-term vacation rentals is tough. The Regional District Okanagan Similkameen has a stack of letters with roughly half supporting the idea of allowing residences to be used like hotels and the other half being opposed. Opponents say district regulations have no teeth and the punishments...

KEREMEOS - A 45-year-old Keremeos man drowned in Heart Lake on Saturday while fishing with a friend. The two men were in a small, 3m boat when the craft capsized. The 30-year-old male survivor, also from Keremeos, swam to shore. Penticton Search and Rescue located the body in Heart Lake on Sunday. RCMP Cpl. Mike...

NARAMATA - A Naramata cherry grower wants people to spit his wares this Wednesday onto the ground for fun and games. The fourth annual Great Cherry Pit Spit pits spitters against one another to see who can spit a pit the farthest. "It's your typical Namarata gong-show community market event," Naramata market manager Darren Rettie...

SOUTH OKANAGAN - Old telephone scams are targeting seniors and residents once again. Several people in the Osoyoos-Oliver area were victimized by a long distance phone scam, Crimestoppers co-ordinator Al Sismey said. Someone called a residential number, claimed they were from Telus and asked the resident to press 9 then 0 followed by the #...

PENTICTON - Penticton Creek needs major repairs and city council has $624,880 available to begin the restoration work. The natural creek was channelized in 1950 after a massive flood in 1942. It acted as a flood control tool since being upgraded but it has also damaged fish habitats and is now showing signs of degradation....

PENTICTON - The only time an earwig took up residence in an ear was in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In the movie Khan, played by Ricardo Montalban, watched an earwig-like insect slither into the ear of one screaming Lieutenant Chekov, played by Walter Koenig. Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops and Kelowna residents...

PENTICTON - The RCMP Musical Ride, one of Canada's most colourful traditions, will prance in formation on Saturday. The South Okanagan Event Centre will host the 32 horses and their riders who perform a variety of formations set to music. There will also be an RCMP canine unit demonstration. The ride has toured the country,...

PENTICTON - Fresh vegetables and life lessons are being harvested from a Penticton resident's backyard. Salvation Army staff and volunteers turned Donna Benson's yard at 613 Martin St. into a collection of raised garden beds filled with cabbages, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and more. The other garden product has been the socialization opportunities gardening tends to...

PENTICTON - A Penticton parent is happy with the sentencing of a child sex offender and remains committed to suing the school board who gave the man approval to conduct a student transfer. Rene Mark Burke was sentenced in Penticton Provincial Court to 43 months in prison on Thursday for committing sex crimes against a...