Shannon Quesnel

PENTICTON - A First Nation and the regional district are at odds over a fee the former wants to charge for its contribution to a water study. The Lower Similkameen Indian Band wants $43,755 for its share of the work on the Similkameen River Watershed Plan. The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is hesitant about paying....

PENTICTON - Penticton will hold a Sept. 7 byelection despite objections over the timing. The byelection process started when former mayor Dan Ashton resigned after being elected as Penticton's MLA. Acting mayor Garry Litke said he wants the job but he will have to resign as a councillor first. The byelection will also determine who gets...

Emergency preparedness kits can spare a lot of grief especially when on the road or in a home without power or running water. Acting mayor Garry Litke reminded Penticton residents to keep a kit that can last them for 72 hours. "Emergencies can take an incredible toll on families." Penticton residents had a small taste...

JOURNALIST WANTS ROBINSON STREET NAMED AFTER LOVERBOY VOCALIST PENTICTON - Robinson Street is slated to become Backstreet Boulevard despite minor protesting at Tuesday's city council meeting. One person suggested naming it after former Penticton resident and Loverboy lead singer, John Mike Reno. Property and business owners asked council to change the name and were supported...

PENTICTON - New portable washrooms are expected to reduce the number of anxious visitors looking for the washrooms of downtown businesses. Four new stalls will go to the Nanaimo Hall site, near the Urban Agricultural Society Gardens. The Downtown Penticton Association stated businesses have been asking for this solution. The association will pay for the...

PENTICTON - The Canada Day weekend brought thousands of visitors to Penticton's famed beaches and Gyro Park. Sunday and Monday also had temperatures over the 30 C mark. Lakeshore Drive was amass with people wearing brightly coloured swim trunks and bikinis. Over at Gyro Park there were dozens of tents selling things cold to eat...

PENTICTON - What's in a name is at the heart of two people's opinions on renaming a street. Some want to change Robinson Street to Backstreet Boulevard and some do not. Penticton's leadership will decide on the matter at Tuesday's council meeting. Jason MacAndrew suggested renaming both portions of the road currently named Westminster Avenue...

PENTICTON - July brought the heat with a high of 32.5 C on Canada Day while June struggled to keep its summer obligation. June's monthly average was only 24.2 C. On June 30 the thermometer crawled up to 30.9 C. June 20 had the lowest temperature at 5.2 C and the month's minimum average temperature...

PENTICTON - Canada looks pretty spry for being 146 years old. The country's birthday will be celebrated at Penticton's Gyro Park all day and into most of the night. Free cake and balloons will be available until they run out and there'll be silly stuff for children to do until 3 p.m. A community market...

PENTICTON - A Surrey man was arrested when someone identified the vehicle he was driving as stolen. A motorist called the Penticton RCMP on Wednesday and said he was following his friend's stolen 2013 Subaru on Channel Parkway where it turned onto Highway 97. The vehicle was reported stolen on June 19 from a Penticton...

SMALL EARTHQUAKE FELT IN PENTICTON PENTICTON - If you felt all shook up on Friday, it wasn't the Penticton Elvis Festival in town this weekend, it was a small earthquake. Alison Bird, a seismologist with Earthquakes Canada, says residents felt the tremors caused by a 2.0 magnitude quake occurring at 9:41 a.m. 17 kilometres west of...

PENTICTON - Michael Richard Beauchamp needs more jail time than the seven years he'll serve for his role in the 2009 beating death of Terrence Dale Wooley, family and friends say. Beauchamp, 43, was sentenced today for his part in an assault against Wooley, 51, in the spring of 2009 at Slack Alice's Show Pub....

PENTICTON - Poppy Degeorgio had some of her deceased husband's items destroyed in Wednesday's flooding of Arnott Place. Her spouse died in a car accident seven years ago. Degeorgio decided to hang on to some of his things. "I had a lot of his stuff I wanted to give to my children." A few irreplaceable...

UPDATE: 12:23 p.m. June 27, 2013 PENTICTON - Penticton's storm sewer system wasn't built to handle the short burst of heavy rain that flooded parts of Wilson Street and Arnott Place on Wednesday. Only eight millimetres of rain fell, according to Environment Canada, but it all seemed to come at once. Public works manager Len Robson...

Area medical society keeps on with own strategy PENTICTON - Area doctors are not sitting on their heels while the province progresses with a business case for the patient care tower project. Health minister Terry Lake said on Wednesday requests for proposals have gone out to architectural, engineering and mechanical consulting services in the development...

PENTICTON - The Osoyoos Indian Band and its partners will build 16 more homes at its NK'MIP Canyon Desert Golf Course. Chief Clarence Louie said on Monday the 16 homes along with the 17 already built will attract even more tourists and golf-enthusiasts. This will pave the way for a community centre, parks and a...

PENTICTON - Penticton Regional Hospital is already $850,000 closer to its goal of $1.5 million which will buy modern X-ray equipment with an operation cost on par with the old stuff. The South Okanagan-Similkameen Medical Foundation needs $650,000 more to purchase three X-ray suites. The foundation launched a campaign last week to find the rest...

PENTICTON - Overcast days have been hiding the summer sun but it's expected to change by the end of the week with 30 C+ temperatures for the Canada Day long weekend. The temperatures pass the 25 C mark on Thursday with a high of 26 C followed by Friday's high of 30 C. Saturday and...

PENTICTON - Michael Beauchamp pled guilty to manslaughter in connection to the 2009 beating death of Terrence Dale Wooley. The crime took place only a few dozen yards from the Penticton courthouse where Beauchamp was in custody on Monday. Justice Jeanne Watchuk and Crown counsel John Swanson listened to Beauchamp plead guilty to manslaughter and...

A rockfall on Sunday is the likely cause of a fire off of Ashnola Road in western Keremeos. BC Wildfire spokesperson Melissa Welsh said 10 provincial firefighters were asked to pitch in by the Keremeos Fire Department. The fire was 0.78 hectares in size. Only five provincial firefighters remain at the scene on Monday putting...

PENTICTON - An Oliver man got a five-year prison term on Monday for sexually assaulting his stepdaughter. The girl's biological father was happy the offender, who cannot be identified due to a court order, was sentenced after a three-and-half-year long wait. The biological father was in Penticton court with his daughter, her counsellor and family...

PENTICTON — Nearly half of the city's top earners work for Penticton Fire and Rescue. Out of the 71 city employees making $75,000 or more, 32 or 45 per cent work for the fire department. Overall only nine or 12 per cent of city employees making $75,000 are women. The figures were made available Thursday...