Shannon Quesnel

The regional district CAO tops the list of employees collecting the most bucks last year. The $130,893 salary of CAO William Newell, of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, was included in a province-ordered financial disclosure. Every year public bodies publish their statement of financial information (SOFI). Included are salary and expense details of employees who...

Retiring MLA Bill Barisoff will have the second highest pension among retiring or defeated MLAs, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation announced. Barisoff begins his annual pension at $90,992 which puts him in second place next to former Liberal premier Gordon Campbell. If Barisoff lives to 80 years of age he will make $1.57 million from his...

Tie-vote kills chicken program Penticton city council canceled its order for a backyard chicken program. The pilot project will not continue because council did not approve temporary use permits. Councillors Andrew Jakubeit, Helena Konanz and John Vassilaki voted against the motion with acting mayor Garry Litke, Coun. Wesley Hopkin and Coun. Judy Sentes voting for...

Penticton is twisting the rule about showers bringing flowers with 35mm of rain falling in May. Last month 52.42 mm fell down and it looks like the deluge will continue. So far 35 mm of rainfall has fed Penticton's vineyards and lawns this month with May 17 offering the most with 14.2 mm. May 2...

A double-vehicle collision on Highway 97 sent two people to the hospital this morning. An Okanagan Falls woman was traveling south when she crossed over the centre line into oncoming traffic. This happened at about 7 a.m. She struck a north-bound vehicle driven by a man from Oliver. Okanagan Falls fire department attended and used...

Martin Street resident wants less, not more, nightclub hours A Penticton woman says her plea to curb late-night noise on Martin Street has fallen on deaf ears. Martin Street resident Vicki Ashman says city council hasn't done enough to prevent people from making noise after downtown clubs close in the wee hours of the morning....

A Penticton man will be sentenced for child porn possession this Friday. David Thorp, 57, was facing four charges related to having and distributing child porn. He committed at least one of the offences on Dec. 4, 2011. He was charged with accessing child pornography, possession of child pornography, and two counts of importing and...

A Penticton property owner might be stuck with a bill to demolish his own building. Denis Hildebrand, owner of 597 Ellis St., has until June to finish what a fire started in 2011. He has to begin the demolition process of his former boarding house. Only a broken concrete foundation jutting up from the yard...

A Big Bike crew was hooting and hollering on Tuesday after completing a soggy trip along Penticton's Lakeshore Drive. The Investors Group Survivorship team was at the helm that afternoon filling 23 of the 29 available seats. A few riders said their ponchos might have kept them dry but it also kept them too warm....

Chickens will be on Penticton city council's menu tonight. Twenty-five property owners applied for the urban hen project which allows a handful of egg-laying hens. Applicants who have signed up will follow such rules as having only five hens, and no roosters, making sure the hen coop will not be visible from the street and...

Newly elected MLA Dan Ashton will foot the bill for a Penticton mayoral by-election. Ashton won the provincial race on Tuesday to become the new Liberal MLA for Penticton. The city's mayor has asked for an extended leave of absence which runs out on May 31. He also publicly stated he would personally foot the...

A coroner's investigation determined staff at Summerland Seniors Village were not required to check on an independent living resident who became ill and died. A probe into the Dec. 7, 2012 death of Alfredo Bonaldi, 91, found he died of respiratory failure brought on by salmonella poisoning and damage to multiple organs. A B.C. Coroner...

There will be no investigation into the death of a motorcyclist killed south of Penticton last weekend. A rider was killed after losing control of his motorcycle. He passed a police car shortly before the crash. The Independent Investigation Office was put on alert due to an officer being involved. The IIO examined the in-car...

A female Penticton motorcyclist was taken to hospital Thursday after colliding with a semi truck on Main Street around 4 p.m. in Penticton. A witness said both vehicles were northbound. It appeared the semi-trailer pulled into the left lane to begin a right-hand turn onto Carmi Avenue. The Harley Davidson rider continued in the right...

A restaurant fire on Main Street in Penticton got first-responders up early Thursday morning. Firefighters got a 5:51 a.m. call to attend an eatery on the 300 block of Main Street. Fire chief Wayne Williams said flames were visible at the scene but it only took one hour and a tank of dry fire retardant...

A Penticton man charged with murder is out on bail for the second time. Jamie Paul Wolanski, 21, is accused of second-degree murder in connection to the 2011 stabbing death of Andrew McAdam, 16. Wolanski allegedly broke the conditions of his first bail order on May 22, 2012 with one count of using illegal drugs...

French immersion will be offered to up to 10 more students after a heated Monday night debate at a School District 67 board meeting. Summerland parents have argued school board policy gives preferred French program access for students inside the district's catchment area. Summerland lies outside of that zone but these parents still want better...

Penticton's new top cop is Insp. Kevin Hewco, a 26-year veteran of law enforcement. Hewco will join the Penticton RCMP ranks this summer and fill the slot left by departing Insp. Brad Haugli. Hewco's start date is dependant on him getting housing. Acting mayor Garry Litke said council is thrilled to have an officer of Hewco's...

Two Penticton residents were busted on Highway 97 on May 11 on crystal meth and weapon charges. Penticton RCMP officers pulled a vehicle over on Highway 97 in Summerland and inside was Jesse William Jackson, 32, of Penticton who was charged with possession of a controlled substance for purpose of trafficking. Jackson was also unlawfully...

Dan Ashton was taking nothing for granted as he awaited election results before winning Penticton's seat in the legislature. In what was expected to be one of the tightest races in the province, Ashton led late last night with 10,489 votes, or 45.83 per cent of the vote over NDP Richard Cannings with 9,225 and...

Budget cuts will end 10 staff positions next year from the Okanagan Skaha School District. The 2013-14 budget was approved by trustees on Monday. On the block are 2.4 full-time equivalent positions with more to come in September. Teachers will lose 7.7 worth of their colleagues thanks to a projected student enrollment drop of 139.4...

B.C. will hold a general vote for its 40th election tomorrow but 6,475 Penticton residents have already made their mark in advance polls. That's a little more than 15 per cent of the 42,651 eligible voters in the riding. Four candidates have thrown in their hats for a chance to be the Penticton riding MLA....

NDP leader Adrian Dix flew into Penticton Monday night to make a last-minute visit with supporters. Dix and NDP candidate Richard Cannings got a large crowd cheering at the party's Penticton office on Main Street. "I'm so proud to stand here with all of you," he said, adding the NDP has run a positive campaign...