Shannon Quesnel

The lives of 149 B.C. workers who died last year will be remembered on the Annual Day of Mourning on April 26 in Penticton. The public is invited to the memorial tree in front of McLaren Park Arena at 1350 King St. where acting mayor Garry Litke will read a city proclamation. Residents are free...

Finding the cash to fix the area's 911 emergency services will be on the plate of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen meeting today. It will cost $1.6 million to upgrade the RDOS's 911 dispatch service which is used by fire, police and ambulance crews. The RDOS also has a contract with the City of Kelowna...

Switching from blue boxes to plastic bags for yard waste might get newspapers in the trash. BFI Canada complained to Penticton city council their staff were being injured emptying blue boxes filled with yard waste. The company wants yard trash in blue or clear plastic bags for each of the 19 yard waste collection days....

A building might be too high for some on Penticton city council. A developer wants to build an 11-storey mixed-use building at 269 Haynes St. where Raezor's Edge Marine sits. It will have eight storeys of residences, 5,000 square feet of office space, two retail units on the main floor and 44 slots for indoor...

A 36-year-old Penticton man was convicted today of luring a child through the Internet, except the child didn't exist and its unclear what, if anything, he lured her for. Stephen Robert Carl Hughes was arrested in an online sting operation on June 17 when he was a Summerland resident. The former casual employee of the Okanagan...

Penticton city council decided to not make a decision this week about construction deadlines at 450 Martin St. Instead it will be examined at the next council meeting. For several years the site at 450 Martin St. sat as a paid-parking spot. P2 Development Company Inc. owns that space. There was supposed to have been...

Penticton's acting mayor is Coun. Garry Litke who was appointed in a unanimous vote. Mayor Dan Ashton is on a leave of absence. He is running as the Liberal candidate for the Penticton riding. "I would like council to know how much I appreciate their trust in me," Litke said at Monday night's council meeting....

A Penticton man was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years today for sexually assaulting his stepdaughter and pimping her out to others. And he didn't take it well. He interrupted the sentencing proceeding by swearing and acting out. Neither he nor his stepdaughter can be identified by court order. He was convicted of five sex offences and three...

Two Penticton runners were listed to be at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Multiple explosions have been reported at the marathon's finish line in downtown Boston. Ellis Andrews, 68, and Thomas Evans, 44, of Penticton were listed as participants on the marathon's website, www.baa.org. Evans is a dentist and staff at his office told Infotel News...

Stockwell Day says he supports B.C. Liberal candidate Dan Ashton because he doesn't want the NDP to win the provincial election. Day says B.C. cannot afford the NDP being in charge again. The former federal Conservative MP was onboard the SS Sicamous last week attending a campaign fundraiser with Ashton and more than 100 supporters....

Chickens make the best customers. They always know what they want and they are easy to please. Nadine Remington of Penticton watches her two children play with the family's hens Candice and Isabella in her backyard. The two kids pretend their play house is a Sonic drive-through restaurant and the chickens are customers. "The kids...

Crime Stoppers wants tips about Tyler Edward Andrist's whereabouts. He is wanted for a breach of probation. Andrist has a lengthy criminal record and has been convicted on numerous counts of fraud, mischief and assault offences committed in Penticton. He is a 36-year-old Caucasian man, six feet and one inch in height (186 centimetres) and...

Crime Stoppers wants information about an April 30, 2012 apartment fire in Oliver which left people homeless and without their possessions. Most of the 13-unit complex was destroyed in what Crime Stoppers called, "a reckless criminal act." Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or head to www.sostips.ca for other anonymous ways...

Penticton RCMP arrested prison escapee James John Jackson, 31, on Tuesday. Jackson escaped the Ferndale Institution in Mission on March 19. He was was found hiding under a bed at a Kaleden residence and was arrested without incident. An 18-year-old female resident of Kelowna was also arrested at this location on a warrant from Kelowna....

Climate change is changing all the rules including the rules and methods used to predict future water amounts. Dr. Anna Warwick Sears said the old ways of predicting future water supplies are becoming out-of-date. The executive director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board told the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen directors there are new methods to...

Penticton city council wants to work more often with School District 67's leadership. Coun. Garry Litke said at Monday's district meeting there is a lot that can be accomplished. He said the school district and the city are already partnering with Dr. Gerry Karr's diabetes prevention program and the 2016 B.C. Winter Games. He added...

By Shannon Quesnel The April-July flood season has started and already several creeks and rivers have been showing signs of rising water. Large floods can cause massive damage. Small floods have negative effects too. Rising waters can wash out roads, damage bridges, down power lines and prevent residents from getting to where they need to...

Some of Copper Mountain Mine's riches will benefit two Similkameen First Nations. A revenue-sharing agreement has been set up between the mine's developers and the Upper and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands. The two First Nations will get a share of mineral tax revenues collected by the province from Copper Mountain. There is also a consultation...

Sentencing for a Penticton man found guilty of selling his stepdaughter for sex and sexually assaulting her will start on April 15. The man cannot be identified because of a publication ban to protect the teenage girl. He was charged and found guilty of three counts of sexual assault, sexual interference with a person under...

By Shannon Quesnel A Hedley man was arrested on Friday in connection to a fatal vehicle accident that occured on March 30. RCMP officers apprehended the 24-year-old man near Keremeos. The arrest followed a motor-vehicle accident on Highway 3, east of Hedley on March 30. Driver Steve Lee Roy of no fixed address was killed....

By Shannon Quesnel People are asked to stay away from goose nests and avoid touching goose eggs. The Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program wants Canada geese to return to their undisturbed nests with eggs inside. The management program has an egg addling project where the eggs are shaken or coated with a non-toxic biodegradable food-grade...

By Shannon Quesnel School districts want millions in holdback money from the provincial government. School District 67 will discuss a province-wide school board move at tonight's district meeting to get the BC government to release holdback funds. This includes $2.1 million used to fund BC Public School Employers' Association's operating costs. The Ministry of Education...

By Shannon Quesnel A youth-at-risk program came out on top with a $45,000 cheque from Community Gaming Grants. The Summerland Asset Development Initiative works with youth to improve their skills and activities. It topped the list of area programs and groups who work to benefit their communities. In total $193,400 was awarded by the provincial...

By Shannon Quesnel Aboriginal tourism was given a $1 million boost on Thurday in Osoyoos. The money will go to the Aboriginal Tourism Association of B.C. to support provincial tourism marketing under the umbrella of the new Crown corporation Destination British Columbia. During the previous five years the tourism association found travelers in B.C. went...