Shannon Quesnel

By Shannon Quesnel Residents and visitors need to prevent encounters with grizzly bears and their smaller black bear cousins. The warm Okanagan Valley weather has stirred bears out of hibernation and they are looking to guzzle some high calorie food. Bears will go after easy targets such as garbage cans and bird feeders. The Bear...

By Shannon Quesnel A former Keremeos man was given a suspended sentence for arson Friday. Inderjit Chima, 37, attempted to burn down his restaurant, the former Riverbed Bistro in Keremeos, on May 26, 2011 using a small jerry can filled with $10 worth of gasoline. Even though no fire was set he was charged with...

By Shannon Quesnel Greyback Construction Ltd. got the bid to improve Penticton's Lakeshore Drive in a special Thursday council meeting. The Penticton-based contractor submitted the successful bid with the lowest price for conducting the work. The Waterfront Oversight Committee recommended the contract be awarded for $1.8 million. Mayor Dan Ashton is happy. "This is an...

By Shannon Quesnel The Okanagan Basin Water Board has awarded three area groups $37,500 in grants to better protect the area's water supply and marine life. The Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society received $10,000 for its invasive mussel prevention program. The money will be used for public education on the dangers of zebra and...

By Shannon Quesnel Two people are in custody and waiting for their day in court for allegedly stealing a van belonging to the Penticton Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday. Megan Anne Roberts, 26 and Curtis Sopkow, 33 were arrested some time after a witness saw the club's van crash into a parked car late...

By Shannon Quesnel Two suspects have been arrested in connection with a van theft thanks to keen-eyed Penticton residents. On Wednesday at 5:40 pm Penticton RCMP were told a woman crashed into a parked car on Lakeshore near Winnipeg Street. Residents of the nearby apartment high rise noted the woman and a man flee the...

By Shannon Quesnel Wine lovers will have a $200,000 social media hub to visit thanks to the province and the British Columbia Wine Institute. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick was at the B.C. VQA Wine Information Centre in Penticton yesterday to partake of some local vintage with the institute's executive director Miles Prodan, Chef Jeff Van...

By Shannon Quesnel Biologist Richard 'Dick' Cannings is ready to take the job of being the Penticton MLA. Two NDP veterans said as much on Wednesday at the NDP Penticton campaign office. Former MLA Jim Beattie and BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko were there to boost Cannings profile for the May 14 provincial election....

By Shannon Quesnel Jamie Paul Wolanski pled guilty to breaching his bail but the six-month sentence he was given will be considered time-served. The former Penticton Secondary School student appeared in Penticton Provincial Court today via video. He has been in custody for breaching bail conditions set after he was arrested for allegedly killing Penticton...

By Shannon Quesnel A thief stole a Penticton Boys and Girls Club van and escaped a police pursuit on Saturday and the RCMP want the public's help in catching the person. At about 8 a.m. Penticton RCMP investigated an alarm at the boys and girls club on Manitoba Street. An officer spotted a light blue...

By Shannon Quesnel City of Penticton and citizens will work on a new small park between Gahan Avenue and Eckhardt Avenue East. This was the decision reached after dozens of homeowners told council no to residential development and yes to lending a hand for a new pocket park at 455-509 Gahan Ave. and 518 Eckhardt...

By Shannon Quesnel Recreation costs took a dive at Penticton Community Centre yesterday. New admission rates and rules will make the centre more affordable for seniors and First Nation residents. More seniors will be eligible for savings thanks to the age requirement dropping from 65 years of age to 60. There will also be a...

By Shannon Quesnel David Bobbitt's expected pleas to assault and sex-assault charges will wait until April 29. Bobbitt appeared in Penticton Supreme Court today via video. He was expected to make pleas to charges of aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, assault with a weapon, two counts of unlawful confinement and two counts of making threats....

By Shannon Quesnel A Princeton man charged with two counts of murder has been identified as John Ike Koopmans, 49. Koopmans was arrested on the weekend and faces second degree murder charges and one count of attempted murder. He was expected in Penticton Provincial Court today but he will be in custody in Kamloops until...

By Shannon Quesnel A 49-year-old Princeton man has been charged with two counts of second degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The charges relate to the murders of Robert Keith Wharton, 44 and Rosemary Fox, 32 and the attempted murder of a 48-year-old man on Saturday evening at a property on Old Hedley...

By Shannon Quesnel Snack food and movie tickets just got cheaper today. No, it's not an April Fool's joke. Businesses will now be returning to the former seven per cent PST after taking the past two-and-a-half years getting used to the HST which added the five per cent GST – the federal goods and services...

By Shannon Quesnel A man was arrested in connection with a triple shooting in Princeton which killed a man, a woman and injured another male. The suspect was arrested without incident in Princeton at about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. The subject remains in custody. Police have stated everyone involved in the shootings knew each other....

By Shannon Quesnel A Penticton man was found guilty in Penticton Provincial Court today of stabbing another man three times in an ongoing argument. Judge Gale Sinclair declared Joshua Rex Mason guilty of aggravated assault in the stabbing of Penticton resident Clayton Bonthoux on July 27 at the victim's home at 296 Power St. The...

By Shannon Quesnel Penticton and Osoyoos will shine this weekend thanks to warm weather and a near-zero chance of rain. Thermometers should show 16 C tomorrow in both communities, followed by a high of 19 C on Saturday, 20 C on Sunday and 21 C on Monday. “That's getting into almost record breaking territory,” Doug...

By Shannon Quesnel A homeless man and a dog were almost crushed early this morning. A recycling truck picked up a cardboard recycling dumpster at 1636 Main St. Inside the dumpster was a homeless man and his dog. The driver started to compact the load when the homeless man banged on the truck's interior. The...

By Shannon Quesnel Suicide is the most common cause of death for those with Lyme disease. Deborah Hart and Lance Tycholaz know this. Both of them have been living with it. After years of being misdiagnosed and suffering with symptoms some Lyme disease sufferers opt to kill themselves. Hart and Tycholaz were at a Lyme disease...

By Shannon Quesnel The province will set the land on fire in the Bald Range from March 28 to May 15. Controlled burning in this area will help with ecosystem restoration and it will be handled by the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch and the Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource District. The Bald Range covers about 150...

RCMP are looking for a man in connection to a Saturday robbery at an Acacia Crescent residence. At about 6 a.m. a homeowner was confronted by an unknown man inside the attached garage of the home. The homeowner told police he was awoken by suspicious noises. The owner looked outside his front door and didn't see...