Shannon Quesnel

PENTICTON — Breaking water restrictions could mean a $25 fee each and every time the rules are broken. The City of Penticton has put Stage One water restrictions in effect. That means those with automatic irrigation systems should set them to operate from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. while those with manual sprinklers can water...

PENTICTON — The regional board will hold an election July 4 to fill the chair Dan Ashton left after stepping down to be Penticton's MLA. Ashton resigned on Wednesday. Since his absence vice-chair Mark Pendergraft has been acting chair. Chief Administrative Officer Bill Newell said the board will elect one of its own members to...

Transportation ministry to examine runaway lane once wreckage is removed PENTICTON — Anarchist Mountain has a 50-hectare fire cooking its slopes but the blaze is considered under control as of Thursday. The wildfire is 100 per cent contained, fire information officer Melissa Welsh said. The area did receive rain on Wednesday night and still has...

PENTICTON — A non-profit group wants to grade the entire Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen through an online survey.  The Community Foundation of the South Okanagan wants as many people from Cawston, Hedley, Kaleden, Keremeos, Naramata, Okanagan Falls, Olalla, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton, Princeton and Summerland to decide what issues are the most important. Childhood obesity,...

PENTICTON — A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for Penticton and most of the South Okanagan area. Environment Canada said heavy downpours are possible for Thursday afternoon and evening. Large hail stones and damaging winds might also accompany the storms. It's expected 10 to 15 mm of rain could fall per hour. There is...

PENTICTON - Two more councillors and a 2011 election candidate say they will not be running for the mayor's job. First time councillors Wesley Hopkin and Helena Konanz said they will not be putting on their election shoes and running in the mayor's race. Konanz said she was encouraged by friends and supporters but she...

PENTICTON — Anarchist Mountain has a 50-hectare fire cooking its slopes but the blaze is considered under control as of Thursday. The wildfire is 100 per cent contained, fire information officer Melissa Welsh said. The area did receive rain on Wednesday night and still has 37 firefighters working the site on Thursday. Crews are suppressing...

COUN. GARRY LITKE A CANDIDATE; TWO COUNCILLORS DECLINE PENTICTON — There will be two seats on city council up for grabs whenever Mayor Dan Ashton decides he can't hold down three jobs. Ashton won the Penticton MLA seat in the May 14 provincial election. He was officially sworn on Tuesday as a member of the...

Trust fund to be created for burned man PENTICTON - A fiery explosion has left nothing for a local Olalla man when he gets out of Vancouver General Hospital. All of Randie Walker's possessions, including the motor home he lived in at 1450 Main St. in Olalla, was destroyed by a blaze made worse by...

PENTICTON — MLA Dan Ashton plans on keeping his promise to cover a portion of Penticton's by-election costs up to $35,000. Ashton resigned as Penticton's mayor Wednesday, in person, at City Hall. He then stepped down as board chair of the Regional Okanagan Similkameen board, a position he's held for 12 years. He said it...

PENTICTON — MLA Dan Ashton plans on resigning as mayor and as chair of the regional board today. Ashton was at his home in Summerland on Wednesday. On Tuesday he was sworn in as MLA in Victoria. He won the right in the May 14 general election when he beat NDP candidate Richard Cannings by...

PENTICTON — A student might get a chance to work aboard a boat that has its likeness on the back of the $50 bill. Vice-principal Jennifer Wingham of KVR Middle School said CCGS Amundsen is an Arctic icebreaker and science ship. Its education program, Schools on Board, allows a handful of students and teachers to...

PENTICTON — The absence of a family life program for schools could jeopardize future relationships, a victims' advocate said. "We are concerned because a lot of safe sex and healthy relationship (education) should be a part of growing up in any school," Christine Schwarz said. The acting director of the South Okanagan Victims Assistance Society...

PENTICTON — The sentencing for a man charged with sexually abusing a minor was put off due to scheduling conflicts and health matters in Penticton Provincial Court today. Rene Mark Burke, 56, was found guilty earlier this year of sex crimes committed in 2011 against a teenager. Burke was expected to be sentenced on Tuesday...

PENTICTON — A coroner inquest will be held in February into the death of a man who died in Penticton RCMP custody. Steven Joseph Scott, 30, of no fixed address, died Aug. 10 in a cell at the Penticton RCMP detachment. Scott has been charged in the past for public disturbance, resisting arrest, being unlawfully...