Shannon Quesnel

An alleged murder victim in Hedley has been identified as 55-year-old Douglas Smith. Cst. Lesley Smith said the Southeast District Major Crime Unit continues to investigate the alleged homicide. Last week, RCMP were called to the residence at about 8 p.m. on March 6. They found Smith dead. The major crime unit  are looking for...

By Shannon Quesnel A logging truck is suspected to have badly injured a pair of wild horses on Friday morning on Highway 97, north of Penticton. Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said the driver of the truck was never caught or identified. A witness had called the police about the event. When RCMP officers arrived the two...

By Shannon Quesnel Area social programs are getting some TLC (tender-loving-cash) from the provincial government. Three organizations and two anti-bullying campaigns will be getting $221,500. About $177,000 will come from the Community Gaming Grants program and $45,500 will come from civil forfeiture proceeds. Civil forfeiture seizes property or items alleged to have been used in...

By Shannon Quesnel RCMP confirm they are investigating a homicide of a 55-year-old man in Hedley. The Southeast District Major Crime Unit were called in to a Hedley residence where a dead man was discovered. Police arrived on Wednesday at about 8 p.m. Const. Lesley Smith said no further information will be provided at this...

By Shannon Quesnel Okanagan Lake might be facing disaster if zebra and quagga mussels infect it. Water consultant Heather Larratt brought her message of doom to the Thursday board meeting of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. She said these species can do millions in damage to Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake. These invasive critters, no...

Police are at a Hedley residence to investigate a suspicious death. The BC Coroners Service and the Southeast District Major Crime Unit are at a home where a dead man was found. RCMP were called to the scene at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. A police spokesperson said there is no new information but more might...

RCMP have asked the public if they have seen 81-year-old Olivene Bourke who has been missing since 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Bourke was last seen around noon when she got off a transit bus near Cherry Lane Mall. She might also have been seen at about 2 p.m. near the Skaha Lake Road and Channel Parkway...

By Shannon Quesnel Apex Freestyle Ski Club will get a City of Penticton bailout to the tune of $2,000. The group has an $8,000 budget shortfall for hosting the FIS Nor-Am Cup and the Canadian Junior Nationals Freestyle Skiing Championships. The club wants $2,000 each from Area E, Area F and the City of Penticton....

A cross-border investigation has identified human remains as Miguel Joao Goncalves of Keremeos who went missing in Washington State in 2007. The breakthroughs in this five-year-old case started in March, 2012. At a weekly B.C. and Washington State law enforcement meeting, the Osoyoos RCMP learned of an unsolved Okanogan County human remains investigation from 2008....

By Shannon Quesnel About 150 demonstrators stood in bad weather today in support of a doctor-led plan to get a $300-million expansion for the Penticton Regional Hospital. The demonstration was led by the Penticton Medical Society and its president Dr. David Paisley. The society and the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation want the province to...

PHOTO RADAR TO BE PUT ON PROVINCE'S RADAR By Shannon Quesnel Parkway Elementary School will get its speed reader board thanks to Penticton city council reversing one of its decisions. This Monday, city council agreed to help the school and its parent advisory committee (PAC) with the cost of a new speed reader board. This...

By Shannon Quesnel About 150 people, and hundreds of drivers, hollered and honked today in support of the Penticton Regional Hospital's patient care tower. Doctors, nurses, citizens and politicians formed a rally in front of the hospital. Everyone waved their hands and signs on both sides of the Government Street and Carmi Avenue intersection. Drivers...

By Shannon Quesnel Penticton's leadership wants smokers to butt out before hitting the beach. City councillors voted five-to-one at Monday's council meeting to ban smoking at publicly-owned beachesincluding Okanagan Lake, Skaha Lake, Marina Way, Sudbury Beach and Three Mile Beach. Coun. Wesley Hopkin voted against the idea. He argued smoking is legal, the beaches are...

"IT WAS KIND OF WEIRD" By Shannon Quesnel Someone in Penticton might have been driving a burning van last night. At 4:28 a.m. the Penticton Fire Department was told a vehicle was burning on Columbia Street. When a fire truck and its crew arrived at the scene there was no sign of the vehicle. Only...

By Shannon Quesnel Warm weather can be hard to find in Canada unless you live in Penticton, B.C. People are being frozen in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario and are being buried by snow in Newfoundland and Labrador. Out in B.C., in the Okanagan Valley, spring has arrived. Every day that passes people are wearing less...