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Shannon Quesnel
Living with Christmas 2013
Christmas can be exhilarating and exhausting. Whether it's visiting family in five different homes or scrambling for a last minute gift for that special someone you remembered existed the biggest holiday of the year can be packed with stuff to do and things to groan about. What are some of your 2013 crazy or memorable...
Luminous locations for Christmas light fans
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Electric luminous wonderlands are scattered all over and just north of the Okanagan valley this holiday season. From Kamloops to Vernon to Kelowna there's plenty of homemade and store-bought illuminated extravaganzas in front yards, back yards, over garages and on top of roofs. The maps down below will have markers for the best...
No more free rides for Summerland
SUMMERLAND - Better bring money as well as cloth grocery bags before heading to Penticton to shop as Summlerland Transit fares kick in on New Year's Day. The route between Summerland and Penticton was free since it started on Oct. 28. The free ride was to entice riders to stick with the transit service when...
Fire burns Cawston resident, home
KEREMEOS - A Cawston resident suffered burns when his rented mobile home caught fire Thursday night. The Keremeos Volunteer Fire Department arrived at 665 Beecroft Ave. around 11:30 p.m. to find the home's front half fully engulfed in flames. A nearby smaller building was also on fire. Thirteen firefighters, two fire trucks and two support...
Flee to mountain, avoid hectic shopping crowds
PENTICTON - Between last minute shopping, picking up relatives from the airport and prepping a house for Christmas Day there might be a smidgen of time for some fun. The weather might also co-operate with snowfall ending early this evening with a low of -3 Celsius. Hopefully, people will be mostly indoors as there will...
Higher ticket price for patient care tower business plan
PENTICTON - The new patient care tower just got a little pricier thanks to the cost of a requested business case going from $500,000 to $700,000. The Okanagan Similkameen Regional Hospital District will now be asked to fork over $282,000 instead of $200,000 to cover 40 per cent of the bill as explained by Regional District Okanagan...
Tax hike kicks off 2014 budget process
PENTICTON - A tax hike of 4.85 per cent in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is on the planning table but this increase might not apply to everyone. Regional district staff estimated the operating budget for 2014 at $27.7 million in the 2014 budget bylaw's first reading today. This covers shared regional expenses as...
“Our dead people have it real good here.”
INCREASED CEMETERY RATES STILL BETTER THAN OTHER COMMUNITIES PENTICTON - Cemetery rates are going up but a councillor is not concerned about those left behind looking elsewhere for a better deal. Penticton's leadership approved increasing the fees for plots, interment, staff overtime and more so city-owned cemeteries can get closer to breaking even. The city...
City’s 2% tax hike marks first increase in 3 years
CITY VOTES NO TO REPLACING TWO RETIRED FIREFIGHTERS PENTICTON - Council will raise taxes by two per cent and take $182,000 from reserves to pay off 2014's projected operating deficit of $935,000. This marks the first tax increase in three years and a reversal of 2011's decision to drop taxes by .5 per cent. This...
Design firm selected to fix city creek
PENTICTON - The city's flood control, Penticton Creek, will get the best care through a design firm talented enough for the job. Coun. Judy Sentes said at Monday's council meeting StanTec was the best firm out of 12 to fix the city-length man-made stream system. "You have no idea of the deterioration of the creek," she...
Bail breach witnesses to appear via video
PENTICTON - An ex-cop who shot and killed his wife wants his bail breach charge dropped. Keith Gregory Wiens, 58, told Judge Meg Shaw in Penticton provincial court December 16 he would rather have three witnesses for his bail breach case appear in court, in person, than appear via video. Wiens, who was convicted and...
Business owners protest cycle lane
PENTICTON - Bicyclists and business owners planted their red flag again for the city's green bike lane plans. Business owner Rick Valenti presented a stack of letters from fellow Ellis Street owners and residents, some who are cyclists themselves, to city council on Monday night. Valenti said 100 per cent of Ellis Street businesses are...
New cinema gets $125,000 shot
PENTICTON - A $125,000 shot in the arm might be too large a dose but council still approved the loan to the new Penmar cinema/theatre project. Coun. Andrew Jakubeit said Penmar's stakeholders have a "realistic action plan", a great location and the support of professional fundraisers such as the Penticton Community Arts Society, the Downtown...
New hospital expansion still on track: Perrino
PENTICTON - It's not a bad thing to temporarily turn over the site of Penticton's future hospital to a self-storage business. The two acres next to the Penticton Regional Hospital will still be available when it comes time to build the new expansion South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation executive director Janice Perrino said. The expansion...
Ex-cop continues bail breach fight
PENTICTON - Ex-cop Keith Gregory Wiens continues his fight against a charge of breaching his bail. Wiens, 58, a former Mountie, is doing a life sentence for shooting and killing his spouse, Lynn Kalmring, at their Penticton home on Aug. 16, 2011. He isn't up for parole for 13 years. Wiens is set to represent...
Owners see red over planned Ellis Street green bike lanes
PENTICTON - Controversial bike lane plans will be on the barbecue at city hall tonight as a delegation will grill city council about bike lanes for Ellis Street. Back in October, Penticton council chambers were chock full of annoyed business owners and curious cyclists over plans to put green bike lane strips on Ellis Street....
Aggressive coyotes hunted by conservation officer
SUMMERLAND - A conservation officer has killed one coyote and is hunting two more believed responsible for attacking a woman walking a dog Wednesday morning. Conservation officer Sgt. Jim Beck was out in Summerland on Friday where the attack took place. He said he normally doesn't go after coyotes, but Wednesday's event called for direct intervention....
All aboard the Santa Express
SUMMERLAND - For everyone who wanted a train set for Christmas here is something a bit better - a chance to ride a steam locomotive with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The Summerland Christmas Express is an annual event put on by the Kettle Valley Steam Railway. Tickets were sold out for its holiday season run...
Residents safe after fire destroys home outside protection zone
THOMPSON/OKANAGAN - There was nothing to be done for a burning home outside Peachland's fire department area of responsibility. A fire was reported around 3:45 p.m. yesterday but when Peachland Fire and Rescue Service learned there was no one in the two-storey home on the 4500 block of Trepanier Road they could not respond. Instead,...
Stuffed deer centrepiece of Nazarene church display
PENTICTON - It appears a deer found its way into the Church of the Nazarene and is lurking behind a nativity scene in front of the pews, but it's no wandering herbivore looking for warmth or an easy meal. It's actually the stuffed head and neck of a white-tailed deer and it's part of a...
Summerland woman fights off coyotes to defend dog
'HER COAT WAS COVERED IN BLOOD AND THERE ARE HUGE TEARS IN BOTH SLEEVES.' SUMMERLAND - A woman was bloodied Wednesday after she held her ground between three attacking coyotes and her dog but she and her partner don't want the predators demonized. Sarah James was too distraught to speak but told the whole story...
Rock in sock nets man weapon conviction
PENTICTON - Putting a rock in a sock was enough for a judge to convict a Penticton man with a weapon charge. Provincial Court Judge Gregory Koturbash found Anthony Leonard Donald Samuelson, 20, guilty of assault with a weapon and aggravated assault for attacking another person last winter near the bridge on Front Street. The...
Family homeless after fire destroys roof
KEREMEOS - A home-destroying blaze has put a Cawston family out into the cold this holiday season. On Monday the roof of a Ferko Road residence caught fire and collapsed into the home, Keremeos Volunteer Fire Department fire chief Jordy Bosscha said. There were two occupants at the time but they escaped unharmed. There was a...
Gallagher Lake business suffering thanks to road work
"IT'S SO BAD PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO CALL IT THE BROKE-ANAGAN OLIVER - Several businesses are alleging financial injury from sewer and water line installations meant to make the Gallagher Lake area more developer friendly. Scot Hutchinson, owner of Route 97 Motorcycle and Sales, said his business has been crippled by the the installation of...