Shannon Quesnel

PENTICTON - Winter is coming and it's bringing gifts and cheer instead of gloom and doom. The SS Sicamous Christmas Market is first up with handmade crafts and eclectic gifts Saturday and Sunday. Both floors of the vessel will be crammed with samples of baked goods and camaraderie as such events are excuses to catch...

PENTICTON - Extremely tiny chlorine leaks at the Penticton Community Centre prompted two evacuations early Thursday morning. Pool users were wrapped in blankets and escorted to the Memorial Arena after an alarm sounded just before 7:45 a.m. a building official said. Maintenance staff were working on the chlorine system used to disinfect the pool when...

PENTICTON - There's been a lot of sleepless nights for Salvation Army supervisor Reg Petrie whenever the weather turns cold. "Sometimes I stare at the ceiling, worrying about so-and-so and so-and-so," Petrie said. He looks after two shelters, Cheers the Church and Compass House that also serve as cold weather emergency locations for people trying...

UPDATED at 2:17 p.m., Nov. 15, 2013 PENTICTON - Power has been restored to the entire city  as of 11:11 a.m. including the Naramata Road area and the smaller pockets in the community. UPDATED at 9 a.m., Nov. 15 2013 PENTICTON - City and Fortis B.C. staff might have to re-route electricity to solve an...

PENTICTON - It could be five years before women fleeing abuse will have a place to go to that offers it all — emergency housing, lawyers, and family councelors — but changes are happening at the current facility. These days, the South Okanagan Women in Need Society, having shifted their office from the second floor...

PENTICTON - Martin Street was hot with police action on Thursday with several arrests made for heroin and cocaine possession. Two Penticton men, Wesley James Yungen, 41 and Bradley Scott Thompson, 40, were arrested and charged with trafficking and possession of heroin. An unidentified woman, 62, was arrested and released. She might face a charge...

PENTICTON - Flu clinics and shopping malls might not be the first places a person thinks of when imagining where marijuana supporters like to hang but these spots helped a cannabis legalization petition reach 3,500 signatures. And seniors have been the biggest supporters of legalization out of the thousands who have signed, Sensible B.C.'s Amanda...

PENTICTON - Poker enthusiasts in Penticton will get a lesson in knowing when to fold 'em when the Gambler's Through The Years World Tour rolls into the South Okanagan Convention Centre, Feb. 27. Kenny Rogers, 75, will bring his famous tenor voice and a new 11-track album, You Can't Make Old Friends which has country...

PENTICTON - It was nearly standing room only for the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre. The three halls were open to allow hundreds of visitors inside to sit and stand before the stage. Those who could not find a seat stood outside within ear shot of the speeches, the reading...

MAN SAVES BIRD AFTER STORE WINDOW COLLISION PENTICTON - Rescuing a small bird knocked senseless after a collision with a window put a smile on Lloyd Nendick's face. The Penticton man was sitting on a bench near city hall on Main Street Saturday with a cigarette in one hand and a small bird and a...

PENTICTON - Snoopy and Capt. Roy Brown have two things in common. They both flew Sopwith Camels and both shot down the Red Baron although everyone's favourite beagle did it in a song. Brown did it for real in the skies above France. Pentictonite Julia (Daphne) Trefry, 72, said she never met her uncle, Capt....

CITY COUNCIL, PENTICTON HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION AT ODDS OVER MARKETING MONEY PENTICTON - Two big groups who are supposed to be marketing Penticton are instead arguing on how to do it which has caused no small frustration for city council. Chief financial officer Colin Fisher confirmed the city has so far spent about $21,000 in legal...

PENTICTON - Challenge Penticton 2014 gives top spots to two familiar faces, Steve Brown and Kelly Hopkins. Brown returns in 2014 as race operations director which builds on his previous work in 2013. He is the owner of Peach City Athletics, has a background in financial management and has been responsible for organizing races in...

PENTICTON - Interested pot growers looking to go corporate have been knocking on the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen's door for available sites and zoning rules including the ones on agricultural land reserves. On April 1 the only legal sources to obtain medical marijuana will be through producers approved by Health Canada which will shut...

PENTICTON - The Penticton Hospitality Association might roll up its sleeves for a possible tangle with the city over control of the two per cent hotel room tax. City council claims the association has breached its marketing obligations by not spending enough of the $400,000 collected annually from the tax but association president Rob Appelman...

PENTICTON - The calendar of things-to-do is a little sparse this weekend but there will be plenty of nuts over at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre to enjoy. The festive weekend will be followed by the more sombre Remembrance Day on Monday. Rancho Vignola will hold its Harvest Event, a two-day free-to-attend show, showcasing...

PENTICTON - The Okanagan Skaha School District will fill in policy gaps by drafting whistleblower and trustee code-of-conduct and trustee conflict-of-interest rules. The gaps were noted by B.C.'s auditor general when during a provincial school board review auditor staff noticed many boards do not have such rules and guidelines. School District 67 secretary-treasurer Bonnie Roller...

PENTICTON - The proposed and controversial Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project will make for interesting dinner conversation at a Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Nov. 18. The pipeline is a joint-venture between private entities, the federal government, B.C. and Alberta. Once built the pipes are to send oil product from the...

PENTICTON - No one stepped forward at city council to protest Opal Nite Club's plans to extend its hours despite the city receiving several letters opposing just such a move. Club ownership and staff appeared before Penticton's leadership at Monday's council meeting to ask for its support to amend its liquor license with the B.C....

PENTICTON - How a man died in an RCMP jail cell will be examined by the B.C. Coroner's Service in a Penticton court this February. Steven Joseph Scott, 30, of no fixed address, died on Aug. 10, 2012 while in custody in the RCMP cells in Penticton which triggered a mandatory investigation. The inquest will...