News software lost in Sportsplex theft

PENTICTON – The news has stopped temporarily, but the music plays on at SO Country Internet radio.

A break-in at the Adidas Sportsplex in Penticton on the weekend cost well-known Internet radio broadcaster Dennis Walker his news software program.

Early Sunday morning, Feb. 15, Walker was at his studio, which is set up in the Sportsplex, airing his morning show from 3:30 a.m. until around 6:30 a.m. He left for breakfast and returned around 7:30 to find his news computer – and his news program – gone.

“I found the side door of the Sportsplex with a broken lock, and my studio door had been ripped open,”  Walker said. “The news computer had been carefully disconnected and methodically removed.”

Walker’s studio has been in the Sportsplex for a little over two years.

He’s been able to broadcast since, but hasn’t been able to deliver the news without the program. He says the software manufacturer, Burli, has been very helpful as he attempts to get his news programs back on the air.

“It was a special program for news editing, but the good news is, I’ve found out since the theft I only have to buy it once,” Walker said on Feb.17.

“I was insured, so I’m really out only the computer, as Burli will reinstall the software,” he said, noting he has been inundated with “kind words of encouragement by his listeners since the theft. He said although he appreciates everyone’s good will, he doesn’t want anyone to host a fundraiser to help him recoup his losses.

“What I’m really missing are the interviews and photographs that were on the computer,” he said. “Those are the things I can’t replace."

Sergeant Rick Dellebuur, media relations officer for Penticton RCMP said police believe the suspect used a bicycle during the theft. He said police are asking the public to be on the lookout for a Toshiba laptop.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.