Alberta

Alberta’s oil patch woes hit home at Central Okanagan food banks

KELOWNA - Plunging oil prices and substantial layoffs in Alberta’s oil patch are making their mark here in the Central Okanagan through a surge in food bank use. Public relations director Ami Catriona says the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank, which has branches in Kelowna and West Kelowna, noticed an unusual uptick in requests around...

UPDATE: Coroner identifies victim in Shuswap house boat accident

SICAMOUS - A young Alberta woman died in a house boat accident last Friday. The accident happened on Shuswap Lake near the Cinnemousun Narrows about 15 km north of Sicamous Friday, July 10. Andrea Mary Jacura, 22, of Edmonton, Alberta died Friday while swimming in Shuswap Lake in B.C.'s Southern Interior. The woman was behind...

More B.C. wildfire personnel headed to Alberta

KAMLOOPS - Forty-one B.C. wildfire personnel, including two unit crews and an agency representative, will join the 88 others deployed earlier this week to fight wildfires in Alberta.  Crews will be stationed in Edmonton, but could be deployed elsewhere throughout that province based on fire activity and need. Along with 129 personnel, B.C. sent two...

Former Vernon Mountie facing child porn allegations arrested on unrelated charges in Alberta

VERNON - A former Vernon Mountie awaiting trial on child pornography charges was arrested in Alberta last week for impaired driving and possession of stolen property. RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Sharon Franks says Ryan Hampton, 37, was arrested Feb. 2 by police in Strathmore, Alta. After pulling him over, officers searched the vehicle and...

Serial bank robber taunts police with another robbery

VERNON – A man police allege is on a three-province robbery spree has likely hit his ninth bank just one day following an inter-provincial news blitz warning the public about him. According to a release from RCMP, the Dawson Creek RCMP responded to a hold-up alarm at a local financial institution Wednesday just before 4...