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Family with prohibited pet pig appeals to Vernon council
VERNON - This little piggy wants to stay home, but a little known Vernon bylaw stands in the way. In the hope of keeping their pet pig Felix, a local family is asking Vernon council for a variance to the Animal Regulation and Animal Pound Bylaw, which states swine cannot be kept within the city,...
Naked Kelowna cyclists plan to ride with respect
KELOWNA - Responding to rumours of possible interference in their event, and concerns about conflict with the Fat Cat Children’s Festival, organizers of Nake Bike Ride Kelowna say they will respond with civil obedience. “If police or bylaw were to show up, if they demand we cover up, we will comply. We’re not there to...
Adjudicators replace judges for bylaw disputes in Thompson-Nicola Regional District
KAMLOOPS - If you receive a bylaw ticket in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and choose to dispute it, you’ll no longer take it to provincial court. The district gained provincial approval to scrap court visits and bring the debate to a private hearing with an adjudicator instead with the process beginning this month. Regina Sadilkova,...
What do drones, e-cigarettes and geocaches have in common?
KELOWNA - Flying drones, e-cigarettes and geocaches are all soon to be targetted in Kelowna’s updated parks bylaw. “Things change, new issues emerge,” says parks supervisor Ian Wilson, who will present the proposed changes to city council on Monday, March 23. E-cigarettes will be banned in all public parks under the revamped bylaw. Wilson says...
West Kelowna takes aim at medical marijuana dispensaries
WEST KELOWNA - Enquiries about setting up a medical marijuana dispensary on the Westside have prompted the district to close what they describe as a loophole in their business licensing bylaw. “We are adding a sentence into the bylaw that essentially says a business must be in compliance with both the Criminal Code and the...
Why the City of Kelowna wants your dog on a leash
KELOWNA - The warm weather means more residents and their dogs are out enjoying the outdoors, and in some cases, that's leading to conflicts with wildlife. The City of Kelowna issued a press release Thursday afternoon asking dog walkers to help ensure wildlife can enjoy the nice weather too. Park Services was recently notified of...
City drops fines against man who feeds crows in Valleyview
KAMLOOPS – Bird-feeder Toby Jackson will not be going to court after he and Kamloops Community Safety Manager Jon Wilson came to an agreement today, Jan. 26. In November, Jackson was fined by the city for attracting crows to his cul-de-sac after feeding them peanuts. His neighbour complained to the city's bylaw department and Jackson...
Longer grace period coming to Vernon parking meters
VERNON - Thanks to a directive from city council, when you pay for 15 minutes of parking downtown Vernon, you now get 20. Council increased the parking meter grace period to five minutes from two Monday, Jan. 12. More than 900 parking meters will be reprogrammed at a cost of roughly $3,200 to provide the...
Changes could be coming at Vernon parking meters
VERNON - Vernon currently has the shortest grace period among nearby communities when it comes to expired parking meters, but that could be about to change. City council will vote on changing the grace period to five minutes from the current two next Monday to make downtown Vernon more customer friendly. City staff reviewed other...
Council feels the love following public hearing
PENTICTON - Monday’s public hearing packed the gallery at city hall with residents, some of whom spilled out into the corridors. The business at hand concerned a piece of city-owned property located at 1400 Riddle Road, to be re-designated in the Official Community Plan from residential to parks and recreation prior to Monday’s council meeting...
Vote Elephant Storage signs mock actions at Vernon City Hall
VERNON - When he heard his city councillors were openly breaking one of their own bylaws, Vernon resident Wade Cantalope decided to have some fun. You may have noticed a slightly unusual political sign along the roadways: Vote Elephant Storage Centre. Cantalope, who owns the storage company, isn’t actually running in the election. His campaign...
How the Penticton Indian Band is handling wild horses
PENTICTON - Wild horses are becoming a greater problem in Penticton as they continue to wander off band land and onto highways, causing injury to themselves and drivers. But despite the need to remove hundreds of horses, the band chief says there will always be horses on their land. There are over 600 horses on...
City wants bylaw officers to have more power to protect dogs
KAMLOOPS - Hot dogs, cold dogs and loose dogs — city council wants to give bylaw officers the authority to deal with them all. “This is more complicated than just breaking windows,” Coun. Ken Christian says. “You can’t legislate against stupidity and we keep trying to do that, and we keep trying to do that...
Public can weigh in on Mixed Martial Arts ban
VERNON - The public will soon get a chance to provide input on a controversial Mixed Martial Arts bylaw. The City of Vernon has given first readings to the bylaw, which would ban professional MMA events. Members of the public can have their say on the bylaw at the start of the Sept. 8 council...
Proposed Lavington pellet plant moves forward
COLDSTREAM - A controversial pellet plant has overcome a significant hurdle. Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Tolko Industries have the go ahead to rezone the land intended for the plant though it wasn’t an easy, or unanimous decision for Coldstream council. Third reading of the rezoning bylaw scraped through deliberations with four councillors voting in favour...
Council signs off on election restrictions
KELOWNA – A bylaw passed by councillors Monday caps the number of election signs you can legally display on your property. Effective immediately, no private or public places can display more than two signs for any single candidate. According to Karen Needham, the changes have been made as a result of concerns raised by council...
Vernon drafts ban on mixed martial arts
VERNON - Vernon is hitting mixed martial arts where it hurts. City council is moving forward with the creation of a bylaw that would ban Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events within municipal limits. “We don’t need them,” Coun. Bob Spiers says. “It’s just the association with the type of people that run those events and...
HAZMAT called to contain chlorine leak
KELOWNA - The HAZMAT team was called to the Rutland Water Works pump Friday morning for a reported chlorine leak though evacuation of the area was not required. The Kelowna Fire Department received the call at 10:29 a.m. and when the team arrived they discovered a regulator malfunction on a 150 pound bottle of chlorine...
All signs point to pet poop problem in public parks
KELOWNA - Poop has long been a source of endless humour with kids, now a new sign strategy by the RDCO is attempting to make it funny for adults as well. Rather than warning about fines, the doggy doo-not plan uses friendly reminders to educate pet owners and encourage responsibility. Communications officer Bruce Smith says...
Neighbours push for nuisance bylaw
KAMLOOPS - Some say it's different living in North Shore, worrying about gunfire, stolen vehicles and arson. These are the things North Shore residents Joanne Forde and Angela Rigby say they deal with daily and they hope the city will soon put a bylaw in place to help bylaw and police officers deal with the nuisance...
Nuisance property owners could face charges
KAMLOOPS - Potential changes to how the city deals with nuisance properties would see the owners of properties generating a lot of calls to bylaw and police officers charged for those services. City Community Safety and Enforcement Manager Jon Wilson says staff has been looking at the way Nanaimo deals with nuisance properties and whether...
In their shoes: Riding along with Vernon bylaw
VERNON - I thought bylaw officers spent all their time shoving parking tickets on my windshield with uncanny timing until I suited up in a protective vest and accompanied them on a typical evening shift. We didn’t go near a single parking meter. On a Friday night, Vernon bylaw officer Russ Lutsenko handed me the...
RCMP warning longboarders of bylaws, fines
KAMLOOPS – RCMP are reminding skateboarders and longboarders to take precautions when it comes to riding on city streets. Cpl. Cheryl Bush says it’s important for riders to take note of the restricted areas in the city, which include the downtown core, the North Shore area around Tranquille road and 16 steep grade roads. Bush...