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Highway 97
RCMP seeks couple who stopped to help after Christmas Eve crash near Summerland
SUMMERLAND - A couple stopped to help the people injured in a crash on Christmas Eve day near Kickininee Park south of Summerland, and RCMP are now hoping to hear from them. Around 8:30 a.m., Dec. 24, RCMP were called to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 97. It was determined a brown Honda Odyssey minivan...
Highway rollover sends man to Kelowna General Hospital
KELOWNA - A rollover on Highway 97 early this morning has sent a 20-year-old man to hospital with serious injuries. The man was driving a white Chevrolet Blazer northbound on the highway when it hit snow at the intersection with Leckie Road around 6:50 a.m., Kelowna RCMP says in a press release. The vehicle slid...
UPDATE: Traffic moving again after car crash on Highway 97 through Kelowna
KELOWNA – A serious car crash in Kelowna this morning had the westbound lanes on Highway 97 closed near the city’s downtown causing a traffic nightmare for drivers. RCMP say traffic was moving again through the intersection of Harvey Avenue and Abbott Street at about 11:30 a.m. today, Dec. 11, once the initial investigation was complete...
Man injured in Vernon highway crash ticketed for bad driving
VERNON - A driver involved in an ugly highway accident in Vernon over the weekend was seen speeding and driving erratically leading up to the crash, police say. The 28-year-old Kelowna man was headed northbound on Highway 97 in a Honda Civic when witnesses saw him strike the median, drive through a red light, hit...
Pedestrian suffers extensive injuries jaywalking across Kelowna highway
KELOWNA - A senior remains in hospital with multiple injuries after he was struck by a vehicle while crossing the highway outside of a crosswalk or intersection Saturday night. The 65-year-old man was trying to cross Highway 97 near Leathead Road when he was struck by a green Jeep Cherokee in the northbound lane. The...
Serious Vernon car crash sends one to hospital
VERNON – A serious two-car crash just south of Vernon Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 97 and College Way sent one person to hospital. Coldstream firefighters, RCMP and B.C. Ambulance responded to the crash at about 12:40 p.m., Nov. 7. Coldstream deputy chief Bryce Green says one of the vehicles jumped a median...
Liquor store faces little opposition in UBCO neighbourhood
KELOWNA - Imagine, if you will, an application to open a liquor store in Kelowna that faced little opposition from local neighbours and in fact, will likely be warmly embraced when it finally does open. That’s because the neighbours in the building on Academy Way where the liquor store will be located are by and...
Stickle Road plan in Vernon evolves again
VERNON - Vernon’s MLA believes the latest Stickle Road plan will be a winner. It’s the third concept being looked at to improve safety at the intersection of Highway 97 and Stickle Road just north of the city. Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster says the new plan involves connecting a frontage road along the highway with...
City of Kelowna changes plan of attack for ‘extraordinary snow events’
KELOWNA - With last January’s near-record snow storm on their minds, the city is going to institute something that’s been the norm on the Prairies for decades — snow routes. “One of the biggest challenges staff face during snow cleaning efforts is vehicles on local residential streets,” public works manager Darryl Astofooroff says in a...
Kalamalka Lake lookout gets much-needed facelift
VERNON – The iconic lookout just off Highway 97 on Vernon’s south end with the spectacular view of the city, Coldstream and Kalamalka Lake is now looking pretty good thanks to an upgrade funded by provincial tax dollars. What was once a big parking lot with some garbage cans is now a full-fledged rest area...
Accident south of Vernon sends four to hospital
VERNON - Police say a car crash just south of Vernon today was caused when a driver failed to yield while merging onto the highway. RCMP Cpl. Spencer Hornoi says a truck was making a left hand turn off Birnie Road onto Highway 97 and collided with a southbound car shortly before noon, Oct. 19....
UPDATE: Highway 97 in West Kelowna reopens following head-on collision
WEST KELOWNA - A head-on collision on Highway 97 near Grizzly Drive backed up traffic in both directions this morning, Oct. 1, closing the highway and sending a 76-year-old woman to hospital in serious condition. Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Steve Holmes, says in a meida release, the collision between a Toyota sedan and a Jeep...
Two Vernon dogs escaped car crash, one still missing
VERNON - A Vernon woman is pleading with the public to keep an eye out for her dog after it jumped from a car following a crash and hasn’t been seen since. Tonya Olson says her boyfriend was driving with their two dogs, Rizza and Diego, on Sept. 21 when the vehicle spun out of...
UPDATE: Young boy dies in quadding accident in Celista
NORTH SHUSWAP - A young boy died earlier this month after the all-terrain vehicle he was riding flipped. The B.C. Coroners Service has indentified the victim as Liam Parker Smith, aged nine, from Celista, a small community on the north shore of Shuswap Lake. On Sept. 12, Smith and a friend, aged ten, were riding...
Motorcyclist collides with deer on highway by Swan Lake
VERNON - A collision between a motorcycle and a deer slowed down traffic on Highway 97 by Swan Lake Tuesday afternoon. The accident happened around noon when a southbound motorcyclist struck a deer, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says. “The motorcyclist was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries,” Noseworthy says. Traffic was impacted for a short...
Power back on for almost 3,000 in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA – An almost two hour power outage in West Kelowna this morning left thousands in the dark. The power went out at around 6:40 a.m. and came back on at about 8:18 a.m., Sept. 20, according to B.C. Hydro. The outage affected 2,827 customers in an area east of Highway 97, north of...
Serious West Kelowna car crash
WEST KELOWNA – Emergency crews are on the scene of a serious car crash in West Kelowna this afternoon. The three vehicle crash happened at about 2 p.m., Sept. 5 on Highway 97 at Boucherie Road near Friend's Pub. Three people were taken to hospital but no word on how badly they were hurt, according...
Two people in hospital after motorcycle accident on Highway 97 in Kaleden
KALEDEN – Two people were transported to hospital following a motor vehicle accident on Highway 97 near Kaleden this afternoon, Sept. 3. Kaleden Fire Chief Darlene Bailey says a man driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle was heading northbound on Highway 97 when a woman driving a Honda sedan pulled out of the Petro Can gas...
Night construction could cause traffic delays in Kelowna next week
KELOWNA - A pair of roadwork projects on the city’s major highways will cause some delays next week. On both Highway 97 and Highway 33 road construction will reduce traffic to single-lane alternating traffic, according to information posted to the province’s Drive B.C. website. Work will take place east of Hollywood Road on Highway 33...
Overnight brush fire on highway north of Vernon ‘could’ve been a different story’
SPALLUMCHEEN - Emergency crews took no chances with a brush fire burning on a slope off Highway 97 Wednesday night. Armstrong-Spallumcheen fire chief Ian Cummings says the half-acre blaze was reported just after 9 p.m., Aug. 26, just north of Greenhow Road on Highway 97. “It was quite visible, there was pretty high flames. We...
Coroner identifies North Okanagan man killed in crash
SPALLUMCHEEN - The B.C. Coroners Service has released the name of a North Okanagan man who died in a car accident last week. He was Matthew Jordon Maxime, 30, of Enderby, the Coroners Service says in a media release. Maxime was driving on Highway 97 near Eagle Rock Road in Spallumcheen, just south of Armstrong,...
Vernon cadets show bravery in moments after head-on collision
VERNON - A group of staff cadets and instructors celebrating at a recent graduation parade in Vernon didn’t hesitate to drop what they were doing and run to help those involved in a serious car crash. “The flags were just being marched on and we heard a loud bang,” Major Keri Winkelaar says. “We turned...
Crash on Highway 97 just south of Vernon
VERNON - A head-on collision near the Vernon Army Camp has sent two people to hospital with serious injuries. The accident happened around 9 a.m., Aug. 13, on Highway 97 near the Army Camp when two vehicles struck head-on. The drivers of both vehicles, a man and a woman, had to be removed with the...
Grass fire sparked north of Vernon
SPALLUMCHEEN - Emergency crews weren’t taking any chances with a small grass fire just north of Vernon beside Highway 97. Fire information officer Kelsey Winter says B.C. Wildfire crews were on the ground alongside firefighters from the Armstrong Spallumcheen Fire Department in an area roughly 15 kilometres north of Vernon near Gurney Creek. The fire,...