Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Infotel News
Homeless deaths inspire memorial and call to action
VERNON - This past winter, Chuck Harper drove past a pair of homeless men he knew well from his work at the local shelter. He was aware of their addictions and health troubles. Having panhandled on the streets of Vernon when he was 16, he didn’t judge or look down on them— he called them...
How police are using this gadget to curb speeding
VERNON - You can’t completely hide your speed from the cops anymore, even if they aren’t there to catch you in the act. Drivers will notice a new speed reader board circulating around the North Okanagan. The $10,000 gadget was purchased by the cities of Armstrong, Enderby and Township of Spallumcheen as a way to...
First patients could be admitted to new Vernon hospital ward in 2016
VERNON - The new ward at Vernon Jubilee Hospital could be welcoming patients around the beginning of 2016. Construction to complete the top two floors of Vernon Jubilee Hospital’s Polson Tower launched today with a celebration attended by Interior Health, the North Okanagan Columbia Shuswap Regional Hospital District and local dignitaries. The $29.6 million unit...
Art show stripped from college walls goes up at local gallery
VERNON - A controversial art show pulled from the gallery at Okanagan College in Vernon has a new space to continue the conversation. Local artist Ryan Robson’s evocative female portraits, which were deemed too disturbing for the walls of the college, will be displayed at Gallery Vertigo until the end of the month. The paintings...
Vernon’s fire service not saving much money, yet
VERNON - While the City of Vernon and its firefighters union spar over appropriate service levels and financial resources, a quick comparison to similar-sized cities shows it's likely too early to tell if Vernon’s new firefighting model will make a dent in the budget. Vernon sends two firefighters, instead of the conventional four-person crew, to...
Police remain coy on details of Williams Lake murder
WILLIAMS LAKE – Police are not confirming or denying if suspects have been identified in the murder of a Williams Lake man despite suspicion of vengeance in the community. Corey Huu Le, 22, was murdered last month in a targeted event. When police followed up on a residential complaint, they found Le dead in his...
UPDATE: Okanagan man dies in Vernon accident
VERNON - An Okanagan man is dead after a fatal accident on Highway 97 near Birnie Road. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the man was driving a Subaru and veered into an oncoming truck around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. He died at the scene. A driver and passenger of the truck were taken to hospital with...
Looks like it’s going to be a big year for excessive speeding
VERNON - Police have nabbed almost as many excessive speeders in the past six months as they did in all of last year. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says 22 drivers have been caught speeding excessively in the North Okanagan so far this year, compared to a total of 25 in 2013. “B.C.'s speeding law compels...
Okanagan youth conflicted on provincial student walkout
OKANAGAN - As teachers strike in shifts across the province this week, it appears students have found a day to voice their own opinions. The B.C. Student Walkout for Students, launched by Surrey teen Victoria Barker, is set for Wednesday, the only day this week not scheduled to have strike action. A Facebook group created...
CN offers Okanagan railway to federal government
VERNON - Time has run out for interested parties to resume service on the section of rail between Vernon and Kelowna. Monday was the deadline for companies negotiating with Canadian National to buy the line, and CN spokesperson Warren Chandler says no deal was reached. “The time period has elapsed, now the 30-day window to...
Boat fire in Armstrong could be connected to string of Vernon arsons
VERNON - Police are investigating whether a suspicious boat fire in Armstrong is connected to a rash of suspected arsons in the Vernon area. Emergency personnel were dispatched to 143 L & A Crossing Rd. Saturday around 10:40 p.m. for a report of a boat on fire. “One boat was completely involved and destroyed and...
Arrests made in Vernon arson case
SERIAL ARSON SUSPECT STILL ON THE LOOSE VERNON - Police have made arrests in one of 13 suspected cases of arson in the Vernon area. Two men, aged 24 and 30, were arrested Friday evening for setting fire to some trash behind AJ’s Pets & Things on 31 Avenue. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the...
Vernon’s justification for MMA ban is a secret
POLICE REPORT TO COUNCIL HELD BEHIND CLOSED DOORS VERNON - City officials and the police say their hands are tied when it comes to sharing the information behind allegations that mixed martial arts events are connected to organized crime. Vernon council has asked staff to prepare a bylaw banning mixed martial arts (MMA) events in...
Firefighter conference to pump millions into Vernon economy
VERNON - A firefighting conference held in Vernon is expected to fuel up the local economy. The annual Fire Chief’s Association of B.C. Conference and Expo comes to Vernon in 2017, and is expected to have an economic impact of $5 million in the community. The event typically attracts 800 people, including fire department chiefs,...
Leaded gloves used to assault her victim
KAMLOOPS – A local woman with a lengthy criminal record will have her sentencing for two separate guilty pleas in June. Mary Lynn Dyson, born in 1984, is facing sentencing from two separate incidents. The first is from a break and enter in 2012. For her involvement, Dyson was charged with assault, use of weapon,...
A closer look at Vernon’s rash of arsons
TIMES AND LOCATIONS DISPLAYED ON ARSON MAP VERNON - While investigators continue to hunt for clues in a continuing series of suspected arsons, a map shows most were set within four kilometers of each other between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The suspicious fires — set in dumpster bins, pallets, vacant homes and vehicles —...
Residents, business owners warned to take precautions against alleged arsonist
"CLEAN UP ANY PALLETS, DON'T HAVE THEM OUT AND AVAILABLE" VERNON - While authorities have determined at least some suspicious fires are not connected to a string of suspected arsons, investigators believe an arsonist is still on the loose in the city. Deputy fire chief Lawrie Skolrood, one of the lead investigators, says out of...
Martial Arts community kicks back at “offensive” remarks by Vernon council
VERNON - The mixed martial arts community is in an uproar over what they feel were offensive and uneducated comments made about their sport earlier this week by Vernon councillors. The City of Vernon wants to ban mixed martial arts (MMA) events because, as Coun. Bob Spiers put it, “the association with the type of...
Armstrong council refuses to hear request for Taylor Van Diest Memorial Trail
ARMSTRONG - A plea for support in maintaining the Taylor Van Diest Memorial Trail will have to wait another couple weeks. Marie Van Diest, whose daughter Taylor was murdered Halloween night 2011, intended to ask Armstrong council for help with the upkeep of her daughter’s memorial trail Monday, but council wouldn’t hear her because she...
Community chooses touching memorial for councillor Patrick Nicol
VERNON - Councillor Patrick Nicol will be remembered forever in the place he loved best. Having received substantial feedback from the community, Vernon City Hall has chosen to create an area in Polson Park called Patrick’s Gathering Place. The area will feature benches and a memorial plaque. Nicol passed away in January after a long...
Former B.C. premier to chair Lumby-based marijuana facility
LUMBY - A company chaired by a former B.C. premier has applied to grow and distribute medical marijuana from a facility in Lumby. True Leaf Medicine Inc. has submitted an application to Health Canada to operate the facility under the federal government’s new rules for the system, which came into effect April 1. Mike Harcourt,...
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...
Study finds multi-million dollar benefits to Okanagan Rail Trail
OYAMA - Converting the rail bed between Vernon and Kelowna into a multi-use pathway would drive over $3 million in visitor spending in the first year alone, states a consulting report on predicted benefits. The Okanagan Rail Trail held a press conference Tuesday morning in Oyama to release the findings of a 70 page impact...
Number of suspected arsons climbs to nine
VERNON - Police continue to investigate a series of suspected arsons as the number of suspicious fires grows to nine within the city. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says police are looking into two fires from the weekend, one a torched car at the Kia dealership and the other a motor home on 26 Street. Molendyk...