Kamloops

STAHN: Even our goals for voter turnout are sad

In the 2011 municipal election less than 30 per cent of eligible people voted in Kamloops. This is a typical trend across B.C., and even the country, in most municipal elections. To break it down into very simple terms, less than a third of people chose to speak up when it mattered most. Nearly everyone...

UPDATE: Woman rescued after falling 20′ into canyon pool

KAMLOOPS - A woman in her early 20s had to be rescued Thursday night after the rope her group was using to rappel in Tranquille Canyon broke, making her fall into a pool near the river below. "Basically they were trying to access a canyon with pools to go swimming," Kamloops Search and Rescue Search...

RCMP Corporal accused in Kamloops jail cell sex scandal to stand trial next week

KAMLOOPS – A four-year-old case evolving from the Kamloops RCMP jail cell sex scandal will finally get underway in Supreme Court next week after pre-trial arguments wrapped Thursday morning. Cpl. Kenneth Peter Rick Brown is the last of the four participants originally accused of failing to intervene on an August evening in 2010 when two...

Kamloops a hidden Canadian gem

KAMLOOPS - According to a recent online poll Kamloops is one of Canada’s hidden gems, often glossed over by travel sites and guides. In a recent online poll of Buzzfeed readers Kamloops was named one of the 20 top underrated places in Canada, along with Wawa, Ont., Dempster Highway, Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump, Alta. and Haida Gwaii....

TEACHERS’ STRIKE: How much money the Terry Fox Foundation stands to lose

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The kids, the teachers, the government, the parents. We’ve heard over and over again how the current labour dispute is affecting them, but what about the organizations that also rely on schools to help with fundraising? Every year during September, students raise money for the Terry Fox Run but this year, unless teachers and...

Ringworm scare as SPCA prepares for large fundraiser

KAMLOOPS - This past weekend the local SPCA shelter had to once again shut its doors as staff dealt with what they believed could be another case of ringworm. Lime Plus baths, containing sulfur, were given to the kitten believed to have the skin infection as well as its litter mates, and shelter staff now...

“We’re not suspending any strike:” Iker

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers’ union president Jim Iker has declined the Premier's request to suspend the strike while bargaining continues. Earlier today, Christy Clark urged him, before a packed news conference, to allow teachers to vote to end the strike or suspend it. Two hours later, Iker held is own conference and stood his ground. “We’re...

Parking pinch coming to downtown

KAMLOOPS - The BCLC parkade on Seymour Avenue is set to undergo $4 million in renovations over the coming months and that means about 100 vehicles normally parked there will likely be parked in the downtown core. The parking deck is now 50-years-old and the parking deck slab needs to be updated on the third...

Parents taking control during teacher strike

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With no end to the current labour dispute in sight many parents are wondering how they can make sure their kids do not fall behind in their education — book sections in many stores are picked over, only a few workbooks remaining, and many school-age programs filled up before the summer was even...

Their dream would put Kamloops voters on top

KAMLOOPS - A group is sharing their dreams of having half of all eligible voters actually vote in the upcoming municipal elections, which would put Kamloops in the top third of all B.C. communities for voter turnout. In 2011 only 29.76 per cent of the more than 65,000 eligible voters in Kamloops cast ballots. In...

Endless summer in B.C…. snow in Alberta?

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Mother Nature is welcoming some Alberta kids back to school in Canadian style today — with a snow storm. The southeast corner of Alberta, from Brooks to the B.C. border, is currently under a heavy rainfall warning but combined with temperatures hovering not much above zero some areas are instead seeing wet snow....

What you can do to prevent bear conflicts this fall

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Hide your picnic baskets and tuck away your garbage cans, it’s high season for bears as they look to take in about 20,000 calories per day before settling in to hibernate for the winter. WildSafeBC Provincial Coordinator Frank Ritcey says bear sightings in the month of August were more than the four previous...

KAMLOOPS ON SCREEN: Nine movies with Kamloops and area as backdrop

KAMLOOPS - The Tournament Capital is a long way from Beverly Hills, but it occasionally attracts a Hollywood movie you're probably heard of. Earlier this year, casting directors were in town to film for Night at the Museum 3 and Monster Trucks.  On most sets they are looking for our beautiful landscape and, of course,...

Charges laid after last week’s manhunt

KAMLOOPS – Charges have been laid following a police pursuit of a man reported to be carrying multiple guns last week. RCMP conducted a manhunt after someone reported the suspect became distraught with his bank, returned home and left again in possession of firearms. While a police spokesperson would not confirm the bank at which...

Victim’s name from fatal crash near Merritt released

MERRITT - The coroner's office has released the name of the Coquitlam passenger who died in a fatal car accident near Merritt on Sunday. She was Elizabeth Joan Savoie, 27.  The driver of the vehicle, a Mazda 3 rolled the car several times before it rested in a ditch. The accident took place around 7...

At least someone’s getting a laugh over the teachers’ strike

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It appears someone working for the provincial government's web department has added a little ironic wit—if not annoying editorial—to the rhetoric on the teachers strike. When all hope of ending the teachers strike before Sept. 2 was lost on the weekend, the B.C. government opened up its website so parents can register to...

McLachlan adds Kamloops stop

KAMLOOPS - Love Sarah McLachlan but are disappointed you cannot make the Kelowna show? Not to worry, a Kamloops date was announced this week and tickets are set to go on sale Friday. McLachlan’s Shine On tour will be heading through B.C. the last half of October and while most tour dates were announced back...

STAHN: One more loss to the teachers strike

I always loved back to school time as a kid. It meant new clothes, new school supplies and getting to see all my friends again after what seemed like forever. This year students have been stripped of that experience and parents have been denied the ability to plan and schedule based on a normal school...

‘Secret’ new bike trail system creating conflicts

KAMLOOPS - The Coal Hill area linking Aberdeen and Pineview Valley has been a popular place to hike and bike for a number of years. Now a group is quietly working to establish some official trails but not everyone is happy about it. The Kamloops Performance Cycling Center, the group that runs the Bike Ranch...

Summer winding down with long weekend activities

KAMLOOPS - This weekend marks the unofficial end of summer for many people and with it also brings the end of several notable summer activities, including Music in the Park and alpine hiking at Sun Peaks. The final weekend of Music in the Park brings Sabrina Weeks to the McDonald Park stage Friday night and...

T’kemlups te Secwepemc responds to media coverage of salaries, financials

KAMLOOPS – First Nations Chiefs and councillors have entirely different roles from city mayors and councillors and cannot be compared based on salary alone, says T’kemlups te Secwepemc. When salaries and audited financial statements were released last month under new federal legislation, local media around the province—including Infonews.ca—made the comparisons between chiefs and councillors to municipal...

Keep control of campfires this weekend

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Most campfire bans have been lifted heading into the Labour Day long weekend but that does not mean you should be careless with your fires while camping. B.C. Wildfire is reminding people to use extreme caution while out camping or in the backcountry. Last weekend, just days after the campfire ban was lifted...

Surprise wedding gives dying groom best day of his life

VERNON - Not knowing how many more days he’d wake up next to her, how many more drives they would go on together, or how many more times he’d get to say I love you, Ryan Langley rose from his wheelchair—defying everything his doctors had said—and watched the love of his life, Alisa, walk down...

UPDATE: Coq reopened after tour bus crash, 43 injured

MERRITT - A rollover has injured 43 people on board a tour bus and shut down the Coquihalla Highway between Merritt and Hope Thursday afternoon. Kelsie Carwithen of B.C. Ambulance Service says they got the call at 3 p.m. of an incident 30 kilometres south of Merritt involving a tour bus. They dispatched six air...