Kamloops

Last chance to experience Beethoven Festival

KAMLOOPS — The Beethoven Festival wraps up Saturday after a week of spreading musical awareness. The Beethoven Festival has featured concerts, guest conductors, films and speakers. The festival concludes with one of the greatest symphonic works ever composed. The Kamloops Symphony Orchestra will perform Beethoven's Ode to Joy Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the...

Two convicted in botched armed robbery

KAMLOOPS – Two Kelowna men were convicted while a third was acquitted on charges related to a botched robbery involving a duffel bag full of weapons. Rick Herd, born 1984, and Joel McLean, born 1987, were convicted of possessing a restricted firearm and ammunition without a proper license. The two were involved in an attempted invasion...

Judge believes ‘very little’ but drops robbery and threat charges

KAMLOOPS - Fabricated stories from both sides resulted in dropped robbery and threat charges for a man familiar to courts. Trevor Wilvers, 36, originally faced several charges alleging he held a knife to the neck of a friend to get cash for a lost motorhome, but the charges were dropped because he suspected no one told...

Kamloops woman could make one-way trip to Mars

KAMLOOPS – Only 705 people in the world can say they’re in the running for a trip to Mars – Raine Light is one of them. The 30-year-old Kamloops paramedic applied for the Mars One project last year because it peaked her interest. “Whenever I see something really interesting I want to learn more; I want...

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...

2141 project chugging along

KAMLOOPS - Without much hesitation council approved more than $200,000 be signed over to the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society to repair the historic 2141 steam engine. It has been over a year since the steam engine was shut down by Transport Canada and the group ordered to fix the boiler before the beloved old train...

Young boys report stranger danger in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS — Two young boys were offered a ride home by a unknown male yesterday afternoon, prompting a warning from RCMP for parents to review stranger awareness with their children. Police say two six-year-old boys were walking on the north side of the Parkcrest Elementary School grounds near Edgemount Avenue Wednesday when a man in...

Perks of Being a Wallflower book to stay in schools

CONCERNED PARENT SAYS HE WILL NOT FILE AN APPEAL KAMLOOPS – Administration at School District 73 have decided a controversial book will remain in schools, much to the chagrin of a concerned father. Dean Audet received a letter from the district last month. He says the letter stated the decision and outlined reasons to keep...

Public invited to check out new casino plans

KAMLOOPS - Gateway Casinos is offering residents a look at the plans for a new casino just off the highway in Aberdeen. Plans to move the Lake City Casino to the old Rona location at 1555 Versatile Dr. are underway and early next week the company will host open houses to show just what the...

Bones, diapers and food scraps may see curb side pickup

KAMLOOPS - If there was somewhere to compost it the city could be offering curb side organic pickup as soon as tomorrow. “We could start pickup tomorrow, but we have nowhere to bring it,” Public Works Director Jen Fretz says. “That’s the problem, there is nowhere we can bring it.” The city is currently only...

Man involved with drug ring pleads guilty

KAMLOOPS – A local man with ties to an organized cocaine operation pleaded guilty to two drug charges in Kamloops Supreme Court yesterday. Jean-Claude Auger, 38, is one of eight Kamloops men charged after an RCMP sting discovered an organized cocaine dial-a-dope operation. The group operated from February until October of 2012. RCMP uncovered the...

Food, animals hot topics

KAMLOOPS — Chickens, bees and community gardens are just a few of the topics already covered in the first six hours worth of meetings held by the newly formed urban agriculture committee. A total of 17 people sit on the committee, which has had three meetings already, and much of the talk has centred around...

Delays in Snelson manslaughter re-trial

KAMLOOPS – A Kelowna man awarded a new trial for manslaughter—scheduled this time in Kamloops—is still waiting to set a re-trial date as he now searches for a new lawyer.  Neil Snelson said his trial lawyer, Wade Jenson—also the lawyer who argued the new trial should be moved to Kamloops—is no longer representing him. Snelson was...

Halley’s Comet debris trail sets the sky aglitter tonight

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A peak at the annual debris trail from Halley’s Comet may be possible tonight and early Tuesday morning if skies clear. Every spring bits of the debris trail burn up resulting in the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This year the peak will occur tonight, Monday, May 5, through Tuesday morning. The bright...

Appeal rejected, fine stands for CNR

KAMLOOPS - The province was claiming more than $340,000 in mature timber was lost in a blaze sparked by a train near Ashcroft in 2005, but a panel of judges disagreed last week, instead handing down a fine of only $11,000 and a bill for $6,252 in lost timber value. In July 2005 a Canadian...

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...

Construction begins on Clinical Services Building

KAMLOOPS - Delegates were on hand at Royal Inland Hospital Friday to mark the beginning of actual construction of the new Clinical Services Building. "Today marks one more step in providing high quality acute care to residents of the Kamloops region and is evidence of our commitment to the full redevelopment of Royal Inland Hospital,"...

Spring cleaning on the Coquihalla

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — If you plan on hitting the highways this week plan for delays as crews clean and fix highways hit hard by a cold, wet winter that left potholes and frost heaves on many roads in the region. Work has already begun on some highways and over the next week drivers can expect to...

Police looking for alleged groper

KAMLOOPS - A police hunt was launched after a man allegedly groped another man near Kitchner Crescent during the lunch hour Friday. Kamloops RCMP were told of the incident shortly after 12:30 p.m. A man was walking along the riverbank when he was approached by an unknown man. The second man spoke briefly with the...

WITH PICTURES, VIDEO: Injured geocacher rescued off Mt. Savona

SAVONA — A geocacher was rescued off Mt. Savona by helicopter early this evening after he was left injured by a displaced boulder. Around 1 p.m. two hikers were on Mt. Savona, about 12 km south of Savona, Friday afternoon and took a short cut to get to a geocache close to the caves. While...

TRU to hand out seven honorary degrees

KAMLOOPS - Seven people who have made a difference in our world will be honoured by Thompson Rivers University this spring with honorary doctorates. Former premier Gordon Campbell and Honorable Justice Lance Finch both played a key role in the founding of the university law school and with the inaugural convocation this June for the...

Wildfire south of city producing smoke

KAMLOOPS — A fire on Long Lake Road in the Knutsford area has been contained at 15.6 ha but is expected to continue producing smoke today. B.C. Wildfire Information Officer Kayla Pepper says the fire was reported early yesterday afternoon and a sustained action crew along with two initial attack crews responded to guard and...

UPDATE: Sahali Shoppers suspected robber in custody

KAMLOOPS - Police arrested a suspected following an investigation into a robbery at the Summit Drive Shoppers Drug Mart Thursday night. Staff say they were threatened with an aerosol can during the robbery that netted the thief electronics. RCMP were called to the Summit Drive store just before midnight on Thursday when a male suspect...