Kelowna news
UPDATE: Oyama Road reopens following rock slide
LAKE COUNTRY – A stretch of Oyama Road closed since Thursday following a rock slide has reopened. The unstable slope was going to be the target of a rock scaling between Willett Road and Hebbert Road, but the slide beat Lake Country workers to the punch. “Crews worked hard Friday to clear the debris from...
Gangster and girlfriend busted in Lake Country
LAKE COUNTRY – The resurgence of an organized criminal gang in the Okanagan has been delivered a blow following the arrest of a long-time member of the Independent Soldiers and his girlfriend on gun and drug charges. As a result of an investigation by the RCMP Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which began in early...
Kelowna grandmother turns tables on phone scammer
KELOWNA – A 90-year-old grandmother was the target of an organized scam designed to pressure her into wiring almost $2,000 to get her grandson out of jail. The grandmother, who asked to remain anononymous, says a man called her at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 and pretended to be her grandson. “I was already asleep,”...
Hundreds of concrete tobogganers set to slide into Kelowna
KELOWNA - First there was Led Zepplin and now concrete toboggans, though it's not a band name but a race between roughly 430 UBCO engineering students down a slope at Big White Ski Resort. UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering hosts the 2015 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race from January 21 to 25 in Kelowna—an event...
Counting Crows ‘Hanginaround’ Kelowna this spring
KELOWNA – Counting Crows will be stopping in Kelowna for a concert this spring as a part of the band’s world tour to support their new album Somewhere Under Wonderland. The band hasn’t toured Canada in over 15 years. “It’s about time we’re getting back to Canada,” lead singer Adam Duritz says in a media...
UPDATE: Naramata Centre to close after 70 years
NARAMATA - Naramata Centre, a pillar of the community since the late 1940s, is closing its doors after nine months of labour struggles, declining revenues and a failed plan to push forward. A release late Wednesday, Jan. 21, says the board of directors decided to pull the plug effective immediately, sending some 34 workers represented...
Service planned for Fire Chief’s daughter killed in car wreck
KELOWNA – A memorial service for Alexandra Nyuli, the woman who died last week after her vehicle left the road in Joe Rich and tumbled 100 m down a bank will be held this weekend in Kelowna. Nyuli, who was 21, was one of three daughters of Joe Rich Fire Chief Curtis Nyuli. On Jan....
Kelowna RCMP ‘routinely’ breach privacy during strip searches: Judge
KELOWNA – Kelowna RCMP "routinely" violate the right to privacy of female prisoners during strip searches at the detachment and show "ignorance of the law" on the subject, according to a ruling from a provincial court judge. Judge Ellen Burdett said local Mounties' practice of recording and broadcasting female strip searches to a guard room...
Lake Country to jump on rail corridor purchase if no vote fails
KELOWNA — Lake Country will move ahead quickly with the purchase of its portion of the CN Rail corridor should the alternative approval process succeed, a prospect that seems increasingly likely. “If we’re good and we don’t reach the 931 by noon on Feb. 23 then hopefully we would have a special council meeting on...
Family Day fun events in Kelowna
KELOWNA – It’s family day next Monday and with many people getting a three-day weekend Kelowna has a pile of fun events to make it special. Start the weekend off with a special parent and child floorball game at OKM Secondary Feb. 6. With rules that limit stick contact and physical play, the action is...
Man allegedly wields a hatchet during three Kelowna robberies
KELOWNA - Kelowna RCMP are looking for a single suspect after three local businesses reported last week they'd been robbed by a man wielding a hatchet-like weapon. The first incident happened Jan. 25 at 6:22 p.m. at Okanagan Video located at 431 Highway 33 west. Officers were told a man came in with a hammer...
City keeps cultural incubator cooking, gives out cash grants
KELOWNA - If there was an elephant in the room, Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran addressed it directly. “A lot of times people think ‘there goes the city spending money on culture’ without having the complete picture of what creative culture does for our community,” said the Mayor, as council received a report outlining $180,000 in...
No bad roads, only bad drivers say police after Hwy 33 hairpin accidents
KELOWNA - A spate of accidents near the eight-mile hairpin turn on Highway 33 are more of a sign of bad driving than a dangerous road, say Kelowna RCMP. The latest accident, where a Chevy Cruz fish-tailed into a logging truck, is the type of incident that could be avoided if drivers would follow the...
Accused Winfield 7/Eleven robber now charged with assaulting cop
LAKE COUNTRY - The man accused of robbing the Lake Country 7-Eleven at gunpoint is in bigger trouble after allegedly assaulting a police officer and breaching the conditions of his release. The armed robbery happened January 21 just before 3 a.m. at the 7-Eleven at 9724 Highway 97, according to an RCMP media release. The...
Fall in love with all the Valentine’s Day events in Kelowna
KELOWNA – Whether you’ve got a date or arrange or are looking to meet someone new Kelowna has Valentines Day events for everyone. For those looking to make a new friend for Valentines Day, Lake City Casino is hosting Planet Luv Valentines mixer two days before the most romantic day of the year. The mixer...