Kelowna

Winter perfect time to control rodent infestations

KELOWNA - Winter is the perfect time to trap and kill rats and mice, the City of Kelowna says. Cold weather limits food sources forcing the rodents to search further afield for food, including inside houses, urban forestry supervisor Blair Stewart says in a media release. Baited traps are more effective during food scarcity, Stewart...

Idling cars and air quality the subject of Okanagan College study

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - What the public thinks about idling vehicles and their effect on local air quality is the subject of a new study by an Okanagan College business student. Fourth-year student Alex Fullerton has developed the idling and air quality survey and an accompanying Facebook page, which directs participants to the anonymous questionnaire he...

Hockey dad needs help putting on tournament for sick kids

OKANAGAN - A Kelowna hockey dad is looking for a little corporate muscle to put on the Winter Classic, an outdoor hockey tournament at Apex Mountain resort. Yannick Lescarbeau, who manages the Kelowna Minor Hockey Atom Development B team, started the tournament last year as a fundraiser for the SickKids Foundation. The tournament will pit...

Gloomy dark clouds over the Okanagan won’t part any time soon

OKANAGAN - That stifling grey pall of gloom hanging over the Okanagan is here courtesy of El Nino and Environment Canada says we can expect more of the same for at least the next ten days. Meteorologist Matthew MacDonald says we are at the mercy of major weather systems conspiring to blot out the sun. That...

Coroner identifies Summerland woman who crashed into Okanagan Lake

OKANAGAN - The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a Summerland woman who died last week after her vehicle slid into Okanagan Lake. Elena Sagario Holly, 42, was driving alone on Highway 97 southbound near Summerland around noon Jan. 4 when her car slid off the road and into Okanagan Lake during bad...

Elderly woman sent to hospital after hit by car on Highway 33

POLICE SAY PEDESTRIANS AND DRIVERS NEED TO BE AWARE DURING SHORTER WINTER DAYS KELOWNA - An elderly woman knocked down by a car in a crosswalk on Highway 33 was an entirely preventable collision, police say. RCMP spokesperson Const. Jesse O’Donaghey said in a press release police have noticed an increase in pedestrian involved collisions...

Why you might have to shovel your sidewalk in Kelowna but your neighbour doesn’t

KELOWNA - The city deals with complaints about snow clearing every winter, but a resident upset over being forced to shovel a sidewalk they have no real access to has the city looking at a possible change. Coun. Brad Sieben says the resident contacted him after last week’s snowfall of about 15 centimetres. The current...

Snowfall warning for Coquihalla Highway

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - While temperatures continue to warm up in town, a system is expected to drop enough snow on area highways today to prompt a snowfall warning for at least one section of highway. Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt, where up to 25 centimetres of...

Agricultural Land Commission gets under the skin of some Kelowna councillors

KELOWNA - A workshop on agriculture Monday morning, Jan. 11, turned into an opportunity for some Kelowna city councillors to vent their frustration with the Agricultural Land Commission. “If you ask me, it’s ass-backward,” Coun. Maxine DeHart said. DeHart and Coun. Tracy Gray both panned the process where applications by property owners to have land...

Mild week ahead for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - We can expect temperatures to hover around the freezing mark this week, with temperatures expected to be at or near seasonal normal temperatures throughout the Okanagan. Environment Canada is calling for daytime high temperatures to range from -1 Celsius to 2 C this week, with overnight lows expected to reach between 0 C...

Agri-biz in Kelowna under pressure from near and far

KELOWNA - Agri-business is under pressure in Kelowna, facing changes and challenges locally and globally, requiring a new and improved agricultural plan. Forty per cent of the city is within the Agricultural Land Reserve, restricting its use to agriculture and related activities, Kelowna city councillors will hear from staff. “Agricultural land is woven throughout the...

Young fraudster puts up a fight in Kelowna mall

KELOWNA - A young man who is alleged to have used to stolen debit cards to try and tap up a tab at Orchard Park mall, didn’t go down easy when confronted by a police officer. Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Jesse O’Donaghey says in a media release the 16-year-old boy was arrested Thursday evening, Jan....

Early season numbers show decent snowpack in the Thompson-Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Several snow systems pommelled the region at the end of 2015, leaving the snowpack levels at a good level to start 2016. At 143 per cent, Similkameen is most above normal for this time of year, but with the lowest in the region sitting at 92 per cent of normal snowpack levels, low...

So what happens when your autistic child grows up?

KELOWNA - It’s called "the cliff" and its something the mother of an autistic child says can keep her awake at night. From birth to age six, a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder is eligible for $22,000 a year to help parents with treatment and intensive intervention. After that, provincial government support drops to...

UPDATE: Bag of drugs, assault rifle lead to charges after man runs from cops

KELOWNA - A Midway man is facing trafficking and weapons charges after fleeing a traffic stop with a bagful of guns, drugs and money. Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Jesse O’Donaghey reported in a media release on Thursday that 29-year-old Anthony Graham bolted from his black Mercedes SUV after police stopped him Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 6,...

Did you buy a winning 6/49 ticket in the Shuswap or Surrey?

SHUSWAP - The latest Lotto 6/49 draw is over and while the grand prize wasn't won, a trio of tickets are splitting a $172,000 pot for matching most of the numbers and another won $1 million in the guaranteed prize draw. Someone who bought their ticket in the Shuswap is $86,000 richer while another bought...

Taxpayers heap abuse on snow removal staff

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Few things, it seems, can bring out the ugly in a person more than a snow covered street. A story posted yesterday with a photo from the perspective of a West Kelowna snowplow driver showed cars parked willy-nilly on a local road, making it virtually impossible to plow. The story touched a nerve and...

New homelessness coordinator will face big challenge in Kelowna

KELOWNA - When Kelowna’s new homeless coordinator is hired sometime this spring, they will find themselves working with a system that local service providers say is bursting at the seams. NOW Canada’s executive director Liz Talbot says the non-profit society’s 20-bed womens shelter has been running well over capacity for months now, even before the...