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Kelowna

Cooper’s converting to Save-On-Foods in Kamloops and Okanagan

KAMLOOPS – A grocery chain founded in the B.C. Interior will be changing it's name in the New Year. The four Cooper’s Foods locations in Kamloops are scheduled to be converted to Save-On-Foods by mid-February 2016, according to Julie Dickson Olmsteadc with Overwaitea Food Group. The Cooper's grocery store in Vernon and the two in...

Glenmore could finally get long-awaited recreation park

KELOWNA - It was first recommended almost 30 years ago but only now could Glenmore get a new park. City of Kelowna planning staff want council to spend $5 million to build the first phase of a recreation park — think playing fields and ball diamonds, not flowers and rock gardens — on city-owned land...

Kelowna mayors praise former premier Bill Bennett

KELOWNA - Kelowna’s current mayor Colin Basran and former mayor Walter Gray joined many others in praising former premier Bill Bennett, who died in Kelowna from complications of Alzheimers disease. Bennett had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years and died Thursday, Dec. 3. “I knew him all my life. He was absolutely my...

Kelowna councillor frustrated with RCMP communication

SUPERINTENDENT HASN'T TAKEN QUESTIONS AT A COUNCIL MEETING IN OVER A YEAR KELOWNA - A city councillor says he’s surprised and a little disappointed the Kelowna RCMP have not appeared at a public council meeting to take questions since the new council was sworn in over a year ago. City councillor Ryan Donn says RCMP...

Kelowna start-up has social conscience built right in

KELOWNA - Local non-profits are jumping on a new interactive web platform called Volinspire, the product of a new local start-up created as one of the province’s first community contribution companies. Volinspire unveiled their new interactive web platform in Kelowna yesterday, Dec. 4. “The idea began with wanting to help young people find volunteer opportunities...

Parkinson recreation centre replacement could cost $50 million

KELOWNA - City staff are recommending the deluxe version for a replacement of Parkinson Recreation Centre with a $50-million price tag. However, staff also say the city should explore with the Central Okanagan school district the possibility of developing a facility integrated with the new high school the district is proposing across the field from...

Local author teaches how to make money as a backyard farmer

KELOWNA – A Kelowna man has just published a book that teaches everything you need to know about starting your own commercially successful farm in your backyard — or frontyard. The Urban Farmer is Curtis Stone's first book and is based on a the concept you don't require a large amount on land to be a...

Warm and wet weekend ahead for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - While high winds, heavy rain and record temperatures are battering coastal cities, the Okanagan can expect temperatures just above normal and rain during at least part of this weekend. Environment Canada is calling for temperatures to hit between 3 Celsius and 6 C this weekend before climbing to a high of 8 C...

Kelowna man to jump into Okanagan Lake in support of refugees

KELOWNA - “What’s a little bit of icy water compared to some of the things they’ve been through,” Alan Monk says. On Saturday morning, Monk will join at least 80 other Canadians in the Polar Swim for Refugees, an ad hoc fundraiser that started in Victoria and has caught on with swimmers in other parts of...

Heavy snow heading for Southern Interior highways

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After a frosty couple of weeks, the weather is warming up this week but the system bringing warm temperatures is also bringing a lot of precipitation — as much as 30 centimetres at some highway passes. Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement noting that snowfall of 20 to 30 cm is...

Vacancy rate eases as Kelowna pushes rental housing construction

KELOWNA - The city has done a lot to encourge development of rental housing and there’s not too much more that can be done, except to let the incentives do their work and keep on pushing for more. That’s the opinion of Luke Stack, a city councillor and also executive director of the Society of...

Crews keep Kelowna storage shed fire from spreading

KELOWNA - A fire in a Kelowna industrial area was quickly knocked down before it could spread last night. Crews were called out to a structure fire in the 1000 block of Ethel Street near Weddell Place around 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, according to Platoon Capt. Eric Simpson. When they arrived they found a...

East Kelowna farm earns council support for distillery and weddings

KELOWNA - An agri-tourism operation on a small plot of farm land in East Kelowna got a rare endorsement from city council this week, despite plans to include weddings and a distillery. Kristi and James Caldwell requested council support for their application to the Agriculatural Land Commision to allow a portion of their land to...

Information services seeks budget increase from city

KELOWNA - Information technology is no longer a support service but a full-fledged business unit at City Hall and needs a budget increase to accommodate both current demand and future needs. That’s the message information services manager Rob Entwistle brought to Kelowna city council during an overview of the city’s digital strategy. “We are known as...

Big names to headline first ever Rock the Lake Festival in Kelowna

KELOWNA – Some of the biggest Canadian rock bands from the 1980s are coming to the Okanagan this summer to play the first annual Rock the Lake Festival. The line-up for the three-day festival in the parking lot at Prospera Place in Kelowna on Friday, Aug. 12, Saturday, Aug. 13 and Sunday, Aug. 14 features...

Over-heating pumps threaten water service in the Mission

KELOWNA - A faulty pump motor is forcing the City of Kelowna to spend $300,000 on an additional pump for the Cedar Creek lake intake. Failure to do so, could leave parts of the Mission and the South Slopes without drinking water and fire protection service, utility planning manager Andrew Reeder says, in a report...

IT department prepares for digital future at City Hall

KELOWNA - The City of Kelowna is moving to bolster information technology and lessen the risk of future redundancy, data breaches and possible failure of key systems, says a new report. Information services manager Rob Entwistle, in a report to council, says the department is moving ahead in four of 19 areas identified in its...

Work begins on new dike for Mission Creek restoration in Kelowna

KELOWNA - City crews have taken the first step in reversing decades of misguided management of Mission Creek in Kelowna. The first phase of the Mission Creek Restoration Initiative began this week with the closing of the creek’s south dike between Casorso Road and Gordon Drive, according to a city media release. With creek waters...

Cold snap continues in the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - While the temperatures continue to remind us why the stereotype of all Canadians living in parkas and igloos exists, it is nowhere near the record lows recorded in the Okanagan. Environment Canada is calling for temperatures to remain well below zero all weekend but is forecasting the mercury to hit near seasonal normal...

Popular rink to open next week in Stuart Park

KELOWNA - Crews have begun making ice at the popular Stuart Park outdoor rink in Kelowna with opening planned for next week. City crews will be working afternoon shifts from 4 p.m. to midnite at Stuart Park over the next few days readying the rink for an opening Tuesday, Dec. 1, according to arenas supervisor...

Kokanee numbers keep rising in Okanagan

OKANAGAN - Kokanee numbers are up from last year in all of the big valley lakes, the provincial government says. Wood Lake’s kokanee population continues to recover from a disastrous 2011 when poor in-lake conditions lead to a huge increase in fish mortality of all ages, according to a media release. Over 20,000 returned to spawn...

Kelowna church prepares to welcome and support Syrian refugee family

KELOWNA - Four generations of a Syrian family will soon be enjoying the relative safety of life in Kelowna with the support of a local church congregation. Kelowna Gospel Fellowshop Pastor Mike Penninga says he’s not yet sure when the Tounousian family, originally from Allepo, will arrive in Canada but when they do, they can...