Kelowna

What you can learn from seven people who turn ideas into reality

KELOWNA - Everyone has an idea. Some people have big ideas. Then you have Mark Jennings-Bates-size ideas. One year, the Kelowna business consultant might be racing rally cars, another year riding an enduro bike across South Africa. Or he might be setting a new Guinness Book of World Records team flight on a paramotor across...

Kelowna’s funky Queensway transit exchange wins award

KELOWNA - The wavy new roof gracing the Queensway transit exchange has caught the eye of the people who judge such things and been recognized with an award. The Council of Southern Interior Construction Association gave the transit exchange an award of excellence in the category of community institutional construction. The design of the wood...

Kelowna city council aims to take lead on homelessness

KELOWNA - Admitting it’s out of touch with current community efforts to combat homelessness, Kelowna city council is hoping to jump into a leadership role by hiring a homeless coordinator and adopting a new, more direct housing strategy. The initiative comes amid signs of increased homelessness in Kelowna, including a doubling in the number of...

Some risks in Kelowna’s civic block condominium plan

KELOWNA - Right now, visitors to 350 Doyle Ave. are usually of the reluctant kind, brought there in the back of a police cruiser or paddy wagon. But if the goals of the civic block plan are realized, 350 Doyle Ave. — current home of the Kelowna RCMP detachment — could find favour within a...

Interior Health Authority old stomping ground for new CEO

KELOWNA - The new head of the Interior Health Authority spent the first week on the job travelling and expects to to do a lot more before things settle down. “I was out talking with staff, physicians, community leaders, volunteers. I’m just going around to communities and listening to what people are telling me. I...

Fictional sport gets real tournament in Kelowna

KELOWNA - Teams from across North America will be in Kelowna this weekend for a real tournament of a fictional sport. Quidditch is a mixed-gender, full contact sport played with seven athletes on each team that was made famous in the Harry Potter books and movies. Players pass, shoot, score and defend their three hoops...

Flu shot season in the Southern Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With the peak of flu season just a few weeks away, Health Canada has started its yearly vaccination program. Although last year’s flu vaccine wasn’t particularly effective, Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi says, this year’s vaccine cocktail will target the more severe of the two types of viruses – Type A. Every...

The changing gym culture in Kelowna

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Newcomers to the Okanagan, once they get past the wineries and beaches, often remark on the fitness culture here and how everyone seems to be doing some kind of workout. That’s reflected in the many gyms that serve the Central Okanagan, from huge commercial facilities with lots of equipment to small boutique...

UPDATE: Body discovered following suspicious West Kelowna house fire

WEST KELOWNA - The body of a woman has been discovered after a suspicious house fire in West Kelowna early this morning. West Kelowna Fire Rescue and RCMP responded to the fire at 2311 Boucherie Road around 1:45 a.m., Nov. 4, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Duncan says in a press release. Jason Brolund, the West...

Kelowna’s Stuart Park named Canada’s best public space

KELOWNA - Locals know Stuart Park, with its seasonal ice rink and funky public art, as a great place to hang out. Now the downtown park has been recognized on a wider stage, winning best public space in Canada, as judged by the Canadian Institute of Planners. “Stuart Park bridges the re-emergence of Kelowna’s downtown...

Why supporters want you to vote ‘yes’ for a performing arts centre in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS - A referendum into a proposed performing arts centre is only a few days away and its supporters want Kamloops residents to understand what it could mean to the community. The city is actively advocating the building of an arts centre, even creating an ad campaign asking residents to ‘Imagine’ the possibilities. Mayor Peter...

Employers in Kelowna, Sorrento fined for exposing workers to asbestos

OKANAGAN - WorkSafe B.C. has slapped two local employers with heavy fines for exposing workers to asbestos. The first, Kelowna’s Kone Inc., was handed a $15,000 penalty for potentially exposing its workers to harmful levels of asbestos. According to WorkSafe B.C., the company, which installs, maintains and repairs elevators and escalators, was first told to...

West Kelowna looks for choices in Okanagan Lake second crossing project

KELOWNA - A project that would see a second crossing installed over Okanagan Lake has yet to get the full backing of West Kelowna council. West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater says his council doesn’t have the full understanding neccessary to take a firm stand on what the city wants from the Okanagan Lake second crossing...

Watch for Taurids fireballs, northern lights over the Southern Interior this week

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Taurid meteor shower is one of the longer meteor showers, running from September through December every year, but this year it could be more active than usual with the possibility of fireballs tearing through the sky later this week. The Taurid meteor shower only produces about five to 10 meteors per hours...

City not much help in downtown Kelowna rat battle

KELOWNA - Just because you’ve never seen a rat, doesn’t mean Kelowna doesn’t have rats. Just ask Gary Mandl, who never saw a rat in his downtown Kelowna neighbourhood until his neighbours started composting last year. “We went from zero rats to all of a sudden being able to catch a rat, reload the trap...

Rollover accidents a sign of winter weather on Okanagan mountain highways

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - A rash of rollovers on the Okanagan Connector is highlighting the arrival of winter weather at higher elevations. West Kelowna RCMP say there were two rollover accidents on Saturday, Oct. 31 with both vehicles hitting ice. This comes amid reports of two other rollovers which happened this mornining, Nov. 2. One of...

Liquor store faces little opposition in UBCO neighbourhood

KELOWNA - Imagine, if you will, an application to open a liquor store in Kelowna that faced little opposition from local neighbours and in fact, will likely be warmly embraced when it finally does open. That’s because the neighbours in the building on Academy Way where the liquor store will be located are by and...

Chance of snow in the Okanagan this week

OKANAGAN - A system moving through the Southern Interior coated mountain passes in heavy snow this weekend and early this week the white stuff could hit the valleys too. Between 14 and 17 centimetres of snow is being reported on the ground at Pennask Summit, Coquihalla Summit and Allison Pass this morning after receiving a...

City of Kelowna hedges bets against strong U.S. dollar

KELOWNA - Finance officials with the city will now use currency forecasts in advance of all big ticket purchases from the United States, hoping to avoid price swings that render budget estimates obsolete. “It’s certainly affecting us when buying products directly from the U.S. or if we are buying from a Canadian supplier who is...

One year after killing, why there still aren’t any cameras on Okanagan buses

KAMLOOPS HAS 25 KELOWNA – One year after the horrific killing of a Kelowna man on a B.C. Transit bus and six months after they promised to begin installing them, there still isn’t a single operational camera on any Kelowna buses. Last year, on Oct. 30, Caesar Rosales was killed in front of more than...

Keeping safe on Halloween night

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The first thing that comes to mind on Halloween is safety, at least for parents. Kids are only thinking about the candy and costumes, but there are ways to help keep them safe on Halloween night, even if it’s the last thing on their minds. Always make sure young children are accompanied by...

Falling loonie costs Kelowna taxpayers extra $180,000 for new fire truck

KELOWNA - By last March, the sagging Canadian dollar had already cost Kelowna taxpayers an extra $130,000 for purchase of a new fire engine from the U.S. But the loonie has dropped further since and Kelowna Fire Department chief Jeff Carlisle is again asking Kelowna city council to top up the purchase price of the...

Web series following Kelowna photographer looking for funds to start season two

KELOWNA - A local production company has just released the last episode of the first season of a web series that follows a Kelowna photographer around the world. State of Mind Films produced the series 1 Stop Closer, which features Shawn Talbot as he creates images in exotic locations like Death Valley, Hawaii and the...