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Kelowna
New local charity steps up to send Westbank fashion designer to L.A.
WEST KELOWNA - A First Nations clothing designer from Westbank who was invited to take part in Style Fashion Week in Los Angeles this week thought she had missed her opportunity, but a last minute sponsorship from a new Kelowna charity has her packing her bags. “I leave tomorrow afternoon,” Jill Setah says. “I am...
Kelowna Gospel Mission to unveil new, larger dining room on Thanksgiving Day
KELOWNA – There’s no reservation necessary and everyone is welcome to the Gospel Mission’s annual Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. The Kelowna Gospel Mission serves more than 800 meals on Thanksgiving Day, Oct. 12. Several local and provincial politicians will serving meals along with more than 50 volunteers. Prior to the meal service, there will be...
New web show lets you sip and learn about Okanagan wine in your slippers
SUMMERLAND – Looking for an alternative to stuffy shows that teach you about the Okanagan’s favourite beverage? There’s a new local wine review show hosted by a cast of colourful characters that features interviews and information about the Okanagan’s best wines and wineries. Sipping with Slippers premiered on YouTube in late September. They recently released...
Years of bad water convinces Kelowna man irrigation districts have to go
KELOWNA - A Glenmore man says Kelowna residents need to get educated on how water is delivered in the city and the turf war going on behind the scenes with local irrigation districts. “I understand how we came to have four irrigation districts, but we’re not the same city anymore, it isn’t 80 years ago....
Dying Nsyilxcn language given new life in classroom
OKANAGAN - Reviving an endangered language is a daunting task but Syilx Language House is going to try to do just that with Nsyilxcn, the Okanagan language. Thirteen beginning students have signed on with five co-teachers, who are also students. Lead teacher Michele Johnson says in a media release there are fewer than 100 fluent...
Board members to crash at homeless shelter
KELOWNA – In an effort to raise awareness of the problem of homelessness in our community, board members of a local shelter will be sleeping over at one of their own facilities tonight. In support of World Homeless Day, several members of the Inn From the Cold board of directors as well as some volunteers,...
Autism’s children look inward in an outward-looking world
KELOWNA - Autism is a condition everyone seems to have heard about but hardly anyone can define. Lisa Watson, who lives with it every day, says there’s a good reason for this. “When you you’ve met one child with autism, you’ve met one child with autism, is how the saying goes. They are all so...
Everything you need to know about quail in the Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – If you ever walk into the middle of a covey of California quail,…
Young Kelowna man sentenced for assaulting teenaged girl
Kelowna – A 21-year-old Kelowna man has been sentenced on a charge of assault for pushing the head of a 13-year-old girl towards his crotch. Zachary Xavier Heise, now 21, was with three friends - two girls, aged 13 and 14, and a boy, 16 - in Vernon in May 2013. Heise was significantly older...
You may not be thankful for the weather in the Okanagan this long weekend
OKANAGAN - It may be a long weekend typically filled with family, friends and lots of food, but much of this Thanksgiving weekend will also be wet and windy. While both the high and low temperatures are expected to be above normal throughout the weekend there will also be a chance of rain and strong...
Crews respond to Harvey Avenue roof fire
KELOWNA - A smouldering roof fire on a building under renovation was quickly extinguished last night. Crews were called to the 1500 block of Harvey Avenue around 9:20 p.m. yesterday, Oct. 8. Firefighters found the fire smouldering in the roof and were able to expose it and extinguish it. Platoon Capt. Tim Light says the...
Kelowna mother rattled by fake RCMP phone hoax
KELOWNA - Its a phone call no parent wants to get — a call from their son or daughter saying they’ve been in an accident, made twice as scary when the call supposedly comes from the RCMP detachment. “My son called and said he wasn’t having a great day,” a local mom says, who asked...
Vials of E. coli found in Kelowna transient camp
KELOWNA - Vials containing the bacteria E. coli, apparently stolen from a medical laboratory, have been discovered at a transient camp near Munson Pond. The unusual find by local bylaw officers prompted a call to Kelowna RCMP and a local hazardous material disposal company, who sent out personnel to retrieve the vials. "It's pretty common...
Bear with two cubs spotted at Kelowna Airport
KELOWNA – The Kelowna Airport sees its share of visitors but nothing like the three spotted there recently. A mother black bear and two cubs were seen three times between the highway and the long term parking lot over the past three weeks, according to airport spokesperson Jenelle Hynes. “There have been no encounters with...
UBCO students launch first campus radio show in the Okanagan
KELOWNA - The Okanagan’s first college radio station doesn’t have a broadcast tower or FM licence, but they are attracting the attention of musicians and listeners across the valley. Heatwave Radio launched online only three weeks ago. Still in the beta stage, they're not worrying too much about their analytics and they don’t really know...
Meteor shower over Kamloops this week
KAMLOOPS - Patient skywatchers will get a chance to view the Draconids meteor shower as it sets to peak this week. The Draconids is a minor meteor shower that runs from Oct. 6 to 10 and produces about 10 meteors per hour, though has been known to produce hundreds or even thousands of ‘shooting stars’...
Meteor shower over the Okanagan this week
OKANAGAN - Patient skywatchers will get a chance to view the Draconids meteor shower as it sets to peak this week. The Draconids is a minor meteor shower that runs from Oct. 6 to 10 and produces about 10 meteors per hour, though has been known to produce hundreds or even thousands of ‘shooting stars’...
Kelowna property tax exemption denial a hit for local non-profit
KELOWNA - City hall handed out more than $1.5 million in property tax exemptions this week to churches, private schools and other non-profit organizations, but one organization did not get approved for exemption status. Most of the organizations receiving the exemptions are already on the books with the city, so after a review by city...
Cloudy brown water soon a thing of the past in Glenmore Ellison
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - It’s taken almost seven years and $20 million, but residents who have endured near constant water quality advisories in the Glenmore Ellison area are getting some relief. Darwin Kutney, geneal manager of the Glenmore Ellison Improvement District, says its new Okanagan Lake intake and pump station plus a closed reservoir are set...
Blue Rodeo to make Okanagan stop during Canadian tour
KELOWNA - Iconic Canadian band Blue Rodeo is coming to Kelowna early next year. The band announced today, Oct. 7, a cross-country tour in support of their new album Live at Massey Hall. Blue Rodeo first pierced the Canadian conciousness with their 1987 album Outskirts and is planning to release a selection of their albums...
Okanagan Marathon to shut down majority of downtown roads this weekend
KELOWNA - Thousands of runners from across the country will be lacing up their shoes and taking part in the 21st annual BMO Okanagan Marathon in Kelowna this weekend. The race is part of the Okanagan Family Festival Weekend, which includes the 42.2-km marathon, a 21.1-km half marathon, a 10-km run/walk, a 5-km run/walk, a...
Solid consumer confidence drives strong Okanagan housing market
OKANAGAN - As goes the weather, so goes real estate activity, according to the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board, which is reporting a cooling of sales in September after a robust summer. The Central Okanagan and Shuswap markets continue to strengthen and see an improvement year-to-date over last year,” board president Christopher Miller says in...
Kelowna adopts permanent outdoor watering restrictions
KELOWNA - In the wake of this summer’s drought, Kelowna is adopting permanent outdoor watering restrictions and bumping up its enforcement of the new rules. While reducing outdoor water use during drought is one benefit, of equal value is reducing the impact of demand spikes during dry summer months on the city’s water pipes and...
Suspicious garage fire quickly doused by Kelowna Fire Department
KELOWNA - An early morning garage fire near Cameron Park in Kelowna caused has been deemed suspicious. The Kelowna Fire Department was called out shortly after 5 a.m. today, Oct. 6, to reports of a fire inside a detached garage. Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire but not before there was some damage...