Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Kelowna
Kelowna crack dealer busted by officer who lived in same building loses appeal
KELOWNA – A Kelowna man arrested after an investigator who lived in his apartment building saw him selling drugs, has had his appeal dismissed in a Vancouver court. Peter Andrew Webster was arrested in the elevator of his building Dec. 16, 2008, after a surveillance team saw him hand a plastic bag to another man...
Canada Day fireworks still a go in Kelowna despite fire danger
KELOWNA – The annual Canada Day fireworks in Tugboat Bay will go ahead as planned despite the extreme risk of fire issued by Wildfire B.C. Festivals Kelowna executive director Renata Mills says one of the benefits of holding the celebration over Okanagan Lake is dry conditions don’t put forests or structures at risk. “The obvious...
Local musician needs your help to win Aboriginal Music Award
KELOWNA – A singer-songwriter from West Kelowna has been nominated in two categories for an international music award this week. Kelly Margaret Derrickson, daughter of Grand Chief Ron Derrickson, found out Wednesday, June 24, the Indigenous Music Awards had nominated her for Best New Artist and Best Music Video. The video, Idle No More, is...
No elevated Okanagan watering restrictions — yet
OKANAGAN - Despite record-breaking heat and little rain in the forecast, Okanagan communities remain under normal, or phase 1, watering restrictions, but be warned — that could change. Water utilities are keeping a close eye on supply, demand and weather predictions for the summer, but haven’t yet been forced to elevate restrictions. Kelowna’s five water...
Stalled private hospital has Westbank band members, police asking questions about finances
FUNDING COLLAPSE; RECALL CAMPAIGN WESTBANK FIRST NATION - Canada’s first private, for-profit hospital, slated for development on Westbank First Nation land, has stalled amid lost venture capital funding and criminal allegations and the political fallout could claim the band’s chief and councillors. The Lake Okanagan Wellness Centre is a project the band announced with much...
Central Okanagan amongst the leaders in wildfire fuel reduction in B.C.
KELOWNA - The B.C. Forest Practices Board is praising Kelowna’s wildfire fuel mitigation efforts as amongst the most advanced in the province even as it criticizes the overall lack of progress in B.C. in protecting urban interface areas. “Today, Kelowna is an example of what communities can do to protect themselves. B.C. has been lucky...
UPDATE: Missing Lake Country woman found
LAKE COUNTRY - A missing 81-year-old woman has been found alive and well in Lake Country this afternoon. Const. Kris Clark says Norma Bowman was found near the Aspen Grove Golf Course in Lake Country. She had been last seen at her home near Swalwell Park yesterday, June 24. Clark says Bowman is alive and...
Woman who went missing in Okanagan bush has outstanding warrants
PEACHLAND - The Winnipeg woman who went missing for more than a week and then was found by two men checking on livestock on an old logging road near Peachland is due for a court appearance in Manitoba. Kara Jo Leigh Stoyanowksi, 24, went missing for nine days after she left a recreational area near...
What’s happening at Mushroom Beach?
KELOWNA – Mushroom Beach in Kelowna means something different to everyone. To some it’s a peaceful mecca of freedom, where music fills the air, police look the other way when it comes to drug use, and clothing is optional. To residents in the area however, it’s percieved as a growing danger to their children, homes...
Okanagan about to be blasted with record heat
OKANAGAN - It’s getting hot out there. Very hot. Possibly even record-breaking hot. So grab your sunscreen and hit the beach while Mother Nature kicks off summer with a bang. Temperatures are forecast to reach as high as 39 Celsius this weekend in the Okanagan, and Environment Canada is calling for daily highs to stay...
No fireworks and possibly no campfires allowed this weekend
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Without a significant amount of rainfall Tuesday night, the Southern Interior could see a fire danger rating of ‘extreme’ by the start of the weekend. And that could mean no campfires on the weekend before Canada Day. Kelsey Winter of B.C. Wildfire says the fire danger rating in the Kamloops Fire Centre, which...
B.C. sending more firefighters out-of-province
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - B.C. is answering a request for assistance from the Yukon, sending 31 firefighters there to help fight wildfires. According to B.C. Wildfire, the request was made through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, responsible for coordinating sharing of firefighting personnel and resources with other jurisdictions. B.C. just sent 21 firefighters, four fixed wing...
Cancellation of Kelowna City Park vendor program ‘an insult’
'THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL LOSE THEIR HOMES BECAUSE THIS WAS THEIR PRIME INCOME' KELOWNA – The row of street vendors that have lined the walkway leading into City Park for more than 15 years will not be allowed back this year, and vendors say it will have devastating impacts on their families. That decision...
Kelowna wants to boost walking and cycling
KELOWNA - A push to get more residents making trips on foot or on a bike will be enshrined in a pedestrian and bicycle master plan after city council endorsed a staff proposal this week. In a report to council, transportation manager Moudud Hasan says the goal is to leverage the increases already achieved since...
Temporary public art program ruffles some feathers on Kelowna council
KELOWNA - A proposal for a trial temporary art installation program divided city councillors despite the relatively modest price tag of $15,000. For that sum, the temporary art in public places pilot program would deliver one piece of art, installed at a yet-to-be-decided location, which will be gone in six months, then returned to the...
UBC Okanagan seeks change to firearms bylaw to set up ballistics testing lab
KELOWNA - UBC Okanagan and one of its research partners Helios Global Technologies, is looking to set up a ballistics lab in the commercial zone across from Kelowna International Airport. To that end, they are seeking a revision to the city’s firearms bylaw which would exempt ballistics testing within city limits. UBCO spokesman Bud Mortensen...
Treat dad like a king with these Father’s Day events in the Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Father’s Day is one day every year where families can tell dad how much he means and do the things he enjoys. So with forecasts calling for sun and temperatures in the mid-20s any of these outdoor events happening around the Thompson-Okanagan should keep him smiling for the next 12 months. If you’re in...
Prospect of liquor stores inside grocery stores prompts Kelowna bylaw review
KELOWNA - No one has even asked yet about putting a liquor store inside a Kelowna grocery store but planning staff will be asking city council if it wants to shore up its zoning bylaw to regulate them. “Right now we have five locations where there is already a retail liquor store on the same...
Beading a path through the Okanagan
PENTICTON - An Okanagan artist and entrepreneur turned a daydream into a unique business opportunity which continues to grow with each new tourist season. Karen Griggs was looking for a way to make a living while following her passion when she came up with the idea of the Bead Trail. According to her blog, a...
Robot invasion: Engineers testing out their gadgets
KELOWNA – Graduate students from across Canada were in the Okanagan this week, testing out and demonstrating the latest in robotic technology. Teams from schools across Canada spent the week in Kelowna programming and testing their machines at an annual event meant to bring together engineers and operators normally scattered across the country. The annual...
Shiny new Interior Heart and Surgical Centre almost ready to save lives
KELOWNA - The Interior Heart and Surgical Centre at Kelowna General Hospital is a technical marvel that you hope never to have to visit but are sure glad is there when you need it. “This facility is the icing on the cake that is KGH,” says Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick, who was on hand...
Okanagan-bound boat caught and decontaminated for possible invasive mussel threat
KELOWNA – Conservation officers in Kelowna decontaminated a boat today which came to the Okanagan from an Ontario lake known to be infested with invasive mussels. The boat was purchased by someone in the Okanagan city and transported from Lake Eerie in Windsor, Ont. It was shipped along with another boat bound for Fort McMurray....
Hospital laundry workers continue anti-privatization protest as decision looms
KELOWNA - The Hospital Employees Union continued its public pressure campaign against privatization of laundry services this week with a pair of rallies in the largest communities within the Interior Health Authority. Laundry workers sought to bring provincial politicians into the mix by protesting in front of the contituency offices of MLA Terry Lake in...
Why CN Rail doesn’t want to talk about soil contamination along the Okanagan rail corridor
OKANAGAN - CN Rail is refusing to release the contents of an environmental study into possible soil contamination along the 48-kilometre Okanagan rail corridor. Even though the report has been reviewed in turn by an environmental consultant hired by the inter-jurisdictional acquisition team, the leader of the team says it will not release the details...