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Kelowna
Clerk pepper sprayed in Kelowna robbery
KELOWNA - Early Sunday morning a man entered the Mac’s Convenience Store on Richter Street demanding cigarettes before pepper spraying the clerk and fleeing the scene. Cpl. Joe Duncan with the Kelowna RCMP says they received the call around 2:30 a.m., May 24, that a man had robbed the Mac’s Store in the 2100 block...
Severe thunderstorm watch underway in much of Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After a wet and wild weekend in the Interior another round of thunderstorms could hit the region. Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Nicola, South Thompson and Okanagan Valley regions for Monday, May 25. The weather office notes conditions are favourable for storms that could produce hail, strong wind...
Woman hit, killed by trailer pulled by pickup driven by husband
KELOWNA – Both the RCMP and Coroner are investigating after a 40-year-old woman was hit and killed by a trailer being towed by a pickup truck driven by her husband early Sunday morning. RCMP say the woman was hit at around 2:30 a.m., May 24, in the 3100-block of Lakeshore Road, just south of KLO...
UPDATE: Southern Interior severe thunderstorm watch expanded
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Environment Canada has expanded its severe thunderstorm watch to include the South Thompson, North Thompson and Nicola regions, including the city of Kamloops. The original watch issued early this morning, May 24, covered the Okanagan, Shuswap and Boundary regions, including Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and Salmon Arm. Forecasters say conditions are favourable for the...
Okanagan diners reap the rewards of an early spring
OKANAGN – The early spring across the Okanagan this year is not only good for your tan but for local restaurants and family kitchens as well. Across the valley, farmers are busy harvesting crops which normally wouldn't be ready for weeks. Fruits, berries, veggies and field crops all got a jump start this year, which...
Westbank cemetery to see new life under expansion plan
WEST KELOWNA - The District of West Kelowna is considering spending $694,000 on the expansion of the Westbank Cemetery. In a report to council, parks supervisor Stacey Harding is recommending the district award the expansion contract to Arterra Construction, the low bidder on the plan to expand the graveyard which opened in 1925. Harding says...
TNRD looks at options for regulating biosolids
KAMLOOPS - In response to recent concerns around biosolids the regional district is considering changes to regulations around commercial and agriculture composting. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is reviewing a zoning bylaw to regulate commercial composting and to limit the scale of agricultural composting. In a media release, the district says if the amendment is supported...
Hot dog calls on rise as weather heats up in Southern Interior
THOMSON-OKANAGAN - Though summer isn’t even officially here, the unseasonably warm weather in the Interior is already prompting concerned calls about dogs left unattended in cars. “We’ve had three or four already this morning (May 22) and yesterday we had half a dozen before lunch,” Cam Buksa, spokesman for the Central Okanagan branch of the...
Cannabis oil stopped her seizures, now family trying to help others
SUMMERLAND – The family of a young girl from Summerland say her only relief from debilitating seizures has come from an oil derived from marijuana, and they are holding a fundraiser to help other families in the same situation. Kyla Williams, 3, has a rare form of epilepsy that causes her as many as 300...
Kelowna to consider bid for 2019 seniors games
KELOWNA - Staff are recommending the City of Kelowna spend $115,000 in a bid to host the 2019 55+ B.C. Games. In a report to council, event development supervisor Mariko Siggers says community support for the bid is solid, the facilities already exist and the return on investment will amount to at least $2 million...
Study at UBC Okanagan seeks breast cancer survivors
OKANAGAN - A researcher from UBC Okanagan is hoping to find survivors of breast cancer for a study on the effects of increasing physical exercise after treatment and rehabilitation. Cristina Caperchione, an assistant professor with the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, is leading ProjectMOVE which has secured a $200,000 research grant from the Canadian...
Early spring both good and bad for local farmers
OKANAGAN – The early heat felt across the Okanagan this year has local farmers springing into action. Producers of vegetables, fruit, hay and alfalfa crops say the warm weather came at least two weeks early this year, meaning they can plant earlier, expect higher yields and very likely harvest earlier as well. At the Kelowna...
Ducklings saved by local business owner
KELOWNA – When Noel Wentworth saw an anxious-looking duck on the side of the road last week he knew something wasn’t right. Wentworth and his family were driving home on Glenmore Road around 8 p.m. May 16 when he saw a panicked mother duck on the opposite side of the road. “She was basically running...
Second crossing 20 years out but planning now is essential, transportation ministry says
WEST KELOWNA - If you ask project director Murray Tekano, the current study about where to put a second Okanagan Lake crossing is not just a public relations exercise to be seen doing something. Tekano says 20 years for planning a major infrastructure project such as the second bridge is standard for the industry and...
Bad guys seem to take time off in Lake Country
LAKE COUNTRY - RCMP in Lake Country are reporting a year-over-year drop of 40 per cent in total criminal code offences in the last quarter of 2014 as compared to 2013. This includes a 53 per cent drop in property crimes during the same period. Crimes against people in the bedroom community of 12,000, such...
Hot Okanagan temperatures not quite record-breaking
OKANAGAN - Temperatures soared into the high 20s Wednesday, and will get even hotter Thursday and Friday, but it wasn’t quite enough for a record. According to Environment Canada, temperatures reached upwards of 28 Celsius in the Okanagan and 29.4 Celsius in Kamloops on Wednesday, May 20, but those numbers fell shy of records ranging...
Hot temperatures in Kamloops not quite record-breaking
KAMLOOPS - Temperatures soared into the high 20s Wednesday, and will get even hotter Thursday and Friday, but it wasn’t quite enough for a record. According to Environment Canada, temperatures reached upwards of 28 Celsius in the Okanagan and 29.4 Celsius in Kamloops on Wednesday, May 20, but those numbers fell shy of records ranging...
You have a few more months to register your off-road vehicle
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Good news for the estimated 200,000 trail riders across the province as the government has pushed the deadline to register off-road vehicles from June 1 to Nov. 1. According to a press release sent Wednesday, May 20, the deadline change will give users more time to prepare for the mandatory registration as well...
Kelowna’s connection to Dancing with the Stars
KELOWNA – A local singer from West Kelowna may be your chance to meet and learn from some of the professional performers featured on the hit reality dance competition Dancing with the Stars. Kelly Margaret Derrickson co-owns a company with Robert Cooper called Dance Fuzion that gives fans a chance to meet and be taught...
Bike theft spike sparks warning from Kelowna RCMP
KELOWNA - RCMP are advising owners to harden the target of an 'extreme spike' in recent thefts - your bike. In a release today, May 20, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Duncan says there have been 154 bike thefts reported in Kelowna since the beginning of the year. Duncan says owners can’t prevent all thefts but...
Kelowna RCMP searching for man linked to possible arson
KELOWNA - A fire at Boyd Autobody and Glass damaged four vehicles while a second fire on Bedford Avenue damaged a camper in April and now RCMP are looking to identify a man seen in surveillance footage from the area. In the early morning hours on April 10 the Kelowna Fire Department attended a fire...
Interior Health to consider ebola preparedness recommendations
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If the world has learned anything from the ongoing ebola epidemic, it’s that you cannot predict where and when a person carrying the dreaded virus will show up. The Interior Health Authority learned that in December when one of its own employees, nurse practitioner Patrice Gordon, returned from Sierra Leone and began displaying flu-like...
Big White Ski Resort awarded for excellence
NAMED A TOP-PERFORMING SKI DESTINATION BY TRAVELLERS KELOWNA - Big White Ski Resort has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. Now in its fifth year, the award celebrates excellence in hospitality and is given to establishments that consistently achieve great reviews on TripAdvisor. Destinations must maintain a consistent high review from a minimum number...
Hot weather ahead for the Thompson-Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Dig out your sunscreen and your flip-flops because B.C.’s Interior is in for some unseasonably hot weather over the coming week. Although the average temperature for the region is in the low 20s from Kamloops all the way south to Penticton, residents can look forward to highs of 29 C with only occasional...