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Kelowna
Accepting gifts a potential minefield for city councillors
KELOWNA - When is it acceptable for a Kelowna city councillor to accept a gift and when is it not? That is the question city staff are currently looking to clarify. “We had a conversation about what constitutes a gift and what doesn’t and what the disclosure requirements are,” city clerk Stephen Fleming says. Rules...
Province to hold public meetings on second Okanagan Lake crossing
KELOWNA - It’s at least twenty years before it will be built but the province still wants to hear what you have to say about a second lake bridge in the Central Okanagan. A press release from the Ministry of Transportation says two open houses are scheduled next week, one in Kelowna and the other...
Kelowna man dies days before life-saving surgery
KELOWNA – Friends and family of a young man from Kelowna are in mourning today after Joel Roshinsky, 20, passed away in Ottawa while awaiting surgery this week. Roshinsky suffered from Graves’ disease as well as a host of associated illnesses. He was admitted to Kelowna General Hospital in January last year after an eye infection led...
Fire in bark mulch prompts staff evacuation at Glenmore school
KELOWNA - A fire in a bark mulch pile a few feet away from L’Ecole Glenmore Elementary school this afternoon, just after the students had left for the day, still caused enough concern for staff to evacuate the building. “Staff here at the school had put it out before we got here,” incident commander Capt....
Electoral boundary changes go to public hearing in Kamloops, Vernon
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Changes are being recommended in many electoral areas across the province and this week you can get your say in on those changes at three meetings throughout the region. The B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission held public hearings in the fall and earlier this year a report outlining the recommended changes was released. In...
West Kelowna moves closer to becoming a city
WEST KELOWNA - A bid by the District of West Kelowna to apply for an updgrade to city status is moving to the next level after only 166 counter petitions were submitted during the alternative approval process. “There is no significant concern from the public and I think we made the right call using the...
New name and price approved for Memorial Parkade
KELOWNA - Despite a jump in final price to more than $19 million for the Memorial Parkade, Kelowna city councillors had little say about the increase. Instead, what little debate councillors had was centred around the aesthetics of the 6.5-storey structure, slated to begin construction this summer in time for completion next summer. Coun. Luke...
Breastfeeding moms could prevail in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA - Breastfeeding is a right protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom and according to a report from staff, District of West Kelowna staff should be trained in to recognize this — to do anything else is sex discrimination. The staff report recommends West Kelowna get behind a request originally made...
Power outage planned for part of Kelowna
KELOWNA - Fortis customers in the central city area of Kelowna can expect a planned power outage tomorrow morning. Fortis B.C. is advising customers they will be shutting off power from 4 to 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 13, for emergency repairs. The affected area is primarily between Richter Street and Ethel Street from Sutherland Avenue...
Fire danger ratings reach extreme
OPEN BURNING RESTRICTIONS START FRIDAY THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Open fires were already set to be restricted in many parts of the Kamloops fire centre beginning May 15 but with unseasonably warm and dry weather well under way, the entire fire centre will now be put under restrictions beginning this weekend. The Clearwater and Salmon Arm fire...
Serious assault in Kelowna puts Armstrong teen in hospital
KELOWNA – A weekend assault in Kelowna has left a teenager from Armstrong in hospital in serious condition. The 18-year-old boy was rushed to hospital at about 9:36 p.m., Saturday, May 9, after he was hit in the head with a blunt object during a fight between two groups of people in Rutland’s Davie Park....
Pot protesters call for mass phone-in to Kelowna mayor
KELOWNA - With the tang of marijuana smoke in the air, anti-cannabis prohibition activist Dana Larsen lead a protest outside City Hall this afternoon against what he says are Kelowna’s outdated bylaws regulating medical marijuana dispensaries. “Let’s help show Kelowna council they do have an option, they have the option to follow the Vancouver model...
Mother’s Day moose on the loose in Rutland
KELOWNA – A Mother’s Day surprise when a young moose took a stroll through a busy Kelowna neighbourhood on Sunday. Amy Eder was loading her family into the car to go for Mother’s Day breakfast around 8 a.m., May 10, when she saw something big and hairy walking down the road in Rutland. “It was...
City of Kelowna chooses contractor for new cop shop
KELOWNA - The city has chosen Bird Design-Build Construction as the primary contractor for the new RCMP police services building to be built at Clement Avenue and Richter Street in Kelowna. The contract is valued at $39 million and calls for the Calgary-based construction company to shepherd the specialized police services building through the planning...
Cost of new downtown Kelowna parkade on the rise
KELOWNA - The number of parking stalls planned for the city’s latest downtown parkade has jumped but so has the price tag. In a report to council, director of infrastructure Allan Newcombe says capacity of the new parkade will jump from 438 stalls under the original proposal to 566 stalls. The original budget of $15.83...
Mothers Day continues when mom has passed on
VERNON - Every May, Brenda Gilchrist-Sword changes her profile picture. The black and white portrait isn’t her, but her mom Grace, who passed away in 2002. Gilchrist-Sword, of Vernon, lives in a different province from where her mom is buried, so the profile picture is her way of honouring her mom around Mother’s Day. She...
Intersecting trends making mead a sales phenom
KELOWNA - So is it the current Viking craze, Game of Thrones mania or just plain old hipsters that have thrust the ancient beverage mead back into the modern world? Judie Barta isn’t exactly sure but what she does know is that she can barely keep up with demand for the honey wine she makes...
UBCO student seeks Miss Canada crown
KELOWNA – A UBC Okanagan engineering graduate wants the world to know we need more female engineers. So she’s entering the Miss Canada pageant. Ena Vehabovic, 22, is one of the very few female fourth-year engineering students at UBC’s Okanagan campus. In a graduating class of 150, only 22 are women so she’s taking her...
Okanagan Basin Water Board demands more action on invasive mussels
OKANAGAN - The Okanagan Basin Water Board is calling on the provincial government to step up the fight against invasive quagga and zebra mussels by establishing permanent inspection stations at the five main highway entrances from Alberta. As well, in a seven-point position paper, the water board is calling on the federal government to immediately...
Retired conservation officer speaks out about the realities of a service stretched too thin
“YOU CAME TO WORK EVERY DAY KNOWING YOU COULD NOT FULFILL EVERY PHONE CALL AND REPORTED COMPLAINT” KELOWNA - Retired B.C. conservation officer Greg Hoyer went into the field to protect fisheries and wildlife; by the time he left in 2009 that was only a fraction of his job. “Over the years, the government just...
Lots and plots predicted to be hot commodity at Kelowna Cemetery
KELOWNA - A consultant has identified one particular housing market segment in Kelowna where demand is only going to go up and where the city can eventually make some serious money — cremation lots and burial plots. Current inventory at the city-owned Kelowna Memorial Park cemetery is predicted to run out within eight years. The...
UPDATE: Kelowna teen located
UPDATE: 10:56 A.M., MAY 25, 2015 RCMP say Raven Graham has been located. 3:32 P.M., MAY 8, 2015 KELOWNA – A 17-year-old girl from Kelowna who police say went missing April 14 may in fact be in Alberta. RCMP issued a media release Tuesday, May 5, asking for the public’s help locating Raven Graham, but according...
Median barriers will be installed on dangerous stretch of Highway 97
KELOWNA – A stretch of Hwy 97, notorious for crashes caused when a driver crosses the centre line, will receive nine kilometers of concrete median barriers this summer. The announcement was made Friday, May 8 with plans for phase one to begin this month. The $2.5-million project will start with work between University Way and...
New wildfire recruits put through paces
MERRITT - More than 200 seasonal firefighter applicants have made the cut and this month they are being put through a ‘rigorous’ bootcamp near Merritt. About 1,000 people, many of which are post-secondary students, apply for the positions every year. Provincial Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek says the job is "very in demand" and the...