Kelowna

Live music competition to rock Kelowna

KELOWNA – A local music competition hopes to highlight just how hard the Okanagan can rock. Okanagan Rocks is an all-categories music competition that is open to solo acts, duos and bands. Six acts will play their original music for the audience and judges, with the winning act getting recording time at Big Audio Productions....

Backyard pools contaminating Okanagan Lake

OKANAGAN - Backyard pools are a source of fun and relaxation for many Okanagan homeowners but if improperly drained they are a source of excess chlorine and contaminants for Okanagan Lake. “Chlorine is unfriendly to the lake and the surge of people emptying their pools and hot tubs in the spring and fall adds to...

School board says superintendent’s pay raise long overdue

KELOWNA - A pay raise negotiated last year by Hugh Gloster, the superintendent of schools for the Central Okanagan School District, was long-overdue and well within the normal range for the educational sector, according to the school board chair. “His contract was up for renewal July 1 and we did negotiate a pay raise with...

Convicted murderer who rammed police in stolen truck released

KELOWNA – A convicted murderer who Justice Peter Rogers calls a 'serial criminal' will be released from custody later today despite using a stolen truck to ram a police car just one year after being released from prison. Daniel Mader, 31, was sentenced to time served Wednesday in Kelowna Supreme Court. He pleaded guilty to...

School board searching for $1.5 million in budget cuts

KELOWNA - Some late additions to the Central Okanagan school district’s 2015 budget has pushed the anticipated shortfall to $1.5 million on a budget of $220 million. “The superintendent wanted to add two programs he thought were worth supporting,” says secretary-treasurer Larry Paul, who pegged the cost of the programs at $133,000. “He’s looking to...

Motorcycle, cash and pendant stolen in separate thefts

KELOWNA – RCMP are asking the public for help locating several items stolen in Kelowna and West Kelowna over the last ten days. On April 19 a client at a Kelowna tanning salon left behind a gold eagle pendant in one of the rooms. When the owner returned the pendant was missing. It is said...

Kelowna charity sending aid to Nepal

KELOWNA – A local charity that helps marginalized children around the world is collecting funds for displaced residents of Nepal after the worst earthquake to hit the country in nearly a century. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the capital of Kathmandu Saturday, April 25. The most recent numbers show more than 4,600 dead, but with...

Pay raise on the table for Central Okanagan school trustees

KELOWNA - Central Okanagan school trustees are considering the politically delicate subject of giving themselves a pay raise next year and how exactly to calculate it. Director of Finance Eileen Sadlowski, in a report to the school board, is recommending they choose one of three options; a raise that reflects the consumer price index, a...

Codling moth tax levy approved by Kelowna council

KELOWNA - Orchardists, and the rest of Kelowna, will pay just over $1 million in 2015 to combat the codling moth, a destructive pest that preys on apples and pears. Kelowna council approved the local levy and parcel tax, which covers all properties within city boundaries. Properties of at least 0.3 acres, containing 20 or...

Expect to see smoke along the Coquihalla this week

KAMLOOPS - A series of small burns north of Merritt, off the Coquihalla Highway, will be conducted by Wildfire Management Branch personnel starting this week. The controlled burns will take place Thursday, April 30, and Tuesday, May 5, and are in preparation for a training course that will help students determine the origin and cause...

Local students given $50k to learn coding skills

KELOWNA – Students looking to learn more about computer coding in the hopes of entering the quickly growing technology sector got a boost from the provincial government today. Okanagan College will be getting part of a $250,000 funding grant from the provincial government to help develop computer coding-related skills for the growing sector. Premier Christy...

Cameron House caught up in debate over heritage restoration

KELOWNA - The future of Cameron House, the iconic log structure that sits in the middle of the Richter Street park that bears its name, is still in limbo. This week city councillors wrestled at length with the issue of whether the house, built in 1929 using log-and-chink construction, has signficant heritage value and is...

Barenaked Ladies returning to Kelowna

KELOWNA - With a new album set to release in June, the Barenaked Ladies are ramping up for yet another Canadian tour this fall. The SILVERBALL tour will kick-off in Prince George on Oct. 19 before hitting the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops on Oct. 24 and Prospera Place in Kelowna on Oct. 25. In...

Garbage can fire forces evacuation of Kelowna recreation centre

KELOWNA - A garbage can burning in a washroom led to the evacuation of Parkinson Recreation Centre Monday evening. Platoon Capt. Steve Wallick says Kelowna Fire Department was called around 6:45 p.m., Monday, April 27, to alarm bells ringing and report of a fire, which burned in a garbage can in one of the washrooms...

Kelowna council proposes alternative to public prayer

KELOWNA - Councillors have decided to scrap a public prayer at the beginning of its Tuesday night meetings and instead will reaffirm their oath of office after receiving a report from staff on the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on the constitutionality of prayers at council meetings. "Council directed staff to bring forward an amendment...

Drop the video game controller and head to Exit Kelowna

KELOWNA - I’m not sure if this counts as a spoiler but if you think playing a round of Exit, the real-time escape game trending large in Japan and the U.S, means you need the skills of a ninja or a Navy Seal, you would be dead wrong. In fact, Exit is a game of...

Body found in Ben Lee Park

KELOWNA – RCMP say the body of a middle-aged man was found in Ben Lee Park Sunday evening. A group of girls were playing basketball when one of them noticed a man lying prone, within the boards of the outdoor hockey rink around 6:30 p.m., April 26, according to Cpl. Joe Duncan. The identity of...

Yes side claims resounding victory in rail trail referendum

LAKE COUNTRY - With a voter turnout that puts other elections to shame, about 75 per cent Lake Country voters showed their support for the CN Rail corridor purchase with a resounding yes vote. In a media release from the district, chief election officer Reyna Seabrook says 4,4462 or 47.9 per cent of eligible voters...

West Kelowna keeping an eye on medical marijuana dispensaries

WEST KELOWNA - A pair of businesses in West Kelowna may have the distinction of being the only legal companies in the province allowed to act as de facto medical marijuana dispensaries. While such dispensaries abound in Vancouver — over 80 at last count — none of them have business licenses, but intstead operate as...

Happy 10th birthday YouTube; local viral videos

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The very first YouTube video was uploaded ten years ago today so InfoNews has put together some of our regions most watched clips of the last decade. The first Okanagan classic is about a focused skater singing the national anthem at a Penticton Vees game in October 2014. It has more than 3-million...

Public prayer could be suspended by Kelowna council

KELOWNA - City councillors are moving quickly to stem possible controversy over its practice of offering a prayer before some council meetings in the wake of a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling. City clerk Stephen Fleming, in a report going before council Monday morning, will offer three options for consideration; suspend the recital of a...

Local fighter readies for UFC 186 in Montreal

KELOWNA - A local MMA fighter is in Montreal this week getting ready for his first match in the UFC. Shane "Shaolin" Campbell is the fourth Kelowna-based fighter to be called by the biggest promotion in the world. He was asked last minute if he would be willing to fill in on the main card...

Mussels with wings; the new front in the battle against invasive species

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The defensive war on invasive mussels hitching a ride into British Columbia’s lakes and rivers via recreational boats has just begun but there’s already talk of opening up a new front — float planes. While recreational boats and commercial boat haulers are the primary target of the recently-launched Don’t Move A Mussel educational program,...