Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Kelowna

Heavy snow continues on Coquihalla, 97C

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Mother Nature seems determined to let us know we are well on our way to winter with yet another round of heavy snow expected to hit area highways today. The system currently over the Interior will continue to drop heavy snow on mountain passes through tonight though the snow will start to mix...

Dierks Bentley headlining in Merritt

MERRITT - Country star Dierks Bentley is the first big act to sign up for Riverfest 2015 in Merritt. Bentley recently released his eighth album, Riser, featuring hit singles I Hold On and Drunk On A Plane. The award-winning star is the first act signed to the music festival, which will run July 30 through...

Municipalities granted one week extension to submit rail trail proposal

KELOWNA – The consortium of municipalities hoping to buy the decommissioned CN rail corridor between Kelowna and Vernon have been granted a one week extension to submit their value assessment proposal to the Canadian Transportation Agency. The acquisition team – made up of Kelowna, Lake Country, Coldstream, North Okanagan and Central Okanagan Regional Districts –...

Heavy snow to continue on highways

NEAR-RECORD HIGHS EXPECTED MID-WEEK THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you are hitting the highways today, beware: Warnings of compact snow and slippery sections have been issued for many areas and more than 30 centimetres has fallen on several mountain passes over the past few days. Now another 15 cm is being forecast over the next 24 hours...

Woman found in Kelowna alley dies from injuries

KELOWNA – An 83-year-old woman found with serious injuries in an alley in downtown Kelowna early Sunday morning has died in hospital. RCMP say the woman was found alone in the lane between the Kelowna Daily Courier building and the McWilliams Centre at 580 Doyle Ave. at about 1:13 a.m. She was rushed to Kelowna...

Native court workers protest for equal pay

OKANAGAN - Native court workers are standing up against the government asking for equal pay after being cut out of a deal five years ago that increased the wages of others but not court workers. Jack Kruger, a veteran native court worker and counsellor, has spent the past two days outside the Penticton and Kelowna...

Get your jingle on; Christmas Kettle campaign underway

KELOWNA – There may not be much snow around to get you into the holiday spirit, but the sound of jingling bells might help as the annual Salvation Army Christmas Kettle campaign gets underway. Local politicians and celebrities gathered at Kelowna’s Walmart on Friday to take a shift at the kettle outside the department store....

Shipping cats to make room at Kelowna shelter

KELOWNA – The B.C. SPCA in Kelowna has so many cats, staff loaded them into a van and drove them to another shelter in Victoria in hopes of adopting them. With over 100 cats looking for a home at the Kelowna shelter, the SPCA Drive for Lives program transported 21 felines on Thursday. “As soon...

Heavy snow hitting the highways

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you plan to head out on the highways this weekend make sure you have your brain switched to winter driving. Several Interior highways are already covered with compact snow and slushy sections and another 20 centimetres of snow is expected by Saturday morning. A system heading over the Interior will bring heavy...

Candidates have up to seven days to remove signs

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The elections are over but there are still some of those brightly-coloured election signs lying around. They should all be gone soon though, candidates are required to remove them by this weekend. The Ministry of Transportation has the strictest regulations, requiring signs to be removed the next working day after the general voting...

Candidates have up to seven days to remove signs

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The elections are over but there are still some of those brightly-coloured election signs lying around. They should all be gone soon though, candidates are required to remove them by this weekend. The Ministry of Transportation has the strictest regulations, requiring signs to be removed the next working day after the general voting...

Candidates have up to seven days to remove signs

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The elections are over but there are still some of those brightly-coloured election signs lying around. They should all be gone soon though, candidates are required to remove them by this weekend. The Ministry of Transportation has the strictest regulations, requiring signs to be removed the next working day after the general voting...

Poached pooch returned to rightful owner

KELOWNA – An allegedly pilfered pug has been found and re-united with its owner after a routine traffic stop by an officer with the RCMP Kelowna Integrated Traffic Unit. Anastasia went missing in the Pandosy area in mid-October and Const. Brad Smith spotted a little dog matching the description of the lost dog in the...

Ski season begins this weekend

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you are the kind of person who dreams in white, longs for the feeling of cold wind whipping your face and lives for snow days — you are in luck. Opening day at area ski hills is nearly here. Beginning this Saturday, ski resorts around the province will begin to open. Sun...

Snow hits Kamloops, forecast for Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Snow has already fallen in Kamloops this morning and more is on the way as a system moving through the region warms the air. A light snow and temperatures hovering near the freezing mark have led to multiple crashes in the city and Kamloops RCMP asking drivers to slow down and drive for...

Penticton, Kelowna renters spending nearly 30% of income on housing

KAMLOOPS, VERNON NOT MUCH BETTER THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A new study shows people renting in the region are spending, on average, 24-29 per cent of their income on rent and utilities, putting the rental landscape in the poor to severe category. The B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association released the Rental Housing Index, in partnership with Vancity Credit...

Snow heading to town

SYSTEM COULD CLEAR SMOKE FROM AIR THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Snow has already been accumulating on some highway passes and this week we may see some of the white stuff hit valley bottoms as a system moves over the region. Environment Canada is calling for warming temperatures through the weekend as cloud cover moves in. Highs of...

Set your alarm clocks, Leonid meteor shower peaking

TUESDAY MORNING SHOW IF CLOUDS KEEP AWAY THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If the clouds part and the smoke clears, we could be in for a great showing of the Leonid meteor shower early Tuesday morning. While the moon, currently in the waning crescent phase, is not expected to interfere with viewing the storm, increasing cloudiness overnight could...

Air quality advisory remains in place

WAITING ON THE WEATHER TO CHANGE THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It is mid-November and yes, that is smoke in the air. Unlike the summer when large wildfires in northern B.C. caused air quality advisories the smoke visible throughout the region is due to open burning. “There are hundreds of burn registrations issued,” Kayla Pepper of B.C. Wildfire...

‘My son is psychotic and he’s just hit my wife with a hammer,’ court hears

GROSSMITH MURDER TRIAL TO FOCUS ON EXTENT OF MENTAL DISORDER AND CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY KELOWNA - On Sept. 13, 2012, Conor Frederick Grossmith, then 24, ate dinner and played cards with his parents just a few hours before he hit his mother in the head with a hammer as she lay in her bed. Six days...

Ron MacLean’s Kelowna life lesson

KELOWNA – Former Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean has spent almost every summer in Kelowna over the years, so returning to the city for the Hometown Hockey tour on the weekend was kind of like coming home. In an essay published on the Hometown Hockey website, MacLean reminisces about a life lesson he...

Break in cold snap around the corner

WILL STAY BELOW ZERO A FEW MORE DAYS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After a few days of sub-zero temperatures everyone is looking for a break, but we still have a few more days of staying below zero before it will finally begin to warm up again. Through the Okanagan temperatures only rose to -0.2 Celsius in Penticton...

UBCO hosts WFN art forum Friday

KELOWNA – A public forum examining the impact Westbank First Nations art has had on the revitalized downtown is taking place at the Alternator Centre this Friday. The hour long forum, part of a monthly series called Alterknowledge that looks at social issues in the Okanagan, is organized by faculty at UBCO in partnership with the...