Kelowna

Passenger during Westside Road police shootout says he was in charge

LANGUAGE ADVISORY KELOWNA – Michael Ellis, accused ringleader of a 2012 high speed shootout with police, was just doing what he was told. At least that’s what his only defence witness says. Shawn Wysynski, who is also a lifelong friend of Ellis, told Kelowna Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson that the only reason his friends were...

Low gas prices a present at the pump

PLAN A KAMLOOPS PIT STOP TO FILL UP THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Spent a little too much on gifts this year? You might still come out flush on your holiday budget thanks to the dropping prices at gas pumps around the country. For those that plan to drive during the holidays gas prices are often a thing...

Snow to impact holiday travel this weekend

HEAVY SNOW FORECAST FOR COQUIHALLA THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you were planning to hit the highways this weekend to visit family and friends, or to head out of town to get your last minute shopping done, beware, Environment Canada is warning of a storm system moving over the Interior highways. Snow is already falling this morning...

UPDATE: Man missing since end of November found

KELOWNA – The 52-year-old Kelowna man missing missing since Nov. 26 has been found. Kelowna RCMP say Gerald Gordon Heuft has been located safe and sound. "Thanks to the media and public for your assistance," Const. Kris Clark says in a media release. RCMP asked for the public's help to find the missing man on...

Kelowna farmer in trouble for covering land with mystery dirt

"THE CITY CANNOT TELL A FARMER HOW TO FARM HIS OR HER LAND." KELOWNA – A Kelowna farmer is in some trouble with the Agricultural Land Commission for adding untested dirt to his water-logged horse pasture. The 11 acre property is located in the South Pandosy area and is within the Agricultural Land Reserve and the...

Will we have a white Christmas?

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The halls are decked, the trees are trimmed and the presents are wrapped, or at least bought, or at least thought of, but it doesn’t really feel like Christmas until there’s snow on the ground. But will Mother Nature cooperate? Right now, it’s not looking so good. With Environment Canada forecasting above normal...

Changes to curbside waste collection on Christmas and New Year’s

KELOWNA – Kelowna residents with curbside waste pickup normally scheduled for Thursday and Friday will have to wait an extra day to get rid of their Christmas and New Year’s trash. With no collection on Christmas and New Year’s day, for those weeks Thursday pickup will happen on Friday, and Friday pickups will be made...

$60K public art contract up for bid

KELOWNA – A new public art project worth $60,000 will soon be commissioned to honour and inspire women recovering from addictions. The artwork will be installed adjacent to a major public space planned for outside the Karis Supportive Housing Project that is expected to be completed next year. According to Urban planner Pat McCormick, the...

Police seek information in bizarre Kelowna handgun incident

KELOWNA - Police are looking for a man who allegedly pointed a gun at a pair of Okanagan residents and then offered to help them change a tire. The strange incident happened Nov. 4 around 12:30 a.m. at the Willow Park Church parking lot at 439 Highway 33, states a release from the Kelowna RCMP....

UPDATE: Explosion and fire on Knox Mountain

KELOWNA - Quick thinking by a Kelowna homeowner likely saved his house after the gas tank on a vintage car exploded in the attached garage Monday afternoon. At about 2:25 p.m., fire crews responded to a call about an explosion and fire at a home at 311 Woodpark Cres. in Magic Estates on Knox Mountain....

Kelowna shed fire kills pet chicken

KELOWNA – A shed has been destroyed by fire and a pet chicken killed thanks to an unattended space heater. Kelowna firefighters were called to the blaze at 1629 Parkridge Ct. at around 6:57 a.m. and arrived to find 15’X15’ shed at the rear of the property fully engulfed in flames. The fire was quickly...

UPDATE: Body found in burning truck

KELOWNA - The RCMP and the coroner are investigating after a man's body was discovered in a burning truck in Kelowna, though police don't suspect foul play. Fire crews were called Saturday at around 6:07 p.m. to the truck, which was found engulfed in flames Casorso Road at Barrera Road near Casorso Elementary School in...

So you want to be a wildland firefighter?

NOW IS THE TIME TO APPLY THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The wildfire season is just barely over but the provincial branch responsible for protecting us from wildfires is already getting prepared for next year. This past year crews attended nearly 350 fires, which burned a total of more than 3,800 hectares, in just the Kamloops centre. Across...

A second chance for Thistletown Boxing Club

KELOWNA – One of B.C.’s last remaining boxing clubs is getting a fresh start thanks to some help from a local business owner. Kelowna’s Thistletown Boxing Club first opened in 2007. For seven years it was managed by former National champion Graham McIntosh before financial troubles forced him to close the doors in July. A...

Seven small Kelowna businesses make B.C. awards semi-finals

KELOWNA - The Top 10 semi-finalists for the 12th Annual Small Business BC Awards have now been selected, and seven very special companies are from Kelowna. These semi-finalists include: CoreHealth Technologies for Best Workplace and Best Company, Culinary Ink GastroVentures Ltd. for Best Emerging Entrepreneur, Float Space for Best Emerging Entrepreneur, The Greenery Garden Centre...

Gluten-free baker from Kelowna catches chef Jamie Oliver’s attention

KELOWNA - A large cardboard cutout of a slice of bread caught food guru Jamie Oliver’s attention. Matthew and Nicole Knegt of the Kelowna-based Four Spoons Bakery, which specializes in gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and nut-free goods, sent the lazer-cut two-by-one-and-a-half-foot cardboard toast with a bite mark in it to world-renowned chef Jamie Oliver’s production company...

Third day of record highs in Interior

COOL DOWN BEGINS THOMPSON- OKANAGAN - For the third day in a row more high temperatures records were set in the region Thursday. According to temperatures recorded by Environment Canada Vernon set a new record with a high of 12.6 Celsius Thursday, more than three degrees higher than the previous record set in 1939, and...

Warm weekend perfect for meteor show

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A mix of sun and cloud, low temperatures of only -2 Celsius and a moon in the last quarter may give us just the perfect conditions to take in the peak of the Geminid meteor shower this weekend. The meteor shower is visible Dec. 4-17 this year but overnight Dec. 13-14 is likely...

Charity comes easy to this Kelowna family

KELOWNA – For the third year in a row a Mission family is showing that charity doesn’t have to be a lot of hard work. For the past two years, the de Haas family have partnered with a local pizza shop to donate more than a dozen pizzas they take to school and offer to...

Kelowna’s housing prices will continue to climb in 2015

KELOWNA – It’s going to continue to be a seller’s market in Kelowna over the next year as low interest rates combine with low inventory to drive prices up. According to RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook Report, the 2015 average residential sale price in Kelowna rose seven per cent over 2014. Although that is one per...

More weather records broken in Interior

BACK TO NORMALS BY SUNDAY THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As temperatures soared as high as 15 degrees above seasonal normals more weather records were broken across the region Wednesday. According to Environment Canada, temperatures reached 15.6 Celsius in Kamloops Wednesday, nearly three degrees higher than the previous record for the second day in a row, while Vernon...

Convicted killer due for sentencing for ramming police car

"IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT PERIODS OF INCARCERATION HAVE AFFECTED HIM." KELOWNA – A Kelowna man with an extensive criminal history is being sentenced for using a stolen truck to ram a police car as he tried to evade arrest only one year after being released from prison for a 2005 manslaughter conviction. "It was only...

Energy efficiency program puts $700K back in UBCO hands

KELOWNA - An energy efficiency program at UBC Okanagan resulted in $700,000 in rebates since it was first implemented in 2005. Upgrades began in the gymnasium, where energy-efficient lighting was installed. From there, the University has worked alongside FortisBC during large campus expansion projects to ensure they meet the new standards while most older campus...

Weather record set in Kamloops, Okanagan communities just shy

COULD BE ANOTHER RECORD DAY IN INTERIOR THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Kamloops was among a handful of B.C. communities to set new weather records as temperatures soared to above 14 Celsius Tuesday. According to Environment Canada Kamloops reached a high of 14.2 C Tuesday, 3.6 degrees higher than the previous record that was set in 1896. Today...