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Kelowna
Vernon couple starts #redbagchallenge to help raise blood donations
VERNON – Following on the worldwide success of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a local couple from Vernon have come up with an imaginative way to encourage blood donations. Glenn and Lisa Gallie came up with the idea to donate blood on camera and then nominate three people who would then have to make a...
Body found near Okanagan College in Kelowna
KELOWNA - Mounties are investigating a report of a body found in a parking lot in Kelowna this morning. The body was discovered inside a maroon coloured mini van parked in the staff parking lot behind the Mission View medical building Oct. 17. Police are releasing few details, but say the death does not appear to...
Local history comes to life in bigger, better book
OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN – One of the regions longest running traditions is back, bigger and better than ever before. The Okanagan Historical Society Annual Report is a collection of essays that explores the varied and rich history of the valley. David Gregory is the editor of the publication and he says the 78th issue is one of...
Given to run for council, not mayor
KELOWNA – First term councillor Gail Given, who has hinted in the past she was considering running for mayor next month, will instead seek to keep her seat on council. Given, who has lived in Kelowna more than 30 years, says with the majority of the councillors leaving she wanted to ensure there will be...
Diverse-abilities on display at City Hall
KELOWNA – A line of people stood together outside City Hall Wednesday raising awareness for issues still faced by those in our city who have disabilities. The rally, called the Pathways Inclusion Chain, was organized by Pathways Abilities Society, a 61-year-old group started by a handful of parents in 1953. It has since grown to...
1.5 kg cocaine, ammunition among items seized in Kelowna bust
KELOWNA - A four-week drug trafficking investigation led Mounties to two Kelowna homes and resulted in two arrests Friday. RCMP entered a residence on the 200 block of Mills Road with a warrant in hand Oct. 10. A second search warrant was executed at a residence on the 1400 block of Crawford Road. In a...
Open burn ban to be fully lifted
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Kamloops Fire Centre received calls of open burns in areas still under prohibition this long weekend, but staff are happy none led to wildfires. Fire Information Officer Kayla Pepper says a 13.7 hectare fire just north of Lytton this weekend is believed to be human-caused, but not a result of open burning....
Political cyber sabotage in Kelowna mayoral election campaign
KELOWNA – The RCMP are investigating after someone hacked former Kelowna mayor Sharon Shepherd’s old Twitter account. It appears someone used the Twitter account to attack the mayoral candidate’s reputation in an effort to discredit her. “Those who know me soon realized my previous accounts had been take over without my knowledge or permission, for...
UPDATE: Missing woman found safe
KELOWNA – A 32-year-old Kelowna woman, missing for two-and-half weeks, has been found. RCMP say Taya Morgan Giroday is safe. Giroday went missing on Sept. 23, 2014 prompting a media alert from police who said it was out of character for her to be out of contact for such a long period of time. RCMP...
ELECTION 2014: Plenty of choice in Kelowna civic election
KELOWNA – With 29 candidates declared for Kelowna city councillor, the only thing for certain is... there will be a lot of election signs. Candidate nominations closed at 4 p.m. on Friday. Six candidates vie for mayor, 29 for city councillor and nine for school trustee. Former mayor Sharon Shepherd and councillor Colin Basran are...
Westlake Road to open for Thanksgiving traffic
KELOWNA - It’s been under construction since April, but the Westlake Road will partially open in time for Thanksgiving traffic at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The $5.1 million project still has a section between Caledonia Way and Rosewood Drive under construction. It will be open to motorists on Friday, with single-lane alternating traffic resuming on...
The Okanagan as seen from the eyes of someone falling from the sky
OKANAGAN - They look like sky ninjas or superheroes soaring above the clouds, and you might recognize their birds eye view of the ground below. Skydiving enthusiast Chris Ellom captured some incredible footage of his favourite sky dives this past August and September taken as much as 11,000 feet above the Okanagan Valley, high enough...
Friday is last day for nominations in civic election
KELOWNA - If you’re interested in running for Mayor, City council or school trustee in Kelowna – Oct. 10 is your last day to file the paperwork. The election will take place Nov. 15. Potential candidates are encouraged to call ahead in order to book an appointment to file before 4 p.m. Those interested in...
Prosper Kelowna: Second declared slate in municipal election
KELOWNA – A second slate geared towards younger voters has turned up in Kelowna. The two-candidate team of Prosper Kelowna hopes to revitalize the City’s job market if elected to City Council. Mike McLoughlin and Sean Upshaw, two former election candidates for the B.C. Conservatives, have geared their seven point slate so the Kelowna public...
The Okanagan’s connection to popular new movie Gone Girl
KELOWNA - A Kelowna born actress has a cameo role in the new movie Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck. Lauren Glazier plays a ‘fashionista’ in the mystery thriller about a missing woman and the husband suspected of killing her. It isn’t Glazier’s first time on the silver screen. She’s appeared in a range of short films...
Arrest of alleged drug traffickers ruled ‘unlawful’
KELOWNA - Drug charges against three men are in doubt after a Kelowna Supreme Court Justice ruled RCMP officers, after committing resources to a lengthy investigation, erred in their arrests of three men believed to be trafficking heroin. Justice Gordon Funt, in his Oct. 2 voir dire ruling, ruled the arrests of Joshua David Lambrecht...
Okanagan hockey refs flee burning car
ENDERBY - Three Okanagan hockey referees are lucky to be alive after an off-ice collision Friday night. Jeremy Silzer, 24, of Vernon says he and two other refs, one from Winfield and one from Kelowna, were returning home from a Junior B hockey game in Sicamous around 10 p.m. They were just rounding a corner...
Trial date set for three accused of killing Jonathan Bacon
KELOWNA – Three men accused of killing gang leader Jonathan Bacon will face a jury trial in April 2016. Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason T. McBride and Michael K. Jones are each charged with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder. Bacon died after he was shot while in his Porsche Cayenne outside the...
Jonny Lang brings blues-rock to Kelowna
KELOWNA – He’s been called one of the best live performers and guitarists of his generation. Jonny Lang and his band are coming to Kelowna. On the heels of his latest album “Fight for My Soul” the Fargo, N.D. native is touring to promote the effort. Sixteen years ago at the age of 16, Lang...
Your chance to see a blood-red moon this week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Not only do we get to view a full moon and a minor meteor shower this week, we will also be treated to a total lunar eclipse that will give the moon a blood red colour. In our end of the world, the eclipse is expected to be visible from start to finish,...
Future of Sopa Square a waiting game
KELOWNA – The company that owns the Vancouver Canucks may still breathe life into an on-again, off-again Kelowna development but not before it jumps through a few more legal hurdles to bring it out of receivership. Sopa Square was supposed to be the project to change the face of the Pandosy neighbourhood. The mix of...
Tragically Hip has found a place to happen in Kelowna this winter
KELOWNA - The Tragically Hip announced Monday they'll perform in Kelowna during their 2015 North American tour. The Hip will lauch their Fully and Completely tour at the House of Blues in Chicago in January and arrive in Kelowna Feb. 7. The show at Prospera Place starts at 8 p.m. and doors open at 7...
Kelowna’s Run for the Cure raises over $175,000
KELOWNA – What they lacked in numbers, they made up for with enthusiasm. Over 1,2000 people took part in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Kelowna’s City Park Sunday morning. Over $175,000 was raised. Last year, Run for the Cure saw over 2,000 people raise about $300,000. The annual fundraiser for the Canadian Breast...
DeHart to seek second term on council
KELOWNA – Another councillor has announced she will be on the ballot again this November. Maxine DeHart is the third and most recent sitting councillor to declare her intentions to run as an incumbent in the municipal election next month. In a media release, DeHart says she will focus her campaign on continuing the work...