Lavington
Coroner identifies two women killed in Highway 6 car crash
LUMBY – The B.C. Coroners Service has identified two women who died in a two-car crash on Highway 6 in the North Okanagan near Lumby December 6. They were Diedre Naomi-Ann Hughes, 57, from Vernon and her daughter Emma Maria Danielle Froh, 22, from Lumby. RCMP say the crash, between a Pontiac Sunfire and a...
Lavington gas leak forces school closures
LAVINGTON - Some Lavington schools are closed Friday due to a major natural gas leak on Highway 6. Superintendent of School District 22 Joe Rogers says JW Inglis and Charles Bloom Secondary schools will be shut down while Fortis B.C. completes repairs to the gas line. Lavington Elementary School remains open. Teachers and CUPE staff...
Lavington’s ongoing battle against a proposed pellet plant
CONCERNED CITIZENS TO REQUEST ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND JUDICIAL REVIEW VERNON - When Lavington resident Geoffrey Nielsen attended a town hall meeting about a proposed pellet plant in the small North Okanagan community, he brought an open mind. The mechanical engineer and father says he was even leaning in favour of it. Then he read the...
Inquest into death of Lumby mill worker ends with recommendations to prevent future tragedies
VERNON - The jury in a B.C. Coroners inquest into the death of a teen employee at Tolko’s Lavington mill made seven recommendations in the hopes of preventing future tragedies. Bradley Haslam, 18, died after getting entangled in a conveyer belt at the mill in June 2013. The grade 12 Charles Bloom Secondary student had...
Machinery running on graveyard shift the night teen worker died was an anomaly
VERNON - A Tolko employee knew two days in advance machines would be running during the ordinarily quiet graveyard clean-up shift to accommodate extra production, a coroner’s inquiry into the death of a Lumby teen heard Thursday. Bradley Haslam, 18, became entangled in a conveyer belt at Tolko’s Lavington mill in June 2013 and died....
Vernon school board won’t support Lavington pellet plant
VERNON - A proposed pellet plant in Lavington doesn’t have the support of the Vernon school district. In a letter to the Ministry of Environment, board chair Bill Turanski said the board received conflicting information about the project. “The board’s primary concern must, in every case, be the health and welfare of the students and...
School board contemplates decision on Lavington pellet plant
VERNON - The Vernon school board will soon let the Ministry of Environment know how it feels about a proposed pellet plant. Trustees received input from those in favour of the project and those against, and are now preparing to send their recommendations to the Ministry. Pinnacle Renewable Energy president Leroy Reitsma presented to the...
Vernon school board to hear community concerns over controversial pellet plant
VERNON - Parents will be given an opportunity to voice their concerns to the Vernon School District regarding a proposed pellet plant. The district called another meeting on Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Tolko’s plans to build a pellet plant near Lavington Elementary at a special board meeting Wednesday night. Residents asked the board to hold...
School district calls special meeting on proposed pellet plant
VERNON - The Vernon School District wants assurances a proposed pellet plant won’t be harmful to student health. Superintendent Joe Rogers says the school board will hear from Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Tolko Wednesday night at a special meeting. The companies want to build the pellet plant near Lavington Elementary, next to Tolko’s existing mill...
Gold unearthed at Lavington claim
VERNON - Land in the North Okanagan town of Lavington, B.C. is being explored for gold by a Toronto mining company. The property is made up of four mineral claims covering 1,156 hectares about 10 km east of Vernon. Historically, the property has been explored by other companies, including BP in the 1980s. Asher Resources...
Proposed Lavington pellet plant moves forward
COLDSTREAM - A controversial pellet plant has overcome a significant hurdle. Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Tolko Industries have the go ahead to rezone the land intended for the plant though it wasn’t an easy, or unanimous decision for Coldstream council. Third reading of the rezoning bylaw scraped through deliberations with four councillors voting in favour...
New dates for inquest into Lumby teen’s death
VERNON – The inquest into the death of a Lumby teen in an industrial accident at the Lavington planer mill over a year ago will be held this fall. The B.C. Coroners Service had originally planned to hold the inquest into Bradley Haslam’s death this past spring, but new information forced the coroners service to...
Trial begins for man accused of dangerous driving in death of Kamloops man
VERNON - A Lavington man’s dangerous driving causing death trial began Tuesday, almost three years to the day he was involved in a crash that left a Kamloops man dead. Terrance Edward Brown, born in 1977, faces one count of dangerous driving causing death and one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. He was...