Local

Fictional sport gets real tournament in Kelowna

KELOWNA - Teams from across North America will be in Kelowna this weekend for a real tournament of a fictional sport. Quidditch is a mixed-gender, full contact sport played with seven athletes on each team that was made famous in the Harry Potter books and movies. Players pass, shoot, score and defend their three hoops...

Flu shot season in the Southern Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With the peak of flu season just a few weeks away, Health Canada has started its yearly vaccination program. Although last year’s flu vaccine wasn’t particularly effective, Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi says, this year’s vaccine cocktail will target the more severe of the two types of viruses – Type A. Every...

One year after killing, why there still aren’t any cameras on Okanagan buses

KAMLOOPS HAS 25 KELOWNA – One year after the horrific killing of a Kelowna man on a B.C. Transit bus and six months after they promised to begin installing them, there still isn’t a single operational camera on any Kelowna buses. Last year, on Oct. 30, Caesar Rosales was killed in front of more than...

Web series following Kelowna photographer looking for funds to start season two

KELOWNA - A local production company has just released the last episode of the first season of a web series that follows a Kelowna photographer around the world. State of Mind Films produced the series 1 Stop Closer, which features Shawn Talbot as he creates images in exotic locations like Death Valley, Hawaii and the...

Kelowna has dozens of Halloween events happening this weekend

KELOWNA - It’s the spookiest day of the year and with Halloween landing on a weekend this year, it's also one of the busiest for events in Kelowna. This weekend you can enjoy plenty of haunted houses, a massive corn maze and lots of other frightful options. Throughout the weekend, you can take a stroll...

Whitewater Cooks author to stir the pot in Kelowna

KELOWNA - The author of a bestselling line of cookbooks will be in Kelowna next week signing autographs and speaking about her famous line of sauces. The author of four bestselling cookbooks, Shelley Adams of the Whitewater Cooks series was the former head chef at Fresh Tracks Café at Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson. Her...

Get ready for winter fun at B.C.’s largest snow show

VERNON - The largest exhibition of snow machines and snow safety equipment is coming to Vernon in less than two weeks. The first ever B.C. Provincial Snow Show is made up of three events that were previously held across the Interior — in Vernon, Williams Lake and Prince George. This year, the Vernon Snowmobile Association...

Deadline to register your off-road vehicles quickly approaching

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Backcountry riders have until Nov. 1 to register their dirt bikes, ATVs and snowmobiles. The new law, which also stipulates several safety regulations while on Crown land, has been voluntary since last November, and back in May the provincial government extended the hard deadline from June 1 to the start of next month....

How to keep your jack o’ lantern from rotting

KELOWNA – An unusually warm summer may have been nothing but a help to most farmers in the Okanagan but it’s forced pumpkin farmers to take steps to ensure customers get products that aren’t mushy and spoiled. Jas Sanghera is the owner of Don-O-Ray Vegetables on Benvoulin Road. He says the unusual weather this year...

Kelowna man charged in death of Calgary toddler

KELOWNA – A Kelowna man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a Calgary toddler in 2005. Police caught up with Ryan John Podhorodecki, 32, in Victoria where he was arrested on Thursday, Oct. 21, and transferred to Calgary to face the manslaughter charge.  Calgary police Staff Sgt. Colin...

Kelowna tourists caught in path of worst hurricane in history

KELOWNA - A small group of tourists from Kelowna who are vacationing in Nuevo Vallarta are fleeing to higher ground to escape the strongest hurricane ever recorded. Rod Robinson, owner of Bogie and Bacall Hair Salon in Orchard Park Mall, is travelling with his wife Donna and friends Denny and Patty Pirot, who are also...

OK Corral needs to wrangle up new customers

KELOWNA – After 31 years of being Kelowna’s only country bar, the OK Corral is struggling to survive. The nightclub, one of the few in Kelowna not located downtown, has seen a dramatic drop in attendance over the last two years, says marketing director Angie Clowry. “The last few years have not been successful,” she...

Kelowna Diwali dinner raises $30,000 for orphans in India

KELOWNA - A Kelowna fundraising Diwali dinner and dance over the weekend raised roughly $30,000 for a local orphan’s foundation that helps kids in India. The first ever East Meets West Orphans Foundation event at Rutland Centennial Hall included traditional Indian food, a live dance performance, an auction and a lively dance to Bhagra music...

VIDEO: Nitro Circus honours Okanagan athlete’s historic return to the ramp

KELOWNA - The biggest freestyle motocross and action sports promotion in the world is honouring a Kelowna rider who made history last week as the first paraplegic to pull of a backflip in front of a major audience. Bruce Cook was paralyzed from the waist down two years ago while attempting the first ever double...