Local

PHOTOS: Tattoo festival back for second year

KELOWNA – The Okanagan’s only tattoo culture and arts show was back in Kelowna over the weekend for the second year in a row. The Okanagan Tattoo Show is becoming an annual event drawing thousands of fans of body modification and tattoo culture to Parkinson Recreation Centre over the weekend. Aside from having some of...

Canada’s oldest swim event takes place this weekend

KELOWNA – Canada’s biggest and longest running swim event is back in Kelowna for the 66th year in a row. This Across the Lake Swim will be the biggest yet with 900 participants signed-up to swim 2 km from the Old Ferry Wharf in West Kelowna to City Park. Participants leave the shores of West Kelowna...

Playground approved for Mission Recreation Park

KELOWNA – Councillors approved funding Monday for a new children’s playground in Mission Recreation Park. “Over the past few years, regular users have expressed a desire to install a playground to provide children of the participants a fun and safe play option when at the ball park,” says community recreation coordinator Chris Babcock. “After raising...

Council signs off on election restrictions

KELOWNA – A bylaw passed by councillors Monday caps the number of election signs you can legally display on your property. Effective immediately, no private or public places can display more than two signs for any single candidate. According to Karen Needham, the changes have been made as a result of concerns raised by council...

Man killed trying to stop vehicle rolling off cliff

KELOWNA – An attempt to stop a vehicle from rolling off a cliff near Big White had tragic consequences for a 67-year-old Cawston man Sunday. The man, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of family, had parked his Jeep on a narrow forest service road close to a cliff. When the vehicle started rolling...

Angelina Jolie’s badass stunt double is from Kelowna

KELOWNA – A stuntwoman from Kelowna whose work appears in the recently released Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was featured in an article on Cosmo.com earlier this week. Janene Carleton, 36, is considered by many international studios to be one of Hollywood’s top female stunt doubles. Over her 10 year career she has been...

Gellatly Road to reopen on weekend

WEST KELOWNA – Gellatly Road, closed since May by bank erosion, will reopen to vehicle and pedestrian traffic Saturday. Mayor Doug Findlater declared a local State of Emergency May 12 and the stretch between Witt and Carrall Roads was closed while damage was assessed. Work on the roadway began May 20 but due to the...

Kelowna philanthropist looking for 100 women who care

KELOWNA – The woman behind Rose’s pub, Hanna’s restaurant and the Wild Woman Wise Woman Foundation, has started another organization with plans to raise at least $20,000 a year for local charities. “We’ve put on a fundraiser every year in support of women and children and it was a lot of work,” Rose Sexsmith says. “I kept...

Kelowna gets new domestic violence unit

KELOWNA – Victims of domestic abuse have a new resource in Kelowna. The creation of a new Domestic Violence Unit, a first for the Okanagan, was announced by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton. “The team will provide an urgent, coordinated response to protect families in this community who are at risk or...

Adventure Park opening cut down by vandals

KELOWNA – A vandal with a chainsaw has forced the operator of Myra Canyon Adventure Park to delay their grand opening by at least three weeks. The tree-top rope and challenge course on June Springs Rd. was set to open to the public this weekend, but park employee Rusty Gahr says staff arriving for work...

Krafty Kitchen kicks hard for final opening push

KELOWNA – Masterchef Canada finalist Kaila Klassen’s new restaurant in downtown Kelowna is in the final stages of preparation for a grand opening at the end of the month. Klassen, a realtor from West Kelowna finished Masterchef Canada in third place, announcing in April her plan to open a restaurant called Krafty Kitchen + Bar. “The...

Keloha music festival takes the stage this weekend

KELOWNA – The annual Keloha music festival is back for the third year in a row, and organizers have managed once again to secure some of the top up-and-coming names in indy, alternative and rock music today. The three day festival features more than 70 live acts, but Wet Ape entertainment director Kelly Shepherd says...

Diner en Blanc Okanagan is back for the second year

KELOWNA  – The second annual pop-up picnic known as Diner en Blanc is back in the Okanagan and bigger than ever. Diner en Blanc is a worldwide event where guests dressed all in white gather to be whisked off to a secret location where they dine, drink and socialize. Event organizer Alison Love says 850...

Cause of Tolko mill fire likely accidental

KELOWNA  – A fire that started at Tolko mill Monday evening was likely set accidentally by transients camping in the area. The fire was contained to a pile of sawdust and bark mulch between the mill and Manhattan St., an area Kelowna Fire Capt. Tim Light says is frequented by transients. “We found some home-made...

Investigation into cause of rockslide continues

SUMMERLAND – The section of Highway 97 that was hit by a rockslide between Peachland and Summerland Sunday will remain partially closed until at least Tuesday. Murray Tekano of the Ministry of Transportation says until the 500 cubic metres of debris is cleared, highway traffic will be down to one lane in each direction. “Right now...

ARCHER: Hey Boonstock, just tell us what’s going on

Hey kids! Boonstock is only three weeks away! Nothing but fun and sun and music and culture and stuff! It’s all good all the time! Just please don’t look behind the curtain. I know I’ll be accused of being the grumpy old parent shushing the teenagers on their three-day sleepover, but I wish I didn’t...

Lions Hall arsonist tells court to hurry up and sentence him

"IT'S RIDICULOUS. I PLED GUILTY." KELOWNA – The man who pleaded guilty to burning the Westbank Lions Hall last September has opted to represent himself in court in an apparent effort to speed sentencing. Kerry Robert Cooper, 30, appeared before a Justice of the Peace via video Thursday morning, saying he didn’t care what the...

Changes coming to 911 service

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Starting this fall, the first person you talk to when you dial 911 will not be in your city. Emergency calls placed from the Regional Districts of Central Okanagan, North Okanagan, Okanagan-Similkameen, Thompson-Nicola, Columbia-Shuswap, Squamish-Lillooet (North), Central Kootenay, East Kootenay and Kootenay-Boundary Regional Districts will be answered through E-Comm, the emergency communication centre...

Meet Ballet Kelowna’s new artistic director and CEO

KELOWNA – Ballet Kelowna has a new artistic director. Simone Orlando has danced professionally with the National Ballet of Canada and Desrosiers Dance Theatre. She worked as principal artist for Ballet British Columbia and has created several commissions for Ballet Kelowna. Orlando will take over for retiring artistic director David LaHay at the start of the...

IN PHOTOS: Baby farm animals that will make you go ‘awww’

KELOWNA - As the weather warms up new crops appear and baby animals take their first, uncertain steps. Here are a few photos of baby animals starting their lives at some of the many farms around Kelowna.  Send your best seasonal photos to news@infonews.ca. %%Embed1%% To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw...

Another late night fire in Vernon

VERNON – Another fire had to be put out by Vernon Fire and Rescue overnight. Police didn't say if the pile of tires found burning on 34 St. Tuesday at around 12:45 a.m.is the latest in a string of 20 suspicious fires in the Vernon area. Items torched included vehicles, a boat, wooden pallets, a dumpster...

Inflatable downtown water park opens to public

KELOWNA – Just in time for Canada Day weekend, Kelowna’s newest water attraction is open to the public. Consisting of interlocking inflatable modules with a maximum capacity of 60 at a time, Wibit Water Park is anchored approximately 20 metres off the shores of City Park. City councillors approved the attraction earlier this month, granting...

Don’t bee afraid of prime swarms

WEST KELOWNA – It came over the horizon like a cloud of black smoke. Fast moving and unified, the swarm of around 40,000 honey bees crossed the Snyastan mall parking lot and settled in a tree only metres from the main entrance of Bosley’s Pet Food. Bosley’s manager Michelle Bell says she saw the swarm...

Gellatly Road will be even more closed during fireworks

WEST KELOWNA – Gellatly Bay is one of the most popular spots in West Kelowna to view the Canada Day fireworks, but drivers and pedestrians will have to take a different route to get there this year. Gellatly Road was closed to traffic May 2 after residents noticed the bank supporting it had eroded to...