Lumby
Local pilot catches heat for harassing wild animals
KELOWNA – A YouTube video of a Kelowna man flying his paramotor around the Okanagan may have attracted more attention than he wanted. Emile Beaulieau made the video of him flying his fan-driven paraglider around the Okanagan late last year. In it, he can be seen skimming over rooftops and buzzing herds of wild deer...
Lights out for thousands of North Okanagan residents
NORTH OKANAGAN - A number of snow-related power outages are plaguing North Okanagan residents all the way from Cherryville to Spallumcheen. As of 2:52 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 7, B.C. Hydro was responding to 21 individual outages across the North Okanagan, most of them snow related, leaving over 2,000 customers without power. Vernon claimed 14 outages,...
See the Thompson-Okanagan like you never have before
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A video posted to YouTube over the weekend gives a truly birds-eye view of some of the most spectacular features of the Thompson-Okanagan. Emile Beaulieu is a Kelowna resident whose passion is paramotoring. Using a parachute and what is essentially a large powered fan strapped to his back, he performs breathtaking fly-bys of...
Search for firearms leads mounties to Lumby grow-op
LUMBY - Police went looking for illegal firearms at a Lumby residence earlier this month and turned up what they call a dangerous, albeit legally licensed marijuana grow-op instead. Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce said police executed a search warrant Dec. 12 at a residence in the 1700 block of Grandview Avenue looking for firearms. The...
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...
Lumby residents feeling the cold with massive service outage
LUMBY - The Lumby community is coming together after a major natural gas leak cut service to 1,200 residences. The high-pressure gas line was ruptured in Lavington Thursday morning after a vehicle crashed into it. Fortis B.C. immediately began shutting off customer’s natural gas while crews conducted repairs. The affected line serviced customers primarily in the...
Smoke alarm saves Lumby man’s life
LUMBY - A Lumby senior was fast asleep when smoke and flames started spreading through his house. Luckily, his smoke detector woke him up and he managed to flee the building. Lumby Fire Chief Tony Clayton says the man was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital to be checked out for smoke inhalation. “The smoke alarm...
Former B.C. premier to chair Lumby-based marijuana facility
LUMBY - A company chaired by a former B.C. premier has applied to grow and distribute medical marijuana from a facility in Lumby. True Leaf Medicine Inc. has submitted an application to Health Canada to operate the facility under the federal government’s new rules for the system, which came into effect April 1. Mike Harcourt,...
Tough-looking locals sought for Anthony Hopkins film
VERNON - A talent agency is on the hunt for some 'tough-looking locals' to act in an upcoming film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. The movie Go With Me begins filming in the Lumby and Enderby areas in early November and extras are needed pronto. The modeling and talent agency Jager International Management posted a call...
Inquest hears of chaos at mill after Lumby teen found caught in conveyor belt
VERNON - A coroner’s inquest into the death of a Lumby teen began Monday with tearful testimony from the mill worker’s mother, who described him as kind, determined and full of life. Bradley Haslam, 18, died June 15 after getting caught in a conveyer belt at Tolko’s planer mill in Lavington. The Charles Bloom Secondary...
Buddy system now in place at Tolko mill after death of teen, inquiry hears
VERNON - Changes have been made at Tolko’s Lavington mill since the death of a teenage worker, a coroner’s inquest heard Tuesday. Roger Marshall was the supervisor the night Bradley Haslam, 18, became entangled in a conveyer belt and died. Bradley, whose family asked that he be referred to by his first name during the...
Demobilization of Lumby flood response taking months
VERNON - Cleaning up the aftermath of the Okanagan’s largest flood protection response doesn’t happen overnight, it takes months. North Okanagan Emergency Management crews are still demobilizing gabion baskets—bags filled with gravel and used for dyking—from Lumby. The gabions were deployed at the beginning of May as part of Operation Duteau, a partnership with the...
Lumby officer crashes police vehicle
CHERRYVILLE - A Lumby RCMP officer is probably feeling lucky after he survived driving his squad vehicle off the road, rolling it and hitting a tree Sunday night. The officer was on his way to investigate a report of a possible impaired driver when the accident happened at about 10:30 p.m Sept. 28. He was...
If you see this actor around the North Okanagan, be sure to call him ‘sir’
VERNON - The stars are aligning for Hollywood’s return to the North Okanagan. Okanagan film commissioner Jon Summerland says it’s looking like the Hollywood movie Go With Me, based on a best-selling book, will be filmed in the region. Oscar winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins has already signed on to star in the thriller. “We’ve...
Return to the wild: Okanagan bear doesn’t look back
VERNON - From the top of a power pole, to a rehabilitation shelter, Polaris the black bear has had quite a journey in her young life, and now she’ll be continuing her adventures in the wild. The year-and-a-half old black bear found perched on a power pole in Lumby last fall was taken in by...