Okanagan

Return to seasonal normals in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - The mercury soared heading into the weekend, but has dropped considerably coming out of it. Temperatures were in the high-20s Friday and Saturday, well above seasonal normal highs of 20 Celsius. Sunday things cooled off to highs of 23 C in the North and Central Okanagan, but at 27 C remained quite a...

Thousands of Thompson-Okanagan renters mired in affordable housing crisis, new index says
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - About a quarter of all renters in the Thompson-Okanagan are facing an affordable housing crisis, according to a new study. The new Canadian Rental Housing Index is an interactive map which offers a snapshot of rental housing conditions across the country. You can search by city or electoral area riding, and find the...

Near-record heat this weekend in the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - After a week of near-normal high temperatures the mercury is expected to again hit the 30 Celsius mark throughout the region this weekend. Environment Canada is calling for highs of 29 C and 30 C today, Sept. 11, and Saturday throughout the Okanagan, well above the seasonal normal high of 21 C. The...

CBC’s Ron MacLean bringing Hometown Hockey Tour to Penticton
PENTICTON - Kamloops won’t be the only Interior community celebrating the National Hockey League with Ron MacLean this season; Penticton has been named one of the stops on the second annual Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour. The tour will make 24 stops this year, four in B.C., and features NHL alumni, hometown heroes and local entertainment...

Here’s your first look at the Hopkins movie shot around the Okanagan
VERNON - Enderby debuts on the cinematic world stage this week at the Venice Film Festival, but for those of us without a plane ticket, at least there’s a sneak peak video to be seen. A teaser from Go With Me, produced by Enderby Entertainment and filmed locally, is now available. It offers up a...

Man killed in Merritt crash named
MERRITT - A 32-year-old man from Surrey died when the vehicle he was in hit a rock bluff near Merritt last week. Jesse Dan Dietz was a passenger in a pickup truck that left the roadway and hit a rock bluff on Highway 5 near Merritt around 8 a.m. on Aug. 31, according to the...

Stolen Lake Country boat and truck recovered in Kamloops
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - An observant off duty cop helped police recover a boat and truck stolen out of Lake Country Sunday night. The astute officer noticed a boat and trailer being unloaded on the side of the highway in the Dallas area early Monday morning, Sept. 7 and turned around to keep an eye on the...

Temperatures to heat up again in Okanagan
OKANAGAN - Back to school is kicking off with a little rain this morning but by the end of the week we can expect highs well above seasonal normals throughout the Southern Interior. Temperatures will remain below seasonal normal lows of 21 Celsius today, Sept. 8, but it's expected to reach 23 C Wednesday before...

Cooler weather sticking around for Okanagan long weekend
OKANAGAN - The last long weekend of the summer is upon us but Mother Nature doesn’t seem to be ready to join the celebration this year. For the most part September kicked off with temperatures just below seasonal normals of 22 Celsius and the Labour Day long weekend will be much the same. Environment Canada...

Filmed in the Okanagan: TV show focuses on traditional First Nation food
OKANAGAN – A TV series about gathering and cooking wild food will air on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network next week. And it was filmed in the Okanagan. Quest Outwest: Wild Food follows Syilx storyteller and Penticton resident Tracey Kim Bonneau as she hunts and forages around the Okanagan looking for traditional ingredients she prepares...

Okanagan episode of Amazing Race Canada to air next week
SUMMERLAND – Fans of the Amazing Race Canada will see some familiar sights next week. The Summerland area will be featured in Wednesday’s episode of the hit CTV show where pairs of Canadians race around the world hoping to be the first to reach the final destination and claim the $250,000 prize. Contestants will be...

Big Brother Canada cast coming to Okanagan to help local girl with depression
PEACHLAND – Cast members of TV game show Big Brother Canada will be in Peachland this weekend to help cheer up a local 15-year-old struggling with mental illness. Thirteen cast members from all three seasons, including season two runner up Neda Kalantar, will be at Davis Cove Lakeshore Resort Sunday, Sept. 6. Manager Shelley Peach...

Cool, wet week in store for the Okanagan
OKANAGAN - The mercury has dropped and rain is expected to fall as summer break wraps up this week. With Environment Canada calling for high temperatures to only reach the mid- to high-teens all week, you can expect temperatures to remain quite a bit below seasonal normals of 23 Celsius for a high and 11...

Communities on edge: Thompson-Okanagan fire officials field calls for false alarms
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Fire appears to be at the forefront of many peoples’ minds across the Thompson-Okanagan. With wildfires burning across the province and a blanket of smoke from Washington hanging in the air, fire officials say they are receiving a number of reports which are in fact nothing more than false alarms. In the North...

Local man documents entire CN rail corridor for posterity
KELOWNA – An Okanagan man with a passion for local history has begun work on a video he hopes will preserve the significance of the CN Rail corridor for generations to come. Alan Gatzke spent dozens of hours and thousands of dollars from his own pocket to modify his pickup so it could be used...